SEPTEMBER 2012 WARBANDS

Welcome to the voting thread for the Warbands Painting Challenge (September 2012).

Voting in this challenge should be based not just on painting skill, but also for application of different painting techniques, individual artist improvement, creativity and originality etc.

Voting will be open for 7 days and will close at 02.33 GMT on 12 October

The Entries are:

ALATAR of RHUN : Isengard Uruk Hai



ARDBOE : Morannon Orcs



BILBOoftheWHITETOWER : Mordor Orcs



CHRIS GoM : Mordor



EDGE67 : Isengard Uruk Hai



GOTHMOGtheWEREWOLF : Minas Morgul



JOHN WAYNE : Rohan Royal Guard



LORD HURIN : Orcs



MARTINUS : Moria



MINIMAL MONKEY SADDLE : Minas Tirith



SOUTHERN DUNEDAIN : Galadhrim



SIDtheSLOTH : Galadhrim



SHIELDMAIDEN : Elladan, Elrohir & Rangers



TELCHAR : URUK HAI



TOMOGUI : WARG RIDERS



WAH WING : Gondor



Good luck all.....

Just want to add that Red Corsairs you are a legend setting this up every month - its a lot harder than it looks.

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Commission Availability : BOOKED SOLID (again lol)

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For me there can be only one winner this month. My head says Minimal Monkey Saddle tho my heart says BilboOfTheWhiteTower. David you got my vote.

Some really fantastic entries again this month, the competition is getting tighter every month. Well done all - awesome!!

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Commission Availability : BOOKED SOLID (again lol)

More of my work at

www.ShadowandFlame.co.uk

I think Edge's entry is the best but I just couldn't vote against BilboOfTheWhiteTower. I also really like John Wayne's.

I really love the painting skill on display from Ardboe, edge67, John Wayne, and of course MMS, whose stuff is amazing, but when I saw BOTWT was entered this month, it's hard to vote for anyone else.

I also really liked the perfect colour choices of Shieldmaiden's rangers and Southern Dunadain's cheeky photo backdrop: Galadhrim at Helm's Deep? Never!!

Great work from everybody.

I've been feeling pretty depressed the last few days (it's amazing how much the death of someone you never met can hit you) and seeing David's entry here brought it all back home again. We've lost so much. I honestly don't think I can vote this round - it just doesn't seem right one way or the other.

Tomogui - your entry is simply amazing. I don't know how you blended those colours on the wargs but it looks unbelievable. They are by far the best wargs I have ever seen. And the riders are excellent also. I particularly like the pale skin and will try this on some of my orcs.
MMS - in my book you are the most technically gifted painter in our community. The highlighting and blending is first class as always and the pale blue for the cloth and shields is a master stroke.
John Wayne - an outstanding entry. I love the vivid colours and the clean lines. It suits the royal guard to a tee.
Alatar of Rhun - fantastic uruk-hai. I particularly like your banner design and the work on the battering ram head.
Ardboe - a great entry. The armour for those orks works a treat. Well done.
Chris - as I think I said in your WIP thread, I don't know how you got 3 trolls done in 1 month! I'm lucky to get 1 troll painted in 6 months. And the work on the trolls and other minis is first class, and the banner idea brilliant imagination and execution.
Gothmog - another brilliant entry - so much done in such a short time. I really like the purple highlights on the cloth. Excellent work on the banner and troll's skin. Keep it up mate.
Lord Hurin - a very, very nice orc warband there. It's great to see those older metal orcs painted to such a high standard. The red cloth is spot on and the designs on the shields add a nice touch.
Martinus - another one who has done an amazing amount of work. I love the two skin tones on the cave trolls - they match perfectly. And the spiders came out a treat.
Southern Dunedain - excellent colour scheme for the Galadhrim. The red, blue and gold work really well together. You've done a good job on the gold too so it's not too overpowering.
Sid Sloth - Also a perfect colour scheme. The shading on the dark red cloth and cloaks is first class and the banner is exquisite.
Shieldmaiden - in my humble opinion one of the top entries. The colour scheme for the twins is spot on and matches so well with what you did with the rangers. Your attention to detail, especially on the twins is outstanding.
Telchar - another great uruk-hai entry. That is one gritty, mean looking war band. Some nice work on the bases too.
Wah Wing - another top class entry mate. Excellent work on the banner and the original colour scheme works very well.

And finally, David - another classic entry in his signature painting style. Never to be forgotten.

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

These entires make me weep at my own ineptitude. They're just so beautiful. How are we supposed to pick a favourite? In the end I scrolled through without reading names and picked one of the ones that immediate stood out. Very much a personal choice though as so many could have won my vote. Well done MMS!

i went for tomogui's wargs. For superb painting in a short time

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'Though my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior'
-John Newton

I am not saying who I voted for (not wanting to offend or disappoint anyone). It was very, very hard to judge as there are a lot of very well painted and based minis - any one of about 6 entries was within a hairsbreadth of one another in terms of quality. And congratulations to all on the improving standard of photography - it makes judging honestly a more objective process.

And it was nice to see Dave's latest work in yet another competition. Always remembered, BotWT.

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Published ebooks:
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Phantom Ships, Ghost Flotilla
More to come!

This is SUCH a toughie to vote for. Like many people, Bilbo's entry deserves a special mention, and a special place in our hearts, as his last piece of work. However, I don't think he'd have wanted the spirit of the competition to be put aside, so I'll stack his up against the rest.

It's so hard to pick one!

Altar, your basing on those Uruks is spot on.
Ardboe, your Morannon Orcs are perfect - I'm going to have to request a paint scheme for when I do mine!
Bilbo really brought those Orcs alive - the basing is great too, and that dead grass is perfect for Mordor forces.
Chris, your trolls look superb and that banner was an inspired choice - great freehand!
Edge, those Uruk-hai, particularly the blood and gore, are very finely detailed, and the scene you've made displays them really well.
Gothmog, I love the Black Numenorean conversion, and the paint scheme fits well. Your highlighting is getting better
John Wayne - that Theoden is amazing - picture perfect. His battalion of Royal Guard look crisp and bright too. A very inspiring warband.
Hurin, I love those orcs too - bit of stiff orcish competition, and I don't think you're helped by the slight blurring, but from what I can see very good painting.
Martinus - good work. Those spiders give me the creeps!
MMS - Something for me personally to aspire to. You favour the subtle earthy pallette like myself, and pull it off with such finesse it's a joy to look at your miniatures. One of the top contenders.
SD - I love the autumnal scheme on Legolas, and your conversions add flavour.
Sid - you're coming on leaps and bounds! That banner is fabulous, I might have to steal the colour scheme
Ooo, look, there's mine. I hate those Ranger models now. Too flat!
Telchar - some inspired basing and conversions.
Tomogui - I wasn't sure about these in the WIP, but boy have they turned out great. Top work
Wah Wing - Red always suited Gondor, and you've pulled it off superbly.

At the end of it all, this one was really hard to pick. My top picks were Ardboe, Edge, John Wayne, MMS and Tomogui. I'm gonna give it to Tomogui though, because those wargs are immensely impressive and have really shattered my expectations.

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Namarie

Another very difficult challenge, I've managed to narrow it down to Edge, BotWT, and MMS - such a hard choice

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C.A.P.T.A.I.N. = Crazy And Proud To Admit It Now
http://chrisgomhobbyblog.blogspot.com/

A lot of fantastic entries for this one and i mean a lot! Everyone's entries were brilliant, I think my vote would've went for Wah Wing had he got his finished, i love the colours and the models look great..really want to start a gondor army now!! Other than that the ones that really stood out for me were BotWT, edge67, John Wayne and MMS but in the end I voted for BotWT I think he should win his last painting challenge.

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All Hail The Lord of Light, R'hllor, for the night is dark and full of terrors!

Voting was a hard thing to do again. Went for the warg riders of Tomogui. Just like the freshness of those guys - original colour scheme and very well painted. Maybe we should need extra votes!

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goblin: "people associate me with boogers because i am green"

Where to start?
First off, Edge, I reallly like your uruk-hai. The varied skin tones and blood and gore work very well. This is the fiercest looking warband out of them all. (Though bezerkers have a special place in my heart, I've always wanted to make a pure bezerker army.... )

Secondly, Johne wayne. Wow. You did a great job on this warband. The RRG are really detailed figures, and you managed to paint a whole bunch of them in one month. I really like the clean lines and bright nature of these guys. I normally go for dark and grungy figures, but these guys look great all spiffied up and sparkling in the sunlight. I especially like how you got the scale mail and gold to be very bright, and yet still have depth.

Thirdly, MMS. Another great entry. I really like this colour with the womt. It's different, but you've made it work. My only comment would be that Beregond's cloak could use some more contrast, maybe another highlight or two, or some washes into the folds...

Fourthly, Sid. This is your best entry yet. You have improved a lot since you joined. I especially like that you took the time to do the details, like the silver on the quivers and bows. You also did a nice job with your photo's, the fade-in close-ups are really nice.

And finally, Tomogui. Well, for wip figures, these are stunning. The wargs are some of the best I have ever seen. I really, really, like the way you've blended in multiple colours. They compliment each other very nicely. The basing is also well done.

And to everybody else, good job! I can't comment on everybody's (if I want to have time to do hobby work... ), so I just commented on the ones that stood out to me.

Alatar of Rhun: I like the armour on your Uruks and the Wargs head on the battering ram, however I feel that your skin could have done with a little more of a highlight
Ardboe: A great entry from you - excellent all round, but I personally don't like the use of purple on Orcs (even though you have painted it well)
BotWT: I love the dark colours on the Orcs as well as the two excellent conversions
Edge: Very well painted Uruk-Hai - I look the different skin tones
Gothmog: You're certainly improving - I like the purple on those Black Numenoreans, however I felt that the skin on your Trolls is a little flat, especially compared to the scales
John Wayne: Your Royal Guard and Theoden are really well painted, although I think a thin green line running parallel to the right of the horse's head (2-3mm away) would've certainly improved your entry
Lord Hurin: A really nice entry here, my only problem is that you can still see the slots in the bases, perhaps smearing a thin layer of green stuff over the top would have helped?
Martinus: another great entry, although I think another highlight would have gone a long way here
MMS: Another stunning entry from you, hard to find any flaws in your work (as normal), although for me the white cloak really stands out, as it doesn't seem to be as dirty as the rest of the warband
SD: A great entry from you, although I think you'd benefit from having a midtone on the red, as currently it goes from being black to red without much transition
Sid: You've improved a lot in the space of a month - which is very obvious from just looking at armour on your first few Elves and the rest of them, well done and keep improving
Shieldmaiden: You've done a really great job on these, especially Elladan and Elrohir - the only thing that lets your entry down is the poor sculpts of the Rangers
Telchar: I'm really digging the conversions on these guys, however I think they could benefit from another highlight or two
Tomogui: These are really well painted, however I personally don't like the colour scheme on the Wargs
Wah Wing: It's a shame you didn't get to finish - as these are really well painted, can't wait to see them finished

In the end I had to give my vote to Bilbo's Orcs, as this is the entry that stood out to me the most throughout the month


Having just re-read my post I've realised that it's quite critical - but it's the only way to choose a winner

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C.A.P.T.A.I.N. = Crazy And Proud To Admit It Now
http://chrisgomhobbyblog.blogspot.com/

Sacrilege! Purple goes with everything!!!

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All Hail The Lord of Light, R'hllor, for the night is dark and full of terrors!

This month it was really tough, so many great entries, ardboe's, dave's, chris', john wayne's and shieldmaiden's to name only a few.
As always I picked the one that really had a "lotr feel" to it and in my oppinion that was John Wayne's.
So, that's where my vote went.

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“People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it's served up.”
My wip

Yay i got a vote thanks Aqan - you are my freind . Lol i must vote for Tomogui as MMS shouldnt win everything .

Special mentions:
Ardboe - Beautiful Orcs
Alatar of ruhn - nice scenery, very effective pics
BOTWT - Another awesome entry. Very sad to hear btw
Chris Gom - No suprise. Great as usual
Edge67 - Great scenic pics
Gothmog - Great colours etc. You did the most work probably
Lord Hurin - Excellent for a wewcomer. Look forward to more
MMS - INSANE PAINT JOB DUDE. Lol
Shieldmaiden - Nice job for a girl. Great colours
Telchar - Just like the film, nice and ragged looking
Tomogui - Great work
Southern dunedain - Nice Galadhrim
Sid the sloth - Nice, sweet base & sick banner
Wah wing - Shame you didnt finish, great work though

If you dont win just think you got a whole warband done in a month. Well done to all.

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You would of had me crawling on all fours like a BEAST!

Wow what a predictable thing to say. Nice job living up to stereotype for your gender too

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Namarie

Duh, didnt mean it as offencive! Just meant its more of a man thing - models and LOTR things and you are the only girl. Lol

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You would of had me crawling on all fours like a BEAST!

This was really a hard choice, but I've narrowed it down to four:

Tomogui: Brilliant blending on the wargs, and excellent riders too, but they are a bit too good for my tastes - Orcs should be gritty and dirty, if you see what I mean, and I think yours are a bit too clean...
Ardboe: Very nice detailing and I really like your bases, too. However, I find these again a bit to bright and sunny for Orcs.
John Wayne: Really good miniatures, with nice highlights and good detail (and the bright look suits these), but if I may say so, an a bit more elaborate freehand on the banner would really add very much, as this just really detracts form the look of the group.

MMS, those WoMT are really alive. I can't find anything to complain about , and as such you are the winner for me.

Well done to all.


[quote='Azog']Telchar - however I think they could benefit from another highlight or two[/quote]

I know, but I don't know how . I'm really bad at blending and mixing highlights.

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"... Telchar wrought it in the deeps of time."
-On Andùril, The Lord of the Rings