A to Z: Underworld

Underworld.

Could be a Dantean realm of demons, the damned and determination.  But not this time.
Could be a realm of caverns filled with dwarves and dragons in the dark.  But not this time.

This time, Underworld is for an under-powered team of mutations and silly fun.

Our local Blood Bowl league started up, and I started a new team.  Not just a new team of miniatures but a brand new team for me: I've never played an Underworld team before.

If you aren't familiar with Blood Bowl, it's a board game using miniatures to represent a fantasy race team playing a game not unlike american football or rugby.  Players range in size from the diminutive snotlings, goblins & hobbits up to the hulking trolls, ogres & treemen. Players range in skill from the hopeless hobgoblin to the wondrous wardancer.   You start your team, play games & hope to see your team advance in skills and cash as you try to win as many games as you can.  It's a nice mix of board game, wargame & RPG.

The Underworld team is an alliance of goblins & skaven and they may have 1 warpstone troll.
The real (and only) advantage they have is mutation skills are common skills for them.  Other than that, they lack the 2 trolls & special weapons that goblin teams can have and lack the fast gutter runners that skaven teams can have, plus they're saddled with 'animosity' on their skaven, so they're less likely to give the ball to goblins if they have it.   So they are more fragile than a skaven team, and lack the damage output that goblin teams can have.

So why play them?
Because I haven't ever played them before!  Plus the mutations could be fun... if they survive long enough to get any. And because I thought of some conversion possibilities that could make them similar to the creatures of one of my favorite fantasy artists: Brian Froud, who was behind Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and books like Goblins, Faeries, etc. And he reminds me of Bosch, which is always a good thing.

My team is named "The Chernobyl Knights". 

I'm afraid I've been too busy with work to paint more than one so far, but you can see the conversions:

These are my underworld rats: 2 Throwers & 2 Linerats

My Stormrats.

Goblins. They have stubby tails!

More goblins. The one with horns has an extra arm, which can't be seen at this angle.
3 exhibit mutations, 3 don't: I wanted some to look more 'rookie'.

My Warpstone Troll, mutating into a Hippo... what's scarier than a sewer crocodile? a sewer hippo!

I plan for the goblins to be painted in a similar way as Henri Zhorik here.  The Rats likely Albino.

Here is the Coach and tokens.

Star Players: I converted the stars I'll likely induce, so that they'd match the team in style:

Bomba Dribblesnot. Bombs? No, clearly the Chernobyl Knights should use Molotov Cocktails!

I wanted my chainsaw to be a radial saw blade instead!

And you've probably seen my Fezglitch already.

I've played one game already, and no one was more shocked than I that I won!
Score was 2-1 against Lizardmen, and was very nearly 3-1, but since I had to make 2 go-for-its to score on turn 8 of the 2nd half, I of course fell down in the end zone.  Long ago I did something to offend an old Gypsy woman and she laid a curse upon me: I will always roll a 1 when trying to score by making a go-for-it. It is a cross I have to bear, but considering other possible curses I suppose I got off easy.

The Troll is sculpted by Warploque Miniatures.  It's just recently open for business, so currently has a small collection but he's got many more incredible miniatures coming.
This guy is an amazing talent.  Visit his webstore, buy his minis & support this great artist!
I am confident he's going to become one of the most well known and loved miniatures sculptors.