Trolling

The origins of various words and phrases can be very interesting because definitions are affected by usage and can stray from the original intended meaning.

This may occur when people either intentionally or inadvertently misuse a word in a context where it was not originally meant to be used, and the misuse gains traction and eventually becomes popularly accepted as truth — which is how this:

Trolling

Became this:

Trolling

Anyway, enough digression. The subject of this particular post is obviously the troll.

In Norse myth, trolls were closely related to giants (it is even believed that troll is just a negative synonym of jötunn), but the term was also used to describe various smaller mythological beings including huldra.

On to the miniatures (grouped roughly by size and proportions):

The largest trolls in this group are from RAFM, and include a Troll Warrior (Demons of Darkness RAF3723), and an Undead Troll (Demons of Darkness RAF3724).

The next pair is a Giant Troll attacking with Spiked Club (Fiend Factory FF16-1) and a Reaper Marsh Troll (Dark Heaven Legends 02609).

The Marsh Troll was sculpted by Bob Olley, and bears the characteristic facial features of all Olley trolls.

Two more Olley trolls, but this time they are older Ral Partha trolls that stand about 1cm shorter than the newer Reaper sculpt. On the left is one of the Troll Heavy Infantry figures (Fantasy Armies 02-143), while on the right is one of the Troll Rock Throwers (Fantasy Armies 02-142).

Some of these Ral Partha sculpts were used for Mage Knight, and include the Krugg Heaver (Whirlwind #040, #041,#042), Krugg Thug (Whirlwind #037, #038, #039), and the Krugg Headhunter (Minions #082, #083, #084/Nexus #102).

I repainted my figures to eliminate the awful yellow-blue-red colors originally used on them.

The Krugg heaver is one of the Troll Rock Throwers, while the Krugg thug is one of the Fantasy Armies Troll Light Infantry sculpts. The Krugg Headhunter is a modified version of the Fantasy Armies Troll Leader.

I cut off all of the trophies from one of the headhunters because I don't like figures that are covered with skulls or decapitated heads. It is a painstaking process, and will require additional work to make the figure presentable.

I really like these Olley trolls, as they remind me of the Fjeltroll from The Sundering Trilogy by Jacqueline Carey.

Next are a pair of Heritage trolls. The one on the left is a Troll of Moria (Lord of the Rings 1760), while the other one is a regular Troll (Dungeon Dwellers 1246).

A Grenadier War Troll (MM84) and Female Troll (MM86), both from the Monster Manuscript Vol.X box set.

Two Citadel C20 Trolls: Grog Stuntycrusher (left), and Hobol Firebreath (right).

Another Citadel troll (Marauder MM40) and a Reaper Cave Troll (Bones 77004).

Citadel Fantasy Tribe Trolls, sculpted by Tom Meier.

These are the early sculpts, and I believe there were later releases with their "naughty bits" covered up.

Next is a Large Troll with Club (minus the club) from Asgard (Fantasy Monsters FM66), a TSR troll (AD&D Monster Tribes 5305), and a very similarly posed Grenadier troll from the Horrors of the Marsh boxed set (Dragon Lords 2010).

A Ral Partha Troll (AD&D Monsters 11-408), and a pair of Grenadier Trolls (Julie Guthrie 706) are next.

The Ral Partha troll in particular bears the characteristics of the classic troll from the AD&D Monster Manual. The AD&D troll was obviously modeled after the troll from Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson (which may in turn have been influenced from elsewhere?).

I also have the Grenadier Denizens of the Swamp troll that is even closer in appearance to the Sutherland illustration from the Monster Manual, but unfortunately it suffered an accident while I was gathering up all my troll miniatures for photography.

More Ral Partha trolls include True Trolls (Personalities and Things that go Bump in the Night 01-063), and a Hill Troll (Personalities and Things that go Bump in the Night 01-010 v2).

Some unconventional trolls are the Archive Bridge Troll (Middle Earth 540), and the Ral Partha Draken (Personalities and Things that go Bump in the Night 01-123).

The figures are kind of similar, and remind me a bit of the Fremont Troll.

More unconventional trolls are the Uz of Glorantha. From left to right are a Trollkin with Spear, Trollkin with Sling, and Dark Troll with Large Axe from the Citadel Trolls and Trollkin box set (Runequest Box 3). The final figure is a Troll Adventurer from the Citadel Adventurers box set (Runequest Box 2).

The Runequest trolls seem a bit undersized for their intended scale, since Uz are supposed to be larger than humans, but they're just about right compared to 1/72 humans. The trollkin are okay, but having even smaller ones would be nice.

Additional candidates for trollkin are cave imps from Splintered Light Miniatures. The following miniatures were purchased as part of the Cave Imp Army (BOX21).

The figures look as if they may have been modeled after the Dam troll, and I'm going to paint them up as such. The product line has been sold to C-P Models, but a boxed set appears to still be sold by Splintered Light. I'm not sure if they actually come in a box though, since I received my figures in a single ziploc bag.

Last are my 15mm trolls, with figures from Chariot (GOB10) and Alternative Armies (HOT3) on the left, while to the right is a Splintered Light Troll Throwing Rock (ORC04) and a 25mm Heritage River Troll (Fantasy 1315).

These smaller trolls would be ideal for a low fantasy game in which monsters are not of gigantic proportions.

The Heritage troll is a 25mm figure, but it is barely taller than the SLM troll. The Chariot figure looks like a typical Warhammer troll, while the HOT troll would fit well stylistically with the Olley trolls (while still being unique). I just wish there was a 25mm version of the HOT figure so that it really could be used alongside the Olley trolls.

A nasty-looking troll, brandishing a bloody axe,
blocks all passages out of the room.

Goblins in a Plenty

Whether you consider them to be small orcs or their own separate race, goblins are ubiquitous bad guys that have populated fairy tales and fantasy stories for centuries.

I've been trying to put this post together for quite a long time, and finally forced myself to sort out my pile of goblins, take all the necessary photos, and publish the thing to get it off my list for the New Year. So without further ado, I present the following sampling of goblins that can be used for 1/72 fantasy gaming.

I will start off with goblins in various types of plastic:

The first picture is of Caesar 1/72 plastic goblins (Caesar 105). They are a primitive looking bunch, lightly armed, and unarmored. Their proportions are fine, though I think the ears are a bit overdone.

The next set of images are of goblins from the D&D CMG. The first picture includes the Goblin Skirmisher (Dragoneye #31), Goblin Underboss (War Drums #31), Goblin Warrior (Dragoneye #32), Silent Wolf Goblin (Aberration #43), and Blue (Giants of Legend #29).

The next picture is of the Goblin Blackblade (War Drums #30), Goblin Picador (Dungeons of Dread #34), Lolthbound Goblin (Demonweb #13), Acheron Goblin (Blood War #28), Goblin Delver (Dangerous Delves #21), and Goblin Sharpshooter (Dangerous Delves #22). The Blackblade, Picador and Lolthbound Goblin have also been released for the Heroscape Warriors of Eberron expansion as part of the Ogre and the Goblins set.

The final picture here is of additional repurposed D&D miniatures, and includes the Goblin Cutter and Goblin Champion from the Legend of Drizzt boardgame, and their Dungeon Command equivalents. These were originally released as Goblin Cutter (Legendary Evils #23), and Irontooth (Legendary Evils #28) respectively.

I find the DDM figures suitable for use as either orcs, hobgoblins, or goblins depending upon size. The paint job on the Dungeon Command versions are are not particularly well done, but it's easy enough to repaint them, and they tend to be much cheaper than the original figures.

The Pathfinder goblins have often been described as not being your typical goblin, but they still fall into the stereotype of small, green humanoids. To me they seem to behave similarly to the gremlins from Joe Dante's Gremlins. From left to right are a Goblin Warrior (We Be Goblins! #1), and two Goblin Pyros (Legends of Golarion #1 and #2).

They have incredibly big heads that make them look totally out of proportion when placed next to a 1/72 scale figure. Luckily, the heads come off rather easily, and can be replaced with something smaller.

To round out the soft plastic goblins, we have goblins (and hobgoblins) from the BattleLore boardgame and two of their specialist packs - Goblin Skirmishers (Harceleurs Gobelins), and Goblin Marauders (Maraudeurs Gobelins) - produced by Days Of Wonder/Fantasy Flight Games. The figures include a Hobgoblin Swordsman, Hobgoblin Archer, Hobgoblin Spear Bearer, Goblin Band Leader, Goblin Drummers, Goblin Slinger, and a Goblin Skirmisher/Swordsman.

The plastic used to make the BattleLore goblins is a bit more bendy than other types of plastic, but their limbs are pretty chunky so there should be no problems with warping.

Finally, I include some hard plastic figures. The largest one on the left comes from Warhammer Quest, followed by two snotlings from the GW Night Goblin Fanatics set, and a whole bunch of Mantic imps. I bought the imps as bitz, so I'm not sure what sets they come from.

Now onto the metal miniatures:

The Terronus Isle of Goblins game is produced by West Wind Productions, and comes with a small line of goblin miniatures. The Terronus goblins are all slightly on the tall side, but they are slender, and thus more like goblins than orcs.

The first picture is of the Goblin Barbarian and Barb (TR-01), the Goblin Cleric and Chain Fighter (TR-02), and Goblin Fighters (TR-03).

The second picture is of the Goblin Paladin and Ranger(TR-04), the Goblin Monk and Rogue (TR-05), and the Goblin Wizard and Sorcerer (TR-06).

The last picture is of the Goblin Druid (TR-07), Goblin Villagers (TR-13), and a Sepulchral Guard (TR-14).

Hasslefree makes a nice set of Multi Part Goblins (HFO012) that come with separate heads, arms, and shields. I've only attached the heads here, but there are two right arms with swords, two right arms with spears, and four different left arms with attached shield.

They have a bit of that Angus McBride look to them, and look pretty good alongside the 1/72 Dark Hold Orcs.

The next picture contains three goblins from Prince August (Fantasy Armies GB7), and a pair of goblins made by The Goblin Factory (GOBSP014 and GOBSW007). The Prince August goblins are tall, and could be used as either goblins or orcs. The Goblin Factory figures are perfectly sized, and I will have to order some more in the future.

Citadel produced a line of lesser goblins that are perfect for use with 1/72 figures. These include:

C12/C13 Lesser Night Goblins

C12/C13 Lesser Goblins

GW snotlings come in a huge number of variants so a good group of goblins can be assembled relatively easily. They are on the cartoony side, and while I am not a huge fan of stereotypic comedy relief races, the miniatures actually paint up rather nicely. Some of their heads are pretty over-sized for 1/72 miniatures, but not so much so that I feel compelled to make a head swap like for the Pathfinder goblins. For coloration, my preference is for the traditional AD&D colors, though I do have some green goblins.

C14 Snotlings

Bit, Bob, Bog, Bogy, Chug (x3)

Dig, Dit, Gaz, Gig, Greni, Gug, Lud

Rud, Snif (conversion), Snit, Snot, Tug, Xen

Zid, Zot, Balg, Beet, Glup, Hev

Jab, Perc, Pik, Puff, Ret, S.A.A.

Shaman, She-Snot, Sik, Slik, Snek

Spet, Stug, Troom, Hic-hic

Gim and four anonymous snotlings

Marauder MM36 Snotlings

Snotling Pump Wagon Crew

Bloodbowl Snotlings

Rogue Trader Runts

Alternative Armies makes some Lesser Goblins (KC1) that are suitable as goblins. To me they seem rather influenced by the appearance of GW goblins.

Reaper goblin from the Familiars IV set (Warlord 14297), and Familiar Pack VI (Dark Heaven Legends 02870). This pair are unarmed civilian-type goblins.

The Ral Partha Lesser Goblins/Goblin-Imps from the CS/Fantasy Collector Series are some of my favorite figures. The first figure is actually from the Monsters boxed set (The Adventurers 98-003), and is called a Demon Imp, or in other instances a ghoul, but it fits right in with the Goblin-Imps.

Tin Soldier Giant Goblin Command (DFA12) are in a crouched position similar to the Ral Partha Goblin-Imps, but are a lot chunkier.

Blood Dawn/Shadow Corps goblins are small and weedy, and fit well with other 15mm figures, unlike the Shadow Corps orcs and dwarves. The first picture contains two pairs of figures from the Goblin Command Set (SC3009) and Goblin Infantry with Mace set (SC3010), and one pose from the Goblin Infantry with Side Arms set (SC3011).

The next picture is of the Goblin Infantry with 2-Handed Arms (SC3012), and Goblin Archers (SC3013).

The next group are 15mm Alternative Armies goblins. Many of the figures are used interchangeably with their orc sets with the exception of some of the figures from their Goblin Command set (HOT3), and Goblin Archer set (HOT61). The command set was supposed to have three poses, but I ended up with four. The first two figures are unique to the goblins, while the second two are shared with other orc sets. The final figure is of a Goblin Hunter (MDA22E) from their Table Top Fantasy line.

Additional small 15mm goblins come from Splintered Light Miniatures. These include Goblin Warriors (ORC07).

Some somewhat larger Goblin Archers (ORC03)

Finally, some figures that I use as goblin proxies. The first figure below is of a Ral Partha Mite (AD&D Monsters 11-460), followed by two Grenadier Kobolds (Wizzards and Warriors W22). These kobolds are not the iconic Sutherland versions, and I vaguely recall them also being used as lesser orcs or goblins by Grenadier.

More Grenadier kobolds include some sculpted by John Dennett (Fantasy Lords 148; Monster Manuscript Vol.V 1505, MM43, MM44). These kobolds are horned, but do not have tails. I use them as a type of hobgoblin.