Lord of the Rings SBG on a budget - Full update as promised!

Ok so I said I’d do an update of my haul and here it is. I managed to trawl through it all last night and pull together the disparate bits in to some form of order. I’ve now got the sticky problem of deciding which bits I don’t want and would like to trade, Hmmmmmmmm.

So in no order of preference here’s what I’ve managed to put together through various acts of grovelling, cajoling, bartering and just plain buying!

Elves

Gilgalad, Elrond, Haldir, Galadriel, Glorfindel, Mounted Arwen with Frodo, 13x High Elves with 2 handed weapon and 12x Highelves with Bow

Last Alliance Men/Gondor

Elendil & Isildur, Boromir of the White Tower, Denethor, Faramir, Imrahil and 14x Last Alliance plastics

Wizards

Saruman, Sharkey, Radagast and Tom Bombadil

The Shire

Farmer Maggot and his hounds, Bilbo Baggins

The Fellowship

Plastic Gandalf, Aragorn (sword raised), Aragorn (Mtd King), Aragorn (Mtd ranger), Aragorn (Running sword), Plastic Gimli, Metal Gimli, Legolas, Merry (Esquire of Rohan), Frodo (metal), Sam (metal), Frodo (plastic), Sam (plastic), Merry (plastic), Pippin (plastic), Boromir kneeling.

Haradrim

6x Spears, 6x Bows

Uruk Hai

Lurtz (bow), Lurtz (sword and Shield), 3x Uruk Scouts (metal), Uruks with Merry & Pippin, Uruk Captain.

Rohan

24x Warriors of Rohan, Mounted Theoden

Goblins

35x Goblins (sword and shield), 50x Goblins (bow), 49x Goblins (spear), 2x Cave Trolls (metal)

Dwarves

King Dain, 7x Khazad Guard, 4x Khazad Guard (damaged axes), 2x dwarf (2 handed weapons), 2x dwarf (sword and shield), 1x dwarf with bow.

Company of Thorin Oakenshield

All apart from Thorin and Bilbo.

Now what the heck am I going to do with this lot. Well it looks like I’ve got a Goblin army for War of the Ring doesn’t it. I just have to come up with a paint scheme that suits a factory style process! I’m tempted to keep the elves simply because the models are quite cool and will probably paint up well but I’m not sure about the last alliance men and Gondor metals. I definitely don’t want the haradrim as that part of the Tolkien world doesn’t interest me, nor do I want the dwarves so they will have to get listed for trade me thinks. I’ll keep Saruman but the other wizards can go as well (I don’t like the Tom Bombadil model or the Radagast one. I much prefer the way that Sylvester McCoy portrays him in the Hobbit!).

So what do I still need. Well I still need to source both my Rohirrim and Uruk Hai although I’m probably ok for characters for the Uruks. But I do need Rohan Characters as I intend on starting my campaign in the Westfold so need Theodred, Erkenbrand, Eomer, Hama and Elfhelm. Not to mention the metal Gandalf (because he’s ace), Boromir, Merry and Pippin.

So still a little ways to go however when looking at my haul and then my spend to date (£31) I think I’m doing pretty well. I’ve managed to acquire 396 mini’s at a ratio of roughly 7p per mini, and yes some of them are plastic, some metal and some large models but it’s a good way to measure success and keep yourself motivated. I suppose part of the appeal of starting a project like this is the challenge itself.

So, on to some more trading I think.

Oh and here’s a WIP shot of the plastic Gandalf that I painted up whilst on holiday the other weekend. Still needs some washes and a little more highlights but I’m quite happy with the way he’s turned out so far. For a better paint job and decent comparison of the plastics vs metal go see Neldoreths blog - http://www.hourofwolves.org/?view=armies&which=fellowship&thumbs=1