Tag Archives: goblins

May 30 2022

Mythic Legions (Wasteland): Thumpp by The Four Horsemen

I know what you’re saying. Dave, you lying bastard! You said you were all done with the Goblins, and now you’re back with another. Well, truth be told, after collecting all my Gobbies together and realizing that I was missing the one released in the Wasteland assortment, I just couldn’t let that stand. I friend of mine was willing to trade me his for one of my extra Skeleton Legion Builders, and here we are today… let’s check out Thumpp!

According to his bio, Thumpp is the very nephew of the Goblin King, No’glin, and commander of an elite force fighting under the flag of Gorgo Aetherblade. He’s a war veteran and has the scrapes to prove it! And was part of an early release at the 2019 DesignerCon. He was later made available to a wider market as part of Wasteland. There’s some stuff I like here, and some stuff I don’t, so let’s get cracking!

Thumpp is built on the standard armored Goblin body, with the addition of some segmented hip and groin armor, and the spiked collar, which we’ve seen a lot of the Goblins wearing. The paint here is standard dark iron, with some excessive rust showing in all the little nooks and crannies of the suit. Other than the orange rust, the only bright spot here is the silver paint used on the chain mail that peeks through at the joints. As always, the finish looks great, making the armor look like it’s been through more than a few campaigns!

On the downside, Thumpp makes use of the big shoulders we last saw on Gonxx. They worked fine on him, but he was built off the burlier Dwarf body, and here they are kind of big and bothersome. Don’t get me wrong, I think they look good on him, but they restrict his movement in the arms, and don’t work well with the collar. They were also crazy difficult to get pegged in, and yet still seem to pop out quite easily… that’s a bad combination! In the end, I will likely use these for displaying him on the shelf, but whenever I’m playing around with him, they’re coming off.

Thumpp gets one head, and it’s pretty fantastic. The portrait certainly fits the role of a seasoned warrior who’s sick of everyone’s shit. The skull cap is painted silver, which is one of the few times, TFH didn’t accessorize the deco to match the rest of the figure, but I don’t mind it. I love his bulbous chin, which looks like a giant air-filled dewlap, with various wart-like bumps. He’s got piercing yellow eyes, and a pair of big tusks rising from his lower jaw. This is definitely one of my favorite Goblin portraits of the bunch!

Thumpp comes with three weapons, one of which, his war hammer, is mentioned in his bio. This isn’t the one that was prevalent in the earlier releases, but rather the Dwarf hammer that was introduced in Advent of Decay. I think it’s a pretty good fit for him, even though it is really long and towers above him. The slender shaft and spiked counterweight makes me think he could reasonably wield this with some effect, despite his small size.

Next up, he has the one-handed axe, which we saw last time carried by the Goblin Legion Builders, so I won’t spend a lot of time on it. This one is fully painted out with a brown handle to go with the woodgrain sculpt. The axe head and pommel are both painted as steel, and they really did a nice job even putting some forging lines in it. I think it looks great slung on his belt.

And finally, you get the sickle sword, which we’ve seen quite a few times, but I tend to associate it with the Vampire Legion Builder the most. It also usually comes in pairs, with one socketed at the pommel and one pegged, so they can be joined together to form a crazy looking double-bladed slicer-dicer. The peg on the bottom of the pommel is a little obvious, and it would have been cool if they had crafted a pommel piece to put on it for when they only hand out one to a figure. I like this sword a lot, and it works OK for the Goblins, but I think the red painted hilt feels off. I wish they had went with dark gray.

And that’s Thumpp! There were a few choices with this figure that didn’t entirely work for me, but all in all I still dig him quite a bit. The shoulders are fine for display, but I take them right off when I’m going to be handling him to save on frustration. Either way, I think he makes a great addition to the Gobbie shelf, as the very last (for reals this time!) Goblin entry to my collection. At least until TFH released the Deluxe Goblin Legion Builder! No Goblins next time! I swear!

May 23 2022

Mythic Legions (Advent of Decay): Goblin Legion Builder by The Four Horsemen

I haven’t done a count recently, but I know that I’m close to being all caught up on reviews of my current Mythic Legions figures. Today, for example, I’m having a look at the very last Goblin in my collection, but don’t worry… there will be more! This time, we aren’t looking at a specific Goblin character, but rather the Legion Builders, which are meant to be generic troops to strengthen your army. I bought a pair of these, and opened them a while ago, so I don’t have an in-package shot to share, so let’s just jump right in and check out these little green bastards!

Unlike last week’s figure, Gonxx, these Goblins return to the slighter build, which has been the norm. Gobbie is decked out in full armor, colored in a deep, dark shade of iron gray, with all the pitting and scrapes that make these sculpts look so damn convincing. This is armor that’s seen its share of battles, and probably saved the wearer’s life on many occasions. Either that, or another Gobbie got killed and this one just claimed his suit. As is often the case with these Legion Builders, there are no additional paint operations on the body, so you won’t see any painted rivets or belts, but I don’t mind. I love the slight upturn at the toes of the long boots, and the angular shoulders are the perfect marrying of style and practical crudeness. He also dons a collar with upward spikes, no doubt protecting the neck from a lucky decapitating swipe of some do-gooder’s blade. The collar, is the only nitpick I have here. It looks great, but it pegs in in the back and that pushes it forward. It doesn’t take much to push the tab out of the back when handling him.

You get two heads to help customize the Legion Builder into multiple troopers. The default comes sans helmet, and lets all his ugly hang out in the open. But generic soldier or no, the portrait is still outstanding. His bulbous wrinkled nose, deep set yellow eyes, bald pate, and pointy Yoda-ears all look great. And yet it’s the mouth that really makes this portrait shine. The wide mouth is packed with a brace of nasty teeth, framed by two upward jutting fangs, likening him to be a lesser cousin to the Orcs of Mythos. I could easily imagine these fiendish chompers biting chunks out of heroes in battle.

The other head may look familiar, as it’s the same sculpt we saw with Gonxx, and it’s still every bit as glorious a noggin. The paint here lacks the detail and rusty patina that came on the named figure, and in its place is just more of that deep iron finish to match the rest of his armor. You do, however, get some great paintwork visible inside the eye holes, showing off those beady eyes. The sculpt and paint are so good, that if I didn’t know better I’d swear the mask could be removed to show a full face sculpt beneath it. It’s worth noting, that this head works best with the spiked collar removed. OK… Let’s check out his weapons!

For starters, he comes with the Orc scimitar that we’ve seen on a few occasions in the past. As with each of these weapons, the entire piece is painted over in silver, with no flourishes of color on the hilt. It still works well, and the finish does manage to bring out all the scrapes and nicks in the blade. Previous paint work on this sword make it look like the hilt is made of bones or even teeth, but here it just looks like it’s all metal but designed to mimic actual bone, which I suppose is pretty cool too. The blade is a bit long for the slighter Goblin frame, but I think it still works for him, and he can wear it on his belt without much trouble.

Next up is the silver one-handed axe, which accidently made it into a few shots last week with Gonxx. And while there are once again, no additional paint operations on the weapon, it does come with a great looking skull, which can be skewered through the tip of the axe handle, adding a ton of personality to the weapon. It’s great that this adornment got added to a lowly Legion Builder!

And finally, you get a standard silver spear, which is the same type we’ve seen over and over (and over!) again since the original Kickstarter figures. These spears are pretty long even for the human-sized figures, so it might be a bit of a reach for these half-pints to wield it. It wouldn’t have been my first choice for these little guys, but it’ll do in a pinch!

And that’s the Goblin Legion Builder! It took restraint (and a tight budget) to limit myself to just a pair of these guys, but in a perfect world, I’d have a half-dozen. I dream of some day TFH actually stocking their store with Legion Builders all the time, but that could be dangerous to my finances, so maybe it’s better if they don’t! I should note that there is a Deluxe Goblin Legion Builder coming soon and I’m really looking forward to adding him to my army of little green meanies!

Mar 6 2020

Mythic Legions (Advent of Decay): King No’Glin by The Four Horsemen

My apologies folks, but it was another week of stunted content. And I was doing so well for a while there! Well, these tough weeks are still going to crop up now and again. I had originally planned today’s review for Wednesday, but I didn’t get any time to work on it until Wednesday night, so I had to cut my losses and bump it to the end of the week. Hopefully next week I’ll be back to firing on all cylinders. But for now, let’s just get on with it… It’s been a few weeks since I checked back in with Mythic Legions, and if memory serves I was in the process of running through reviews of all the Goblins! Today we’ll look to the very top of these grubby little bastards with the Goblin King himself, No’Glin! We’ve seen the Advent of Decay packaging so many times by now, let’s just jump right in to the figure!

And doesn’t No’Glin look every bit the distinguished Goblin monarch? Hell, I can just smell the Napoleon Complex wafting off of this guy! He dons full plate armor from neck to toe, which is basically a bronze version of what we saw worn by the likes of Knubnik and Thwikk. The big difference here is the middle armor which features some more ornate pieces to protect his hips and little Goblin man-jewels. The optional pair of shoulder armor is the same sculpt worn by Knubnik, which has a roughly-hewn and jagged flavor that I think works great for these little buggers. The new coloring for the armor is fantastic, giving it a bit more regal flavor than that of his rank-and-file subjects, while still looking functional. A little wash helps to bring out the details in the sculpt, as well as the bits of wear and weathering. He also has some more copper colored bits in the arms and upper legs, and sculpted chainmail can be seen in the elbows and knees. I don’t think I’ll ever cease to be impressed with the way T4H’s sculpt and paint conspire to make these plastic armor suits look so realistic.

No’Glin comes with two tattered capes, one red and one black. Based on the promotional photos, I think these are supposed to be worn together, but I’m more keen on just giving him the red one. It’s visibly dirty and I think it reflects how difficult it is for No’Glin to look majestic when he basically lives in a hole in the ground. It’s got to be tough to keep clean in those tunnels! Besides, I may wind up giving the black cape to Snagg. He looks like he could use a cape.

The head sculpt is magnificent, and that’s been the case with all the Goblins so far. No’Glin features a broad and squat face with a slightly conceited grin and two beady yellow eyes that peer out from beneath his crown. The crown itself looks like it’s carved out of an old tree stump and features cuts in the side to allow his long pointed ears to jut out and a tiny animal skull positioned on the forehead. The woodgrain pattern sculpted into the crown is magnificent and I was initially convinced that the crown was a separate sculpt and could be removed, but it’s actually part of the head. It really does look that good!

No’Glin comes equipped with a passel of different weapons, but the ones I chose to put on his belt are his standard broadsword and the hooked dagger and sheath that we first saw a while back with Lucretia the Vampire. The plastic sheath hooks onto the brown sword belt and has been repainted brown and bronze to match No’Glin’s armor. At first I thought this accessory would be a little too fancy for him, but it actually looks good on his belt. And being a king and all, he should probably have some bits of finery. The sword is one of the designs that we’ve been seeing since the original Kickstarter, with a straight guard and a simple disc pommel. The blade is silver and the hilt has a nice antiqued finish to it. By now, y’all should know I’m a big fan of this simple, serviceable, no-nonsense sword.

He also comes with two more exotic swords, one of which is a sickle-type blade we’ve seen before. In fact, we last saw its like equipped by one of his subjects, Thwikk. It has a silver painted blade and a simple hilt with gold fixtures and a blue grip. The design isn’t terribly Goblin-y to me, but the size is just right and it’s fancier than his regular sword. The other blade is an Orc sword, which I believe was introduced to us in Advent of Decay. There are no paint application on this piece, instead it’s cast all in silver. That feels like a bit of a cheap-out, but then again he does come with a lot of stuff. Again, there’s nothing new here, but since both of these weapons are newer additions to the Mythic Legions armory, so I’m happy to get them again.

And since all kings need some kind of staff, No’Glin comes with a spiked mace head on a long shaft, painted in bronze to match his armor. I last encountered this weapon when I reviewed Faustia, although she was part of the assortment that came afterwards, so it’s only fair to point out that The Goblin King had it first. It’s a very long weapon, so much so that it looks kind of silly when No’Glin is holding it straight up with the butt resting on the ground. It would have been cool if T4H made this piece so you can take a part of the shaft out and shorten it. I’m just going to assume it’s an ornamental weapon because I just can’t see him swinging it with any force.

Even with so many of them already on my shelf, I can’t even put into words the high I get off of opening these figures. You simply can’t go wrong with Mythic Legions’ Goblins and that goes double for their King. Apart from the head, there’s virtually nothing new here, and yet T4H continues to prove themselves to be wizards at mixing and matching parts to come up with a figure that still feels fresh and new. And the new head sculpt is just packed with personality. No’Glin is going to look great ruling over my Goblin Horde and leading them against Mythoss’ forces of good. I only wish we had a little throne for him. Then again with how popular and lucrative Mythic Legions continues to be, I think anything is possible. I mean, if T4H have already begun producing horses, maybe a selection of thrones isn’t out of the question some time down the road. Come on, Horsemen, give us some thrones in the next Kickstarter!

Nov 14 2018

Mythic Legions (Advent of Decay): Snagg by The Four Horsemen

I’ve been focusing on some of the new stuff for my first Advent of Decay reviews. So, I started with a female knight and vampire, and then showed off an Elf. Now it’s time to touch on what is easily my most anticipated addition to the Mythic Legions lineup… The Goblins! Hell, YEAH! I totally freaked out when T4H first showed off these deranged little beauties, and I knew right away that I would be getting all of them. It was impossible for me to decide which one to start with, so I just picked one at random. Let’s have a look at Snagg!

And isn’t that just one of the best Goblin names ever? Snagg! Even better, Snagg’s bio tells us that he’s a devious thief. And with his green face and blue sock cap, he kind of reminds me of Zarak, The Half-Orc Assassin from LJN’s old Advanced Dungeons & Dragons line. Not only is that not a bad thing, but I kind of demand a repaint as homage.

The Goblins are about the same height as the Dwarves, but they have a much leaner build. And like the Dwarves, they’re designed so they can borrow parts from the full-sized humans and elves. For example, Snagg has a completely repainted version of the belt and hip armor piece that we saw last week on the Elf Legion Builder. He also uses the wrist bracers that we’ll see on the Elves in future reviews. The body is rounded out with a simple set of plate armor for the torso and armored legs. I’d say that it’s a hodge-podge look that works well for a Goblin, but to be honest, I think all the pieces go together perfectly.

The paint here is excellent, particularly on the belt piece. The prominent disc belt-buckle, the individual rivets on the leather scales are painted in a rich copper. The plates on the tops of the hip-armor are mismatched with one side copper and the other a gun-metal blue. The brown belt has a great textured leather-like look to it and you get some fine silver paintwork on the buckles. Other highlights of the paint include the worn copper color of the leg armor, the metallic blue stones embedded in his arm bracers, and the heavily tarnished finish of his chest armor. Even the tiny buckles on his wrist bracers and leg armor are all neatly painted silver.

And that brings me to the head sculpt, and oh boy is it fantastic! Snagg features a cartoonishly pronounced nose and chin, balanced by the long, swept-back pointed ears. He sports a devilish grin, showing his tiny sharp teeth and two prominent fangs rising up from his bottom jaw. Two beady yellow eyes gaze out from under the stitched blue cap.

Snagg comes with a mismatched pair of shoulder armor, no doubt stolen from the dead on some battlefield. The right shoulder is pretty ornate with some blue panels that manage to match his cap, as if it’s a sad little attempt he made to accessorize. The left shoulder, on the other hand, is a simple, segmented piece with signs of rust setting in. I dig the idea behind these pieces being scavenged, but I may actually prefer him sans shoulder armor.

For a little guy, Snagg comes with quite the arsenal of weapons, which includes a standard cruciform sword, a two-hander, a dagger, and a rustic cleaver made by attaching blades to a piece of stag horn. With the exception of the last piece, I’ve seen all of these weapons before, and I love that all of these weapons are mismatched, again probably all taken from looting and thievery, as they look way too clean and shiny to have been owned by him for long. To carry his weapons, Snagg comes with two of the standard brown belts, allowing for one to be worn on the waist, and the other as a cross strap. Let’s take a quick look at each of his weapons…

The dagger is a repaint of the one that came with Lucretia, now with an entirely gold hilt. I really like the design of this one and the paint job does a good job of setting it apart. I actually had to double check Lucretia’s to make sure it was the same mold. It looks like it would be an excellent parrying dagger as well as serviceable for all the backstabbing that Snagg probably does.

The one-handed sword is the classic cruciform type we’ve seen over and over again in this line. I’m a big fan of the no-nonsense design of this piece and I’m always happy to get another. Oddly, this one is painted all in silver, which is something that T4H usually reserve for the Legion Builder figures, but I think it still looks fine. I would have liked it more if it had a rusty finish, like we’ve seen with some of the Orc weapons, but like I said, maybe he stole it.

The two-handed sword is very familiar from the previous series of Mythic Legions. I tend to refer to this one as a “Tolkien Sword,” because it reminds me of a design I saw of Glamdring once. Either way, I really dig the way the blade swells slightly toward the edge and the stylized crossguard, copper wrapped grip, and skull-crusher pommel are both nice touches. On the other hand, this sword looks totally out of place with Snagg. It’s really big compared to his height and he looks a little awkward wielding it. It just furthers the idea in my mind that he stole it somewhere and just carries it around to make a statement.

Only the stag-handled weapon looks like it might have been made for him, and it manages to be both crude and quite beautiful. The sculpt and paint on the stag handle is superb. The clever-like blade has some nasty gashes and scrapes in it and a serrated area near the grip. The back also has a metal piece with spikes sticking out of it. Now this looks like a Goblin weapon!

Snagg also comes with some other assorted bits, which confused me at first. You get a set of antlers, which are the same pieces used to adorn some of the other figures’ helmets. You also get a single piece of black horn. These aren’t compatible with the figure himself, as he doesn’t come with a helmeted head, but I’m chalking these up to being more loot that he’s scavenged. And it’s always nice to have extra pieces to share with my helmeted figures to create more display options.

And so while he may be small, Snagg is probably packing more personality than almost any other Mythic Legions figure I own. He’s also no doubt the first in what will be my serious love affair with the Mythic Legion Goblins. He’s a magnificent little figure with some superb paintwork, and clearly a lot of thought and love went into his demented design. I can’t wait to pit him against some of my brave warriors and have him try to bite their kneecaps off and steal all their shit. I’m really tempted to just keep going with the Goblins for the next month, but I promise I’ll try to be back with something a little different next week.