Frothlip & Friends

I have very nearly cleared the backlog of draw goblins (minis that have been prepped to paint, but live in a draw so that they can't guilt trip me). From left to right we have Dwarf Maimer (Chronicle N12 Hobgoblins, 1985), Sileth Frothlip and Kudra Stunty Smasher (BC4 Mighty Ugezod's Death Commandos, 1985), all sculpted by Nick Lund, Standard Bearer (DL2 Aly Morrison's Hobgoblin Warriors, 1984) and Hobgoblin Champion 1 (Oakbound Studio, 2023), sculpted by Paul Hicks. 

In case folks were wondering where they might find reasonably priced Oldhammer-style hobs, I thought it might be useful to have a comparison shot with the Oakbound chap and some classic C36 slotta hobs. I think he scales rather well.

The backlog of hobs left to paint is still ridiculous. I've really let myself drift with this one, with a couple of year-long breaks where I got distracted by other shiny things, and with no clear end goal. I think it's time to go full Stillman on this lot. Ideally, I'd like to complete a playable hobgoblin force before the end of 2025. As with the latest lot, the target is acceptable tabletop standard and to grind through them in small batches. Well, that's the plan. Gods know, I hate batch painting :( 

The Good, The Bad & The Lead Rot

 

The painting queue has been overrun by 1980s hobgoblins, shouldering past the orcs and booting wee Saxons out of their way. The latest batch were so keen to be painted that they forgot to put their trousers on! From left to right we have a DL2 (1984), a pre-slotta C36 (1984) and a slotta C36 (1985), all sculpted for Citadel by Aly Morrison.

They were undercoated black several years ago and it really was high time they were painted. However, when I started to apply the base coats I noticed that one of the hobs appeared to be suffering from early onset lead rot! I suspect that the mini may have been like that back when it was undercoated, but for the life of me I can't remember.

I sought a second opinion on the Oldhammer Community Facebook group and had the diagnosis confirmed. But what to do? In the end I decided to paint and be damned. Either the rot is now inert or it's slowly eating away at the old soldier's insides. If it's the latter then at least he'll get a few turns around a battlefield before his leg falls off.

Hobgoblin banners and shields from WFB 3rd ed. Warhammer Armies

I've also been taking stock of the hobgoblins I'd painted previously. These were my first tilt at a project when I was getting back into gaming. Many have seen a fair bit of action since as a unit of mercenaries in our games of Dragon Rampant. The four C36 hobs below needed some minor battle damage touched up, but otherwise I think they still pass muster.

Likewise, I'm still happy with these two. They are 'Manic Hobgoblin Hero' from the BC2 Monsters Starter Set (another Aly Morrison sculpt) and a Chronicle N12 hobgoblin by Nick Lund (both 1985, I think). It's odd that while the new slotta sculpts for the C36 range leaned further into the Steppe warrior aesthetic, the Chronicle range went in the exact opposite direction. The N12 hobgoblins all have fantastical versions of Samurai arms and armour, with many having a central horn reminiscent of  Japanese oni. Thankfully, this chap has a helmet on and shouldn't look too out of place alongside the older DL2 hobs.

And I'm still ridiculously pleased with how these shields turned out. I'm looking forward to painting more.

I was never going to be satisfied with all the old paint jobs. Rather than just strip and start again, I attempted to renovate the three below by painting directly on top of the old varnish. They're still not going to win any prizes, but they are a definite improvement and will look fine among the ranks.

The chap on the right is the oldest mini in the army to-date. He's 'Grizlock the Hobgoblin' from the 1983 Dungeon Monsters Starter Set. I don't know who sculpted him, but if I had to guess I'd say maybe the Perry twins? Answers on a postcard, folks.

Hello, good evening and welcome

 

I know what you’re thinking. What sort of idiot starts a miniatures blog in 2024? Hi there.

Mine is a familiar tale. As a kid, between the mid-80s and early-90s, I was obsessed with miniatures and RPGs. This just so happened to coincide with the Golden Age of Oldhammer, and it was glorious! As the 1990s rolled on I discovered sex and drugs and rock n’ roll (although possibly not in that order) and my little lead people were left behind. And yet the dream persisted: of an evil horde, resplendent with chaos spikey death bits, sweeping across a ping-pong table, driving their enemies before them. So, come the recent global pandemic, isolating at home and with time on my hands, I thought, ‘Sod it. I’m going to paint a goblin.’

From the 'Golden Age of chaos spikey death bits'

There were a couple of resources that really helped ease my way back into the hobby. One was the advice and support from the wonderful folk over at the Oldhammer Forum. The other was the wealth of brilliant miniatures blogs. I’ve been looking for a home to document my ongoing gaming projects that isn’t across disparate forum threads or a churn of social media feeds. A blog seemed like the natural option. Even if no one ever reads it I will derive great joy from the alphabetically ordered labels.

Anyway, that’s enough navel-gazing. Bring on the orcs!

Nick Lund wolf jockeys

These were all sculpted by Nick Lund in the 1980s. The orc on the far left and the second from the right are Chronicle N15 orc wolfriders and were distributed by Citadel back in the day. The other orcs and wolves are all from the Grenadier Fantasy Warriors range, which are happily still in production in the UK by Forlorn Hope Games. The Grenadier orcs are absolute units even by today’s standards. I think the Chronicle wolves look nicer, but having seen the prices they go for on eBay I decided  the Grenadier wolves are nice enough! I painted these a couple of years ago but had recently dug them out to try taking some photos with my newly acquired Jon Hodgson Backdrops Book from Handiwork Games. Anyway, hope you like them. Cheers.