It feels like there has been a bit of lull in MESBG and the wargaming blogosphere that I follow/participate in lately so some news from GW is certainly welcome! Rohan At War is rumored to come out next month which will be exciting but to wet our appetites, Forge World has put some new models up for pre-order! If you’re a big fan of the movies, you’ll probably remember these characters as well since they make an impact in the Battle of Helm’s Deep.
I like how GW is creating new sculpts to represent memorable side characters in the movie. These two sculpts look fairly simple/straight forward to paint (get your brown paint ready!) but the likenesses are awesome to the actors in the movie and should be a welcome addition to Rohan armies. If I ever get around to Two Towers scenarios, I will definitely pick them up.
That is not at all! A slew of Hobbit minis are also returning including some that are really hard to get like Thranduil. If you play any of the Hobbit armies (or scenarios like me), this is pretty exciting news! Here is a look at everything that is returning:
While I’m happy to see all of these return, I have been waiting to be able to buy Fimbul to play An Unexpected Journey scenarios for quite some time so I’m thrilled to see him back. I’d love to take a crack at a Thranduil one day as well. All of these minis should make any Hobbit fan happy and they all look like great fun to paint up too!
Do any of these new and returning minis get you excited? Which ones, if any, will you buy be buying in the near future? Let us know in the comments below!
Kuribo's Painting 
Some nice models there, but the insane “collector-oriented” price point that they hit with The Hobbit models compared to the LotR lines still puts me off.
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I know you what you mean. GW burned some bridges there I think. Fortunately, there are a few of these that I think are good deals by GW standards. Fimbul alone would usually be $40 and the fact that you get Narzug which I think was close to $20 on his own makes $50 seem fairly good. However, these minis are not cheap and the Hobbit is not as iconic so I’m sure GW sells more LOTR stuff even if some of the sculpts are quite old now.
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Yeah, I see where you’re coming from. I guess also for me the Hobbit film (not the book) is a lot less iconic than the LotR films, so I’m happy to just make my way through the existing model collection without worrying too much about re-releases or even many of the new ones…
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Absolutely! If you have varied wargaming interests, I’d stick to LOTR too. There’s only a few Hobbit scenes I’m eager to replay and at some point, I’m sure my attention will turn towards LOTR exclusively.
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I’m sure if once I complete the main trilogy worth of models, I can get a few and proxy many more when it comes to The Hobbit. 🙂
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For sure. If you complete the main trilogy’s worth of minis, that is a real accomplishment in and of itself. Its going to have end up taken me 3+ years to paint up An Unexpected Journey at the rate I’m going. With that said, the Hobbit minis aren’t going anywhere in the event you change your mind too 🙂
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I really want to get int minis after reading all your posts. I don’t have time for another hobby though, haha. I’ll live vicariously through this website 🙂
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I take that as a real compliment! There are TONS of different kinds of miniatures out there so don’t be fooled into thinking it is just Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. There is likely something out there that would appeal to you if you go looking. I love painting and generally find it to be really relaxing. With that said, painting takes time and I have to make time instead of playing video games or watching movies so that I can make progress in this hobby. So I totally understand what you mean and I’m glad you find what I post on here interesting and/or inspiring 😀
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I’m really excited by Haleth and Aldor! I was not expecting those at all and they look like really nice sculpts and very fun profiles. Unfortunately I had just placed a large order at Forge World, meaning it’ll likely take some time before I get around to ordering them.
Also happy to see some Hobbit era minis return to the range, for a while it seemed like only LotR was getting all the love. I had actually just found Fimbul and Narzug in a local store and bought them for more than GW will now be selling them, but it’s not too bad (was the original pricing). I think I’ll be ordering another Fimbul/Narzug pack to convert Narzug on Warg. It’s not cheap but given they’re both Finecast I think it should be a fairly easy conversion and Fimbul mounted is needed in so many scenarios that that somewhat justifies the price for me. Knowing myself I’ll likely pick up the Young Dwarves as well, though I do find the price quite steep for just 3 models on foot. The other miniatures I already own, except for Thranduil in robes (hopefully can pick him up on the second hand market now that he’s becoming more available) and the Tauriel exile pose. But I already own two Tauriel poses so don’t need a third.
I’m eagerly awaiting War in Rohan, because before I build (parts of) Helm’s Deep I want to know which dimensions are suggested in that book, since I hope to play those scenarios at some point as well. And then I won’t need to build the same thing twice. So that puts a small hiatus on the campaign, but it does give me time to prepare for other scenarios (and ‘real’ life is quite busy for me now as well).
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They really do look like great sculpts! Between Scouring of the Shire and these new sculpts, Forge World is going to be getting some of my money soon too 🙂
I’m glad to hear that you found them nearby. I think that would be almost impossible to do here in the US as the game isn’t well-stocked anymore. Fimbul really is needed for a lot of Hobbit scenarios which is odd considering how little he is in the movies so I’ll be getting him sooner than later. I feel the same way about the Legolas and Tauriel set. I have two Legolas (one LOTR and one Hobbit) and while I like those sculpts I don’t NEED it, but I wouldn’t mind picking them up one day either 🙂
That is smart to hold off on building Helm’s Deep. I hadn’t thought about the fact that they may alter those scenarios very much. Helm’s Deep is the one scenario in Rohan at War that I would be very interested in playing one day. It is just so iconic and impressive to have in your collection! I noticed that you’ve been quiet lately but figured you were busy hobbying or with life. I look forward to your next report but we all get busy sometimes too 🙂 Thanks for stopping by (as always!) and I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you play next!
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Yeah it’s true things have been a bit quiet on my end. Despite being busy with work, I did manage to paint the Galadhrim and the miniatures for the board game Nemesis. I also finished Shelob (granted, that took like 15 min max without priming and drying time) and build a lot of minis for the Return of the King part of the campaign. For me it’ll likely stay busy this year, but 2020 is looking to become quite a productive year for hobbying (perhaps even more than 2019) as I should (hopefully) work less by then. Though it’s always risky to pin down the future too much.
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That is an impressive amount of stuff done, especially for being busy with work! I sometimes get bogged down or don’t get as much painting done as I’d like because of work so I can definitely relate. I’m glad to hear that you can see a time in the future where you’ll have more hobby time too. That should keep you going in the cold winter months 🙂 It is going to be exciting to see you tackle Return of the King scenarios too. Those don’t get played nearly as often as Fellowship of the Ring for example so it will be fun to see something a bit different.
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