Someone brought a cave troll!

We turn now to some of the heavy hitters of Middle Earth, the Trolls.  These are all metal figures and are actually from the Westwind Dwarf Wars range.  Unlike the LotR Trolls from the movies, these are muscular and seem to be more wiry.

These Trolls are actually scaled for 28mm.  Once you get a handle on the rank and file, monsters are easy to fill in.  Sometimes, a 28mm monster works perfectly.

Trolls (rear)

From left to right, Legolas, Gimli, Sam, Troll, Goblin. They look about right with the Troll being about twice as tall as a man.

Notes:

The Trolls were undercoated in black and painted Bronzed Flesh.  They were then washed with Wonder wash Dirty Dark Brown.  Then the skin was highlighted with Bronzed Flesh again and then Elf Flesh.  Like most of my bad guys, the eyes were painted Red.  The fur is painted Scorched Brown and highlighted with Beastial Brown.  I think I need to highlight the fur one more time…maybe with a lighter color.

The figures were bought from war Web as they have 20% off of all Westwind and Old Glory products.  You could gain even more savings if you bought into the old glory army.  $50 will get you 40% off all products at Old Glory products for 1 year.  I don’t so I went with the next best thing.  The cost of 4 figures is $12 so each figure is $3.  In a skirmish game, 4 trolls is plenty.  In an army game, maybe not so much.

Westwind Trolls

Now without further due…The Goblins of the Misty Mountains

Our next entry into the LotR 20mm realm is Goblins by Goblin Factory.  These were originally made to compliment other 28mm figures.  The Goblins are quite small so compared to a 28mm human, they work out well for that purpose.  However, they also look good as a full sized Orc next to a 1/72 scale humanoid.  This is fantastic news especially since Goblin factory has an extensive range of Goblins including Goblins on Wargs.

Goblin Factory Goblins come in like packs. these are the Armored Spear Goblins. They are what you would expect. Goblins with spear and some with shield. The one second from the right clutches his spear with 2 hands making an excellent candidate for a standard bearer.

Spear Goblins (side)

Spear Goblins (rear)

Sword Goblins also have six different poses. The one with crossed swords would make a good commander.

Sword Goblins (side)

Sword Goblins (rear)

Goblin Archers are unarmored. They also come armored but I thought unarmored gave a better look for archers.

Goblin Archers (side)

Goblin Archers (rear)

The Warg Riders are where the range really shines. There are riders with axes, swords, spears or even bows. Mine are 1 set of unarmored axes and 1 set of command (3 per set).

Warg Riders (side)

Warg Riders (rear)

The finally set of pictures is the Goblin Shaman pack. 3 different poses and, likely, power levels of Shaman come in this pack. One is rather ordinary, carrying a big stick and pointing. The middle Shaman has a torch. An adventurer perhaps. The Shaman on the left is a bit bigger, hunched over and has a vulture or buzzard on his shoulder.

Goblin Shaman (side)

Goblin Shaman (rear)

Notes:

These figures are metal.  They are some of the first 20mm figures I painted and the first Goblins I’ve painted in a long, long time.  The skin is like that of the Mordor Orcs. GW Bubonic Brown over Black and a wash of Snake Bite Leather.  Then lightly highlighted with Bleached Bone.  Tunics are mostly white and bleached bone as a wash.  Leather stuff is Snake Bite Leather again and Chestnut Ink as a wash.

These figures are all metal and, as you might guess, don’t come cheap.  The packs of 6 foot are about $7.50.  That puts us over $1 per figure.  Wargs and riders are about $8.50 per 3 figures.  They are very nice sculpts and the look is fantastic when painted up.  They are great for skirmish gaming.  Cost of this group is $17 for the Wargs, plus $15 for the melee, plus $7.50 for the archers and $4 for the Shaman.  $43.50 total.  A hefty some for 21 Infantry and 6 Warg Riders.  When you consider that GW plastic boxes are going for $30 these days (6 Plastic Wargs for $30!)  you realize that a comparable sized force in 28mm is $60.  Perhaps not quite the savings we had with the rebel Minis Orcs and Dark Alliance Orcs.  Should you wish to go another rout, Dark Alliance has just released 2 new sets of Warg Riders.

Goblin Factory Goblins

Dark Alliance Wargs These figures will probably cost about $15 for 12 figures.  They are not widely available yet.

The Fighting Uruk-Hai

I did a bit of photography today.   The second of the two major players is Saruman’s Uruk-Hai troops.  These are by Dark Alliance.  The box comes with 45 figures in 5 sprues.  There is a small issue with this setup.  Each sprue has a musician and a standard bearer.  This is not all bad however.  The standard bearer can be converted to a spearman by clipping away the standard and adding a spear of course.  as well, the extras can be used with Rebel Minis Bag o’ Orcs which have no musicians or standard bearers.

This is the 9 figures that come with 1 sprue of Uruk-Hai. There are several figures with shields, 1 that is shouting a battle cry, 1 with a standard and 1 drummer.

A side view of the figures.

The one view you will rarely see from these guys on the battlefield.

The regiment deployed. 20 figures in all.

Notes

The skin of the figures was painted with GW Dark Flesh over a black base coat and highlighted with Vermin Brown.  The armor is Bolt Gun Metal dry brushed over black.  Boots and other leather bits are Snake Bite Leather with Chestnut ink washed over the brown.  The figures are made of medium consistency plastic.  they come with almost no flash but like all plastic figures, the mold lines have to be reduced.  I used a sharp blade to scrape the lines.  Several of the figures are very reminiscent of the LotR Uruk-Hai from the movie.  There is one figure in particular that holds the irregular rectangular shield on his left hand and several have the broad flat blades.

The figures cost $14.95 for a box of 45.  That means each figure is about 33 cents each.  When combined with the rebel minis Bag 0′ Orcs you can build my Mordor regiment (20) for about $17.50.  You can also build 2 regiments (18 each) for $6 each or a total of about $12.  So 3 regiments total would cost $29.50 for 56 figures.  Not bad at all.

Tracking down the manufacturer’s website is a problem.  They are for sale at Hobby Bunker.

Mordor Orcs (So I changed it up a bit!)

Last time I said I’d do the Goblins of the Misty Mountains.  Frankly though, it is easier to do the Mordor Orcs.  Fewer pictures and all.  Plus, the next instalment will be along really soon.  I promise! So here we go.  These Orcs are by rebel Minis.  They are the Bag o’ Orcs line.  originally, they were to be part of an extensive line of 20mm miniatures.  Probably, they were made with the budget conscious gamer in mind.  The orcs retail for $12.50 for a bag of 16 which puts them at about 78 cents each.  The sculpts are very good for their size and they come with very little flash or mold lines.

This group comes with 16 Orcs in 8 different poses. There is one pose that there is only a single pose and another that is tripled.

Side view of the same figures.

Rear View of the Orcs of Mordor.

Regimental view. I goofed up the photo. I should have snapped it higher up so you could see the back three ranks.

Notes:

4 of the figures in the front are from the Dark Alliance Orc Set 1.  These are perfect for both Mordor Orcs and Uruk Hai.  I painted all figures as I did with the Goblins.  Using older GW paints I painted the skin bubonic brown over black undercoat.  I washed them with snake bite leather.  The armor is dry-brushed bolt gun metal over black.    Leather bits are snake bite leather and chestnut ink.  The Dark Alliance figures were added for a command element.  They are inexpensive figures but are really nice for the price.  more on these figures in my next installment.  The Uruk-Hai.

Figures by rebel Minis: Bag o’ Orcs

Quick comparison.  The Orcs themselves are metal and cost about 78 cents each.  Other companies make 28mm Orcs that start at $2 per figure and go up to $4 or even $5 per figure.  So these are not so cheap, BUT they are not $5 per figure either!