Warhammer Goblin Project - something like a plan

 As I find myself painting Citadel plastic Goblins from 1992, I have also dug out some other old Citadel Goblin that I own. 

These are all from the same, early 90's era and the metal ones are nearly all sculpted by Kev Adams, with tonnes of character. 

There were too many to have on the go at the same time, so I've planned to expand my initial plan of just the plastic goblins from the 1992 Warhammer start set to also include the metal command miniatures for those units (champion (boss for Orc & Goblin armies), musician and standard bearer, plus fanatics, a General (Big Boss or Warboss) and a couple of other units. 

To stop me getting carried away, I used the Old World army builder to create a small force, bearing in mind I've never played the game and I don't currently have any plans to (but you never know). 

So, here is the current plan:

• 1 Night Goblin Warboss/Big Boss (actually the special character Skarsnick, without his faithfull cave squig Gnobbler)
• 1 Goblin Big Boss standard bearer on wolf (actually just the Goblin Wolf Riders standard bearer mini)
• 20 Night Goblin archers
• 3 Night Goblin command figures 
• 20 Goblin spears
• 3 Goblin command figures
• 6 Night Goblin Fanatics
• 5 Goblin Wold Riders with cavalry spears
• 1 Stone Troll

You'll notice that with the command figures, each of these units totals 23, which is not a round number, but I plan to paint more of the archers and spears, so I can just about cope for now. 

It will feel good to get this lot finished and looking the part, but I am enjoying getting back into painting after a break of 18 months so I think this may take a while. Which is fine, as I don't want to put any pressure on myself. 

Unit	Qty
Night Goblin Warboss	1
Goblin Bigbboss BS on Wolf	1
Night Goblin Archers	20
Night Goblin Command	3
Night Goblin Fanatics	6
Goblin Spears	20
Goblin Command	3
Goblin Wild Riders, Spears	5
Stone Troll	1

I finally have the time/space...

 I'm back at wargaming and painting, although time is still short due to work and family. 

I've not stopped reading the magazines and rulebooks, but my time has been too limited to do any wargaming, painting or anything really. 

But now, I have a couple of evenings a week and to get me back into painting I'm doing something for fun, with no plans yet for a tabletop army or a game system in mind. That said, as these minis are Warhammer Goblins released in 1992, then any version of that game would do, as well as any other fantasy rank&file or skirmish rule set.

It's been a while since I've painted anything (well over 12 months), but I really enjoyed painting these in a style that is heavily influenced by the way the minis looked in the 'Eavy Metal pages of rule books, army books and White Dwarf back in the 1990s, an era called either 'Middlehammer' (4th and 5th edition of the Warhammer tabletop game) or the 'Red Era' due to the prominence in red of the Games Workshop in house painters. This does not mean that everyone painted their Goblins, Elves, Chaos Dwarfs or Skaven in this style at that time, just that, in those pre-internet days, we were saturated with these bright, colourful schemes and I thought I'd fully engage with the nostalgia.

The last time I painted these minis was 1993, when I got the starter set for my 9th birthday. These are not the exact minis, I got these off ebay and added them to my pile of opportunity about 10 years ago. Back then, I didn't have a clue what I should be doing, I'd only ever assembled a couple of airfix kits, so my dad took me to the local art supply shop in Nelson, Lancashire to get some paints (I assume that a trip to the nearest GW shop in Preston was not considered, over an hours drive in those pre-M65 days). 
Tucked in the back, among watercolour paints, charcoals, canvasses, card, fancy pencils and picture frames 1, was a rack of Humbrol Enamel paint. I picked out the colours I needed for the Goblin and High Elves. Other than paint, the only other thing I needed was a small brush, as my dad already had a few bottles of turpentine substitute in the cellar, next to some oily rags and the fuse the box. I painted the whole lot in a weekend - I didn't bother with undercoat, shading or highlights (I was only just 8), but I was quite impressed with how I'd done such a neat job. 

Now, aged 42, I could improve on the work I'd done some decades ago, and get my skills brushed up for when I'm ready to move on to some 15mm Ptolemaic pike or 10mm Warmaster units. 

Here is the one finished mini I've done, a single Goblin with spear. I'm pretty chuffed, definitely an improvement on the job I did when I was 8, and no smelly chemicals needed to clean my brush. 

 

Notes:

1 - My grandfather, a keen painter and artist, would get his work framed at this particular art supplies shop, apparently because he was have an affair with the owner of the shop and so would get a discount, but I didn't know that then. No one in the family had seen him for years. I also later found out his first wife had had an affair with Albert Camus.