Partially, yes. The new ones IMO have great definition and quality yet naff poses, I really like the old wood elves for their tolkien-esqe look although yes, admittedly they were some of the worst quality...




The EfGT LE was meant to be limited edition too, yet it's still selling lol

Good to see you back btw Sir Knighty!

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Well The Hobbit did not make the cover of WD, what does that say!

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Harfoots-The first of the Hobbit people to cross over the Misty Mountains and enter Eriador.

Says GW have other priorities and 40k sells better

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WIP thread: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=25860

It may just be me, but I think that GW is not expecting people to use the captain models as captains (unless they need to, but with legolas it won't happen much) so They make 10 model boxes, then offer 2 more sculpts separate, thus you can make a warband for legolas to lead. this explains the 6 spears too, add two sword sculpts (captains) an you are back to even numbers of each. I think it is a smart move, though underhanded to the buyer, so I will have to get a couple captain blisters of each to make up for missing models in my warrior packs. I won't buy any until January so at least I will have a chance to see January releases before I place my first order of DOS models.
I wish they had been consistent painting eyes on as that is annoying.

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That's weird. Only last week did I discuss with DMS about doing a diorama of the dwarves in barrels. I'm quite pleased about the fact GW have saved me the trouble. On the whole I'm not very impressed with the sculpting level of this release. With the exception of the barrel set the named character models vaguely resemble their respective actors at best and the rangers are very thin and spindley, much akin to their whfb counterparts. Having said that I will probably end up getting it all eventually anyhow.

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Wasn't the new Rivendell Elves given. 100%bow option from the AUJ rules? I seem to recall this to be the case. I suspect that Mirkwood Ranger armies will be 100%bow eligible too.

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Really surprised so many people like the Elf-Rangers, they look very warhammerish/generic fantasy elves not LOTR to me. Also poses are weird, like the modelers couldnt decide what they wanted them to be doing and the faces again just make them look not LOTR to me

I like the Tauril and Leggy models, although I'm not a fan of this trend of adding terrain to bases by GW, some knife-work will definately be done on my part.

Thranduil and the Guard look impressive enough to me, I'll probably pick up a box of those as well

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I'm lukewarm on this release. The sculpting quality is great, as expected (although a few odd poses in the ranger set, and Legolas's shoulders appear very broad at that angle), but I'm not in longer with most of the character designs.

I think the rangers look pretty good, but prefer the aesthetic (if not the sculpt quality...) of the older unarmored elves.

The palace guard look as though they have some interesting design elements, bib for me there's a little bit too much going on, and I'm not too big on the shield designs. Mine will most likely get some kind of replacement, if I buy any.

I like Thranduil a lot, but will probably wait for an armored version.

I've always been a huge Mirkwood fan, so was looking forward to these guys, and overall I'm not disappointed in the models themselves. Not sure I can realistically afford all of them, and 10 rather than 12 models (not unprecedented, but also not the norm) stings a bit.

In the end, I don't play tournaments or in a store, so I can get by just fine with my old Mirkwood army if I choose to. My only incentive to get these is wanting models to match the movies, which I do! Just not sure I want them badly enough to justify it.

I'm also interested to see how well the Palace Guard match up with the movie depiction. I quite liked the look of the orcs and goblins in "An Unexpected Journey," but thought the models were a poor likeness to their on-screen counterparts (characters notwithstanding).

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

My opinions and all the leaked images on a channel video - Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBDb-P56Cgo&feature=youtu.be

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Have to agree with you there. Quality has improved, but the aesthetic has not. It's not just the poses, but the faces as well…too angular, the kind I see every time a moment of weakness hits me and I think "maybe I should get into Warhammer", then I see their wood elves and regain my senses.

I will be buying them though, along with the Guard and captains and heroes. Like rumtap, I'm glad to see some female warriors, though I'd prefer the hero models didn't come with logs. Overall it's a really quality release, though I won't be bothering with the barrels and spiders, and Beorn will have to wait until he gets a bear form.

Thranduil looks epic!

Finally a leek has arrived! And I don't mean that in a care home kind of way! The Wood Elves look superb, particularly the leaf like clothing! The berserk madness of Thrain is also very striking and regardless of rules will make a fantastic display miniature. The Dwarf Barrel riders I think I will give a miss as its a lot of painting for one scenario! I hope that these spiders have new rules, especially as thy now appear to have monsterous bases? The range does look fantastic, though I am on two minds about the cost and in particular the appalling "Fine Cast".

The barrels set is really an odd one - I can't imagine it flying of the shelves. I imagine it's for a scenario (or, as has been said, a Diorama), but outside of that it's use seems limited. For the scenario in question i'll probably just put my current company models on the water and save myself a few quid.

The only downside for the plastics to me is the poses for the kit - the guys themselves seem fairly accurate tot he screen version (which i like, though i can understand not liking it. Personally i think it fits that the Mirkwood elves are a bit of an odd bunch, lacking much of the grace of wiser, nobler elves). It's just a shame there's a handful of the rangers in 'action' poses, which are sure to loose their charm as soon as more than one is present. Considering i'll have at least 30 by the end of the year, I'll have to do some conversions. Which should be fun.

Though i do notice he 'generic' soldiers from AUJ and the filming footage of TABA are missing. Possibly a movie 3 release? It makes sense that Mirkwood is relying on their rangers to do ranging, and the palace guard to, well, guard the palace. No real need for them to raise the army right away.

As to the faces - I reckon they'll look fine in person, rather than on a massive blown up closeup. Can't be worse than the current ones, who were so dismal I bought one box and gave them, quite literally, my most half hearted paint-job ever, just to get some colour on them. And then shoved them in a draw. Never to be used, except... at the uttermost end of need.

Looking at some other images I’ve seen linked to from Faeit 212 it appears that both captains come together so they seem reasonably good value.

I like the look of the Mirkwood Elves but really don’t like the Palace Guard, mainly due to the helmet (one even looks like he’s got a drinking straw).

Generally though it looks like a nice set of models. I’m really interested to see UK prices confirmed and I’d really like to know if we get any real coverage in White Dwarf (I expect not).

I’m not keen on the Legolas model (due to the face), however I was looking at one of the film books earlier and his face in some photos does look more like the model.

I do like Tauriel, Beorn and Thrain. It’s hard to say much about the spiders until we see more photos.

Both fair points, and I thought I might run into trouble 'defending' a price rise I guess I just meant that not getting a full warband in a box isn't as important as getting value for money. Of course the problem with that is that everyone has a different opinion about what constitues value for money!

Whilst I'm not too fussed about losing two figures, it is very frustrating that the boxes are going up in price. There's a €5 increase in the Wood Elves over the warriors or Erebor. We haven't seen the UK prices yet but that will presumable translate to about £2.50 and it all adds up.

You're quite right though, this isn't a bashing thread and different viewpoints make the world go round



The more I ogle these pictures the more I think Thrain might be my favourite, it's a fantastic pose and very different to the stuff we've seen before. I'm also all good with the madness, isn't Gandalf's line "Thrain had all but lost his mind"? Being tortured by Sauron for years is bound to affect you so I'm looking froward to some crazy dwarf action and seeing what his rules will be like in the game!

Something else that struck me is that the spiders (which Bartelomeus' link proves should be 2 for £20) don't have a leader at this stage so can't be used? Makes me think that maybe these beasties are all heroes? There could obviously be a Dol Guldur army list but in the book they're certainly an independent entity and the lack of any spider queen implies maybe they're each independent heroes. This would be quite cool as you could just slot a monstrous spider or 3 into an army without the need for a hero to lead them, a problem the eagles have always suffered from. Also, £10 for a biggish Finecast spider seems like good value (it's the same price as the Dale Captain!) even if they may well be hellish to assemble.

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I have been looking forward the idea of having an army spiders, and I would have liked to see a plastic boxed set! At £10 a pop in finecast this is not really viable, and I don't trust fine cast with the legs as its just too brittle.

I like the Elves and would like to have an army of them, I personally think that they bend over and spank the old plastic ones. which were practically hobbit size and contained a couple of poor models. On the other hand they were based upon the wood elves from Lothlorian from the LOTR films.

I also am looking forward to fielding an army of Dol Goldur, which I am hoping will be possible with later releases, and a nasty old Necromancer to lead them, hopefully with a bit more character development (and new special rules).Also key to my interest here is the ability to field a new type of armoured orc with its own rule set.

Long term in my LOTR/Hobbit gaming interest is to recreate the battle of the five armies, hopefully with a heavy armoured and magical weapon etc equipped Thorin's company.

The more I ogle these pictures the more I think Thrain might be my favourite,

I have to say that these are my sentiments exactly!

it's a fantastic pose and very different to the stuff we've seen before. I'm also all good with the madness, isn't Gandalf's line "Thrain had all but lost his mind"? Being tortured by Sauron for years is bound to affect you so I'm looking froward to some crazy dwarf action and seeing what his rules will be like in the game!

I have to say that fielding a "Bonkers" Thrain with special rules is enormously appealing!

Now the images have had time to sink in I think I'll have to get the Mirkwood Rangers sooner than later. I still have a whole load of old Wood Elves to finish off. Here's hoping there are some spare heads and bits with the new ones. I always liked the idea of the sentinels, but hated the models. These ones will scratch that itch for me.

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I think the Palace guard look great! Agree with some of the comments about the rangers looking a bit too 'warhamerish' though.

I'm not a fan of Legolas or Tauriel. Logolas looks... well the best way I can think to describe it is that he looks as though he's the wrong aspect ratio. Tauriel's face looks very odd and not at all like the actress.

Thranduil and the Captains look suberb.

My favourite, as I expected, is the Barrels out of Bond set. It's spot on and I really hope there is a fun scenario in the book for it.

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New picture of Beorn with all the dwarves - which happen to be the plastic company version. Looks huge!

Big Beorn, Little Beorn, Cuddly ball of death.

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