Defenders of The Shire

Here they are, after several years of languishing and a few weeks of painting: my hobbits. On the one hand, I really look forwards to having a game with these little chaps, but on the other hand, every death will be an epic tragedy...

Here's what I painted this month:

Everyone except Bullroarer

Bullroarer, Fatty Bolger, Bullroarer again, Farmer Maggot, Paladin Took

Shirriffs

Archers and horn-blower

Militia

Here's my entire Shire Defender force with the eight archers I'd painted a few years ago, and Farmer Maggot's dogs. Not a 'legal' force if you're into that sort of thing. (Q: Why no Bullroarer? A: He's been dead 250 years!)

Farmer Maggot with Grip, Fang, and Wolf.

(Farmer Maggot drew the short straw when they were giving out twee hobbit names.)

"Don't trust black dogs with orange eyebrows"- Terry Pratchett.

And here's a special guest: Golfimbul meets Bandobras 'Bullroarer' Took and is about to be introduced to the civilised game of golf...

Well, thanks for following me on this month-long journey. I did enjoy painting this likeable and characterful force. I've needed your support and a deadline to get this project completed. Unfortunately, I didn't get any work done on my hobbit holes, and I really should prioritise them now.

Final hobbit WIP

Final WIP of the hobbits! Shirriffs, Paladin Took, and Farmer Maggot.

Now I need to finish the bases and take some decent pictures.

Oh, and I'll be selling multiple kidneys for my 'Hobbit' needs. I'm stunned at the asking prices here in Australia.

Hobbit forming

I'm running out of hobbit puns. Here's a teaser of my archers and hornblower.

As an added birthday bonus, here's a tease for Bandobras Took and Fatty Bolger.

I've got about a week to go to complete the remaining six hobbits (and base all of them)- this is looking achievable.

GW just released a teaser video of terrain for their upcoming Hobbit game- I have to say it looks excellent. I've had plans for a while for Dwarves and Goblins battling it out over multi-level mining catwalks, and so this really floats my boat. No surprises what my next LotR project will be. Time to sell a kidney...

Happy Birthday, Blog!

This blog turns 1 today! (I don't know how old that is in web years, at least 10 I guess.)

Thanks so much for all the kind words over the past year that have encouraged me to keep putting out content. With nice timing this week I've been given the nod for a 'Leibster Award' for up-and-coming blogs. (Nominated by Jay, check out his blog here).

Edit: Also nominated by Sam and Rusty- thanks, guys!

I've found maintaining this blog really helpful in keeping me on track and on time with various projects. I've improved my camera skills. I've toyed with The Dip. I've appreciated the effort that goes into all the great wargaming and miniature painting blogs out there.

What next? More of the same, hopefully. I've still got a huge lead pile to work through and a grasshopper attention span for periods and scales. I'd like to get some proper battle reports on here- its going to be another learning experience to strike the right balance of photos, diagrams and text to tell the story.

I think that the site header needs a change... something to represent the variety of scales and genres I dabble in. Any ideas?

Finally, as a Liebster recipient (can I put it on my CV?) I get to nominate blogs with under 200 followers that deserve recognition. There are so many good blogs out there, and I'm sure I'll kick myself when I remember someone I've forgotten, but please check out:

• Shed Wars with excellent scenery and battle reports, swinging from the French-Indian wars to the post-apocalypse.
• Femoral Head Ostectomy for some great pictures of gaming in Finland (set phasers to translate)
• Stopping the Red Tide: Great pictures and fiction for an upcoming Cold War campaign that I can't wait to follow!
• Hurry up and Wait: A blog that solely focuses on the Falklands, with combat in many scales and gripping battle reports.

More hobbit progress

Blurry phone photo of the painted militia. They just need flocking, then they're done! Archers, shirriffs, and characters to go.

Incidentally, the number of times I've painted a hobbit, sat back in smug satisfaction, then kicked myself because I forgot to paint their flipping furry feet... grr.

Kneecappers, & Jokerbowl 2012

I went to the Jokerbowl Blood Bowl tournament yesterday, at Tin Soldier Penrith. I'm trying to complete the nerd-challenge of playing every Blood Bowl team at an official tourney- I'm up to 9/24 now! Maybe by 2020, if I squeeze in two tourneys a year?

Kneecappers

The Kneecappers were my first Blood Bowl team, when 3rd Ed came out in 1994. They've gone through a few paintjobs over the years- and I didn't strip them inbetween, so the details are somewhat poorly defined! Needless to say, I'd do them differently now (oy, the gloss...). The tankards are from metal tubing. The Blitzer has a transparent bottle from a 1/35 diorama accessory kit which I inked brown.

Troll Slayers

Runners

Blitzers

Long Beards

It's been a long time since they've been played with. To celebrate their dusting-off, I painted this figure (from Four A Miniatures) which makes a great cheerleader/ Bloodweiser Babe/ reroll marker. The kegs are from Impact! Miniatures.

Jokerbowl was great fun- good to catch up with old mates and roll dice again. I came fifth out of sixteen overall, with two wins, a draw, and a loss. Memorable moments include:

• Turning Ephraim's sole Dark Elf runner into a frog
• Meticulously advancing against Grumpsh's Dwarves, then failing a 2+ to score and being subsequently taken apart
• Ripping into Nick's beautifully painted Necromantic team, even though they kept regenerating
• Having a lacklustre first half against Vimes' Halflings, but then clearing the pitch of all but his treemen

My roster was two Troll Slayers with Mighty Blow, two Runners with Block, two Blitzers, five Long Beards (one with Guard), one Reroll.  I just realised that I underspent on my roster- I had an extra 10k in the bank I never used! An extra assistant coach or cheerleader would have been nice... In hindsight, Block on the Runners was excellent, but the two Troll Slayers with Mighty Blow generally underperformed. The Long Beard with Guard was useful.

Hobbit progress

Skin done

I have completed all the skin and am going through the clothing. I'm painting identical poses all at the same time to reduce overly similar colour schemes. I'm restricting myself to a muted, earthy palette of mostly greens, creams and browns.

I decided not to do the dip for this project, so as to match the eight hobbits I painted a couple of years ago. These should give an idea of the look I'm going for, as I was really happy with how they came out.

In other news, things are coming up Barks as I acquired a cheap copy of 'The Scouring of the Shire', and an OOP Lobelia Sackville-Baggins miniature. Rumours are circulating of a GW 'Hobbit' box set to be released next month- no doubt fiendishly expensive but hopefully containing some nice terrain and minis.

I've made no progress on the hobbit holes, unfortunately. I may only have time to patch up the one hole I've almost completed.