Affordable Battle of the Five Armies? (12th July Lion Rampant Questions)

[fastolfrus]

For Bolg & Azog, why not try a conversion of something relatively cheap, perhaps a plastic Uruk Hai Beserker?

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Not Smaug, but I was given a Schleich "Hunter" dragon for Christmas.

Very impressive for 28mm - 23cm nose to tail, roughly 7cm tall at front/shoulder, 8cm tall at hip - absolutely huge for 15mm

I think the "Warrior" might make a good Smaug stand-in.

[FramFramson]

There are a couple of Tre Manor sculpted orcs in the reaper line which are pretty obviously based on Angus McBride illustrations done for ICE/MERP.

Example:

 

versus



Just search up Tre Manor (and black orcs) in the reaper catalogue.

[Doomrunner72]

This Reaper ogre is almost spot on for the Angus McBride illustration
https://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/ogre/latest/02325
there is a Smaug Action figure but it's hideous, and also U.S.
Only at the WB Shop
http://www.wbshop.com/product/mobile/the+hobbit-+the+battle+of+the+five+armies&trade-+smaug&trade-+large+scale+poseable+action+figure+hobbrfig20.do

[Vermis]

Angus McBride illustrations done for ICE/MERP.

http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pictures/fantasy/Tolkien/angus003.gif

Blimey. I would've taken that for a M-E troll.  

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I went into Zürich yesterday and bought the Schleich Dragon Fighter figure at Franz Carl Weber.
It cost CHF 30.  In Germany it is Euro 19.90 and £15 in the UK.
The figure is a good size for gaming although clearly more "Smaug the Practical" rather than Jackson's gigantic "Smaug the Magnificent".

Here is a comparison with the Thorin's company and a Balrog.


I will give him a repaint to match with my LOTR collection.
Mick

[FramFramson]

Blimey. I would've taken that for a M-E troll.  

It's possible you're right. Of course Angus depicted his orcs in various sizes. Some small and gobnlin-y, others closer to man size. Perhaps in Angus' head, goblins, orcs, and trolls are all on some sort of continuum.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Here is Smaug the Practical - not bad for about £20.
This is the Schleich Dragon Fighter repainted as a Red Dragon.  

I painted the whole thing in GW Scab Red, then GW Blood Red but it looked quite dull.
I damp brushed the highlights over the whole thing with Vallejo Sunshine Yellow and then repainted the highlights with dilute Blood Red.
To finish, I mixed some GW Rhinox Hide (Dark Brown) with a little of each red and diluted it to use as a final wash.

[Vermis]

The figure is a good size for gaming although clearly more "Smaug the Practical" rather than Jackson's gigantic "Smaug the Magnificent".

I dunno. It looks good to me. I'd call PJ's version more 'Smaug the Unwieldy'.

It's possible you're right. Of course Angus depicted his orcs in various sizes. Some small and gobnlin-y, others closer to man size. Perhaps in Angus' head, goblins, orcs, and trolls are all on some sort of continuum.

Fair point.

I enjoy Angus' historical illustration in Ospreys etc., but I haven't seen any of his LotR stuff besides this piece and the orc army - bandied about whenever Wargames Factory orcs are brought up. Any site or (easily available) book where I can have a good look at the rest?

[Doomsdave]

That dragon looks great.  Fits the part just fine.  I love toy bashing and will be using this idea.   Thanks!

[FramFramson]

I dunno. It looks good to me. I'd call PJ's version more 'Smaug the Unwieldy'.

Fair point.

I enjoy Angus' historical illustration in Ospreys etc., but I haven't seen any of his LotR stuff besides this piece and the orc army - bandied about whenever Wargames Factory orcs are brought up. Any site or (easily available) book where I can have a good look at the rest?

I'm not sure of a single site. There are a couple of books of his Middle Earth art, but they're by no means comprehensive. His LotR art was all done for the Iron Crown Enterprises RPGs, (MERP - Middle Earth Role Play), both cover art and some internal stuff. This art was later reused (he may have also done some additional original pieces - not sure) for ICE's Middle Earth: The Wizard CCG. That was an interesting game... a classic example of flavour over mechanics, so it was relentlessly complex and could take days to play. One of the most beautiful CCGs I've ever seen though, and I collected it mainly for that reason.

If I had to guess, I'd say he probably did a number in the low-to-middle hundreds?

At worst you can google image search "Angus McBride Middle-Earth" or similar things, but here's a small sample gallery I tripped over: http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Category:Images_by_Angus_McBride

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I have been playing Lion Rampant recently and really like the rules.
I think that they will be ideal for Battle of the Five Armies and The Battle of Pellennor fields.

I think it is easy to fit some troop types to Lion Rampant

e.g.
Dwarves as Expert Foot Sergeants
Elves as Expert Archers or Expert Foot Sergeants
Uruks Berserkers as Fierce Foot
Other Uruks as Foot Sergeants or Archers or Crossbowmen
Mordor Orcs as Foot Yeoman or Archers
Moria Goblins can be Serfs or Archers
Riders of Rohan as Mounted Sergeants
Men of Dale or Men of Minas Tirith as Foot Sergeants

I have no idea how to represent Gandalf, Ringwraiths, Trolls, Mamak, Fell Beasts etc
Does anybody have any ideas?

I know that I could wait for Dragon Rampant to come out at Christmas but I am impatient

Thanks Mick

[bandit86]

Hey Mick check out my post
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=80447.0
This would make a nice Smaug too.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

That is a very cool dragon. 
It was suggested at the very beginning of the thread and I think that a few people use it for Smaug.

[fastolfrus]

Here is Smaug the Practical - not bad for about £20.
This is the Schleich Dragon Fighter repainted as a Red Dragon.  

I've seen them in the UK for just £13 - although that was about 6 months ago.

[Hobgoblin]

I have been playing Lion Rampant recently and really like the rules.
I think that they will be ideal for Battle of the Five Armies and The Battle of Pellennor fields.

I think it is easy to fit some troop types to Lion Rampant

e.g.
Dwarves as Expert Foot Sergeants
Elves as Expert Archers or Expert Foot Sergeants
Uruks Berserkers as Fierce Foot
Other Uruks as Foot Sergeants or Archers or Crossbowmen
Mordor Orcs as Foot Yeoman or Archers
Moria Goblins can be Serfs or Archers
Riders of Rohan as Mounted Sergeants
Men of Dale or Men of Minas Tirith as Foot Sergeants

I have no idea how to represent Gandalf, Ringwraiths, Trolls, Mamak, Fell Beasts etc
Does anybody have any ideas?

I know that I could wait for Dragon Rampant to come out at Christmas but I am impatient

Thanks Mick

Books rather than films, but I had a discussion with Dan Mersey on his boards about how to represent the Isengard Uruk-hai here:

http://duxrampant.yuku.com/topic/350/The-Urukhai-of-Isengard-in-LionDragon-Rampant#.VaI8gc6przI

I think Dan's ideas for the Uruk-hai make a lot of sense.