Old goblins for D&D and Middle Earth (Alternative Armies hobgoblins)

[Hobgoblin]

I've decided to put my money where my mouth has often been and assemble some (reasonably) textually based Middle Earth forces. But I'm doing this as a by-product of our current D&D campaign (30ish sessions in - we're playing every day). I'm planning a heavily goblin-based scenario, just to see if I can put the frighteners on the by-now-reasonably-accomplished party with a batch of humble goblins.

Now, it's long occurred to me that D&D goblins are Tolkien's orcs whereas D&D orcs are much more like sword-and-sorcery beastmen (they seem to take only their name, tribes and propensity for fighting each other from Middle Earth). The original goblin entry has them slightly weaker than Men (1HD -1) and vulnerable to sunlight (-1 to rolls), but with the prospect of biggger and tougher king and guards (as hobgoblins) in their lair. In the Rules Cyclopedia, these goblin guards have become better fighters than hobgoblins (as 2HD monsters with 2d6 hit points rather than d8+1). As with hobgoblins, they don't suffer from daylight penalties. All that's perfect for Tolkien's orcs - smaller types with a few Uruks kicking around, as in the Misty Mountains and Moria.

Anyway, for these dual purposes, I'm painting up all the old goblins I can find lying around, from a whole host of manufacturers. Some are survivors from my misspent youth; others were impulse eBay purchases in recent years. A few are explicitly orcs (Rieder and Asgard), but most were designed as D&D goblins, I suppose.

I've noticed that there was a huge shift in goblin design when Kev Adams joined Citadel. If you look at pre-Adams goblins, they're quite Middle Earth-appropriate for the most part: small, sturdy-looking soldiers rather than crafty and malevolent sprites. The Citadel Giaks are perhaps the best embodiment of the old-school goblins, and I'll be using a few of those.

I'm going for a simple colour scheme with skin that (I hope) manages to be "sallow" and "swart" while still looking appropriate to underground creatures (as is the "livid grey" of D&D goblins). It's grey/sepia/buff/light flesh. Liveries include the Eye or other red/black stuff (as per The Hobbit), but where I come across the S-rune of Saruman or the White Hand, I'll honour that. I might make a few Morgul-rats too. In this first batch, we've got Acropolis, Citadel (Fiend Factory), Ral Partha (Tom Meier got a LOT better very quickly!) and Rieder Design (ahead of their time, I think). I've got dozens more based up ...

[Sunjester]

I think some of the old designs (Asgard comes to mind) are some the best Tolkienesque goblins around.

[trev]

Nice painting.  I do like that Rieder Design 'orc' with the scimitar and shield.  I'd love a range of figures along those lines.

[Ragnar]

Cool, looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

[Blackwolf]

Great stuff! I’d buy a pile of those Tom Meier goblins if I could

[Dark choda]

Dozens more ready to go?  I'll be waiting for the massive family photo

[Swordisdrawn]

Nice stuff.

[RSDean]

Great stuff! I’d buy a pile of those Tom Meier goblins if I could

Would you really?  I want a bunch too, and I know that Iron Wind Metals has the master molds for them.  They recently (i.e. two or three years ago) remolded the elf range that went with those, so it’s probably a matter of getting a big enough order together to make it worth their while to revive...

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, all!

Would you really?  I want a bunch too, and I know that Iron Wind Metals has the master molds for them.  They recently (i.e. two or three years ago) remolded the elf range that went with those, so it’s probably a matter of getting a big enough order together to make it worth their while to revive...

I'd certainly be interested in the goblins of the Night, giant goblins and the wolfriders at least if they ever revived those.

Here are a few more for this project. Two are actually red goblins (one Citadel, one Metal Magic, the latter with hammer and sickle). The Soviet goblin isn't particularly applicable to Middle Earth, but he'll work well in D&D as a goblin blacksmith or something. The Grom's Goblin Guard trooper was in my orc army when I was a kid; he's been stripped and repainted many times.

[Hobgoblin]

I'm still not sure whether to give these fellows pupils in their eyes or not. D&D goblins have glowing red eyes; when I was a kid, I presumed that Tolkien's orcs did too because of the line "his eyes were liked coals" in reference to the big orc who stabbed Frodo in Moria. But it much depends whether those coals were glowing or black or just metaphorically "burning"!

[bobhope]

Very nice work, will follow with interest

[Severian]

Fine work on these. Always fun to see an old school Lidless Eye.

As for the "glowed like coals" - well, it reads like straight description but I'd guess it's a function of reflected light (from torches &c) rather than some innate glow. But since most of the time goblins will be encountered by torchlight, (and probably underground), you could allow them glowing eyes, supposing some type of cats'-eye effect. Or frankly just because you like it and it looks fun.

I think one of the characteristic things about Tolkien's Middle Earth is that although the landscapes are very precisely pictured, the appearance of its inhabitants is much less defined - aside from occasional detail that crops up because of narrative requirements. Apart from hobbits, whose physical appearance is given in some detail, there's not very much by way of systematic description of orcs, elves &c (are their ears pointed? I can't see any reason to think so, but almost every depiction of Middle earth disagrees with me). There's a bit more about dwarves, but it's all quite folklore generic (no maggoty blue skin, for instance). Tolkien leaves a lot to his readers' imagination in a way that it's hard to imagine a lot of his subsequent imitators doing.

Anyway, that's a very long-winded way of saying I think you have good reason to paint your goblins as you see fit and still be reckoned faithful to the books. So keep them coming!

[Grumpy Gnome]

I only just spotted this thread. I like some of the sculpts more than others but your brushwork is great on all of them. I like how you did the eyes.

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, both!

Here's one more (and the oldest of the bunch): a Minifigs goblin from the 70s. I really like Minifigs' various fantasy ranges. There's a certain amount of 'paint your own detail', but that only adds to the fun. And I think they 'read' nicely on the table in a way that lots of later, more detailed miniatures do not.

[Hobgoblin]

And here's an Essex goblin guard. This fellow is very much D&D rather than Tolkien, given the plate armour, but the Essex goblins do strike me as very like those described in The Princess and the Goblin - the ur-source for Tolkien's orcs.