DR Troop Types for LOTR

[Sunjester]

Nice one MamlukRaider, I have a bunch of those in my Elvish army, along with a load of the old Grenadier High Elves.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

MamlukRaider, I had seen the Ral Partha Elves but discounted them as looking too Dark Elvish and possibly too small.  Having another look at them, they are rather nice.

Sunjester, any chance of seeing your elves?  Also, if possible, could you manage a photograph of Grenadier and Ral Partha elves next to a more modern historical 28mm figure?

[Sunjester]

I'll see what I can do, but a lot of my gaming stuff is packed away in the loft whilst we undergo major house refurbishment.

[jamesmanto]

With reference to the figures mentioned earlier, it is my dearest wish that someone would produce a range of proper Dark Ages style 'High' Elves as hinted at in the Silmarilion - long mail hauberks, choice of round or long kite shield, spear or long sword armed... But most ranges either pander to GW WFB styles or LOTR movie styles or generic fantasy stereotype... *sigh*

How about these elves?
http://www.sgmm.biz/Bloody-Day-28mm-Fantasy_c_23.html

And the dwarves and orcs too?!

I've got some sample units coming so I don't know if the shields are cast on or separate yet. But I like the overall 'realistic' dark age look to the Elves, orcs and dwarves.

Great thread. Just starting to get into this myself. So lots of ideas.

[Vermis]

Realistic accoutrements are fine, it's the sculpting style that sends me to sleep. Did so back when they were sold by Vendel.

[jamesmanto]

I'm fine with the non exaggerated poses of them.
I find a lot of fantasy sculpts are trying too hard to be dramatic and they end up looking silly or they can't fit into a unit.

[Vermis]

Not so much the poses. (Not so much) I'm not looking for something with a Prince George stance or that looks like an AoS or Malifaux character, myself. It's the look of generic historicals - stumpy drainpipe limbs and mitten hands and all, skimmed over with relatively appropriate clothing. In this case the 'clothing' includes ocassional pointy ears and noses, squashing some a bit shorter, and a few 'angry' faces. That last thing alone might seem like a massive departure from historicals, but for me it's not enough to shake the impression that they're a bit workmanlike and phoned-in, rather than imaginative or evocative.

But don't take it too personally - most older sculpts (and, as mentioned, modern sculpts) that I consider for Middle-Earth gaming dissatisfy me in one way or another, being too staid, too crude, too 'fantasy', or too over the top. I'm a fussy bugger. And it's irritating because M-E gaming is something I'd very much like to dive into. I'm starting to think that since I can't find the type of minis I want (and moan about it), I need to step up to the plate and make some myself.