Dusting Off Old Miniature Collections
February 25, 2019 by crew
The expression “Plastic Crack” is one that I hear fairly often these days. With many games companies maintaining a frenetic flow of new releases, backed up by deals and supporting literature, it is easy to get swallowed up in a cycle of constant desire for new acquisitions, with the aspiration to paint new armies with an unquenchable lust that might make Smaug The Dragon blush!
Recently I have tried to take a step back to enjoy the fruits of past labours. Somewhat sadly I had become blind to shelves containing ranks of miniatures that I had put a lot of time, effort and love into building up and painting. Particularly the Lord Of The Rings, now Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game, which was really my first love in terms of a tabletop miniatures game. It also represents about eighteen years of collecting and hobby time, time that I am glad I chose to spend painting rather than watching TV.
An Old Collection Anew
Dusting off my old Harad army in a literal and metaphorical sense felt wonderful. Not least because I have everything that I would wish to include on a table available, painted and ready, without any feeling that I needed to work on it further.
I am in a fortunate position in that I live around the corner from Beasts Of War/OnTableTop for three or four months of the year, and have no problems getting a game of the Strategy Battle Game at the Cult of Gamers Members Suite. In terms of gameplay, variety and depth, I can’t think of a better-designed game on the market. It is also great that there is no built-in obsolescence in this game, and I can use all but about three miniatures from a collection of several thousand with the current rule set.
After playing mostly Bolt Action back in England, it has been great to return to the complete contrast of Tolkien’s Fantasy, with vivid characters, monsters and bright colour palettes on the table.
Lloyd was kind enough to mention my Harad army and his reaction to it on a recent Weekender, with the irony that I had dusted off an old and forgotten army, resurrecting my love for an old game, in an attempt to appreciate what I am lucky to have, and his response was miniature-lust for the new and shiny, “I need this in my life!”
Building On A Collection
It’s so easy to get swamped and to become greedy, forgetting what you have, and why it is special. I have now begun filling in the gaps in my collection by painting some of the neglected backlog of unassembled Middle Earth miniatures and to add further life to a game has been quite a big and happy part of my life.
A very real benefit of returning to my Tolkien miniatures via Military Wargaming is that I have picked up a few new techniques that I can now use in painting my miniatures. I have bought and learnt to use an airbrush, which can allow me to really speed up getting my painting layers down including base colours and pre-shading. I am also particularly looking forward to using my new set of Forge World pigments. They work great on metal work to show rust and general dirt and grime which will really add a level of gritty realism to my orc and goblin hoards.
I have also really missed bright colours that are just not present in modern military uniforms and camouflage. I have picked up some more Abrakhan Guard for my Harad which I am painting in a Royal Purple and Gold and after that, I look forward to working on finishing a Mumak! This is a fresh change from the Greys of my last project, Winter WWII Germans.
With the announcement of a Tolkien based television series, I expect to see a greater revival of interest in this game, and I hope that we may even see more miniatures as a result.
Possibly the greatest thing about coming back to the Strategy Battle Game, however, has been the social side. People have always been an important part of my life. As a result, I have reached out to some of my friends and my cousin, who I used to play against regularly but have seen a lot less. It's also an excellent excuse to revisit an old gaming club and get involved again.
So what miniatures do you have in YOUR collection that could be dusted off, ready for the gaming table once again?
We'd love to know your thoughts in the comments below!
"It’s so easy to get swamped and to become greedy, forgetting what you have, and why it is special..."
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"So what miniatures do you have in YOUR collection that could be dusted off, ready for the gaming table once again? "
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I have a ton of Lord of the Rings and old Astra Militarum (from back when they were Imperial Guard). However the downside from this is that I have moved on to different game systems. I don’t really play Warhammer 40k or Lord of the Rings any more but I always get that itch when I see a new boxed set get released. So maybe one day I will get back into those.
I have a number of the Grenadier and Mithril LotR minis from the olden days. They’re on my list to touch up (and in some cases paint from scratch as never finished them).
To buy the current models from GW of the minis I have would cost a couple hundred pounds at least. As I don’t play tournaments, just friendly games, I don’t need to worry about official minis.
Would be fascinated to see those old miniatures if you could share them in the projects and/or forums!
http://rabbitsinmybasement.blogspot.com/search/label/Dragon%20Rampant
A great guy who runs nearby convention – a lot of older style LotR minis under Dragon Rampant.
My painting skills are not great. Better now than used to be, but some of the old stuff is awful and the thought of stripping them to begin again is unpleasant.
I’ve also been dusting off my Middle Earth miniatures, and buying some new ones (mainly the starter set). I started a project blog on this site. I’ve been working away but I now need to spend some time to get some good photos to upload to the blog, to show what I’ve been up to.
I have just dusty off around 2k points (old money) of Skaven, same in high elves, dwarfs and goblins. Rebasing onto rounds to bring them up to AoS spec.
Actually well worth doing they have a new life now on those new bases.
Might be worth looking at them in Warlords Of Erehwon as well if you want to try out a new rule set. It might be a bit simple but I think it could be great for old collections.
Wouldn’t need to do a lot of rebasing that way too.
Dragon Rampant, Erehwon, Kings of War, and 9th age are all games that don’t require rebasing 🙂
From what I’ve heard Warlords of Nowhere is the “fantasy” version of Gates of Antares (both written by Mr R Priestly), so should give a good game (personally I think GoA gives a much more tactical game compared to BA (which it usually is)).
Not picked up a copy yet, but it would be rude not too 😀
Warlords of Erehwon has started to be a great game for bringing gamers together. While most people love their individual games (LoTR, AoS, A Song of Ice and Fire, old WHFB, KoW), I’ve seen players from all those systems quickly throw together a list for WoE and play a game. Most lists are flexible enough to make for a fun game.
It also allows people to build lists out of non-fantasy battle mini ranges. I’m working on a WoE list made of Shadows of Brimstone Miniatures.
Too many rule sets already, I would rather rebase… well scratch that I did already it was only about 300 miniatures from Square to Rounds, just a sore thumb, bucket loads of texture paint and tufts.
defiantly an interesting debate.
To take a slightly divergent path, but since it was mentioned in the article, does anyone know if GW are pursuing the rights to the Amazon show?
The deal(s?) they have struck so far cover the movies and some of the books (?? – last bit said in a high, quizzical voice), and were done way before this series was mooted, I would think they aren’t covered.
Is GW are going to throw the money at Amazon to be able to cover it from a table top perspective?
They could do IF they can probably prove that they’re going to be able to make some money out of it. I think it would be pretty awesome if they could tie things in with whatever main characters they end up using for the show etc.
I imagine it also depends on whether or not the Amazon show is meant to tie in with the Peter Jackson films, or if it’s going to be its own separate version of Middle Earth (like the way the DC Comics TV shows have nothing to do with the DC Comics movies).
I’ve read on a couple of sites that it will be set before LOTR but he much before is anyones guess
I’m wondering more if it’s meant to be consistent with the Peter Jackson films — same design sensibility, actors cast based on resemblance to the actors in the films, etc. I am assuming not, since I don’t think Peter Jackson or Weta are directly involved, but I could be wrong.
I’ve just restarted on a dwarf warband I started a couple of years ago. It’s a mix of LotR dwarves and homecast Prince August dwarves. Now I’m looking to make a Warlords of Erewhon warband out of it.
Sweet article. I had same felling a couple of years ago, where dusted off some old LOTR figures and then repainted some of them, and painted some of the old models i have had for ages, for lotr. And funny enough… this is also harad, with some umbar corsairs support ;D
Im thinking of dusting of some of the other models i have for Harad.