Like most hobbyists I like shiny new projects. I frequently have to reign in my enthusiasm for new games or armies, and its not easy. I think I'm getting better at it, and organising my painting using the five box system has helped massively, but sometimes I have to give in.
I've long been a big fan of Professor Tolkien's work. In fact my first collection of minis (apart from plastic Airfix) was the old Minifigs Mythical Earth range. I painted them up with Humbrol enamels and used a set of rules called Wizards and Warfare, essentially a Lord of the Rings variant of whatever edition rules Wargames Research Group were up to in the 1970s.
I don't think I ever really grokked those rules. I was having to work them out myself with a largely uninterested opponent in my neighbour. One day I'll revisit them, though I'm not confident they've aged well.
The minis eventually saw more use in my early Dungeons and Dragons games in the late 80s* and I didn't return to wargaming until I tried Warhammer second edition a few years later. But I always wanted to play large scale battles based on the ones in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. None of the rules I tried really gave the right feel.
If you've read much of this blog, you should know I like Games Workshop's Strategy Battle Game, but that doesn't really cover mass battles. When GW published War of the Ring I tried that, and it nearly worked. Where I felt it fell down was the over emphasis (in my opinion) on even quite minor characters, the space required for the truly big battles, and, of course, the cost of assembling the suitably huge armies.
I've been aware of Copplestone Castings range of 'not Middle Earth' 10mm minis, along with a few other companies producing more generic 10mm fantasy (I've even included some of Kallistra's Mountain Orcs in my 15mm Dragon Rampant force). I wondered if I could assemble Middle Earth armies in 10mm, thus addressing the space and cost issues, and use the War of the Ring rules, but simplify them and take out some of the hero related rules.
None of this would be of any use if I was doing this on my own, but a quick email to Merlin suggested I would have at least one very keen opponent. So, this is my, or rather our, new project. 10mm War of the Ring. Now all we need to do is decide which rules to keep, which to change, and which to get rid of.
Oh, and an army to paint.
Or two.
Or more.
And some terrain.
*I wish I still had them. Partly for nostalgia, they are still my go to image for many of the inhabitants of Middle Earth, rather than Peter Jackson's blockbuster films, but some of the sculpts, though crude by today's standards, were inspired. The bow-legged orcs, I think, look exactly right.
I've long been a big fan of Professor Tolkien's work. In fact my first collection of minis (apart from plastic Airfix) was the old Minifigs Mythical Earth range. I painted them up with Humbrol enamels and used a set of rules called Wizards and Warfare, essentially a Lord of the Rings variant of whatever edition rules Wargames Research Group were up to in the 1970s.
I don't think I ever really grokked those rules. I was having to work them out myself with a largely uninterested opponent in my neighbour. One day I'll revisit them, though I'm not confident they've aged well.
The minis eventually saw more use in my early Dungeons and Dragons games in the late 80s* and I didn't return to wargaming until I tried Warhammer second edition a few years later. But I always wanted to play large scale battles based on the ones in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. None of the rules I tried really gave the right feel.
If you've read much of this blog, you should know I like Games Workshop's Strategy Battle Game, but that doesn't really cover mass battles. When GW published War of the Ring I tried that, and it nearly worked. Where I felt it fell down was the over emphasis (in my opinion) on even quite minor characters, the space required for the truly big battles, and, of course, the cost of assembling the suitably huge armies.
I've been aware of Copplestone Castings range of 'not Middle Earth' 10mm minis, along with a few other companies producing more generic 10mm fantasy (I've even included some of Kallistra's Mountain Orcs in my 15mm Dragon Rampant force). I wondered if I could assemble Middle Earth armies in 10mm, thus addressing the space and cost issues, and use the War of the Ring rules, but simplify them and take out some of the hero related rules.
None of this would be of any use if I was doing this on my own, but a quick email to Merlin suggested I would have at least one very keen opponent. So, this is my, or rather our, new project. 10mm War of the Ring. Now all we need to do is decide which rules to keep, which to change, and which to get rid of.
Oh, and an army to paint.
Or two.
Or more.
And some terrain.
*I wish I still had them. Partly for nostalgia, they are still my go to image for many of the inhabitants of Middle Earth, rather than Peter Jackson's blockbuster films, but some of the sculpts, though crude by today's standards, were inspired. The bow-legged orcs, I think, look exactly right.
My friends Alan, Philip and myself played many battles with the Mini Figs Middle Earth figures, and I wish I had kept mine, I know Alan has kept his (last I heard). Looking forward to the 10mm project.
ReplyDeleteI have a vague recollection of using a mixed bag of minis including the Mythical Earth ones with some rules you and a friend of yours adapted from, I believe, some tank rules.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was throw 3xd6 plus a strike value, trying beat the enemy figures defence total. I still play around with those rules from time to time.
ReplyDeletePotential for some very simple skirmish rules?
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