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Along with my little Bilbo I painted this weekend, I needed to have something that would be creeping up behind him to complete the diorama. That's still to come yet, but the painting is done. I picked up this wraith from a new printer that I discovered on Etsy. I'm super glad to since I can send them my stl files that I've purchased and they can print them off for me. Double win! The details on their minis are pretty dang sharp, so it made for some fun painting. (Don't worry, Reaper you still get my paycheck). Battle Report! Wins: * Used a very interesting combination of Vallejo Metals: Aluminum and Gun Metal to create a shading effect. I love the shield and depth to the sword by using light vs. dark of the two. * Kept to very muted tones. I pulled a picture of some lich king that was all washed out, but it gave me the idea to try just like 3 tones. Purple, Grey, off-white. I think they came out awesome. I used no washes on the cape, bones, or armor. I'm very proud of that fact. * Didn't end up putting a metallic dry brushing over the chain mail and left it dark. I think it actually adds to the areas that are painted more than takes away from it. Win. Misses: * Totally wimped out and didn't do NMM on the sword. I tried it. failed it. didn't want to ruin my little wraith and went with the metallics instead. Lame. * Face is in 3 tones:grey, light grey, and white. Looks a little stark, but I did try a method that was suggested @Cicciopiu who told me to really push the contrast. I'm trying a little more. This was a good effect for it, but need to try more. * The face I did with a grey base and yellow eyes. I'm debating making them glowing red or blue instead. * Chest plate feels like it needed more of a mix between the two metallics, but got lazy and was like, "Meh, it's good enough." I'm very pleased with how it looks in this kind of ghostly color scheme. I could do more of a dry brush or cover to it to make it look more apparition like, but decided to keep it minty-fresh instead. Gotta base it, but this time partnering it with Bilbo will be fun to really show this Wraith creeping up behind him. I'm excited for that to post in Show Off. More to come. Lay on the feedback and let me know what you think.

A while back I made a travel set for Kings of War using 10mm minis. Most of the models I used were definitely inspired by the Lord of the Rings and ever since I've been mulling the idea of doing a full scale game. Recently my main gaming buddy and I went though a bad patch were we seemed to have no willpower to resist buying new games and taking on new projects. Part of that fall from grace was my deciding to go ahead and buy some stuff. You know A few models. Maybe a few armies. Just a bit. Overall the plan is to use 100mmX50mm scenic bases. The number of models on a base will be varied to bring out the "Last stand of Good against the overwhelming forces of evil" that is such a big theme of LotR. For rules, since LotR is such a low magic setting, I'm looking at building up from some historical rules. I like the looks of Sword and Spear for it's activation system but I should give Hail Caesar a try. Kings of War is very easy to learn and plays fast so it could go over well as a convention game with some custom army lists. Finally Pendraken has fantasy rules called Warband and there is already an unofficial LotR supplement. Rohirrim, i.e. Copplestone's Horse Tribe Overall I plan to try and put as much static grass on the Rohirrim bases as possible. The cavalry will be in wedges, with the horse archers in loose formation. Shield wall and archer will be in two deep lines, possibly standing on a gentle ridge. The Army of the Dead i.e. Pendraken's Late Romans I like the idea of these infantry standing ominously on top of barrows. Rereading RotK, they should have cavalry as well but I haven't bought any yet. Wood Elves i.e. Pendraken's Wood Elves Pendraken's fantasy ranges are quite big for 10mm but then again elves are supposed to be tall. I'm thinking that the bases will have to be leaf strew forest floor and I can make quite a few stumps and fallen logs with my Basius pad. I tried to make an entire 100mmX50mm base our of greenstuff using the pad but I'm not convinced that's practical. High Elves, i.e. Pendraken's High Elves The spear elves are in thin lines and I've tried to make the archers appear as if they are conducting organized volley fire. I'm imagining the sword elves to be in very loose formation to give them room to slice and dice. Dunlingdings i.e. Pendrakens Picts and Gauls Because you can't always be fighting orcs. They could also stand in for Wild men in other regions. Front and center is a unit of elite, armored troops. To the right large warbands of wild men. To the left some naked berzerkers. In the back javelin men. Seem to have missed the archers. Orcs i.e. Copplestone Orcs Lots and lots of orcs Ordinary orcs. The close ups shows snagas or lesser goblins being driven forward by what will be whips. Front Row: Warg riders with bows, Warg riders and wargs Behind them, Orc Archers, Uruk Archers, Uruks, Uruk Spears, Cave Trolls and Trolls. So that should be enough to keep me busy.

Today is the Birthday of The Professor , J.R.R. Tolkein, his twelfty-sixth (126th) birthday! The approved celebratory method of The Tolkein Society is a simple toast of "The Professor!"