"During The War Of The Ring..."

"...The forces of Dol Guldur led three assaults upon Lórien and Thranduil's realm in Mirkwood,"

These two 28mm metal Castellans of Dol Guldur are produced by "Games Workshop", and can be bought as part of a three-figure blister from their Dark Powers of Dol Guldur miniatures range. "A concept which has only appeared in an adaptation of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien", the miniatures are destined to proxy Black Númenóreans for my Barad Dur army - at least until the Nottingham-based company once again produce the "bitter adversaries of the Men of Gondor" for "The Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game".

The second of my entries into this year's Zomtober challenge, the pair were given an undercoat of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before being heavily dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal and soaked in "Citadel" Nuln Oil.  I then 'picked out' their belts with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, as well as applied some "Vallejo" Gunmetal to the mindless spirits' ornate armour, swords and Morgul Blades.

"However, they were driven back each time by the power of Nenya, Galadriel’s Ring of Power."

These areas were subsequently drowned with “Citadel” Nuln Oil and later dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Gunmetal. To dirty the armour down somewhat and create a contrast between it and the warriors' hand-weapons, I gave all the Castellan's plates a splash of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade and dash of Reikland Fleshshade.

Other bloggers taking part in Zomtober 2023 are:

PMPainting

Cheaphammer

Pmackay140215

Games_with_graven & Graven's Bloggit

Rantings From Under The Wargames Table

Dead Lead Project

Wargames Terrain Workshop

Miniature Mayhem

In addition to completing my second clamshell containing a trio of Castellans of Dol Guldur this year, I have also begun working in earnest on a number of Allied armoured vehicles for my 10mm World War Two projects using "Pendraken Miniatures". I've recently managed to play a fair few more land battles using various previously-painted tanks taken from the Middlesborough-based manufacturer's extensive range, and this has definitely enthused me to put a brush-tip to even more of their models.

"Pendraken Miniatures" WIPs - This M36 Jackson has been assembled, primed, shaded and dry-brushed

However, it's also made me realise that in trying to field as many of the opposing forces' different weapons as possible, I've disconcertingly made their 'hodgepodge' armies somewhat short of their respective mainstay machines - such as the British Cruiser and German Panzer III/IV tank. As a result, I aim to 'bulk up' on these models next year so the much rarer Wunderwaffe are suitably scarce.

For now though, I really need to 'clear the decks' of all the vehicles I've recently purchased, including a number of American Shermans, M36 Jacksons and British Matilda infantry tanks. My aim is to get all these miniatures completed before the end of December, as I also have numerous armoured cars, motorcycles, infantry and commanders to pigment for the Operation Sealion/Battle of the Bulge projects as well...