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Thursday, 23 January 2014

THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (or what have I let myself in for now)

It's safe to say that I don't need any more projects on the go at the moment, not having enough time to concentrate on one, let alone nine  or ten , so I was astounded to hear myself saying to my 2 older sons (Thing 1 and Thing 2)"Why don't we collect the armies to re-fight the battle in The Hobbit?" Needless to say they thought it would be a good idea (particularly as I would be stumping up for the figures).

The Battle of The Five Armies by John Blanche
in A Tolkien Bestiary by David Day


We decided on 1/72 scale mainly for cheapness and there are a couple of companies producing really nice boxes of figures at about £6 for 40 odd figures. I need to sit down and work out exactly what we need to get, but I reckon we should be able to do the battle on a scale of 1:20 for under £100. Thing 1 already had some Light Alliance Dwarves on the go so these will form the basis for Dain Ironfoot's 500 grim warriors, and we have been sent a bundle of Caesar Dwarves by a kind fellow blogger (thanks Douglas).

Great figures based heavily (or copied) on the Lord of the Rings films. 



Not bad painting for a 10 year old (he's now 11, but did these last year for a Moria game).

I am thinking of doing the elves first using Caesar figures, and then there are an awful lot of goblins to do..

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9 comments:

  1. Gareth23 January 2014 at 22:06

    Great idea! Will enjoy watching this one grow. As a child I used to spend hours pouring over 'The Battle of The Five Armies' by John Blanche and it remains one of my favourites to this day. I'll have a rummage around and see if I can donate anything to the cause.

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    1. Springinsfeld24 January 2014 at 14:31

      Thanks Gareth, I see you use the same picture as your blog header.

      Delete
  2. Greywolf24 January 2014 at 05:52

    Nice idea,looking forward to seeing what you do.
    Cheers
    Guy

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    Replies
    1. Springinsfeld24 January 2014 at 14:37

      Thanks Guy, hopefully it will mean more regular posts on this blog!

      Delete
  3. tradgardmastare24 January 2014 at 06:07

    John Blance's pic is one of my favourites. Interesting project which I look forward to seeing develop.Your son's painting is great!

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    1. Springinsfeld24 January 2014 at 14:38

      Many thanks your Dukeship..... more to follow soon hopefully.

      Delete
  4. Erny24 January 2014 at 09:02

    Supper stuff, why didn't they make cheap 1:72 fantasy when I was a kid. You son would put many adult painters to shame.

    Can you get 20mm plastic wolves too?

    I have a set of the GW battle of five armies 10mm stuff with all the additional packs and Mr Copplestones additions waiting for the day my boys are old enough.

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    1. Springinsfeld24 January 2014 at 14:37

      Thanks Erny, it's good to get them while they are young.

      Dark/Light Alliance do 2 boxes of warg riders which are ok but the steeds look more like hyenas than wolves, but at £6 for 12 cavalry I'm not complaining. For the wargs proper (i.e. the ones without riders) I'll be using either Garrison (95p for 2), Prince August (£10 for a mould and then an infinite number) or making my own mould from a discontinued Minifigs figure.

      The 10mm figures are great (I have a few Warmaster armies) but I can no longer paint such little figures without getting a headache :-(

      Delete
  5. private w.25 January 2014 at 08:56

    Sounds like a wonderful adventure to undertake with your sons! And your boy's painting is terrific! I also really like the sculpts of these plastic figures. They have a nice pre-slotta-like vibe to them.

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