I continue my trip down memory lane with the second of my two reviews of my original House Goliath gang - the Badland Bastards. This time I'm showcasing the bulk of the gang - the rank and file gangers. All of these figures were produced by Citadel Miniatures for Games Workshop's
Necromunda skirmish game and are a mix of metal and plastic figures. The original boxed game came with plastic figures for Houses Goliath and Orlock. As a consequence, these ended up being my two biggest gangs.
I start off with my six metal ganger figures, who are all superb sculpts. At the far left is Johnny Flambo who is armed with a Hand Flamer, a Shotgun and a Knife. Second from the left is Brak Skullsmasher (what a cool Goliath name!). He is armed with a Las Rifle, a Stub Pistol, Frag Grenades and a Knife. I like how he has his Knife strapped to the side of his Las Rifle. Sadly, he was not used in my gang. Next in line is Steeljaw, who is armed with a Las Rifle, an Autopistol, Frag and Krak Grenades and a Knife.
Moving on, is Konrad Kilgore, another ganger whom I didn't get round to including in my gang. He is armed with an Autogun, a Las Pistol and a Knife. Second from the right is Blitzen, who is armed with a Shotgun, Stub Pistol, Frag Grenades and a Knife. Last but by no means least, is "Mad Axe" MacRae, who, as his name implies, is armed with an Axe, as well as an Autogun, Frag and Krak Grenades and a Knife.
Not nearly as well sculpted as the metal gangers are my plastic gangers. These came with a choice of two bodies and a selection of right arms holding assorted weapons. I have ten of them and only three of them were used in my gang. At the far left is Flange, who was a member of my Badlands Bastards gang. He is armed with a Chainsaw, Autopistol and Knife. I replaced his sword with the Chainsword. Slicer is another ganger who was part of my gang and he is armed with a Power Sword, an Autopistol and a Knife.
The next three gangers were not used but I still named them. They are from left to right, Hagen, Spikey and Ghork. Hagen is armed with an Autopistol and a Knife, which I took from one of my plastic Orlock gangers. Spikey is armed with a Las Rifle and a Knife, whilst Ghork is armed with an Autogun and a Knife.
In the next batch of plastic gangers, I start at the far left with Arnie the Armoured Fist, a close combat specialist, armed with a Power Fist, Power Sword, Las Pistol and Knife. Obviously, he was used in my gang. His Power Sword and Power Fist replaced his original weapons.
The other four gangers were not used and they are from left to right, Ukak (armed with Shotgun, Stub Pistol and Power Sword), Ed Crusher (armed with Shotgun and Knife), Gund (armed with Las Pistol and Sword) and Bone Snapper (armed with Bolt Pistol, Frag Grenades and Knife).
These gave me a total of 27 House Goliath figures, my second largest gang after my Orlocks. I do like all of the metal figures that were produced for them but the plastic figures are disappointing. On some of them I have lengthened the size of their Mohican haircuts with Milliput. The new plastic Goliath gangers that came out last year are a vast improvement over these. If I were to field all of my Badland Bastards, they'd be a formidable force. In my original
Necromunda campaign, this gang finished second out of twelve with a total of 3,900 points.
Yes... plastics have come on a bit since this edition. Looking impressive should you play again.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Phil. It is worth remembering that the production of plastic figures was not as well developed back then as it is nowadays.
DeleteYou've really painted those plastics very well imho, Bryan. I especially like the power-fist carrying behemoth. Great work on all the straps with some nice delicate touches picking out all the studs etc :-)
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated, Simon. Whilst I'm not a big fan of these plastic figures , Arnie the Armoured Fist was my favourite.
DeleteI did a lot of my early conversions on the plastic Goliath minis. They were fun to do if nothing else
ReplyDeleteFair point, Andy. Being made of plastic they were a lot easier to convert than the metal figures.
DeleteMore cool looking Goliaths Bryan, ahh the days of flat plastics with one plug in piece if you were lucky, thankfully thing's have got better for the most part
ReplyDeleteAmen to that, Dave. :-)
DeleteHAHAHA You have brought those plastic monstrosities to life Bryan. Top notch man. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly, Tom.
DeleteI have to admit that I absolutely hated the plastic Goliath figures. But your "Arnie the Armoured Fist" is brilliant and easily elevates the quality of the plastic model to being as good as the metal sculpts. But, as you've pointed out above, plastic miniatures have come a long way since then and for their time the GW Necro plastics were better than the majority, if not the best.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Roy. I didn't hate these plastics and at the time I probably liked them. But looking back on them now, I can see how crude they were compared to what's available nowadays. Ain't progress grand?
DeleteMarvelous trip down memory lane Bryan :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Greg. They do bring back many happy memories for me.
DeleteI've never seen these in the flesh but looking at your painted examples I honestly can't see a great deal of difference between the metal and plastic ones apart from on the weapons. Maybe because you have painted them in the same style and compensated for softer detail on the plastics with your painting to bring out the best in them.
ReplyDeleteYou can see why they needed such big muscles to carry all that hardware around with them. :-)
Metal as well as plastic sculpting and casting is light years away from the early days, just makes the old figures a bit sad in comparison.
Thanks, John. I think if you saw the figures in the flesh you'd notice a big difference between the metals and the plastics. Big muscles are very much a part of the Goliaths - more brawn than brain!
DeleteSuch a trip down memory lane. I've got a fair few metals but none of the plastics. But I always did like the rank and file. The give your gang so much of their firepower and utility. I can remember when we all hated plastics when they first came out but now I think I prefer them over metals. Mind you, as others have said, they've come a long way haven't they. Good paint jobs Bryan, as usual.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tim. I have to agree with all of your comments. Well said! I, too, much prefer plastics nowadays to metal. Heck, I even like most resin figures but obviously not GW's misnamed Finecast range!
DeleteGreat paintwork as always Bryan, yes those plastic fig's were not the best, but at least they weren't in fifteen bl**dy pieces like a lot of the new ones, I a metal man at heart, toy soldiers should be made of metal, and sculpted by hand not printed off of a computer!!! sorry rant over. Very nice anyway.
ReplyDeleteCheers Roger (off for a cup of tea and a calm down).
Thanks, Roger, and there's no need to apologise about ranting against plastics. We are all different and I respect your opinions even if I disagree with you. I'm liking plastics more and more these days and actually enjoyed putting together my new Goliaths and Eschers, despite them being fiddly and consisting of loads of parts.
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