Maedros' Eastern Army

Now to the Sons of Feanor and their forces. First is Maedros himself (From GW LotR collection)  followed by some of his men. And, yes, I did remove one of his hands...

These figures come from GW Age of Sigmar. Decided to go beyond the LotR box for added diversity

Feanor's second son, Maglor and a selection from his men, also taken from Age of Sigmar...

Celegorm, Feanor's third son, with his men (again, from Age of Sigmar)...

The fourth son, Caranthir and his men (GW LotR line)...

Next, Curufin, the fifth son and his men (GW Galadhrim Warriors)...

Finally, the twins, Amrod and Amras, and their troops (Also from GW LotR)...

Some Elven cavalry (filled in by Elrond and his men from GW LotR)...

Final Elven forces include a small detachment of Green Elves from Ossiriand. Scale creep over the decades is very apparent here, with some old Minifg (25mm) in foreground and a new 28mm from Bones I believe in the background...

Up next, the men of Bor and Ulfang...

Heroes of Doriath

The first photo shows Mablung, one of two Elves from Doriath, who answered the call of Maedros. I believe it is another Bones miniatures

Another Bones minister I think, standing in for the second hero from Doriath, Beleg.

The Armies

Prior to moving on and seeing the Eastern Army lead by Maedros and the Feanor brothers, here is the Western Army, drawn up against the Ered Wethrin (Mountains of Shadow)...

and the Orcish Vanguard beginning their advance (with the entrance to Angband on the left)...

Just a small note, there are over 500 Orc miniatures shown in this army!

Next, the Eastern Army of the Feanor brothers...

Continuing Simarillion

Now to the men allied to King Fingon and the High Elves. From Brethil, came the men of Haleth under Haldir. I took a figure from the Classic LotR line of the 80s.

The following three photos of old Minifigs filling in for the men of Brethil...

This is another figure from the Classic LotR line of the 80s representing Hurin himself, leading the men of Dol-lomin...

Huor, Hurin's brother is next, yet another Classic LotR...

The following four photos are a collection of old Heritage, again from the 80s, these specifically were Riders of Rohan. I liked the idea they were now men of Hurin...

The entrance into Angband with Thangorodrim in the background. The model was constructed out of foam board and a lightweight plaster purchased at Hobby Lobby. The background is a painting downloaded from online. The orcs in the foreground are from Games Workshops' Urak-hai...

The final three photos depict orc captains (with the first being an early Classic LotR Azog)...

Well, that completes the Western Army led by Fingon at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and some examples of the first Orc horde that would tempt the opponents from their hiding places on the slopes of the Ered Wethren (Shadowy Mountains). Next up will be the game recreating this first phase, as the Fingon's Army fights to the very entrance of Angband...

More Silmarillion

As part of the Gondolin forces, arguably the greatest warrior of the age is Glorfindel. The figure is from Games Workshop

Ecthelion, another Elvish hero of Gondolin. Miniature I believe I picked up from Bones.

A Captain of Gondolin, also from Bones.

This and the following two photos, show soldiers form Gondolin, all from GW LotR line.

And the King of Gondolin, Turgon from Bones as well.

A couple of very old Minifig High Elves, filling in for the Elves of Fingon and Hithlum

GW Elves of Lothlorien standing in for more Elves from Hithlum.

Purchased from eBay but not aware from whose line. They represent more of Fingon's Elves form Hithlum.

GW's King's Guard, doing same serving Fingon.

GW's Nomad Prince that I loved for Fingon himself.

Another view of above.

Some more of the Orcish Hordes, these were from the 80s, inspired by Ralph Bakshi's animated film.

More examples as above.

Some of the newer GW Isengard Uruk-hai.

So to finish the latest installment, here is an overall view of Fingon's Western Army, drawn up around the fortress of Etihel Sirion (center). Starting from the right we have Elves from the Falas; then Nargothrond; Elves from Hitlum; men from Brethil under Haldir (not photographed yet); and finally men from Dor-lomin under Hurin and Huor (again not yet photographed).

Stayed tuned more to come

The Silmarillion

Being a serious Tolkien fan, having read all his books several times, watched every movie made, and looking forward to Amazon Prime's new series, its time to return to the gaming table.

I collected LotR miniatures as far back as the 70s and 80s and still have them. Watching the Tolkien Biopic inspired me to reread the biography I had as well as the Silmarillion. That naturally, lead me to wanting to put one of the great battles of the First Age on the table. Because it has it all, Elves, Orcs, Men, Dwarves, Trolls, Dragons, and Balrogs, the choice was easy. It is the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, or the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.

Of course a major stumbling block is there really aren't many figs out there made for the First Age. Well, I decided to go back to my original collection of figures to fill in some needs, while diving into GW's collection of LotR for some more, and finally just grabbing up some High Elf types from various manufacturers. GW Age of Sigmar became my source for Elves of the six sons of Feanor. Granted, this isn't perfect, but so far it is providing me with the miniatures to stage this incredible battle.

To give a brief intro into the project, here are a few photos to wet the appetite.

Filling in for my Elves from Nargothrond, are some figures that are so old, I don't even remember where they came from, but I had just enough to fill out this contingent. A new paint job, inc the kingdom's symbol on the shield, and they're ready to go.

The leader of the above force was the Elf Gwindor, and here is my rendition. It is an original Mithril miniature (before they were even Mithril!) I think he was a city guard of Tharbad, but what the heck.

This fig I picked up from Bones I believe, and is filling in for my commander of the Elves from the Falas (perhaps even Cirdan himself)

This and in the next photo I picked up from NorthStar's Oathmark Elvish warriors. Both of these are the Elves from the Falas

The Falas image I downloaded from the internet and then attached it to the shields. You will see other examples later. Now, a few images of the enemy:

Since the need is for countless Orcs, I dipped into my earliest collection. These are ancient Minifigs mounted in groups (again, because of numbers needed)

These are again, I believe, Minifig,  goblins this time, but again needing vast numbers, they get pressed into service.

Some more 'ancient' figures. Bit of a mixture here, with some "Snaga" orcs with the grinning faces, Der Kriegspielers,  (a couple of orc characters from Minifig, and more Minifig as earlier illustrated.

Well, that's it for now, more will follow. Hope you will enjoy the tour.