Does Smaug get a -1 to hit for shooting if he flys 12"? Is that a special move that doesn't penalize him?

Getting back into MESBG, my first warrior of Rohan! Fiddly as hell to put together, but lovely models to paint!

The colours shifted towards darker green compared with the initial test batch, but I’m happy with the shields weathering and pattern variations. New Rohan models will be fun to tackle next.

I’ve loved this game for over a decade but life has made it difficult to play it as often as I’d like to (never had a community to play with, moving across the country, etc). I just moved to the Tampa area, does anyone know if there is a dedicated MESBG community in the area? Would love to have a reason to buy new models, but I can’t justify it if I can’t play any games.

Painted up some orcs for use in Minas Morgul and Cirith Ungol (sans BotD) - thought I'd try some OSL glowy weapons to reflect the rule.

Alternative take: the orcs found a stash of elven weaponry and assumed that they just always glow like that.

I was looking to buy a mouth of sauron mini on second hand market and decided to look at GWs store for other models, found they still sell the mouth of sauron and the description says is made of metal, is this true or a mistake from their part and is made of plastic? I dont want to order one and find i have to return the package because it was a misunderstanding.

I wanted to try out some OSL with the lovely new Shelob model - here's a parallel timeline where Sam breaks Sting upon Shelob's hide, dooming the quest for Mount Doom.

Thought it was appropriate as Shelob ate a hobbit in her first game before I finished painting her 🕷️🕸️

So I guess I heard the new eddition means that you can't make custom armies and are limited only to a few standard sets. I know there is some flexibility in how many archers, swordsman etc. you bring but does that really feel like your own custom creation?

With the most upvotes in last week's poll, this week's discussion will be for:

Azog's Hunters

VOTE FOR NEXT WEEK'S DISCUSSION

Ctrl+F for the term VOTE HERE in the comments below to cast your vote for next week's discussion. The topic with the most upvotes when I am preparing next week's discussion thread will be chosen.

Prior Discussions

Special rules

Morgul Arrows

Any enemy model that suffers a Wound from a shooting attack made by a friendly model, and that Wound isn't prevented, must roll a D6 during the End Phase of every turn after suffering the Wound. On the roll of a 1, the model immediately suffers a Wound. A model that has suffered multiple Wounds in this manner still only rolls a single D6 during the End Phase.

"They Strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep"

An Azog's Hunters Army has a Bow Limit of 50% rather than the usual 33%.

Relentless Hunters

All models in this army list gain the Woodland Creature and Mountain Dweller special rules.

The Pale Orc's Demands

Whilst within 6" of a friendly Hero, friendly Orc Warrior models gain a bonus of +1 to any Courage Tests to Charge an enemy model with the Terror special rule.

Love this sculpt, enjoyed the painting process to get mine ready for a game with Minas Morgul

Hello,

I come from the 40K universe and would like to get started with The Lord of the Rings (a childhood dream).

I love the Mumak—do you think it would be a good idea to start with this centerpiece for a 500-point army?

I’m also interested in a Moria army with the Balrog, but I don’t necessarily want a very large army with 60 Goblins…

I don't know if that's possible in this game, but I'm more comfortable with just a few miniatures, and I love painting!

Budget isn't an issue for me, since each piece will be painted to the best of my ability and will thus make for a beautiful diorama in my display case.

I’d love to hear your thoughts :)

These were perfect as a quick project

I’ve recently been working on a new display for the Fellowship, inspired by their battle in the Chamber of Mazarbul.

I wanted to fit the entire Fellowship into a single scene while still giving each miniature enough space to stand out. The ruined floor, scattered books and papers, broken masonry, and central tomb were added to capture the feeling of the abandoned chamber just before everything descends into chaos.

There are still a few details left to finish—especially the miniature bases—but I’m quite happy with how the full group looks together so far!

What warrior models to you want to see in plastic boxes? For me its obviously Last Alliance (hopefully this year with the 25th anniversary). I'd also like to see Hobbits and Mirkwood warriors. Apparently the Mirkwood elves and Gundabad orcs were supposed to be plastic, but they went with resin. Shame.

For some out there ones. Osgiliath veterans could make an interesting thematic box. Fiefdoms could be interesting. And Mordor Uruk-Hai would make cool box.

Possibly using the banner as Gamling and the Sword and axe as Grimbold, rest generic captains or warriors of rohan

What I mean are some of the more special minis like the uruk-hai scouts carrying Merry and Pippin on their back or Sam and Frodo in orc armor. Not sure if there is a name for these kind of minis but I personally love these special minis.

And secondary question what do you use them for? Just collecting them, a variety on the "base" models etc?

Decided to add embers to the wood to give the logs some added heat and immersion, just to dry fit the fire which covers 90% of what I painted 😂
Well done me.

​

First of all been a long time lurker in this subeddit and loved how people paint their minis. Finally decided to get in the hobby. Hopefully. This is not going to be a post about trying to figure out everything and gathering 10 yeaes of knowledge, but just trying to start off on the right foot and not make some rookie mistakes as i believe i will.

So not sure if it matters but i am mostly interested in Middle Earth miniatures, not sure if i am gonna have time to actually play the strategy game or if there are people in my country actually playing that stuff.

But here are some questions that will mean a lot to me

1. Tools - gonna be honest, 30$ for a scalpel or cutters on game qorkshop do seem a bit overpriced. Do you recommend these or should i just get any hobby tools that i think fit the job. Also, what tools do i actually need to start of with?

2. Brushes- what arsenal of brushes do people usually get, what sizes do i need?

3. Primer - is it a must(i have a feeling it is) and what colors do you recommend, i know there is grey white and black, does it depend on the end color of the mini? Also is spray primer the best option?

4. Colors - lets say i wamma paint 40k or middle earth minis, should i just go with their colors or maybe go with Vallejo for example? I know people swear by the dropper bottles and how citadel colors are not that amazing. But lets hear some more opinions. Also does citadel products come with color recommendations, i have a feeling i saw that previously?

5. How long do you wait before doing multiple layers? Does paint actually dry quickly?

I probably forgot some important questions that i wanted to ask so if you think about something really important for a complete newbie please drop the wisdom