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Reading along with the Lord of the Rings: the Foreword
JRR Tolkien (1892-1973)If there was ever an author who wanted to disappear behind his books, that author was JRR Tolkien. If you read the Foreword to The Lord of the Rings, you can't miss his message....
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Reading along with the Lord of the Rings: the Prologue
On first glance, the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings seems like dry toast. Headings like "Concerning Pipe-weed" or "Of the Ordering of the Shire" do not seem calculated to inflame the passions. Even...
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Reading along with The Lord of the Rings: A Long-Expected Party
What makes The Lord of the Rings a fathomless book? Re-reading A Long-Expected Party today, my eye caught on a passage that I think I've previously overlooked -- a passage that captures something...
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Reading along with The Lord of the Rings: The Shadow of the Past
In Chapter 2 of The Fellowship of the Ring, we encounter two shadows of the past. Gandalf tells Frodo that Sauron "has arisen again" to menace Middle-earth. And Tolkien reveals to us that he is haunted...
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Mon Calamari Saboteurs: Conversions for Imperial Assault
As I feared, Fantasy Flight Games is releasing miniatures at a glacial pace for Imperial Assault, their Star Wars skirmish game. I am not by nature a patient man - just ask Mrs. Oldenhammer in...
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Reading along with the Lord of the Rings: Three is Company
In Chapter 3 of TheFellowship of the Ring, Frodo finally sets out on his quest. But in this Chapter and beyond, Tolkien shows us that this is not just a journey through space. It is also a journey...
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Reading along with the Lord of the Rings: A Short Cut to Mushrooms
Chapter 4 of The Fellowship of the RingDelay is one of the great themes in The Lord of the Rings. The forces of good are constantly struggling against the consequences of their own procrastination....
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Painted Talisman Timescape Miniatures
Behold! I just finished painting the complete set of Talisman Timescape miniatures, beautifully sculpted by Trish Morrison and released by Citadel in 1988.Talisman is a strange board game -- especially...
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Reading along with the Lord of the Rings: A Conspiracy Unmasked
Chapter 5 of The Fellowship of the RingIn A Conspiracy Unmasked Tolkien reveals that Frodo's friends have been watching his strange doings with the wizard Gandalf. Merry, Pippin, Fredgar and Samwise,...
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Painting Pain: Darth Vader without the helmet
It's amazing what you can do with an X-Acto Knife and an unshakable faith in the Dark Side of the Force. Here's my most recent miniature conversion for Imperial Assault, the Star Wars skirmish game...
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Reading along with the Lord of the Rings: The Old Forest
Chapter 6 of The Fellowship of the RingIn this Chapter, the intrepid hobbits wander into the magical Old Forest and find themselves bewildered, enchanted and entrapped. I don't so much have a...
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Reading along with the Lord of the Rings: In the House of Tom Bombadil
Chapter 7 of The Fellowship of the RingAfter being chased by Black Riders, lost in the Old Forest and molested by a malignant tree, the hobbits take a break. They spend this chapter singing, bathing...
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You are now a slimy, little TOAD
Here's the full set of Citadel's toad miniatures for Talisman (1st/2nd edition). Of all the cliches that populate Talisman, my favourite is being zapped into a toad. Getting turned into an amphibian is...
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Painted Miniatures for Star Wars - Twin Shadows
If I had a reason for living past the age of 40, I think that it's so that I could paint a miniature of Boba Fett. Surely I've been preparing my whole life for this moment. And well, now that the...
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The Complete Set of Talisman Miniatures
I'm adding a new feature to Oldenhammer in Toronto: the Oldenhammer Galleries. These are permanent pages (accessed through a sidebar) that set out a complete collection of fully painted miniatures. My...
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Reading along with the Lord of the Rings: Fog on the Barrow-Downs
Chapter 7 of The Fellowship of the RingIn this chapter, Frodo and the hobbits leave the hospitality of Tom Bombadil and Goldberry. Almost immediately, they get lost in the hills east of the Old Forest....
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Orctober 2015: Man O'War Orc Fleet
General Krapfang eyed the sea with a sour expression. "Gorblymee," he observed, "It shur looks wet." He stood on a low promontory, overlooking a long and desolate beach. Behind him, the remnants of his...
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Reading along with the Lord of the Rings: At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
Chapter 9 of The Fellowship of the RingOn an intercity bus ride a few nights ago, I woke from a sleep to overhear two strangers chatting in the dark about fantasy novels. I gathered one was a theology...
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Orctober: Bob Olley's (later) Giant Black Orcs
Squeaking in at the last minute is a final Orctober offering: three Giant Black Orcs by Bob Olley. Yes, that's right... they're not just Orcs, they're not just Giant Orcs... they're Giant Black Orcs....
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Star Wars: Hired Guns, Wookie Warriors and Stormtroopers, oh my!
Consider the Rodian. An alien in the classic form: green skin, pointed ears, antenna like sausage rolls. Maybe they are slow on the draw. Maybe they are not. In any case, I am glad that they are here....
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