AdamH’s OWAC VIII Intro Post – Green rats? What is going on here?

If you have been following the OWAC for a while now you will know that I like Skaven. I like the look of big hordes of models together and the play style of throwing loads of disposable bodies in waves at your enemy until they are overwhelmed with sheer numbers. 

However, for a painting challenge it is a lot of effort to get through so many models. A small, elite army would be a much better idea right?

Anyway I am doing a goblin only army this year.

Specifically I am doing a Forest Goblin army, full of wonderful, characterful (i.e. goofy) Kev Adam’s sculpts. As well as some of my all time other favorites from the 5th edition lines (Trolls, Marauder Giant etc.), I honestly can’t wait to paint these figures! Let’s take a look at what I am planning then:

Here are the characters for the army, Goblin characters are so cheap so there are plenty of them (and I have more I can add if I make good progress).

The rank and file Gobbos, unlike my Skaven (in which all of my clanrats are mixed together) I am separating them into defined units armed with each weapon type.

Some of them are even riding spiders! These are the top of my list of “goofy” sculpts, I still like them but I am a little unsure how well they will paint up in my style. I guess we will see :).

Finally, as mentioned above these are some of my favorite models from this time period. I was so happy when the recent Orcs and Goblins Made to Order rolled around and they became available again since it meant I didn’t have to spend hundreds to pick them up second hand on fleebay. I also have another six trolls which I will try to get done but again these are outside of the initial scope of the challenge just in case they take longer to paint than I expect.

Finally just to mention why the models are not on bases (and have had tabs removed), this is because I am trying something new with the bases. I will be using resin bases with 3d printed forest plants. Due to the complexity of the bases it would be hard to paint the models while attached so I have them all separate and will attach after painting.

For this year’s challenge I am targeting the following list:

UNIT	EXTRAS	#	TOTAL
CHARACTERS
Forest Goblin Warlord (50)		2	100
Forest Goblin Battle Standard (56)		2	130
Forest Goblin Big Boss (33)	Gigantic Spider (50)	1	83
Forest Goblin Big Boss (33)	Giant Spider (4)	2	74
Forest Goblin Shaman (28)		2	56
Forest Goblin Shaman Champion (83)	Giant Spider (4)	2	174
Forest Goblin Master Shaman (159)	Gigantic Spider (50)	1	209
REGIMENTS
Forest Goblins (2.5)	Standard (2.5) Musician (2.5) Shields (.5)	15	50
Forest Goblins (2.5)	Standard (2.5) Musician (2.5) Shields (.5) DHW (1)	15	65
Forest Goblins (2.5)	Standard (2.5) Musician (2.5) Shields (.5) Spears (.5)	15	57.5
Forest Goblins (2.5)	Musician (2.5) Short Bows (.5)	10	32.5
Forest Goblins (2.5)	Musician (2.5) Short Bows (.5)	10	32.5
Forest Goblin Spider Riders (9)	Standard (9) Musician (9) Shields (1) Bows (1)	5	63
Forest Goblin Spider Riders (9)	Standard (9) Musician (9) Shields (1) Bows (1) Spears (1)	5	68
River Trolls (65)		3	195
Spider Swarms (100)		4	400
Giant (200)		1	200
TOTAL			1989.5

I appreciate that the above list isn’t technically “legal”, for example having two of both the Warlord and Battle Standards. This is because I want flexibility with the army so have both mounted and unmounted versions of a lot of the characters.

As always I have a few surprises planned, as well as some stretch models if I get through things quicker than expected (for example I actually have nine Trolls all prepped, as well as an extra rank or two for most units). So fingers crossed I can get through them at a good pace.

Finally here is my test model/tribute to give you an idea of the scheme I will be going for:

Anyway, looking forward to putting together something different this year and at the end of it having a new army that plays very different to my Skaven… well, is a different colour at least.