The new Battlehosts for the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game are the perfect way to get started on your journey into the world of Middle-earth. They’re just as brilliant for veteran players who want to start a new army or flesh out an existing force – which is exactly what Middle-earth veterans Lewis Collins and Ashley Hamstead-Reid have done. The two challenged each other to see who could get their Battlehost built and painted first, before duking it out on the battlefield! Let’s see how they got on.
Lewis: The challenge was set, and we gave ourselves a single week in which to complete it! I selected Rohan as my Battlehost. It’s an army that I’d never done before, so this was the perfect opportunity to finally paint up an army of Rohirrim.
Ash: With Lewis opting for Rohan, it felt only natural that I should throw my lot in with Saruman and pick Isengard. I love the Isengard models, so I couldn’t wait to crack open my Battlehost and get building!
Lewis: To help inspire us to paint, Ash and I decided to book a hobby day where we could hang out, enjoy each other’s company, and have the movies on in the background whilst we powered through our piles of plastic.
Ash: This was great fun and helped motivate us both. We really wanted to showcase that anyone can get a Battlehost painted up and ready for gaming quickly, so we were both determined to get these finished.
Lewis: The first step for me was to get through all the horses. I sprayed all the white ones with White Scar before applying a 1:1 mix of Lahmian Medium and Gryph-charger Grey. The black and brown horses were sprayed with Zandri Dust, before applying a layer of Black Templar or a 1:1 mix of Dryad Bark and Lahmian Medium respectively. All the leather was then painted with Cygor Brown. These were super quick to do and came out great.
For the Warriors and Riders of Rohan, I once again started with an undercoat of Zandri Dust spray. I then basecoated the models as follows:
Dark Leather – Cygor Brown
Orange/Brown Leathers – Mournfang Brown Air
Light Leather – 1:1 mix of Dryad Bark and Lahmian Medium
Green Cloaks – 1:1 mix of Dark Angels Green and Caliban Green
Skin – 1:1 Tuskgor Fur and Lahmian Medium
Silver – Iron Hands Steel
Gold – Retributor Armour
With all the basecoats done, I washed each model with Agrax Earthshade before drybrushing the bottom of their leathers and cloaks with Karak Stone to give a weathered effect. Éomer followed much the same scheme, though I used a 1:1 mix of Flesh Tearers Red and Word Bearers Red for his armour.
All that was left to do was to base them, and voila! A whole Battlehost of Rohirrim who look great en masse, and can be easily highlighted if I want to take them to the next level.
Ash: I decided to get all my Uruk-hai done before moving onto the characters, starting off with a spray of Zandri Dust.
For the Scouts, I painted the leather with a mixture of Wyldwood, a very small dash of Steel Legion Drab, and some Lahmian Medium. I painted the helmets with Black Templar, before applying some watered-down Steel Legion Drab to give the impression of dirt in the recesses. I then painted all of the metallics – the swords, armour, and shields – with Iron Hands Steel, before applying Black Templar and some watered-down Mournfang Brown to make it look rusty. Finally, I painted all the skin with a 2:1 mix of Cygor Brown and Flesh Tearers Red.
I tackled the metallics on the Warriors first, in the same way as the Scouts. However, I wanted the chainmail to look slightly different, so I painted it with Iron Hands Steel before applying a layer of Basilicanum Grey. The cloth areas were all Dryad Bark with a wash of Agrax Earthshade, and the skin was painted the same way as the Scouts. Finally, I painted all the gloves and straps with Abaddon Black before applying some watered-down Steel Legion Drab to the recesses to make them look dirty.
Next up was Gríma, who was sprayed with Chaos Black before applying three layers of drybrushing. Each layer was mainly Abaddon Black with a small amount of Tau Light Ochre mixed in, with slightly more added for each layer. The hair was painted Corvus Black, and the sword with Leadbelcher before all the areas were shaded with Nuln Oil. The fur was painted a 1:1 mix of Steel Legion Drab and Abaddon Black, washed with Snakebite Leather, and then drybrushed with Steel Legion Drab followed by Baneblade Brown. Finally, the skin was painted with Rakarth Flesh and then given a glaze of Guilliman Flesh.
Saruman was primed with Wraithbone, and his robes were painted with Skeleton Horde before applying a highlight of Wraithbone. His hair was painted with Pallid Wych Flesh and then glazed with Nuln Oil, while his skin was painted with Flayed One Flesh and then given a glaze of a 3:1 mix of Lahmian Medium and Guilliman Flesh. Finally, his shoes were painted Karak Stone and given a shade of Agrax Earthshade, whilst his staff was painted Black Templar, with the orb painted Pallid Wych Flesh.
Lewis: We decided to use the free Quick Start Rules for our game – a battle to the death! Things started well for me as I managed to take out a few Uruk-hai with a combination of arrows and throwing spears. Éomer also went on a tear, cutting through swathes of Uruk-hai, and even felling the snivelling Gríma Wormtongue. But then…
Ash: Although it started badly, my Uruk-hai eventually began causing casualties, their superior numbers proving too much for the Rohirrim. Saruman focused his attention onto Éomer, bombarding him with Magical Powers until he was eventually brought down to give me victory.
Cheers guys! This goes to show that you can get your Battlehost on the table in no time. If you are thinking about getting a Battlehost of your own, you can do so here. Don’t forget to show us your progress over on the Warhammer Facebook and Twitter pages.