Thursday 5 January 2023

From Codsticker: Lord of The Rings- Variags of Khand (50pts)

In my continuing quest to tackle that Lonely Mountain of unpainted lead and plastic I call my LotR Collection, I have decided to go after a range that does not get much love from either GW or Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game players: Khand. 


It's a very small part of my collection consisting of two of the 10 man infantry boxes (one of which is the subject of this entry), 12 cavalry and 4 chariots (including a King). The infantry box contains 6 warriors with axes, 3 with bows and this fella who is a captain of some sort:


I must admit that when I read the books as a kid I did not envision the Variags of Khand to look so far eastern. In fact GW has combined the Wainriders (which I thought were more like Easterlings) with the axe wielding Variags which I imagined to be more like hairy barbarians. 


Having said that, I quite like the mish mash of medieval east Asian "aesthetic"; take 3 parts Joseon Korea, 1 part Samurai, 1 part early medieval Chinese and 1 part 13thC Mongolia and mix thoroughly. Unfortunately, not GW's best sculpts; parts are a bit messy, some of the faces are just a smidge misshapen. On one figure you can have one hand perfectly realised and the other a total afterthought.


If I recall correctly, 28mm figures are worth 5 points for a total of 50 pts for this entry.
For me, this challenge will be almost a repeat of the last challenge, focusing on LoTR figures, Dark Ages and ECW but with a small excursion into some 15mm stuff and, possibly, some 40k.

From TeemuL: It is always nice to see more Lotr goodness. Yes, Khand is not that popular I guess and I agree they look a bit more eastern than I thought they would. GW standard on Lotr minis is quite flexible, there are some masterpieces (even in plastic one pieces) and then there are some blobs, which are very difficult to paint, when you don't have any idea what the details are supposed to be. Anyway, once properly painted (like here) they look good on the table. Your memory serves you right, 50 points it is and welcome on board!

16 comments:

  1. Great job on these. That's a faction I don't have in my collection.

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  2. Excellent work, especially the nice clean work on the banners and colour choices.

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  3. They look great! I do like the lotr sculpts

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  4. Really cool, some awesome LOTR stuff. Well done.

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  5. Lovely stuff, the blue/black with red is very fetching.

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  6. Very nice looking models. I honestly don't really remember them from the movies, the Haradrim and their Mumakil left a much stronger impression. Still, the Variags have their own unique style and will look great on the table.

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  7. Ah, but these are nice! I have never seen these models before, you’ve done a great job with them.

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  8. Great work. Always amazed at the different figure ranges GW supplies for LOTR.

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  9. Nice work, and I like your desert setting!

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  10. Don't remember these at all but they certainly look good!
    Best Iain

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  11. Very cool, and the captain with the axe looks the business!

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  12. Really nice and really set off nicely by the desert terrain

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  13. You've done these proud - looking forward to seeing what else comes off the Lonely Mountain.

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  14. Just wonderful, from the basing to the beautiful back banners. More please!

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