"Half remembered Gondor uniforms" Topic

Hi all,

I recall somewhere that the Steward's army of Gondor wore a white uniform with a plain white banner and shields as opposed to the more usually depicted black with the one tree. I think that the Citadel Guard had the black as they were in waiting for the return of the king.

Reading, or skimming, Book 5 Chapter 1 Minas Tirith it says that Beregond wore white and black.

"Presently he ( Pippin) noticed a man,clad in black and white, coming along the narrow street from the centre of the citadel towards him."

Question is this: Should much, if not all, of a Minas Tirith army wear uniform other than that of the Citadel Guard I wonder? Certainly it would seem that I paint my Tirith soldiers black with the white tree as a shield design and standard, but should I be going about it differently and do them in white plain unadorned uniforms or a mix of black and white?

Of course any information on uniforms of the other areas of Gondor is also welcome.

P.S. I recall a Tolkienesque game at Dragonmeet or Gamesday in the early 1980s where the Gondor contingent wore white,I think, and it off-set the rampant hordes of black-clad orcs rather well. Might have been a Joe Dever game. In any case it was bloody huge.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Read the bit where the reinforcements march into minas tirith all sorts of uniforms.
And yes the black with white tree is for the citadel guard, not the entire army

Well,it sure as heck wasn't full plate!

Hiya

Black coat for the citadel guard (tree badge).

The banner of the Steward was white so you could use that for other troops. I painted my other 'regular' Minas Tirith troops in white and the star of Numenor on their shield – as a guess.

Dol Amroth troops with swan-ship.

There's something in the posthumous publications about Gondor knights in the third age with colourful heraldry (IIRC when fighting the wainriders).

David F Brown

Gondorian uniforms are probably easy to get a little bit of variety. As for shield and tunic decorations go, the Tree, the Star, and Winged Sea Crown( however that looks) would make good badges.

For colours, black is noted, white likely and grey almost certain. I would add a dark blue, likely Navy or Prussian blue, perhaps to represent Navy, Marines, or garrison troops from Pelargir, just make sure to use a darker colour than the Dol Amroth troops.

Maybe a dark green (Dark Angels) for an old Ithilien or Osgiliath unit?

Just make sure that the War of the Ring troops were sombre colours.

Thanks Gents,

Looks like the consensus is that Men of Minas Tirith would be white and black or white with the odd blue/grey so I will go with that and paint my troops with a bit more variation from now on.

I will, of course be using chain mail and none of that plate stuff, thinking Norman/Byzantine I imagine.

So on one of the older LOTR gaming sites, damned if I remember which one, someone stumbled across some notes in one of the later books (the ones published from JRRT's notes) that indicated the blue would have been a fairly common uniform color in the late 3rd Age. This person had a really well-painted Gondorian force in this scheme.

In any event I agree black would be reserved for certain units, I agree white would be a likely alternative.

-Will

Usurping this thread slightly,is anything mentioned about the uniforms worn in Arnor (before it got destroyed by Angmar)?
Considering they had the same heritage i am guessing they were simialar to Gondor.

Hi Steam Flunky,

I quite like these shield designs for the three kingdoms of Arnor.

Taken from this website

wiki.lindefirion.net/Heraldry

They indicate that Arnor was a splintered kingdom and that, as far as I recall, Rhudaur was at times allied to Angmar. I believe that Arthedain and Cardolan defended the Weather Hills. The uniforms might be pale blue or grey with some greens for the Dunedain kingdoms and reddish browns for Rhudaur.It's fertile ground for using the imagination.

As a maven for Tolkien/Middle Earth lore, I have to say, the written record is scant leaving us to our own best judgement/conjecture.

I'm in a similar predicament making up colors for my fiefdoms – Lossanarch, Blackroot Vale, Lamedon, Anfalas, etc.

Get creative!

There is no evidence that I have seen for the "Army" of Minas Tirith to wear white uniforms. Beregond was a member of the third company of the Citadel, and his uniform was black and white. Not white and black. Usually when someone describes clothing, the main color is first, followed by the accent color.

That being said, we really don't know much about Minas Tirith's army. The Citadel Guard could be the standing force, and the rest of the army could be militia, augmented by the troops from the provinces. This lends credence to the idea that not all of the army wore black and white.

But again, I cannot find any passages anywhere that says the army wore white.

That being said, there's no rule that says you have to paint them exactly as they appeared. They are your figures.