Cult of the Leering Lune- Night Goblins month 2

First things first... I realised looking at my Blogger reading list that Grinning Loon has been claimed by Dave Powell for his excellent Grinning Loon Project, so in deference to his claim I have adjusted the name of my goblin clan. I originally wanted to use Grimacing or Leering but they didn't seem to have quite as satisfying a ring as Grinning for this purpose. Leering Visage was what I was initially going to go with, but it felt a bit too erudite for mere goblins. Anyway, the alliterative Leering Lune (with Lune suggesting crescent-shaped rather than mad, but both moon references) will do. It also lets me step aside from clan so as not to risk any supposed links with their pointy white-ish hoods and robes...

Month 2 of the Tale of 4th Gamers challenge and the purpose of this month was to make the army 'legal' according to the 4th edition lists. I did the points calculations a the end of the last post if you're interested. That meant another big block of goblins, this time with hand weapons and shields, their requisite fanatics and a character model just to keep things interesting.

Second attempt at a banner printed onto fabric from a design in Forces of Fantasy. Ok, but still not happy with the distressing. It looks too dabbed on and not natural enough. Will revisit after I have practiced some more!

The champion is a regular goblin, but his pointy helmet spike means he doesn't look out of place. I probably ought to have put him in my unit of goblins with pointy head spikes... but maybe it's better he stands out. The musician I realised when I started painting is the same model as in the first unit. I probably should have done some conversion work on him to make him a bit different.

Middle finger gobbo is, of course, the best of the night goblin models. A unit of thirty of him would be nice... but he is also the hardest to get hold of. Probably because everyone is hanging on to theirs! I swapped the middle guy's axe for a big hammer so he can sit in the front rank and stomp elves whenever he gets the chance. Actually, I think this may be my favourite night goblin sculpt, the mischievous grinning expression is perfectly goblin. The flail goblin may be my least favourite of all the goblin sculpts, I'm not keen on the shorter robe. I think it was a mistake to highlight this by painting them with brightly-coloured shoes but I'm not going back now and painting their socks brown.

More weapon swaps for the same of variation and some bending of wrists. As it's a mixed unit and not a monopose one I want to avoid ranks of the same figure.

I will hold my hands up to a bunch of these shields being resin casts from a simple mould of the originals. Unfortunately I didn't have enough of the plastic ones in my bits box and finding bulk lots of just this shield design doesn't seem likely. I'm not totally sold on the grey metal that I have give them. It's nice and muted but quite similar to the look of the weapons in my Skaven force and I feel like the goblins should have more rusted, weathered implements. I have some rust effects and weathering powders to play with so these may get used in the future... but I don't want to duplicate the rusted effects of my Undead!

The little dudes creeping into the middle of the back ranks of this unit are Goblin Hood models (available from CP Models I believe, though I bought these from Macrocosm) placed to bulk out the numbers. I had to cut their legs off, putty long robes onto them and extend their hoods to make them pointy but having Kev Adams faces they don't look too out of place.

As you can see the Goblin Hood models are still taller and less hunched than the actual night goblins. Can't really do much about that short of basically rebuilding the models. They're ok though, it means their heads can be seen above the ranks in front and I don't expect they will be on the table for very long...

Of course every unit of night gobbos needs to have its fanatics. I wanted to get as many different fanatic models into the force as possible as they are all great. These are some C27 pre-slotta ones. Their hoods kepe them blending in nicely. I did have to make a decision as to what colour goblin hair should be. Purple and bright green crossed my mind, but I think the contrasting orange sets it off nicely and keeps the model unified with his unit.

I had to trim the metal base on the hairy goblin to fit him on his round base. This left the ball and chain exposed and, naturally enough, it has already snapped once. Soft lead and all that. I am hoping the pin, superglue and green stuff will keep it attached. The third Compendium calls two of these guys Agrat and Zitty and lists them as Perry sculpts. The sulky chap that looks the most night goblin doesn't seem to have been included in the lineup after the second Compendium but I assume he's also the work of the Perrys.

From some things much older than the rest of the unit to something newer. The goblins from 5th edition onwards (after Kev left GW) take a radical shift in aesthetic to one I'm not keen on, with the exception of this guy. Since he appeared as Oddgit the shaman in the Idol of Gork campaign and again on the cover of the 6th edition Ravening Hordes I have been a fan. He's got just enough continuity with the previous generation of goblins and as a special character some distinguishing features aren't too big a deal. I've since decided to give all my goblin shamans (yes, lots of them!) familiars so he'll be getting his next month.

Lastly, here's a preview of what's coming for October. I finally managed to get a Kev 'Ed done at BOYL! Well, actually once again I got my model in late and it was bumped down the queue, but Kev was very kind and said he'd take it away to do, then ended up staying late at Foundry and doing it there so Diane sent it through the post to me and it arrived a couple of weeks ago. Champion for the next unit.

 

A Barbarian with a Brawdsward!

Some years ago a set of potentially 'first iteration' Heroquest Heroes came to light. Since then a number of these have appeared in various collections and eBay shops. Make of it what you will... Painted versions of these that clearly date to the same era as the more famous Heroquest prototypes can be seen in the Foundry cabinets. Being not that interested in them I didn't take a proper photo but you can see this barbarian below the AHQ Heroes in this picture.

Of course the barbarian I'm really interested in is the proper one shown below. However two points- 1) He's pretty much the same model (I have spent a while in front of the Foundry cabinet comparing them) with the only real differences being the sword (turned 90 degrees and with a different hilt) and the fur on the boots. 2) The 1st iteration barbarian is, as I have said, seen infrequently for sale whereas the actual barbarian model never comes up. For this reason the last time I saw a 1st iteration barbarian for sale I took the plunge, intending to do some conversion work.

Now if this was a truly rare figure I would feel very bad about cutting him up and gumming his legs up with putty, but as I have hinted I don't believe all these 1st iteration barbarians are truly vintage castings. Whether they're from the original mould or not I honestly couldn't say, not being able to compare them side by side with the one in the cabinet. It was a pretty simple matter to cut off the sword, turn the blade and resculpt the hilt. I added fur to the boots and bulked up the bracelet a little with green stuff. Voila, a passable proper barbarian prototype. I'm not so keen on my paintjob unfortunately. One of those cases where I think I got the wrong colour from step one and the more I tried to correct with washes and overcoats the more contrasty it got. Really I should strip him and start again, but not right now. Maybe something for the future.

 

Exiles of the Green Casket

This army started some while back (5 or 6 years ago actually) when I had the chance to pick up a bulk lot of skaven at a good price and thought they'd complement the horde of AHQ plastics I was then painting. Unfortunately most of the lot was the Colin Dixon sculpts, not the best skaven which are, as everyone knows, the Mordheim plasti.... only joking, the Jes Goodwin originals. Nevertheless they're nice models if chunkier and less gribbly ratty than their elder cousins. I painted most of the force for a Tale of Four Gamers challenge and finished it last weekend as the final month of the Odds and Sods challenge, another army in the bag!

Like many I expect, my interest in a skaven army came from seeing the pictures of Andy Chambers' grand host. I remember giving myself eye strain staring at those WD pics and trying to make out what individual models were there and how they were actually painted. The whole was a glorious mass of texture and desaturated colour totally suited to the ratman swarm, but impossible to tell where one model ended and the next began. A while back the man himself posted new pictures of the army against clean backgrounds so you could see better what was going on and I will confess to being a bit disappointed. They didn't seem to have the character I remembered. I guess studio lighting and the limits of early 90s photography and print technology did a lot to contribute to my overall impression of the army. Nevertheless I have tried to incorporate a lot of Andy's elements into this force- the body markings, muted palette, emphasis on overall army appearance rather than individual models etc.

Clanrats ought to be the core of any skaven army. Mine are the AHQ plastics (which also make up a lot of Andy Chambers' units, mixed in with the metals). Great models in my opinion but they have one flaw- ranking up! I have just about managed it on 20mm bases by careful staggering, making putty rocks to raise up the front foot of many of them and having the back feet of the back ranks overhanging the bases a little. At some point I'd quite like to add another unit of the 4th ed plastics which I also have a fondness for, but I'll wait until the prices drop again for that! There's a sneaky assassin here too, a Heartbreaker model I believe. Painted in dark green, he's obviously been listening to Lord Vetinari's advice.

More plastics for the obligatory Skavenslaves regiment. This time the smaller, finer-featured Fantasy Regiments skaven. Another set of models I remember fondly from my youth. Mixed amongst them are some of my own Gnawlochs from The Woods line which were intended to fit alongside the Jes Goodwin ones for size. Oh, and an actual Jes Goodwin Skavenslave, one of not nearly enough produced!

Gnawdoom leading the Plague Monks. He's one of my favourite ever skaven models and a central character in the army since the vague fluff I have for them has them exiled from polite skaven society for failing to retrieve the Black Ark from Kemler at the battle of La Maisontaal. My banner images and quotes (though they're hard to read in the photos) are taken from the Deptford Mice series by Robin Jarvis. Some of the most disturbing childrens' books available, they, alongside Redwall, were particular favourites of mine in my early teens and have left a lasting impression. I recently found out that Jarvis was also a modelmaker, I wonder if he'd be up for a range of Deptford miniatures... 

Globardiers with what I believe the cool kids these days are calling OSL. Pretty quick paint jobs, essentially just a zenithal highlight (another cool kid term for something we've been doing for decades) with some colour washing and a few highlights. Don't get me started on 'Slap Chop', it's a dodgy American meat restaurant as far as I am concerned.

The chunky Jezzails. Sniping is such a skaven thing to do.

The smaller unit of Strom Vermin (I prefer the German Sturmratten!) mixes in some Grenadier ratmen and a couple of Jes Goodwin sculpts. They're lead by another White Seer. Apparently in the official fluff the White Seer is less powerful than the Grey Seer but ever since I read of them in the Marvel Heroquest Special the albino rats have been the ultimate skaven wizards in my mind.

Warpfire Throwers can be attached to units of Storm Vermin to provide support so I have one for each. The original (and still best) models before they got ridiculously oversized. These feel more like support weapons.

A second, larger unit of Storm Vermin, this time lead by an albino warlord.

These more modern Warpfire Throwers I am fielding by themselves as a self contained war machine. With guns that big I don't imagine they want to be moving around much! Now I think about it perhaps I ought to make them some little stands to save their backs... 

Packmasters from a variety of sources with their little pets. Some Citadel giant rats but mostly the excellent Ral Partha Europe giant rats. There are also a handful of Chariot Miniatures 15mm giant wolves in there, which look like weasels to me, including a sneaky snotling along for the ride! 

The best rat ogres. Unfortunately both the same sculpt, but one had a damaged hand so the addition of a nasty modern ork fist and axe makes a nice variation.

Lastly, this is the piece I was waiting to finish- the Screaming Bell. Several years back Mike from Broadswords and Beasts gifted me this lovely Valley of the Four Winds Great Bell as I mentioned I was thinking that would make a nice old school alternative to the 90s model. I wanted a Screaming Bell in the force as the Andy Chambers scratch-built prototype I have loved since I saw it in WD. That one was pulled by the 2nd edition Blood Bowl skaven and I wanted to do the same thing, but the prices are silly so when I was asked to sculpt some Blood Bowl type figures for Macrocosm I said could I do a ratman team and have some of the castings. They arrived last week and I was able to finish up the project. 

Whilst I was sculpting them I was thinking about where I could put chains. The length attached to the bell end at the base and are aligned to the ends of the ones on the model so they can be removed and replaced without disturbing the delicate links. Apart from the Plague Monk, the rest of the crew are Heartbreaker (except the musician which I am told is Harlequin) and came in another eBay lot. You can't see easily but the pennants read 'Peel', a dual reference to the bell itself but also to the word as extensively used in the Deptford Mice series meaning 'Flay'. Yup, skinned (alive) rodents are an offering to several dark gods in this quaint kids' series!

 The only thing missing I'd still like to add to this model are the wheels on either end of the bell shaft, the means by which it can be swung. On Andy Chambers' model these are plastic wheels from the skeleton chariot, sadly I have none spare and can't bare to deprive a complete chariot of some essential components but if you have any surplus to requirements do let me know!

Grinning Loon Clan- Night Goblins month1

 

I'm taking part in another army painting challenge! Yep, the Odds and Sods challenge is finished and, even better, I am within a gnat's whisker of completing all the 'started' armies on my shelves. That means I can reward myself by starting on the Night Goblin horde I have been slowly amassing over the last couple of years. Really looking forward to getting going on these!

This year's challenge is the 'Tale of 4th Gamers' organised by Dave/Snickit on the 4th Ed Warhammer Facebook group. The idea is to spend a certain amount of 'gold coins' (imaginary ones) per month, making sure after the first month that the army is a 'legal' 4th edition one. I'm going to be playing the legality a bit fast and loose I think as Night Goblins themselves are extremely cheap... but it's a good basis to use to paint the army. The first month is the general so I thought I would go all out early and stick Skarsnik (not actually Skarsnik in the list) on the best wyvern ever.

A Night Goblin warboss isn't a terribly terrifying prospect, not even Skarsnik himself. I wanted him to be a big centrepiece for the army (and eat up a bunch of points since goblins are dirt cheap and I do want this army to rival my undead one in size), enter the mighty wyvern! I think I'm right in saying this is a Nick Bibby sculpt? It has that smack of real-life animal to it which is a sign of the master's work.

My wyvern was short of his horns so I had to make some new ones. Not too bad, but I may swap them out for some actual ones if I can find them. The re-use of components in these kits is such that they are the same horns as the Bibby Khazad Dum Balrog. I have that Balrog... also missing his horns! On that note though, the wings have also been used in at least three other places I know of, can you name them all? I decided his fangs weren't horrifying enough so I puttied some new, bigger ones for him.

I figured the whole 'drive me closer, I want to hit them with my sword' thing applied equally to this model and swapped out Skarsnik's sword for a mighty bow. He might not ever hit anything with it but at least he can have a go! I removed his trident prongs to give him more of a lance, probably unnecessarily but I wanted to make it clear he isn't actually Skarsnik.

The prevalent imagery of the force I wanted to be the classic, grinning face. I have therefore taken every opportunity to putty faces on his bow and saddle and paint one on his shield. In various forms this leering countenance will be present across every unit and character model in the army.

From the second month of the challenge onwards the force is expected to be 'legal' in 4th edition list terms. That means painting a whole lotta gobbos to balance out a boss on a wyvern! Yes, I do have trolls, war machines, doom divers etc. to make up points as well, but there's nothing quite like seeing a sea of goblins going to war! To get ahead of the game a bit I thought I would go for the first unit of 30 in the first month. 

For the banners I am trying a tip from Ryan (ManicMan on the forum) about printing onto fabric using freezer paper. I have printed out a bunch of the banner and shield designs from Forces of Fantasy which are going to form the basis of the banners. This one isn't quite finished here, it needs a bunch more distressing adding to it, but you get the idea. 

Part of the appeal of a goblin army is having enough random elements in there that any battlefield successes or failures can't be laid at the door of my bad generalship. If you're going to play a game that's fundamentally tied to throwing buckets of dice why not go all out? That means Squig Hoppers, Pump Wagons, Trolls, Doom Divers... and, of course, as many Fanatics as I can put in! Three per unit of Night Goblins is the limit in 4th so here are the three for this unit.

As I expect the goblins to be removed from the battlefield in large numbers (routing if nothing else!) I figured it made sense to mount them on unit bases. Thanks to Bil Curd for the big bag of unit bases! It also gives me the opportunity to stick toadstools on them... I might have to go all out on some later on and do Kev Adams style putty plants etc.

I have deliberated over the painting of these goblins for a long time, all whilst painting up my odds and sods last year. I wanted something that would be quite quick given how many of them I would need, but that would allow me to show appreciation for the quality of sculpts and not rush them. I settled early on light coloured robes as black feels either too stark/cartoonish or would take too long to shade and highlight appropriately. These dirty cream robes have the benefit of only needing a base coat (I sprayed them with Montana Elm spray paint, giving and undercoat and base coat in one) and wash with Army Painter Soft Tone to look suitably detailed and grimy. I did a second wash in the darkest recesses and a few spot highlights on important (front rank) models. As that's most of the model done I could then spend more time getting the skin as I wanted it. Hopefully the pale robes aren't so pale they look like Klan...

This unit all have the metal leering face shields GW produced. I don't have enough of them for the full army but have been slowly acquiring them alongside the goblins themselves to have enough to do the monopose unit of spear gobbos I wanted to see most of all. I did consider mixing in the second sculpt in this pose (head variant) but in the end decided that a uniform unit of the same model was what I wanted to see. The other units will be more mixed.

29 Night Goblins with spears and shields, including command and 3 Fanatics is 198.5pts. Their boss is 17pts. The Night Goblin Warboss with lance, bow and shield on wyvern is 234pts. That means so far 251pts of characters and 198.5pts of troops (without magic items). Hopefully my September submission can comprise of another unit of 30 goblins with shields (93pts) and fanatics (90pts) and that should give me a force that is legal and has room for another boss (16pts) and shaman champion (83pts)- 350pts characters, 381.5pts troops, 731.5pts total... almost a quarter of the way to a full 3000pt force! I think I may be going slightly over 3000pts somehow!