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Monday, September 15, 2008

What Happened????

So when we last saw the dwarfs, they were primed black & ready for painting, now they are all jacked up looking, so what gives?

No they are not messed up or a botched prime job, you see this was done on purpose. I will be dipping this army with MinWax Polyshade Tudor, which is what I dip everything with. But in my years of painting & dipping I have found that I can control how dark a figure will look if I dry brush an off white color before painting. This makes the base colors stand out more once you apply the dip.

So here is the color that I use, Delta Ceramcoat Sandstone, which is a off white sort of color. This will come as no surprise to most people that know me, because Delta Ceramcoat Mudstone & Sandstone are my favorite colors to use, almost like someone else's use of Americana Honey Brown...Rob!



So what I do is apply a liberal dry brush of this color all over the figure. Once again when I apply the base colors they will stand out more over the white as opposed to the black which will be more muted.

All of the figures have been dry brushed and are ready for the next step which is base color painting, or as my buddies like to say, painting by numbers. Should have another update ready Wednesday.

TK

Friday, September 12, 2008

Dwarfs & Red Dragon Painting Competion

Okay,


So now update on the dwarfs tonight, but last night I taught LotR to a friends son last night. Shelly's son Alec is in 8th grade and I have him in my bible study I teach, his mom Shelly helps teach a girls bible study with my wife on the same night.


So a few weeks ago Alec was over & wanted to know what we have for fun at our house, so I told him to look in my Game room. Well he was blown away with all the minis and was excited over the LotR armies (Easterlings & Orcs) painted up in the cabinet. So I told him I would teach him one night.


Well last night was the night, so I busted out 365 points Easterlings and I used my newly primed Dwarfs. We just did a meeting engagement and slugged it out. Alec caught on to the rules pretty quickly and I just pushed models around to let him see how the rules worked. After about an hour his mom & my wife came home and we needed to end the game. Alec had lost 5 Kataphracts and 6 Easterlings on foot, the Dwarfs only lost one Two Handed axeman.


This was not a real game, it was just something for him to learn the rules. Now Alec is wanting to play in the November 350 tourney as well as the Indie GT, so we will see. The cool thing was that his mom was very encouraging of him playing, and told him he would need to save his money for the models. So that's it for the dwarfs, tomorrow (Saturday) I plan to throw some paint on them, so I should have some update tomorrow night or Sunday.


So anyway, Besides the Indie GT, we will be doing a painting competition for the players as well as anyone that wants to enter a model, here is the particulars:


Red Dragon 2009 Competitor’s Guidelines

This year’s Red Dragon painting competition will take place at “Gathering in the Desert 2009″ Phoenix, AZ. In all cases, the judges will be looking for well painted and well presented models. In addition, we will look at how well the model or models fit in with the published concept of The Lord of the Rings background. That isn’t to say that we won’t reward innovation and creativity, but this must be demonstrated within the spirit of Middle-earth.

All entries/miniatures must be at least 80% Games Workshop models from The Lord of the Rings product line. This means that the base model must be Games Workshop and you are allowed to do some conversions.


You can only enter once in each category.

Category 1 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS SINGLE MINIATURE (25mm)This is open to any single miniature from The Lord of The Rings range of models. All models must be presented on their standard 25mm gaming base.

Category 2 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS LARGE MINIATURE (40mm or larger)This is open to any single miniature from The Lord of The Rings range of models. All models must be presented on their standard 40mm or larger gaming base.


Category 3 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS BATTLE SCENE (Diorama)This is open to any single/multiple miniatures from The Lord of The Rings range of models. All models must be presented on a diorama base.


Judges Decisions In all cases the judges’ decisions are final. They reserve the right to move models into a different category if it is entered inappropriately, or to disqualify a model if they feel it breaches the rules of the competition. We will not enter into any discussion about the judges’ decisions.


Conversions that start with a base 80% Games Workshop The Lord of The Rings range are acceptable. Overall, the judges will be looking for well-painted models that adhere to the imagery and ethos of the worlds represented in Middle-earth.


All entries must be personally handed in by their creator and registered at “Gathering in the Desert” on the first day. We will not accept any entries on behalf of competitors who are not in attendance at the event. All entries must be collected that evening by the entrant in person. All models should be the work of a single hobbyist. All work on models entered into the Red Dragon including but not limited to painting, modeling, converting, after-market sculpting, and basing must be performed entirely by the entrant. Neither models obtained from someone else in any state of completion nor collaborative efforts may be entered. Anyone found violating this rule will be immediately disqualified and forbidden from entering future Red Dragon painting competitions.


All competitors will be fully responsible for the transport of their own entries to and from the competition, and for storing their own transport and packing materials on the day. Please don’t ask us to look after carrying cases and giant cardboard boxes.
Once entries are booked in we will, of course, undertake to look after them as carefully as we can. However, we can accept no responsibility for loss or damage to individual entries. Models are entered into the competition at the competitor’s own risk. Entry to any of the competitions gives Adeptus Arizona the right to photograph and publish the details of models entered as we see fit.


Finally, remember the point of the competition is to showcase the efforts of our hobbyists and to have some fun. You may not agree with the final outcome, but please bear in mind that the judges’ decisions are final and absolute. We will not enter into any correspondence regarding them.

So I have decided to enter three models in the Red Dragon competition. So here are the ideas I have:
Category 1 - I plan to enter my Gandalf model that I have painted up from last year, he was never really finished, so it would take a little more time to have him good to go.



Category 2 - So I have two models I am trying to decide which to enter, the first is Gandalf mounted on a Horse.
The other is the limited edition Gandalf in a cart from the first movie, I picked this up at Gamesday, so now I need to decide which model to use.
Category 3 is a Battle scene, I happen to have the Wizards Duel set & this pitches Gandalf against Saruman. I think this would be a cool battle scene and I have an idea to display these guys but will not go into it here so not to trump my hand, all I will say is it will involve lights!

So there you go, Friday nights update...
TK

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Day One

Okay,

Three posts in one day, What the heck! Well I feel inspired to do some blogging! Okay so here is a group shot of the 350 points assembled and ready to go.
Here are the 10 Dwarfs with Sheild & hand weapons.
Here are 10 Dwarf Bowmen.
Here are the 10 Dwarfs with Two Handed Weapons.
Here is their Fearless Leader, Gimli.
To keep the Dwarven force from moving around while they travel, I used Litkos Peel & stick pre cut 25mm magnets. You get 100 for about $11.00, which is alot cheaper than Gailforce 9 25mm bases, I highly recommend these for anyone using 25mm rounds.
So after getting the dwarves assembled and magnetized, they headed out to the garage to be primed black using Rust Oleums Painters Touch Flat Black. It goes on smooth & dries quickly and can be purchased from Ace Hardware or Home Depot. Its about $5.99 a can which is alot cheaper than some of the other Game companies primers.
Also I have been busy working on some GW trees for my Fangorn/Mirkwood table I am building for the Indie GT in Febuary. Here is one completed tree.
Also this past weekend I painted up 4 Artizan & 1 Pulp Minature British 8th army figures for a Pulp test game using the Legends of the Old West/High Seas rules. The game played very well and we will be exploring using these rules.

I also finished up one building from Crescent Root http://crescent-root.com/ . I have 6 of these buildings and I purchased them all unpainted, here is what they look like when they are done.

The last picture is of my secruity system(called Gabby) for my minis, its the latest thing and is pretty easy to install. When I took this picture, we had a good thunderstorm around the house & Gabby decided she needed to be up high where she felt safe.

So there you go, a lot or the first day, the next day I will get to do anything will be on Friday, might be getting in a game with a friend to see how the force does.

TK

What army to bring???

Wow, first off two post in one day, what the heck is that all about!

Well I decided to write & note my progress on my 350 LotR army that I will be taking to the November 1st primer tournament at Talons. So I currently have two armies painted and ready to go. Mordor Orcs as well as 500 points of Easterlings. I have played these to armies pretty much for the last two years & I wanted to do something else. I own a Moria Goblin army, a large uruk - hai army, a large Rohon army, a Gondor Army, a Dwarf Army as well as High Elves and a few other things but they are all not painted. So I need to decide what I really wanted to do, also knowing that I need to do a good army of some sort.

So after thinking about it, I have decided to do a Dwarf army for this event. Why did I choose Dwarfs? Well it goes back about 20+ years ago when I fell in love with the old Marauder Dwarfs (which GW bought if I remember correctly). I had walked into a local store in CA and was looking at doing a Dwarf army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle, well the store owner talked me out of it saying it would cost a fortune to build a dwarf army, and that I should play Battletech or something. So the dwarfs got left behind for some Mechs.

Flash forward about 10 years ago and I was playing Warhammer Fantasy battle and had 4 armies (Empire, Undead, High Elves, Orc & Goblins) most all painted, but there was still no dwarfs. I toyed with building the stunties, but never pulled the trigger on them.

Flash forward again and I started playing LotR which I started collecting armies for starting with Orcs. Well I finally decided to start building a dwarf army and after painting in trade with Mike, I acquired a good amount of Dwarfs.

So that brings us up to the present, and I decided that I need to do a dwarf army. The sad thing is I think there are about 2 other Dwarf armies being worked on now, so mine will not be original, but that's why I noted everything above.

So what will the army look like, well I went out a few months ago to another Forum group I frequent (Adeptus Windy City http://adeptuswindycity.com/forums/index.php) and asked for folks to build me a 350 point list, here is what I got:

List 1
Gimli
Dwarf bow x10
Dwarf 2h x10
Dwarf Shield x10
Models 31
Might 3 Bows 10 (volley baby at 350)

List 2
1 Dwarf Captain with shield & throwing axes
10 Dwarf Rangers with two handed axes
11 Dwarf Rangers with throwing axes
10 Dwarf Rangers with dwarf longbow
Points = 350
Might = 2
Models = 32
Notes: Ten 3+ to hit, range 24" archers Eleven 3+ to hit throwing weapons and one 4+ to hit throwing weapon.

List 3
Dwarf captain - shield
Dwarf bow x10
Dwarf shield x13
Khazad guard x7 Models 31
Might 2
Bows 10 D7+ 21 S4 8.

List 4
Dwarf captain - shield (or throwing axe whathaveyou).
Ranger - bow x10
Ranger - 2h x5
Ranger - throwing axe x15
Might 2
Models 31 Bows 10 Thrown 15(16)

List 5
1 Dwarf Captain with shield
15 Dwarf Warriors with shield
10 Dwarven Iron Guard
Models = 26

So after looking at the lists I needed to decided what I had in my model collection. I can do list 1, 3 & 5 with no problem, but I would need to go out & buy another box of dwarf rangers to do the list 2 & 4. Now I will be doing a Erbor list which is the dwarfs from the Lonely Mountain from the Hobbit. So in my mind I would probably use list 1, 3 or 5. So after thinking about it I choose list 1, with Gimli in it. Why? Well I really like the Gimli model that I have (which is the one with his cloak blowing in the wind). And I could see Gimli taking charge of a few valiant dwarfs to fight the forces of evil and the model looks cool!

So tonight I will assemble the force and get them all ready to go for their destiny with the paint table. I plan on updating my progress as I go with a follow up report from the November 1st event.

TK

Something New (For a change!)

Okay,

I thought I would be better with updates, but it seems that life goes by so fast. Well regardless I have decided that I will update this site more often, but we will see.

So as some folks know, I love the Lord of the Rings Strategy battle game by Games workshop. Besides myself, we are starting to grow the LotR community here in Phoenix and this past July we hosted the 1st ever Independent Grand Tournament which was a huge hit. So Dean (the other guy who helped organize the event) & I are planning on this being a annual event, so here is the info on the next one:

“Gathering in the Desert 2009″ A LotR Indy GT
The forces of good and evil are gathering in the desert once more, and you have been called to serve and fight. Will you answer the call? Come fight for the forces of good or the forces of evil in the Valley of the Sun, Phoenix AZ for the second annual The Lord of the Rings Independent Grand Tournament February 21st & 22nd 2009. Enjoy 5 exciting games over 2 days testing your strengths against some of the best players in the country.

To keep your sustenance up during the event the organizers will be catering lunch on both days. Also all entrants that pre register for the event will receive a commemorative Tee shirt designed specifically for this annual event.

New for 2009 will be the “Red Dragon” painting competition, with the following categories: Single Miniature (25mm base), Large Miniature (40mm or larger base) and Battle Scene (diorama) as well as a terrain building competition. You do not need to be playing in the GT to enter the “Red Dragons”, everyone is welcome.

So if your are strong enough to brave the elements, a skillful tactician and have a heart for competition, than you will not want to miss the second annual “Gathering in the Desert” an Independent Grand Tournament for The Lord of the Rings in Phoenix Arizona.

Date: February 21st & 22nd 2009
Location: TBD
Phone number: TBD
Fee: $40.00 (pre registration includes free t-shirt)
Number of Entrants:40
Games: 5 Games / 2 Days
Points: 600

So anyways, to get ready for this event Dean is hosting a small primer event at Talons Games on November 1st, here is the info for this event:

LotR 350PT Tournament @ Talon’s Hideout 11/1/2008
Lord of the Rings 350 Point Tournament
Date: Saturday November 1st, 2008
Location: Talons’s Hideout
Start Time: 10:00 AM (11:00 AM first game)
Points: 350
Number of Rounds: 3 (90 minutes each)
Painted Armies: Unpainted armies will be allowed but will score a zero in the Appearance scoring.
Number of Spots Available: 20+
Tables: 4X4
Registration Opens: 7/11/2008 (dean at adeptusarizona dot com)
Entry Fee: $10 (includes pizza and prizes)

Scoring: A maximum of 45 points for Battle, 20 points for Appearance, and 24 points for Sportsmanship will be awarded. Battle is determined using 15pts Major Victory, 13pts Minor Victory, 10pts Draw, 7pts Minor Loss, 5pts Major Loss. Appearance uses a modified version of the GT paint system, and Sportsmanship is a 8 question checklist provided each game that details the preparation and enjoyment that each player brings to the table.

WYSIWG. NO PROXYING OF MODELS.
Talon’s Hideout1916 W. Baseline Rd.Suite 1Mesa, AZ 85202480-246-9423

So once again, so what you say. Well for me this gives me a chance to play an actual game. Being a event organizer means I only get to play if there is an odd number of players. So I will actually be battling it out during this event. So now I need to decide what army to use, hmm the decisions, more later...

TK