GW Lord of the Ring releases uses

[Derzhinski]

Hi all,

I have been taking a look to the new Lord of the Ring releases of GW, and trying to find a credible excuse to buy them (so I can justify to She-who-must-be-obeyed the purchase  :: )

http://uk.games-workshop.com/sneakpeeks/thelordoftherings/default.htm


Those I am thinking are the guys with the big basket shields and shaved heads.

I believe that they can be excellent as a tribe of Cthulhu worshippers, Lost Tribe in Africa or the like. At least the infantry type guys... I am not too sure about the Camel riders, however. Not because they aren't nice, but I don¡t know what use I can give to them.  

Would anyone of you find an use for them in his games too?

Regards

[Poliorketes]

They are marvelous! Of course you need the camel riders, too! Haven't you heard of the guardians of king Solomons diamonds at the fabled oracle of Amon, descendents of Alexander the great and perhaps the ancient kings of Kush?

They make great minis for Broadsword adventures, too

[Derzhinski]

Haven't you heard of the guardians of king Solomons diamonds at the fabled oracle of Amon, descendents of Alexander the great and perhaps the ancient kings of Kush?

Yes! But of course! How could I forget that vital piece of information? All of it is in the Normann Papyrus in the British Museum Library!!

I must begin to organize an expedition ASAP! I believe I will need a Pilot, a rich and misterious European Heiress to finance the trip and an Escort of Legionnaires...  

[Hammers]

I am a big fan of most of what the Perry brothers have produced outside the WFB/40K ranges. The GW LotR stuff is somertimes a bit too fancyful when it deviates from the tone set in Tolkien. But the minis are generelly very well scuplted and I have a sizeable collection of them.

The Mahut's, as they have chosen to call them (isn't that a term for the profession of elephant jockey?) are fine, but I keep thinking the blowpipe camel corps lads will choke on the darts as the speed wind forces them back the pipes and down their gullets.

[Vanvlak]

The Mahut's, as they have chosen to call them (isn't that a term for the profession of elephant jockey?) are fine, but I keep thinking the blowpipe camel corps lads will choke on the darts as the speed wind forces them back the pipes and down their gullets.

And that means I MUST get them. Too funny not to.

"A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat, derivatives of the Sanskrit word mahamatra, meaning "[one] having great measure."

The wonder that is Wikipedia....  

[Ricco]

Cut the blow pipe of the camel rider and put a javlin or long thrusting spear in his hand.  Voila... a semi historical/pulp camel rider

[Derzhinski]

Does anyone know if the rider comes in one piece?

If it has the right arm separated it shouldn't be too problematic to change it into a javelinman.

[Plynkes]

I don't know why anyone would want these chaps guarding King's Solomon's Mines when you could follow the book and have Zulus. Zulus are the coolest thing ever, cooler than anything Tolkien (or Peter Jackson) ever came up with. Plenty of companies make nice Zulus. And Zulu-offshoots like the Ngoni are also available (and perfect for "KSM", as it is about just such a Zulu-offshoot kingdom).

I just wish someone would make a big screen version that stuck to the book a little more, at least to the extent of keeping in all the Zulu stuff, including the big battle.

[Poliorketes]

Zulus are cool, but he wanted a use for these specific minis.

The Stewart Granger Movie is rather good, IMHO. but you're right, a stick-to-the-book-movie would be marvelous.

[Plynkes]

Sorry, mate. Wasn't meaning to shoot your idea down in flames, my mind just wandered off at a tangent at the mention of King Solomon's Mines.

[Derzhinski]

Sorry, mate. Wasn't meaning to shoot your idea down in flames, my mind just wandered off at a tangent at the mention of King Solomon's Mines.

No problem at all.

The beauty of Pulp and Adventure is that you can have the best of all world and find a use practically for any figure you fancy! ::

Zulus, LOTR... whatever... You like the figure, sure you can fit in some Lost World or Queen of Sheeba adventure.  

[meninobesta]

I think these miniatures are great for a Sindbad adventures game

[fastolfrus]

You might be ok with King Solomon's mines, but I'd probably vote for Masai as the guards.

As another off-topic aside wasn't therea Spencer Tracy film that featured some large battles with natives, re-using footage from an earlier film ?

[Gluteus Maximus]

It's a shame they went for blowpipes, rather than bows or javelins etc. I've always assumed blowpipes were of very short range, limited penetration & difficult to aim unless stationary, hence their use by Ninjas, sneaky Cannibals etc. I would assume that desert-based troops would not find them too useful :

Camel-mounted blowpipes? I suppose that, being a GW invention, they'll have stats in LotR that will give them the stopping power, range & accuracy of an elephant gun, whilst galloping around like a Comanche  ::

Shame, as otherwise thay are very nice indeed & would have been very useful in VSF/fantasy Darkest Africa type games.

[Vanvlak]

True, but.... add a spear somewhere, and convert the blowpipe to a horn, and you have a camel rider squadron blowing horns a la diving Stuka to frighten the enemy; armed with spears.  :wink: