For many, events are the crowning jewel of their hobby year. Games will be played, memories made, and fun had, all while connecting with friends long held and newly met. For fans of the Middle-earth™ Strategy Battle Game, the annual Throne of Skulls event is regarded with particular fondness, with hobbyists often pushing the limits of their skill, building themed armies complete with display boards and, occasionally, accompanying costumes!
With the 2025 event fast approaching, we gathered a fellowship of hobbyists from around the Design Studio to figure out their plans for the event.
Danny: I first started on my Usurpers of Edoras army for the beginning of the new edition and I regret to say it has largely sat dormant since then. When signing up to play in this year’s Throne of Skulls, I was presented with an opportunity to skip the last-minute panic of painting a full army and instead expand an existing force up to 1,000 points, leaving me some extra time to craft a display board for them.
At present, my army stands as it did at the release of the edition. Thankfully, when I painted it I was careful to note down each step of the process, ensuring any new additions will retain the unified look of the army. For the next step, I plan to do some small conversions of Hill Tribesmen to create some visually distinct Chieftains, and add in some Crebain for extra utility.
For a display board, I’ve been inspired by the terrain guides in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the RohirrimTM. My vision is a Hill Tribesmen encampment of tents and campfires, perhaps with a destroyed Rohan house or two if there’s time. Planning is all well and good of course, but I’d better start painting!
Lewis: Throne of Skulls is the highlight of my gaming year for Middle-earth – and 1,000 points means you can bring ALL the toys! A huge part of my hobby is converting, and ever since I saw the new Realms of Men army list, I’ve been drawn to it like Pippin to a Palantír – it’s perfect for taking existing models and giving them a different look and feel!
I quickly came to the conclusion that I wanted to tell a story about Gondor with the army, as I love the aesthetic of both Minas Tirith and the Númenóreans. And that story is the start of the Third Age, as Gondor enters its era of prosperity following the War of the Last Alliance, expanding and building new outposts. This way, I can combine Númenórean and Gondor models, tied together with a new colour scheme and conversions.
For the Warriors of Minas Tirith, I used Númenórean heads and painted their armour a glossy black, conveying how their armour has developed from the style seen at the Last Alliance to the Gondor army of the later years.
Of course, the whole point of Realms of Men is to include everything, so I took a break from armour to paint a batch of Rangers of Gondor to scout the wilds around new land claimed by the kingdom. It also gave me the perfect idea for a display board – a Gondorian outpost by the river, receiving goods and building materials. It's an ambitious idea and I have very little time – sounds like a winning Throne of Skulls formula to me!
Tom: I’ll admit I’m not the most ambitious of painters so for Throne of Skulls I decided to go all in, envisioning grand plans of Easterlings marching through the streets of Dale during the War of the Ring. It was all going so well until the emergence of the great beast long foretold, the dreaded shadow of which hobbyists whisper… real life.
Sorry, got a bit carried away there. In short, with half the army built, I had to contend with major life events like the impending birth of a child and moving house, forcing me to pivot to a smaller project if I wanted something done in time!
Cue the Nazgûl of Dol Guldur for a Rise of the Necromancer army. They’re fantastic models that have been sitting in my collection for a while, waiting for a reason to paint them. Using all nine in a list means I can do 1,000 points with 11 models in total, allowing me to use my limited hobby time to get them ready for the tournament. For an alternative colour scheme, I went with Balthasar Gold for the metal and Khorne Red for the cloth, followed by an all-over wash of Agrax Earthshade.
As it stands, I’m happy with how they look. I went in with the goal of getting them tabletop ready, knowing I can use more advanced techniques later on when the demands of life are less intense! The most important thing is, with Sauron the Necromancer and the Keeper of the Dungeons completing the list, I’ve only got two models left to paint!
Ash: Middle-earth is about the conflict between Good and Evil, so I had to round out the two sides! Selecting an army was a case of digging through my collection of not-yet-started projects, which led me to the Arnor army I had waiting in boxes.
To start with I wanted to finish a single warband, settling on Aranarth as the leader, with some Rangers of Middle-earth and Warriors of Arnor following. For the colour scheme, I wanted to move away from the traditional green and eventually settled on red and cream that looks a little faded, reflecting the state of Arnor during its final years.
The same crumbling kingdom theme can be seen with the bases, which I put extra effort into. Broken masonry and dying plants really highlight the idea that the men of Arnor are fighting amongst the remnants of their once-great land. If I get round to building a display board, the bases will fit nicely with a similar landscape.
Well it’s safe to say our hobbyists are off to an exciting start! We’ll check back in with them next month to see how close they are to finishing or if they’re eyeing up that ‘2am the night before’ painting session!
