Missed Christmas shipping? Our stores are still open!

By now many of you will have seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in the cinema (several times in some cases) and be itching to get your hands on the Escape from Goblin Town boxed game to recreate the adventure yourself. I know more than a few eager hobbyists who have eyed up the large, heavy box under the Christmas tree and given it a bit of a shake to see if it makes that familiar plastic-sprue-being-shaken-around noise. Don't worry, you've only got five days to go before your journey into Middle-earth begins.

Of course, some of you have already started work on your copy of Escape from Goblin Town, including Gareth Etherington, who sent us a picture of his painted Bilbo Baggins miniature last week. Well now he's sent us a picture of his recently finished Goblin Town, which he painted using the Paint Splatter guide in December's issue of White Dwarf. The scattered bones and vibrant patches of discarded meat give the board a very disturbing quality that closely resembles the feel of the movie.

Gareth's favourite part of the scenery is the Goblin King's throne, complete with "dung bucket", as he put it. He even took a few pictures of Gandalf the Grey and Bilbo Baggins in the dark to set the mood for the gloomy depths of the Misty Mountains.

Lars Schietzel and his team at the Games Workshop Berlin 2 Hobby Centre have also been hard at work painting up the new miniatures from the set so that they can show everyone that comes into the store how the game works. The Goblins were painted using the stage-by-stage guide from White Dwarf, while Thorin's Company was painted using The Escape from Goblin Town digital painting guide. If you haven't played the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Strategy Battle Game or held the miniatures in your hands, then make sure you head in to your local Games Workshop Hobby Centre and check them out in person - it's certainly worth the journey (expected or otherwise).