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Please don't call someone a Nazi unless they really are a Nazi.
This army, in 25mm scale, is going to Historicon with me later this month for the big Lord of the Rings game using the Triumph! rules set.
These are official Lord of the Rings sculpts produced by the long-gone Heritage brand and based on the Ralph Bakshi movie from 1978. They are still available from Michael Thomas with Classic Miniatures. So they are 45 year old sculpts but new castings…with one exception. There is a Heritage Dungeon Dweller orc on the command stand that I have had since 1980 or so and have finally put to use.
An orc commander riding a horse is seen in the attack on Helms Deep and I am glad Heritage included this figure. The original had a defect – the axe was up near the commander's face and was bent so as to partly obscure his face. I cut it away and sculpted a new arm. The orc from 1980 is on his left. The clothing is all a kind of sage green in order to match the movie. The orcs had glowing red eyes in the film but I went with yellow so they would show up better.
Heritage had one Troll sculpt, so I ordered two and converted the second one to have his weapon down and added a shield to his arm. Michael Thomas also sent me an unreleased sculpt of a second troll! I converted his face to better match the other two and changed the arms to give a more aggressive posture.
The original line had a few Misty Mountain goblins. There was a plan to make some mounted on wolves but they were never produced, so I bought a few Dungeon Dwellers wolves and converted them to be wolf riders.
The camp is an aquarium decoration that I repainted and based. The back was hollowed out to fit a flickering red light so that the smoke-filled entrance glows red. The still photo does not do it justice. The mountain and the base are separate pieces to make it easier to transport.
Loved that movie as a kid – I remember looking at the figures in the game store, but a $1 USD a pack of 3 they were way outside my price range…..funny now.
This is a terrific collection! I wondered if anyone else still had Heritage LOTR Orcs! I have about 60 all painted up and a few photos of some will follow, including the war wagon that I modified to make even more gruesome.
Heritage LOTR Orc war chariot, modified, with giant rats (other old Heritage [?] minis) and towing dead humans (formerly hanged Wild West outlaws). Brrr!!!
I don't have much else photographed of my Heritage LOTR Orc range, but here are some similar vintage Orcs that I kept to the same look. Archive Miniatures, for the most part.
Michael Thomas has the moulds. He has a company called "Classic Miniatures" which has a website. It has available figures listed. No pictures on the website, but you can use Lost Minis Wiki to see what they look like then send him an email order.
Loved that movie as a kid – I remember looking at the figures in the game store, but a $1 USD USD a pack of 3 they were way outside my price range…..funny now.
Lol – exactly the same!!
Really like what you've done with them @ppecena – very nice looking army with a great theme!
Nicely done, especially the mods and basing! This line is the backbone of my fantasy armies. The figures have stood the test of time, if you prefer this type of "realistic" look over the more cartoonish sculpts, and want to stick to real metal 25mm figures that are easy to paint and look good on the table.
Is there a link with pics and a description of what you did at Historicon? The legendary Duke Seifried (who ran Heritage when these were in original production) sometimes ran massive battles with these troops at Historicons years ago. I recall he ran a huge battle at the Black Gate, and Helms Deep one year.
reports from the final California Gen Con...
