For the Shire!

Welcome to 2020!  I have some cool project updates to share but I thought it was worth taking a moment and discussing some plans I have for the new year as well.  First up, I’m very much dedicated to playing MESBG scenarios this year.  I don’t have too far to go until my next one and I think I can knock out a number of Scouring of the Shire scenarios this year which should be a blast.  I don’t know how far I will get with the An Unexpected Journey scenarios I’ve been working on off and on for a year now but I certainly hope to keep progressing towards them too.  This will obviously continue to be the main focus of this website as LOTR is one of the few things that my love for is pretty much constant.

With a bit of time off for the holidays, I took stock on where I am in the hobby at the moment.  I think I would like to paint some things that are non-LOTR in 2020 (as I have done in the past) both for variety’s sake and to cover other interests of mine.  I do not have the space to get terrain for another game right now (or in other words, the game would need to be able to mostly use the terrain I have/am building if I were to go for another one) so I don’t expect to pick up any new games to play this year but I would like to paint some historical minis whether they be cowboys (I’m playing Red Dead Redemption 2 at the moment!), Romans, or maybe even samurai.  Thanks in part to Toad at ToadChapel and his incredible diorama skills, I could see myself finally taking on a diorama project this year.  I’ve wanted to do one for a long time and I always push it off or lose motivation.  I think my hobby knowledge has really improved after making terrain so I think I’m better able to handle a project like that this year.  Hopefully, by picking less detailed and time consuming miniatures to paint (as opposed to something in Warhammer which take a really long time to paint well), I can actually make that happen.

Other than that, I’m going to keep my plans open and go with the flow and try to enjoy the hobby as much as I can.  Speaking of having fun, one thing I’ve done in the new year is base all the hobbits and Ruffians I’ve painted.  I’m really happy with the results as I really wanted the bases to look great for these minis.  Here’s a look at them all:

As you can probably see, I used a bit of flock this time to form the lowest level on the base and I must say that for basing LOTR minis, flock really works well.  It fits the scale better than your average grass tuft which are often too tall and fit Warhammer’s scale better.  Not that I didn’t use some tufts as I think they add some nice texture.  I also enjoyed putting some flowers on the bases of the good guys as I think it helps distinguish who is good and who isn’t.  I may need to get some other flock colors to add some visual variety to the terrain I will be making but I think I’ve worked out from basing these how I might want a Hobbit hole to look.  While technically the Shire is pretty well chewed up by the Ruffians when Frodo and Company arrive, I think it is much more visually stunning to portray the Shire at its peak which is my plan for the Scouring of the Shire scenarios.

With these guys based and plenty of flock in hand, I will be working on some terrain that is needed to play Farmer Maggot’s farm in the coming weeks.  I have to wait for something to arrive from Poland so it will be a bit before I can get back to this project but I hope these minis get you as excited as I am to see that scenario come together!