Hello all!

I've been considering the idea of starting to collect Arnor and Angmar armies for SBG lately. I've always loved the theme, but I it would certainly be extremely expensive and time consuming to buy all of the metal models needed for an Arnor force. I've recently been toying with the idea of converting Warriors of Arnor from Warriors of Minas Tirith, making it both cheaper and giving me a very interesting and personal army. I like the Ruin of Arnor and the army lists within it, but I've always thought they could use some work to make them ideal. So, I've come up with a variety of house rules and decided to edit the lists to include other models, such as adding Hill Men of Rhudaur to the Angmar list and using the stats of a Wildman of Dunland to represent him.

I'll show some of my work editing the Arnor list today and do some Angmar stuff later. I decided to change the wargear a Warrior of Arnor can have, so I could use the entire box of Warriors of Minas Tirith. As such, I've also changed his points total around, representing the changes to the wargear included in his base profile. I also added new options for Arvedui, Malbeth and the Captain of Arnor. Two new units were also thought up. Without any further ado...

Arnor

Heroes:



Arvedui, Last King of Arnor...
Horse - 10 points

Malbeth the Seer...
Horse - 10 ponts

Captain of Arnor...
Bow - 5 points
Shield - 5 points
Lance - 5 points
Horse - 10 points

Dunedain...
(No changes)

Warriors:


Warrior of Arnor... 7 points
Shield - 1 point
Bow - 1 point
Spear - 1 point
Banner - 30 points
Horn - 20 points

Ranger of Arnor...
(No changes)

Royal Guard of Arnor... 10 points

Knight of Arnor... 14 points
Banner - 30 points
Horn - 20 points

Well, tha's it for now! I'll post up the profiles for the Royal Guard of Arnor and the Knights of Arnor later tonight or tomorrow. Comments and critiscms are welcome and greatly appreaciated.

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" I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure!"

Bilbo

I love this idea! I definitely approve of the equipment additions, and I'm psyched to see the stats on the Arnor knights and royal guard.

One possible way of making the minis cheaper would be to start with Warriors of Minas Tirith as your base (like you were thinking) and using heads from one of Warlord Games Roman sets. You can order individual sprues which come with plenty of heads on them, although I'm not sure how much they cost.

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

Looks good, I'm looking forward to seeing more.

I always thought that Arnor would be really good from a Gaming point of view.

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

Thanks for the comment!

I'll add the stats for the Arnor Royal Guard and Knights later today. As for how to convert them, I am planning on using the Warriors of Minas Tirithas my base. I'll file off the white tree on the shields and armor, as well as filing down the plate armor to make it look smooth ( I'm also debating whether or not to sculpt tha area as cloth, like it is on the original Warriors of Arnor). The cloth wrapped around there heads will then be sculpted from greenstuff. I'm also looking to add some holes in their clothing and slashes in their shields and armor for a more battleworn look This miniature will be my inspiration for the conversion.

The Knights of Arnor will probably be converted in much the same way, using the Knights of Minas Tirith as a base. For my Royal Guard, I'll probably be using the normal Warriors of Arnor miniatures, since I really like them a lot. I plan on making a few modifications to them, such as adding some fur lining to their cloth.

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" I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure!"

Bilbo

Sounds like a pretty solid plan to me. The minis should turn out great - and clearly you have far more patience for converting your rank'n'file troops than I do!

This sounds like an awesome project, I'm looking forward to seeing it unfold.

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

I was always annoyed about how the Arnor models came in blisters of 3, hopefully you can show us how to get them for a much cheaper price. Make sure you tell us how you did it at the end. Also looking forward to the 2 profiles.

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Sun is by sea-men always hoped for,
when they fare away over the fishes' bath,
until the brine-stallion they bring to land.
OERP

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to starting this project. It'll go hand in hand with some terrain projects, I'm planning on building Weathertop and Fornost boards.



If there's enough interest I'll definitley consider writing an article on how to convert them.

Here is the profile for the Royl Guard, I'll be sure to add the profile for the Knights later.

Royal Guard of Arnor - Points value: 10

F S D A W C
4 3 6 1 1 3

Wargear: Royal Guard of Arnor carry a spear and a shield, while wearing heavy armor.

Special Rules:

Bodyguard: See main rules manual for details.

The Royal Guard of Arnor are firecely loyal to King Arvedui, willing to lay down their lives in defense of his. Though all the horrors of Angmar have been unleashed upon their relam, the Royal Guard fight on still.


Any thoughts? I based these guys on the Citadel Guard. I decided to raise the courage by one point insted of the fight value, however given that they have the Bodyguard rule I'm now considering otherwise. I've also been toying with the idea of creating a profile for Fornost Veterans, based on the profile for the Osgilliath ones.

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" I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure!"

Bilbo

Well, here's the profile for the Knights of Arnor as well. Sorry for the delay.

Knight of Arnor - Points Value: 14

F S D A W C
4 3 6 1 1 2

Wargear: The base profile for a Knight of Arnor includes heavy armor, a lance and a shield. He also rides a horse. Any Knight may be given the following extra items at an additional cost:

Banner: 30 points
Horn: 20 points

Any thoughts on both of the profiles guys?

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" I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure!"

Bilbo

Well, can't comment on the profiles as I have no experience with SBG whatsoever, but I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with miniatures-wise

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Flying is the practice of trying to crash into the ground and missing.

I know that normal Arnor Warriors have C2 but, i think both profiles should have plus one to their courage since the average courage of most humans is 3, even corsairs and khandish warriors, only mercs have low courage. Courage 2 makes them as cowardly as the goblins I field, It really hurts when your force gets broken. I never could understand why the 'brave warriors of Arnor', who have fought untold battles against the terrors of the North have a courage of 2...

Maybe on a whole you could increase the courage of all warriors and captains by one.

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When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.

Backlog Reduction Oath Participant - 6/53

I can definitley see your point, and I think it's a good one, but I think I will leave the courage as 2. I think it does a good job of representing how worn down Arnor has been by their wars with Angmar and also their impending doom. I feel like the Knights should also then have the same courages as the regular Warriors of Arnor on foot, as they're basically the same thing with a horse added in. The lowe courage makes Arnor more unique and thematic in my opinion. It's also not quite as big of a deal with the introduction of hornblowers.

Thank you both for the comments, they're much appreaciated.

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" I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure!"

Bilbo

I think you forgot to include a horse in his equipment/wargear.

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

Fixed it. Any other thoughts guys?

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" I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure!"

Bilbo

I agree with you on the hornblowers and Courage modifiers. I never play goblins in 700+ games without a Goblin Drum. Very useful at keeping them from scattering as soon as the force is broken, however if the drummers are slayen, (or in your case the hornblowers) then the warriors flee far to easily. Since you could have multiple hornblowers, you probably won't run into the same problems goblins do, and the Arnor Warriors D6 will hopefully make them last longer than a goblin.

The list looks pretty neat. So good luck, have fun and keep us posted.

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When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.

Backlog Reduction Oath Participant - 6/53