Thanks for watching! What was your first ever painted mini and how does it compare to how you paint now? Let me know in the comments!

Something so satisfying about this!

Its so refreshing to see a youtuber painting middle earth minis. I myself am trying to create gondolin Elves out of the warriors of the last alliance. I hope you paint more LOTR!

Definitely add the dweller in the dark to them! Still bummed we never saw it in the movies but hey it could be great with a balrog or a build up to one

I'm so jealous man, I wish I still had my old models! Looking smooth here 😎

Very nice. Always fun to see how far people have advanced in their painting skillz

Even though my first minis were Brotherhood forces from 1st ed Warzone, I've also started my proper adventure with miniature wargaming from this magazine (polish edition). Because my family was poor and it was late 90s/early 2000s Poland, every PLN counted and it was atractive to start with this bargain magazine. Turned out it was to expensive and my parents told me and my older brother, that they will not buy us this anymore, so we ended collecting on issue 21 (first batch of 12 men of Minas Tirith). Learned basics of painting. Over the years, I was going to hobby shops, always looking on the GW's and other minis, whishing to buy and paint some. Four years ago, when I've started to earn more money, finally moved out, from my parents, I've got enough space and income to restart this interest. I've bought three Warhammer Quest games (Silver Tower, Hamerhal and Blackstone Fortress), starter box for AoS 1st ed, start collecting for chaos space marines. I've also aquired a bunch of LotR minis from friends. Now I intend to revisit my LotR collection, to correct my errors, as I've just bought Balin's Tomb (finally getting cave trolls and missing 3 hobbits from fellowship). I've always liked LotR more than "proper" warhammer games as it is simplier and more intuitive gameplay with heroes on the board going as wild cards. Also it is cheapier, as you can just by a box of 24 warriors + a hero and you are practically set to go.

Nice one Benji! Thanks so much for coming on board with my project and helping me with a small army of Moria Goblins. Really appreciate it dude :)

Bloody hell lad, even 13-year-old you nailed the eyes. Looking sweet, so when are you doing the Balrog then?? :P

Nice work dude. I love how soooo many hobbyists got into the hobby the same way I did, with the LOTR part works magazines. The goblins look ace. I'm going to head over and watch Nat1's video now too :)

Such an inspiration.

Really tidy paint jobs for a first try! Both in terms of the placement of the colours and the coverage - they hold up much better than my first ones (some whfb 4th ed plastic orcs). So yeah - your old goblins hold up really well - I think you could play them alongside your new ones (which look stonking by the way!) and the difference in their paint jobs will help you remember which models belong to which warband! Did you end up recreating your banner conversion? I'd love to see an updated version of that.

I must have bought at least 6 of the first issue of that mag,should a great deal.Il have to dig out my old Lotrs minis over Christmas and have a look.

Nicely done, that cave troll looks rly good

Its about time they rebooted the battle games in middle earth magazines

Mate this is crazy these were my first ones too! The magazines! I couldn’t afford to keep buying them I only bought the first 3 haha

dude great video! love seeing lord of the rings minatures

A lot better than my first attempt! Love the Lotr models(I only paint I don't play)! Shame gw don't show the system more love. The new Amazon series I'm sure will force plenty of new releases

haha those goblins were my first minis too🤣

Looking good, nice work. I absolutely love my Moria army - it was the cave trolls that drew me to them in the first place. As for other monsters, the warg marauder conversion is a must for any Moria army - I used fell wargs because they look much better in my opinion, but you just need to stretch the legs of the goblins a bit and they fit right on. Don't forget to use magnets so they can be removed independently! I also have a few cool third party bat swarms which look great too - the monsters really add variety to a Moria army.

That’s funny ,I’ve got those mags in binders lol

Great video Ben!

Funny enough, I recently started collecting these miniatures! I wanted to start a wargame army for a while, but wasn't too keen on getting historical models like my brother. I have always been a huge fan of the movies (and later on the books) and my eyes fell on MESBG. 2nd hand I bought all the magazines and I fully agree with your statement. not only are they a great beginners guide to painting miniatures, but they gradually build up the skill level as well. For those that do not know: they actually teach you the basic techniques in those booklets. They got articles on mini-scenario's as well as terrain building and scenery for your wargames. What started with some magazines, has now ended with having two small armies of Isengard and Minas Tirith! P.S. And maybe soon 1 sprue of Moria goblins for my battle company as well ;)

Lovely job on those, the old ones weren't that terrible either.

This some wholesome, content man. Warm feels. And yeah, they all look stunning at the end!

Killer video my friend! Love seeing the growth from the start of the hobby to where you are now! I still can't paint eyes...and you could at 13...I hate you. ;) Your goblins and cave troll looked amazing in Michael's build, well done Benji!

This video makes me sad. That's on you Ben lol. I recently got back into the hobbie earlier this year and actually rummaged my storage for my old gear. My LOTR stuff, also the game I started out with, are gone. Lost the annals of time and probably someone with sticky fingers. All that was left was my 40k smurfs. You reminded me of this XD

Seeing my old minis still makes me laugh and when painting eyes is 'I must be better than 8 year old me, I must be better than 8 year me' 😂. Cool video dude, I have a bunch of these I need to paint soon so will doing something similar to what you did

Remember to like and comment to appease the almighty algorithm 👍🏼

When is the balrog video coming mate ? 😉

When's the next video due for upload? Hope all is well for u.