Recently my friend James (Rabbitman) and I went in together on an order of fantasy figures from Vendel Miniatures to flesh out our mutual Lord of the Rings project. James opted for a mx of elves, dwarves and orcs. I decided on orcs, as well as these shaggy, furry fellows. I thought the Vendel Hillmen would be ideal for the Wild Men of Dunland, allies of Saruman.
"All Isengard must be emptied; and Saruman has armed the wild hillmen and herd-folk of Dunland beyond the rivers, and these also he loosed upon us”. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers.
They can be used as Light Infantry in Dragon Rampant terms, or perhaps Bellicose Foot. I used a black spray paint as a primer, and had a bad experience on some of the figures when it dried in a blobby, granular way. You can see it on the shield of the chap on the right.
Obviously, some of these shields are forged in Isengard and supplied to the Dunlendings.
‘Yet there are many that cry in the Dunland tongue,’ said Gamling. ‘I know that tongue. It is an ancient speech of men, and once was spoken in many western valleys of the Mark. Hark! They hate us, and they are glad; for our doom seems certain to them. ‘The king the king!’ they cry. ‘We will take their king. Death to the Forgoil! Death to the Strawheads! Death to the robbers of the North!’ Such names they have for us. Not in half a thousand years have they forgotten their grievance that the lords of Gondor gave the Mark to Eorl the Young and made alliance with him. That old hatred Saruman has inflamed. They are fierce folk when roused. They will not give way now for dusk or dawn, until Théoden is taken, or they themselves are slain.’
I found this GW Saruman figure, half-painted and left over from when my son and I played the GW LOTR rules a lot. I finished basing him and added some detail to the face and hair, so I guess that counts as a complete figure. I am not sure why one needs a Saruman figure, as he basically keeps himself locked in his citadel of Orthanc.
So besides these thirteen figures, there are additional hosts on the march. In my last post I described going to Council Fires, a local wargaming event. I made the mistake of going too near the Bring and Buy table, and found this small horde looking for a new home. On the right, 46 goblins, and on the left, 31 Mordor orccs. A few of them have the white hand of Saruman painted on their shields. I will have to change that to the Red Eye of Mordor.
Saruman meets his new friends, 31 Uruk Hai.
With the Dunlendings arriving for the fight, and more of them on the painting table, things look quite grim for the Free Folk of the West.
Not counting the miniatures purchased at the Bring and Buy, these figures bring my 2016 totals to:
28mm: Foot Figures: 89; Mounted Figures: 10; Buildings: 3; Terrain Features: 2
20mm: Buildings: 1
6mm: Mounted figures: 36; Buildings: 2
The forces of evil are certainly massing and looking rather good too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael. I confess I didn't lavish a lot of attention on the Vendel figures. They are rugged blobs of metal, not sculpted very finely, but they look suitably ... barbaric ... when painted. I am happy with the look of them.
DeleteCracking work..... I always rather liked the Vendel fantasy figures.... very understated and believable.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you with regard to the Vendel fantasy figures.
DeleteThanks, chaps. I thought the Vendel Hillmen were perfect for the Dunlendings. I was looking at the newly released Frostgrave barbarians, but they were too detailed for my tastes ... too much armour, too many weapons for barbarians who sound like wild animals to the Rohirrim.
DeleteOoooooo-er!
ReplyDeleteVery nice additions. Between us the Forces of Darkness should be able to fill one side of the table nicely
A gathering storm indeed! And looking good, or well, looking evil in an eye pleasing manner.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. The Hosts of the West need to bulk up or be swept away.
DeleteAn excellent addition to your host.I look forward to seeing them in action...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Alan. As soon as I get the barbarian archers done, I shall throw them into battle.
DeleteNice additions Padre :)
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Tamsin.
DeleteA threatening mass of foot Padre. Well done. I have also had th clumping issues on spray primer.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Peter
Thank you, Peter. They are very threatening, which is why I lock them in a box between games. They threaten to steal my woman and eat my cats. Very rude.
DeleteSeveral times now I have had problems with Tremclad black spray paint. Never with the GW spray primer. I guess GW is good for some things.
Because its a lovely model! Well done and useful for what if scenario's
ReplyDeleteVery true, mate, thanks. Saruman should be very useful in Dragon Rampant, where wizards can go on the table without overbalancing the game play.
DeleteLovely painting on the hairy fellows. Very indicative of the Germanic warriors from the beginning of the Gladiator film too.
ReplyDeleteWow, the orcs got a significant boost! I feel sorry for your Rohan host.... Sorely outnumbered now.
Thanks, Dai. The Vendel Hillmen do have a very Germanic look to them, especially when I give them blonde hair, which is appropriate, I think, as the Dunlendings were just feral Rohirrim - same ethnicity, I would think.
DeleteRohan has some reinforcements coming, but perhaps not enough.
You better start recruiting for Rohan! Great looking evil host, well the wild men of Dunland are I guess fellow travellers, they've come out very well in a nice and fast barbaric style.
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thank you, sir. Indeed, the call has gone out through all the Riddermarks for able warriors and horsemen. Pray that they arrive in time!
DeleteTasty Mike.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Paul, many thanks.
ReplyDeleteNice Collection!
ReplyDelete