Amph One Thread To Rule Them All: The Rings of Power + The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings Trilogies

Battle of Red Mountain?

 

I guess we do get a little bit of insight with the whole "Durin VII the Last" and the eventual resettlement of Moria.

FAKE DWARVES.

Edit: Funnily enough, through a completely different source I just discovered that Iron Crown Enterprises did not have the first gaming license; rather, it was a company called Heritage Models, a miniature gaming company that also had the first Star Trek RPG, the first Conan game, and infamously made what is considered one of the worst RPGs ever, the Dallas RPG.

 

Damn, I just missed the Edit window. I wanted to add that Heritage based the miniatures on the Bakshi LOTR movie.

 

I have actually heard good stuff about the Dallas RPG.

 

I know GW did LOTR miniatures long before the ones for the current LOTR game. I wonder how theirs compared to the Heritage ones?

 

Well, Heritage based their miniatures on this animation:

 

From the Oldenhammer In Toronto LOTR site

http://www.oldenhammer.com/2016/01/1980s-citadel-lord-of-rings-miniatures.html

Spoiler: Frodo Baggins

"A stout little fellow with red cheeks... But this one is taller than some [hobbits] and fairer than most, and he has a cleft in his chin: perky chap with a bright eye." (FotR, Book I, Chapter 10). I've tried to show Frodo midway through his quest. Although his eyes are still bright, the Ring is beginning to take its toll.

Spoiler: Samwise Gamgee

"Presently Sam appeared, trotting quickly and breathing hard; his heavy pack was hoisted high on his shoulders, and he had put on his head a tall shapeless felt bag, which he called a hat. In the gloom he looked very much like a dwarf." (FotR, Book I, Chapter 3),

Spoiler: Merry Brandybuck

"Then Eowyn rose up. ‘Come now, Meriadoc!’ she said. ‘I will show you the gear that I have prepared fur you.’ Now she led Merry to a booth among the lodges of the king’s guard and there an armourer brought out to her a small helm, and a round shield, and other gear... ‘Here is also a stout jerkin of leather, a belt, and a knife. A sword you have.’ Merry bowed, and the lady showed him the shield... and it bore on it the device of the white horse." (RotK, Book V, Chapter 3)

Spoiler: Pippin Took

"Pippin soon found himself arrayed in strange garments, all of black and silver. He had a small hauberk, its rings forged of steel, maybe, yet black as jet; and a high-crowned helm with small raven-wings on either side, set with a silver star in the centre of the circlet." (RotK, Book V, Chapter 4)

Spoiler: Strider

"Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man sitting in the shadows near the wall... His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face, but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits." (FotR, Book I, Chapter 9)

Spoiler: Gandalf the Grey

"At the end of the second week in September a cart came in through Bywater from the direction of the Brandywine Bridge in broad daylight. An old man was driving it all alone. He wore a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, and a silver scarf. He had a long white beard and bushy eyebrows that stuck out beyond the brim of his hat." (FotR, Book I, Chapter 1)

Spoiler: Legolas Greenleaf

"There was also a strange Elf clad in green and brown, Legolas, a messenger from his father, Thranduil, the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood." (FotR, Book II, Chapter 2)

Spoiler: Boromir

"And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance. He was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback; and indeed though his garments were rich, and his cloak was lined with fur, they were stained with long travel. He had a collar of silver in which a single white stone was set; his locks were shorn about his shoulders." (FotR, Book II, Chapter 2)

Spoiler: Gimli Gloin's Son

"Gimli the dwarf alone wore openly a short shirt of steel-rings, for dwarves make light of burdens; and in his belt was a broad-bladed axe." (FotR, Book II, Chapter 3)

 

Ah, the glory days of lead miniatures.

Also, lead poisoning.

 

And for characters besides the FOTR-period Fellowship:

http://www.oldenhammer.com/2016/02/a-perilous-light-1980s-lord-of-rings.html

Spoiler: The Witch King

We get our best glimpse of the Haggard King as he's leading Sauron's army out of Minas Morgul:

"Before them went a great cavalry of horsemen moving like ordered shadows, and at their head was one greater than all the rest: a Rider, all black, save that on his hooded head he had a helm like a crown that flickered with a perilous light. Now he was drawing near the bridge below, and Frodo's staring eyes followed him, unable to wink or to withdraw. Surely there was the Lord of the Nine Riders returned to earth to lead his ghastly host to battle? Here, yes here indeed was the haggard king whose cold hand had smitten down the Ring-bearer with his deadly knife." (TT, Chapter 8, Book IV)

Spoiler: Saruman the White

Saruman is "...an old man, swathed in a great cloak, the colour of which was not easy to tell, for it changed if they moved their eyes or if he stirred. His face was long, with a high forehead, he had deep darkling eyes, hard to fathom, though the look that they now bore was grave and benevolent, and a little weary. His hair and beard were white, but strands of black still showed about his lips and ears." ((TT, Chapter 10, Book III)

I love this miniature, both for its simplicity and its artistry: a force seems to emanate from the Palantir that swirls Saruman's beard and robes. And his hands are covered in rings, which is an accurate touch ("For I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-Maker, Saruman of Many Colours!")

In an effort to keep him from looking like Joseph and the Technicolour Dream Coat, I avoided a multi-coloured robe and instead painted Saruman off-white ("I am Saruman the Beige!"). However, I tried to add a little interest to the miniature by giving his Palantir a dim red glow.

Spoiler: The Mouth of Sauron

The Mouth of Sauron's most fascinating feature is his magical steed: "... there rode a tall and evil shape, mounted upon a black horse, if horse it was; for it was huge and hideous, and its face was a frightful mask, more like a skull than a living head, and in the sockets of its eyes and in its nostrils there burned a flame. The rider was robed all in black, and black was his lofty helm; yet this was no Ringwraith but a living man. The Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dûr he was, and his name is remembered in no tale; for he himself had forgotten it, and he said: ‘I am the Mouth of Sauron.’ But it is told that he was a renegade, who came of the race of those that are named the Black Númenóreans; for they established their dwellings in Middle-earth during the years of Sauron’s domination, and they worshipped him, being enamoured of evil knowledge." (RotK, Chapter 10, Book V)

Spoiler: Gollum

"Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature... as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face. He had a little boat, and he... paddled it with large feet dangling over the side, but never a ripple did he make. Not he. He was looking out of his pale lamp-like eyes for blind fish, which he grabbed with his long fingers as quick as thinking." (The Hobbit, Chapter 5)

Spoiler: Elrond Half-Elven

"The face of Elrond was ageless, neither old nor young... His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars. Venerable he seemed as a king crowned with many winters, and yet hale as a tried warrior in the fullness of his strength." (FotR, Chapter 1, Book II)

The Citadel sculptors gave Elrond a saucy little mustache, which makes him look less like an elf lord and more like one of the Village People. I thought about shaving it off with my hobby knife, but decided instead to go where the lead led me... it certainly makes him unique. I further departed from canonicity by making him a red-head.

Spoiler: Gandalf the White

There goes an old man in nice white duds. "His hair was white as snow in the sunshine; and gleaming white was his robe; the eyes under his deep brows were bright, piercing as the rays of the sun; power was in his hand." (TT, Chapter 5, Book III)

Spoiler: Aragorn son of Arathorn

"And the cloaked man spoke and said: ‘He is come.’ And they saw as he stepped into the light of the lantern by the door that it was Aragorn, wrapped in the grey cloak of Lórien above his mail, and bearing no other token than the green stone of Galadriel." (RotK, Chapter 8, Book V)

Hands down this is one of my favourite miniature sculptures of all time. It's compact, dramatic and perfectly composed. I love the way Roheryn is rearing and how this is contrasted with Aragorn's steady gaze... for me, it perfectly captures the level-headed audacity of the leader of the Grey Company.

 

"johalmborg: - That spell wasn't a freeze spell. It was a medium spell!
-Medium spell?
-Yeah, it wasn't rare and it certainly wasn't well done!"

 

Another great article:
https://www.tor.com/2020/02/24/mort...death-as-a-gift-is-debatable-in-middle-earth/

 

Oh yeah, I've talked about the subject in prior posts here.

And they didn't even get into Middle-Earth Jesus. I'm guessing that's for part two.

 

Futuristic Minas Tirith, by unknown:


with thanks to @darkspine10 who originally posted it

 

looks like Mordor if they had electricity and sunlight

 

Shades of Alderaan, methinks...

 

Three hours' ride, as the Inquisitor flies, and you'd better hope we don't have one of those on our tail.

 

Where's the Woods of Nuath? The haven of Siriombar? Tumhalad?

 

?

I just had to google those names, and two weren't in the Silmarillion:
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Núath
https://www.elfdict.com/w/siriombar

Tumhalad isn't named, but since we know which rivers it is between you know where it is
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Tumhalad


Anyways, I thought was a cool way of expanding the Beleriand map to also show the political realms of the Elves

 

Oh, I'm just being pedantic. Ignore me.

There is one weird error, though - it should be the Firth of Drengist, not Drengest.

 

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies are being released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

 

Right in time for Christmas, my precious!