Friday, May 7, 2021

Friday Fantasy: GW Ringwraith on Fell Beast (or, Meanwhile, in Mordor)

As a rule I disapprove of super-monstrous units on the wargaming table.  My WW2 collection only has one 15mm and 1 20mm early-model Tiger tank, and you will search my collection in vain for a Maus, JSII, or King Tiger.   I confess I look askance at people who are all too ready to put such figures, or a French army consisting of just the Imperial Guard, on the table.  It’s just not right.   If you can’t eke out a win with PzIIIs, T34s or line infantry, then you aren’t really trying.   OK, I’ve confessed my prejudice, feel free to disagree.

However, if one is going to do the Lord of the Rings in a large way, then there are certain epic fights where you want a Nazgul lord on a horrid flappy mount, because if nothing else, you want to motivate your orc hordes to throw themselves onto the bright spears and swords of their noble foes.    When I found a Battle of the Pelennor Fields box set in my local games store at 50% off because, said the owner, no one wants this stuff anymore, I jumped at the opportunity, because it included a number of large models in plastic, including this guy.

I didn’t put a massive amount of work into the painting.  I started with an undercoat of Vallejo German Grey primer and then drybrushed with several lighter shades of grey craft store paint.  I picked out the veins in the wings with a medium grey.   The Ringwraith was black with successive shades of grey highlights on the folds of the robe, while his armour was Citadel Warplock Bronze, then a wash of Nuln Oil, then a dry brush of gunmetal.  I put the most work into the ringwraith’s sword.

 

I think most of my effort went into the detail on the base, to be honest.

This figure will mostly sit in my display cabinet, but if it ever makes it onto to the table, it would only be for a very large scale battle.   If using Dragon Rampant (my friend James and I really haven’t found a better set of rules for big fantasy battles), I would give him the Goader ability to make the two closest units move automatically, as well as make Good units within a certain radius (at least a foot, I would think) check for Fear unless an equivalent hero like Gandalf was on the table.   

Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!

MP+

22 comments:

  1. Big, bold bada.....; good addition, nice you found it on sale!

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    1. Thanks. It helped the price that it was not only half off but the whole box is plastic. I bought this model a long time ago for one of my kids in metal, hate to think what it would cost now, not to mention all that pinning!

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  2. Padre, I completely agree with your anti-elites-only stance. However... the Nazgul is exceptional!

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  3. That's a real bargain for that set! I agree that the big specials should be the exception rather than the usual.

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    1. Hey Barks, thanks for stopping by! It was a total bargain that set, to be sure, included a troll, two sprues of Rohirrim cavalry, a bunch of orcs, armoured Theoden and some Men of the Dead which I will likely pass on to anyone willing to take them.
      Agree with the bigger is best less school of thought. Cheers, Michael

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  4. Looks like I need to invest in some AAA

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    1. Gondorian ballistae maybe? Dwarf warriors on armoured eagles?

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  5. Great looking figure, I look forward to seeing it on the table top one day...

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    1. "Great looking" in a terrifying, not-so-great way. :)
      Thanks Alan.

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  6. Well, he certainly outclasses my old Minfig Mythical Earth series Nazgul I painted up in CMR days! (?I wonder where he ended up?)

    Just the right touch painting wise. Not sure I'ď be comfortable turning my back on that display cabinet though....

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    1. Huh, I remember that old line of Minifigs and actually found a photo of their Nazgul:
      http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Image:Minifigs-mystical-me57.jpg
      I think mine is slightly more impressive, but I don't think Minifigs gave that range to their best talent, even though I am very fond of Minifigs and cut my painting teeth on them.
      I may put a lock on that display case. :)

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  7. Very nice find and he looks great. Bigger games of Dragon Rampant must take a while

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    1. Stroke of luck to be sure. My friend James and I specialize in large Dragon Rampant battles, and have found it helpful to divide our forces into three wings or battles, each with their own CO, and a CinC for the whole army. That way, if one wing fails an intiative roll, it doesn't halt the whole force.

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  8. Very nice work and a great find to get it for half price!

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    1. Cheers, and yes, the price was not as scary as the figure hopefully will be.

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  9. Splendid looking Nazgul! Nice price too! I know what you mean about elites, I try to reward myself with them after painting lots of rank and file!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks, Iain, I quite agree. Paint a dozen PzIIIs or 100 fyrd foot, THEN you get to paint a Tiger or a half dozen elite household guards.

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  10. Looks fab! Great job on it. Love the look of these creatures in the movies.

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    1. Thanks Simon. The scene in the 2nd PJ LOTR film where the nazgul flies over Faramir's troops and terrifies them was very well done.

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  11. So cool. Did a really good job on this one. I do hope he gets some usage on the battlefield at some point, elite units abounding or not!

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    1. Thanks Dai, I hope to feature him soon, maybe in a post-lockdown battle with my friend James.

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