I finally found a box of figures that I had been looking for ever since “stuff” went into storage. These have finally been painted. They are from a long gone Adelaide miniatures company, cannot remember their name,who made a very large range of fantasy and sci-fi type figures.

I was very impressed with their quality and still have a lot of the dwarf slayers. Unfortunately there excellent sci-fi marine figures fell foul of a certain English miniatures company, and not being able to afford to defend the lawsuits had to close their doors. It was a very sad day for Australian gamers.

Ents, also known as Onodrim (Tree-host) by the Elves, were a very old race of Middle-earth. They were apparently created at the behest of Yavanna after she learned of Aulë’s children, the Dwarves, knowing that they would want to fell trees.

Becoming “shepherds” of the trees, they protected certain forests from Orcs and other perils. The Elves had tales of teaching the trees and Ents to talk: although the Ents were sapient beings at the time, they did not know how to speak until the Elves taught them.

Treebeard spoke of the Elves “curing the Ents of their dumbness”, an unforgettable gift. They were the second of the Free Peoples of the World.

I really like these “chunky” miniatures that are simple enough for gaming but clearly depict what they are.