LOTRs - Haradrim or Southron Easternlings 28mm Part 2

 Friday I enjoyed the weather and the yard and exercised some Army Painter rattle cans to spray coat my growing collection of movement trays. Since Sunday was a cool rainy day in Montreal it was a good time to catch up on busy work. I completed basing the Haradrim figures I received from Chris early last month. 

Half the figures. The rest were based about a month ago.

The slot-bases were covered with Vallejo Earth Texture paint, with some Battlefield Rock formations added. These formations were then coated with Mod Podge which acts as a sealant. After sitting to dry for 24 hours I added some AK Dry Grass Flock for the wasteland effect I want for these figures. This warband is destined for use with Saga Age of Magic, a rule set which I have yet to play, or Dragons Rampant.

Harlequin Miniatures - 28mm LOTR Orcs - Banners

 A couple of orc banner men with banners flying purchased from Flags of War. Not a clean fit but with a little work on placement and superglue, serves its purpose.

LOTRs - Haradrim or Southron Easternlings 28mm WIP

Yesterday, Chris a local brush for hire dropped off his latest work for me. After completeing the Orcs I asked him to work on my collection of the men of the east. These figures were from Harlequin Miniatures LOTR line.  Seaching online I believe I have one box of each of the following and that the line was 32mm figures, not 28mm.

Herumor's Southron Spearmen. LRB003 Harlequin, 

Ar-Feinel's Corsair Spearmen. LRB012 Harlequin 

and Castamir's Corsair Archers. LRB010 Harlequin. 

Each box contained15 figures, 12 fighting men, and command. All were ebay purchases many years ago. I will finish the bases this weekend.

Harlequin Miniatures - 28mm LOTR Orcs - Batch 2

Another 20 Lord of the Rings Orcs from the old Harlequin Miniatures line are complete. As with the first batch and as part of my ongoing triage I commissioned a local painter to paint theese figures.

 Outside completed projects, the figures I amassed over 50 years is roughly divided into 1) projects I will paint 2) projects that I will commission to have painted and finally 3) miniatures for projects that I will never use and must thus must desposed of.  I thank Chris for his assistance in helping me move forward with my Orc Warband. 

Now that the Canadian tax season is almost behind us, I hope to devote more time in applying brush to metal. Belonging to the Montréal Historical Wargaming Club has provided much needed focus for various projects. The group really forced me to up my game and akso helped reduce my mountain of shame. 

Harlequin Miniatures - 28mm LOTR Orcs - Batch 1

 This is the first half  of a group Lord of the Rings Orcs that were painted for my Army of Darkness. I am basing the figures to match the orcs I originally painted in 2010. The figures were produced by Harlequin Miniatures, the company which had the rights to LOTRs before Games Workshop. IMO the Harlequin orcs were closer to my idea of orcs, than those of Peter Jackson. My introduction to both LOTRs and DnD  dates back to the early to mid 1970s in high school. My dream then, to field an orc warband on the tabletop. 

Warg Riders - Lord of the Rings

 I have slowly been building up my Orc army using both the old Harlequin line and Games Workshop. Our local club has started a monthly Age of Magic night and I hope to be able to throw together a respectable Orc warband. I hired the services of a local painter to help with the backlog and he rapidly completed 15 Warg Riders. Three are metal and the other 12 plastic, all from Games Workshop.

The three in front are the old metal figures.

 

A Hodgepodge of Figures

These figures were an entry in the AHPC from last week, but I must have missed the deadline and they were never posted. My posting day is Wednesday

1) Party of Adventurers

This is a group of travelling Clerics with a Magic User accompanied by a mule train of supplies and trade goods. The mules came from my mountain of lead, while the adventurers were part of a gift of figures given to me this pass summer when I visited Nova Scotia.

2) Villagers exercising their right to vote.

These three figures were part of the package of figures I was gifted on my travels. With torch and pitchfork they seem intent on removing a local bigwig.

3) Two of the 1066 peasant Women and Children figures I received as part of Bob Murch's 1066 Saxon Kickstarter in conjunction with Crucible Crush Miniatures. 

4) The final figure is Gollum, as offered by Harlequin Miniatures when they held the licence to produce LOTR figures.

Harlequin Miniatures - Orcs of the Hand Warband

 I was recently searching eBay for some 30mm Round Slotted Bases and found a seller (Modular Terrain) who offered 3mm MDF Slotted bases of the size I was interested. I placed the order just before Christmas and in spite of the holidays received them earlier this week. It was a trans-Atlantic transaction. 

I was searching for some minis to work on for the AHPC XIII and got fixated upon my LOTR collection.  The figures were purchased about 20 years ago around the time that Harlequin Miniatures lost their licence to produce the LOTR figures to Games Workshop.

I have never been a fan of the plastic slot bases. Personally, I prefer something solid to which I can glue a litko magnetic base. I was very happy with the ebay find and have used all of my initial purchase. I hope you like the look of this unit.   

I have  another 100 figures which I have replaced the plastic bases. I now have a goal in the AHPC XIII,

Go West, Young Man! Part III

There is no doubt that the sacrifice of the poor bloody infantry of the Red Army led to final victory in May of 1945.

Platoon CO with Runners

In the words of Churchill ~ It is the Russian Armies who have done the main work in tearing the guts out of the German army. In the air and on the oceans we could maintain our place, but there was no force in the world which could have been called into being, except after several more years, that would have been able to maul and break the German army unless it had been subjected to the terrible slaughter and manhandling that has fallen to it through the strength of the Russian Soviet Armies. (Aug. 2, 1944).

I spent my evenings this past week, when I was not playing Twilight Struggle, painting a WW2 Soviet Infantry platoon.  I bought most of the figures about the same time on eBay and they were mixed when they were primed.  The packages included figures by West Wind Line: Berlin or Bust (by Old Glory) and Harlequin Miniatures (now know as Black Tree Design). Together the two different companies provide a great mix of poses and figures.

1st Squad: 7 Riflemen and 1 SMG and a Sgt

On paper each Soviet Rifle squad would consist of a Sgt, with an Assistant Squad leader, 1 LMG (Gunner and Ammo Carrier) team, 2 SMGs and 6 or 7 Riflemen. Squads were rarely full strength or fully equipped. I have painted three 9 men squads, none equipped with the LMG teams.

 

2nd and 3rd Squads

The 2nd squad has 7 riflemen and 1 SMG, while the 3rd squad had 2 SMGs but only 6 riflemen.

Note: When I was putting the figures away, in my Soviet War Chest, I discovered I had already painted three LMG teams. I only had to add my yellow dot code so each team was matched to a squad. Now each squad can exercise various manpower  and equipment options.

LMG Teams Added to the Platoon

I still have another 50 primed Infantry figures to paint. These figures will allow me to bring a platoon in winter camo pattern, and a 2nd summer dress platoon up to strength. In addition, to a squad of Combat Engineers that need to take to the field with their flamethrowers and mine detectors, there is a newly arrived mortar section (4x mortars with crews) from BTD Miniatures to paint.

To complete this project I have one pack of BTD (WW2010) Soviet Character Set and four packs of Battle Honors WW2 Soviet Infantry unopened. The first, Russ-7 is a package of 10 tank riders. The second package,  Russ-18 consists of four 2 man Anti-Tank Rifle Teams.

Finally there are two packs of Russ-22 (each with 2 x Maxim MGs and NKVD Crews). If you watched Enemy at the Gates, you know you can't go to Stalingrad without them. It is amazing that despite such criminal encouragement, the heroic soldiers of the Workers and Peasants Red Army advanced into the heart of Nazi Germany.

Orcs of the White Hand

Since reading the Lord of the Rings in high school I have been tempted to build an Army of Darkness, that would do the Dark Lord proud. My first attempt was with Minifig half-orcs, Ral Partha orcs, Heritage Warg Riders, and etc, etc, etc. I sold this army in 1984 to help pay for my education costs. At the time it was the thing to do, and I know that this army continues to have a place of honour in it's new home. In recent years I have been inspired by the original LOTR (Lord of the Rings) line of figures produced by Harlequin Miniature (now known as Black Tree Design) and the great line of figures produced under license by Games Workshop based upon the movie trilogy.

I have a secret confession. I have slowly been massing the Forces of Darkness and Monday they shall be unleashed!! Ha, Ha, Ha......Actually, that is a bit of an exaggeration. Monday, I will be meeting with some fellow gamers to play War of the Ring by Fantasy Flight games.

I have painted a 21 figure unit of Orcs of the White Hand. The figures were by Harlequin Miniatures and were very clean and very easy to work with. This unit was put together by winning a command pack and I think at least three packages of Orcs on eBay. The command pack contained the flag-bearer, a musican (with the horn) and a commander, who has a sword in each hand. The flag was made from some foil from a wine bottle. I have to paint the design on it. As you can see from the photos even the regular troops have a variety of poses and show good animation.

Black Tree Design continued to carry these figures as part of their fantasy line of figures until very recently. They were no longer referred to by LOTR trade name.Unfortunately the line has been discontinued but figures will continue to appear on eBay for years to come. I have to admit that I prefer the look of the Harlequin/BTD orc figures to those of  Peter Jackson's vision. It would be my sole complaint regarding his world view of the JRR Tolkien epic as I have purchased the GameWorshop's Balrog, Fellowship, Cave Troll and Warg Riders. In my opinion these miniatures are far superior to any other line that has been manufactured to date.