Goblin archers

Goblins come in all shapes and sizes. Most are small creatures, but some survive the rigours of life to grow a little taller. Often the tallest are those that can keep themselves out of harm's way when a boss takes them into battle. These most cunning of goblins have realised that using a bow from afar is a much easier to way survive. Being bigger than most of their comrades, they find it easier to push the little runts into combat while they shoot (and snigger) from the rear.

A unit of archers join the warband. These are a mix of figures, the taller ones are GW from the 1980s. Strictly speaking they are orc archers, but I am taking a Tolkienesque view - orcs are just big goblins. The two shorter goblins came as part of a warband sold on a facebook group, I believe they were originally part of  the Hasslefree range. Despite the difference in aesthetic, I think all these were sculpted by Kev Adams, though I am no expert on this matter.

I bought the orcs on a whim, mostly because I liked the two long snouted figures, the squat faced a bit less so. Painting them was as I expected, the details and castings are quite crude and make painting more difficult. The two smaller figures were fine, though one has a fairly noticeable casting flaw in the quiver. Despite their shortcomings, they add a certain character to the warband.

The Erehwon warband is shaping up quite nicely now. There are two melee units, this missile unit and a couple of special units (the squigs), plus a shaman and his bodyguard. That's just about enough for a small skirmish. More are waiting to be painted, though I am starting to feel drawn to other subjects.

Goblins In Progress

Almost to the end of the month, and there has been very little progress made on the goblins project, or anything else for that matter. I am struggling to get motivated for painting at the moment, I am not quite sure what the blockage is. I had set myself a target of a unit per month, which I did achieve for the first two months but am struggling to complete this month. Obviously this is just a hobby and deadlines are not urgent or important, but they do help to keep things ticking along.

Just looking at the figures in the bare metal state makes me quite happy, these are nice sculpts with a certain appeal, definitely of a different era. The trolls were released around 1992 and were sculpted by Michael Perry. The orcs are even older, 1985 on the tabs, while the two goblins are old Hasslefree sculpts I think. My aim is to paint the archers first, then the trolls, though I will probably start them all off together and maybe switch between the two sets when the going gets tough. Sometimes hopping from one to another like this can keep the motivation going. We shall see.

Ian Miller's Grim Tarock

Most of you will know the name of Ian Miller, artist from the early days of Games Workshop. If you like his work, then you may be interested to know there is a kickstarter running to produce a deck of cards using his wonderful art.

Tackling Chaos!

This is a photo of my new "studio". I spent all weekend clearing figures out of, and then moving the cabinet to a new location, so that I had this clear, bright corner. I am trying to set the room up re-using as much as possible, I feel guilty about all the stuff I have bought down the years and am trying to reduce my footprint as much as possible. The table I picked up from facebook marketplace for a good cheap price, that's better than buying new. It's absolutely perfect condition and cost me a quarter what it would to buy new, and I don't have to drive 50 miles to ikea to pick it up. It's made from bamboo, which is meant to be more sustainable I think.

The chair is an old one that my son was gifted, and now I am using it. It's a bit tattered in some areas and a bit wobbly, but it still works so there's no need to buy a new one. It's quite comfortable too and adjustable so I can get it right under the table and sit low, which is better for my back (sitting up straight while painting is better for my spine than hunching over).

The figures in the newly located cabinet have been re-organised. I have taken the opportunity to downsize my collection a little, you can see items for sale on ebay here if interested. This photo shows the bottom two shelves of the cabinet. It's not particularly clear, but it's basically the majority of my painted Chaos collection. On the bottom is mostly Chaos Undivided, with a few marked units. On the top, the right hand section is my Khorne Warriors, the left hand section is Tzeentch and Slaanesh daemons, while the middle ground is held by some Nurgle units. It really cries out to be rebased in one unified way, with magnetic movement trays, but that's one of those big jobs that just seems so daunting.

It was sheer coincidence that I had started re-organising all this and I was looking fondly at all my chaos collection, some of it stretching back a good twenty years, when the news dropped about the upcoming chaos releases from Games Workshop. So even if I do get through re-organising all this stuff, there will be more coming along in the not too distant future. The new sculpts have blown me away. They are not too different from the existing aesthetic, but certainly would add a little dynamism to older models. That's xmas sorted for me.

Armies never get finished, they sometimes rest for a while, but always they evolve. Embrace Chaos.