Silmarillion and other Fantasy Stuff. Oathmark Elf, Dwarf and Mongrel Human

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

I am going to place my various fantasy projects here.  I am not particularly accomplished at painting fantasy (or possibly any other) miniatures, having mainly painted 15mm Naps.
I have not gamed or painted for the better part of a year.  I have decided that I will try messing around with just some solo fantasy gaming (using modified - as it is solo play - Dragon Rampant). 
So I don't get bored I am going to do little bits of different projects at any one time (thinking about rules adaptations, painting and making terrain).
I have two main projects - one is a Silmarillion themed game, the other is more a fairytale fantasy mishmash.

Stock taking so far.
Apart from some general terrain pieces and lots of Vikings and Saxons already painted, this is what I have so far for fantasy gaming:

Painted but not necessarily based.


Semi painted or unpainted.


More Papo figures pressed into service (with Saxon for scale)


And the start of a fantasy forest with inspiration from DeafNala and Dr Mathias http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=41545.0



On order are some fantasy knights, ents, night goblins (or some such thing) and some skellies.

For the Silmarillion I am in need of a huge wolf (Carcharoth) and a huge hound (Huan).  So far no success.

[Jacksarge]

Will follow this with interest as I want to do a Middle earth/ Dark Ages thing, and have been wondering about sources of appropriate models etc,.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

My painting has been bitsy with me having many figures on the go, doing little bits of each to stop me getting bored.   Pictures are taken with my cell phone with artificial light, so a bit manky.  These were mainly miniatures that just needed basing or a bit of finishing.

Aussie invaders.  Large toxic spiders, the children of Ungoliant.  My current painting is just quick to get miniatures onto the table - acceptable quality without being great (it would take me twice as much effort for probably only 10% better quality). 



Another quick and nasty paint job, although the photigraph doesn't help.  I may have to take another picture in better light.  A Marchwarden from Doriath. Basing has also been a bit more rough and ready.  I think I might go back to my previous method and spend more time on this.



A great warg or werewolf.  Thunderbolt Mountain.



Normal wolves, suitable for any


The whole lot.



For my not Middle Earth project (no name for this yet) I need fairies.  Any good source for these.  I want them to be small.  The few I can find are mainly quite big - almost the size of a normal 28mm figure.  Another figure I need is a queen.  In my story she is "good" but due to some enchantment is largely unseeing/unaware.  She can move, and can respond at a very basic level.  In wargaming terms, she will largely have automated movement, and cannot alter her course/respond to what is happening around her.  Finding something suitable for this is difficult.

On the Silmarillion project I am also stuck.  I can't decide whether I would actually use a Carcharoth figure or whether it is just something I want to have.  Finding something suitable is difficult - he was meant to be huge. The only thing I can find is this from Mierce http://mierce-miniatures.com/index.php?act=pro&pre=mrm_dkl_ang_mrc_mbs_601_000 but probably too big and far too expensive.  The Reaper warg might make a good werewolf, but is too small for Carcharoth.  And then, where would I get a decent Huan the hound?

[Severian]

A great collection of figures! All sorts of possibilities there. The painting looks good too. The spiders in particular work very well I think.

For Carcharoth, have you looked into those Schleich animal figures, or similar toy stuff? Huan might be a bit trickier - I suppose he'd need to be a wolfhound the size of a small horse, or something. Are there 54mm scaled dogs out there somewhere? Surely there must be.

What sort of fairies are you after? Victorian/Edwardian illustrated book fairies, or something a bit more folkloric and sinister?

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Thanks.
Most Schleich or Papo wolves are too friendly.  
This howling wolf may do the job:
http://www.kmart.co.nz/wcsstore/Kmart/images/ncatalog/f/0/42416920-1-f.jpg


As far as fairies go, I don't mind too much as long as they are small, have wings, and aren't too weird (undead, skeletions, 7 arms etc).

My "other project" is best summed up by:

"In the land where horses born with eagle wings
And honey bees have lost their stings
There's singing forever"

"The fairy folk have gathered round the new moon shine
To see the feller crack a nut at nights noon time
To swing his ace he swears, as it climbs he dares
To deliver...
The master-stroke"

And for those who haven't worked it out yet:

Fear me you lords and lady preachers
I descend upon your earth from the skies
I command your very souls you unbelievers
Bring before me what is mine
The seven seas of rhye

Can you hear me you peers and privvy counsellors
I stand before you naked to the eyes
I will destroy any man who dares abuse my trust
I swear that you'll be mine
The seven seas of rhye

Sister - I live and lie for you
Mister - do and I'll die
You are mine I possess you
I belong to you forever

Storm the master-marathon I'll fly through
By flash and thunder-fire I'll survive
Then I'll defy the laws of nature and come out alive
Then I'll get you

Be gone with you - you shod and shady senators
Give out the good, leave out the bad evil cries
I challenge the mighty titan and his troubadours
And with a smile
I'll take you to the seven seas of rhye

Using Queen's songs based on the land of Rhye and those songs which have a fairy-tale quality and could fit into the idea of the mythology of Rhye: White Queen (As it Began), March of the Black Queen, Lily of the Valley, Ogre Battle.

This will require a wide range of figures, from fairies to ogres, something that will be appropriate for the "mighty Titan"; senators, merchants, satyrs, nymphs, and even honey bees that lost their sting.

[lord marcus]

Where did you get that mhorgoth figure?

[robh]

That YouTube link has some great figure concepts pulled from the Dadd painting, Most should not be too difficult to locate (close enough certainly) but some are pretty unique......Dragonfly Trumpeter

Keep an eye on the figure range being developed for Moonstone, a very similar style among some of their concepts.

Below a pedagogue appears.
A Critic up to sneers & jeers.
And by his faun-like ears he’s wild
Untamed himself, each fairy child
He tames with many a look severe
But if his glance is there or here
’Tis hard to say. He squints to note

You may. But he’ll not meddle
With a work so sharp.
Waits in suspense and doth not carp.
His business is to teach to do.
Do it himself? Oh no! t’is you.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

He's a fairy feller....




Actually, he is a previously painted Saxon who has now taken on a green hue (I told him that boar stew looked off..)



Myron the wizard is rather myopic.  Not only does he need large print spell books, but when he went to pick up his wand of death he actually grabbed last night's dinner, "snake kebab".



A fairly generic mad, evil wizard.



Grrrrr....


Elf maiden with attitude (and pneumatic breasts).  Could be used for both my Land of Rhye game or Silmarillion.






Elf hero.  Pure Silmarillion.

[beefcake]

Nice minis there. Keen to see more.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

I have painted a rather random collection of figures in the last couple of weeks.  Some with a Tolkien in mind, others more generic fantasy.
I am thinking of painting a Balrog.  The issue comes to; with or without wings.
The Balrog in the Lord of the Rings may have real wings or metaphorical ones.  In the Silmarillion there is no mention of wings.  Balrogs move swiftly, but nothing convinces me they fly.  Morgoth sends flying spirits to assault the moon when it first rises, but Balrogs are not mentioned.  When the Valar finally come to overthrow Morgoth the battle in the air is fought against dragons, but again no mention of Balrogs.
I also don't think Balrogs were huge, as the mightiest of the Noldor could defeat them (even if at the cost of their own lives).
What do you think a Balrog should look like?
Hobgoblin, I am sure, will have some ideas.



New spiders and ents added.  Knights, shadow goblins and a gryphon are under way.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

By the way, how do you update/change the title of a thread?

[Ogrob]

By the way, how do you update/change the title of a thread?

You edit the first post.

[Hobgoblin]

What do you think a Balrog should look like?
Hobgoblin, I am sure, will have some ideas.

Ha! I remember the balrog-wing flame wars ...

I think it's worth noting that the Balrogs of The Fall of Gondolin, etc., don't necessarily match the Balrog of Moria. I forget where, but Tolkien somewhere revised the number down from dozens or hundreds or more to "no more than seven" (if memory serves).

Presumably, if Tolkien had ever published his own Silmarillion, the Balrogs would have been upped in power and reduced in number. (In the same way, it looks as if the "orcs created from corrupted elves" story might well have been discarded).

So, if we're going on the balrog of Moria, what do we have? Not much, of course, but it is like a "great shadow", in the middle of which was a dark form, of man shape, maybe, only greater", has a "streaming mane" that catches fire, breathes fire through its nostrils and - and this to me is the most interesting bit - is fast and agile:

"Then with a rush it leaped across the fissure."

and:

"The dark figure streaming with fire raced towards them."

"With a bound, the Balrog leapt full upon the bridge."

So it's not some great ponderous thing.

On the wings, I think the line that's often forgotten is this:

"With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished."

So, we get "like a great shadow"; "the light faded as if a cloud had bent over it"; "the fiery shadow halted"; "the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings"; "The fire in it seemed to die but the darkness grew"; "its wings were spread from wall to wall, but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering in the gloom"; From out of the shadow a red sword leaped flaming": and "With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished."

I think it's fairly clear that all the wings business is a description of the Balrog filling the vast chamber with darkness. When the Balrog falls, the shadow - which has been spread out across the cavern - gets sucked down into the chasm after it. There's a very good argument that the wings can't be bat-like appendages, because the cavern is so vast: it takes the Fellowship some time to cross it; the chasm is 50' across and presumably far wider; and so we're talking albatross wings on a midge if the Balrog is only two or three times human size (its brief fencing match with Gandalf implies that it can't be much bigger).

There's also the point that Gandalf's successful plan involves breaking the bridge - an odd ruse to pursue against a flying creature.

I don't think there's any easy way of representing a shifting, expanding cloud of darkness on the tabletop. But if I were looking for a Balrog model, I'd look for something like a GW elf wardancer - something long-haired, lithe and agile-looking. A large elf wardancer - 35mm or 4omm or whatever - would be ideal.

There must be other agile-looking, sword-wielding, long-haired figures to which a whip could be easily added. Jet-black skin, a fiery mane and (presumably) blazing eyes would do the rest, I think.

[Severian]

Yes, that sounds about right. Certainly no actual wings.

The published Silmarillion, with the usual caveats about authorial vs editorial intention and Tolkien's shifting concepts, has (in chapter 3) "their hearts were of fire, but they were cloaked in darkness, and terror went before them; they had whips of flame." So the primary characteristic here seems to be darkness, and shadow, and underneath fire, which coheres with the Moria picture.

How to represent this on the table top.... I wonder if anything could be done with something from the Conquest games wealdgeist range (http://www.conquest-games.co.uk/index.php?cPath=41_46), perhaps the elves or (for a big version) the ent? Not sure if the size is quite right, but their surface texture (tree-bark like) might allow some interesting darkness-over-a-heart of-fire effects. Perhaps not obviously agile enough though? And some modest conversion for sword & whip (or whatever) would be needed. Anyway, just a random thought.

[Gandalf the G]

I would love to see closeups of that Thunderbolt Mountain elf lady. Such a nice figure!