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

Forest Goblins archers & a Doom Diver (November entry in the OWAC)

So the first part of my November entry is a regiment of  19 Forest Goblin archers, led by Noraz Stickblast, a Goblin Big Boss.

I must admit painting these fellows in a month has been a challenge; first because work has been very busy, and also because I didn't expect these guys to take that long! I mean, they're small, so they should paint faster, right? WRONG. I never noticed the insane amount of details goblin master Kev Adams had sculpted on these little fellow. Skulls, spiders, ear rings, bones, feathers, etc. He even sculpted them nails! These are not your typical clad in black night goblins. And at a mere 2.5 pts each, it probably makes them the worst deal in Warhammer history when it comes to bang for your painting time! 

But boy, do they look great once finished. The Kev Adams 4th edition gobbos are (by far) my favourite goblins, I love their look of mischief rather than pure evil. They are exactly how I envision Goblins. 

I decided to use the Shaman model as a standard, err Totem bearer, instead

It was my first time painting greenskins since, oh, 1993 or so, so I had to come up with a green recipe. I always liked my goblins to be a very bright green, and I'm really pleased with my results! As for the colour scheme, I went with a trio of bright colours in yellow, red and orange. I always like bright colours when I can get away with it, and I also wanted to give a nod to the "red" era when these figures came out. I also like to use a limited palette when army building, so I used browns and bones for the rest of the details, so to keep the attention on the bright green of the skin and the trio of hot colours.

My only regret is the shield. Didn't have time to paint a proper design

My original idea was to include war paints on the rank & file, but time constraint (and the fact I would then have to do the same on hundreds of other goblins) changed my plans so I only painted them on my Boss and the musician. It's probably something that I will keep doing on the rest of my army, i.e. limiting war paints to royalty and command figures. 

Now, goblins being goblins, the little bastards cost litterally nothing, so that whole unit, with a Big Boss, doesn't even reach 100 points! 

So here comes the second part of my entry...a Doom Diver!! If I'm really excited about this it is because I absolutely love everything about Doom Divers; it's such a perfectly stupid goblin war machine, it fits so well with the Warhammer goblin fluff, and the 4th edition model is just so cute and charming!

I gave him the same colour scheme as the rest of the force (when you kamikaze yourself, bright colours are in order!) and I decided to put him on a nice, big base. I'm not a fan of separate bases when it comes to war machines, and I always prefer to build dioramas and such. I like him a lot.

So to recap :

• 19 Forest Goblins archers, including standard & musician : 63 pts
• Noraz Stickblast, Forest Goblin Big Boss : 33 pts
• 1 Doom Diver : 100pts

Total : 199pts

Next month? I'm thinking bigger...MUCH bigger