(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Games Workshop" Zomtober 2023

"The Castellans of Dol Guldur are wraiths in the service of Sauron."

Considering just how badly last month's plan to paint plenty of "Warlord Games" ACW Epic Battles Black Powder figures went, courtesy of my sudden fixation to finally start working on a 28mm scale Napoleonic project, I thought for the next four weeks I'd endeavour to chip away at my backlog of Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game miniatures by "Games Workshop". This effort will also somewhat tie-in with the annual "Zomtober" challenge too, as I intend to 'fill out' my Barad Dur army with more Castellans of Dol Guldur (proxying the long OOP Black Númenóreans), some Nazgûl and the infamous Mouth of Sauron.

True, none of these old metal models immediately present themselves to most wargamers when they think of the classic, brain-hungry walking cadavers of modern-day pop culture. However, I've always thought of these J.R.R Tolkien creations as the mindless undead servants of the Necromancer, so they fit into the theme rather nicely in my books. Furthermore, they should prove reasonably straightforward to pigment, so won't prove too much of a distraction for my other ongoing projects - the aforementioned Napoleonics using "Wargames Foundry" and more 10mm World War Two tanks by "Pendraken Miniatures".

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

"Games Workshop" WIPs - The Ironjawz Zoggrok Anvilsmasha and Klonk the Squig

Alongside these figures I am also hoping to make a small contribution to Orktober too in the shape of Zoggrok Anvilsmasha. I was something of a fan of Age of Sigmar when "Games Workshop" first released it. But despite completing both a 1000-point Khorne and Nurgle force for the "fast-paced skirmish" game's second edition, I quickly fell out of love with the increasingly complicated rule-set. Recently though, I have liked some of the Nottingham-based company's plastic Ironjawz sculpts - most notably this famed Orruk ironsmith and his rockbrow squig, Klonk.

My current plan is to simply put my brush-tip to this pair and see where any remaining enthusiasm takes me should I get them finished - especially as I'm strongly considering going with the 'official' (and somewhat controversial) yellow armour palette. I also fancy some Weirdbrute Wrekkaz and Brute Ragerz, as well as some Orruk Ardboys, so might end up buying/building some of them up too for a small(ish) "Dragon Rampant" raiding force should the mood take me in that direction.

September 2023 - A steady month as far as my favourite companies are concerned

Despite my non-existent "Warlord Games" 15mm ACW output, I still feel the past month was pleasingly productive, mainly due to me finally getting over my initial disappointment with "Steel Fist Miniatures" quality/service and painting a handful of their excellent-looking Italian Wars Foot Knights. In addition, I managed to finish four "Wargames Foundry" Napoleonic infantrymen - which is the target I've set myself throughout this long-term, five-year project.

Future-wise, my quite considerable recent purchases from "Pendraken Miniatures" at Colours 2023, will doubtless result in a slew of 10mm tanks rolling off the factory floor during the next few weeks. Plus, alongside my Zomtober and Orktober contributions, I'm still aiming to stick to my Napoleonic goal too. Indeed, I've already got three French Fusiliers In Greatcoat Marching close to completion, and may well double that amount if I can find the time to tackle the next quartet of the Emperor's infantrymen too...