A Tale of Good • She Hunts: • War in Middle-earth: • River Assault Rules

& Evil (Part Five) Shelob Scenario Mirkwood

~ir1G5 c;.----- -----=-
RIVER ASSAULT RULES
A rules supplement for The Lord of The R ings

he lord of The Rings Is a game that

T enables you to customise your own

Ideas for various situations and
scenarios. Mat Ward shows what's possible
wi th rules for playing on the open waler.

DEEP OR SHALLOW?
The following ru les are nonnally only u:>cd
on deep water - for eXllmple II river or lake.
Generally speaking, if a scenario describes
n WUlcr lemin feature lIS being impassable
(TUlhe r than difficult termin) Ihcll these ru les
arc sui hLblc - nllhoul!h playcnI ~ h()uld
nlwn)'s agree {cRain before;l game begins.

DRIFT
There i~ an element of drift in all nautical
dcpanure~. whether from wind. curre nt,
tides. or sim pl y the now of the river. At the
stan of the game. players !thould dClcmline
the rate and di l'"Cl;:lion of Drifl in the river or
sea. Players nrc free to decide upon the
amourlL and di rection of Drift (if any), but
g.merally speakin g il is a good idea for Drift
10 be either D3 lD6cm (a slow flowing, but
rl

still sirong, river) or D6"I2D6cm (a fasl

flowing river). During Ihe Priorily ph:.se,
but before Priority has tx:en dClermin(:d.
euch model (including boalS) moves in the
direction lind speed of the Orin (sc:e right).
If :. model or !:loot Drifts irno anolher
modcl, boat or terrain (eulnte, treat it JUSt
like a collision.
BOATS
Thcsc rules arc deSigned for small boots und
raft.~ between 4"/ IOcm and 12"I2Scm in
length. Larger lIessels. sneh as the ships of
the Corsairs of Umbar. are considerabl y
bigger and nOI entirely suited to Ihese rules.
BoalS arc always deemed under Ihe control
of the player with the gteinesl number of
models louching either the sails or the oars
of the bont. Models that are lying down or
ineapllcilmoo for !lny rellson (as Ihe result of
a Paralyse spell. for example) do not COUIit
for the pUfpo!ie of detcmlining control.
Models with a Strength of 6 or greater COllnl
as thre.! modcls for the purpo~~ of
detennining cont rol. I f both players have an
equal uum ber of models. louching either the
sails or the oars of Ihc boot. then either
player can mo\'e the bo31 (although il wHI
still Drift).

MOili ng Wllhi" T ht.' Ikla!

Models may move around the boot fR:ely in
accordance with the nonnal rules.
Depending on the size and construction of
you r boalS, there may be vurious obstacles
or even ureil~ of difficult terrnin - as
nomml. agree the!>C with your opponent
before the game.

Moving The 80at

The controlling player may ass ign any
number of his models within the bom to
propel it (either using OlIn. or any sails the
Crllfl may have) 111 Ihe Sltln of his Move
phase. BoalS ntay onl y move on deep water.
Any number of waniors may propel the
oout, but if fe..... er thun fOUf models are
e ngaged in Ihis way the 00.11 will move
~lower, If no mode ls are assigned to propel
the boat then the hoat will not move btl!
may still Drife. Models tlmt are engaged in
combat, or lying down. may oot propel the
boat. Warriors propelling the boat cannot
lire mi ssil e weapo ns, cast spe lls or use
spears (although other model- within the
bollt mill' still do SO if the con trolling plnyer
wishes it).

Boats are always mo\'ed directly forward~

by the controlli ng player. They can be
turned to fuce any di rection llt the SInn of
their move. but cannot change dir<.'Ction
wh ilst moving. Whe n mOving a 00.11. the
controlli ng player roll ~ n D6 and consults
Ihe Handling c hart (helow ),

Hand ling Chare
I The boat goes o ut o r ,,·tm tml. 1ll1!
wllrriOrs spend the rest of their
Move phll'lC trying to re gai ll
control - the boot may nm move
this tum but will drift wi th the
c urrent as norm al.
'2-5 The boat is under cont rol. 'rhe
wnrriors carefully guide their boat
over the w:ucr - the hom moves
D6~I2 D6cmpl u~ 1"l2cm foreoch
ndd itio nul lnotiel beyond the fourth
that is propelling the boat (II boot
propelled by 6 models wou ld move
D6+2"I2D6+4cm).
6 J<:):ce lleot ~IUlllIllS h ip. The bem
mo\'l,~S 6"/14c11\ plus 1 ~/2c m for
eac h additional model beyond the
fOMh th:11 is: propelling the boot (6
models wQuld movc a boot by
S"I2Ocm).
' 11e boot can loove ae full speed if ehere are
four or more model s propelling thc boat, if
there are less than four modcl ~ lhen the
speed of the boat is hal ved.
Note thm the bout need not always 1II0ve the
fu ll dislance indicated by the c hart. If the
bont moves into contact with o ther models
o r Icrrnin fcmu res. trem it as II collision.
Collisions
It is e minentl y poss ible thm u boat can
collide with other boats. the bank, or c\'c n
modcJ ~ in tile water. If n boat collides with u
m(X\el wilh a Strength of 5 o r less. the
model is pushL"d I "ncm bac k from the boat
- the boat complc tes its move as nomlul.
If a boat collide s with a model with a
Strength of 6 or grenter or another boot. it
immediately coll1e~ to u halt. In this ca...c
when this happens bOlh the boat and
wh~tever it oollides with suffer;1 Strength 6
hit for eac h I ~l2clll of unu sed movemenl.
e mlllplt!: Th e Good plnyer has <:oncrol of a
boat. He has fou r models assigned to propel
it and rolls 011 the H ~Hldling chart to
dctenninc how fllr the boal Lr'.l\'e!s.
I-Ie ro lls a 6 so the boat movc..~ 6"/ 14<:111.
bringi ng it into contac t wit h a Troll
no undcring in the wOle r after moving
4"/ lIk l11. A~ II collision has now occurred.
both the Troll liud the bom tnke twO
Slft:ngth 6 hits {one for each I "l2cm of
remnining move).
EmbarklngAnd DiSt!mhllrking
Any model may \Unk e a Jump roll eo
e mbark or disembark IIsing the nonnal
Jump rulc.~. I f a I is rolled on the Jump roll
then the model fall s into the Willer. If a
model nt tempts 10 jump o nlo a defended
obstucle (the side of a bollt. or a bank
defcndt.-d by the ellC my), treat it ItS an
attllc kcr c harging a defendcd obstacle.

- =

If (I hQal ("/lfI~i~l' ill' (J(crlpCItUs hu\'t/ 'rQ choia bur u> s....im.
AWH:klng BooIS
Boats rrnly he aUllckt-d like WI)' other model
Ilnd have the following profile.
MODELS IN THE WATER
Warriors ilnd ~lcroos ntay attempt to ~wim
through deep water - indeed if they have
bt.-en tipped into a river as a resu lt of a boat
Swimming Chart
I Sink - The model is overcome by
Ihe wdght of his wargear and
drowns. Remove the modd as a
casualt)'.
'2·5 Swim - TIlc mOdel may move up
to half ils move through Ihe water.
If it reaches the bank it ma), lIot
move fu rther thi~ tum but may
mnke a Climb test to pu ll itse lr
out of the water und OntO u bank
or a boat,
6 Swim strongly - TIle model m:ly
make its nomml move through the
waler. If il ll!ac hcs the b.1nl: it may
not move further thi~ turn but mlly
make:1 Climb tCSt to pull itself
outor the Willer lmd onto a bank
or a boot.
The nmount of nnnou r thm II model is
",caring clln odversely affect its obmty
10 swim - this char1 represcrlts the

,
I>t> fence Bulter Points
4
A model can ,lIIack n boat just like they
would allnck ;mother model- by moving
into touch with it. As II boat eaMO\ fight
back the llltacker will lIutommicaJJy win alld
may innict a single strike QIl Ihe boat
(reg:lrdles~ of thc number of Ilttacks o n its
profile). If Ihe attacker is nlso engaged by
other enemies in II multiple fight. the fight
is worked out as normal. If the warrior wins
the fight he can direct a single UlUlck on the
boot. Roll on the Wound chart as normal to
sec if the strike would nonllally inflict a
wound. If the roll is not sufficient to C<luse
a wound then the strike has no effect. If the
strike would usually innicl a wound then
roll a di ce lind co nsult the Ballering chart.
Roll once o n the chart for e:lch blow thm
would noml<llly innicta wound,
si nking. they' II have no other choice.
Mounted models may nOl ul1empt to swi m -
though Illey may dismount and attempt to
cross wi thout the ir mOun!. Swimmin g
models arc movcd in the controlling
player's Move phase as norma\. Roll 11 D6
for each swimming mode l and consult the
following chllTl.
JUMPING IN
ModelslIlay jump into the waler in the same
way as jumping a gap (sec the muin
rulebook) , Ira model f(lils into Ihe water
from more 111:111 Iwkc its height, for any
reason , it lakes damage from falling in the
(lonnal way.
ability of a model wcaring amlour
(i ncluding special kinds of t'Cgular
armour. such as Dwruf amlour). To
represent this. "ppl), Ihe following
modifiers to the Swimmill g cbart:
Model is wearing no anoourl
Mi thril annour +1
Model is wearing heavy unllourl
I)warf he:Jvy anllour -I
Model is currying <I shield -I
Moocl carrying 1\ shield und wearing
he:wy anllQUr/Dwarf heavy anllour -2
Swimming models mny not lie doWTl,
ShOOt. or curry burdens but will fight as
normal.

Battering Chart
I No effect _ Your blow Il!bounds
uselessly from the hard surfuee.
2-,5 Dilmaged - You have damaged the
larget Illid score I Balter Point on
it. (strikes with a Strength of 10
e;lUse 2 B,mer points of d:mlllge.
not I).
6 Hellv)' Dumngc - The trIrget is
badly dnnmged and suffefll 2
Baller Points (strikes wilh :1
Strength of 10 cause 4 Baller
I)()ints of dmllage. not 2).
Boats IIml arc reduced to 0 Baller
Points sink instllndy - nny mOdels
inside are tippcd into the water. Cavalry
mode ls Ibm :1ft: cast into the water are
trcllled liS if Ihey hlld JUSt rolled a J 011
the Thrown Rider chart.
 SCENARIO - ESCAPE ON THE WATER
Description
As OsgHialh fall §. some of the defenders
a" e mpt to escape down ri vcr. At tOe dead or
night they steal down \0 the waler and. after
a sOOn bOl savage fight wilh II roammg
force of fus. manage to find some
undamaged boats and stl ~1IJ1 down tOe
Anduin towards Mina~ lirith.
Unfonumllc l)'. the seamanship of I~
wanioo is nOt alllhll\ iI coo ld be. and soon
the three boats are quite spread OUI and
prime for an ambush ...
Participants
The Good ~ ide con~isls of II Wurrior:- of
Min/IS Tirith wi th spear :md s hield. 8
Warriors of Minll!l 1'irilh with how. lind II
Warrion of MinKSl1';lh with ~word (hand
we!lpon) and shield. The Good player also
ha.~ Ih~ boats.
11lc Evil side ha s 2 Ort' Capt:li n ~. 4 WIIIl!
Riders wilh Ore bow, 4 Mordor Uruk-hai
with two-handt-d wenpons. 4 MOfdor Uruk-
hai with hand weapons. 8 Orc$ wilh !}aDd
, Otlebva/
ilep/fI)'s /rUt,
• 72"118&",
= =
weapons and shields, 8 Orcs with s pears, "
Orcs wi th two-handed weapon s, and 4 Orcs
with On: bows.
Points Match
I f you want 10 play this game wi th other
forces, choose at least 200 points o f troops
for the Good side and 300 points of troops
for the e"il s ide. Neither side may ino.:lude
more than SO% of their models anned wi th
boW5 or other missile weapons.
Layout
The sce nario is played o n a board
48"11 J2cm by 72"/ ISOcm . A Strong (Drift of
[)6"I1 4c m) lind deep ri ver about (j"II4cm
wide flows from centre to centre or the long
board edges. Th~ rest of the board should be
quite open but can hllve roc ky outcrops, hills
and \n..'CS hc::re lind there if players wi5h.
Starting Positions
The Good player deploys one bollt in the
rh'er, touching a board edge. He may tilen
deploy up to eight Wanion; of MiTl.:l-\ Tirith
,
,,
,, &m
,
, ,,
•
,
,
/
in this boot. The other IWO boots and the
remaining warriors are kept in reser.. e and
may be !IvaiJablc laler in tOe game.
The E"il playcr then deploys hi s entire fOf'Ce
anyw here on the board but at lea~t
1'2"(2&:01 away from any Good model.
Objectives
To wi n, the Good "layer must gel tl! least
SO% of hi s Warriors ofT the board via the
edge oppI»ite where the bout stans, I f he
faits 10 do this, the Evil player wins.
Special Ru les
T he R h'crn ow. Frum the second tum on, at
the end of the Good player 's movement he
may roll 10 see ifnnOlher bom hftS arrived.
The Good playe r ro lls a D6. On the roll o f
a 4+, he may choose eight Warriors of
Minas lirilh and place them in a boat. This
boat may then mo\'e o n fro m the table edge
where the fi"'t boat was deployed. Note thut
any boaUo thal arrh"e in thi s way are not
s ubject to Drift in the turn they aniVt.
,
,,,
i:.'1 'iI jOrL't d~f,foy$
ol,uid, /Mj' It /Y!tJ•
=
HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN BOATS
Chris Bone Is mad aboUi
boats, somelhlng he puts
down (0 being born in
Portsmouth, ,hough we
suspect he may be pari
dolphin. He's a great ran of
naval w.llJamlng of all
kinds, so II was no surprise to
find OUI that hel:! been inspired
by The Return of The King mm to make
two excellent ships.
Yoo will need:
l>harp cnan knife
• II
• mounting ca rd
• balsa wood
• foamcard
• II ballpoint pen
• ()VA slue W1(Vor II hoi s lue gun
• barbecue ~kewe~ or toothpicks
• twine
• polY~lyre~ jn~u lalion foam (The pink
Siurr from buikJcN' mcn::hnnls.)
ORC LANDING CRAFT
L"hris: Watching the Return (lfThe King J
was particul arly inspired by the D$sauh
landing by Ihe hordes of On-s on the ru ined
cilY of Osgiliath. So I decided to ~Te:l1e an
Ore assau lt-landing barge. The!.e arc \'cssel'i
con:;troc1..-d by brutish Orcs. so they should
appear as [hough they have been hastil y
knocked together.
Fil'St cut out a recwngutar piece 2" by 6"
long from IOmm thick foom -cnnl. This
should be sufficient s pace to fil 10 Orcs.
Then CUI an idcnticlii shrape from 3mm thick
bnbll wuod. DllIw the pl unks onto thc wood
using n rul er and ballpoint pen. Apply II bit
of pressure willi the pen to leave
indentations in the b;111kI about 4mm ppan.
AlwllYs drnw the lines running plong with
the grain. Glue this onlll the fO:lnll:ard. You
c;m use pYA but 1 prefer II hot glue gun. Cut
thrt.-e thin pieces of balsa to glue ac ro:.s the
width of the deck. Neltt cut OUI the sides and
stern of [he ve$Sl:1 from the mu unting card
and glue around the sides and rear of the
dl"C k, ensuring Ihllt the OOllom of your \'cssd
is n al. 1be sides should stand proud of the
deck by Ilbou t Icm to give your figures
some cover.
Now CUI OUI two ~rips of balsa to be gl ued
0"« the card. You will nl-eti to draw in the
planking with a ballpoint pen. so remember
171(' Orr: Imlding
('IY//I 'S simp/('
COIIS/ruC';u" /II('II/I.f
/I,('rt' Is,.o riNht or
11'""'8 wily 10 (/tWU
11,(, II/Uflrl. ),ISf kup
(uMitlS pitcts 0/
/xl /${l wood III/til
YOIl (Ire h{I/'I')\
10 cut the strips so Ihat the grain will run top
to botlom when glued 10 lhe bo:il. With a
~harp knife, CUI in liule \"S inlo the balsa
nnd bevel them slightly on one side. This
gives the effect of shnspened stakes.
Strengthen the ends of the Slakes wilh a blob
of supc!ilue before painting.
Make the landing ramp from slightly thicker
balsa wood and make indentations on both
sidc.~. Glue il to the front of the boat so it is
lit an angle. Usi ng long strips cui from Smm
oolsa wood. make rou ghly hewn timbers ~ nd
glue these hori7.0ntally plong the sidc.~ and lit
an ungle on the prow for the reinforcements.
Gct some wooden barbc<:ue skewers and
glue these upri ght along the side.s. You can
also Ildd l:hni ns, spears and shields, gluing
thelll on III rnlldom for II rough-buill Ore
look, a~ Orcs are not carefu l crnrtsmcn.
Sprny the entire bonl wi th Chaos Black
Undercoat sprny. U!ling a tank brush. lightly
drybrush the emin= boal acT05S the grain of
the balsa with Scorched Brown. Repeal
using Bubonic Brown and finally Bleached
800e. Ust a bil nlOl'f; Bleached Bone on lhe
sharpened ends of the pluks 10 givc them
that freshly cut look.

B(l isti WOOt/ is (/II r.t lt'!!mt/y
l'us(l/lIt' mllleriti/ mul will, (j ff!W
/(Jols (IIul lilllt' tffim ),011 {'till ct'!!mt';
(I 1'(lri e l), (1f (/ijJerl.'lII fig llre h"ads,
THE SWAN BOAT
The same lCChlliqueli were used to nllll.e my
Swan Boo!. a smaller ' ersion o f the kind the
Ri ng-bean.., sailed oN' in.
The real difference i~ the holl. I used a
neltible metal cu rve to create a tl!mplate on
graph paper (or the shape of it, This
templ9tc "'liS pinlll.-d to . 20mm thi ck piece
of polystyrene in ul ation foam, For the
planking on the sicks I e ut four strip!> of
cereal packet card , about lem thick and the
length of the sides of the cereal pac ket, I
cUl'\'cd them osing my fin ~cr5)(J thnt they
would easily fit ami glued tlM!m 011, starti ng
from the bottom of the hull alld thcn lo ying
the nba plank .5rnm over the fi rst one to
--__=________------------------___________=__--~)~
give II clinker-built effect. The swan 's head
prow and tail were made from two piccc~ of
.5 mm th ick balSo:l glued together and then
carved wi tli a sharp knife and smoothed wi th
a need le file and sandpaper,
I cut a ~mal1 slot in the figure-hOO's b3~ and
fi lled it over the prow and wound some ernfi
twine around both prow and stem to gi ve the
e ffect of la~hi ng, Four trinngular pieces of
mou nt ing entd were CUI and glued to the
stem mKl prow of the hull to reinforce them,
'me roils uf the ship were simpl y IC'lgths of
woodcn--embosS<d be:wti ng which )'ou can
boy from DIY superstores, Pieces of 6mm
do wel were used to mak e the mast and
th in ne r dowel was used for the cross spar.
You ctm u,Jt' II Sl ri" of'l\'Q()(/ /H!(u/ing
whid. you C(JII bl/)' a/ yoltr loc(11
D I Y SlOt'!! 10 fUM SO/III! si llYIl1!
dn tlils for ru y lill/t' rffon.
The maJ,t was put into a hole in tilt: deck and
reinforced w ith a squatC of foomcard.
Aft er pninting it in the same man ner a~ the
Ore bom, I lm ac hed the sni!. This I created
on my computer, using a word-processing
package to \1J.Dkc the Stitching and ties,
befln printing il out and scrunching it up 10
mllke it appear worn ,
You may wish to make a white ship which
C irdan the Shipwrig ht would be proud of. In
which ca..e, MlIrt wilh a grey undercoa.l
Spl'tly and drybrush whi tc, Use wlllCrct!
down brown o r gIl.-cn ink to crente ~Irenk s of
weathering, then paint the swnn heM! and
tail ill gold and gh'e it a Chcstnut Ink wash,
I
 A Tale of Good & Evil Part Five - Ranger Captain & River Terrain
ast month Steve Cumlskey hi! upon the Idea of fighting a scenario based on an
L escape across the river from the occupied half of Osgiliath. No sooner had the
idea been suggested than Adrian Wood was messing .looUi with various pieces of
cardboard and wooden bo.1u. The Idea proved Infectious.. Within a few days not only
did they have their boats, but rhey also had rules for using them, courtesy of a
wandering Mal Ward. The only thing they were missing was a rivet ...
While Adi was busy with putting one together, Steve dedded to rake the opporlUniry
to give his Rangers a helping hand.

RANGER CAPTAIN settled on IIsing the Al1lgorn model from

Sitwe: The JlIca for. n\'crt-
based gamo.' ,an!C to me
"'hile wnlCtling the Osgiliath
~U<!.flCC all~end ufThc
Two Towers. I could visualise
• small group of Rangers
helping Waniorll of Gondo!'.
trapped in the occupied half of me
chy. c<,cape b:K:k across the river through
Inc Ore lines. I could imagine gelling II
!oCric..~
of games out of the one idea.
involving ~neaJdng through the lines
undetected. breaking through Ihc enemy
surrounding the trapped warrio~ and Ihe
final night to the boats and fra.'iiom.
'la vi ng buill a table Ihal can ha ve secti ons
00dcd or removed without uny difficulty. it
would be easy to build bOme ri~er seclions
0010 some of the spare boards we ~till had
lying IlrOUnd. Adi Will immedimeJy take n
wilh the idea of building the OO;mls and !;Ct
ooout burying the department in polystyrene
~ hB~lngs. While he was gelling on wilh Ihlll.
I <ledded to use the time to finally get
round to converting n c:lptain for my
cournseou~ Rangers.
Thc Heroes orThe Wesl boll.
ThaI was two months ago. Since then. all
I'd got roUIlI.ltO dOing wa~ u~ing his sword 1be second th ing to come from the ~anger
on my Knight Caplain. I needed to c hange was his bow. I didn't fancy trying to pin
him cnough that when you saw him. you 'd twO hah'es of a bow 10 Aragom's ex isting
think of a Ranger captain nnd not of hand. SO I dl..'Cided to lake the hand and bow
Aragom. With the s word gone. the most together as II single pi ece.
n;x:ognisable part or the model is the head.
It would ha~e 10 go. At the sa me time, I The only pluee I could think to get a quiver
would have to add a bow and quiver. and from wa.~ a Warrior of Minllll Tirith archer.
some details Ihm would help to tie him
more c losely to his men.
Rnding the pieces
I'\'C bad a spare Ranger model sct aside to
make a capIain e\'CI since I painted my
original warbond. 1be first s tep w~ to saw
hi s head off and replace it with a new one. I
chose one. with & hood. pan ly because il's
unique to the Rangers and also becausc the
Ranger models are slightl y larger thDn
Arngorn. If I had used a bare head, the size
difference would be ob~ious. whereas I
cou ld probably gel away wilh a bulky
looking hood.

If you'!\: like me and aren't gmed '0\ ith the

ability 10 lieu lpl fantastic (or even rel1lOlCly
rcoogni~bJe) models from scratch. then you
have I WO choicCli when it comes 10 making
captains. The first is to take an exisling
model of a basic warrior lind change its
weapons. head or pose. The seco nd Is 10
tnke lin entirely different mode l and makc il
look something like you r wHrriors.

The basic Ranger modeJ ~ ~ a ll in a firing

pose. \\ hich lI1akes it diffic ult to con\'cr!
them in any way other than p head s wap. I
wanted my e3ptain to stand out from the
rest of his men, which meant dOing
something p lillie more drnm3lic than thaI.
As I want to add J)3mrod and Farnmir to
my force lit some poim. I dccided against
usi ng ei ther of them for this. In the end. I
Being a plastic model. il wa~ ea~y 10 CUI Ihe
quh'er free wilh a ~nife, I would M\'e 10
round it OUt liOmewhm when I BlIIlChcd il 10
lhe captain, bullhBt"S within the limits of
my 'green Sluffing' abililY. so that's fine,
The sword came IS a stTllight swap from the
model I h:wt used for the Knlghl C3plain
last month,
Assembling the captain
The first stage of :lo'\Semhly wa.~ 10 pilL thc
model OniO its OOSC, I USl,.'1i the same style of
base M usual. kl'Cping it quile n:ll and
simplc, Ihcn I 5C1 about CUlling (lIT all of tht.:
pans Ihall didn'lllCCd, I'd already taken
the sword hllnd lLway. so thm only left
CUlling the head off and removinlC Lhe (ll hc r
hand, which was easy 10 do,
I ~ Iancd with the quiver, After Lrying out n
few differenl positions. I OOcided to PUL il in
the stune plate as it hnd been on Ihe donor
warnor, Once it was glutod in place. it JUSt
nceded a lillie green stuff to fill oul Ihc
~hape of the qui\'er and arrow (c/lIIIl."nI. and
lake IIway some of the flalnet>.s thot came
from CUlling the qui vcr off lhe ori¥inal
mod<l.
With the quivcr in place. I could glue on the
bow, The sword was plaslic, making it light
enough 10 supcrgluc in place wi thoul uny
exlnt work,
The head needed a little green stuff, panly
10 mise it off the shooldcrs a little, :lnd
panly 10 make the hood look more like it's
p3rt of the COOl.
Painting the model
To make him fit in wilh the rest of my
Rangers I' ve used the same colours as I
used on them, For his coat, I used Cmachan
Green as :I b3SCCoat. folk)Y.'ed by Catachan
Grten mixed with Gmveyard Eanh, lind a
highlight of Gro\'cyard Ellnh mixed with
Bleached Bone, The shin is a ba.~coat of
--
Dark l--1esh, followed by Vcnnin Brown and
highlighted wilh V"''Tmin Brown mixed wiLh 'nil! eotrwrdiJlI mlu;r•.-d /1 bil (J/G",,,,, SluJfIO
Ulazing Omngc. fi'lish It 1Ijf. bill 1M t'jfiJr/ hus gil't'!" S't!l.'t II
.... C(lIIIllIt'll'ly Im/lillt lIuNlel.
"" sm(lll blob (J/ grun Sluff m;su th" htlw off
th~ shoulders,
 BUILDING A RIVER
Adl: I rtally liked Steve's
idea for fighting II series of
baulu. in particular the
attack along the riVCt. This
mcanllhal lIo'c'd ha\'c to
mllke II river, of l-OUrsc. bul I
wanted to add II couple of boards 10 OUt
lemlln SI.!\ anyway. TIle idea appealed 10
me. as I'd !lever made II ri ver before _ now
I was goi ng to make II dcUl.ilcd lIIodel of
ooc. If I'm going \0 make II ri ver. I'll go 10
town on ill1be river itself would be
sculpted across twO &eaions 'or board and 10
allow the boards 10 be used in any
combination, lhe river would have \0 enter
and <:.(11 (rom the same point on each board
edge. This would gh'e US :l cenllin 11010001
of nexibilit y with (u tUft board SCI-Ups.

Example I Example 2

The Boa"
The boats were simplicity llSelf \0 make.
The fOO5t imponam consideration was
how many models we could gel inside.
When planning the size of the deck I
ai n)ed for abolu nine models. Any larger
and the boats wou ldn't fillne river.
After undercoating the m black. I painted The templatC!l are ayai lable for
!he deck and the OUtskJe of the boats downloading at:
Codex Grey and then enhanced their
appearance by drybrushing wi th Fortress www.ga mes-loI"or ks hop.eomILOTR
Grey followed by Bleached
Bone onto the hull.

A~ I wunll'f.llo m3ke twO or three of them.

I dec ided \0 make some templatcs to help
keep their SilO: nnd shapes uniform.

AS I !>:aid. asse mbly was easy. I CUI the

mise of the bOIll from 3.Smm f()llmDQaru
and Ihe sides or the bom from thin curcI.
TIlen I gl ued the side wi th the prow and
the tiller first. followed by the other side.
TI)Cy were so simple to do I made three!
Sculpting the river
I assembled the tWO board sections in the
same wily as we'd done with the IllSt set
fsu Tale of Good mrd EI'il pun 1). I
mllrked outtbc path of the rl\'cr on both
boards, making s ure thllt it s tarted and
linishtd III the same point on each, Thai
would allow us to PUilhe boards together in
3ny order and still have the rivcr Sl'CliQns
meet up, Initially, we were unsure how
deep we wanted to river to be, In the end I
CUt all the way down to the wooden
baseboftrd, Ne~t time I make II river 1OCCtion
btif""
I'll CUI the river OUI I Slick the
polyslyn: ne down!

Scul pting the riverbank was im mense fU ll 10

do, J JUSt had to ensure thm the profile of
the bank mntch(."<! Qn a ll (our bourn edges,
Nex t, we tcxtun.."(] and pai nted the two new
bourds to match the olhcl'!l we'd Illlldc ,

Painting [he water

To create the water efre(.'1, I 5tart".'d by
paiming the board D:lrk Angel~ Green, I
then drybnlshed Catoci):1Il Gn.--en near the
bank of the Tin'r, followed hy Gnwcyard
Earth at the very edges, A couple of COlitS
of g loss varnish finished orr the fiurface. II
wa~ important to avoid any painling dTcclS
Ihat indicated the direction of the water
now, again to ensure Ihat the boords c()tlld
be matchl:d up in an)' combination,

Now that ['ve completed lhe rher boards, 1

can finis h lhe W!lfJ Riders I began painting
ages ago. I' m going to usc them to fight The
Great Rh'cr scenario.. , I can't wail to see
Steve's face when I pulthcm 011 the table!
 =

Shelob makes a grear addition

to any The Lord of The Rings
MODELLING AND
miniarure collecrion. Here
Adrian Wood guides you
rhrou gh assembling and
PAINTING SHELOB
painring {his giant spide r. The Rehtrn q{ The King's Fearsome Spider

ne of the most lIlemornble ASSEMBLING THE MODEL

O creatuM from The Return of The
King fillIl iii Shelob the: Spider,
y, ho catches FrodO after he is betrayed by
Stage I
After you ' ve: clellned IIny mou ld line~ and
flash from the two bac k body hah ("$. try u
Gallum 10 the pass of Cirith Ungol, Sam dry iii to see if they fit l.l1ugly t ~cther. If
bravc ly lig hts her off, C\'en though she is lhey don't, ("nl"l::(ull y file down the nat
se\'crnl times the Silt of him - the model is inside surfaces until they do. Fili ally, USing
just ali imposi ng as her movie coonlcrparI, $upcrglue. glue the tWO hal ves logelher.
stnlldi ng o\cr 6 CIIl tull , from the ground to
the tip of her from legs. On these twO pages
we' ll show you ho w you elm asse mble the
mode l amI pai nl it.

GAP FILLING WITH GREEN STUFF

When you li t tOKcther any minio.ture there knife or modelli ng tool if ),ou have one.
may be ~ma ll . unsightly gaps. You can fill Trim a ..... lly any excess but ai m to Slightly
these with II two-part epoxy pu uy called overfillihe gap - you ean file the pull y
Green Stuff. back later.

It's a good idea to m ix up more. Green I.e llhe pully cUR' - it will SC I faster if
Sl uff than you thinl.. )"00'11 need. Cut off a slightly wann. Place II desk lamp aboul 6"
piece from the roll :md mix the two panli awa), from the model. tha t lihou ld he lp. Be
together unti l lOU get a consistent careful not to go too close Of any plastic
coloun.-d pully without streaks in iL If )"oo COlllpoocnls may me lt.
find an)' h:ml 'bits' from whel"l:: the two
pans meet, cut this away and consig n illo
the bin.

Apply a piece of puny large cnough to fill

the gap nnd lay it O\'er the hlp. For a lo ng
thin gnp, make II th in sa U51tge of pu tt)'. M i t Ihe I" "') ' Imd rQ/1 a .small I'/l$h Iht' pUt/), illlQ piau wilh
Push the: plltty into the gap using your pitct i.uo 11 .~/lus/lgt I1r btll/. II,e lill /)/)"/)ur lIIodt!lling IIXII.
 Stage 2
Fit tilt! front body (>lIrt \0 the back half. to
S¢(l if you will need to remove any metal
from Ihejoin to mak e it fi t properly. 11tcn.
after you hove done Ihm, glue the front
piece to the back with superglue. You may
need 10 usc some GreeD S tuff to filt in Ihe
gap between the two.
Stage 3
Now !hill the body has been assembled. it's
time 10 auach the legs. If you look cJosely,
you will find out that the tags all have B
cod e on them. for instance L3. T here lire 8
legs and two fcelc.rs. so Sllln w ith the twO
front lcgN. LI and R l. and remMe any nash
lind mould lines. Make s ure you remember
which g~s on which side! Drill holes in too
legs llDd I)in Ihem in Ihe appropriate
sockets.
Stage 4
T!1ke the other lcg.~. and pin them into the
npproprime sockets in :l ~im ill\r lI11rnncr as
the first sct. startin g with the second row.
the n the th ird and finaUy the fourth . Ir
neccssury. fill any gaps wi th G .....'Cn SlUff.
• •
Stage 5
Alluch the feelers 10 lhe head in .. sim ilar
fashion.
Stage 6
Finally. you mi ght wan t to pin the legs to
the b.~se before you start painting Iu:r. just to
make s ure she doesn· t break off when
you·re using or transporting hcr.
Silt/fib tllllbus/I<'s "rod(}
PAINTING THE MODEL
Painting Shelob is vcry SlrJightforward
since most of the model is black. Start by
undercoming the model with Chaos Blac k
spruy. Then mix Chaos Black with a sma ll
amount of Bleached Uone lind carefull y
d rybrush the hind body with this. Next
high light the (.'(\ges of the campllced legs.
the mandibles. reelers and head.
Add more Bleached Bone to the mi.( and
highlight all these arcus ngnin. focusing on
the highest det;til and shllrpc!.t edges. Next
glaze the whole model with n miJl: o f
watered-down Black and Brown inks.
Scab Red was used as a blls(.'(:oat on the
reddi sh areas. and then highliglucd with a
11Iix of Scab Ro!d a nd Dwarf Flesh. Add
more Dwurf flesh to the mix a nd highlight
the spots o n the bnck and the edge.~ o f the
mouth. P:lint a finnl highlight of Dwarf
Flesh on the very edges of the mouth and
the cumru Of the SPOIS on the back. Apply e
miJl: of watered·thJwn Brown and Red inks
over the n.od arcus.
She! ob is a fun model to paint. due to the
em.-ctivc co lo ur scheme and the impressive
pose. -Iltc tri ck to plliming cn::u ures like
Ihis is to keep the co lours muted :LIId
rc:ltistic. Sla ying true to the film.
ftI Cirllh Ungol•
=

The offspring of Ungolianr,
Shelob preys on any who
are foolish enough ro enrer
her domain. Be they good
or evil, they all serve the
same purpose: food.
irilh Ungol, or Spider po.~s, I~ II
C IrellChe:rous and sinistCl" pathway
through the lflountuin rang!:! thlll
guards the ....'C~It.nl hord!:!r of Mordor. It is
the one passage ..... ay inlO the O"rl,; Lund
withou t bmving Ihe Blllck GlitC lIsclf,
Despite this. il b only sclmtilr gu:m:led,lhc
Orc~ who net a~ !.Cnlillcls are only a tokc:n
gCi;ture of defence, for Sauron i~ un:>fmid of
the ris" thut Spider Pass presents to hi~
domllins, lie knuws the secret thltt lurk~
within the Iw h linK p;lthways und cuves of
Ihut place, and he Is all 100 willing 10 ri~k a
few Orcs for thc$CCurity tlult 'shc' gives
him.
She is Shelob, thc tcnifying chi ld of
Ungoliant. TIlI'oughout ht..'f long lind evil
lifetimc ~he ha.~ pre}ed on all mllnner of
living rnllluros, This dllY. howe\er, il is lhe
unfonunale On: palrolll!d by Uflhnk, or all
the IOOlhS(lme: dUlie!llhe Orcs .... 1m walch
O\'cr Cirith Ungol are cu~d with, the mosl
undesirable i~ the all tOO ff'(:quenl palrol
ocross the hleak IlIndsellpe sulTOtlnding
Minas Morgul. The Orcs fcnr 10 lKad 100
far from Ihe wall.. of Ihe lower, for terrible
48"1112"1/1
SHE HUNTS
A The Lord of The Rings scenario
e\'il slalks lhose unfortUillltes .... 110 ~u'ay nellr
tbe lair of Shelob,
Ufthak ha~ hi~ OI\k:n;, He is 10 lead his
p;1trol along the m()Untliin pas~, keeping alert
for intruders, Shclob is ~tarvi n g hungry,
Spying Uflhak and seeing his Significant
bulk. she recogn i ~ a hcmty rea~t ~hou ld
she be able 10 1>lny him,
"Good"
Ufthak (Ort Capmln)
2 Ores IInned with bows
:2 Orcs armed with spears
:2 Orcs anned wilh shields
2 0rc8 armed with 1\.\o'O-handed weapons
Evil
'",lOb
LaYOUt
Set up a 4S"1112cm x 4S-1112cm boord.
Scalier as much termin as you have which
will 5uitti1e ilTUlgery of the p;1SS, The more
rocb and hooldl;'r5 thaI you clln plllCtl on lhe:
board. the beller the game will be, and the
more e\'oc;ati\'!.' IhI.' board wil1look, Takc
-
r:
• Ihey enter, but they may shoot as nomlal.
-
cal\'. howcver, 10 leave 11 definite pathway 10
repre!>Cnt the pa-.s,
Polnrs Match: Hunt
If you want 10 playa Hunt !)(:enllrio using
aitcmllte forec~. then the Evil side should
IlIke one Hero, The Good side should thea
dwo-.e II Hero costing no mol\' than SO
points, and enough Warriors to make the
poinlS eqlllli. Being eXIlCI i~n' t illlilortllnt, ns
:\ few points either wily WOlI't really maller,
Yon could. for example:, have a Ringwrah h
hunt ing a Captain of Gondor through the
ruin" of Osgilialh if yuu wish to try an
IIltemale 'Hunt',
Objectives
Shelob must kill Ufthak and drag him olT
the boonilo win thi, scenario, Should
Shelob flee or IClI\e the board withoul
UfthaJ.: for IIny rel\S()fl. Evil is considered to
have loslille scenario. For Good to win Ihe
<>cenario, Uflhak must escape from tile
oppositc board edge, alhe and able 10 makc
his report 10 his masters,
Starring Posirions
Shelob Mould he deploycd within rrl28cm
of one tahlc edge, This is Ihe edge fronl
which Ufthak i~ trying 10 escape, On the
first lum, Uflhak and his em: Warriurs
should move onto the mh lc from Ihe
opposite edge,
Special Rules
DntlU.;in8 UOhak. When Uft hnk loses his
laM Wound, do not remO\'e him from piIlY.
I n~lelld lie: him on hi ~ side 10 represenl him
succumbing 10 lhe: effcctS of Shclob'!
poison, To drag him. Shdob nlUSl nlO'o'C' inlO
coniaci with him, She lTl.:I.y then complete
her move. n1O\ 11\8 as normal from that point
OIIl'oanls.. laking Ufthal ..... ith her as ~hc
i()e!i, If Shelob i... engaged in a lighl. she
will immediately drop Uflhak 10 fight hl'r
opponent. When currying Ufthag, Shclob i~
llilowed to U<oC her 1110\'1.' 10 lea vC' the playing
area - thus winning the game,
111e Palrol. If an Ore \Vanier is killed there
I~ 11 chance thaI another will C'OIcr play.
representing the lailtllt'(b who have fllllen
behind Ihe main patrol culching up, Each
Good Move phase roll 0 D6 for each dead
Ore Wumor, On a 4 or more thC' modclllllt)'
elller pillY from Ihe ~me lable cdt:e lIS
Ufth:lk, They may not chargc on Ihe tum
She/,)/} $I"/b Iuo, PI?)' ...-illl
fI"'tm(l/uralll,·fllth.

= •
~~ C'...,....,.._=-_______
Following on from last
month's introduction of th e
inhabitants of Mirkwood,
Mat Ward returns with a
look at the fo rest of
Mirkwood itself.
n the hl:urt of the land of Rhovanion lies
I the forest of Mirkwood. Indeed, to II very
great extent. MirkwOOd is the l:tnd of
Rhov:mion, for ils massive presence
dornin:llcs the plains lmu hills thut sUn'Qund
it. In the closing yC3fS of the lllird Age,
Mirkwood. os ils name would suggest. i~ u
gloomy and haunted pJIICC thaI only few
"ould dare cmcr. Spiders of immell~e size
~nd appetite spin Wist webs between the
moss-conted tn.'CS, Wargs prowllhroU!;h the
leafy glades and, in the d;lrkesl depths of
Ihe forest. foutt.'f Crcl1turcs yel wnit tO
ensllare the unwary.
II was not nlwnys so. and in the early )'ca~
of the world. the forest was a very different
place. In IhOS\: tilnrs. Greenwood Ihe Great
WIlS itg name. Ucncnth its canopy. oneof
the largc~t of all the Elf-realms thrived and
traded with the nearby realms of Men ,md
Dwarves. Though their king. 11lranduil, had
pride enough to rival the grem Noldorin
kings of old. for the most pan lhey lived in
peat'e with their neighbours. for it was nOI
ju~t Elvc.~ tlJ:lI li vcd bene,uh Ihe lrees,
Smnl1l'ommtmities of Men dwclt upon Ihe
border!> of lhe wood. Ihe noble houses of
Rhovanion from which the pt.'Oplc of Rohnn
would be born. Alas. in the middle years of
th..: Third Agc. Ih..:sc hnppy days cnme
TIll' £11'/,s oj lIfirkwQf)<1 mlly qllickly 10 banish Ihl' Goblin inlfrlflers.
WAR IN MIDDLE-EARTH
MIRKWOOD
Fighting battles in the land q{Mirkwood
forevcr 10 an end when Sauron look up
nbode in Ihe soulh of Ihe fores\.
Stocking II havcn from where he could
I\.-,,:,:o\·er and rebuild his strenGth. Smllun
CO[I.~tructed the fortress of Dol Guldur in the
southern reaches of Ihe fore.~\. Though he
lOOk gre,lI CllI'C to prevent the Wise from
leaming of his survi val. evil things were
c\erdrawn 10 the Lord of Ihe Rings. Slowly.
but inexorably. his tainl began 10 fall upon
the foresi. Malign spirits began 10 gather
aboul the tower of Dol Guldur and OrcS.
hallled by the Rohirrim in the pl:tins to the
SOtl1h. begnn to ven ture under the shnde of
the trees. Uttle by little. the forc.~t itself
became corrupt and befouled. The spirits of
the trees. once peaceful. in the south became
spileful and biner. As the blight grew. che
Wise hecnllle ever more concerned. and
chough chey knew Dol Guldur 10 be che
source or chis corrupcion. they were unaware
ch::'1 Sauron blillJived wilhin its walls.
Instead. the ruler of Dol Guldur bttnme
known <IS the Necromancer. and il was not
unlil Gandalf the Grey passed inlo its
chLIIgeons Ihm S:mron's identity wa.~
revealed.
Upon discovering thallhe Dark Lord still
lived. Gandalf argut.,j for the D.~sel11blage of
the Wisc. the White Council. 10 assail him
and drivc him from hb. lair hefon: his
strenglh could be fully ll.'Co\'ered.
In th is he wu.~ opPQsed by Sarum.'l.n Ihc
White. Ihen apparenll y slilllrue to his Insk
in Middle·earth. who argued for patience
and caution.
In lime Gandnlf prevailed. llnd Ihe Whilc
Council ~Iormed Dol Guldur. driving the
LonJ of Ihe Rings before Ihem, but Ihe
fortre ss rcmHincd. and so did ils laim on Ihe
forest about il.
For the rc.muindcr of th..: Third I\ge. Ihe site
remained 8n evil place and chief slronghold
of the grc;H enemy.
Though Sauron l\tId ned, return ing to
Mordor. Dol Guldu r's IInnie:. slowly grew
once more. wulchcd over hy the NuzgQ1
wh~ power was sC(:ond only \0 thaI of lhe
Witch·king. Khmmll the EaSterling.
It was nOl1l11lillhe finl,1 defeat of Saul'Ol1
that his touch fell from Mirl.wQod. A force
of El vcs OUI of Lothloncn. led by Celchorn
and Galodncl. rOUled Ihe defenders and
smote Ihe corrupled tower's ruin upon lhe
black earth.
PLAYING SCENARIOS
IN MIRKWOOD
Toucht:d by dnli:ness, Mirkwood is an
intimid:l1i ng s ite for a bailie. If ),ou wis h,
you can play the Points Malch scenarios
( ftQnl White Dwarf 288) beneath the
c;mopi~ of Mirl.\Ioood. If )'ou do so. !he
follOWing sp.:dal ru lCfi can be used - roll
one D6 on the followi ng lable (0 delcnninc.
which special rulcs (if lUI)') are to be used -
note lhallllulliple rolls of the same rules do
not slack (you could nol cnd up wilh IwO
SC tS o f Spidcnl (or cxnmple). Allemmi\'c ly.
plnycl1I clln ItSree whi ch of these rules they
liN usi ng before the gllnle begIns.
Dice Res ult
I Spidel'll
2 Thc Enchanted Ri\'Cf
3 '11\e Shadow is Strong
4 Tangled Undergrowth
.5 Unfriendly Eyes
6 Roll twice mon: on this table
S piders! Kin 10 Shelob lind Ungoliant, the
spiders of M irkwood nrc ~ malter but no Ics~
cunning ,hlln thei r forebcurs. Avoidi ng
dircct (.'Onfronllli ion wilh their prey, they
spin grtllt wcbs from tree to tree, rctunling
to de\'Ou r Imy that they ensnare. During the
Priori ty phase, each player rolls a dice for
e3Ch of hi ~ InodI:ls thaI 1m. within I "I2cm
of a tree. On the roll of a I, the mode l has
been caught ill a web and may take 110
rW1ht.... aclion uOlilthey escape. Models
CIIUWlI io webs COU OIIL~ ha ving a Fight
value of I and roll ooly a si ngle dice io
= =
combat - if they win. they muy 001 Strike.
TIley ulwllYs count as trnpped . At the end of
the Figh t pha~, ..... ebbed models muy roll
o lle dice for each Attac k o n thei r profile.
Frie ndl y model ~ in base eonttlCt, who have
no t fought in a combat mal tum. may
attempt to Ilssist them - roll an additiooa l
D6 for each allack from friend ly models. If
one or more 6's is rolled. then Ihe victim
ha1 escaped from the ..... eb and may move
nonnll lly ne",l tum ( provided. of COUNie.
thaI they do not gel eaught up ..... ithin the
..... eb «gain in the followi ll g l>nority phase).
The E nchanted Rh·c r . 10 the nonhern part
of Mirkwood, II small ri ver nows through
the trees. Though it appeal'1l 10 be a n
ordinary rh·cr. its \Oo'81C'" con tain a powerful
e nchantment, capable of pulling mona!
crcatU11:S to s leep if they dnnk SO much a.~ a
single drop. Place a ri ver no morc than
2"/4em wide on dlC board. running from the
centre o f one short table edge to the olher.
This river can be jumped across. as
described in the main nlle.~, b ut uny model
emering the river for ony reason i~ io<;ulIItly
paralysed and the ir body drifts to the
nearest bank by the shortest rt)Ute.
Pandysed modt!ls arc knocked to the
ground and may do no thing until they
recover. If engaged in ellmOOt, the model
au tomatically loses and counts a~ trupped.
At the e nd of the Fight phase. tbe
colllrolling player may roll a D6 for each
paro.lyscd mode l. On the roll o f a 6. the
mode l A:con:n und may immediate ly stand
up. Priendly model~ in base contact thut
spend the Fight phase doing noth ing el~
may altCrnpt to rou,.;e the model. in whic h
ca'iC. the comrolling pl ayer rolls all ex tru
D6 for each r~ldcl atte mpting to assist.
T he S hndow Is Strong. Sauron's presence
is all too noticeable III this pan o f the
wood, gh ing heart to Evil creatures and
uncenainty to the Free Peoples. All Evil
models may re-roll any failti;l Cournge tests
they are ca lled IIpon to take in thi s game as
they fee l their master's will ~puning them
on. Converse,' ly. Good models h:we el'ery
reason [0 question their owo resoll'e- all
Good models mu~ t re·roll s uece.~s ful
Courage tests.
1'8ng l00 Undcrgro"-Ih, This are.1 o f
Mirkwood is a nlCSl> of tllngled brial'1l and
thorns.. making progress incredibly difficult.
To represellt this, the e ntire board counts as
difficult terrain. Note thut it also counts a~
woodland terrolin. 50 Wood Elvf,:s and Ents
molY ~till move without penalty.
Unfriendly Eyes. The Bl\'es o f Mirkwood
arc fiercely tcrri tori ~ 1 and do nOltake
kind ly to the pre'iCnee of intruders.
Whenever the roll for Priority i ~ drawn. the
Wood Elves havc taken exception to the
combatants Ilnd fire a shot Ilt one o f them.
The pla)cr who loses Priorit y may choose
one of his opponcn t'5 models. That mode l
laIo::es an automatic Strength 3 hit, exactl y as
if it has beeo ~hot at by 3n Elf bow.
=
 BUILDING HELM'S DEEP
ON A BUDGET
7be ICIte afhow o"e While Dwarf reade r bull/Relm HLUlIm e rhtmd's j ort,.ess ill bis siJe(/
After his son Stephen read the Building
Helm's Deep article In While Dwarf 278 [he
talented Dave GouldIng decided 10 have a
go himself. His brilliant efforts with bllS of
old p.ackaging and odd ends from his well-
stocked shed have resulted In this fantastic
wargaming terrain-piece.
ve: My version of Helm's Deep
[):
ame. into bei ng as Illy son Sh:phcn
W:InICU \0 re-enact 100 siege from The
Two Towers. I was always quile a Lon! of
The! Rings flln from around Stephen's age.
&() I was enlhusialsic about Ihis mysclf. I
thought it wou ld be fairly casy 10 gel the
rortres~ ready for my son. Alii had 10 do
was buy the three temlin I'ict'e$ made by
Games Workshop. which I found down at II
friend's shop in Buxton. BUI having
obl3im..'d Ihis must-have model for- Stephen,
who was nine-ye:ltS old:11 thctime.linle
did 1 know this wa.'i going to be just the
~Iart of things. As my son rightl y
pointed QUt . there were other parts to
li elm'~ Deep besides the gllleway.
Being the dutiful father. I said I
would have a go at building
the whole thing for him. I
didn't know exactly how
to go about it. though I
was amlOO with a
dCtemlinlllion to be
succe.<;sful. Stephen
showed me a copy
of White Dwarf.
wheN there was
an article about
the full model
being built.
Inspin.'d by Tolkien.
W11led with the basic ide:!
from White Dwarf. I sct
about finding bi l~ 10
build the model
with. After finding
a docent base in
my shed to
build it on. I noti ...-ed that the main
ingredient of White Dwnrf's model seemed
10 be pol)'styrene. I had various plleking
pieces of polystyrene lefl over from
Christmas. so I !kcidcd to ineorpo"'~le Ihese
inlO the dcsigJI. which would also save
some money.
Finding pieces thick enough or Inll enough
wa.~ quite difficult. As I wcnl alOllg I
scavenged more bit~ from yarioos placC$
including skips. Where it wasn'l possible to
find pi('Ct.'> of the correci thickncss or
height. I got round this by either
hacksawing them down to make them
smaller or gluing them together with PVA.
using pillS to hold the picces in place. 10
make them bigger. Very gradually my
construction came together. lining up with
the walls I had bough!. I rdised these up to a
hig.her level by silling it on odd bits of
polystyrene to form rocks. AS I went along I
found polystyn: ne thnt looked like turrets
which. with a slight modification. filled
OntO the front and Dccping wall.
For the slanted inller palh steps and the
counyard I used enrdlxmrd. cut and angled
to gtt the right effect. '11i8 WIIS then glued
into place IIsing PVA, again using pins 10
 hold it temporarily. For the main tower 1
moumed a large cardboard tube ($3\«1 from
an aluminium foil containerl and packed
odd large bilS of polystyrene to its side to
blend It into the hillside. I limited the hei ght
of the tow~r bt."Ca use to bu ild it full-size
would hllve made the model impossible to
tran sport. Mnklng it hlrger would also mean
it would become more easily damaged.
S lowly. I could S(C the pwpl~ of Roh an' s
unconquerable fortress appearing. Butlhcn
I hil a selback. After building the Inu.:mal
wall 10 the courtyard. I realised Ihal. I was
running OUt of room tOwards the hack of tbe
model. so lhe hall enll"llllCe .... as painted
onlO a piece of hanlboanl scrounged from
my father-i n-Inw which Ijig...a .... ed 10 fil lhe
sh~ pe of hills and screwed 10 the back of
Ihe baM:.
To add dcwil lQ the hnll I glued pieces of
polystyrene to il 10 give the effect of Ihe
mountain 's rock- face juning OUt alxwc.
All the wall~. rock..~, and noon> I painted
with lUI old lin of white undc:Tcoat that I
. =
• =
found in my shed. This he lped \0 prepare
the model for final painting by filling in the
crncks. II also acted as a barrier to StOp
sprolY paint melting the polYStyrenc. Where
large cmcks existed I used a tube of fillcr.
To produce the effect of boulders I rou ghl y
cut Dnd broke bits of pol ystyrene to the
desired ShllPC and glued them in place. The
doorways I mode by cu tting the polys tyrene
with a small circular hole-saw at the top for
the arch and then ran down either side wilh
a hacksaw blade to finish.
All the stonework was finished off with
huodri:ds of thinly cut pieces of polystyrene.
1lK:sc were all indi viduall y glued in place,
TIle arch to the courtyard wa.~ lIIade out of a
small cardboard boll cut to shape and lined
inside wilh a t;ur.'ed strip of CUrdbollru, the n
gl ued and filll'<i nellt to the wall.
The causeway to the main ga te was JUSt a
st rip of polystyre ne CUI and angled so that It
was resting o n other rough bits of
polystyrene to make it fit ii' wi th ilS
surroundings. Leaving pans to dry
ov(;might before attaching them to the next
bit allowed me to colnplele the model stage
by stage.
1 would go back to the projoct every now
and then for a couple of hours. Over time it
calllC to!;elhcr, each stuge bring it one l>lep
closer 10 life. I sprayl.'<I thc model with
black pai nt, llItillled eac h stone individuull y.
p:1illloo the rocks. I1 I1.t;st(lI1CS, made balltler
poles out of cocktail stick.., and coated lhe
ground with sand and gravel. Then, after
stkking bits of moss from my garden here
and there to depil:1 bushes or ivy, the model
was finally complete'.
It had t:U.cn approxi mat ely three months 10
do and aliI hlWi paid for wlt.~ IWO tubes of
PYA. two tubes o r liller. a full can of black
s pray. and the p.1ints to finish ii, which were
mai nl y Forttc.u Orey :lIld Chaos Black.
mixed together to gUI the de~ ired shade.
Though it i!. all done now. I wondered if we
wou ld C \ 'cr St.'C the finished product. Even
50, as I completed the projt"CI, [ thought of
the Ring Bearer's bearer's q~t , My
monumcntaltask paled in comparison.
David GtJu/(/;'lg ul/d his smr SUphOI fll?
fY!gulors (Jt J)OU8 KIIQI'-/~s ' shop. D&E
Know/t's Toys llIuI M odt'ls. Tlrt shop is
(I '"aSllrr hous~ crammt!f/ wilh toys WId
lnodit/s of fl/l dtscn"lIiQlu. hlcllld~d in
Dollgit' :r sloek is fllflrgt fflllgt! of
GflmtS m.u bhol' mill illlurt!.~ /11111 gflllles.
Ooll¥ irilllself is II "!(II ChlINu; ,rr. He
ktl()II'S his SIIb)t!ct bt'CkwlIIrI.f. tllld i.r
II/ways rf!lIl/y 10 lulil'.
D&E Kn()lI'ltJ Toy.r lllld /IImll'll'
ClIn befOlllll1 m:
5 M(Jri..t!f Strf!~'.
BuxtlHl.
lkrbyshirf!
TdtpIrOlrf!: 0 1298 24203
 THE __

STRATEGY BATTLE GAME

Men of Gondor
Gondor Is the greatest realm of Men In Mlddle-earth. From Its capItal d ty of Minas TIrilh, ArJgom, King of Gondor, leads the
Armoured Knights of Minas T1rllh as they ride OUi to challenge the hordes of Morde r, whilst hosts of brave Warriors and
Gondorlan Speamlen march fonh to suppon them. Skies blacken wIth halls of arrows from sulwarl bowmen and the ground
trembles as awesome Trebuchet hurl rocks Into the enemy from the lofty parapets of the While City.

.-
Knichl 01 Ml rw TInlh Sun(bnl £.6
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--- ......- Mlnu l1r1ch Q I<ldfI Guud

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Ar.I!!'Otn, KIne of Gondor
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Conuins 24 plastic models.

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Boromlr Qp!aln of tile WhIff TOWl'r £5

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Condor lla nlegy T~bu(het Boxed Set Guards of the FountaIn Coun
~'" 1 TIWuthtIII/ld 3 ClIIW m.
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Comains 2 models..

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