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 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.

 

SAGA - Dark Age Archers

 A second entry into the AHPC this week. Early last summer, I received some Dark Age Gripping Beast plastic miniatures, in a zip locked baggie as part of a purchase. I finally  got around to painting a Unit of Levy Archers.

In addition to the archers, I completed another two elements of pack mules, pulled from the mountain of lead.

For my final entry is a LOTR figure, but I really don't know what it is. I was unable to match it up against the current Games Workshop website. On the AHPC XIII blog it was identified as one of the Twilight Ringwraiths. These are the pale versions of the Nazgûl, which appear to Frodo, when he places the Ring of Power on his finger during the Battle of Weathertop. 

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.

Sauron and Mouth of Sauron

 These figures from the Games Workshop LOTR line have been hidden in the darkness for many years and I thought it was time they were painted and exposed to the light. They were another entry in the AHPC XIII.

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,

Nazgul - Nine Rings for Mortal Men

 Would you believe three Nazgûl of the nine. Each year for the AHPC I summit at least one entry based upon the Lord of the Rings.  

I believe these figures came from the Attack on Weathertop package by Games Workshop and are close to 20 years old. I have collected a lot of LOTR dark forces, but I have been slow in getting them painted. 

Black Rider

Over the years I picked up a fair number of the LOTR figures by Games Workshop. To give them their due, Games Workshop produced a  beautiful line of figures, but too expensive for my blood.  I for one, would wait for 50% sales at local game stores or a lucky deal on e-Bay.

This Black Rider was a single loose figure I recently found mixed in a pile of minis I had stored away. I've been searching in town  for a package of 40mm or 50mm round magnetic bases by GF9. It's a product that seems to have been dropped by the wayside here in Montreal. So I mounted the figure on a 40mm x 40mm wooden base..

The figure was subject to a quick paint-job. Overall black, with gray dry brushed highlights and oiled steel for the sword.

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.