Old World Army Challenge Wrap-up; a 1000pts army of Forest Goblins!

Well here it is, the end of the Old World Army Challenge. When we decided to do the challenge, I really wanted to start a Goblin army, something that was a dream of mine in my youth, but the task was a daunting one, and made me hesitate. In the end though, the pull was too big, and I plunged! And I'm really happy I did! Now, let's get that Warhammer army pose picture out of the way, shall we ;-)

The look of content after a 6 month marathon

The Plan

My Orcs and Goblins unpainted collection was a hefty one, and here is a reminder of what it looked like 6 months ago (obviously, only a small part of that was painted!).

My original plan was the following :

• 19 Forest Goblins archers, including standard & musician : 63 pts
• 19 Forest Goblins archers, including standard & musician : 63 pts
• 30 Forest Goblins w 2 handed weapons, including standard & musician : 108.5 pts
• 9 spider riders, including standard & musician : 121 pts
• 2 Doom Divers : 200 pts
• 3 Ogres w light armour and 2 handed weapons : 132 pts
• Forest Goblin Shaman Champion on Giant Spider : 87 pts
• Forest Goblin Warlord : 50 pts
• Forest Goblin Big Boss : 33 pts
• Forest Goblin Big Boss : 33 pts
• Forest Goblin Big Boss on Giant Spider : 37pts

A tall task! For while I am a very organized person, especially when it comes to this hobby, I am also an incredibly slow painter, and also a perfectionist! 

The Result

Well, I'm happy to say I almost followed my plans, but for one unit, replacing one archer unit with fanatics. I can live with that! 

Noraz Stickblast regiment (19 Forest Goblins archers, including standard, musician and Big Boss Noraz Stickblast) : 99 pts

Ukag's Mercenaries (3 Ogres w light armour and 2 handed weapons): 132 pts

Kleznot's Forest Goblin Mob (29 Forest Goblins w 2 handed weapons, including standard & musician and Big Boss Kleznot : 141.5 pts)

3 Fanatics : 90pts

Stag's Spida Rida (9 spider riders, including musician and standard, equipped with lances, shields and bows and Stag, Big Boss on giant spider, equipped with shield) : 170pts

2 Doom Divers (200pts) 

Zrazoig, the almighty Shaman, and his trusted sacred spider, Fang the hairy (Forest Goblin Shaman on Gigantic Spider) : 128pts

Graaz the Savage (Forest Goblin Warlord) : 50 pts

Total : 1010.5pts

I like Forest Goblins, I like them a lot!

It's a great feeling to come up from this Challenge with a complete 1000pts force. It's based, I even did all the customized movement tray, so I can say this 1000pts is *completely* finished. Yeah! I'll admit there was a moment in the challenge when I told myself (and Laurie) that I had made a mistake by going with goblins! But in the end my pride, mostly, pushed me to finish!And now that it's over, it's probably one of the favourite wargame army I've painted; the 4th edition gobbos are such fantastic little figures.

Now I'm taking a well deserved break, and I hope to organize part II of the Challenge in 6 to 8 months!

Stag's Spida Rida (April entry in the OWAC)

Spiders so large they appear to be wearing the pelts of small mammals.

Excuse my language, but FUCK YEAH! Here's my last unit of Gobbos for the first edition of the OWAC, 10 Spider Riders!

I really worked overtime to get these guys done in time, and I really mean that! Due to work commitment, I couldn't start on these until two weeks ago to the day, which means that I painted 20 figures in 14 days. That's probably my record. They are not as nice as my last few units, they lack some details and highlights, and I had to cut some corners, but I was expecting worse! Now looking at the pictures I'm satisfied with them.

As usual for anyone who knows me, I went with bright colours for the spiders (I can't help myself), but used cold colours of pinks and purples to contrast them to the rest of my "hot trio" of Red/Orange/Yellow of my army colour scheme (as you can see on the clothes, feathers, etc.) I like the contrast it makes, and these guys really pop! The shields are the plastic shields from the 4th edition plastic spearmen gobbos, nice shields really, it gives a bit more style to the unit.

Now I did a mistake in the painting process; I painted the riders separately from the spiders. Big mistake. These guys are really difficult to pose and glue, so I had to go back and fix some of the spiders to erase some of "white" glue traces (because I had time to do that!). Also, I really should've pinned them. They hold fine, but I don't think these guys would survive a trip across border lines, for example.

Nevertheless, they are going to fight many a battles in my gaming room, for sure! 

In the last two months of the Challenge, I've submitted 43 gobbos and 10 spiders! That's 53 figures in a 61 days period! Last week I couldn''t feel my right arm (growing old sucks).

Oh yeah, points tally :

- 9 spider riders, including musician and standard, equipped with lances, shields and bows : 132pts

- Stag, Big Boss on giant spider, equipped with shield : 38pts

Total : 170pts

As a final comment,  I'm now the proud owner of a completely painted and based 1010pts army of Forest Goblins, and that's what the OWAC was all about! Have a look all May at the OWAC blog for a recap by each challengers of their army. There's some really good stuff in there. Mine will follow towards mid-month...

Follow the Old World Army Challenge blog

Kleznot's Forest Goblin Mob (and fanatics) (March entry in the OWAC)

Quantity has a quality all it's own

Here is the first part of my rather large March entry in the OWAC, at least in figure count, a mob of 30 Forest Goblins infantry! 

The unit is made-up entirely of classic early 90s Citadel forest goblins, sculpted by gobbo master Kev Adams. The unit, equipped with two handed weapons, is worth a whopping 141.5 points (and that's including the Big Boss)! 

But who cares, they look so good and cute! I used my orange-yellow-red colour scheme trio, and, while they were a lot of work, I'm super happy with them. Big units look good, always!

I did swore a lot while painting these, as the amount of details on these guys is absolutely bonkers, especially for troops that you need so many of. I also painted the 30 bastards in one go! I'm going to have nightmares about feathers, that's for sure. And I now have a love/hate relationship with Kev Adams!

The depth picture, to prove all the little bastards have been properly painted!

And then we have 3 fanatics! Yes, I can hear you say "fanatics? In a Forest goblin army?" Well, why the fuck not?! It occurred to me while perusing army lists to prepare for an upcoming game with challenger Chris and a few others in May that my army has no fanatics, which while correct by 4th edition rules, doesn't work in 3rd edition, the edition I actually play (the 3rd edition doesn't differentiate between Forest, Night or regular goblins)! And, I always thought the idea that only Night goblins to have fanatics kinda stupid, and sad. Every goblin army should have fanatics! So I decided to paint some, but in the bright colours of my army instead of black.

As I was painting these, I realized I don't recall ever seeing these guys painted in another colour than black. Yes, I know black is the fluff, but it's still amazing how we fantasy gamers sometime stick with what's "appropriate" or "historically accurate".

Anyways, I think they look great, I intend on painting more for this army if possible next month, and I hope they will cause terrible pain to Chris' Elves and Dwarfs! 

So, the points :

30 Forest Goblins w 2 handed weapons, including standard & musician & Big Boss : 141.5 pts
3 Fanatics : 90pts

Total : 231.5pts

Follow the Old World Army Challenge blog

Lord of Change

"Magnarrr" , the voice purred as the deamon scrutinised it's champion, "you must remember there is nothing I do not know, no-one I do not suspect! No-one, no-one.

The daemon laughed it's mocking laugh once more and Magnar turned his face from that unforgiving stare.

The first painted miniature that wowed me and made me want to not only paint miniatures, but also be good at it, was a Lord of Change on the cover of the "Citadel Painting Guide", a small booklet which Games Workshop sold, at the time, for a buck! 

Lord of Change, upper right

I just loved the vibrant tropical colours and the awesome look of this chaotic beast. I painted one, back in 1991 which for very long stood as the benchmark of my painting abilities. It's still today in my collection, and it has seen a lot of battles over the years (as evidenced by the loss of its tail...).

So for the Monstrous challenge of the The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (Yes, I'm stupidly part of two painting challenges at the same time)  I decided to paint me another one of those! I figured there would be a lot of dark stuff in this challenge, but I would go with a full blown display of colours! I find it a bit sad nowadays seeing people paint their Lord of Changes in mono colours of blue or purple, this is Tzeentch goddammit, the God of Change and mutations, and his servants should be as vibrant and colourful as possible!

At the time, Citadel made three bodies, with randomly available heads and tails. My favourite body was this one, and the two headed was also my favourite head. I waited for a while on Ebay until I found my perfect Lord of Change, and this guy's been in my collection for a few years now. 

So I obviously went with a full tropical colour scheme, inspired by the classic paint jobs of the 80s. I especially like my ultra bright green and the pale blue of the wings. This guy took me a while to paint, what with all the textures and the many details. He was also a pain to hold while painting! But I'm really happy with him, and I believe my 10 year old self would be very happy with his look.

He's going to have a place of honour in my future Tzeentch and Slaanesh allied force I've been collecting and planning in the last few years (my current force is Nurgle, undivided and Khorne). 

Hope you like him, cheers!

Zrazoig, Fang and more Doom (January entry in the OWAC)

It does not seem to bother them than their chances of survival are low, but then only the most crazed Goblins would want to be propelled in the air anyway. These Goblins are known as Doom Divers, although it is usually for other (saner) goblins to call them "Bat Wings Loonies". In the dirty, brutal and often painfully short life of a goblin the chance of swooping through the air and smashing right through their enemies is just too good to miss. The Doom Divers know that the ultimate excitement of diving through the air is at high speed is well worth the considerable risks. Though it is a sad way for a Goblin to go, it is infinitely more better than to die an ignoble death by the hands of a hungry Troll.

The first submission of January is Zrazoig, the almighty Shaman, and his trusted sacred spider, Fang the hairy.

This is of course the famous Giant Spider rider released in 1991 by Marauder Miniatures, Not surprisingly, the orc and gobbo ranges matches perfectly with my 4th edition Forest goblins.

Another figure from the heydays of the late 80s and early 90s, it oozes charm. It was also incredibly easy to assemble, being basically a three piece figure (spider head, rest of the body and then the shaman). He's going to be the main magic user in my Forest Goblin army. Once again I found a way to incorporate yellow and orange to tie it with the rest of my army. Most of the spider symbols on my goblins are orange, so I figured it would make sense the sacred spiders from that Forest would be at least partially orange! Still not completely happy with my orange, but it will do.

The second entry for this month is my second (and last) Doom Diver. Obviously subtlety is not required here, so I went with bold yellow for the wings, and a red suit. 

This is the second Doom Diver I paint for the army, and I inverted the colours from my previous one. With two of them, I almost have a squadron of the little crazy kamikaze!

And here is my progress report pic :

I was hoping to include an infantry regiment for this month, but it has become clear that this will not happen. I've started working on a 30 figure Forest Goblin regiment but there's no way I will finish it in time, and I'd like as much as possible to only submit finished units. Still, for an army I began basically two months and a half ago, I'm pretty happy with the results. Gotta love painting challenges and peer pressure!

So, for this month :

• 1 Doom Diver : 100pts
• Forest Goblin Shaman on Gigantic Spider* :  128pts

Total : 228pts

*I cheated a little on the Gigantic Spider, as I used the point value from the 3rd edition rulebook. Why? I wanted to distinguish this spider from the spiders used by the 4th ed spider riders, since it is much bigger and looks more badass (and also sits on a 40mm base). Basically, I count it as a monster instead of just a mundane mount. It is how I intend to use it in game.

Follow the Old World Army Challenge blog

Ukag's Mercenaries and Graaz the Savage (December entry in the OWAC)

So my first month of the challenge was a busy one, what with a 20 figures unit plus a Doom Diver, so I figured I needed maybe a slightly less busy month. 

My December entry is pure Oldhammer, with a trio of maybe the most iconic figures ever produced by Citadel Miniatures, the famous Jes Goodwin's Ogres mercenaries. 

Ukag's Mercenaries

These guys are exactly how I imagine Ogres, with their touch of oriental/slavic armour and fashions. While my Goblin's colour scheme is a very colourful triad of yellow, orange and red, I wanted these guys to have a more somber, "business" look, while still fitting in the army. Consequently I used yellow and red to tie them the army, but offset by greys and dark green. I'm super happy with them, it's been a while since I've been that satisfied with a unit. I also had a perfectly sized movement trays for these guys, I'll need to order some more for all my units. Convenient and nice looking.

Boss Ukag himself, maybe my favourite miniature ever

For Ukag, the Mercenary Boss, I couldn't resist doing some stripped pants, as is almost mandatory with the model, and I'm quite happy with the results. The big yellow emblem really gives him a dash of colours on an otherwise subdued scheme.

Then we have "Mace" Nakog; I had to do one of the Ogres in a Christmas colour scheme, just had to!

"Mace" Nakog

And the third Ogre, Gurot the Butcher, a fantastic figure which was a lot of fun to paint. The mix of grey and yellow works really well I think, more than I first anticipated! 

Gurot the Butcher

And to finish this month in style, here is Graaz the Savage, the General of my army. It's the only figure of the project more recent than 1992, and comes from the Oldhammer inspired GreenSkins Wars from Knightmare Miniatures (Goblin fans have a look at their ranges there's a lot of awesome pieces). The figure is a bit bigger than the other goblins in my collection (although all were sculpted by Gobbo master Kev Adams) but it works perfectly as "DA Big Boss" of my army. It's also very Forest Goblin in it's style. 

So, for December :

• 3 Ogres w light armour and 2 handed weapons : 132 pts
• Forest Goblin Warlord : 50 pts

Total : 182pts