Jaz1597's LOTR Customs: Now With Mumak! (Updated 2/12/10)

[Jaz1597]

Index (Updated 2/13/10): (Note - not all of these have updated card images. I'm in the process of uploading all the current versions).

The Fellowship: Aragorn (FOTR), Aragorn (Mounted), Boromir, Frodo (FOTR), Gandalf The Grey, Gandalf The White (TT), Gandalf The White (ROTK), Gandalf On Gwaihir, Gimli (FOTR), Legolas (FOTR), Legolas (Mounted), Merry (FOTR), Pippin, Sam (FOTR)

Other Heroes: Ghan-Buri-Ghan, Gollum, Radagast, Shelob, Treebeard
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Arnor: Elendil, Isildur, Numenorean Archers, Numenorean Soldiers, Numenorean Spearmen

Dunland: Wildmen Of Dunland

Gondor: Archers Of Gondor, Army Of The Dead, Citadel Guards, Denethor, Faramir, King Of The Dead, Knights Of Gondor, Rangers Of Ithilien, Soldiers Of Gondor

Harad: Haradrim Archers, Haradrim Chieftan, Haradrim Soldiers, Haradrim Warriors, Riders Of Harad, Mumak, Suludan

Isengard: Grima, Lurtz, Mauhur, Orc Overseer, Saruman, Sharku, Ugluk, Uruk-hai Archers, Uruk-hai Berserkers, Uruk-hai Captain, Uruk-hai Crossbowmen, Uruk-hai Engineers, Uruk-hai Scouts, Uruk-hai Torchbearer, Uruk-hai Warriors, Warg Riders (Bows), Warg Riders (Swords)

Lindon: Gil-galad, High Elf Archers, High Elf Spearmen, High Elf Warriors

Lorien: Celeborn, Galadhrim Archers, Galadhrim Warriors, Galadriel, Haldir (FOTR), Haldir (TT), Lorien Elf Archers, Lorien Elf Guards, Lorien Elf Rangers, Lorien Elf Warriors

Minas Morgul: Cirith Ungol Orcs, Gorbag, Ringwraith, Ringwraith (Mounted), Ringwraith (Twilight), The Witch-king (FOTR), The Witch-king (Mounted), The Witch-king (Twilight), The Witch-king (ROTK), The Witch-king On Fell Beast

Mordor: Cirith Ungol Uruk-hai, Gothmog, Grishnakh, Mordor Orc Archers, Mordor Orc Spearmen, Mordor Orc Warriors, Mountain Troll, Orc Overseer, Sauron, Shagrat, Snaga

Moria: The Balrog, Cave Troll, Durburz, Moria Goblin Archers, Moria Goblin Captain (Bow), Moria Goblin Captain (Sword), Moria Goblin Warriors

Rhun: Easterling Commander, Easterling Soldiers, Easterling Spearmen

Rivendell: Arwen, Elrond

Rohan: Eomer, Eowyn, Gamling, Riders Of Rohan (Bows), Riders Of Rohan (Spears), Rohan Archers, Rohan Elite Guards, Rohan Royal Guards, Rohan Spearmen, Rohan Warriors, Theoden (TT)

Umbar: Archers Of Umbar, Castamir, Corsair Barbarians, Corsairs Of Umbar

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So...

Obviously I'm not the first HSer to make custom Lord Of The Rings figures. Sherman Davies has done a number of excellent ones, and many other users have tried their hand at them as well.

I've actually been working on the figures themselves for a while now (over a year), using figures from the LOTR TMG (same as Sherman). Unfortunately, the figures have become incredibly hard to find and fetch outrageous prices on eBay. I was lucky and was able to get my hands on most of the figures released. At this point, I've re-based all of the figures (which may shock some fans of the original game), using GF9's Econo Rounds. They're not beveled, but they're dirt cheap. I plan on flocking them eventually and making them much more interesting.

Since I've been spending so much time on the figures (close to 500 of them!) it's only recently that I've started thinking about stats and abilities. And since I plan on using these figures for different games, I decided not to go with the conventional HS card style. I've modified cards from the LOTR TCG for the images themselves. The move/range and life values can all be found in the shield icon, with the attack and defense values below.

I wanted to come up with unique abilities for all the units, so I was very careful not to do anything too similar to previous customs. Some powers are of course recycled, others are completely original. I'm very curious to hear what everyone thinks! These are far from final designs, so let me know if something doesn't work, or if anything needs to be changed. My biggest concern is that some of these units may be under-costed.

DISCLAIMER: I take no credit for the layout of the cards, or the images used. All I did was make some color adjustments, along with removing the original game text and replacing it with my own. The font is Aniron, for those who are curious. Also, if you like these units, please print them out and use them! However, I respectfully ask that you do not repost them on other sites. If you want to use any of the abilities I came up with on your own customs, please PM me for permission. I'm sure I'll say "Yes".

Anyway...without further ado, here are the cards! I've only done the Fellowship so far, but I have the figures to do all manner of Men, Elves, Orcs, Trolls, Goblins, Uruk-hai, Easterlings, Haradrim, Corsairs, Wildmen, Ringwraiths, Ents and more...so stay tuned!













The Fellowship in all its glory.

My goal was to have the Fellowship work well as a whole, maintaining the flavor from the films. I don't know why I settled on 700 points as a group cost, but it means they will be able to take on a decent-sized swarm of baddies. In the future, I will probably do different variations of each of the Companions, as I have various sculpts of all of them.

Once again, I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

Cheers,
Peter

EDIT: I realize the card design may be off-putting to some. When I get home tonight I'm going to play around with a different font. I'll also be changing the move and range values to green and grey respectively, and perhaps playing around with the layout. I initially used the HS card design, but I didn't like having to settle on specific factions for the units, plus I couldn't find high-resolution images for the unit pictures (ever since seeing the awesome work that C3G is doing, I've preferred cards that have images from the movie/comic they are from). I may eventually re-do them, and I'd be happy to post the one card I've already done on request.

Look for Moria Goblins and the Cave Troll some time in the next day or two!

[Sherman Davies]

Whoa, 500 figures? That's hella ambitious - way to go!

The new cards take some getting used to, but they work fine and make your customs stand out. I assume the lowest number on the shield represents their life? If so, Aragorn may be underpriced at 100 points. He's essentially identical to Agent Carr, but with 1 more life. He loses Carr's Phantom Walk, but gains the ability to heal others, so that's kind of a wash. I could see adding 10 points on for that extra wound marker.

Also, Samwise seems to have an ability (I Can't Carry It For You) that harms Frodo. Do you mean to say "subtract 1 from whatever is rolled" instead of "add 1 to whatever is rolled?"

[Jaz1597]

Originally Posted by Sherman Davies

Also, Samwise seems to have an ability (I Can't Carry It For You) that harms Frodo. Do you mean to say "subtract 1 from whatever is rolled" instead of "add 1 to whatever is rolled?"

I debated whether to make it add or subtract (I settled on add since that's what official cards tend to have). It doesn't really matter which. Since I added the word may, it actually benefits Frodo. If you roll an 18, you can choose not to add 1. If you roll a 20, you can choose to add 1, making it 21 (and thus Frodo doesn't take a wound). The only thing you still need to worry about it rolling a 19. Therefore, when you have Frodo and Sam in the same army, Frodo's chances to take a wound from the One Ring decrease from 10% to 5%.

That was my intent anyway. I'm still playing around with the wording. Thanks for the advice on Aragorn! Not sure what I'm going to do with him yet.

EDIT: And yes, the red number indicates life.

[Jaz1597]

Alright, here it is. My Moria army in all its glory (minus the Balrog - not quite ready to tackle that one yet). You'll notice they are suspiciously similar to the Grut Orcs of HS. I felt that the abilities fit well, so I definitely borrowed a lot from them.

As usual, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm still worried I may be under-costing things. And Sherman is right...the cards do take some getting used to. I tried to make it a little easier by adjusting the font and making the move number green. I realize the stats still aren't labeled. Not sure yet whether or not I'm going to address that.

Since it's the weekend, I've had a lot of time to put in to this. Now that the figures are all done, you can expect the first drafts of all these units to be pumped out pretty quickly. I'm probably going to do them in the order of the movies, so keeping with the FOTR theme, you can expect Nazgul, Uruk-hai scouts, Lurtz and Saruman next...









Drums In The Deep.

I realize my photos aren't the best. What can I say...it's not my forte.

Cheers,
Peter

[Jaz1597]

Okay...here we go. The first round of Isengard Army Cards! I decided to stick with those from FOTR, even though I've already finished the abilities for Uruk Warriors, Crossbowmen, Ugluk, Mauhur, Grima, Berserkers, and a Torchbearer. I'll save those for when I do the units from Two Towers. I don't know why I'm doing it in this order, just seems to be an easy way to organize things. So that means I'm getting close to finishing the Fellowship block. All that's left are the Nazgul, Arwen, Haldir, Galadriel, and a bunch of Lorien Elves. Expect those later this week.

My idea behind these guys was to reflect the urgency with which they were chasing the Fellowship. Saruman makes a bit more sense once the other units arrive, but I like how these came out so far. There's a cohesiveness that I really dig - probably because most of these are recycled powers, which are are way cooler than anything I could come up with. Enjoy!









Find the Halflings!

(Still working on the whole photo thing).

As always, your comments are most welcome. Even though these are still first drafts, I'm perpetually worried about under-costing. And of course, if you notice any typos or other errors, please let me know!

Peace,
Peter

[A_Train]

Looking awesome so far.

[Sherman Davies]

I just realized something - what are you doing about hitzones?

[ProtoFury]

Wow... I really, really, really want those guys. I love LotR, and I'm sure I can find a place for some Uruk-Hai and Saruman along with my Marro and Orc hordes.... *insert evil laughter here*

Oh, and btw Jaz, I love your avatar. The MegaMan Zero games were among the best games I've ever played.

[Jaz1597]

Originally Posted by ProtoFury

Wow... I really, really, really want those guys. I love LotR, and I'm sure I can find a place for some Uruk-Hai and Saruman along with my Marro and Orc hordes.... *insert evil laughter here*

Oh, and btw Jaz, I love your avatar. The MegaMan Zero games were among the best games I've ever played.

Thanks! I hope to keep refining these over the next few weeks and months. Feel free to use them in your games at home!

And yeah...the MegaMan Zero games rock. Incidentally, I dig your avatar, too! I don't usually go for comedies, but the Hangover was pretty funny...

Originally Posted by Sherman Davies

I just realized something - what are you doing about hitzones?

I knew someone was going to ask about that eventually.

I decided not to included them because, a) There's not enough room on the cards with the current design; and b) although I know my way around Photoshop, I don't take the best pictures. And since there aren't pre-existing images for all the figures I plan on using, I would have to take my own pictures to create the hitzones. It would be a lot of extra work. And my main goal here is to finish these in a timely fashion so I can start working on battlefields and scenarios as well. Plus, I want consistency across all the cards.

When I get to the Soldiers of Gondor, I'll post a picture of a card I did with the original HS card design, hitzones and all. It took much longer than the designs I'm currently using, and didn't look nearly as good. My thinking at this point is that hitzones for these figures will be pretty obvious. Weapons, shields and billowing capes are out, everything else is fair game. If anyone chooses to use these in their own play groups, they can decide what makes sense for them.

[Jaz1597]

...and the Nazgul!

These guys were tough. I'm still tweaking their abilities. I'd like to thank Sherman Davies for allowing me to base my Terror ability on his Aura Of Terror ability. You can find his excellent, original unit here. I also want to mention that HeroScape Battleplan has been an invaluable resource when looking up stats and abilities.

This was my first attempt at doing variations (you'll see more later, as I have various versions of many of the heroes). So I did both the Ringwraiths and the Witch-King on foot, mounted and in twilight. I'm still not sure how I'll use the twilight versions. Probably only in the Weathertop scenario...

As you can see, it's getting tougher to fit all the abilities in the space I have. As a result, I've had to make some minor changes to the layout, making the newer unit cards inconsistent with the older ones (at least to my eyes). I'm going to go back and adjust them once I've finished the Fellowship block. I also noticed some issues with the backgrounds of the more recent cards. I guess I wasn't as diligent when scrubbing the originals to make the card blanks.

Anyway...enough rambling. Here they are!









They will never stop hunting you.

Observant viewers will notice that I don't actually have nine Ringwraiths yet. Don't worry! They're in the mail, along with some other figures to round out my collection. There are still a few ultra-rare ones I'm hoping to snag, but prices can be prohibitive (it's one thing to spend $8 on a single figure, it's quite another thing to spend $80).

I will post Arwen and the Lorien Elves tomorrow night. So until then, happy 'Scaping!

-Peter

[ProtoFury]

Ohohoho..... I'm so jealous. I know the game store in town has some of a LotR game, I hope it's this minis game. I'd love to make my own figures and snag these cards...

I also like how you've incorporates the "faction" symbols onto the card, they look nice!

[Jaz1597]

There are very few of the LOTR TMG packs still in stores, but you might get lucky. Your best bet is either eBay, or snaggletoothgames. Some of the earlier sets are still pretty easy to find, and single figures can be found for $2-3.

EDIT: If you're referring to the faction symbol in the upper right-hand corner of the cards, I can't take credit for that. Those are part of the original Decipher designs (which is why I was so keen to use them - they look fantastic). I was thinking about doing kind of a watermark behind the game text using similar symbols. That may still happen...