Just a quick post for today. As mentioned in a previous post, I put out a commission for a professional sculptor to make me some shields to use with my elite Rohan units. This is what he came up with (ignore the little spiky bits as they are the resin equivalent of flash or venting on metal minis)...
The shield on the left in the picture above is a stylised double-horse, and the middle and right are similar to ones already produced for the Eorlingas miniatures. The backs of the shields are also textured to look like wood. I can't recall the reasoning behind the designs I wanted made but I will try to rationalise them now.
I think the stylised ones could work well for an elite force as they are quite striking. Erkenbrand's Redshields and Grimbold's Helmingas are both elite units but I feel the warriors in those two units are not quite up to bearing the honour of sporting those shield designs. Maybe they could be a part of Theodred's/Eomer's/Elfhelm's elite cadre? As mentioned previously, Theoden will have Royal Guard and Theodred will have Sons of Eorl as their elite huscarls but what about the other two/three Marshals of the Mark? I think maybe Eomer should also have Sons of Eorl as he is part of the royal household but Elfhelm...? He has a flamboyant name, so maybe a flamboyant looking unit to accompany him? But then what about the Outriders? Where will they fit in? Decisions, decisions.
I will ponder what to do with these over the next day or so and then glue up Erkenbrand's Redshields both on foot and mounted. I will also look into those conversions for Grimbold's Helmingas and see what I can do to mix things up a little with them - as mentioned in a previous post, I only want them armed with hand weapons and shields. This will mean I shall have a few spare archers going - perhaps these can be painted as PCs or NPCs for the Adventures in Middle Earth RPG? At least I will be able to try out different paint schemes on them rather than the standard greens and reds.
Nice job... it's great nowadays to be able to find sculptors who can make bespoke parts. I sometimes use Geoff at Oakbound studios who is an excellent and talented chap. Ral Partha make a couple of Rohirrim type figures which fit fairly well with the GW stuff (last 2 figures on this page)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/ral-partha-fantasy-c-37/fantasy-adventurers-c-37_40/?sort=20a&page=7
Thanks Springinsfeld - it is definitely cool that us gamers can get bespoke parts made up to make our armies look how we want them. Out of interest, for possible future projects, would you have Geoff's contact details? Not sure of the best way of conveying that info as Geoff may not want his details splashed all over the web - perhaps you could email me at littleodo at gmail dot com if you are happy to do so?
ReplyDeleteThanks also for the link - Frederick and Sven look like they could be great un-named Rohan-type heroes. When I get a few quid spare I may look at picking them up.