Forth Eorlingas! These eight riders of Rohan are the first of many cavalry models I hope to paint up. I have always had a strangely irrational aversion to painting horses, so this time I set about devising a quick and painless method. I basically stuck with a base coat and wash, thinking it would look awful on the big areas of horse flesh, but it turned out quite reasonably. I added a few highlights and maybe a little stippling on the extra messy bits, but kept it minimal. For the riders I followed the recipe I had already devised when painting the
foot troops. With these two short cuts, I was able to complete them in a decent time span.
Fans of the range will note that one of the riders is a metal figure, a Rohan royal guard - he's the one with the tallest spear and most ornate helmet. I have a couple more of these, though they are all single pose and have the same shield, so they might not look that good in one regiment. A few conversions may be called for to build a distinct royal contingent.
An interesting little factoid for you. When I was researching horse colours, I looked at my copy of The Two Towers to see if I could pick up any useful tips. The riders of Rohan are described as carrying spears of ash, with burnished (highly polished) coats of mail, riding horses with grey coats. That description does not really match the more grungy look they have in the film, but to me it sounded more elf like - pale horses and shiney armour always seems to suggest elves to my mind. Anyway, if I had followed that colour scheme, the regiment would look more like this. It certainly makes a difference when the horses have different coats.
These 8 riders and previously painted 16 foot troops gives me enough troops to fight small skirmishes using the LotR strategy battle rules. In Saga terms I could just about muster 4 points if I declared the cavalry to be elite units. In War of the Ring the two foot units are one company each, while the cavalry are a massive four companies. In the coming weeks I would like to add more cavalry, and a character or two to lead them into battle. Or I might just get distracted and paint up my small contingent of Durin's folk.
