Sherman's Lord of the Rings customs - Balin's Tomb

[Sherman Davies]

So, I recently came across a starter set of Sabertooth Games' now-defunct Lord of the Rings Tradeable Miniatures Game for $5, and decided that I would finally take the plunge and start a LotR-scape customs project, something that I'd been hesitant to even think about considering all the time my superhero customs take from me. Unfortunately, $5 for eight figures was too good a deal to pass up, even though the rational part of me knows that I'll eventually sink more cash into this trying to complete a collection of the Fellowship, not to mention the various armies of Middle Earth. Oh well, Tolkein's creations are too cool not to insert into the Battle For All Time, so here are the first of what I hope to be many more custom LotR units.

LORD OF THE RINGS INDEX:

Aragorn
Balin's Tomb (Map)
Boromir
Ent of Fangorn
Eomer
Eowyn
Faramir
Frodo Baggins
Gamling
Gandalf the Grey
Gimli
Gondorian Soldiers
Grishnakh
Guards of the Citadel
Haldir
Hama
Ithilien Rangers
Legolas
Lothlorien Archers
Lothlorien Warriors
Lurtz
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Mordor Orcs
Olog-hai
Peregrin Took
Riders of Rohan
Ringwraith of Mordor
Rohirrim Militia
Samwise Gamgee
Saruman the White
Theoden
Treebeard
Ugluk
Uruk-hai Crossbows
Uruk-hai Warriors
Witch-king of Angmar

MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS:

Ah Jong
Cpl. Chuck Leeds
Darth Vader
Deputron
Emmet
Gilden Stormstone
Gilden Stormstone (unmounted)
Imperial Navy Trooper
Imperial Officers
Nordlung
Opinicus
Predator
Sheriff Not-a-Robot
Stormtroopers
Tha'alab the Darklord
Xenomorph Hunters
Xenomorph Queen
Yoggo





I tried to make Aragorn the kind of hero that could stand up to common squads, partially because in the books and movies the Fellowship are constantly fighting against deparate odds and superior numbers, and partially because as someone who dislikes excessive squadscape I like to design heroes who can actually hold their own against an equivalent amount of squaddies. Thus I came up with his King of Men ability, which can also be used to protect vulnerable Hobbits, as long as they stay close to him. Heroic Surge was inspired by the feat in WotC's Star Wars D20 RPG, as well as the fact that some people use Alastair MacDirk as a stand in for Aragorn.




The One Ring was a tough power to design. I wanted a power that was thematically accurate in that it made Frodo invisible, but I also wanted it to pack an offensive punch so that it would be tempting for a player to use. Of course, the consequences for using the Ring should be pretty serious, so I figured that giving your opponent a permanent +1 attack glyph (representing the strengthening of evil when the Ringbearer falls) fit the bill.




My first attempt at a Nazgul was pretty difficult, too. The Nazgul are supposed to be Sauron's greatest servants, so they should be formidable, but in the books and movies they are also shown to be far from unstoppable. After all, Aragorn manages to drive off five of them at Weathertop. In the end, I decided that the Nazgul were about as powerful as a solid hero like Aragorn (or other members of the Fellowship) but not on the level of, say, a Heroscape dragon.





With Lurtz, I again wanted a multi-attack option to deal with squads, but I didn't want to simply give him Double Attack like Krug, so I came up with something that would force the player to make a decision each time Lurtz attacked. The Foul Strike Special Attack was inspired by the scene in the movie in which Lurtz shoots Boromir while Boromir is fighting off Lurtz's troops.

[nyys]

I have to learn how to make nice cards like this. I tried to use whitestuff's GIMP tutorial, but either I'm awful at following directions or I'm too impatient (probably both). What software to you use Sherman?

[Sherman Davies]

I use GIMP and whitestuff's tutorial. I had little experience with photo manipulation programs until I started making Heroscape customs - the closest thing I had was QuarkXpress back when I worked at a small newspaper. GIMP wasn't too hard to learn, thanks to whitestuff's excellent tutorial - it took me the better part of 5 hours, but I managed it, and I'm one of the more computer-illiterate people I know. (My friends refer to me as their token Luddite.) Of course, I probably couldn't use GIMP for much more than making Heroscape customs right now, but for now that's all I need it for.

[Eirikr]

Awesome buy! Looks really cool.
I've only looked closely at Aragorn.
As it is worded, 'King of Men' gives a bonus to all adjacent figures, friend or foe.
Heroic Serge is huge. 2 turns for 1 activation at no cost. Wow. Cool idea.
Coupled with those stats and his other powers I think he might be price just right, if not a little low. Have you play tested these much yet?

[Eirikr]

The One Ring is really neat. I think it is a great representation of the ring's power expressed through heroScape mechanics. Super cool in a campaign where Frodo is a designated target and a nearly unstoppable endgame figure in any army. Unless of course you toss a bad d20. Keeping track of each usage for the whole game could get potentially cumbersome by heroScape standards.

[Eirikr]

Khamul is pretty awesome.
Aura of Terror effects all figures within 2 spaces of the nazgul, including your own. was this intentional? What if you changed it to;
Nazgul, Robots, figures with the fearless personality, and any figures you control that follow Utgar...
A little more complex but not in this context I don't think.
In any case I really like this one too. Both the powers are bang on thematically and are very playable.

[Eirikr]

Lurtz is also very well designed in my opinion.
I think you need to work on the wording of Ferocity. As it is worded it only gives you a maximum of 2 attacks but I don't get the impression that was your intention.
Perhaps;
after completing a regular attack, Lurtz may attack again. Remove 2 attack dice for each attack after the first.
I don't know. That's a tricky one.
All in all you have created a bunch of really fun, thematically relevant, playable, and potentially competitive powers and some well designed custom figures. I'm really curious how they present themselves in play testing. I think your point costs are all pretty good but these are really unique so it is hard to say.
Great work.

[Sherman Davies]

Thanks for all the feedback, Eirikr!

Originally Posted by Eirikr

As it is worded, 'King of Men' gives a bonus to all adjacent figures, friend or foe.

Good catch, I'll fix that as soon as I get the chance.

Originally Posted by Eirikr

The One Ring is really neat. Unless of course you toss a bad d20. Keeping track of each usage for the whole game could get potentially cumbersome by heroScape standards.

Yeah, I considered using markers for it, but the wording for markers gets a little wordy sometimes. I just decided, the heck with it, I can use a pencil and paper on this one.

Originally Posted by Eirikr

Khamul is pretty awesome.
Aura of Terror effects all figures within 2 spaces of the nazgul, including your own. was this intentional?

Yup, orcs are terrified of Nazgul too.

Originally Posted by Eirikr

Lurtz is also very well designed in my opinion.
I think you need to work on the wording of Ferocity. As it is worded it only gives you a maximum of 2 attacks but I don't get the impression that was your intention.

Actually, that was exactly my intention, so I'm glad the wording makes it seem that way. Thanks again!

[Eirikr]

Originally Posted by Sherman Davies

Actually, that was exactly my intention, so I'm glad the wording makes it seem that way. Thanks again!

Okay, so does that mean he can either attack once for 5 or twice for 3?

[Sherman Davies]

Originally Posted by Eirikr

Okay, so does that mean he can either attack once for 5 or twice for 3?

You got it.

[Melwing17]

These are flippin' awesome and a half. I especially love Lurtz. Brilliant work.

[nyys]

Originally Posted by Sherman Davies

I use GIMP and whitestuff's tutorial. I had little experience with photo manipulation programs until I started making Heroscape customs - the closest thing I had was QuarkXpress back when I worked at a small newspaper. GIMP wasn't too hard to learn, thanks to whitestuff's excellent tutorial - it took me the better part of 5 hours, but I managed it, and I'm one of the more computer-illiterate people I know. (My friends refer to me as their token Luddite.) Of course, I probably couldn't use GIMP for much more than making Heroscape customs right now, but for now that's all I need it for.

Figures, and here I though I would get the easy way out. Guess I have to sit down with the program again and take my time.