Steppe goblin infantry.
Mix of 3 strips in my unit, one of which is a command strip. My banner snapped in transport but will by easy enough to fix. Alexey sculpted highly individual poses so between the strips there is no repetion (in the ones I got). The strips would also allow for some snipping for a more randomized placement in the unit as there is sufficient room on most strips to break them down in single or duo bases. The figures on the strips are a mix of archers and fighters, so with some mixing of bits you could go for units of archers only.
The command strip has two slightly larger gobs, who obviously took charge and a musician toting a horn. Overal, in my opinion, the size of the gobs fits in nicely with the existing Warmaster range.
There was some cleaning up to do, but no noticeable flash.
Steppe goblin squigherd.
Another unit with a lot going on. My pack has 6 strips, 3 strips of squigs (2 variations), one strip with squig-riders in 3 poses and 2 variant strips of herders. As with the infantry there is room for some snipping and individualizations. This will be a fun unit to paint and field, with the option of combining several packs and making a squig rider unit.
There was some cleaning up to do including minor flash on one of the squig strips.
Doomdivers.
This is a two stand unit consisting of one "loaded" catapult,a two piece part with the second piece being the upper part of the actual doom diver gob. The second machine just discharged and it's load is provided with a small flying stand to show it hurling over the battlefield towards its target. the remaining parts are two individualized strips of "crew", each of which has two "pullers", a "flagger" and a mattock-armed crew chief.
The provided, clear plastic, flying base goes together easy and is pretty sturdy even without applying glue.
There was minimal flash on the strips, which cleared of easy.
Steppe Trolls
This 3 stand unit was provided with 6 strips in 3 variations. The trolls are slightly less bulky then their regular WM cousins, but the dietary restrictions of the steppe may be the reason. The poses vary from standing ready to toss a sizeable bit of countryside to those carrying crude weaponry. All trolls are sensibly clothed in the furred remains of local wildlife.
There was some cleaning needed.
Wyverns
The wyverns came in a blister rather then a zip-bag. The code contains enough components to create two of the creatures the Steppe Goblins use to go to war on. One is modeled grabbing a bit of local countryside, whilst the other is provide with it's one (large, clear plastic) flying stand. Both models share the same wings and the sculpts are "slotted" to give you a bit of help putting them into position! As the riders are modeled separately you will have a choice of mounting either a Heroic type (sword and shield) or a shaman/wizard who looks to be ready to smite the enemy with a fireball!
There was some cleaning up to do and obviously you will need to do some (pinning and) gluing.
Steppe Goblin Polka Band
Although I am not totaly sure that Alexey has these as a separate item in the store, I figure it should feature in this review. This pack has a round base, and features 5 minis that I best describe as the Polka Band. B-)
It contains a goblin playing percussion, a top-hat wearing saxophonist and a gob playin "trekzak" (harmonica?) as well as two goblins playing what I guess are a balalaika and a banjo or ukkelile. This little ensemble will find a nice place in the camp to entertain the troops!
As with most metal minis a bit of cleaning is expected.
Rocklobbers
Who does not like to lob rocks on the amassing ranks of his enemies? The two! variations of Rocklobbers in his pack will help! The pack contains two lobbers consisting of individually sculpted lower frames, uprights and throwing arms. There are 8 individual crew, two strips of 3 goblin crew and two Orc supervisors. And to top of both lobbers there is a snotling spotter!
My pack was pretty clean, so not to much cleaning. You will need to make sure you have the correct upright/frame and arm combination and you will need to do some construction, but it will be well worth it!
Steppe Goblin Character pack
Litterally a characterful pack you will find 3 medium sized and 5 smaller bases and 10 "parts" inside. The biggest piece is a squig mounted hero, the two other mounted characters in there are the shaman/mage we also found in the Wyvern set, and a different mounted hero. This might implicate their interchangeability over the various "mounted" blisters, as all wolf mounted cavalry units has separate riders and mounts! The wolves in the character set are two individual pieces, one standing at "attention", the other one in a more agressive, snarling stance.
The foot characters are two shaman/mage-like gobs toting staffs, one standard bearer and two hero-types. The poses work equality well when used together, but if you spread them out you will get a nice range of characters from this pack!
Some cleaning and construction will be required.
Pumpwagon
The Pumpwagon pack contains 7 bits that make the wagon and two strips of crew (6 snotlings). The bits are fiddely and the snotlings tiny and you need to be carefull not to clean of actual parts. Putting the wagon together it would be nice to have an exploded diagram om the website (hint) as there is some fiddely parts and positioning. Then the snotlings can go pretty much al over the thing, in suitable fashion.
Bonus characters/vignettes.
As part of the shipment I got from Alexey there are two smaller bags.
One is what the site refers to as the Taiga general: it contains a small, metal, round base (app 2,5 cm) and 5 bits. A horned skull standard, a brazier, and 3 goblins, the general squatting down taking a draft on a long-stemmed pipe and two spear armed guards.
The second one I will nickname "scouting party" and has 3 wolves and 3 riders. The wolves are similar to the ones that come in the wolf riders pack, the riders are one gob armed with sword and shield, an archer sitting with the bow across its knees and an arrow notched and a spear toting scout in the classic Scouting pose, I can see further in the distance with a hand over my eyes.
Both packs make nice additions to the available characters for a goblin army.
Spearchucker
I figured there was something amiss when I noticed there is four (4) spearchukkers in the pack, but I checked with Alexey and that is indeed what you get in this (value)pack! At first I thought the chuckers are identical, but there is actually two variants in the pack. The same is true for the crew, you get 4 strips of 3 crew each. So in effect there are six individual crew goblins. The ballista needed some serious clean-up, but the value in this pack is worth it!
Wolf chariots
Another pack filled to the brim! Including 3 of the excellent bases provided in all packs by Alexey, there is a total of 29! component. Enough to create a unit of three standard chariots. To create a chariot take: one body, two wolves (that have two poses available and are decked in fashionable pulling harnas), two of the normal wheels provided and the two man crew, of which one gob is spear-armed whilst the other wields an axe and a head.
But Alexey went one step beyond. There are two variations of body in the back, one of which has the scythes curved backward, and the pack has two more wheels, these with a bladed axle, allowing for one chariot to be customized. And to crew that hot-rod there are a special whipping driver and a banner toting hero. The one "minus" I could find is that, for the breakneck speed that chariot will manage, the flag on the banner should blow "backward". ;-) but that is probably fixed in a minute.... oh wait.... for those counting along, there is a separate banner to put in.
The pack has some flash and the wheels need trimming, but overal a nice variation for chariots.
Youngbloods/Snotlings
I am a bit at a loss on what to make of these. Sizewise they are smaller compared to the "regular" gobs. There are six strips in the pack with five figures per strip. In total there are 4 different strips in the pack, so you will have 2x2 identical strips and two individual ones. The casting is good, with minimal cleanup and the figures in the unit are a mix of figures you will find in the other packs and some additional sculpts. Weapons vary from spears (although darts or javelins would be more accurate to catapults and assorted cutlery.
As I already had Grimgor's Boyz for a long time I did not add them to the review! but for those that have seen them live! it is a nice and characterful units that will work well as Orcs or black Orcs, that leaves the final two packs in this part of the package.
Wolfriders (spears) and Wolfriders (archers)
All Wolfriders and the Wyvernriders are individual figures from the actual wolves, which means some construction is required, but this open up a lot of variation and configuration options. Lets look at the wolves first. There seem to be 3 different strips in the mix; A. Running B. Standing C. Walking.
My spear armed Wolfriders had 2xA, 3xB and 1xC, the archers are a balanced 2xeach.
The riders are a varied batch, in addition to a bannerman, hornblower and champion there are 4 distinct poses. In my pack 3x, 3x, 2x and 1, all the regular troops are spear and shield gobs.
The archers have their own command, they share the musician, and instead of a banner there is a gob with a lasso. Pose-wise I then have 2x, 2x, 2x, 2x and 1. All in all a goodly mix of options and the possibility to shuffle the contents of these two packs makes for a lot of different configurations of Wolfriders.
As with all the packs, some cleaning is needed and because riders and mounts are separate, some glueing will be needed.
Ho wait...... There is a Mystery Pack in there.....
WOW.... I need to say..... WOW
That one took me by surprise, if it is a glimpse of what is coming, then by all means, bring it on!
RESIN
The Giant(s)
My pack contains 3 (three) individual giant bodies. In addition there are 4 sprues with parts. Sprue 1 has 4 heads, 3 normal heads and one cyclops. Sprue 2 holds 3 weapon-arms (technically 2 arms and a hand holding a tree-trunk). Sprue 3 has a lunch-pack, a hand holding a BIG stone and a left arm holding a stone (well a sizeable bolder) and a left arm with a "open" hand. The final sprue has 6 parts on it: shield on a loop, hammer, pouch and knife, tankard/barrel and a slave-collar with two bits of chain attached.
Obviously not ALL bits will work with all 3 bodies, but there is enough variation options here for some characterful additions to not just a Goblin, or Orc & Goblin list. The Slavecollar makes it an option to field them in an Ogre army, and with the Cyclops-head and the missile options it could also mimic a spawn in a Mortal chaos list. Plenty of reasons to get this, and remember that there will be three (3) giants in there!!
Almost forgot it, there is some cleaning to do, and with resin models, don't forget to give them a sponge bath with some detergent before putting glue and/or paint on them!
Steppe Goblin Village
I will lump together the separate pieces that are available, and you will probably have already seen the pictures in my earlier post.
The Yurts are 4 individual pieces with a lot of attention to detail and will paint up nicely. I will probably end up using a lot of natural (drab) colors with a bit of looted fabric for variance. From the moment I had these in my hands they scream for a set-up that also features a huge bonfire and several smaller campfires and I will be looking into gettin those done using led-lighting. The combination of the two smaller Watchtowers and the large one allow for a camp and an individual watch-tower on a rocky outcropping (and after a hefty dose of Warcraft I start picturing hanging walkways between the towers......). The larger and small baricades allow for plenty of linear obstacles to be placed inside and around the camp, and we all know you can never have enough of those!
The bonus pieces in the set are the Idol and the lounging wolfs, both of which will make nice additions to to the scenery.
To be fair, I have a pre-production version of the models and Alexey warned me that there are are some areas (mainly in the roofing of the watchtowers) that still need some attention before this part of the range becomes fully available!
There is some cleaning to do, and with resin models, don't forget to give them a sponge bath with some detergent before putting glue and/or paint on them!
!!! I will move the relevant pictures to an accessible sever and update the post accordingly !!!
