Boiing! Boiing!

And with this model, I conclude my squigmania...

"G'day. My name's Bruce..."

My first purchase from Forge World, and I can't say I'm disappointed. The Night Goblin Command Set comes with three models, and while I'll get around to the Battle Standard and Shaman eventually, it was the Night Goblin Warboss on a Great Cave Squig that really drove my purchase.

We've come a long way. We've been through a lot. We've learned how to bounce.

Assembly was easier than the Mangler Squigs, either because it was a better quality cast, or because I'm getting better with resin (and gave it a proper soapy scrub before undercoating). I was still surprised how much greenstuff was needed to smooth out the joins, most notably around the horn and jaw (I would have though something so precision-cast would have fitted together better than that).

As Papa would say: "You're hot, then you're not, You better learn to bounce."

And on the subject of the jaw - I'm not sure it was absolutely necessary to sculpt such a detailed mouth and tongue, and then have you affix a lower jaw so none of it can be painted, or even undercoated. Once I'd primed the model, I could still see the resin tongue in there, defying any attempt with my brush to reach it. I had to resort to practically sticking the aerosol nozzle in the damn thing's mouth to get it sprayed black.

(A clever modeller might have undercoated and painted the mouth, then glued on the jaw - but look into its maw and tell me you would have seen it.)

You hit a few bumps, You make a few gaffes, You learn how to bounce.

Enough grousing, the model itself is a beaut, and totally worth the price of admission.

I wanted this model the moment I saw it (aided by the fact that its opposite number in the GW range must be the worst greenskin miniature I've ever seen). And painting it up close showed a lovely amount of detail (the rags of chainmail acting as barding; the dwarf pigtail and odd bones hanging from the rider's belt; the teeth, horn and tusks).

You take a few lumps, You have a few laughs, And all the while you bounce.

My usual painting recipe for Night Goblins and squigs, although I tried to take a bit more care over this one. For instance, I applied the Typhus Corrosion judiciously over the metal, rather than plastering it all over.

The great cave squig also has armour plates that have clearly been scavenged from actual knights, so I had a try at making those distinct with heraldry: chequerboard, yellow-and-iron; blue-and-white quarters with a golden twin-tailed comet (gets around, doesn't it?) and, in probably my least successful attempt, some freehand fleur-de-lis.

With someone to give you a hand, you not only live, you expand. You learn to adjust. You do what you must...

I've seen it used to good effect (or at least comic effect, which is the same thing with greenskins) in 8th Edition battles - Night Goblin Monstrous Cavalry! What's not to love?

The AoS warscroll seems decent enough, if a little conventional (in the initial Age of Sigmar app, it appeared to have a typo that armed the rider with Ghal Maraz - now sadly corrected), but I'm sure I'll put it to good effect somewhere.

...Bounce.