Finishing a New Year's Resolution

[heychadwick]

So, early this year I signed up for a New Year's Resolution on Da Warpath of what I will get painted this year. They have these special medals you can get and....well....I'm a sucker for 'em. ;D

So, I said I would paint:

200 Night Goblins (mix of 6th Ed and BfSP)
50 Common Goblins

The goal was to do a really good job on these. I've got a BFA in Painting, but have always been lazy when it came to painting. I would put a single coat on some orcs and not even get rid of the mold lines. So, this was an attempt to get some units really painted.

Eric, your wife had given me some not-the-best scores at the last Brawler Bash for my OnG and the reason was that some of my older stuff was not the best. So, I've been wanting to make sure all my units are good. After I get all these goblins done, I am going to start some new units of Orcs.

I have to admit that I've had most of these goblins for.....8-9 years? I haven't painted them. Well, about 80 of the Night Goblins and all 50 of the Common Goblins . The Common Goblins had all been converted to have hand weapons as the current models don't even allow that in a build.

So, I got pretty far in this effort throughout the year. I would do things like paint the robes on 80 Night Goblins in a row. I have to admit that I got a bit burnt out. Also, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 came out for the PC. I lost some time. I was thinking that I would have to really rush to get it done.

I found out that my ankle needed ANOTHER surgery. This is my 3rd on it. After each surgery, I end up laying on the sofa for 2 weeks and absolutely doped up on pain meds. I figured I wouldn't make it at all. Well, I had the surgery last week. I then find out that I am much more lucid than I was the last two times. I can even paint. I've gotten a lot done in the past few days and I realized I don't have as much left as I thought I did.

I finished up the Night Goblins today. I only have 30 Common Goblins to do! I am going to sneak out to the garage on crutches tomorrow when my wife isn't looking to use the air brush to base coat my first skin tone on the guys. After that, I have until Monday to finish them. If I do that, then I will have finished the Resolution!

Oh, some pictures of some of my work. I keep a blog at Da Warpath called "Watching Paint Dry: painting in slow motion" as I know I am pretty slow.





Hand painted, metal banner




Sorry for the rambling nature of the post. I am on pain meds......

If I finish, I don't know when I will be able to post more pictures.

[Chris M.]

Nice miniatures. I love the blue robes.

[Tom McClure]

I'm a fan of the blue robes as well! What colors did you use for basecoat and highlight?

[heychadwick]

Thanks guys.

You know the brand Folk Art? The cheap acrylic paint you can get at Wal-mart or Michael's? I used one of theirs: 403 Navy Blue. You can actually see the bottle in the upper right of the first photo.

I just painted that on. Then, I used a GW blue wash on it. Next, I added some white and dry brushed most of the robes with some regular painting on the hoods and sleeves and such. Very easy to do....even when you have 80 of them lined up in a row. I will admit that I used an airbrush for the first time to do the first blue coat. I watered down the paint to work with the airbrush and quickly swept over all of 'em in one go.

[heychadwick]

Yes! I finished my challenge. I painted all the unpainted goblins I had at the start of the year.

[retroalias]

Congrats! Great work. I always find it easier to get things painted when I have a deadline in place, even if it is an arbitrary one. It also hleps if you have a group of people that are all trying to paint models, sort of turns it into a competition which challenges me to paint more and more.

[heychadwick]

Alright, I finally got the camera out and got some more pictures. The battery was dying, so I didn't get a lot of time to take as many as I wanted. I don't think the quality is nice, but there are pictures. I also got all my goblin units out and put them on my display board. I did leave out squig hoppers and I think I am missing a unit of wolf riders, but it still looks good. I've got enough for a full All Goblin Army. I need more gobbo characters, though. I've got 3 shaman and the BfSP 2 characters. Oh, I also have another wolf chariot and Grom and his chariot not done. I figure chariots were different.

Out of these pictures, I painted all the infantry blocks this year. The fast cav and war machines were not painted this year.







I'm also really happy with these two units of Common Goblins. I converted them to have hand weapons for each of their guys. The boxed set now doesn't even give that option. I had to use dwarf, human, undead, and even skaven weapons. I was originally going to give them shields, but I am going to wait for the new book to come out before I do anything more. I do need to base them, though.









I know it's not Golden Demon standards or anything, but these guys are some of the best units I've ever done. I always just slapped one coat of Goblin Green on everything before, even if I knew how to paint. I got a BFA in Painting at UNC Greensboro, but am just lazy. So, I've been really trying to make an effort at painting and I think it's really shown off. I've done 3 layers of skin color. I've even done 3 layers of brown on all wood (even backs of shields). So, these units are some of the best I've ever done.

[Chris M.]

I think they look great!

Here is something a painting GURU once told me.
"In a unit of 40 goblins do you really think that your opponent will care if the 39th goblin is showcase quality? He wont be able to even pick him out so why take so much time on him to start? Get the army painted and then when you have time go back and pick out the showcase details. You'll be happier with your army."

I have lived by the "39th Goblin" rule since that day as it made a lot of sense.

I really like your paint. Nice job!

[Tom McClure]

I am so jealous! So what are the key tools to include in a goblin force?

[heychadwick]

Well, I have been so lazy in painting units before that I really wanted to give it my all. Also, I don't have a reason to get the army painted fast and then go back to detail it. I have played with these guys unpainted for years. I figured I would go ahead and just do it all right the first time. There aren't a lot of tournaments out here in Charlotte, so no worries to get something painted fast.

What are the keys to an All Goblin Force? Errr.....I dunno! I usually do a mixed force. I am just showing all my gobbos for the sake of it. I've got a mess of orcs, trolls, giants, etc that are out of the picture. I've never done an All Gobbo force before. It never really appealed to me before. I have to say, though, that it is much more interesting in this edition.

What would I put in an All Gobbo force? I read that someone at the Alamo GT went with a perfect battle score with a mostly NG army. He had lots of squig herders and Orc characters for his blocks of NG. Orc magic is just far better these days. I don't have any squig herders at the moment, but I have been thinking about getting some. They would definitely make it in the list.

I would read that MMU article I wrote, though. I would have a number of Goblin units. Some would have to be big to be anvil units. Others would only be 20 big and be flankers and distractions/sacrifices. I love me some trolls. I have about 10 of 'em. I'd make at least one unit of 6. I think a proper horde would be really good. You can do a lot with it. Throw in some characters to give some backbone or something special to some units. Just make sure you have a lot of units. That's what I would do with an All Gobbo army.

My latest list for the NC Masters event has a few units of NG, a unit of Big 'Uns, 6 trolls, and a giant. A few other bits, but that's the bulk of it.

[retroalias]

Great job, they look fantastic. It"s so right that no one is looking at the back ranks of a horde army. When you are painting that many models there is no way they can all win a Golden Demon.

I'm putting the finishing touches on my own OnG army. How does common goblins compare to NG?

[Chris M.]

Common Goblins are not as good as regular goblins IMHO. They have the same stats except for leadership, which is lower, but can take none of the upgrades that make the night goblins fantastic. You loose netters, fanatics, and the cool black robes! The night gobbos are a support troop though and work best as this role. Very good as a redirector also. Just remember that you get the rule where if your bigger than a unit that flees or breaks from combat you dont take a test with em. They are great for holding an opponent midfield so you can set up your charges better.

[heychadwick]

Actually, there is another important stat line that makes NG better. Night Goblins have an Init of 3 while Common Goblins have an Init of 2. Throw in all the extra upgrades that NG can have and NG are just better. Even if you don't take fanatics in every unit, your opponent doesn't know! So, NG are always considered more of a threat. The low leadership can be dealt with by having the General nearby (which is best being a Black Orc Warlord).

Common Goblins used to have strength of having a great armor save. They come with light armor and you gave them a shield upgrade and parry bonus w/ hand weapon. This made them " 'Ard Grotz" with an armor save of 4+. It was always a surprise to opponents when lowly goblins were hard to kill. With the change to the parry bonus, it really takes the wind out of the sails of the Common Goblin. You get a 5+ armor save which is nothing, really, and a 6+ parry ward save. If you go with Night Goblins and hw/shield, you still get the 6+ ward save. Both goblins are 3 pts. The shield would make Common Goblins 4pts. So, who would pay the extra points these days?

There are rumors that Common Goblins will get some sort of unit upgrade in the new book. The rumor mongers say it's something like the DE assassin or some sort of 2-hand weapon goblin. Not sure if that means common grotz will get to use 2 hand weapons or the upgrade is something with 2 weapons.

I've stated it before but Common Goblins with Init 2 really hurts them. I think goblin fast cavalry really took a hit. I'm not saying that all fast cav are bad, but I think goblin fast cav are bad. What cavalry is good to charge in and ALWAYS attack last? They are expensive enough that a unit of 10 is a big investment. Their stats are pretty terrible. They take casualties pretty easy and without the numbers they have a hard time. It used to be that OnG had some of the best fast cav in the game. They are Core choices and you can take as many as you want. I would AT LEAST go with 2 fast cav units in every list. Now, I tend not to take any.

Most people say a unit of 5 boar boyz are better war machine hunters. They don't get Vanguard, but they can last in combat. WS 3, T4, and AS 3+ allows them to live longer to actually get attacks in.

[retroalias]

Great feedback. I really like the look of the NG compared to the common goblin. This stacked with the advantages of the NG (Int, Fanatics, etc) mean I won't be getting any infantry units anytime soon.

[Erik Lindley]

Having 200+ goblins painted is impressive Jim!

I particularly like your freehand on the banners and the night goblin units. It adds a lot imo. Kudos for being brave enough to try it, most people aren't.

The highlights are very stark. That means they will pop very well from the tabletop! You have to give up a little bit during close scrutiny of individual models to get that effect. It is always a balancing act.

There are a few armies over the years I have seen that were exquisitely painted, but consistently over-looked in the players choice/painting award department because from 3 foot away they just looked... "blah"

You have a nice looking horde there buddy :>

-Erik