Hi all - After a couple months of reading numerous posts here, I decided to officially join up. I also recently dove in and made my 1st purchases (Hobbit Rulebook & Free Peoples Sourcebook) and also purchased my 1st models: Haldir (Helms Deep) & Box of Galadhrim Warriors...

My initial question is: what would be the most sensible way to build up a decent size collection (100 models or so) ? I'm focusing mainly on Elves, both Heroes and Warriors from Rivendell, Lothlorien & Mirkwood. Should I use the Games Workshop website ? Local dealer ? Ebay ?

Any advice would be great - thanks much !

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T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair..
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her..

Hello, and welcome to the One Ring

Firstly, you chose some nice models for your first ones. I love the Helms Deep Haldir and I have quite a few Galadhrim plastics myself (IMO not as nice as the metals, although there was basically no variation in the metals )

In terms of heroes, I would personally go with ebay, as there are loads of metal heroes on there e.g. Glorfindel and the old armoured Elrond. The only thing with this point is that I don't tend to see the newer heroes on ebay, such as the new Elrond.

As for the troops, I have never bought any standard warriors on ebay, because I don't tend to need too many (I don't game), but big job lots do tend to pop up now and then. If you were planning a big order, you would definitely save more by going through an independent retailer, however I think GW have restricted shipping on their products from independents. I'm not quite sure on this though, so if anyone else has information on this issue, please add

Hope that helps

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captainquark38/

I think the first thing I would suggest is that you shouldn't worry necessarily about quantity so much as the kind of force to intend to own. I tend to be more of a scenario gamer so that means I'll purchase what I need to play the stories. Do you want to play competitively or do you just want an interesting looking themed force?

Welcome to the OR! As to your question all three are good options. Not any one of those three will have everything you're looking for. And there are advantages to each. My advice would be to prioritize what you'd like to buy and then shop around to see where you can get it cheapest

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Thanks for quick replies and the advice ! I've checked ebay a bit but it seems so 'all over the place', you know ? Some painted, some not...some metal, some not, incomplete sets...and the prices are all over the place ! I see lots of what appear to be bargains and they're listed right next to prices that are higher than GW prices for brand new stuff. Maybe I'll just stick with ordering thru GW online for now...

Not sure yet if I'll end up gaming with my models or just collecting and painting them - may depend on how the painting goes !

But if I do end up playing games - I'll throw in a complete novice question here as well - Can Legolas and others from Mirkwood lead Galadhrim warriors ? The Free Peoples Sourcebook lists Lothlorien and Mirkwood as being one region, with Eregion and Rivendell being the other region, so I thought that it would be ok....

Anyway, it's just great to have a site like this with so many knowledgable people to ask questions like this to and get answers - thanks all !

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T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair..
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her..

Hi, is GW Bolton your local store? If so, I think I know who you are?

Welcome.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Ha - sorry, no...I'm in the States...need to update the location on my profile !

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T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair..
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her..

Welcome to the hobby and The One Ring.

Good advice from others above.

I would just add, if cost is not going to kill you, then buy from GW and support your hobby, or an independent retailer. I always do when I can.

Ebay can be crazy, people are selling the stuff for more than you can buy it direct from GW! I use Ebay as well, but I'm a bottom feeder. I really only buy when it's cheap as hell. There can still be good deals to be found, but you have to check every few days, and just go slow and wait for bargins.

When you get around to painting, don't worry if it isn't master class. Just get painting and skill will come. It takes practice. I've been painting figures for 20+ years, and I am still working on improving my skills, changing my style as I learn new techniques. Lots of How to videos on You Tube.

Good luck

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Xintao

Go eBay 100% I've spent as much there on 5 Armies as I did on 2 or 3 previously crappy ones from gw.

What I did being in your situation is find the easiest to get basic warriors of your force and heroes look for them in auctions. But really try to have in mind what you want to have for your army. Cause if you don't you'll over and under buy. I've done both.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

For High elves, really you want Gil-Galad, Glorfindel, Erestor and a bunch of high elf warriors.

Yes they can, though the most recent figures (Mirkwood rangers and Palace guard) form a different list.

Sounds good, thanks all for the advice...I think I have a good plan now, as I'll try to build up a nice Elf list using both GW and ebay to try to build up my collection and I am going to shoot for the following:

Warband 1
Haldir (Helm's Deep)
12x Galadhrim Warriors (4x bows, 4x blade, 4x spear & shield)

Warband 2
Rumil
12x Galadhrim Warriors (4x bows, 4x blade, 4x spear & shield)

Warband 3
Legolas
12x Galadhrim Warriors (4x bows, 4x blade, 4x spear & shield)

Warband 4
Tauriel
12x Wood Elf Warriors (4x bows, 4x blade, 4x spear)

Warband 5
Glorfindel (with heavy armour)
8x High Elves (4x bow, 4x blade)

Warband 6
Erestor (w/heavy armour)
8x High Elves (4x bow, 4x blade)

Warband 7
Elladan & Elrohir
8x High Elves (4x bow, 4x blade)

This list represents a combo of my favorite Elves and also the knowledge I gleaned from reading about 250 different posts on this site ! People really love the twins, eh ? Anyway, It's obviously a very "hero-heavy" list, and I didn't even calculate all the points as I'm not likely bringing them to battle anytime soon (need to buy and paint first !) But my goal is to build up a good, well-rounded Elven force that looks nice. Then if I'm able to start gaming at some point, I'd have a really good list to pick and choose from to then use. If this a good plan or am I being too ambitious ???

By the way, assembled Haldir and 12x Galadhrim last night - and it took about 2 hours ! I must not be very good at this yet, but there's only one way to learn !

I like the models you have selected, a nice variety and they should look great when finished One thing, Tauriel can't lead wood elf warriors currently (might change in future updates) so instead try getting a box set of Mirkwood Rangers. It will give you more options, the models look great and you can play Tauriel with a warband If you still want variety you could change the 12 Galadhrim in Legolas's warband and give him wood elves to lead instead

Don't worry about the painting and assembling, that comes with experience. I am still terrible at it

Spear and shield high elves are a lot better and try fill up your warbands.

A couple extra points to add about your lists. First, your high elf contingent has too many bows: each army has a 33% limit, so some spear + shield high elves, or more blades, are required; or take Gildor with some wood elves with spears upgraded to Noldorin Exiles.

Blades aren't as useful as they would seem. It looks like you're working with the base contents of the box sets, but it's a sad truth about this game that most of the box sets aren't very optimized. For example, if you had a warband of wood elves, something more optimal might be 4 bows, 2 blades + throwing daggers, 6 spear + throwing daggers.

Galadhrim are a little worse IMHO, because I'd rather have a wood elf with a blade + TD, than a Galadhrim warrior with a blade. That extra armour is often useless in evil combat (good against S3, but no better against S4), and is always useless against evil shooting (which is S2 or S4).

Of course, nothing to say you can't have fun with what you've got, but if your opponents start optimizing their armies you'll probably end up needing a few more boxes with a lot more discarded figures.

Yep, I'm very "box dependent" right now, since I'm just starting out and trying to build up without breaking the bank, you know ? Agree with you whafrog, and others, about adding some spear & shield high elves, but those are $26 (US) for a box of just 4 of them ! To fill out my 3 High Elf warbands, I'd drop almost $80 getting the necessary 3 boxes and would have new 12 figures to show for it. Yikes....

For that same $80, I could buy 3 boxes of Last Alliance figures and have 24 more high elves (plus 16 more of those pesky Numenorans), or I could get 36 more Galadhrim Warriors for that same price. Or perhaps even more enticing, I could buy Erestor, Glorfindel, Rumil, the twins, and the new Legolas all for about the same $80 !

I really can't decide...maybe I should just get them all, but then again, the wife might flip out if I dropped $250 on miniatures !

thanks to all for the feedback...BTW, just starting painting Haldir and my new Galadhrim this past weekend and it's going ok so far. Maybe I'll risk embarrassment and will post some pictures and see what everyone thinks...

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T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair..
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her..

Just try building a smaller army first with more effective ratios. Last alliance elves are worth getting on ebay because they're so cheap.

Hi all - I wanted to say thanks again to everyone for their great advice on building an Elven army from scratch...

As suggested by many of you, I used ebay to get some great bargains to add to my initial GW purchases (Haldir & 12 Galadhrim warriors), and I've been able to add 16 high elves (8 & , the entire Fellowship (metal), and just for fun, I grabbed 24 mordor orcs on a bargain !

I then went back to GW online to grab the high end stuff: 4 High Elves w/spear & shield....Rumil....Erestor....Celeborn w/armour and...Glorfindel w/armour !

I then completed the suggested trifecta by hitting one of my local stores to grab a box of hunter orcs on wargs and I even found a metal cave troll !

I guess I'll be assembling & painting for the next few weeks, but wanted to say thanks again to all for the advice....

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T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair..
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her..

Sounds great, hope you enjoy. You might consider starting a WIP thread...