Bearwoodman's Goblin Town Goes to Warhammer World

[Bearwoodman]

My little group of gaming chums and I have planned a visit to Warhammer World. This is mainly motivated by nostalgia as for all three of the adults in our group WH40k/WFB was our route into the hobby.  Most of us have been before some years ago but for one of our number this would be their first time.

We were keen to look at the displays and sample the offerings at Bugmans Bar but to really make the most of the day we wanted to actually play a game on one of their fancy tables.  But what to play? I haven’t played a GW game for quite a long time and I don’t own any complete (or even half complete) GW armies.   GW’s Middle Earth game was suggested as my Son is fan of the source material, one of my friends (and his son) have a large collection of official miniatures (goodies and baddies), and apparently the rules themselves are pretty decent.
 
I could have used some of my friend’s figures, but being proud I decided I wanted to paint my own, and being stingy I began scouring Facebook Marketplace for a bargain.  I came across someone local selling the Goblin Town box set for £50, and while I knew my friend had Thorin’s company he did not have any goblins.  That gave me 54 goblin warriors (pleasingly there were more figures than expected in the box – the benefit of acquiring the now discarded former treasures of a young hobbyist from a parent who understandably has little idea about what it is they are selling).  I was then told by my friend, that despite being larger than any army I have painted in recent times, my nascent horde was still barely half the points value of Thorin and his men.  So I found someone else selling some more assembled but unpainted goblins who was willing to post them to me and expanded my forces further.    The guy actually had 144 to sell and I only bought 72 – although judging from her reaction when they arrived in the post I could not  help but feel that my wife did not fully appreciate the impressive restraint demonstrated by my decision.


That gave me 7 units each of 18 goblins (plus the Goblin King himself and a few characters) and not much time to paint them in.  The goblins live mainly underground and in the film and on the box art are a pale grey colour.  This seemed reasonable but also a bit boring so I decided to start with grey and then see if I could make them more colourful in a way that involved as little precise (and therefore time-consuming) brushwork as possible.     

 
I spent a little bit of time converting a few of the goblins to carry different weapons for variety, including one with a pike which could be used to fly the Goblin King’s Royal Standard. 


I designed the flag with the aim of it being both colourful and goblin-y.  I don’t think the goblins have a system of heraldry, or even an identifying insignia, but I know from the book that they do have songs, so I used lyrics as slogans on the banner.   



I have worked on these little fellows in groups and the process has varied slightly from batch to batch, but generally I undercoated them a pale grey then added a wash of purple ink, then slapped on some diluted yellow paint in the shadows then some diluted pink contrast paint on the hands faces and the more obvious sores and swellings (these goblins are variously and gruesomely misshapen).  Finally their skin was given a pale grey dry brush.  Their ragged clothing and their weapons were painted with a dark brown contrast paint, which was then brush brushed a bone colour (in the case of the clothes) or washed with a diluted orange then dry brushed silver (in the case of the weapons). 


For a final dash of colour I gave them all green hair.  This is almost certainly non-canonical (apologies @Hobgoblin et al!) and looking at them now they do rather unfortunately remind me of the characters from the film “Trolls” which my children enjoyed a few years ago, but with the deadline approaching it is too late to change it now!


At the time of posting the battle is mere days away and still I need to finish the basing and weapons on the last 4 units as well as the highlights on the Goblin King.  I will also pick out their eyes if I have time.  I will post more photos once they are done and the battle has been fought...   

"No slacking! Get back to work painting goblins!"

[pixelgeek]

The description of the paint scheme sounds quite odd but they look quite good. Pale and moldy

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Excellent stuff Bear! I really like those models and they’re still on my wishlist - if I ever spot any at a reasonable price. Looking forwards to seeing the pictures of your battle.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[SgtSlag]

I love the old Rankin Tolkien movie song lyrics:  "Down, Down, to Goblin Town, you go, my Lad!  Ho, ho, my Lad!"  And, "Where there's a whip! <Snap!>  There's a way!"

It had never occurred to me to put those lyrics onto a banner...  Thanks for the idea!

Love the brushwork.  Superb Goblins.  Cheers!

[mikedemana]

Well, we as gamers acknowledge your restraint show in your goblin purchases, even if your wife does not. They look great -- you are really whipping them out fast!

And thanks...now I have those goblin songs in my head and will likely all day! 

Mike Demana

[Frugalmax]

Looks great, and I agree on those banners- very creative and well done!

[Bearwoodman]

First off apologies for the delay in responding to all the encouraging messages! I was busy getting these guys ready for the big battle, then there was a holiday, then work, then other stuff...  Anyway, I had not intended to leave this thread unattended for this long. 

The description of the paint scheme sounds quite odd but they look quite good. Pale and moldy

Thank you, I wanted them to be more colourful than just grey, but also they do live underground so pale and mouldy is appropriate!

Excellent stuff Bear! I really like those models and they’re still on my wishlist - if I ever spot any at a reasonable price. Looking forwards to seeing the pictures of your battle.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

Thanks Andrew, and I agree they are nice models with enough variety despite being mono-pose.  I think I was fortunate with my second-hand purchases but they obviously do pop up from time to time so good luck!

I love the old Rankin Tolkien movie song lyrics:  "Down, Down, to Goblin Town, you go, my Lad!  Ho, ho, my Lad!"  And, "Where there's a whip! <Snap!>  There's a way!"

It had never occurred to me to put those lyrics onto a banner...  Thanks for the idea!

Love the brushwork.  Superb Goblins.  Cheers!

 
My son loves the Hobbit audiobook and it was hearing the songs in his room that made me think of putting it on a banner.  I did want a banner as they add colour to an army but I struggled to imagine Goblins carefully embroidering an elaborate design, or even producing any kind of large scale art work.  I could, however, imaging them scrawling "Goblin!" all over a piece of coloured fabric!

Well, we as gamers acknowledge your restraint show in your goblin purchases, even if your wife does not. They look great -- you are really whipping them out fast!

And thanks...now I have those goblin songs in my head and will likely all day! 

Mike Demana

 

Thank you Mike.  I have actually never attempted to paint such a large force in one go, and it is fun not to worry about getting every detail perfect.  At the time of typing the Goblins are all painted and having been bloodied in battle re now safely packed away in boxes out of sight of less appreciative eyes!

Looks great, and I agree on those banners- very creative and well done!

Thanks Frugalmax, much appreciated!

I could fit the entire completed horde in one photograph at home so hear are some selected highlights:

The diminutive Goblin Captain



Grinnah the Jailer


 
The Standard Bearer



The Scribe



The Goblin King himself!



Painted in a different way to his minions, partly because he is a much bigger model but also partly because his highness deserves a more careful paintjob I tried to use brush stroke to suggest wrinkly, saggy skin.

By late-ish on the night before our trip to Warhammer World all 126 warriors plus command figures were ready!

The Battle

We had reserved on of Warhammer World's diorama tables for the event, which was a desert landscape featuring rocky outcrops and one particularly tall tower. The forces of evil consisted of my Goblin Town contingent supported by Saruman and a large force of Mordor Orcs were taking on a combined force of the Fellowship of the Ring, a trio of Great Eagles, some dwarven Grim Hammers and Thorin's Company (not an alliance for the Middle Earth purists!).

I am not able to provide a detailed report, but here are some pictures.


The horde arrayed!


The advance was sounded!


Saruman in this Tower surveying the scene of impending carnage.


Some of the enemy were wearing a lot more armour than my Goblins which was rather unfair.


Some Goodies.


The Captain urges his men on.



The pride of Mordor.


Chaaaaarge!


The battle lines clash!


Saruman looks on.


I hatched a bold plan for the Goblin King to ascend a rocky outcrop and from this vantage point to hurl Goblins at the assembled heroes below.


Unfortunately before the King could launch a single Goblin he was struck by a magic attack from Gandalf, causing him to plummet to his death (and that of the Goblin he landed on)!





The Goblins poured forwards to avenge their fallen King.




The battle was hard fought and bloody, but ultimately inconclusive.  By the time the hours of fighting were over and both sides had pulled back to tend to their wounded and prepare for the next encounter casualties had been heavy but the Goblin King was the only key leader to have died.  This led to extensive debate in the car on the way home about which way the tide of battle would have flowed if only we had had time for one more turn...   

All in all we had a great day, enjoying the game, the food and drink at Bugman's bar and a visit to the exhibition - where I found this specimen:

The Goblin King will return!

[Basementboy]

What a post! Looks like a great time, and a really cool looking army to boot- I'm in love with the pink and white graffiti-looking banner

[SgtSlag]

My favorite battles are when there is no clear-cut winner, and the Players argue afterwards who would have won, if only they could have played a few more Turns...  That tells me how much the Players enjoyed the game!  I love to hear them banter back and forth about it, what might have been, if only...

Hah!  Those, to me, are the best games, bar none!  I love such games as a Player, myself!  It is so much fun to do a post-mortem on a game.  Again, the post-mortem discussion, is such a fantastic indicator of the game's success, the passion the Players felt when playing, and even afterwards.  GOOD JOB!  Cheers!