New old hobgoblins - plan E

When I first started drafting this post it was to declare that, if I could happily field old and new Citadel goblins, with their drastically different proportions, then I could also happily field the slightly tall, skinny Wargames Factory orcs alongside my Fantasy Tribe hobgoblins.

1989 Kev Adams wolf rider, C21 goblin on Citadel wolf, Wargames Factory orc, FT hobgoblin

Then I decided that, even if I stripped and repainted the brutal childhood paint job, then I still couldn't field those wolf riders together, and I was going to have to shell out on more of the newer ones. A more immediate point though was that, much as I like the Wargames Factory orcs (not so keen on the reversible torsos, but they have buckets of character), I just couldn't field them along with the proper hobgoblins either.

So my search continued. I picked up another of the Grenadier goblins (lovely, but too few poses in the right style), and still more to go in what will be my more-eastern-equipped elite unit. But there's nothing out there quite like the Fantasy Tribes, and the more I look at them the more I like them.

One option at this point, and not inconceivable given the cost of all these false starts, is just to pay the silly prices these chaps go for on eBay. But I'm determined to stick with the original how to Oldhammer initiative (which specifies cheap as chips or still available) and besides, I'm getting a bit obsessed at this point (nearly a year and counting)...!

So I took another look at my earlier observation that there's something a bit Roman about the FT hobgoblins, and am hoping that some of Warlord Games' imperial Romans (plastic kits, so easy to convert, and seem more chunky and less regimented than some out there), combined with Hasslefree orc heads, plus some green stuff, might get me somewhere close.

So far I'm cautiously optimistic - the heads are a bit on the small side, but I'm feeling that once they're bulked out with hair and helmets they might be there, or thereabouts.

Hopefully in less than another year's time...