Stag's Spida Rida (April entry in the OWAC)

Spiders so large they appear to be wearing the pelts of small mammals.

Excuse my language, but FUCK YEAH! Here's my last unit of Gobbos for the first edition of the OWAC, 10 Spider Riders!

I really worked overtime to get these guys done in time, and I really mean that! Due to work commitment, I couldn't start on these until two weeks ago to the day, which means that I painted 20 figures in 14 days. That's probably my record. They are not as nice as my last few units, they lack some details and highlights, and I had to cut some corners, but I was expecting worse! Now looking at the pictures I'm satisfied with them.

As usual for anyone who knows me, I went with bright colours for the spiders (I can't help myself), but used cold colours of pinks and purples to contrast them to the rest of my "hot trio" of Red/Orange/Yellow of my army colour scheme (as you can see on the clothes, feathers, etc.) I like the contrast it makes, and these guys really pop! The shields are the plastic shields from the 4th edition plastic spearmen gobbos, nice shields really, it gives a bit more style to the unit.

Now I did a mistake in the painting process; I painted the riders separately from the spiders. Big mistake. These guys are really difficult to pose and glue, so I had to go back and fix some of the spiders to erase some of "white" glue traces (because I had time to do that!). Also, I really should've pinned them. They hold fine, but I don't think these guys would survive a trip across border lines, for example.

Nevertheless, they are going to fight many a battles in my gaming room, for sure! 

In the last two months of the Challenge, I've submitted 43 gobbos and 10 spiders! That's 53 figures in a 61 days period! Last week I couldn''t feel my right arm (growing old sucks).

Oh yeah, points tally :

- 9 spider riders, including musician and standard, equipped with lances, shields and bows : 132pts

- Stag, Big Boss on giant spider, equipped with shield : 38pts

Total : 170pts

As a final comment,  I'm now the proud owner of a completely painted and based 1010pts army of Forest Goblins, and that's what the OWAC was all about! Have a look all May at the OWAC blog for a recap by each challengers of their army. There's some really good stuff in there. Mine will follow towards mid-month...

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Zrazoig, Fang and more Doom (January entry in the OWAC)

It does not seem to bother them than their chances of survival are low, but then only the most crazed Goblins would want to be propelled in the air anyway. These Goblins are known as Doom Divers, although it is usually for other (saner) goblins to call them "Bat Wings Loonies". In the dirty, brutal and often painfully short life of a goblin the chance of swooping through the air and smashing right through their enemies is just too good to miss. The Doom Divers know that the ultimate excitement of diving through the air is at high speed is well worth the considerable risks. Though it is a sad way for a Goblin to go, it is infinitely more better than to die an ignoble death by the hands of a hungry Troll.

The first submission of January is Zrazoig, the almighty Shaman, and his trusted sacred spider, Fang the hairy.

This is of course the famous Giant Spider rider released in 1991 by Marauder Miniatures, Not surprisingly, the orc and gobbo ranges matches perfectly with my 4th edition Forest goblins.

Another figure from the heydays of the late 80s and early 90s, it oozes charm. It was also incredibly easy to assemble, being basically a three piece figure (spider head, rest of the body and then the shaman). He's going to be the main magic user in my Forest Goblin army. Once again I found a way to incorporate yellow and orange to tie it with the rest of my army. Most of the spider symbols on my goblins are orange, so I figured it would make sense the sacred spiders from that Forest would be at least partially orange! Still not completely happy with my orange, but it will do.

The second entry for this month is my second (and last) Doom Diver. Obviously subtlety is not required here, so I went with bold yellow for the wings, and a red suit. 

This is the second Doom Diver I paint for the army, and I inverted the colours from my previous one. With two of them, I almost have a squadron of the little crazy kamikaze!

And here is my progress report pic :

I was hoping to include an infantry regiment for this month, but it has become clear that this will not happen. I've started working on a 30 figure Forest Goblin regiment but there's no way I will finish it in time, and I'd like as much as possible to only submit finished units. Still, for an army I began basically two months and a half ago, I'm pretty happy with the results. Gotta love painting challenges and peer pressure!

So, for this month :

• 1 Doom Diver : 100pts
• Forest Goblin Shaman on Gigantic Spider* :  128pts

Total : 228pts

*I cheated a little on the Gigantic Spider, as I used the point value from the 3rd edition rulebook. Why? I wanted to distinguish this spider from the spiders used by the 4th ed spider riders, since it is much bigger and looks more badass (and also sits on a 40mm base). Basically, I count it as a monster instead of just a mundane mount. It is how I intend to use it in game.

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