Angus McBride

At long last, the post on my second-favourite FRPG artist of all time: Angus McBride!

(A brief recap of the artists covered hitherto: number five is Russ Nicholson; number four is Peter Fenlon; and number three is the Erol Otus.)

I know McBride’s work primarily from the covers he created for ICE’s line of Middle-earth products (the core rulebook and many campaign modules), as well as ICE’s core Rolemaster rulebooks. Since I was an avid player of MERP (‘Middle-earth Roleplaying’) throughout most of the 1980s, many of my books were graced with McBride’s work.

Here are some of my favourite McBride pictures from his work for ICE:

(Lady Galadriel aiding a wounded Elf of Lothlórien)

(Saruman gazing into the Palantír of Isengard. What could possibly go wrong?)

(Nazgûl riding as close as they can to Rivendell)

(Two Riders of Rohan making short work of some orcs)

(This Rohir, though, looks to be no match for this Mewlip!)

(Éowyn confronts the Witch-King over the body of King Théoden)

(A confrontation between a corsair of Umbar and a soldier of Gondor)

(Gandalf keeps the Witch-King at bay at the gates to Minas Tirith)

(The cover of the second edition of MERP, displaying Aragorn driving away the Nazgûl on Weathertop)

(And last, but not least, Smaug the Golden!)

Sadly, McBride passed away in 2007. I am very grateful for his legacy of wondrous work. In my mind’s eye, at least, Middle-earth will always look the way that McBride depicted it!