The Fall of Dol Guldur

   During the last days of War of the Ring, the Dol Guldur evil forces launched an assault against the elven kingdoms of Lothlórien and Mirkwood. In March of 3019 T.A. Dol Guldur forces attacked three times (March 11, 15 and 22) Lothlórien, the realm of Celeborn and Galadriel. All  these attacks were repelled by the elven forces. Furthermore, on March 15 a night assault was launched against Mirkwood, King Thranduil's realm. This one was also repelled and is known as "The Battle under the Trees". 

   When Dark Lord forces were defeated, on March 25, joint forces of Celeborn and Thranduil, marched on Dol Guldur and destroyed its defence evil forces. After the battle, Lady Galadriel destroyed the fortress to the ground. Since then, Mirkwood forest is free from the shadow of the haunted tower and it is renamed to Eryn Lasgalen (“Greenwood”).

   The "Battle under the Trees" is the first battle we played this year. Below you can see the participants.

Good Forces

Elves: Glorfindel, Erestor, a Rivendeil Banner-bearer, six Rivendeil Spearmen, sixteen Rivendeil Swordsmen, sixteen Rivendeil Archers, six Lorien Swordsmen and six Lorien Archers. (53 miniatures = 794 points)

Wood Elves: Thranduil, Legolas, a Mirkwood Banner-bearer, three Mirkwood Sentinels, eight Mirkwood Spearmen, eight Mirkwood Swordsmen and eight Mirkwood Archers. (30 miniatures = 672 points)

Evil Forces

Knight of Umbar, a Spinder Queen, two Castellans, Kardush, fifteen Black Numenoreans, twenty one Morgul Stalkers, ten Giant Spinders, ten Spectres and eight Orc Archers. (70 miniatures = 1358 points)

Objective for the Good Forces:

To kill Knight of Umbar

Objective for the Evil Forces:

To protect Knight of Umbar. What else?

Dol Guldur in the shadow

Dol Guldur panoramic view

Legolas' Woodelves

Thranduil's Woodelves

Celeborn's Elves

The opponents

   Some photos of the Dol Guldur Defenders:

Celeborn's force is moving

Woodelves release their arrows

The Defenders are preparing for heroic exit

The exit

   Unfortunately, the river crossing delayed Celeborn's elves a lot. So, for a few turns only Thranduil and his men faught against the evil creatures. They hit the spinders with arrows first and then started the close combat:

  

   The Elves approached the enemy lines and killed all the evil creatures who stood in front of them in the north part of Dol Guldur, while the evil remnants were moving south protecting simultaneously Knight of Umbar:

   Kardush managed to immobilise Thranduil and his Sentinels a couple of times till the moment Legolas and two of his men hit him hard, two lucky sixes and a five was much more than enough to kill Kardush. (In the photo below, you can see only Kardush's fire while he is hiding behind the walls)

   In the south Wood Elves were holding positions while evil forces tried to gather themselves for their last counterattack. The only chance for them to save the day was to kill all Wood Elves with minimum casualties, if possible, and then turn to face the Elves who were pursuing them. If the Elves managed to reach Knight of Umbar and his evil creatures first, then the victory would be theirs. 

   We stopped at that moment due to a mistake concerning the initial numbers of the evil force (evil control player started to pass courage tests earlier than the 50% casualties), but we decided to repeat this fight in the future. The fight is terribly interesting, because of the scenario, the miniatures (many dark creatures such as Stalkers, Castellans, Spectres, etc participate) and the terrain (ruins everywhere!).

   That's it. Stay tuned for more. 

LotR New Releases

   Amazing news!
The Guardian in the Lake (56€, Finecast, 4th February, 7"long and 4" high):


Great Gorgoth Beast (56€, Finecast, 4th February, Mordor, carrying 10 Orcs):

At least they have some potential for non-LOTR conversion, even if Finecast makes it difficult.

Horror from the Deep (32.50 €, Finecast, alternative head, sculpted base):


Casualties (23.50 €, Finecast):


Groblog, King of the Deep (Goblin, 12.50 €, Finecast):


Ashrak Spiderblood (Goblin, 10.50 €, Finecast):


Warg-Lootriders (Goblins, 19.50 €, Finecast):


The 5 sourcebooks (Human Kingdoms, Free People, Fallen Realms, Mordor, Moria&Angmar) are 48 pages and 19.50 € each

Conversion of Beregond. (Part Two)

   The conversion of Beregond is finished. First, I made the chainmail armour as well as the cloak from greenstuff:

Chainmail armour

Cloak

   Then I made the hair longer, again from greenstuff:

   And finally, I used Chaos Black spray to cover the whole miniature. So Beregond miniature is ready for my friend to paint it as he likes.

   That's it. Stay tuned for more!

Conversion of Beregond. (Part One)

   The Archer Captain had so much success around my friends that one of them asked a conversion of Beregond. Beregond is a noble and honest man, possessed of an unshakeable honour and a sturdy sword arm. He was promoted to the Citadel Guard after many years of dedicated service on both sides of the Anduin with the Rangers of Ithilien. He wears heavy armour and carries an Elf bow and a sword. So, I had to choose an archer and give him a sword. The proper for this task, according to my opinion, was this poor fellow, whom I took from my friend's collection:

   I had to cut the head, the right hand and the two legs on the spots where you can see the red lines. I took the armed hand with a sword from the below right warrior (Don't pay attention to the archer. This one I will give back to my friend to reach number sixteen again for WotR purposes).

   Among the below heads I choosed the right bare head. The left one, although it has long hair, is bigger than the WoMT's.

   Head and hand were ready to be assembled:

   I cut the legs because I wanted to make them longer (After all, he has to be tall as a Captain):

   And then, this was the moment of doubt. You see all the pieces and you wonder if you can manage to put them back in order again. I e-mailed this photo to my friend. I am sure it send shivers down his spine! 

   I pinned the hand and the legs to insure that they will stay in their places during the battles. I did the same with the head:

   I faced a little problem with the archer's sword. Beregond holds his sword in his hand, so he can not have a second one in his scabbard. I had to get rid of it.

   And I did. I also opened a little hole on the scabbard and a big one on the torso to place the head:

   I put the head in its place and I opened a hole on the right wrist joint:

   I put the hand in its place. At that moment the result was a relief. I knew I was on the right way.

   Whenever you have two pins it is easier to paint them a little first with red colour and afterwards touch the place you have to drill. This prevents you from making useless holes around.

   And finally Beregond stood on his own feet: 

  Below I compared his height to Boromir's and to one of his warriors. Beregond has the proper height for a Hero.

   It is obvious that he is taller than a simple WoMT:

   That's it for today. I will use greenstuff to make his tunic, his cloak and to make his hair longer. So please stay tuned for Part Two.