90 minutes Lurtz and two Amon Hen games

Yesterday, the next two games of our Quest of the Ringbearer campaign took place. 

My opponent's Uruk-hai were painted by him, I just added my captain with the two-handed axe and my 90 minute Lurtz to the force. 

It turned out that my opponent’s Lurtz figure was nowhere to be found, so just after work I painted one of my many Lurtz poses in a record-breaking 90 minutes!

Unfortunately, the figure had already been primed and poorly stripped, so there were still lots of thick layers of paint on it... I thought it was going to be a disaster, but you can salvage a lot with the final edge highlights.

And then things really got serious!

Unfortunately, the fellowship were unable to secure victory in the first two scenarios (Amon Hen is split into four games in the campaign).

In the first, Frodo has to escape whilst Aragorn holds off the frenzied horde. But just before the end, Frodo was overpowered… Gimli and Legolas arrived too late to help.

And in the second game, Boromir had to protect Merry and Pippin from being kidnapped by the Uruk-hai, which also failed. I think I used the wrong tactics here!

The games were still a great deal of fun, though, and I’m looking forward to the last two games at Amon Hen.

Uruk-hai Scout Captain

As I was so pleased with the first colour scheme test, I’ve now painted the second Uruk: the Scout Captain with the two-handed axe.

What a model!

Back in the day, owning one was like finding the Holy Grail… until Games Workshop simply brought it back into their regular range (for which I’m very grateful).  

I seem to recall that this figure was sometimes sold for 150 euros, and that was even before everything on eBay became so expensive in general!

All the better that I now have him in my collection and on display in my showcase.

I’ve been away from The Lord of the Rings for quite a while now, because I was so incredibly motivated by Warhammer… I reckon that’ll stay that way for a while yet, but a small squad of Uruks can’t do any harm if I fancy it.

The Lord of the Rings is just always good! It always feels like coming home (even though I paint them at home anyway… strange saying).

I hope you like him!

A little distraction: Uruk-hai scout

This week we’re finally continuing our Lord of the Rings campaign (Quest of the Ringbearer), and we’ve now reached Amon Hen.

The only figure my gaming partner is still missing is the once very rare Uruk-hai captain with a two-handed axe.

But before I could paint him, I wanted to test out the colours a bit. I’ve had an Isengard force in mind for quite some time now, featuring Uruk-hai scouts, Wildmen of Dunland and warg riders.

So here’s a first test! I’m not 100% satisfied yet, but I think that’s mainly down to some of the areas being painted a bit sloppily… Perhaps I should use black rather than brown as a base coat in future for such dark figures. That might help to increase the contrast a little more.

Haldir finally joins the ranks of the wood elves

After promising to paint him for a few months now, this week I finally finished Haldir. A lovely figure, although the casting was once again not the best.

Especially the face is pretty flat, but from the side you don't recognize it.  

I choose a slighty different colour scheme on him, a bit darker than the rest and with more grey. More similar to the movie outfit than the GW paintjob I think... But it was hard to get the colours right!

 

And here is the full warband for the Lothlorien scenario. And to be honest, they were so much fun... Maybe I will do a few more :D 

A little Lothlorien army would be nice. I also have tons of the classic armoured Galadhrim, but I guess they would be better for a future Two Towers project. There are enough iconic miniatures in the Lothlorien range, the Wood Elf Sentinels for example, or the fantastic banner bearer. 

 

 

 

I also painted a plastic wood elf a while back... I think these models are some of the most underrated in the whole Lord of the Rings range. Sure, the details are pretty blurred, the faces are not the best (but look at the metal ones), and they are tiny compared to the command sets and heroes. 

But there is something in this set for me I just can't explain properly. They are exactly what I imagined back when I was reading the Hobbit for the first time: 

"Behind the arrows a thousand or their spearmen leapt down and charged."

Well, maybe I will paint this box in 2026... Would love to have it completed. 
 

And yes, the face really is not the best, but maybe my paintjob was not the best either. 

I will try again when I have the full set. I once had it, or maybe my brother, I am not sure... But now it's incomplete, half painted in thick coats of yellow and red, and pretty much unusable. Maybe I can find a complete box soon on ebay or something.

 

Well that's it for today, I hope you like the new figure!

All the best

Lucas  

Three more Lorien elves

It took me a little while, but finally the last three Lorien elves are finished. Well, one of them is a captain, as I did not have enough archers... But he will do just fine within the others. 

Now there is only Haldir missing from the force, and then everything is ready for our Lothlorien game! 

I had a very hard time painting the faces. They were challenging before, but these ones were some of the worst casts I have ever painted. 

But hey, now they are done and I am quite happy with the results. Hope you like them as well!

We watched The Fellowship of the Ring again this weekend, so I had some motivation to finish them. 
 

And here's a picture of all the Lorien elves I have painted so far! Maybe I will do some more, would be great to have a small force for 400-500 point games... But I guess this will not happen anytime soon :D 

All the best

Lucas 

 

Originally created on July 29, 2025

Arwen and Frodo

Here's another beautiful figure (or two, or even three!): Mounted Arwen with Frodo, and Arwen on foot.

I've wanted these figures ever since I first saw them in an old White Dwarf magazine. What a great idea, even if the accompanying scenario, in my opinion, is quite poorly written.

I have to admit that to paint the mounted figure, I had to open an old green blister pack from 2002... I briefly inhaled the air of a different era, and then I got started. The foot model is from a different set, as I much prefer this variant.

 

I seem to recall that Liv Tyler pushed for quite a few changes to the initial figures because she didn't like them. Unimaginable nowadays! I highly doubt actors today would even get to see all the figures. But perhaps it was very important to Liv back then, being such a fresh face in cinema.

I hope you like the miniatures! They're a few months old now, and I'd do a few things differently today, but yeah... It's good enough for the table! 

All the best

Lucas 

 

 Originally created on July 12, 2025

Hello and welcome!

Hello and welcome!

For a long time now, I've wanted to set up a small blog to document my private hobby projects. If anyone happens to stumble across it, I'd certainly appreciate a comment.

Don't be surprised that the first posts all have the same date... I had previously created an identical blog, but there were several problems with Google and it couldn't be found on the internet. You can find the original date at the end of each post. 

You'll find wild swings between all sorts of topics and game systems here, as I feel pretty much like the rest of 90% of the wargaming community in that regard!

My main focus, however, will definitely be on Games Workshop's The Lord of the Rings. I've accumulated a huge collection of figures over time, and I plan to paint them all in the coming years. This will not only give me more material for games but also fill my display cabinet and simply bring me joy.

For me, The Lord of the Rings remains the most beautiful and best system ever released. Perhaps not the absolute best in terms of rules—I'd probably lean towards Star Wars Armada for that—but the overall package is simply perfect. And as a fanatical fan of the films, books, making-ofs, and everything in between, I honestly never had another choice.

To kick things off today, I'm starting small with a few Wood Elves. We're currently playing through the Quest of the Ringbearer campaign, and I need six Wood Elves and Haldir for the game after next. These models are a lot of fun, even if their age is quite apparent, especially in their size. It's always fascinating to see how the range has evolved and that so many different sculptors were at work in the early days. Personally, I find the early period of the range, from 2002 until The Hobbit, to be the best. Everything that came after, in my opinion, is forgettable, but that might be a topic for another time.

Here are the Wood Elves, in their classic color scheme! I hope you like them :)

All the best

Lucas 

 

Originally created on July 12, 2025