Night Goblin Spearmen to Level 1 - Start to Finish

Our LGS is pushing painted units quite strongly and I welcome it. One of the biggest attraction for new players is of course nicely painted armies facing off each other. When I looked at my army one of the biggest units that could do with some paint was the large unit of 49 Night Goblins. 

Majority of the models are all from the previous Warhammer Fantasy starter box set called the Battle for Skull Pass. It came with 40 Night Goblin Spearmen and another 20 Night Goblin Archers. It is by far the best way to raise a Night Goblin army fast and cheap. 

Also, looking at them, it is quite easy to get them to Level 1 which was rather surprising. I'll go through the details with each picture

Base them all with sand and sprayed them with Flat Black. I had painted a few models at the front from about 4 years ago

Boltgun Metal to all spear tips

A bus is quite intimidating

Bases go a long way to enhance the look of these minis. Started with a quick drybrush of Snakebite Leather on all bases

Get a cheap and hard bristled brush to execute this. You will destroy your good brushes

Hit the bases with Bleached Bone to highlight the sand. While that was carried out, I started working in the skin with Knarloc Green. Remember, this is targeting only level 1 so we really don't have to worry about highlights to the skin until much later

Then I hit all the shields with Blood Angels Red. I have also completed wetbrushing their cloaks with Chardonite Grey

I find that working on the same colour across 49 of them to be the best. Wash your brush every 3 to 4 models depending on how quickly your paint dries. This is to prevent your paint from drying on the brushes leading to splayed bristles. 

So as I was painting I dropped one of the little guys on the floor. Stepped on it and then picked him up. After 5 minutes, I felt something wet and sticky under my foot. 

So I took a peek and found that my foot was bleeding! LOL never challenge your miniatures! 

Got back to work on their shields rims with Boltgun Metal. Remember at each stage, use one colour and try to complete the entire stage in one seating. 

Finished painting up the spear hafts with Scorched Brown

At this stage you can see that the unit is pretty much ready for the table top. At Level 1, they are all in base colours but because they are so tiny, you can't really tell whether they are at Level 1 or 2, making your work highly efficient in man hours.

There are a few more steps to get them to Level 2 (which is mainly for my units):

1. Yellow to shield embossing
2. Streaks of Goblin Green to skin
3. Bleached Bone to teeth
4. Space Wolf Grey to create hood dags

Once you do the 4 steps above, no one can complain about your beautiful minis!

Also on the table now is a unit of 20 Night Goblin Archers. I am contemplating using 2 units of 20 Archers in some of my games. However, I think I may have to complete my Savage Orc Boyz before I can start working on those Archers. 

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