The Vale - A Journey in Worldbuilding Part Two

As I mentioned in the last post, most of the world-building for Alenostr was centered around The Vale, as it was where the player characters would start, and was the focus of the larger world story I wanted to tell and use as a guide for the characters actions. Of course, if they'd just up and left the area, I would've had to adjust, but that's the trick of setting up worthwhile tasks and compelling NPCs (and also trusting your players not to derail everything for no reason).

*** *** *** *** ***

The Vale, post-Rebellion

 

The Vale is an odd region, whilst nominally recognised as it’s own state, it was actually in fact a region of the Dwarven Empire up until the Ogre Rebellion just over two hundred years previously. Largely a human-settled region, it nonetheless also homed populations of dwarves, halflings and even ogres before the rebellion, and produced much of the food the empire required thanks to the Vale’s more fertile soil.

Geographically, The Vale is a pocket of land nestled between the Gallhyr Ranges and Troll Hills to the north and the Barrier Mountains to the south. Whitefish Bay borders the west, and Lake Djopr borders the east. Bisected by the River Dross, which feeds into the Many Mouths, it is an extremely fertile land, and so much of the land is used for farming crops or grazing cattle (cows, goats and predominately sheep).

The south of The Vale borders the old Dwarven Lands, now controlled by the Ogre Holdings. The northern border butts up against the more wild northlands, home to a number of barbarian tribes and ruins.

The capitol of Manheim lies almost centrally, north of the Silken Forest, with Leafton, which holds much of the halfling population to the north of that. Port Finnesheim lies in the far north-west, just below the Crescent Peaks. Kurzak-Hizarn, one of the few surviving dwarven mining towns sits deep in the Gallhyr Ranges. Some hundred years after the Rebellion, an Urdjan Academy, the second establishment of its kind, was founded in the north-east. In recent times, a small village has also popped up in the shadow of the Barrier Fort, which is colloquially known as Barton.Much of the rest of The Vale’s population is spread out amongst many farming towns and goat-herd cottages, as well as several fishing towns scattered up and down the coasts.

As a country, The Vale is largely a poor one, struggling in the wake of the Rebellion. It survives for the most part by trading in food products, but much of its money is tied up in defending Barrier Fort and the coasts from the ogres. It does trade in high-quality silks, but such items are rare and manufactured slowly.

The Vale is currently governed by Thane Efstein Valesborn, a distant ancestor of Bori Steelblade.

History

The Vale was founded and gifted to a force of humans and halflings who were also instrumental in allowing the dwarven army to finally trap and defeat the goblin horde of Grashnalak, at the Many Mouths. The human chieftain, Bori Steelblade, was granted title in reward, and allowed to preside over the area north of the Barrier Mountains, where the inhabitants of the Vale prospered for centuries.

During the rebellion, whilst the Vale’s military was able to deal with the Enchantress’ forces within their borders, they were stymied at the mountain pass and Border Fort by a goblin and ogre force and unable to do much to effect the war. They were able to later hold the pass against the Enchantress’ army with the help of a small dwarven refugee force, but it is likely were it not for the favourable terrain, the Vale would’ve also been lost.

Key Areas

Manheim

Manheim, also known as Kirzak-Mirgar in Dwarven, has always been the capital of The Vale, spreading out from where Steelblade built his hall upon a tall hill in the bend of River Dross. The city guards the main bridges allowing passages north and west over the river. Like many dwarven cities, it also holds a large temple to Fyordin and Donaria, although a number of smaller shrines to other gods are present. A temple to Halja, and its attendant graveyard and barrows is situated on the north side of the Dross.

As the capitol, naturally the city is large and fairly metropolitan, with entire districts populated by halflings and dwarves. The riverside holds a large number of warehouses and markets, serviced by barges. Finally, a large training barracks covers the the southern gate.

Notably, Manheim is also home to the Freelancer's Guild hall. The Freelancers are a mercenary band mainly, but one that also provides craftsmen, and most of it's work comes from supporting the interests of The Vale and it's military.

 

Finnesheim

Ruled by Lady Larensine Ranasholt, Finnesheim is The Vale's second city and its main port into Whitefish Bay. It is home to the Finnesheim Library, which houses a several underground laboratories used by mages and druids for research. The city is guarded by the famous Mariners, a port police unit that expanded into a citywide militia.

The Church of Rana, who presides over the sea is central to the city.

A Druid's circle, cared for by local practitioners and envoys from the Elves, sits on the outskirts of the town.

 

Leafton

A largely Halfling population runs many of the The Vale's breweries, including the important Golden Bee Meadery, which also collects valuable Queen's Honey for use in potion making.

Leafton's lord, Lord Halfred Pinehill, is known for championing Buckhorn, a newly created whiskey.

Barton

Part shanty town, part barracks. Barton sprung up after the fall of the Dwarven Kingdoms in order to service the need for a much larger and more permanent garrison.

The General of the fort, Lord Svienmar Groven, is responsible for administering the town, though he has a light hand as his attention is focused on the defence and garrisoned troops. 

Djoside

A small sleepy fishing town in the north east of The Vale, sitting on the banks of lake Djopr. It is notable for bordering the Vala Woods, source of many witch stories, and for the Lord of the area, Belias Ironwood, going missing years ago, shortly followed by his wife after their son died in a battle near Barton. As such, the Ironwood Manor now lies empty.

 

Apolberge

Home to the Apolsede family who look over a small number of farms in the south east. A larger number of goatherds are present here, using the lower mountain slopes as grazing land.

 

Urdjan College

The second of the three colleges within Alenostr, built one hundred years after the Ogre Rebellion. The Headmaster of this college is the second of the three brothers and works quite closely with the Thanes of The Vale towards protecting the borders. They are heavily responsible for patrolling the Underroad, a old tunnel burrowed beneath the mountains in the east that was partially collapsed and destroyed during the Fall.

 

The Many Mouths

Site of the battle that led to the founding of The Vale, the estuaries of the River Djopr have become a vast swamp infested with undead. It is dotted with lost villages and blanketed in heavy mists, and there are rumours of an old necropolis at its centre. 

 

Lake Djopr

The lake forms a natural border between The Vale and the Northlands, and is used by the Vale partly for fishing and partly as a trade route into the north, as the free town of Crossing lies on the far shore.

 

Silken Forest

A small forest in the south-west that is home to numbers of giant spiders, whose webbing is harvested for use in weaving of high quality clothing that is traded across Alenostr.

A Trip to the Storage Unit for Reinforcements

With some free time this week I figured I'd take a trip down to my storage unit, which has been sat untouched for nearly three years at this point. I knew for sure I'd have a bunch of MESBG models sitting in there, as back in the day I had at least 500pt forces for Minas Tirith, Wood Elves and Easterlings, with a bunch of miscellaenous models courtesy of random allies and the BGiME magazine.

What I found essentially a pile of broken models, and in much lower quantity than expected. I don't recall what happened to most of the models, possible misfortune with house moves and the like. In fact, most of what I found was my Warhammer 40k Orks in huge quantities. Disappointing, but there's enough here that with some repairs, I can kickstart some allied forces for both Rohan and Mordor... maybe.

 

Minas Tirith

 

Not a single plastic Warror here has an intact weapon, which is crazy. Not a great loss, as I do have a sprue of of them (not pictured) ready for assembly, but they might suffice as a base for building up some Osgiliath Veterans. Nicely, there is also a fresh sprue of Knights as well, supported by an older metal knight and a banner. With some repairs and extra horses, that gives me a nice heavy cavalry unit.

Other notable survivors are the Fountain Court and Citadel Guardsmen. These need som heavy cleaning, but I can rescue one FC and three Citadel quite easily. Replacement weapons would be needed for the rest. The headless FC Guard (I have no idea) might be good fodder for a character conversion.

There's also three heavily damaged Rangers, which I'll likely toss for the new plastics, and the crew of the Avenger Bolt Thrower, minus the actual siege engine.

 

Wood Elves (Lothlorien)

 

 

Another bunch of weaponless plastic warriors, aside from on plucky spearmen. 

 

On the metal side, two each surviving Galadhrim swordsmen and archers, plus a banner is great, as I love these models and missed the recent limited run. Two more of each, if they can be repaired, would be a nice start if I add in Haldir.

Rounding these guys up is a Wood Elf Captain and a pair of Sentinels.

Easterlings

Not one to buck a trend, the Easterlings also lack a single weapon, which has been extended to the metal models as well. A shame, as I'd love a phalanx of these golden warriors supporting my Mordor force.

Two Khandish axemen, but no sign of the six horseman I used to have, though three of the Easterling Kataphrakts survived with heavy damage.

Oddly, there are also a pair of Haradrim, possibly coming from my brother's collection.

 

Mordor

Though not sizeable, I remember having far more Mordor than pictured here. A handful of damaged Orcs, and three warg riders (one metal, one plastic, one warg-less), was not it. The old Grishnakh is nice though.

Additionally, there is Khamul, though it would've been nice to have his horse.

I threw in the miscellaenous Moria Goblin and pair of Uruk-hai too, but I doubt these will see use.

 

Heroes

Few in number, but I'm quite happy to have these. Saruman doesn't fit anywhere, but I appreciate having the model. Likewise for the old metal mounted Gandalf the White. Next to him is the most mangled Boromir, Captain of the White City model I've ever seen. 

Then we have not one, but two Aragorn. The is Helm's Deep vairant, missing his arms and crudely outfitted with a cloak by a younger me. The other is the luckiest find of all. Breaking of the Fellowship Aragorn is my favourite version of him, and I'd been bemoaning the rarity (and subsequent high prices on eBay) of this model. And here he was chilling in storage, completely forgotten about. I'll be repairing him up for sure.

Rounding out the group is Khazad-Dum Gandalf the Grey, another great sculpt, and the original Fellowship Merry, who is perfect for Rohan despite not being armoured.

 

All in all, not the best haul considering what I used to have, but decent in a few ways. I think with Green Stuff and plasticard I should be able to repair a bunch of these, though many will be resigned to casualties for bases and objective markers. If you have any suggestions at, please pop them in the comments.

Thanks, and see you next time!
 

Rohan Update

It's been a little time since I last updated this, so I figured I do a progress update for the Rohirrim. Whilst not the only thing I've been working on (due to my concurrent Mordor army), progress has been slow. I vastly prefer the building and converting side of things over painting, but I do like to see the finished things assembled and painted. 

(The Army List for the above can be found in this post)

First thing I did were the King's Huntsman and the Outriders. This allowed me to practice my rusty skills a little, and I experimented with injected some extra red into the colour scheme. I knew I wanted the helmet tassels to be red, so it would help to tie to the scheme together to have some more. A red tint to the leathers seemed a good idea. The Huntsman lacks this red, though I may go back and redo the underclothes to be red rather than green to tie him to his unit.

For the cloaks I went back to one of my favourite ways to paint a weathered green, which I got from my first ever copy of White Dwarf (Issue 291). A Tale of Good and Evil documented the simultaneous building of Gondor and Mordor forces by a couple of writers, and the scheme was used for the Rangers of Ithilien. Using the then new Catachan Green paint (now renamed to Castellan Green), with highlight using mixes of Graveyard Earth (Steel Legion Drab) and Bleached Bone (Ushabti Bone). I've used the scheme multiple times for Rangers and Rohirrim, so bringing it back for Rohan's scouts made sense.

Next up was the four Riders. I wanted to clearly separate them colour-wise from the Outriders, to ensure the latter stood out, so here I tried an idea I'd seen on another blog. Instead of painting green, paint grey and stain green. After a big of experimentation, I went for a light grey, stained it with Agrax Earthshade, then with Biel-tan Green. This did tend to be a touch light and a bit too clean for me, so I did end up bringing the Castellan Green back as a drybrush. When I do Riders again, I will likely look at using a darker grey base. as currently I'm using a fairly light Administratum Grey. I do want to test a grey-brown like Steel Legion Drab instead however.

So Theoden and the Royal Guard are all that's left to go. I'll be looking to use a more royal green for the Guard's cloaks, though there should likely be some weathering done using Castellan Green to subtly tie them to other two cloak types. 

To make the Royal Guard a little bit more special, I've also converted two of the horses. For MESBG, there are only two official horse poses for your rank and file troops. They come in two halves that can be swapped, so that's technically four poses, but for an all-Cavalry army as Rohan tends to be, despite the hero horses, you will end up with a tonne of similarly posed horses before long. To help alleviate this, I chopped and swapped the heads of the two basic horses. It required a touch of green-stuff, but it helps diversify the force a little more than simply painting will.

The Future!

So naturally I've already started thinking about future expansions. The easiest addition will be another three Outriders, maxing out the Huntman's Warband. I painted a fourth archer alongside the other three, so grabbing a pack of the official metal models will be the simplest addition.

The astute amongst you will notice I've mentioned Deorwine's shield a few times, as the basis for those held by my Royal Guard, so I will be adding him in too as a third warband. This will almost definitely require more Royal Guard, but I like them a lot as a unit, so that's not a bother.

Finally, I recently picked up this particular Royal Guard model, whose long spear lends itself far too well to holding a banner. Theoden has been riding too long without being heralded, so he'll get that in the expansion to help those charges hit home.

Hopefully won't take too long. Of course, I still need to finish up Mordor too!

Alenostr - Journey in Worldbuilding Part One

Alenostr is my original setting I built for D&D. It was built from an initial source of inspiration that combined three things; Final Fantasy 8's SeeD Gardens, Skyrim's general landscapes and feel, and aspects of Ogres and the world from one of the Dragonlance spin-off books, The Messenger. There's possibly some Game of Thrones in here too, with the Undead that show up. From all of this it became an ice-and-snowbound continent in the southern hemisphere, populated by Ogres, Dwarves and Humans, with Elven Enclaves from across the seas, Goblin Tribes living under the rule of the Ogres, and smaller colonies of Gnomes and Halflings mixed in for good measure. Orcs also feature heavily, as a powerful lost civilisation that once ruled a large portion of the continent, and the cycle of the rise and fall of empires has seen the Dwarves recently lose their own, overthrown by the Ogres, once vassals of the Dwarves but stirred to action by the mysterious Ogress known as the Enchantress.

It is a deeply magical land. Some areas have a noticeable aura of magical energies, sometimes manifesting into crystalline chunks known as Magicite. The forests of the region hold many magical creatures, as well as a high number of Dryads and other nature spirits that call to Elf and Druid alike, but are threatened by an ancient Witch and a coven of Vampires. The two are antithesis too the other almost.

Undead creatures stalk the underground areas heavily, many gathered around a Necropolis buried within a swamp near the borders of The Vale. Such is the regularity of spirits manifesting in the region, three Elven brothers set up a school each to train and equip a force of Paladins known as the Urdjan Knights to combat the more dangerous spirits and lay to rest those that are lost.

More mundane affairs also keep tension high in the region. The new Ogre Empire seeks to destroy the Vale to complete their conquest of the old Dwarven Lands. The Dwarven Remnant themselves are on a constant war footing, and their Ironclads regularly see combat with Ogre Galleons in Whitefish Bay. The Vademorian Empire and Odagard stand in an flimsy cease-fire presided over by the Elves. The barbarian Human Tribes of the North West raid both The Vale and Odagard looking for resources unavailable on the tundra of their homelands. Human and Halforc Steppe Tribes similarly assail Vademor from the North.

Above it all the Gods of Dwarf and Ogre drive their subjects forwards, and the Orc Gods of old are stirring once more. Darker, more primordial forces lurk at the edges of it all.

*** *** *** *** ***

Story-fied Dream I Had One Time

"A few nights ago I had this really vivid dream that did the unusual thing of sticking around in my memory. The whole thing was ridiculously intriguing. I wish I could paint a picture of what I saw, but I'll use words instead..."

I had this dream about 18 months ago now, and it's something I'd really like to work into a novel or D&D campaign someday. 

Enjoy!

*** *** *** *** ***

I lowered myself down the rope onto the small rowboat, sitting down opposite the prisoner. He didn't react, or move at all, and just watched me blankly, cradling a bowl of food in his hands. It was a simple meal, baked fish and dried biscuit, what was left of a meal being prepared in the galley when we took the ship.

Incidentally, the Captain had found the prisoner alongside it. He had been the ship's cook, evidenced by the filthy linen apron he still wore.

I didn't like the Captain. He had spotted the small merchant vessel in the distance and moved to intercept it under the cover of night. His ship, supposedly a pilfered naval frigate was more than a match and we outnumbered them three to one. It could've been a simple robbery, but now a dozen innocent men lay bleeding out on the decks just so the Captain become a Commodore.

When the cook had been tossed out onto the deck, I had jumped in a made a case for his life before he could be skewered. There was a small island nearby, he could be dropped off and perhaps rescued later by another merchant ship.

The Captain's cruelty knew no bounds however, and he broke the Cook's leg with a vicious stomp. The snapping sound made my teeth grind even as the Cook screamed. Then, his bloodlust seemingly sated for now, the Captain ordered a dinghy lowered into the water so I could transport the prisoner to the island.

It was easy to see his intent, both ships would be underway before I was even halfway. The Captain had enough of me, I questioned his orders too much, and often deliberately complied in a fashion that ignored the intent but not the word. This was fine with me though, it was time I moved on anyway.

The Cook was then unceremoniously dropped into the dinghy, further breaking his leg so that bone now protruded through skin and muscle and cloth. He wouldn't survive the island now.

With one final glance up at the ship, the Captain standing there with a smug smirk on his face, I took the oars and began to row away. The crew jeered and whistled, but I ignored them and the Cook just wept.

I would have to take him with me I realised. Although he wouldn't be able to go the whole way, it would improve his odds. Time was funny in that place.

The island came into view shortly, and in the dark I could see a small layer of morning mist beginning to grow on the western shore. It was just what I needed, so I steered the boat towards it. As the mist slowly enveloped us, I locked the oars and allowed the small boat to float with the tides. The Cook stared at me confusedly, so I gave him a wry smile and closed my eyes.

I could not explain how it worked, a moment of thought, or meditation, or prayer perhaps, but the mist swirled over us and we moved between one place and the next in a heartbeat.

We were no longer in the open ocean but instead a canal, straight as an arrow and reaching out forward and back as far as the eye could see. Cushioned between red-and-grey brick walls, the water was clear black, making it impossible to see the bottom and instead reflecting the mist around us in a perfect mirror. It perfect width for our dinghy, and even at full extension the oars would not catch on the walls, but then it always was. Dinghy or yacht or cruise ship, no matter the vessel, the canal would accommodate it perfectly.

It was the sky that took my breath away though. The mist pervaded everywhere, never revealing the path more than one hundred strides away. It was not any mere mist however, the silvery-grey lines were there of course, but mixed in with greens and blues and purples. Endlessly swirling, endlessly dancing, the palette reflecting a lighter version of Van Gogh's night sky combined with the Aurora Borealis. Stars moved through it all, carried on the currents, twinkling beautifully in silvers and golds. I fancied they chased each other through the beautiful chaos.

Soon, I heard an engine, and glanced at the road beside the canal. It was time to leave. I stood, and the cook looked worried.

"Good luck," I said, sincerely. "In time, you might find your way out, or find a friend who can show you. You'll be safe until then."

Before he could answer, I leaped ashore. He stammered but was soon too far away to hear. I didn't lie to him, he wouldn't die here. Years could pass with it only being a few minutes from his perspective, and sooner or later he'd be free. I could've freed him myself, but I only had payment for one.

Pausing, I reached out a hand and beckoned one of the stars. It floated down serenely, alighting on my hand gently, a wisp of light no larger than a fingernail. I thought of my destination and it took off again, floating several steps ahead of me.

The engine I heard finally approached, and an open-topped bus came into view. I jumped aboard as it passed, the passengers to in awe to notice one extra. The wisp moved to stay in front of me.

I travelled this way for some time, alighting at certain junctions as the wisp moved to follow a different path from my vehicle. The bus became a horse and wagon, which in turn became an 40's era automobile, then the trailer of an AI-driven HGV.

My journey came to an end at what looked to be a simple tollgate. I paused there for a moment, glancing back through mists I'd come through. Already it just looked like a simple gravel path, no sign of any vehicle or even the canal I'd entered on. I'd been at this spot so many times, leaving behind one world and entering another.It was rare the gravity of it hit me. Wherever I'd been, whatever connections I made, they would all just be memories now. It was near impossible to follow the paths back to a place you wanted to go, only the tollbooth was a constant, and that was merely to guarantee my safety.

This last world had been less than agreeable, but I'd still made friends. I'd never see them again. Them and several hundred others, lost to the mists. Worse, there were worlds out there with people I loved, not least of which was home... wherever that was.

It didn't take a hundred worlds to feel small and alone. Took barely even a dozen. How long would it take to start forgetting faces or voices? Already I wonder how much I remember is mere idealisation. Too perfect versions of people I miss the most, all the edges filed off to give me that extra bump of hope to keep going and maybe see them again. I could stop, of course. Choose a world and settle down, but it never felt quite right. Could be my attachment to Home, to people I've not seen in years, to love that might only exist in my own heart...

It was times like this that you realise how quiet the world is. There was nothing but the sound of my own breath, not even an echo.

Eventually, I turned back to the tollbooth.Within sat a robed and hooded figure with skeletal hands. He, or she, was nearly eight feet tall, and held out a hand to me wordlessly. I placed in it a single copper piece, perfectly made, and left The Road. Onto the next great adventure.

The Second Royal Guard

Let me preface this one by saying I'm by no means an expert and the images below should clarify that. Before this week I haven't even worked with Green Stuff for around 6-7 years and I was no master sculptor back then either! This all takes a lot of time, patience and a steady hand. Good tools and a good work area help, but practice makes perfect and there are plenty of tutorials online!

I was happy enough with the first Royal Guard that I figured I go a little bit more in-depth with the second here, as my method differs from the inspiration as mentioned in the previous blog. As I'm looking for variety in my Royal Guard, I went with this Rider next:

A lot less preparation work went into this one. The previous rider saw me remove the upper arms entirely, as well as the shield boss, and bow and quiver from the riders back. This time I kept the rider's arms, and merely shaved down the shoulders a little.

Step one was simple, as the rider's helmet lacked a crest, I added one with green stuff. The main difficulty here was shaping it and keeping it flush with the centreline of the helmet. An alternative method would be to simply precut a piece and glue it once hardened.

Then I added the collar. A simple semi-circle from shoulder-to-shoulder, which I then pressed a couple of lines into for the detail.

Pauldrons were next. For these I took a wedge-shape of greenstuff, thinner at the bottom, and applied it to the rider's shoulder. Then I pressed into it to create the separation of the plates, and pressed in the edges. The previous model I did each plate individually, but this was much quicker and less fiddly.

Once the pauldrons were done, I added a small circle of greenstuff to each end of the collar, overlapping slightly with the top plate, to represent the cloak clasps. 

Onto the back next. Step one was simply repairing the damage to the back where the bow and quiver used to be. I didn't go too crazy with the folds, just ensuring that they followed the sweep of the existing cloak. Then, I took a triangle of greenstuff to create the hood, pushing the ends over the shoulders to meet the clasps. A line was also scored in to show the trim.

A smaller square was added next, pushed up to the rim of the helmet, then dotted to give the appearance of chainmail.

Finally, the horsehair plume was added over all of this. A simple teardrop shape of greenstuff that I drew lines into slowly to give the appearance of flowing strands. This can be awkward to do and I'm not happy with this one as it's easily the worst plume I've done on the models so far, so it may get redone.

And that's it!

After this it's a simple matter of attaching the spear arm and a press-molded shield. I've done very simple and amateurish green-stuff molding here, so I'd recommend checking Youtube for proper tutorials from actual experts if you want to do the same.

My D&D Characters in MESBG

Even as a kid I wanted to see the Heroes of my own imagination represented on the Tabletop. I remember making my own "Fellowship" that included a couple of Dunedain and some Dwarves and an Elf (no Hobbits though), they all followed in the trail of the real Fellowship, fighting through Moria and eventually heading up north to Mirkwood and entering the Defence against Sauron's assaults there and at Erebor. When I started playing MESBG, it seemed only natural I would give them their own statlines so I could include them on the tabletop.

Those characters are lost to time, but as I read through the new rulebook I realised I could do the same against for my D&D characters when I read the entry for the spell Nature's Wrath.

The statlines below were designed to be reasonable, and create mid-tier Heroes. They won't be fighting off the likes of Aragorn or Sauron, but they can stand alongside the calibur of Eomer and Lurtz and hold their own. The points values were decided using the chart for determining your Battle Company's Rating from the Battle Companies book, with minor adjustments to balance against existing Heroes (for example, that chart would have Axel cost the same as Gimli, despite being statted slightly weaker).

To actually be used in a game, they should be considered as part of the Wanderers in the Wild list.

So without further ado!

Conversions - Royal Guard and Outriders

 

Rohan Royal Guard and Outriders are metal models, which translates to them being fairly pricey. Whilst I will be purchasing a few just to own the official models, for variety and to save my wallet a little, I wanted to convert my own. With the models included in the starter box, and another sprue each of Warriors and Riders I'd ordered, I would have more than enough spares.

The idea was helped along by HobbyMachine's own conversions (found here), so I used their process as the basis for my own.

This Rider here has the closest armour and helmet to the Royal Guard.

All he is missing is the hood and collar, the shoulder pauldrons, detail on the arm guards, helmet plume and shield. I took to him with the clippers, shaving back the cloaked shoulders, and also removing the bow and quiver from his back, as Royal Guard do not get bows.

Then it was time to apply greenstuff to add in the missing details. I did this in several sessions, to avoid smooshing previous work and build up in places where details sit on top of each other. Considering I haven't worked with Greenstuff in a good few years, it's not the worst thing I've ever done and hopefully the paint job will help it look the way it should.

              

My one problem is the shields. As I don't yet have any of the official models, I used the next best thing and tried to cast my own from Deorwine's shield. My inexperience with casting ended up with this rather large and bulky shield, evidently Deorwine is a slightly different scale.

I'll have to give this another go, but it might have to wait until I can get some of the metal Royal Guard. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thankfully, the Outriders are much more forgiving, a simple plume on the helmet will do the trick, as I'm not trying to emulate their fancy helmets. I'll be painting them differently to help them stand out as "not-Warriors".

Until next time!

EDIT:

I think the biggest issue with the shields is thus:

A standard Rider's shield is on the left. The one I used for the casting is on the right, and the size is incredibly apparent.

The Other Tabletop Game I Play

The other Tabletop game I really enjoy is Fantasy Flight's Star Wars X-Wing. Who doesn't love Star Wars, after all?*

Unlike MESBG these models come prepainted and assembled, so customisation here is really optional. The game is truly well put together and fun to play. There's a Second Edition out now that I'd missed, but the boxed set is on the way so I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

My collection for it so far is small and humble, but naturally I do have plans to expand.

The Millennium Falcon

2x X-Wings (Can be piloted by Luke, Biggs, or Wedge or basic pilots)

1x Y-Wing

TIE-Advanced (Can be Darth Vader or basic pilots)

3 TIE Fighters

To add to this, I currently have on order:

The Second Edition Box (1 X-Wing and 2 more TIEs)

1x TIE-Reaper

1x ARC-170 Bomber

I'll likely add a few TIE Interceptors and an A-Wing or two. A TIE Bomber wouldn't go amiss either, though it would be nice to get some non-TIE variance in the collection at some point, the Imperial's will look pretty impressive with them all lined up. 5 TIE Fighters might not seem like a lot of variation, but I love the idea of having a swarm of the things. You can also stock them up with more elite pilots to level the playing field if the Rebels larger ships seem to be causing too much trouble.

I would also love to get hold of a LAAT-i Dropship. Dunno why but it's one of my favourite ship designs.

Catch you next time, and may the Force be with you!

*Fools, that's who.

The First Army Lists of 2020

So for both Rohan and Mordor, with the contents of the Starter box (see my previous post), I could just assemble the lot a call it a start. It would look something like this:

Rohan - Total: 456pts*

• Theoden, with Armoured Horse, Heavy Armour and Shield - 100pts
• 8 Riders of Rohan - 112pts
• 4 Riders of Rohan, with Throwing Spears - 64pts
• 6 Warriors of the Dead, with Shields - 90pts
• 6 Warriors of the Dead, with Spears - 90pts

Mordor - Total: 496pts

• The Witch King, with Armoured Fell Beast - 140pts**
• Mordor Troll - 100pts
• 16 Morannon Orcs, with Shields - 128pts
• 16 Morannon Orcs, with Spears - 128pts

* The Warriors included in the box are not in the list as they would be required should the Riders get unhorsed.

**This is the minimum points version of the Witch King for simplicity, he has a tonne of upgrades in reality.

Now these lists are fine enough, at least for casual games, or narrative games like recreating the Pelennor Fields. However, these lists are imbalanced, come to odd points values in the case of Rohan, and in the current set of rules, illegal. The new rules are built around Hero-led Warbands, with hard limits on the maximum number of standard warriors that can accompany each hero (varying between heroes). Additionally, the Warriors of the Dead are not part of the Rohan Army list, and could only ally in with one of their own Heroes leading them, in this case The King of the Dead, and both forces would lose their army bonuses unless Aragorn was present also, as they would count as "Impossible Allies".

Of course, I could fluff it. Proxy in some of the Warriors or Orcs to act as the King or Orc Captains...

That would be the boring way to do it.

I need customisation, I need to cut up some plastic and bend it to my will... also, I could probably do with some structure. To this end, I've decided to put together simple 300pt value lists that will force me to do a little remodelling, include some new stuff I've never used before, and importantly give me an achievable goal that doesn't require me assembling and painting nearly 100 models. Once this batch is complete, I will up the points value to 500, and build upon each force. But here are what I've decided on for now.

Intro Two - D&D Boogaloo

The second focus of this blog will likely be D&D. I got into D&D around the time I fell out of Tabletop Wargaming funnily enough, and it wasn't via Critical Role, as many a current player can likely attest to. Instead for me it was a mix between Rollplay, another Youtube/Twitch show that predated CR, and one of the Penny Arcade live shows for Acquisitions Inc (I think it was Patrick Rothfuss' first showing).

Of course, I'd seen the D&D movie already, and read not only the original Dragonlance trilogy, but also the followup trilogy featuring the Majere brothers, and many of the spinoffs, prequels and sequels to the series. Without even realising it, I was well entrenched in the mythos of D&D, so when bored one night I started looking for how I could play myself.

I got incredibly lucky with Roll20. I joined exactly one game, and that lasted for over 3 years and led into multiple other games with much of the same group. I even ran a good few sessions myself. We played using the AD&D First Edition rules, with a few house-rulings, but for a new guy the group was welcoming, and the setting incredibly compelling. Mormon matriarchal space dwarves, trans-dimensional dragons, power armour and a tropical setting seem non-typical and "out-there" but the presentation made it all work and we were hooked and always ready for the next Wednesday night when we could play again.

It was such a great experience that I've immortalised my original character, a dwarven fighter called Axel, in model form. My other character from that campaign, a druid called Canis, got re-imagined into the new game we're playing (run by Follow Me and Die, see the link to his top-notch work in the sidebar!), a frontier spanning game with ancient temples sealing a powerful necromancer and Vikings with sand-ships!

Axel Rhom'khul - My Original Dwarf Fighter. Canis will be getting a model too.

So how will D&D appear on this blog? I will likely go through my experiences firstly, I've played a mix of 1e and 5e, enough that I have my own thoughts and even house-rulings for each. Perhaps few posts for fun sessions I play, and will likely do a series covering my own setting, Alenostr, in an effort to flesh it out and finish that project properly.

Alenostr is an ice-and-snowbound southern continent, with games set shortly after the fall of the Dwarven Empire, overthrown by their own Ogre vassals under the leadership of the mysterious Ogress known as the Enchantress. It features pervasive magic, fallen Orc civilisations, necromancer Vampires and school's for ghost-busting Paladins! I'm really looking forwards to returning to development for it.

That's where I'll leave this post. I hope it's entertaining for you all!

Introductions - A Return to the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game

So here it is! A blog!

I've considered making a blog for many years about various things, but with 2020 being what it is, I've found more time for two hobbies that have a lot of crossover. That is, D&D and Tabletop Wargames, with the latter more specifically being Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game (which I've learned these days is called Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game).

I fell off of the Games Workshop hobby a good 6 or 7 years ago, after a stint in Warhammer 40k. There, I played Orks, which was a great army to play for all sorts of conversion and customisation opportunities. But inevitably, with minimal time to play, minimal funds and minimal motivation, it got put aside and many of models were sold off. 40k was a cool game, but I think the problem was that it wasn't The Lord of the Rings. 

It was LotR that got me into the hobby in the first place. I'd read the trilogy at the tender age of 10 or so, and the game and Peter Jackson movies came not long after this. It was prime timing! Games Workshop also partnered with Deagostini, known for many a weekly/monthly subscription magazine, to release a LotR magazine that provided models, paints and taught your the rules over several months. Long term subscribers would find themselves with small armies for every faction, the full Fellowship of the Ring, and numerous supporting characters both Good and Evil.

I was one such subscriber, but unfortunately time and younger siblings mean I have very few remaining, and what does sits likely damaged and badly painted in a box in a storage unit miles away.

However! It is seems the game had a resurgence over recent years, and although you can no longer walk into the local Games Workshop store (now renamed Warhammer store) and see the collection of LotR boxes, they are still available on the online store, including several Forgeworld models, or from Independant Hobby stores. It is from here I dived back into the hobby with The Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

As starting points go, at least for a returning player, this box is absolutely fantastic. 

From what I remember, you never got this level of contents in the old starter boxes. Firstly, the rules book. Instead of a cut down, simplified "mini-booklet", they provided the full 200 page hardback rules manual for the latest edition. The only thing missing from this book is army profiles, though there is a small booklet that covers the models included in the box. A downside for sure, as expansion would require the purchase of another two books (one for LotR era armies, another for The Hobbit era), but this is Games Workshop after all!

Aside from the book, you also get dice (great since I'm a D&D player, just a shame there's only D6s!), tokens for marking conditions and statuses for models, and a stylised measuring ruler for each faction.

But the models, the models are where it really shines. Old starter sets came with a handful of models, usually a dozen or so warriors for Good and Evil each. This one comes with over three dozen for each side, the individual pricings for which would be well over double the cost of the box alone.

Representing the side of Good is Rohan, led by King Theoden himself. This model is a new plastic sculpt that didn't exist when I played before, and is one of the most stunning and well made models GW has done in my opinion. The old Theoden model was metal, and whilst it was detailed, it was fairly static and stiff-looking. I'm very much looking forwards to painting this up.

Old (Left) vs New (Right)

Following Theoden is 12 Riders of Rohan, these are the classic models and essentially two sets of the 6 variants. There are also 12 Warriors of Rohan, but foot soldiers tend to be rare on the tabletop outside of Helm's Deep recreations, and will often be relegated as replacements for when the Riders have their horses shot out from beneath them. The final set contingent is 12 Army of the Dead, which I believe normally can't be fielded without Aragorn or at least their King, but it's a cool inclusion and another example of previously metal models being reproduced as great plastic sets.

The opposition is a little more simple, but includes two great models. The mainstay of the forces of Evil are 36 Morannon Orcs, who bear better armour and hit harder than the standard Orcs, as these are Gothmog's elite forces. Supporting them is no less than a Mordor Troll, a beast that could likely smash its through most of the Rohirrim forces solo, especially if fielded as a Chieftain. I never owned any of the larger monsters Middle Earth had to offer, they were too expensive for me back then, but now I don't get just one, but two!

As leading the Evil side is none other than the Witch King himself! And he comes on a Fell Beast, another expensive model I never expected to own back in the day.

Who needs horsemen when you have a flying mount?

This is the second model I'm looking forwards to putting together, because the Witch King is metal as heck.

So I'm throwing myself back into the hobby full speed, and will be constructing both Rohan and Mordor armies in parallel. With luck, I can entice my siblings into playing a few games whilst I look to see what the local scene offers (all depending on the old pandemic going around of course!). To this end, I've already purchased more Riders, the Forgeworld rendition of Deorwine, Captain of the Royal Guard, and some Warg Riders. I've also got plans for a conversion or twenty, naturally.

Future posts will go over the initial army lists, and progress for each one, and I'll look to expand each force in parallel, slowly building up the points levels, so consider subscribing and keep your eyes peeled for all that. I may also put together my painting and conversion processes, and if we're lucky, a battle report or two as I relearn the rules and hopefully claim victory.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!