‘It was in the beginning of the reign of Malvegil of Arthedain that evil came to Arnor. For at that time the realm of Angmar arose in the North beyond the Ettenmoors. Its lands lay on both sides of the Mountains, and there were gathered many evil men, and Orcs, and other fell creatures...'
~Appendix A, The North-kingdom and the Dúnedain

This thread will be home to my forthcoming project, an army of Arnor. To avoid any disappointment, no, this first post will not in fact have any pictures.. but they will follow soon(ish)! However, I've got some time now to write all of this down - so here goes:

For a while now, Arnor has seemed to be one of the most intriguing of Middle-earth's realms to me. A long and rich history, of struggles both internal and against mysterious external forces; yet a ruin at the time of the War of the Ring, only traces left of its former greatness. Depsite all that, Arnor's legacy would be of major influence in that era as well: from a blade of Westernesse that would (finally!) bring an end to the Witch-king, to the new monarch Elessar of the reunited kingdom.

This project will focus on the reign of Araval, grandfather of Arvedui, last king in Arnor until Elessar. Where Arvedui's reign was troubled and saw Arnor fall, the kingdom was still mighty in Araval's time. Under his rule, the combined forces of Arnor and the Elves of Lindon and Rivendell emerged victorious against Angmar, as befits a man whose name means 'Golden King'.

Although the core of the force will consist of Warriors and Rangers of Arnor, some variety is created by also adding in some Rohirrim, at least in terms of rules. These will represent the regular elite cavalry (Royal Guard, their profile being closest to a mounted Warrior of Arnor) and princes of Arnor (Sons of Eorl). The force will be led by Malbeth (who is known to be present at the court during Araval's reign) and of course the Golden King himself, using the rules of Eorl - a fitting profile for a mighty leader of Númenórean blood, but perhaps having lost some of his martial prowess (being 140 at the time of his victory over Angmar).

Another unusual aspect will be the actual figures used. I have never really liked the convential Arnorians of GW, as they look far too modern for this place and time - having many elements of 15th century Italians, while I picture Middle-earth with a much more dark age appearance. Arnor, in its golden age, should be modern in that context, but with an ancient feel, some ceremonial elements perhaps. In the end, I've found the perfect models in several historical ranges, all related to the Late Imperial Roman empire: archers from Gripping Beast, warriors from Crusader Miniatures, cavalry from Musketeer Miniatures and the commanders from a combination of those.

The first models purchased (hopefully on their way at this moment) were the archers, who do not (nor were they meant to) look like actual Rangers, instead representing regular soldiers with bows (for which the profile still works well). Obviously given spears, I thought a while on how to represent this: sticking a spear to their back would be unrealistic and strange (though convenient to make), and finally decided to represent the spears with stakes in the ground on their bases: hopefully giving them an ordered and organised appearance as well.

Finally, the above does obviously mean the army will be difficult to use against anybody aside from familiar opponents, and I have not found a solution for that so far. Writing their profiles (i.e. names of what they represent) on their base rims crossed my mind, but that will probably not look great, as well as being nearly impossible on the lovely flat renedra bases I'm likely to use. Big signs placed next to the models for a similar effect will probably not be too practical either. If anybody has a good idea, let me know!

That's it for now, will hopefully have pictures of painted models in some weeks time...

Looking forward to your work! Looks like a great idea

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"His people were of great strength and stature, bold and steadfast, mighty among the Children of Ilúvatar."

Fantastic project Coenus! I'm really looking forward to see this project take shape, and to some day see it across the field of battle.
Maybe I should start an Angmar army sometime soon..

As for a reminder for the models used, I'm pretty sure I will be all right and we won't forget about them. When playing against other opponents, though, you could always print something with a photo of the types of models and their profiles, and then give it to the opponent. That should be fine I guess.

I LOVE Arnor, that's an amazing project. Could you post some pictures of the models you plan to use ?

My friend did some "RomanArnor" converting by Minas Tirith Warrior, here the photos if can them are service to you

http://imageshack.us/a/img89/9895/r19la.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img694/8536/r17pk.jpg

I have to say that I was always surprised that the blade of Westerness never made it into the rule book!

Under his rule, the combined forces of Arnor and the Elves of Lindon and Rivendell emerged victorious against Angmar, as befits a man whose name means 'Golden King'.

I wonder if this or more likely the battle of Fornost will be mentioned, or if we are really lucky depicted in the new Hobbit movie as they have already mentioned his grave at Khar Dum (or whatever?).

Can't wait to see pictures popping up as it sounds like a great project and I'm always eager to see alternative miniatures and how well they work.

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http://cruciumgiger.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks for the enthusiastic comments guys, here's the start of the first actual work.

The archers have arrived (Gripping Beast's Late Roman archers), but sadly the not unimportant left hands were missing, so no painting until those arrive. However, I could get started on their bases, including the aforementioned stakes.


A helmet (and on some a small shield) may be little protection, but considering that the ranger models they will replace don't wear much visible armour either, they fit the profile nicely. Only one has a hand weapon with him, I'll give some others a hammer or axe, not for fancy special strikes, but to whack those poles in and sharpen them. Those stakes may seem strange on a single guy, but make for a nice looking line when fielded together:


Also included was a big bag of shields (Byzantine teardrop). That specific shape was chosen for one reason only: the predetermined design fitted nicely and gave an interesting slightly assymetric result.


Never done much in the way of freehand, so pretty happy with my first attempt here. The five-pointed star represents the Elendilmir, the jewel worn by the kings of Arnor. The original was lost with Isildur, but a replacement was made and worn by all the kings that followed, and Aragorn wore it arriving on the fields of Pelennor. The Dúnedain of the Grey Company also wore such a star as a brooch and King Elessar gave Master Samwise 'the star of the Dúnedain'.

This design will be used for all the infantry, while I'll change it a bit for captains and cavalry. Maybe a different background (although I like the sea-grey here), definitely with some elven runes in the open corners on some.

Finally, next to an otherwise completely unrelated man of Rohan to show the scale.


~Lorindol: hope you still feel the same way once the project gets going!

~Fëanor: working on some pages like those in a proper rulebook, and will include pics of my own figures there.. if that isn't clear, I don't know what would be! Please, do start that Angmar army.. you know you want to! (And yes, I want you to too...)

~Manadar: pics will be coming along as the project progresses, but the main components will be as follows:
Araval (guy on the right): http://www.musketeer-miniatures.com/ima ... s/rb21.jpg
Princes of Arnor: http://www.musketeer-miniatures.com/ima ... s/coms.gif
Royal Guard: http://www.musketeer-miniatures.com/ima ... -Gp2-1.jpg
Malbeth (bloke in blue): http://crusaderminiatures.com/images/img179.jpg
Infantry: http://crusaderminiatures.com/prod.php? ... =52&page=1

~ElCanter: Although absolutely not like I was imagining or planning them, those are very interesting conversions, and nicely executed too!

~Bilbo: If anything like that happens, I hope it will show some great local scenery that will be produced and sold! Not long to wait now...

~Crucium Giger: The figures are definitely alternative, whether they work I'll leave to you...

Awesome work again! The archers actually look very fit for the job, and the stakes work out great as well, especially when arranged like in the second photo. Axes and hammers are also a good idea, makes a lot of sense for them to have indeed.
The shield also looks fantastic. The design is great, and the freehand is very nicely done.


Well, I wasn't directly talking about a small rulebook, but that would be even better yes, although it would take some more time.
And yeah, I do know I want to start an Angmar army..

Gotta love Gripping Beast, missing hands were sent immediately and arrived within a couple of days - I've had orders take several times as long to be shipped as these took to arrive in the Netherlands. Even better, however, was the fact that not just those 8 hands were included, but an entire additional figure as an apology for the delay (a delay of under a week!). At any rate, it was a Late Roman commander that I was already planning to purchase later on (to be used as a Captain of Arnor), so that couldn't have been better.

The archers aren't done yet (stilll have to drill out the hands and add longbows instead of the recurve bows they have.. just because it looks better), but I couldn't resist getting the Captain painted. Wasn't sure whether or not to replace the shield, but I figured a captain could have some slightly different equipment. Did paint on the emblem of Arnor in the same fashion though, as the shape of this shield would have distorted the image rather badly. For now, he'll be known as Harbard (Greybeard, one of the many names of Odin) - also similarish to Halbarad, so fits in nicely.
Painting was mostly done under artificial light and the pic couldn't be taken without a good amount of flash, so some parts will not look as they should!







Also realised I didn't have any scale shots yet. As you can see, he blends in perfectly.



Now just to decide what to do with the bases. Currently thinking of something tundraish.. bit of vegetation, bit of snow, some bare soil.

Fantastic work, once more! The colour scheme works really well. Also, the model seems to be a perfect apology from GB.
The painting is beautiful again.
Will you keep his shield like this though? The black on the bottom looks a bit peculiar to me. Maybe some freehand would be nice to make the transition a bit less 'abrupt' so to say.
I'm wondering how you will base your army, and looking forward to see him come to live on the battlefield!

Loving it!

I had a similar idea, only with the Conquest Games Normans. I figure Arnor died well before Gondor moved to plate armour. Been fun trying to do a 'historical' army, and coming up with a new army list with some fun characters.

I like your use of the Star icon the shields. Can't wait to see more!

I definitely agree on a touch of snow for the bases.

Great looking figure. These have many options that could be used for a diorama.

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Cheers guys, time for another update!

Building the 8 archers took quite some time, as the newly sent hands were holding (recurve) bows, so had to remove those, drill through the hand (and when it's only a seperate hand, holding on to it is relatively tricky) and glue the bow in. Also added the aformentioned axes (to sharpen the stakes, from ebob) and a hammer (made from a skewer and a piece of plastic that once was a spearshaft or so), after which some green stuff was used to make some straps for them. Started painting the first four guys, but all 8 are built - that's the number required for the planned 500pts army!

Tunic, flesh, eyes, hair and pants done, so another hour and they will all be finished.



Close up of one of the guys - always annoying to paint eyes on helmet-encased heads..


Backside of another - with the hammer


That is not all, however, as the first experimental tundra base is done as well - on Harbard of course.
For some reason, the snowy stuff looks different on each picture (it's slightly shiney, so reacts with the flash), but the overal impression is close enough to the reality. Looking forward to experimenting with this stuff, I think a thin layer of wood glue (dries transparent and glossy) with some snow gives a nice, semi-molten appearance, while two solid layers will give the impression of fresh snow. Probably clearer on larger bases, so I suppose I should get an order in for some cavalry!







That's it for now!


Sure was! Nice how they pay attention to the faulty models, and send a related model as a bonus - and very nice of them to send an extra model at all!

Was actually thinking the exact same thing, the only thing stopping (or at least delaying) me is that the shield is not fully symmetrical (not just the paintjob, but the actual shield itself), and additional thingies may attract attention to that. Luckily, it is always possible to add something later on!


Book-Gondor didn't of course even have all that plate armour, and aside from Haradrim and the odd additional piece here and there, it's pretty much all chainmail, everywhere! At any rate, Arnor is chainmail is definitely justified (despite not actually knowing anything about their equipment), and truth be told, I prefer the look of chainmail to other things too! Paints up nicely as well...
Wouldn't mind seeing some pictures of such Ar|nor|mans by the way!

I love it!
The colour scheme looks great, the conversions are high quality (I wouldn't have guessed these are not the normal bows) and the commander also looks fantastic. The tundra base also works great! Is it a subtle hint that I also need to make a snow/tundra table though..?



The additional things will indeed probably attract attention, so that would indeed be the disadvantage. But indeed, you could just as well try it and see how it works out.

I really like the archers and the captain, what model is he?

Very Nice.... What infantry did you have planned from Crusader Miniatures?
I am thinking of using Late Romans and Romano-Brits for some of the First Age men.

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"A king is he that can hold his own, or else his title is vain." - Maedhros

All looks fantastic. I really like the captain.

As for writing on the bases, what about underneath the bases?

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Inspiration: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/p4gaq4nesnbf ... i1f8a?dl=0