Brokentooth's Guide to Goblin Greatness: Cruise On Your Wyvern

You knows, as much as we like to talk about war... fightin' and killin' isn't the only good thing in life, sure it's one of the best things I'd never say it twernt, but there is more to life, and when you're the king o' the tribe it's good to enjoy all the perks of the crown!  And one o' the best perks is impressing the ladies! 

Some of the goblin youth started snickering and cackling at this...

Oh fine, you laugh now, but when you have your eye on a sharp toothed lass and she fergets all about you because she sees a goblin ride by on a fierce black wolf, then yell regret laughing at me! 

Some of them perked up at this and shut their yaps.

Uh-huh, that's what I thought.  Already happened to some a you hasn't it?  You sloggin through the muckengunk, splattered and foul and some fancy gob is gettin all the attention accounta his wolf or thundering chariot.  Well just imagine how much the pretty red eyes will widen up if you swooped down on a green beauty like Spitter!  A wyvern is a dangerous monster of war, but don't forget all the other advantages a sweet ride can bring ya!  Why once I buzzed low over an elven village and damned if I didn't hear a whole mess of elf ladies shriek and squeel! Yeah that's right, I'm sure their hearts fluttered wondering what dashing young goblin could be in the saddle.  So don't you forget it...

Brokentooth's speech drifted off at this point, his eyes focused on a memory hovering about a foot before his face.  He didn't even notice that one of the young goblins made off with his lunch.

...........................

Brokentooth the Goblin King on his Wyvern, Spitter is finished.

This is one very big mini, and try as I might, I couldn't find a way to photo it without take a whole lot of photos, so hope you won't mind the pixel flood gates being opened... 

Click on any for a close up

Here we go:

Details:

So the first mini for the Brokentooth Tribe Goblin Army is finished.

Still to go: 300+ goblins & others ;)

More Mayhem to Follow...

Wyvern W.I.P.

Just a quick update to show the progress on Brokentooth's Wyvern, "Spitter".

One of my favorite things to paint is reptile skin, so this was very enjoyable.
I've got the skin at about 95% finished, just a spot of blending here or there to do, and I think I'll refrain from adding any edge highlights, since I'm liking the look of it right now, seems more natural, subdued highlights as they are now.

King Brokentooth will be the first mini completed for the Brokentooth Goblin army: seems fitting.

Here's the work in progress shots:

More to follow...

Brokentooth's Guide to Goblin Greatness: Being the biggest, baddest goblin you can be.

Brokentooth surveyed the young goblins before him.  Pathetic. One of two showed promise, but the bulk of them? rabble.  sigh.

Quiet down or I'll stuff you in the wolf pen and ring the dinner bell!  You're given me a headpounding. 

That shut them up.  Mostly.

Alright.  I probably won't live forever.  The shamans keep working on that, but I think it's more likely I'll die from their potions than live longer.  So someday someone has to take my place.  It might be one of you, however depressing the notion is. And if you don't want to be trampled by pinkones on horses or slaved up by orcs you'll listen close!  Now, I've told you about the powerful arms of a goblin army... the giant things and trolls, and you best remember that, but arms aren't much good without a back & head!  No indeed, arms all flopping around on the ground, spurting gouts of blood. Useless. The goblins in bulk are the back of an army and it's all lead by the head, and that's the leader. And if that leader aint a goblin then what's the point? So if you ever want to be leader, or you're pushed forward and have no choice, then it's up to you to be the biggest, baddest most clever goblin there is!  I can't help you much on being clever, and some of you there's just no help at all, but being big & mean you gots some control over. 

An army looks to it's leader, so if they can't see you, you're lost.  Armies want to see their leader is tough too, tougher than the enemy or they may run off, so the secret is find the biggest monster you can, and ride it to battle.  It's not much of a secret... you'll see some orcs and pinkboys doing this, maybe even an elf, but often as not these leaders stay in their tents lookin at their scraps, but that's not much reassurance fer goblins. 

Now, you've seen my Spitter...

Much snickering and cackles broke out among the goblin youth.

Ack! That's not what I meant and you knows it!  I mean my Wyvern!  Still.. that is a pretty good one...
Anyways, my Wyvern Spitter is a serious mean beast!  I stole the egg from an Orc camp and reared him from a pup.  Most big beasts like wyverns, dragons, birdcats can and will eat a goblin down in one gulp, but if you can avoids it, you're on your way to being a great leader! 

.....................................

I think Brokentooth deserves his own monster mount.  Kings of War doesn't allow for Goblin leaders to ride big flying monsters, it has that in common with Warhammer.  However, the combo of the ally system & liberal use of 'counts as' offer a lot of possibilities to bring this otherwise never seen possibility to the battlefield.

You could take units of allied orcs or humans, finding a goblin-looking version for them, and then bring in a character on a flying beast: easy as pie!  There is also a goblin leader on a mechanical giant, so if you don't mind your flying beast 'chicken flail flying' then that's an option too.

I have admired this very old Citadel Miniatures Orc War Wyvern since I started playing miniatures games.  My friend Bill who got me into this hobby had one,  just damn beautiful, and I loved it.  This is a great sculpt, so much character, and it's 'cute' for a monster too.  I think it is easily the best Wyvern GW ever made, maybe the best flying monster in general as well.

I found one on Ebay many years ago, and decided it's finally time to paint it.

I converted it some of course, to give it a functional-looking saddle, and a goblin general, and it needed a functioning-looking reins too.  It overhangs a base quite a lot, so I also gave it a tall rocky outcrop for the base.

Here he is:

He will be painted by the end of the month.  That's the plan anyway.

More mayhem to follow...

Brokentooth's Guide to Goblin Greatness: Cowardly Giants. & A Review of Foundry's Giant

What the snag? Huh? Ack! You youngins still here? I'd just nodded off to a nice sleep and some kobold lasses were just about to.. oh nevermind that now.  Small use to be king of the goblins when you can't drift off for a well deserved nap.  I've completely lost my caravan of thought.  

Seeing a few dozen gleaming red eyes looking up at him anxiously, he continued.

Alright then.  We'll talk more about the biggest and best fighters you can muster! 

"Orcs?" piped up a bent-nosed scraggler.

Ack! No! Spit those orcs! They're no good and that's fer sure. You don't want them around unless you want no food or shiny bits for yerself when fightin's done.  They's a greedy lot who completely exaggerate their own worth. 

No, one of the best biggest is giants.

"You already told bout them!" hacked the bright goblin girl.

Oh. Yes, that's right, I did. But I didn't talk about the best giants: the cowardly giants!

"How's a coward good for a fight?" asked an uncommonly dense stupid boy.

Oh someone kick him! And quit interrupting! Cowards are great for fights! Any fool can go charging off waving a sharp stick and caterwauling at the enemy.  A coward knows enough to do what's smart to keep himself alive.  Just threaten them enough so they know it's safer not to run, and they'll fight smart. Now, you don't want all your army fighting smart, or you have to feed and pay them all.. you want a good amount to die so you save more valuables for yourself of course, but you also want to win and for that you need cowards!  

"But won't they be afraid to fight?" asked the uncommonly dense stupid boy.

Brokentooth let out a heavy sigh.

Yes! That's the point! That way they'll kill the enemy before they can get to them to fight! 

Brokentooth figured he'd keep an eye on that boy, and put him in sharp stick caterwauling training.

Some giants are such thorough cowards they've become exceptionally good at rock throwing! 
Like Trolls that throw rocks, only they can throw even bigger, heavier rocks. Plus the enemy can see them a good way off and it scares the breakfast out of them! 

......................................

When I saw the giant from Foundry, and I was ordering some paints, I figured I had to get one to add to my goblin army! 

Technically, it is called a Troll, but they are such big, tall gangling trolls, they're really more 'giant' than 'troll'. 

The one I picked out, to be either a Giant in the army, or a Stone Thrower, was this one: 

So I'll walk you through the unpacking & assembly process: 

Tutorial:

Here are all the parts. It is a very big kit. 

The first thing I noticed as a potential problem is heavy parts with small contact points. 

The connection for the foot however is a very large deep tab.  Nice.

Stands up on his own without a problem.

The waist looks like a pretty deep contact point, but the connection isn't very flush.

It needs to be filled either at front or back, depending if you want him hunched forward or not. 

The wrist: that's not sufficient in my opinion for a solid bond.  The fist weighs more than most minis.

The rock-hand is worse. I'd not advise just gluing and expecting it to hold with a bit of knock around.

There was also some miscast to the mini: part of his side didn't fill, so I filled & resculpted with green stuff.

So I got out the dremel and sank some very deep pins.  

You could use a hand operated pin vice, but that's a ton of work.

Using deep pins also allowed me to extend the head out on a longer neck and angle it to look more where he was aiming his rock throw.

After a pin connects the hand & arm, filling will be required.

Almost done!

All the pinning and gluing has been done, and a base made for him. 

The contact at the waist seemed a poor match.  I bent him forward, so sculpted the gap in his back.

Since I'd made a longer neck to angle around to see where he was throwing, I also needed to sculpt some more to his neck.

All the filling & sculpt work is now done.

Special Delivery! It's a Rock! 

Oh! I ruined the surprise.

And the wind-up...

Posing with his 'little' rock-throwing troll buddy. I love the variety! 

And he'll serve great as an additional combat giant instead of a catapult if I need.

Review: 

This is a massive kit with a ton of character.  I just love the result.

As you probably gathered however, building him was a ton of work.  

I would not recommend this miniature to a novice. If you don't feel confident in pinning and simple sculpting of gaps you might want to practice on less expensive miniatures than this one first. 

I'd also highly recommend using a dremel or other electric drill for the pinning: this would be a serious pain with a pin vice.  I have a dremel flexible shaft extension, model 255, which lets you use a smaller 'pen grip' which makes things so much easier. 

So, it is a miniature that requires extra time & work, but I think it is easily worth it. 

More Goblin Mayhem to come! 

Brokentooth's Guide to Goblin Greatness: Gotta Getta Giant!

Now settle down you cackling twits.. I know you enjoyed playing with our rock-throwing Troll... well, except for maybe Skugg.. he's a bit of a smear against that tree, but I don't think his parents cared much for him anyway... no matter. Now's time for one of the most important lessons! Trolls are great there's no doubt, but bigger is better! So..  eh? What is it you? Yes I see your annoying green hand waving like it's on fire.. what?

A small young buck with a bent nose piped, "But I thought you said smaller is better & that size duzn't count!"

What?? Hit your head against the ground you dolt, shake up some sense!  Our size being small doesn't count..of course! But if you think size doesn't count you're dumber than you smell!  Size matters.. bigger tha better! 

Best for size is Giants!  Yo ho fi fum or whatever some say.. Giants are good. Dead good! Get a lot if you can, and keep the Trolls from eat'n their goats, you don't want one too hungry near you. 

"But I thought they'z just real big hyumen.. or dwarvz!  All pink & stinky with long hair out tha top & bottom of their heads.. how can ya trust them?" Asked a sly goblin lass, picking her toenails with a broken arrowhead.

Oh!  Them.. sure, you can use them in a pinch, but they're an odd lot.. no love for the little hyumen and dwarvz, but anything really really big is a giant.  They all do about the same thing.. they stomp, kick, pick up enemy and eats them. No need to be too picky, but I agree ones that don't look like hyumen and dwarvz are best.  

So let's see some and maybe you'll learn something if you remember not to get et.

.....................................

One of the things I was instantly happy about with the Kings of War Goblin army list was the inclusion of Giants.  Giants are fun!  They're not bad in the KoW game either.  They have a bit of randomness that Warhammer players will find familiar, like random attack value, but they're one of the most reliable units in the Goblin Army (take a lot of hits before waver or defeated).  They also hit very hard and pretty accurately, for a Goblin army.  Plus they just look cool. 

See? They look cool.

Giants could look like very big humans, or could be completely different.  They're probably one of the oldest creatures from myth, found in many different cultures.  For Norse Myth they're even more powerful than the Gods...but that might be a bit much for the tabletop if you want any balance to a game. 

I actually have a giant I've already painted, a few years ago, but it isn't exactly right for this army, so I started from scratch, considering the various options.  I decided against the 'really big man' giant concept. Even if they'd be happy to help goblins, I'm not sure goblins would be too comfortable with the arrangement, since they look like even bigger versions of their enemies. 

Considering his hem-line, I hope he's not Scottish.

So that ruled out a lot of the giants that are out there: the various GW giants, Reaper, Black Scorpion, Otherworld, Warploque (Warploque's would be my first choice for the human-giant style). 

So I needed something else, something more 'animal-monster' in style...

Ummm.. maybe not.

Something 'gobliny'. 

I strongly considered the Privateer Press Troll Mountain King, because I'd really love to paint it, but it is a very pricey miniature, and being so very large might make any other giant look like it isn't a giant... maybe someday Kings of War will have even larger monsters, and then I may get one, but for now I'll save the idea and the money. 

I was torn between a final two: Wargods of Olympus Titan and a Reaper Jabberwock.

When left with any hard choice, pick both. So I did. 

Giant #1: The Gubenderf

This guy looks very likely to associate with goblins.

Nothing says a Giant must be a 'Giant Human'... this thing is giant, so it's a Giant.

The Goblins call this breed a Gubenderf. They do this because it can't understand their language, or it may get mad at such a silly name. 'Derf' is the sound a large animal makes as the air leaves it's lungs just moments before the rest of it is flattened when one of these steps on it. 'Guben' is a Goblin word for mealtime.  They're quite fond of the soft meat-paste left behind when one of these steps on an animal. 

Giant #2: The Jibberwog

This guy is such goofy fun he had to be included in a Goblin army!

Goblins call these Jibberwogs because they do make a whole lot of noise, always jibbering to themselves.

The goblins are sure it thinks it is saying something, but they really don't know what.  

Sure, Giants don't fly in the rules, and this guy has wings, but then, so do chickens. 

This is my favorite Jabberwocky miniature, so I was sure I'd find an excuse to use it sooner or later. 

The Giants together:

They're about the same size, with the Jibberwog a bit bigger, but the Gubenderf a lot more solid. 

I'm very happy to have a variety of different creatures.  The rules being the same stats makes no difference. 

Which do you like best? 

That's all for now.  Tomorrow is Tuesday-Two-Beastmen, and sometime later this week I'll likely announce some kind of give-away, since though 300 followers is still aways away, about to hit the 200k view, probably in a few hours, and that might be a good time to do that.  So watch for that soon. 

More Madness to Follow...

Here are some giants having some fun...

Enjoy!