There’s a lot of love for the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game here at Games Workshop headquarters, from us lot in the Warhammer Community team, who sneak in cheeky Battle Companies games on our lunch breaks, to the staff in the Warhammer World store, who look for any excuse to run a Hobbit-hobby night (seriously, just mention it in ear-shot of ’em). But few are more committed than the band of super-talented scenery makers who inhabit the modelling and painting studio behind the Warhammer World Exhibition Centre… just look at the board they made!
As soon as they laid eyes on the amazing new Rohan scenery kits, Warhammer World’s team of modellers set themselves the challenge of making a display that conveyed the grandeur of a Rohan fortress. Headed up by hobby guru James Karch, the team set out to see how far they could take the new kits.
“The kit is incredibly modular,” said James when we talked to him about the board. “Without even having to take a hobby knife or saw to it, both the houses and the palisade walls go together in a variety of ways. The smaller houses on our board are built straight out of the box. But when you get to experimenting, you can make some wonderful conversions!”
And boy, is James on the money. Standing proud at the rear of the board is a huge building, reminiscent of Théoden’s palace, the Golden Hall of Meduseld. Scenery maker Paul Claridge talked us through it: “This one is made up of about four Rohan House kits,” he explained proudly.
On any board it would be a fitting centrepiece, and here is no different. The only serious conversion work is in the double-doors, and that was simple enough really – combine two porches, and you’re more or less there. Now we’ve done it though, I’m a bit tempted to go for a full-size recreation of the Golden Hall, maybe for a personal project!”
Throughout the village, there are several other converted buildings, including one that has been extensively modified, so it forms a rough L-shape. Right at the back, there’s a tall bell-tower, which looms over the settlement like a weather-worn sentinel. “When you start building multiple house kits, you end up with a lot of spare parts,” says Adam Cooper, another modeller who was integral to the project. “Because of the way the walls fit together, with wall pieces and ‘joining planks’ you can build some cool stuff out of the spares. That’s mostly what this bell tower is. We did a fair amount of chopping and converting on this bit, but you could make it more simply if you wanted as the walls stack on top of one another really nicely.”
Around the board, you can’t help but notice loads of neat extra touches too: barrels, wood piles and more. Andy Barlow explained these with relish as he pointed them out. “We watched all of the Rohan scenes over and over, looking for the small details that would make the board feel more authentic. So we have piles of logs made of spare palisade stakes and water troughs made from roof ends. The axe embedded in the log pile was nicked from a Rider of Rohan,” he adds, pointing to a nifty little heap of firewood.
“That authenticity is something that really fired our imagination,” Paul adds as Andy shows us the features of the board. “The Lord of the Rings™ movies felt so credible – like Edoras and the other locations you see could have been real places. We wanted to capture that realism, as if this village was a real place being lived in by the Rohirrim.”
As anyone who’s ever played the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game will attest, sieges are immensely enjoyable, and the Palisade wall around the outside gives the display board a true siege-feel. “A lot of thought has gone into designing a fortress wall that goes together so well,” James says when asked about it. “A large wall like the one we’ve built here is really no harder than just combining several Watchtower and Palisade kits. Ray Dranfield has done an amazing job of making it easy – and it’s full of details for the game too. The ramparts are the right height for the classic Uruk-hai siege ladders, and the walkways on the back are just right for Rohan models to defend – although Dwarves may need audio descriptions or a box to stand on. It makes for a very convincing setup.”
This board has so many beautiful elements – for example, the flower-covered tumulus akin to Théodred’s grave and the stone foundations upon which the houses sit – that you need to see it for yourself if you can.
Right now it’s undergoing some modification (adding all manner of battle damage and an all-new horde of ravening Isengarders), ahead of inclusion in the Warhammer World Exhibition Centre. James’ team are confident it will be ensconced in a place of glory from the 18th of December onward, so if you’re passing by (or fancy the ultimate hobby trip), come and check it out.
If you can’t visit in person, take a peek at this video, which has some lovely closeups of the work James and his team have done (pre-ruination). When you’re done and feeling all inspired, make sure you pick up a Rohan House or even a Stronghold set for yourself.