Rider Rivals in the Westfold: LotR: LPL Round 5 Results

Another Sunday starts another round of the Lead Painter's League and completes the previous round.

Round 5 was a Special Bonus Theme round, with 'Lord of the Rings' as the theme, and bonus for having 2 new teams if fighting against each other.  I was very close to deciding to paint the characters from The War of the Ring board game, but in the end I thought it'd be better to have some progress on some armies I've wanted to have done for years and years.

So I had to go with riders of rohan, and their opponents of course uruk-hai, and what better orcs than warg riders, for a true 'arms race'? I hate the orc riders on the plastic wargs though, so I converted new riders from uruk-hai scouts, part of an all-scout army I built for the strategy battle game: no pikes, no crossbows, none of that stuff, just a fast recon & strike force.

My favorite human culture from Middle Earth has always been Rohan.  From the first time I read the series I was drawn to Rohan.  I'm not a horse fanatic, I like them as I do most animals, but something about Rohan's  outlook and underdog determination I admire.  They don't come from a position of ancient power and privilege like their allies the Gondorians, they are a rising force with strong roots in their 'barbaric' heritage.  It reminds me of the speech Cora makes to her father and would-be husband about the colonists in 'Last of the Mohicans', the bit about 'they do not need a by your leave they hack it out of the wilderness with their own two hands'. Hell yeah. Don't mess with Rohan. ;)

I won the round, which put me up against Tomsche, you can visit his blog here. It was a fun match up since he had nearly the same entry I did, but in 15mm. Great minds think alike!

I'm afraid I won't be winning my next round however.  I think it's a close match up, but I am far outclassed in setting. Not only are the minis painted nicely but the terrain composition is very cool.  I have to find some better scenic settings for my entries! This next round I have entered some Cavemen.  I'm quite happy with the minis, and love the sculpts.  I painted a group of 7, to be used for a Paleo-man party for a Paleolithic Pulp skirmish game I've been writing.  It will have a lot of different homind factions, as well as some others down the line.  I'm pretty excited about it, and figured this was a good chance to start painting the factions.
You can visit my inevitable first loss here. ;)

By the way, Happy Easter, be careful of the Bunny...