Orcs & Goblins Miniatures Review
by Avian
Being a completely biased review of the orc and goblin miniatures released for sixth edition.
How the rating system works
Each model will get points in five categories ranging from 1 (worst) to 5 (best). The categories are
- Form - This is basicly what the model looks like and how suitable I think this is. For example: the new black orc have a "knightly" style armour with iron masks covering their faces. This form distinguishes them from the old plastic black orcs who were more scantily clad and had round helmets with horns on.
- Pose - Does the model look like it knows what it's doing? A cavlary model should look like it's moving, an archer shouldn't. For a unit this also reflects how the models look when put together. If they all look the same when they shouldn't then this is a minus and vice versa. The old plastic goblin spearmen had a bad pose, a unit of goblins should not look like a well disciplined unit.
- Details - It shouldn't be neccesary to explain this one. The more detailed the better.
- Convertability - How easy is it to make this model look like something else? Does it contain interesting bitz? Multipart models will score high here while metal models standing in ahuddle with their arms close to their bodies will not.
- Price - This is one where I have no say from model to model. This is 5 minus the model's price in kroner (norwegian currency) divided by the model's point value rounded off upwards.
When all the grades are set each grade is multiplied with it's weight (0.2 in most cases except pose which is 0.25 and convertability which is 0.15) and the results are added up to give the total score from 1 to 5. I have given the different categories because I think that some, such as pose, are more important than others, such as convertability, but if a model gets the same grade in each category then the total result will be the same number.
Orcs & Goblins Reviews
Snotling Pump Wagon (WD 254)
Designed by Dave Andrews and Mark Harrison
Considering that the old model was over ten years old it was about time we got
a new one. Personally I have two of the old ones assembled and one in pieces
and this new one isn't good enough for me to go out and buy a fourth one. This
new one is quite different, it still has the spikes in front and snotlings
clambering all over it, but the wagon has gone from being a four wheeler to
only having three. It's quite a nice model but it it isn't as good as I had
hoped it would be and the price is outrageous.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 3 |
| Pose: | 3 |
| Details: | 3 |
| Convertability: | 5 |
| Price: | 1 |
| Overall: | 2.90 |
Wurrzag Ud Ura Zahubu - Savage Orc Great Shaman (WD 253)
Designed by Mark Bedford
I like this model, the face mask is very original. The model itself isn't very
special or detailed and I think they could have made a special boar's head for
it since it has a unique profile. There are two cool things about the model:
the mask and the staff. The rest is only average.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 4 |
| Pose: | 3 |
| Details: | 3 |
| Convertability: | 4 |
| Price: | 5 |
| Overall: | 3.80 |
Savage Orc Boar Boyz (WD 253)
Designed by Alex Hedström
Seeing these reminds me of just how UGLY the "savage" orcs on foot
are. Why couldn't Mark Harrison have made both. THIS is how they should look.
These are great; savage and primitive. Why, oh, why did Mark Bedford get to
make his butt-ugly minis when Mr. Hedström could have made them so much
better? I like the poses, I like their evil grins, I like their stone tipped
spears. I want some!
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 5 |
| Pose: | 4 |
| Details: | 4 |
| Convertability: | 3 |
| Price: | 3 |
| Overall: | 3.90 |
Giant (WD 252)
Designed by Michael Perry
MUCH better than the old Giants of Albion and on par with the old Marauder
Giant. The big guy is nicely detailed and sufficiently orcy. If I buy the model
(which is unlikely since I have the two Albion ones) I'll probably paint him up
as a giant orc. The giant comes with a lot of fum little extras, such as a
cowering empire soldier, a tied up halfling (yum) and a sheep. His club is also
very funny, it's a marker stone with "Nuln 10 miles" on it. Even
though it's a very good model it's still too short to be a proper model, there
is absolutely no room to stuff anyone down his pants.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 4 |
| Pose: | 4 |
| Details: | 4 |
| Convertability: | 4 |
| Price: | 4 |
| Overall: | 4.00 |
Orc Boar Chariot (WD 252)
Designed by Brian Nelson, Mark Bedford and Tim Adcock
Finally, after all these years we finally get a boar chariot, even better, it's
a plastic chariot. And it's a fantastic model as well. Unlike all the other
chariot models this one has the draft animals actually harnessed to the thing!
There's lots of cool little bits, including two extra sides (making it easier
to convert your own chariot from scratch). A superb model, I've bought one and
I'll most likely get another.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 5 |
| Pose: | 5 |
| Details: | 4 |
| Convertability: | 5 |
| Price: | 3 |
| Overall: | 4.40 |
Goblin Regiment (WD 252)
See the Goblin Wolfrider regiment.
Night Goblin Netters (WD 252)
Designed by Mark Harrison
The new netters are okay models, but I already have 12 netters (curse you GW!)
and they're not so good that I'd buy any of them. It also looks like they stole
quite a bit of the models from the fanatics.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 3 |
| Pose: | 3 |
| Details: | 3 |
| Convertability: | 2 |
| Price: | 1 |
| Overall: | 2.45 |
Night Goblin Squig Herders (WD 252)
Designed by Juan Diaz
I'd like to treat this as two different units. The gobbos are great, very
funny. Gotta love that grot onna stick. I think Mr. Diaz did a very very good
job with those and even though I have lots of old squig herders I still bought
a pack.
The squigs are another matter. Some are very nice, others are just strange. I
wish some of them would have horns, though, but when you mix them up with the
old ones they look good and suitably chaotic.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 4 |
| Pose: | 4 |
| Details: | 4 |
| Convertability: | 2 |
| Price: | 4 |
| Overall: | 3.70 |
Night Goblin Squig Hoppers (WD 252)
Designed by Juan Diaz
Same style as the squig herders (actually, the squigs are the same). The comic
factor is high here as well. The one riding backwards with his skirts blowing
up is just so funny. Other than that I already have a bunch of the old ones and
their numbers are now sorely limited.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 4 |
| Pose: | 4 |
| Details: | 4 |
| Convertability: | 2 |
| Price: | 4 |
| Overall: | 3.70 |
Savage Orc Command Group (WD 252)
Designed by Mark Bedford
Only a little more savage than the normal boyz. Aaargh, the "savage"
orcs look lame. How could Mark Bedford do this to us? See also the review for
Savage Orc Boyz.
Savage Orc Shaman (WD 252)
Designed by Mark Bedford
Unfortunately this one is the same style as Mark's other "savage
orcs". This one looks constipated to me and the nipple rings just doesn't
do it for him. That bear or whatever it is on the skull just looks strange. All
in all a very shoddy job. Shame on you, Mark.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 2 |
| Pose: | 2 |
| Details: | 3 |
| Convertability: | 3 |
| Price: | 4 |
| Overall: | 2.95 |
Grimgor Ironhide (WD 251)
Designed by Brian Nelson
Finally a worthy warboss model. This bad boy looks really good and is superbly
detailed. I'll definetly be getting him and use him as my orc warlord. He even
appears to fit into a regiment, which is really nice since my previous warlord,
Nakkbar, could only fit in sideways. If you read his description and rules in
the army book you will also see that he's also an awsome character. He's a bit
on the expensive side, though - coming in at a hefty 600 points including his
equipment and a bodyguard of 9 models.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 5 |
| Pose: | 4 |
| Details: | 5 |
| Convertability: | 4 |
| Price: | 5 |
| Overall: | 4.65 |
Goblin Wolfrider Regiment (WD 251)
Designed by Brian Nelson and Aly Morrison
At first I was a little confused as to why the wolfrider regiement included
infantry's legs as well as riders', then I assembled the boss standing on the
back of his wolf. It looks great. The wolves are old but that doesn't matter
since they look so good. The riders are also brilliant. There are fewer
variations of bodies and legs than what is usual for a regiment but that
doesn't matter much since you don't see much of them. It's a bit more
irritating that all of the left arms are the same (except for one holding a
severed head). On the other hand you get a whole lot of heads and that's what
you mostly see. The unit can be assembeled with spears and/or bows and I
equipped my unit with both. The set comes with a loose bow but no loose spears
which is a bit annoying, but I had quite a few left over from the night goblin
regiment so it didn't matter. There isn't as many bitz as usual but you get a
couple of wolf cloaks and the already mentioned loose bow. There are also four
(!) standard tops and two horns so you could make two units of five with full
command groups if you want to. The shield sprue also includes some rather nifty
square shield that will look good on my fort.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 4 |
| Pose: | 4 |
| Details: | 3 |
| Convertability: | 5 |
| Price: | 4 |
| Overall: | 3.95 |
Orc Boar Boyz Command group (WD 251)
Designed by Brian Nelson
Why GW would want to make each command group model come with the option of
making him either a standard bearer, musician or boss I don't know. Possibly
they don't want to have three blisters for command models. Why they went to the
bother of designing a new hornblower's arm is also a puzzle. These models are
basicly the same old boar boyz with a couple of new metal bitz and plastic
shields. They still look good and they look like they still are impossible to
rank up properly.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 4 |
| Pose: | 3 |
| Details: | 4 |
| Convertability: | 4 |
| Price: | 4 |
| Overall: | 3.80 |
Savage Orc Boyz (WD 251)
Designed by Mark Bedford
Aaargh, why do they give us these ugly models. Apart from one they all look
fiendly and dumb, not savage. Savage orcs should be a regiment set so they
would look varied and undisciplined. Insted we get FOUR models which are really
just two models with are slightly altered. And what is that thing one of them
is holding? A banana? It seems to me that just like with the black orcs someone
came up with a nice looking consept but then didn't have the time to make any
more and so just made slight alterations to those he had. Why couldn't they had
taken more time and made them plastic. They are by far the worst looking models
I've seen in a very long time.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 2 |
| Pose: | 1 |
| Details: | 2 |
| Convertability: | 2 |
| Price: | 3 |
| Overall: | 2.00 |
Goblin Rock Lobber (WD 251)
Designed by Dave Andrews & Alex Hedstöm
Goblin Rock Lobber? Hey whose idea was is to let the gobbos contol the
artillery? I like the model, which is a good thing since I didn't like the
previous one at all. It looks suitably ramshackle but still appears to be able
to fire (though not very far). The model also has lots of nice little details,
such as the squig that one of the goblins is stepping on.The orc bully looks a
bit strange though - his leg is a bit too long and his clothing is a bit
un-orcy. I already have one scrathbuilty lobber and I'll probably put one of
the goblins over on that and convert up additional crew when the common goblin
regiment comes out.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 3 |
| Pose: | 3 |
| Details: | 4 |
| Convertability: | 4 |
| Price: | 2 |
| Overall: | 3.15 |
Orc Warboss on Wyvern (WD 250)
Designed by Alex Hedstrøm & Trish Morrison
Well, the new wyvern is out and there are mixed feelings about this one.
Personally I didn't think much of it before I saw it painted but I must say
it's a bit better than the last one. The rider is way better and the wyvern
looks a lot more orcy and less like a dragon without wings. Te wyvern itself is
6 metal pieces and the old plastic wings that have been around for ages. All
the pieces fit snugly together and there is little need for filing but you need
to do a bit of pinning as some of the pieces are quite heavy and/or long. The
face is the best part of the model and looks very much like a smug orc. The
rider also looks very cool with a wolf pelt draped around his shoulders and a
very nice axe and shield.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 4 |
| Pose: | 3 |
| Details: | 4 |
| Convertability: | 4 |
| Price: | 5 |
| Overall: | 4.00 |
Badruk 'Eadsplitta - Black Orc Big Boss (Gamesday 2000)
Designed by Brian Nelson
This year's Gamesday miniature is a nasty black orc special character. He is
pretty much the same style as the new black orcs and looks really good. The
pose is far better than the regular boyz and the details are excellent. The
model even has it's magic item (a small dwarf talisman) medeled in. The only
gripe I have is that the model is turned about 30 degrees, so you have to cut
off the tab between his feet to get him to face forward.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 5 |
| Pose: | 4 |
| Details: | 4 |
| Convertability: | 3 |
| Price: | 5 |
| Overall: | 4.30 |
Black Orcs with additional hand weapons (WD250)
Designed by Brian Nelson
The new black orcs are a vast improvement on the old plastics. They are clad in
heavy armour and wear really cool face masks. I really hope they will be
releasing them with different weapons because I already have a unit of 25
plastics with additional hand weapons and I'm not paying for another unit of
the same. The one thins I really don't like about these models is that they are
almost exactly the same. The four models are only slight alterations of each
other and this is not how a proper orcy unit should be.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 5 |
| Pose: | 2 |
| Details: | 4 |
| Convertability: | 2 |
| Price: | 3 |
| Overall: | 3.35 |
Goblin Spear Chukka (WD 250)
Designed by Dave Andrews & Shane Hoyle
If you ask me (or even if you don't) the new bolt thrower isn't any better than
the old one. The one thing I dislike the most is that the crew all have their
mouths open but is doesn't look like they're shouting, something which gives
them a stange appearance. The thrower itself is nothing special as far as I see
it and the price isn't very good for something that costs 30 points. Personally
I'll keep my old hobgoblin ones and convert some new crews when the goblin
regiment comes out.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 3 |
| Pose: | 2 |
| Details: | 3 |
| Convertability: | 3 |
| Price: | 2 |
| Overall: | 2.60 |
Goblin Shaman (WD 250)
Designed by Mark Harrison
The "vanilla" gobbo shaman is a model that hasn't been available for
years and years and it's great to get one. Why they put it in a pack with the
older night goblin shaman I don't know but I have two of the night goblins
already. The model itself is fairly average, it looks a bit old but that might
just be the way it's painted.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 3 |
| Pose: | 3 |
| Details: | 3 |
| Convertability: | 3 |
| Price: | 5 |
| Overall: | 2.95 |
Orc Warriors regiment - re-release with plastic command group (WD 250)
Designed by Aly Morrison, Brian Nelson & Mark Bedford
Well , this is just the old plastic regiement set with plastic command models,
making a somewhat odd toatl of 19 models. The plastic command models are a good
idea (or rather: the metal bitz very a bad idea) and includes some great bitz
for converting other models. Still great.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 4 |
| Pose: | 4 |
| Details: | 3 |
| Convertability: | 5 |
| Price: | 5 |
| Overall: | 4.15 |
Night goblin regiment - re-release with plastic command group (WD 250)
Designed by Aly Morrison & Brian Nelson
Same as the orc regiment excapt that this one has less additional plastic bitz
for the command models. The price has also gone up since last time.
| Ratings | Grade |
|---|---|
| Form: | 4 |
| Pose: | 3 |
| Details: | 3 |
| Convertability: | 5 |
| Price: | 3 |
| Overall: | 3.55 |
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