Goblin Knight

Goblin Knight is my first painted mini in a couple of months, due to a lot of real-life stuff - at times like those I usually can write some stuff (hence the Supers Unlimited progress), but painting tends to take a hit. Thankfully I have cleared this mini which was started a while back, and I may try and tackle some easier to paint generic stuff soon to get myself back on track.

I really didn't enjoy painting this in anyway to be honest - the sculpt felt fiddly in terms of design, and the casting was poor in places, not uncommon with too many Knight Models in my experience. It does mean another SMG mini done, a range I expected to become defunct and since I commented about that it has come to pass. Brummie and me are planning a 400 Rep BMG versus SMG game sometime soon, so that will be a positive out of getting this mini painted amid the ongoing stuff related to the collapse of Knight's Marvel ranges.

In terms of my painting progress for SMG I am adding Venom and Elektra to the overall target list since I consider them part of the range; both had cards published digitally if not physically. I have since had my own copies printed for eventual gaming. Venom will give another Goblin Cult option for a bit of variety when I eventually get round to painting the mini.

SMG Painting Summary

SMG characters owned: 15+2

Percentage of owned characters painted: 47.1% (8 models)

Green Goblin

Another SMG mini painted, my first non-Henchman, and thankfully this one went from contemplation to completion pretty quickly! Even better, it is my sixth mini of the month (along with a couple of Pulp City minis).

The reason for the sudden motivation to paint Green Goblin was to play a larger Rep-value game using the Goblin Cult against a Suicide Squad crew played by Simon as soon as possible. With Green Goblin and the Goblin Minions done, I now just need to paint Goblin Knight. It should be a weird and very much asymmetrical game, so will hopefully be a lot of fun. 400 Rep will allow Simon more freedom to pick some 'big gun' characters, and it looks like some big hitters will be on show, not least Deathstroke, Green Goblin and Goblin Knight.

In game terms Green Goblin clocks in at 200 Rep, way beyond any BMG character (the current highest Rep character is 150 for Arkham Knight and Batpod Batman(s). Whether he is worth it will remain to be seen! What you get for that 200 Rep is a lot of Endurance (10 points), a lot of Traits, along with Strength 2+, and enough ammo for 10 shots during a game (he will never actually be able to use all his ammo in fact)! Most importantly, like all of the (admittedly not very many) Goblin Cult characters, Green Goblin has Flight, which is something which will take some getting to grips with I think.

I do wish they had added a couple more options per SMG faction (Elektra could have been obvious and easy to do with Affinity: Daredevil, and some thing for Venom and Doctor Octopus since all three had minis casts up with rules done for two of them at least), but it looks like that ship has sailed unfortunately.

SMG Painting Summary
SMG characters owned: 15
Percentage of owned characters painted: 46.7% (7 models)

Goblin Minions (SMG)

My first painted minis of 2017 are these Goblin Minions for Spider-man Miniatures Game (SMG) - they were done a week or so ago, but I had to wait for improved conidtions to spray varnish them. I wanted something nice and easy-ish to do to get some early momentum, and thought these would fit the bill. Unfortunately the casts were not great with some honking mould lines obliterating details, and a weird porosity to the metal which I have encountered a couple of times previously on Knight Models minis.

In the Superior Spider-man comic books, the Goblin Minions are kids originally working for the Vulture who acts as a kind of super-villain Fagin I suppose. When he gets brutally taken down, they flee and soon join up with the disparate ranks of the Goblin Cult. They swap Vulture-themed masks and wings for Goblin-themed alternatives. As I don't read Spider-man regularly, I am not sure how far back their association with Vulture went prior to my reading them.

The colours are classic Goblin-esque and Marvel villain purple and green. The painting was mostly straightforward, except for the weird porosity which meant the paint did not seem to fully cover the metal in the odd place. The group was batch-painted for ease and speed, and I tried something new for me with the shading, which was to mix dark green into the purples, and dark purple into the green of the wings. It may need further experimentation to get used to.

I am quite some distance from building a playable SMG crew, but that is an ambition for this year. With so few models, there are not many distractions within the range, and it seriously does  not look like it will get expanded.

SMG Painting Summary
SMG characters owned: 15
Percentage of owned characters painted: 40.0% (6 models)