Defenders of Helm's Deep- Legolas

"[...Y]ou comfort me, Gimli, and I am glad to have you standing nigh with your stout legs and your hard axe."

Legolas, Helm's Deep

If I had to choose a single race in LotR to be my favorite, I'd have to choose the Elves. They're such a folk of contrasts- mixing beauty and childlike joy with an extreme melancholia and sensitivity. I read a good deal of Celtic literature, and Tolkien captured my vision of the Sidhe so well and yet made it his own; fitting perfectly with his professed desire to create "a mythology for England".

Legolas, along with his comrade Gimli serve the Fellowship (in particular Aragorn) as a sort of solid base. No matter what befalls the rest of the company, the Elf and Dwarf are there to aid. This makes perfect sense in Tolkien's greater cosmology as well- Hobbits, Men and even Wizards are the center of the Third Age, and it is theirs to sort out. The Elves and Dwarves have already made their peace with Middle-Earth, and have begun already to forsake it.

Now on to the figure! Yet again, it's from Games Workshop's Defender's of Helm's Deep pack. As with Aragorn, I've sought to portray a transitioning Legolas. He's got his traveling gear and clothes on, but has supplemented it with armor and a short sword from Theoden's armory.

The quiver is directly based on an Alan Lee painting, and I'm very happy with both that and the hair. The cloak is actually the same highlight color as the stone, simply with more blue tones underneath it. The similarity evokes the camouflaging cloaks of Lorien well.

The face has no washes on it, except for a light coat around the eyes. I'm trying to balance definition as opposed to the Elf''s fair skin, and I',m not quite sure I've succeeded. I'll go back and tinker with it later once I've given myself some time to approach it with more critical eyes.

Defenders of Helm's Deep- Aragorn

"Come!' said Aragorn. 'This is the hour when we draw swords together."

 Every time I reread LotR (ten times now!), it astounds me how much depth Tolkien packed into his characterizations (an excellent example is Merry and Pippin's growth throughout the books). There are also moments where more central characters fade into the background, like Aragorn's role at the battle of Helm's Deep. For the most part, he's very careful to avoid the center stage- always deferring to Theoden or Eomer. At the same time, this is the first we see of Aragorn in his element as king. It is the hour Anduril is first drawn and declared openly, that he claims his birthright as the bearer of Narsil reforged (and at extension the heir to Gondor's throne); and takes up the mantle of leader of men. Most telling is his talk with Saruman's army right before dawn, which culminated in this revelation of his power-

"So great a power and royalty was revealed in Aragorn, as he stood there alone [....] that many of the wild men paused[.]"

To cause this victorious, heckling army to reconsider its attack is remarkable. Again, it's the first time Aragorn reveals himself as something other than Strider to a large amount of people, and the result is telling of future encounters.

That look of emerging power is one I tried to capture in miniature. As with my previous Aragorn, I didn't paint the beard sculpted on the figure.This is per the books, and Tolkien's express statement (in Letters) that the Dunedain do not grow facial hair as part of their Elven heritage. I'm not quite sure how I like it on the sculpt, sometimes it looks good and weather-beaten (as he is 87 during the War of the Ring), at others too Neanderthal.

I like the outfit worn by this sculpt, it shows the transition between Ranger and King well. He's still clad in the rusty greens and browns from the Fellowship, but layered with greaves and mail from Theoden's armory. I wanted the clothes under the armor to look very weathered, and dropping the base colors to a darker tone did the trick. This would also work well as a Pelennor Fields Aragorn, and I look forward to playing the Dunedain (featured in my second post!) lead by him.

The finished miniatures has a certain Leatherstocking feeling to it, especially with the knife and boots- this suits Aragorn well to me. Also, as seen in the above picture, he wears the ring of Barahir, the sole remaining legacy of Beren One-Hand!

Anduril goes to war! The Blade that was Broken shines again!

Defenders of Helm's Deep- Eowyn

"Too often have I heard of duty,' she cried. 'But am I not of the house of Eorl, a shieldmaiden and not a drynurse?"

Eowyn, The Return of the King

I'd imagine it'll come as a shock to my more constant readers, but I'm very much a purist when it comes to LotR. Due to this, I'll preface this post with a disclaimer-

Eowyn was not at Helm's Deep! She had already departed for Dunharrow. Not even in the Jackson films did she fight in the battle, she stayed with the refugees in the caves. 

Now, I must admit, I can understand completely why GW added Eowyn to the Helm's Deep pack- it makes for an awesome miniature, and means they didn't have to wait for RotK to make one.

And this miniature was a joy to paint. The dress, in particular made for a pleasant experience. I'm very pleased with the results. The sleeves seemed to need some detailing, and folds on both of them made for excellent decorations.

Aside from the sleeves, there's not a lot of detailing. The simpler (and, for me brighter) colors make her stand out from my hordes of earth-toned rangers and orcs.

It can be difficult to tell, but I've also been messing with my skin tones. Thus far, all of the Helm's Deep set have featured subtly different skin- Gamling received heavy washes (even a careful red wash around the eyes) over a darker than normal base, Theoden got my typical colors and the upcoming Aragorn has a paler face, halfway between Theoden and the fair-skinned Eowyn.

Defenders of Helm's Deep- Theoden

"The end will not be long,' said the king. 'But I will not end here, taken like an old badger in a trap.... When dawn comes, I will bid men sound Helm's horn, and I will ride forth."

Theoden, Son of Thengel, King of Rohan! Saved by Gandalf from the poison of Wormtongue to lead his people in the War of the Ring, he perished aiding his allies on the Pelennor Fields. As with my recent Gamling, this figure is from Games Workshop's excellent Defenders of Helm's Deep pack.

I was already on a roll painting Rohirrim armor, and the practice gained from Gamling stood me in good stead painting his liege. I like the darker, engraved look of the armor from the film, but not the full brown color on the breastplate. As before, dark washes were used to achieve a similar but still metallic effect.

I also added a fair amount of enamel inlay in and around the armor's brasswork. This is most notable on the shoulder, which I felt needed more detailing than the plain metal. Gloss varnish was applied over the inlay, which accounts for the sheen in the photograph.

I'm also very pleased with the pale hair. I had originally intended to paint it a tone closer to Bernard Hill's hair from the films, but the dirty white better befits the aged Theoden.

Forth Eorlingas!

Defender's of Helm's Deep- Gamling the Old

"If they come bargaining for our goods at Helm's Gate, they shall pay a high price[.]"

-Gamling, The Two Towers

 Since I was a child I've been fascinated with castles and sieges. It should come as no surprise that the battle at Helm's Deep has always been one of my favorite moments in The Lord of the Rings. It has such wonderful moments- Aragorn's talk with the Uruk-Hai, Legolas and Gimli's friendly rivalry, and the incredible (and unexpected!) explosion of the Deeping Wall. For a while now I've eyed the GW Heroes of Helm's Deep set on shelves, and I finally treated myself to it a couple weeks back.

The first finished model from the set is Gamling, a more obscure character featured both in the book and in the Jackson films. He's described as an old man (who notably knows Dunlending), chief of the watchers on Helm's Dyke. Bob Foster's Guide to Middle-Earth postulates him as Erkenbrand's lieutenant, and that fits from his role as head of the Westfold garrison.

I chose him for a painting contest at my local comic/games store; specifically for the variety of detail on the sculpt. I'm very pleased with how he turned out, especially with the darker tones on the armor and face. The paints on the armor are the same as on lighter toned armor like my Elrond, but the color as been vastly changed by dark brown washes and even some bronze drybrushing.

Originally, I was going to paint an elaborate knotwork pattern (similar to that seen in the film) on his cloak. A triangular design inspired by the Viking digs in York caught my eye, and I decided to use that as a prototype instead. I also used a darker color than usual as a base for the hair, and it made the strands really stand out.

Helm! Helm goes to war!

Host of the Dead- Draugar

Draugar (or the singular form, Draugr) are undead from Norse legend, which form from the corpses of especially malevolent warriors. It was said that, as these warriors died, their will to live proved so strong that their soul could not leave their body, and reanimated it as a Draugr. They retained a semblance of their intelligence, and were tied more or less to the place of their burial, typically a large barrow. 

While many modern sources, from D&D bestiaries to MMORPGs have portrayed the Draugr, the original creature of legend was much less well defined- depending on the power of the soul animating the Draugr, it could have different powers and appearances. Some sources even differentiate between standard and aquatic Draugar.

The method of destruction also varied: while some were 'killed' by the same methods as a living man, others could only be destroyed by fire, or by spending the night in its barrow with its severed head on ones knee.

These particular miniatures are from Games Workshop's LotR line, sold as Army of the Dead. I prefer the sculpts as Draugar and thoroughly enjoyed making them look as nasty as possible, adding mold, leather rot, verdigris and rust to the clothes and gear.

This mostly entailed drybrushing in probably 8-10 different shades, along with some overall ink washes. The subtle differences in color  make a large difference in the effect, although it can be difficult to tell in pictures.

The sculpts and design are excellent, looking ancient in comparison with a medieval Norse aesthetic. The later medieval 'heater' shields are a slight anachronism, and when I paint more I'll probably replace them with circular shields, but I got these three used, and already assembled. 

Stormcrow

I've recently had a chance to start a Pathfinder campaign! I've never actually played an RPG before, although I've read the rulebooks and admired the bestiaries for years, so I've enjoyed finally getting a chance to play. Most of my recent painting has been inspired by my character and the background I've built around him, so I'll talk a bit about him before I post my recent miniatures.

First up, about the miniature. He's a plastic GW Aragorn, from the Mines of Moria starter set. I got him used and badly primed, so my work on him was half paint job, half reclamation job. He turned out well, though.

As some will have guessed by this point, my character's a Ranger (half-elf, goes by the name of Auluin Stormcrow). At the start of the campaign, he suffers from amnesia, remembering nothing of his youth. He was discovered in the wrack of a squatter's town in a Elf wood by some evil druids. He's raised by these druids as a servant until they fall a little behind in debt payments to a ghoul tribe, and the ghouls decide to collect- in food. While the druids get slaughtered, Auluin manages to escape, and remembers something- he hates these things. Armed with this knowledge, he sets off to fight all such unnatural monstrosities, and perhaps, just perhaps, he'll remember more of his past when he kills enough....

It may be a very archetypal ranger, but it's fun to play!

Eledhel

A while back, I painted a High Elf test model. It turned out great, and remains one of my favorite miniatures that I've painted. You can't just have a single Elf, though, and so, again inspired by the designs of Alan Lee, I painted an Elf captain.

He's a Games Workshop Elrond, but I painted him in the colors of Fingon, the High King of the Elves in Beleriand during the Second Age of Middle-earth, to go with my other painted High Elf. I'm really happy with how the cloak turned out, white is a difficult color to get right.

It can be a little hard to tell, but I added a good bit of detail to the cloak base. The trim took a while to paint, but, as with the rest of the miniature, it turned out well.

Ringbearer

I've been re-reading The Lord of the Rings yet again! It always astounds me that, although I've already read it nine times, there is always more layers to uncover, more depth to the narrative than I had remembered. This time around (I'm at Cirith Ungol), I am struck by the centrality of the Ring's journey into Mordor, and especially Frodo's courage and responsibility throughout Book IV- he is truly 'one who shall find a way'. 

This particular Frodo is supposed to be from somewhere between Rivendell and Lothlorien- he has Sting, but no Elven cloak or brooch. While I took the basic color scheme from the Jackson films, I added some details, and changed around colors to suit my taste. I tried to capture some of the 'Elvish air' mentioned in the book about his face with sharper and lighter skin tones.

Here you can see the two largest changes I made to him. First, his coat is a tweed material- this was surprisingly easy to paint, I simply shaded it as normal, and then added very small lines in a lighter color. Sting has also been changed, with a golden hilt and blue detailing on the blade. This reflects Sting's glow whenever Orcs are near, as they will be in most wargames.

The cloak is a simple, faded green, travel worn like my Dunedain's cloaks. I'm really pleased that the sculptor included packs on all the GW Fellowship Hobbits- it adds a great deal more realism to the sculpts.

Uton Herian Holbytlan!

Ghash!

One of the most frightening and memorable sequences in the Lord of the Rings is the Mines of Moria. Tolkien did a great job of building up the tension towards the climatic fight in the Chamber of Records, and the well-written excerpts from the Book of Mazarbul  make the approaching threat come alive. In painting Games Workshop's Moria goblins, I decided to try for a creepier, more troglodyte look than is seen in the movies, to better reflect the sense I have of them in the book- I think I succeeded!

Most people, including me, think of goblins as green. While this works great for most goblins, what about those who dwell in caves, never venturing out under sun or moon? It would make sense that, as they became more adapted to an underground environment, they would begin losing the now useless pigmentation, as seen in cave fish. Unlike cave fish, of course, these goblins still have eyes that have become accustomed to the dark, like Dungeons and Dragons darkvision.

Also, in an environment such as Moria, certain materials like leather or wood are very hard to come by. Because of this, the goblins' bows are made of metal- some kind of lightweight alloy of the Dwarves, perhaps. The straps and other items usually made of leather are painted a dull green- maybe troll skin?

I'm really happy with how the armor turned out. I wanted it a good bit darker than, say, that of an elf, so I drybrushed Army Painter gunmetal over the very dark Vallejo paint of the same name. 

This still left the problem of weathering- no self-respecting orc would ever wear shiny new armor. This was solved by more drybrushing, this time using various shades of brown- a technique similar to what I used on my Uruk Hai, but it worked much better here.

So, these are albino cave goblins, who don't even need the light of torches to see by. But what happens when they do encounter torches? Especially, what happens when a fiery Balrog starts stirring in the depths they call home?

The answer lies in the red stripes present on the goblins armor and clothing. As seen throughout history, indigenous cultures are quick to adapt such cataclysmic events as religious ceremonies or cults- and the goblins are no different.

A cult of fire has sprung up among this tribe, present on these models primarily as caste markings. The more warpaint (red pigment is a valuable commodity among goblins) on a goblin, the higher up on the totem pole it is. All of these miniatures are lower ranking warriors, with only a small amount of pigment available for decoration.

When I paint warleaders for this growing band, I may also add a small number of charred mutilations- most likely as a sign of extreme bravery or religious devotion, as goblins are not known for their high pain tolerance.