Category Archives: Warhammer Fantasy – 9th Age

Night Goblin Squig Hoppers and Iron Claw Goblin Fanatics

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The first two figures in this update are a pair of the first batch of Squig Hoppers released by GW for 4th Edition WHFB, back in 1991-1992. WHFB3 (the “Oldhammer” edition) didn’t feature Squigs in any form, and goblins were really just goblins. When WHFB4 came around with it’s 40k-codex style army books, Goblins gained several subtypes in a properly-supported form, such as Night and Forest. I seem to recall mentions of Night Goblins predating 4th edition, so there’s that. Night Goblins have kind of become the de facto subtype in more recent years as opposed to the more generic ones from WFFB3. Anyway, I really quite liked these models, and so I collected quite a few of them. One of these two was painted quite awhile ago (5 years? 10? Who knows!) while the other was started right afterwards and only finished last year. It was shown last year in near-complete WIP form at one point, but I never showed off the completed model.

Citadel Night Goblin Squig Hoppers

Night Goblin Squig Hoppers

As I’ve stated elsewhere – sure these Kev Adams sculpts look cartoony, disproportionate, and not especially realistic. But they do have real character. I’m well aware how often “character” is used as a kind of code/excuse for poor sculpting of older models, but here I really do mean it as a positive.

Citadel Night Goblin Squig Hoppers

Rear View of the Squig Hoppers

These models might be a year or two out from “Oldhammer”, but being from the Kev Adams run of goblinoids, they’re Oldhammer and Old-school enough for me. More importantly, they’re great models in their own right that still stand up well today.

Iron Claw Goblin Fanatics

Bob Olley’s Iron Claw Goblin Fanatics

The second pair I’m sharing today were both painted a long, long time ago. Back when I used to actively play WHFB, in fact! These are Bob Olley sculpts – Goblin Fanatics from his Iron Claw range circa 1998. Since they’re painted in the colour scheme of Night Goblins, they’d have been painted during the early days of 4th Edition.

Iron Claw Goblin Fanatics

Goblin Fanatics showing off the Night Goblin Moon, and the Red Eye.

As regular readers will know, I’m not an especially big fan of many of Bob’s sculpts, and these are no exception. Still, back in the day you pretty much only had what was available – and this was it. No eBay, no internet shopping and mail order to GW from Australia was a rare and exciting occurrence. Especially for a teenager or young adult. You can see that the flame motif used on my more recent Night Goblin Fanatics goes way back, though. Because I am nothing if not imaginative and experimental.

With these models being real outliers of the “weird and random” part of the WHFB Orc and Goblin list, they don’t really fit in to a KoW Goblin Army as the list stands right now. Hopefully with the “officially unofficial not-GW army lists” that are supposed to come out later on in the year, these guys will find a home on the tabletop again in 2015.

From the Painting Desk #13 – How Should I Paint this C23 Ogre Shaman?

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This weekend I finally knuckled down and finished the C23 Ogre Mercenary with 2-hander who I’d been staring at for the last couple of months. He’s outside having the varnish dry in the sun. So far, so good. I’ll get some pics of him and his unit this coming week and show them off then. With him down, the next part-painted-aeons-ago Ogre steps into the front rank of stuff to get finished soon.

This guy:

C23 Ogre Warrior Priest/Shaman

C23 Ogre Warrior Priest/Shaman

I think the reason this guy has been in the “stuck” file is because I just can’t figure out what colours to use for him. I’d originally given him a purple skirt with the intention of painting some stars and moons and pentagrams, etc on it – which I think is based on mis-remembering the first time I saw him painted, which was probably the figure pictured in this White Dwarf advertisement from 1989. Orclord of SoL fame also has a nicely painted example in his personal collection.

So what of this guy? Well, the purple robe would have worked better is his outfit was a onesie, but he’s got that fur-cuffed vest as well, so that means we need something else as well. I’m thinking dirty grey-white hair to give him a sense of age and authority. His pauldron could either be worn steel, “coloured” metal, as in the Chaos Ogre from the berserker unit this guy will be inspiring/attached to, or a bright, enamelled red as worn by the one member of Olley’s Ogres. It all depends on how much I decide to make it “pop” as both former solutions are much more subtle and low-key than the latter, and this guy is, after all, a Character in the army.

I’ll clean up the chestnut browns on his boots and arm wrapping, go with my typical bone effect for the warhammer-head, and go with contrasting browns for his pouches and belts, but ultimately it’s the skirt and vest that have got me stuck.

My Ogre force does not have “army colours” as many of my other armies will and do. Some units will have their own heraldry (or just a dominant colour) but nothing across the whole army, which I see as a collection of individuals from a number of tribes.

I could go with strong reds to make him stand out on the battlefield? Keep the purple and give it the patterns I thought of originally? (But what of the vest?) Copy Orclord’s scheme? Something completely different? I really don’t know, which is why I’m posting this here and on a forum I frequent, so I can see if I can get some feedback that will inspire me enough to get this guy finished – and to take less than three months to actually get it done.