The Hobbit on the cheap: the start

Impressed by the boxed set of Games Workshop and the excellent fantasy setting Tolkien created by writing "The Hobbit" I decided to embark upon a great new project which will hopefully become an alternative to the way too expensive Games Workshop Boxed sets which seems to retail for around £75.00 or €100!

Before I start another yet unguided project I decided to keep track of the progress by making a series of postings about the creation of the project of which this post will be the beginning of a rather unexpected journey into the world of Tolkien and the Quest for the Lonely Mountain.

The needed miniatures

For the start of this project I need at least the group of 13 dwarves, Bilbo, Gandalf the grey and a nice horde of trolls and goblins. Instead of buying the ready made Games Workshop box I decided to use some of the miniatures I had already in my collection.

So instead of the new pale mutated goblins I decided to use the older goblins that were released ages ago at much cheaper prices when the battlegames series hit the local newspaper shops containing 12 goblins for only €2,00! Not aware of the massive increase in prices I only bought one package of these but a while ago I managed to buy a box of 24 goblins at a nice bargain price so the goblin horde was sorted and is currently awaiting a chaos black basecoat! All I need are some more characters to represent captains, the king and some fierce cave trolls to strengthen their ranks.

For the 13 dwarves of which I just can remember all of the almost identical names. I decided to use the dwarf rangers as they look the deal and are much cheaper when they can be bought second hand from the internet or if lucky in some bargain section of a modelling shop. I haven't managed to secure these but I'm waiting to find the right moment and offer. So if you have some please contact me through this blog.

For Bilbo I will use my old Frodo model which has been waiting in my lead mountain for ages now. I know he isn't an exact match of Bilbo but he will do and was already available. The only minor issues are the ring and his sword sting that were only discovered later in his quest but that isn't an issue as it's hardly noticable on the model. A,other model I have just ordered in a nice stout pony as they companion relied on these beasts of burden to carry all of their needed supplies for this perilious quest to Smaug.

Gandalf and some other characters such as Bilbo and the three trolls will be sourced somewhere on the internet using the cheapest options I can find while the goblin town will be constructed out of bamboo skewers and craftsticks!