Missives from Middle Earth #7 "...A chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor to show his quality."

 

In my last Missive from Middle Earth I outlined my aspiration to bring my Garrison of Ithilien force up to around 500 points by painting up another couple of Warriors of Minas Tirith with bows.

Over the festive break I was able to get a few painting sessions in we had a very quiet Christmas in the Tangential Contrivances household, so I knocked out the archers quite quickly (not having a shield and the extra steps that entails makes them a lot faster to paint!).

It turns out that I hadn't quite done my sums correctly though, even with two additional bowmen, I had left a few too many points unspent for comfort. After some hasty recalculation, looking back over the army list and then digging through my stash of MESBG minis, I came up with a solution to the problem in the form of one more Knight of Minas Tirith.

Having used one of the lances from the kit to kitbash my Warrior of Minas Tirith with banner though, I found that the pose of sole remaining lance arm wasn't working with either of the two horses I had left because it was sculpted to be held across the Knight's chest. Luckily I has a couple of spare spear wielding arms from the Warriors kit left over, so I did a quick 'cut and paste' to relocate the lance hand onto the wrist of the spear arm which resulted in a more pleasing pose overall.

With both horse and rider assembled, I set about painting the pair up over the first couple of days of the year, doubly inspired by the thought of 'finishing up' the force and re-watching the extended editions of Fellowship, Two Towers and Return of the King with Mrs TC over Hogmanay.

The Knight was painted to match the quartet I did towards the beginning of last year, with the only variation being that I went with a more chestnut tone for the horse's coat to help retain a some individuality across the group. 

So with some final reinforcements summoned from Osgiliath, the Garrison of Ithilien now stands as follows:

Faramir’s Warband - 318 Points

Faramir, Captain of Gondor, 5 Knights of Minas Tirith, 4 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shield, 4 Warriors of Minas Tirith with spear and shield, 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with banner, 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with war horn and shield

Madril’s Warband - 100 Points

Madril, Captain of Ithilien, 5 Rangers of Gondor

Damrod's Warband - 76 points

Damrod, Ranger of Ithilien, 4 Warrior of Minas Tirith with bows

for a total of 494 points, which should do for smaller scale Matched Play games if the opportunity arises. 

This post marks the end of a journey that started almost two and a half years ago (or as more than double the time that Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pip were away from thr Shire for the more poetically minded). 

Looking back over the time I've spent working on the force, from the humble beginnings of the very first miniature that was painted as a palatte cleanser and the second that was a Miniature of the Month to the more recent characters and conversions, working on the army really became a labour of love and while I wouldn't expect them to win any prizes, I'm happy with the effort Ive put into painting each model and how everything has come together.

While finishing the Garrison of Ithilien force is an ending, as I mentioned in my last post I've begun thinking about which area of Middle Earth I'd like to explore next and while Rohan is definitely among my favourites, there are a few other miniatures I've picked up over the last year which I might have a go at before I embark on the next army, so I'll see what takes my fancy.

Until next time then, as always thanks for reading and happy hobbying.