Dol Guldur Rises

 "We could remain blind to it but it will not be ignoring us, that I can promise you. A sickness lies over the Greenwood. The Woodsmen who live there now call it Mirkwood. They speak of a Necromancer living in Dol Guldur, a sorcerer who could summon the dead."

I seem to take to building evil towers....should have that checked out... Here it is, in all of its glory, the finished Dol Guldur display board.

Many more photos and complete coverage of Bilbo's Birthday Bash will follow as it is this weekend, but this quick update should tease enough of you to come back for an in depth look at my armies, the castle, and the overall event.

Many references have been made of this project being FUBAD 2013. We came up with this at our last tournament. As hobbyists, we wanted to challenge ourselves and each other. We wanted to show case our terrain, conversions, painting, and going extreme. What follows represents the past seven months of work, cramming till 3am after working a regular 10 hour day, six days a week, and just crushing progress.

Freaking
Unbelievably
Big
Ass
Displays

I can honestly say that I have learned a lot of new paint techniques and styles that I never would have really improved upon had this not come along. 

Shall we ring the begin?

 You know what they say about billy goats and trolls under bridges....

A lot more in depth looks at individual models will follow but enjoy a couple of these close ups. I actually ran into an issue with space. Two feet by two feet just was not enough to convey the scale, engagement, or scene.

"Dol Guldur? But the old fortress is abandoned." ...

"No, Gandalf, 'tis not. A dark power dwells in there. Such as I have never felt before. It is the shadow of an ancient horror. One that can summon the spirits of the dead. I saw him, Gandalf, from out of the darkness. A Necromancer has come!"

 You are not prepared. FUBAD 2013

Red vs Blue

Part I: Red Death

"There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made. The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. And yet all this might have been endured, if not approved, by the mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood--and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror."  -Poe

Well, my continued new years resolution has been failing in getting more blog posts up, but it is about the quality not the quantity right? I hope this one does not disappoint.

 With the looming Bilbo's Birthday Bash Lord of the Rings tournament, I have revisited the Red Death.

Fans may remember these guys from last April when I first painted them up for Adepticon. I was under a bit more of a time restraint then and I wanted to go back and really spruce them up. So without further ado I am happy to remix.

 It was fun making the darks darker and lights lighter.

 The basing will also be added to once the display board gets up to snuff. Excitedly, that is next on the chopping block.

On the left is the updated army, with the right being the first coat basically.


Part II: Blue Steel

I give you, Blue Steel!

This guy is the Elrond conversion. I do not think anyone wakes up and thinks, "Gee I would love to spend $45 on 1 finecast model from Gamesworkshop...."

BLOG POLL: To the listeners, I have a question for you guys; my army list calls for a captain. Which pose do you think should be the captain? Vote now!

 

Found this on the world wide web, it was appropriately appropriate. 

The World of Men is Weak

"There's no strength left in the world of men"

Finished up a custom Elrond conversion. I know I may have said previously that the GW knight kit allows for this model, but I just wanted something with a little more armor... close to 9 models went into this armored tank. 

Base is just for standing, looks a little rough with the mix match of parts, but it flows nicely and is clean.

Just a quick update, but this was the start of our FUBAD project, lots of cutting, kicking, scraping, and drilling. 

 Wolf approved.

Knights of Rivendell

Adepticon is looming and there are a million things on my to do list but start is starting to materialize. I almost got aboard the excuse train and took it all the way to procrastination station. Thankfully stronger will prevailed and I am super excited how these knights of Rivendell came out and to have them done.

I kept with my original Elf paint scheme of "300" red. I have a large infantry contingent that began this spartan crimson concept a couple years ago.

I do not know how the future rules might change this army list, but as it stands it has Elrond, Lindir, and captains as options with cavalry as troop types.

The 600 point version clocks in at a low 17 models, so like always, I go into my games with a giant handicap. They are all bow armed per the army special rules so depending on who I am playing or what mood I am in I can always play the dink and dodge game if I really have to. Most times I will probably just be charging in and hoping natures wrath goes off.

Call me crazy but now that our local Bilbo's Birthday Bash has embraced 750 point games I will most likely be bringing my previous 8 converted knights to have an astonishing 25 model army! At least it will look cool....