
I put a lot of thought and internet time into imagining the Glaurung and how to
represent it on a table. I knew from the
start that I wanted an actual wargaming piece, something that could be played
with, not a model full of intricate detail. Perhaps the most practical solution
would have been to make something myself, but I didn't think my modelling skills were up to the challenge, and, frankly, I would rather spend the time painting
more miniatures. So, I had to look at ships that were commercially available.

Of course, the ship pictured here is obviously a merchant vessel
of some sort, whereas my Glaurung would be a warship. Generally, warships are
longer and narrower than merchant vessels. It seemed to me that a longer,
narrower version of the McBride ship would look something like a large Viking
longship. Lucky for me, the longship is probably the easiest naval vessel to
find for 28mm miniatures.
I looked at a lot of different manufacturers, but none of
them seem to have everything I wanted. I wanted a flat bottom, so it could rest
on the table. I wanted as few pieces as possible. I wanted the deck to be
generally flat and open so that miniatures could easily stand. Finally, I
wanted it to be large enough to be impressive and have plenty of room for a lot
of figures. I didn’t really expect the ship to hold all thirty of the Glaurung's
crew, but I at least wanted enough room for the ten heroes.
After several weeks of searching, I had almost given up. Then I saw the newest issue of Miniature Wargames magazine, which had a really nice article on playing the Viking Wars. This included lots of pictures, including a couple of a longships I had not previously seen, manufactured by Gripping Beast. I’ve ordered figures from Gripping Beast before, but had not thought to check if they had a Viking ship, and strangely it had never come up in any of my searches.
Anyway, yesterday being payday, I ordered one. Amazingly,
the ship arrived today, carefully packed. Most of the ship is one single piece of
resin. The dragonhead and tail, and a few other details come in metal (as does
a dozen or so rowers, which are of no particular use to me at the moment). It’s an
impressive piece.

So, the shipwrights still have a lot of work to do, but
Breged, Mandracoth, Valetha, and a few of the Guards of the Tower have come
to see how it’s going.
Fun concept! Looking forward to more on the voyage.
ReplyDeleteDavid S.