Goblin Sky-Ship 3

 Just a quick update on the goblin flying machine. The more I do on this, the more there seems to be more to do. Oh well - at least I'm enjoying it!

I added a railing to the upper deck on the bows, by cutting two ladders from Mantic terraincrate sets and rearranging the pieces around the front of the ship. I also made a pair of runners to go on the bottom of the ship. These were made from some thin pieces of wood that I had lying around, with metal parts from blister pack plastic.

(I also moved one of the crew from a rather precarious perch on the stern to sitting on the stairs in the middle, which made more sense.)

At the weekend, I visited Warfare, a miniatures fair held at Ascot racecourse. I stopped by the Black Scorpion stall and got myself a model goblin captain for their pirate game, Cutlass. The only conversion I made to him was to trim down his bare feet and give him some hefty shoes. I always think that you can tell the seniority of a pirate by the largeness of his footwear: the most senior ones have the biggest boots. Anyhow, this chap got Georgian-type shoes and I painted his legs as if he was wearing big socks.

 Yo ho ho!

Goblin Sky-Ship 2

 I've been chipping away at the big goblin flying machine. I wanted to build up the front of the skaven screaming bell frame, to look like the forecastle of a pirate ship. I made a box from coffee stirrers, and added a little staircase made from plasticard. It was fiddly, but I think it looks right.

Here's the raised deck when assembled.

I also painted the engine block that will be at the rear of the machine.

It's a bit rough and ready, but it'll do.

Then it was a matter of adding some crew. The gnoblars on the scraplauncher kit look quite piratical as it is, and one of them happened to be winding a wheel. He'd look perfect for the guy steering the ship. Another was pointing and holding a telescope. He could be providing "helpful" advice.

The third gnoblar came from the ogre Blood Bowl team. These guys are quite a bit smaller than the regular Warhammer gnoblars, but they're much crisper sculpts. This little chap looks as if he's been surprised by a change of direction and is about to fall out.

It's getting there - slowly. Oh, and here's a mast. It's just a bit of dowel at the moment, but hopefully you can see how this is going to develop.

Goblin Sky-Ship 1

I took a break from the marines (I've got at least 10 more to do), and took out a project that I've had lying about for ages but never really started.

A long time ago I got a broken Skaven Screaming Bell off ebay. I cut the actual bell and its arch off the model, leaving me with the wooden framework that the bell sits on. It looks very primitive and slightly like the shape of an old sailing ship:

I thought it could be the basis for a flying-machine, crewed by goblins. I had an image of this thing being rickety and jury-rigged, with goblins swarming over the exterior, constantly making alterations and repairs, shouting orders, falling overboard and generally creating chaos. That sort of model would require at least half a dozen crewmen, probably plastic gnoblars.

I had a resin steam engine that I bought several years ago at a show. It was the right size and would make a good power source for the machine. I then built up a rear deck where the ship's wheel would be. It was almost entirely made from coffee stirrers, with a ladder turned on its side for a rear railing and a barrel from the excellent Ogre Kingdoms scraplauncher to give the various spindly bits something to stick to. It looked like this:

The next bit I made was a cannon to go at the front. This was made from a metal Mantic model that I got in a sale. It's called a "Goblin war trombone", and is an oversized blunderbuss. I chopped off the wheel and monopod on which the gun rested, and made it a very small gun carriage instead, out of a little block of wood. That was given four tiny wheels, which were cut from plastic rod.

I then made a little section of decking for it to sit on, along with two plasticard runners to soak up the recoil. This will be going at the front of the ship, under the big flat deck.

The metal wheel/monopod from the war trombone will be some kind of gear underneath the engine deck, which will be powering the rotors (somehow):

Not a bad start, but there's a lot of work to go. Here's a very rough idea of the general shape:

This might take a while...

Troll!

I've always liked trolls. I'm not quite sure why, but I think it's the mixture of comical gawkiness and crude brutality. People might laugh at trolls, but I reckon they'd do it from a safe distance. Ages ago, I somehow ended up with an undead Mantic undead troll. I liked the shape of the model, but I thought he'd look better alive. 

First, I removed his existing, rather orc-like head and replaced it with a head from the recent GW trolls (or whatever they call then now). I then spent quite a lot of time filling up the various rotting holes on the model with green stuff and DAS clay. 

After that, it was just a matter of giving him a suitable paint job. I went for the same blue and grey colours that I'd used on an earlier metal troll, in imitation of the old GW stone trolls. I quite like the main body of the miniature but, as often happens, the really nice new head makes up for whatever errors there are in the sculpting of the body. 

All ready to bash his enemies with his favourite lump of stone!

Grom The Paunch

So, back to the "schedule". Many years ago, in the depths of GW's "red period", they released Grom the Paunch, a fat goblin warlord. Grom rode around on a chariot and was modelled with one foot up on the railing, waving an axe and probably laughing madly.

I saw the model of Grom, without chariot, for sale and bought him. He's got a definite cartoony charm. I didn't make any alterations except to stick a bit of cork rock under his boot. 

A Friend for the Knight of Seasons (and some goblins)

This week, I've done a few more models for Mordheim/Frostgrave.

First up is the second model in the "Green Knight" warband. Many years ago I bought a Mordheim Augur and cut her up to make a wizard. I stripped the model and started again. The head was gone, as was the knife she was raising, and so I added a new plastic Empire sword, gave her a Statuesque Miniatures bald head, and sculpted some hair on using green stuff.

I don't really like sculpting hair - I find it easy to do to a low quality, but hard to make convincing. The original model is throwing her head back and looking at the sky, but I turned this one's head, as if she's striking some fighting pose before attacking with her blades.

Painting was quite easy: most of the model is her large dress, and that was just a mixture of fading up from dark brown to red. I used a rust effect on the swords, partly to tie her to the knight, but also as it looks natural and may have a ritual significance to these guys.

It's surprisingly difficult to come up with new ways of doing the whole "crazy medieval pagan" look for a warband. A lot of the imagery is already used by the wood elves, beastmen or the followers of Nurgle. I quite like the idea of having a group of loonies celebrating some change in the seasons with a (possibly) magical parade. Perhaps these guys are doing that. Or they're just re-enacting a Kate Bush video.

I also did a couple of goblins for the ever-growing goblin horde. They're much lighter in tone and more cartoony than the pagan revellers. The ball-and-chain man was originally lacking his ball, so I made one out of clay. The shotgunner is a 40k gretchin, but I think he works fine with some sort of musket.

I like these guys a lot. It's hard to see, but I'm very pleased with the painting on their faces.

More Goblins, More Houses

This week, I made some more goblins for... well, I'm actually not sure for what. Maybe for Frostgrave, but just as much for my own entertainment. I don't have nearly enough for a Warhammer-type army (and I don't want to go down that route) but I do like the idea of having a small horde of them.

Anyway, first up is a troll with a goblin rider. The model is from the pirate game Rum & Bones 2, and is a one-piece plastic model. It was very cheap and the concept is nice. However, it reminded me why game models aren't great: the combination of terrible mold lines and dodgy plastic made it a real pain to paint. The surface didn't take paint all that well and I was glad to finish it, although I'm not that pleased with the end result.

And now onto something nicer. These two guys are from Tor Gaming's Relics, and they're really nice sculpts. They painted very easily, although I would have liked to do a more detailed design on the flag. Great characterful models. They will look good at the front of the goblin horde.

Last up is a Tudor cottage. It's an MDF model that I got off some bloke on ebay for £5. It's very simple, but will do the job nicely. I added the roof tiles, the door and a shield above the door for a bit of detail. The chimney isn't great and will require more work, but overall it will make a fine addition to the Frostgrave/ Mordheim terrain.

Goblin Knights and Other Things

Every few years, I seem to feel the need to convert a hideous blob monster. This time around, I bought one of the large mutants from the Killteam: Rogue Trader box. It's a weird set, given that it's essentially an £80 add-on for an existing game - you need the original rules to be able to play it - and the models are much stranger than usual 40k models, as if they missed out the usual steps between John Blanche sketch and finished product. Anyway, the chap I got looked like this:

As with a lot of GW stuff, the model is perfectly well-sculpted, it's just that I don't like some of the concept. I removed the strange fly from his right shoulder and the dangly guts (I'm not big on dangly guts) and took off his rather normal head (normal except for the spike). I added various parts from the bits box and came up with this:

He got the standard Horrible Nurgle Skin treatment, which is worked up from a red undercoat for a sore, sickly appearance. I added purple glazes, to tone it all down a bit.

The blob-monster is probably either a chaos troll or a spawn of chaos, but it does look rather like something that would be tearing up anoraks and devouring beards in The Thing. So, I made him a little friend, in the tradition of the head-spider monster. They can be weird and pissed off together.

On a lighter note, I stumbled upon some models for sale from a game called Relics, which looks extremely odd and may actually be defunct. Along with Cthulhu-style monsters and puppets in Regency uniforms, there were some medieval goblins called "Ridend". I bought a few and found that they were really nice models. Shame the game seems to no longer exist. These two noble knights will be joining the goblin horde I seem to be building up.

It's always slightly disappointing, especially with GW's models, that the quirkier and more entertaining a model is, the more likely it is to be complete rubbish in the game. The "hero" models are generally giants in plate armour with interchangeable scowling bald heads. The models with real charm tend to be the little guys, who die like flies. I always liked the idea of a horde of these things scurrying around some larger creature, squeaking and getting in one another's way like the goblins from Labyrinth.

Frostgrave - First Blood

On the outskirts of the ruined city of Frostgrave, Glurk and three of his minions - the human soldiers Snow and Brian, and the crossbow-wielding gnome Nobby - had embarked on a morning of light pillaging, interspersed with some minor theft. But they had not reckoned with the mighty metal beast that guarded the ruins, and the goblins who dwelt below...

Fig 1: The monster lurks in the ruins

Prior to the battle, Glurk called up a powerful ally for the group. Partly by casting Summon Animal Companion, and partly by leaving some old meat outdoors, he obtained the assistance of the mighty ogre Gutlag Executioner. I used the rules for a bear, which seemed to represent the massive, dim, smelly Gutlag pretty well.


Turn 1.

The explorers hung back, afraid to draw the attention of the terrible monster. Glurk attempted to cast Leap on Brian the Soldier. He failed so badly that he wounded himself when the spell backfired and leaped on him. First blood to Glurk - on himself.

Meanwhile, Nobby failed miserably to hit the monster with his crossbow. The terrible fiend was vaguely disgusted with this wretched display and wandered five inches in the wrong direction.

Fig 2: The battlefield rages with inertia and apathy

Turn 2.

More high drama as Glurk tried to cast leap again, and made such a dismal attempt that he fell on his face, losing another wound. Magic is powerful stuff.

Nobby loaded his crossbow, took aim down the sights - and missed. The monster decided that it might as well put these idiots out of their collective misery, and strolled towards them.


Turn 3.

In an exciting change of pace, Snow the Swordswoman rushed up the field and grabbed a treasure chest. Somehow hauling it onto her back, she prepared to make off with the goods and get mad coinage! Deeply impressed by this display of larceny, Glurk cast Enchant Armour on Snow and by some weird miracle actually did something constructive, toughening Snow's hide.

And then, in a shocking display of competence, Nobby fired his crossbow and hit the monster right in its delicate mechanism, dishing out a brutal seven points of damage! Go Nobby! Encouraged by the spilling of blood (well, motor oil) that wasn't Glurk's, Gutlag lumbered up the field, hungry for fight.


Turn 4.

Turn Four was a whirlwind of crazy action. It's still a blur, but my scribbled notes tell me that Snow, wild with greed, charged off and snatched another treasure chest. Somehow still moving under the weight of two massive chests, she headed towards the exit.

The monster rushed toward Gutlag. Brian ran to help his ogre "friend". Glurk, sensing danger, cast Enchant Armour on Gutlag, whose warty hide suddenly became a little more unwholesome.

Fig 2: Brian rushes to the rescue as the monster charges Gutlag

Brutal combat commenced. Whirling his mighty axe, Gutlag struck deep into the mad machine's vitals, dishing out a horrendous eight points of damage! Ouch! The blow must have hurt, because the monster missed Gutlag entirely.


Turn 5.

Doom was closing in for the monster like a big fat shark. Glurk failed to cast Leap on Nobby but nobody cared. His sword flashing, Brian did three points of damage to the monster. The metal beast whirled and backhanded Brian with a savage slap, knocking off half his hit points.

The sight of Brian being bashed around enraged Gutlag, especially as he'd been planning to eat Brian later and didn't want him spoiled. The ogre chopped once with his axe, and his aim was true. The monster collapsed in a spray of sparks and dubious-looking robot blood, never to boot up again.

Fig 4: Twilight of the thunder god - the monster falls over

But the battle was not done. In the centre of the field, two more titans clashed in mortal combat. As Nobby approached the well, who should leap out but a goblin on a pogo stick! Nobby was surprised - this hadn't been in the training manuscript. Undeterred, the brave dwarf promptly clocked the goblin, and the greenskin would pogo no more.

Fig 5(a): Nobby challenged

Fig 5(b): Nobby triumphant

The battle was at an end. The heroes had been lucky (apart from Glurk, the alleged wizard). They thanked Gutlag, who was surely the man-like thing of the match. Unimpressed, Gutlag wandered off to find some villagers to eat.

Snow's greedy rampage had served them well. They had found a ring of teleportation in one of her chests, and twenty gold crowns, which they could blow on some magic lessons for Glurk.

*

 So, overall, what did I think? Well, Frostgrave is a lot of fun. The rules flow really well and, after the first couple of turns, felt pretty intuitive. Random movement and bizarre luck aside, it felt like a pretty convincing and intuitive battle. To my mind, the biggest problem in Frostgrave is choosing all the spells at the beginning: once your warband is ready to go, it seems to work pretty well. I must admit that I was a little disappointed that so few goblins showed up and that Glurk's magic was so pitiful, but that's the dice's fault, not mine...

(On the subject of fault, the reason why the pictures in this post are so blurry is that the battlefield was a whirling maelstrom of carnage. OK?)

So I'll be trying the next mission. We shall see how well Glurk's apprentice fares against the undead menace of Flavius Flavor and the Infelix Legion.

Frostgrave: The Goblin Horde

It's been a comparatively long time since I posted here. So, by popular request (or the closest I ever get to it), here's what I've been working on for the big Frostgrave solo-player game.

The single-player Frostgrave scenario that I'm going to try requires one huge monster and a few little ones. Technically speaking, they are an "alchemical monstrosity" and a group of giant rats. While I have loads of models that could count as monstrosities (especially after I've painted them, haha), I don't have any giant rats, at least not any that are in a decent state.

Instead, I decided to use goblins. I've got tons of Ogre Kingdoms gnoblars, which are skinny little things that look like even less competent versions of Warhammer goblins, along with quite a few random familiars and some old metal models that will fit the bill. I see them as a varied and basically incompetent horde, rather like the goblins from Labyrinth.

So, here are some of the hard-living thugs and hoodlums that the good guys will be up against. There's definitely a bit of a Brian Froud/Arthur Rackham influence here.

On the left is a very ferocious sprite, called Warfairy.

On the right is a goblin on a pogo stick, with which to bounce onto his enemies' heads. He is currently practising on a Renedra barrel (which, by the way, went together dreadfully).



The brutal creature on the left a goblin barbarian. He's all set to dance the magic dance, by which I mean hitting people with his hammer, assuming that he's got the strength to lift it.

The guy on the right is a metal gretchin model, armed with a blunderbuss. He is so gangsta that he's got big sunglasses and, er, a kaiser hat.


On the left is the magical (and tiny) knight, Sir Plus de Requirements.

And on the right is a gnoblar riding a Warlord Games pig. "Do anything good at the weekend, mate?" "Yeah, I dressed up as a knight and went joyriding on a pig. How about you?"

In fairness, these are pretty tiny models and the plastic ones, especially the gnoblars, are a bit imprecise in detail. It's a shame because I really like them. I often find that it's the low-ranking, runty creatures that are the most appealing, followed by the really big, weird monsters. There's a mid-range of armoured rank-and-file that doesn't do a lot of that for me.

Anyhow, on with the Frostgraving. Next time: the battlefield.

Red All Over

Another week toddles by pleasantly, livened up with mince pies and the works Christmas lunch. I've done another model for the gnoblar horde: this time, a mighty dragon to accompany the diminutive warriors to battle.

I'm pleased with him because at last I've found some decent red paint. The paint I've used is Khador Base, a Privateer Press colour, which has the added benefit of coming in one of those big pots with a flip-top lid, so you can feel that you're 15 again when you're painting (assuming you'd want to - in my case, I'm not keen. I was a right nerd back then - I was into painting miniatures, for goodness' sake).

This model was actually a Warhammer familiar. I think he needs a wash of purple to accentuate the shadows, but otherwise he's looking decent.

Next up is another ganger for the not-Escher gang. I've used a Hasslefree model for this person: I think it's "Wild West Boudicea", which is a rather odd concept really. Anyhow, I replaced some of her very flimsy Winchester to make a more space-age laser gun. I've never got why so many female models seem to have feet that point inwards. But overall, she should be a decent member of the gang.

I'm beginning to work out a backstory for these guys. I reckon they might be escaped replicants. All will be revealed soon enough, once I've made it up.

A Goblin and a Plastic Lady

I've not done much painting this week, because I was away at a steampunk event in the space centre at Leicester (yes, Britain has one, although it's full of other countries' rockets). I have been able to paint another of the mighty goblin horde, and do some conversion work on one of the gangers for the not-Esher gang.

I seem to have about a dozen of this model, which looks rather odd unless you want to make a baggage train. I made him up as he came, although I swapped a severed head for the less grisly horned helmet you can see above. The shading on his skin really hasn't come out well.

This is the start of either a gang leader or a heavy (or just a random maniac). The lower body was from a Malifaux model (hence the tiny feet), the body and arms come from a harlequin, and the head is a Statuesque Miniatures female head. The umbrella was made from a Tau tank hatch and a bit of plastic drainpipe.

 It will all make sense in the end.

One Big Nose

Years ago, I had an ogre army for Warhammer. Whenever you bought ogre models, they came with a couple of little minions called gnoblars, with which you could decorate the bases. Gnoblars were small, goblinish things, nearly useless in the game and prone to dying, running off or both.

Anyhow, reading the Tales From Farpoint blog reminded me that I've got a load of these little guys knocking around. I thought it would be nice to paint a few of them. As time's gone on, I've got less and less interested in huge warlords in armour, and more keen on wonky little creatures. I also had some bases from Renedra that weren't doing anything. So this seemed like a good idea.

The problem with gnoblars is that (1) they are very fiddly to paint, and (2) some of the detail isn't great. At least, that's my excuse. Here are the first two in what promises to be a mighty legion.

The guy on the left is hauling a keg of beer - or possibly gunpowder. The one on the right has a club about as big as he is. They weren't converted. If you can't see their faces very well, don't worry - nor could I. Essentially, they're one big nose.

I've got no idea if I'll continue with these or even if I'll be able to take any half-decent pictures of them. But they were enjoyable to paint. Perhaps I'll do a few more - when I'm not painting my Necromunda gang, my heap of Carnivale models, or the kilo or two of stripped metal miniatures. Oh dear.