Nick's 1st Age Project

[nicknorthstar]

I've been planning a Silmarillion/ Tolkien 1st Age project for 40 years. Tragic isn't it?

But I'm at last on the path.

So far I've a small group of High Elves and Wood Elves, painted by Ian Craig, and a good number of Orcs painted by a local painter. I've also got Glaurung painted by Andrew Taylor.

The idea is to build a large Morgoth army, and a good number of Noldor, Sindar and Elf-Friends to oppose them to refight the Wars of Beleriand.

I'm just using Oathmark figures at the moment, but I'm basing them on a more traditional 20mm square rather than the 25mm Oathmark bases.

I'm not sure what rules to use, maybe this is one of the reasons the project never got started. (I tell a lie, it got underway in the 90s, I've still got the Orcs, all Harlequin Miniatures Goblins, but the Elves and men are lost to time now.)

I'll probably use Oathmark as I'm playing and liking that right, good chance I'll play my chum Mr James Morris using his new Midgard rules being published by the Lardies soon. I might even go 'Old Skool' and have a WFB 3rd edition game, as that was what was going to be used originally. I won't be using DBM. I say that because that was the plan in the 90s, and all the Orcs from then are on 60mm by 30mm bases.

I'll share more as they come.

[AKULA]

I've been planning a Silmarillion/ Tolkien 1st Age project for 40 years. Tragic isn't it?

Seems perfectly reasonable to me … the main thing is that it’s underway, because let’s be honest this sort of project will never truly be finished 

Lovely paint jobs, look forward to seeing more.

[Pattus Magnus]

The first installment is certainly a great start! I’ll be eager to see the updates as this progresses. Regarding rules, one possibility that hasn’t been published yet but could do the job is Midgard. The author has already used it for games set in that period and they look spectacular!

[OSHIROmodels]

Looks great 

3rd Ed for the win 

[LouieN]

An awesome project.  The units look great. 

[DivisMal]

A great (retarded) start. Ruleswise Oathmark is a good choice (and seriously: if you’ve got a chance to play, then this is a big advantage). Otherwise, I’d suggest Warhammer Historical: Magic isn’t such a thing in Middle Earth warfare (okay, Gandalph can turn on the lights, but that’s basically it). WAB gives you nice rules for light foot, riders, beasties etc. And those do see plenty of action!

[Old Hob]

Ah, the one project I think most fantasy players have dreamed of since they were kids. And the Oathmark kits you've been producing have always felt much more Tolkien than a certain other manufacturer's minis based on the movies. They are absolutely perfect for this project.
I'd like to suggest maybe also having a look at some of the Ragnarok goblins and dwarves, which have a similar aesthetic and are a good match scale-wise. Regardless, I'm really looking forward to see how this project grows. Any ideas for Balrogs?
 

[nicknorthstar]

A great (retarded) start. Ruleswise Oathmark is a good choice (and seriously: if you’ve got a chance to play, then this is a big advantage). Otherwise, I’d suggest Warhammer Historical: Magic isn’t such a thing in Middle Earth warfare (okay, Gandalph can turn on the lights, but that’s basically it). WAB gives you nice rules for light foot, riders, beasties etc. And those do see plenty of action!

I played so much WAB I could play it without the rulebooks, so yes, a good call. You've actually reminded me of something. I wrote a set of Middle-Earth army lists for WAB back in the 90s! They were LotR 3rd Age not 1st Age. It was early PC days, so I've no digital record of them anywhere. I wrote them for WAB for the reasons you mentioned above, ie there were no magic users.

[nicknorthstar]

Any ideas for Balrogs?

Oh man, are you trying to start a flame war?  Graham Green will be dragging me around in a headlock if I use figures with wings 

I've got this little beut:
It's a little smaller than I'd like but it'd be a shame not to use it considering it's history with me.

Are you sitting comfortably, I'll begin.
I walked into Games Workshop Nottingham in 1983, clutching my pocket money, planning to buy a couple of Citadel figures. On the counter was this issue of Miniature Wargames. I opened the mag and this picture of a Balrog fighting adventurers was on page 3 or 4. Remember, in those days you rarely saw colour photos of painted Fantasy figures, White Dwarf never had them in for example, so I thought 'Oh. I'll buy this'. This was my introduction to Historical Wargames. I started subscribing and within no time I knew what WRG, Nikephorian Byzantine and Newbury Ancients were.
I remained a WFB enthusiast in the 80s, but was fully aware of the Historical side of the hobby.
As the years went by I became good friends with the founder of MW, Duncan Macfarlane. I always told him about how that photo of the Balrog got me into historical wargames, he'd reply with a nod.
When he passed away 2 years ago, it fell to myself and Dan of Wargames Illustrated to look after his interests as he had no kin. He'd already stated that his wargames collection was the property of WI, so Dan and I just went through it to see what was there and catalogue it. We got to the fantasy section and there was the Balrog!! I said to Dan 'you have to let me have this figure' and then we discussed how many times I'd mentioned the picture that got me into historicals to Dunc and he never once said 'Oh Yeah, still got that Balrog somewhere!!' Bless him. (we didn't come across any of the other miniatures in the photo BTW).

PS I'm still not sure if this was painted by John Blanche. He can't recall, it was a VERY long time ago. It doesn't look like the other stuff from that era Dunc had by him in his collection except for one big detail. That black base. The other fantasy figures are based on the same style bases.

[Old Hob]

It's a little smaller than I'd like

Depends which part of the miniature you're talking about 

But given that history, he has to be your go-to Gothmog, regardless of wings. What a wonderful thing to have in your collection.

[Mason]

A LotR project, eh?
I bet that is something that has been on the back burner for so many of us older gamers.
Mine has always threatened but never got very far.
I like what you have so far and your figure choices look great for the 1st Age.
 

Love the Balrog story too.
 

[nicknorthstar]

A LotR project, eh?
I bet that is something that has been on the back burner for so many of us older gamers.
Mine has always threatened but never got very far.
I like what you have so far and your figure choices look great for the 1st Age.
 

Love the Balrog story too.
 

Cheers!

[DivisMal]

The Balrog story was…legendary! Very much enjoyed it.
If you ever care to digitize your WAB armylists for ME, I would love to have a look. I’ve been tinkering and playing with this idea, even fought several battles, but never put the ideas down into lists.

[nicknorthstar]

The Balrog story was…legendary! Very much enjoyed it.
If you ever care to digitize your WAB armylists for ME, I would love to have a look. I’ve been tinkering and playing with this idea, even fought several battles, but never put the ideas down into lists.

They were in print back in the 90s, I could scan them. But they didn't all get into print, so some are lost to time.

[DivisMal]

They were in print back in the 90s, I could scan them. But they didn't all get into print, so some are lost to time.

Thanks. That would be very much appreciated!

PM sent.