Happy Mothers Day!

A non Wargaming related post, Happy Mothers day to all Mum's, Mams and Mom's out there! It's always nice to remember all the times they've been there to cook for us, cloth us, take us out on trips etc, and what a better way to say thank you than with a whole day dedicated to them?

For my mum, I bought a custom made cup, with 6 pictures on it! One of me and my girlfriend (mum often says it's her favourite photo of us), a picture of my mum and dad, 3 pictures of my mum's two Chiuhahua's Billy and Poppy, and a picture of my Nanny and Granddad, who have sadly been gone for awhile now. Needless to say it brought tears to my mums eyes and it felt great to give such a nice present. So Happy Mothers day Mum, and I hope all mothers out there have had a great day!

The Fellowship comes together, to start their journey...

Made a deal with a nice guy called Steve Evans, and brought the whole Fellowship still on the sprue, for £10! When GW (Games Workshop) is asking for £33, You can't go wrong! Now all that remains is to paint up my goblins and troll, paint the Fellowship and take them to my friend Matt's house to have our first official game! I'll be commanding the forces of Evil for our first scenario, whilst Matt will be guiding The Fellowship of the Ring through the treacherous Mines of Moria... Stay tuned to see my first ever paintjob, and feel free to offer any advice! Till next time...

Just a quick update...

Since I don't yet have any paint until this coming Sunday, I just thought I'd mention what else I'm up to.
So, I'm talking to a guy from South America, buying a few Uruk-Hai scouts off of him along with Lurtz, and have managed to persuade the local game store to give me Gandalf the Gray for free! One member of the fellowship down, 8 to go...

Else where, scenery is coming along nicely, well, as nicely as gluing stones together can be. I have a couple of decent looking stone walls, a few larger stones with platforms made from twigs I have found etc, which work surprisingly well for a make-shift Moria tunnel. I intend to have pictures by this Sunday of scenery, and my new Uruk-hai! For now, I remain excited and enthusiastic to get my hands on the Cave troll and Paint set this weekend!

One does not simply walk in to Mordor... unless your name is Talion!

Wraiths can be scary at the best of times. But a Wraith and a Human working together to get revenge on Sauron, the Dark Lord? Hmm...

With the announcement of 'Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor' I am now excited by the prospect of the game. You play a ranger named Talion, who's family has been slain by the minions of Sauron. Moments before an Orc can strike the finishing blow on Talion himself, he is possessed and saved by a Wraith with unknown intentions, allowing Talion to control the Wraith powers himself. The fact that you can sneak around, possess Orcs, Wargs Etc, and play the game anyway you like appeals to me greatly. It is also partially free roam I believe, which makes it all the better! But don't take my word for how great this game looks, check out the video which shows all the awesome game play of this game!

Also, as an update on my tabletop hobbying: I have began to do some very basic amateur terrain creating. I have found a few stones from the garden and glued them together to make walls and rocks and such. I have also used them to create the two huge stones that Frodo sees when in the Barrow-Downs, which will play a part in my own version of the 'Fog on the Barrow-Downs' scenario. Keep checking back to see the progress!

A steady start.

Where to start?

I'm Brandon Betts, a 17 year old studying Computer science at college, hope to move on to Uni by 2016.
Happily taken, by Bethen Hyde, my 18 year old girlfriend who I have been with for roughly a year and 3 months (also an avid Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit fan) We live together, swapping between staying at our parents houses every few days. I also enjoy video gaming, mainly PC so feel free to add my Steam: DreadBetts

Well, at the age of 10 (nearly 8 years ago, starting to feel old...) I was drawn in to the world of The Lord of the Rings. Of course, being that young, I never really enjoyed reading so I sadly missed out on how much better the book was (I understand now, as I am currently reading it). But the films wide range of creatures, might and magic, epic battles and beautiful locations made me love it right from the first 10 minutes. As I grew I still regarded them as my favourite films and also played a few of the video games. When I hit 14 and I discovered Warhammer 40k I did like it, and still do. But when I found that there was a Lord of the Rings strategy battle game I was stricken with a deep desire to play it. My parents would not buy me any miniatures or anything as they thought it would be a waste of money... but now, recently earning my own money, have begun to collect Moria goblins and the Fellowship. I am trying my best to get a few of my friends in on the game, and searching at the local gaming shops and Games Workshop in Nottingham to find somebody to have a game with (I am determined to have a game!) and I also enjoy battle reports, so I shall be writing them here on this blog, as well as showing my army, how I paint and scenery I make etc. This blog is not only for mine and your enjoyment, but also as a learning experience as I hope seasoned veterans of this game will be able to comment on my posts with advice for painting, gaming etc. Soon I shall upload a picture of what I have collected first, albeit a small force I have chosen to first buy 12 Moria goblins (4 bow, 4 shield and 4 spear) and have also bought a Cave troll. I am on the look out for Strider and Gandalf the Gray. Thanks for reading, and watch this blog for more very soon!