Nick's 1st Age Project

[Grumpy Gnome]

So much to love in this thread! Inspirational work.

[blacksoilbill]

Those elves look very nice.

[Daeothar]

I can't get over the awesomeness and also utter silliness of that illustration.

Seriously; look at those walls, with parapets taller than the occupants and the impossibility to move that huge pile of artificial dragon even an inch closer to the walls (did they build it in situ? Obviously the elves would have been unaware, as they can't look over the walls! ).

I love it

[nicknorthstar]

Great project!

Lots of scope for 'heraldry' based on the baddie divisions you describe - wolf and dragon emblems, and so on.

Don't forget their heads and arms, though - you can make good use of those on goblin and dwarf bodies for that large-headed, ape-armed look.

Have you considered interpolating some of the earlier versions of the stories - like the mechanical dragons of The Book of Lost Tales? They're perhaps not congruent with the published Silmarillion, but they'd make a great modelling project!

You are right about mix and matching the kits. Kev Dallimore made Uruks using Oathmark Dwarf bodies with orc & goblin heads/ arms etc. Perfect, cus as we know, the very biggest orcs/ uruks were only man-high.

I'm not going to do the Gondolin regiments. Graham Green has done it, made a unit of all the Elves listed in the Early Gondolin story, fantastic work. I asked if he could leave me them in his will 
I really find it hard to visualise those mechanical monsters, the illustration isn't a good rep of them, if I recall they were serpent/ wyrm - like, and they reared up to disgorge the Orcs over the wall?
What I do like, and might take from the Lost Tales, is the sacking of Menegroth. Have you read that? A mixed force of Dwarves, small number of High Elf allies and Goblin mercenaries armed by the dwarves attack & sack the Wood-Elf kingdom. Brilliant.

[Aethelwulf]

I really find it hard to visualise those mechanical monsters, the illustration isn't a good rep of them, if I recall they were serpent/ wyrm - like, and they reared up to disgorge the Orcs over the wall?

The mechanical dragons crushed the walls, then when they where inside Gondolin the orcs came out of hatches in the dragons.

[Hobgoblin]

What I do like, and might take from the Lost Tales, is the sacking of Menegroth. Have you read that? A mixed force of Dwarves, small number of High Elf allies and Goblin mercenaries armed by the dwarves attack & sack the Wood-Elf kingdom. Brilliant.

Yes, indeed - and very Oathmark! I reread it last night - my decades-old memory of it was solely as the underpinning of that bit in The Hobbit where the narrator says that "wicked Dwarves" have sometimes made alliances with Goblins.

[steeldragon]

As I said, I not fully thought these through, but an example would be Saurons army The Balrogs would be another General type. They would include the biggest and best armoured Orcs, and the Troll Guards, along with maybe other lesser Maiar demon types.

A smaller just Orc army could be led by a lesser Maiar, in the Histories of Middle-Earth the notes suggest some famous Orc Captains are actually Maiar taking Orc form.

These are my first ideas, happy to hear peoples opinions.

You need to convince Joe to stat Balrogs and some lesser Maiar demons for Oathmark so I can plan my sixth army XD

Great models.

Andres

[nicknorthstar]

Yes, indeed - and very Oathmark! I reread it last night - my decades-old memory of it was solely as the underpinning of that bit in The Hobbit where the narrator says that "wicked Dwarves" have sometimes made alliances with Goblins.

He also says about the War of the Last Alliance that few Dwarves fought on either side. Either Side?! Sauron's Dwarves? He does say Durins folk only fought with the goodies.

[Daeothar]

So Tolkienesque Chaos Dwarves?

I never caught on to that one, but I suppose it makes sense somewhere; that goldlust can be manipulated easily enough I reckon.

I wonder if anyone ever gave any thought as to their looks...

[nicknorthstar]

I don't think they are necessarily dressed evil. In one of the Histories of Middle -Earth, all seven houses of the Dwarves are listed. Durins Folk are called Long beards, for obvious reasons, maybe some of the other houses have a specific look:
Longbeards, Durin's Folk, originally from Gundabad.
Firebeards and Broadbeams, originally from the Blue Mountains.
Ironfists and Stiffbeards, originated in the East.
Blacklocks and Stonefoots, originated in the East.

I've seen an illustration of the Blacklocks where they have ringed Assyrian-style beards, that was adopted for Chaos Dwarves I believe. Small group of Chaos Dwarves with your Sauron army it is then.

Gold-Lust. I picked up on a small writing about this in Tolkiens Histories of Middle-Earth. Part of the reason Morgoth was trapped in Angband, sat on his throne sending out his evil creatures to do his work was that he had poured so much of his power and malice into the substance of Middle-Earth to dominate it, he was weakened by it. Some substances took more of his malice than others, and one that particularly took more was gold.

It's a fascinating thought, that in Middle-Earth the lust for gold was partly because the substance itself has an evil and malice to it, perhaps that's why the One Ring was as strong as it was. 

[Daeothar]

That's some interesting info indeed.

I've always found the Assyrian look that GW first gave their Chaos Dwarves in the early nineties(?) very distinctive and characterful and it's my favourite rendition of them. Although one can assume any Middle Earthern ones would do with (slightly?) less ridiculous headgear

Considering a lot of Sauron's allies came  from the East and South, it's not beyond reason to assume dwarven allies, either believers or bought, would have an Eastern look to them and an Assyrian theme would be suitable here as well I reckon.

The notion that gold was tainted from the beginning actually makes sense and neatly explains the vile acts people would commit to obtain (or keep) it.

I really should pick up and read Histories of Middle Earth!

[nicknorthstar]

I really should pick up and read Histories of Middle Earth!

Beware, there's something like 12 books, and most are close to gobble-de-Asian. But there's some pure gems in there

[Daeothar]

I just looked them up and I've actually read The Book of Lost Tales way back in highschool, but I can't recall much of it. I suspect much of it went over my head at the time, as I'm no native English speaker.

But interest is now piqued, so I'll probably make the dive into this rabbit hole sooner rather than later... 

[nicknorthstar]

Two new photos of the latest Elves, the Noldor of Hithlum.

[LouieN]

Well done