Thoughts on the new O&G releases

So what did I think of the new advance orders for Orcs & Goblins? First of all, I'd like to compliment Games Workshop on completly shutting down the pictures leaking onto the internet. It made the release all the more special and I know that many of us were practically glued to the screen for most of today, just to get an early glimpse.

Arachnarok Spider

Let's start out with the biggest and most breathtaking of the new models, the spider queen herself - The Arachnarok Spider. This one has been well-known to internet-hammerers since around Christmas, although no pictures were released in advance, we knew she was coming ever since reading a hint of it in the 8th edition rulebook. She looks absolutely amazing, one of the best models that I have ever seen created for Warhammer Fantasy. I particularly like how her hind side has been raised up from the ground, while the front is leaning forward in the spidery fashion. I was also very interested in how the crew would look, as my spider riders are currently sitting riderless in anticipation. I never liked the original spider riders much, but I believe a few of the sculpts for the Arachnarok crew can work well ontop of Giant Spiders as well. As you'll be able to field the Arachnarok either as a rare choice, with a warmachine or a magical shrine ontop, or as a mount for a Goblin Great Shaman, I'll definitely be picking one up. And imagine, she'll even have more wounds than a giant!

Savage Orc Boyz

Wow, are these guys chiseled or what. A bit of a change from what you've come to expect from orcs, but overall I like them. You can tell that there's a lot of interesting bits in every box, such as skulls, glyphs and tokens, that it'd be worth buying a few for that reason alone. I never bought the old metal ones, mainly because it was such a poor deal money wise, and also because I felt they looked more stupid than frenzied. These though, I expect to buy a few boxes worth. I'm thinking that a unit of 28, or 35, with double choppas and a Big Stabba should cause plenty of mayhem.

Savage Orc Boar Boyz

While the afore mentioned releases were quite well known to many, a lot of people were unsure about the Savage Orc Boar Boyz, mainly because the regular Boar Boyz were released last year. Sadly, I feel that the first release of the two actually turned out better as far as models go. The Boar Boyz were hunched forward, holding on tight to their mounts and preparing for the charge. the Savage Ones, I feel are sitting up too straight. I guess it's good to separate them from one another, and with their special rule of being able to use an additional handweapon despite being mounted, I certainly appreciate that there were only so many ways you could accomplish that model wise. So that should make for 3 S5 attacks for each model, along with a drop in points. They will be dirt cheap flankers who hit 'ard, so I will probably pick up a box of them sooner or later.

Savage Orc Shaman and Wurrzag

Not much to say about these to be honest, a side from that I think both models look really good. Especially Wurrzag I think looks fabolous, easily as good as the old model for him. We shall have to see how the rules for the shamans change, before I decide on whether or not I'll be getting these models. That being said, I'd definitely use Wurrzag as a Savage Orc Shaman in games.

Nasty Skulkers

Initially thought to be called Slittaz, these guys were quite late to reach the Internet communities. Contrary to a lot of people I've heard from about the subject, I was actually really looking forward to how these would look and I'm very pleased with the models! They look suitably highwaymen, sneaky robber-type to belong in a unit of hill goblins. The models also bear resemblence to other Goblin characters, with their cloaks in particular, and should fit well alongside the slightly outdated Goblin models (and probably transition nicely to a later release of goblins and wolf riders). If you consider that one of the first ever units I painted was a bunch of Goblins, I'm really excited about them getting a unit upgrade of their own. Night Goblins may keep their Nets and Fanatics - I'm looking forward to having a few of these killers in my Horde!

Whirling Death

Finally, the re-release of the old metal Fanatics from 6th edition has been mostly overlooked, but strangely I'm really excited about these guys as well. As you readers would know, I much prefer the 6th edition Night Goblins to their 7th edition cousins, so I'd really welcome a pack of older Fanatics to add to them. Until now, I've used the new plastic versions of them, but replaced their heads with larger ones from the 6th edition models. A bit of a throw-in release, as well as a throwback to older collectors, but still one that I greatly appreciate.

So that's it, those are my impressions of the new O&G releases. As you can probably tell, I'm very pleased with just about all of them, and I'm really excited about getting my hands on the models once they hit the stores. What are you thoughts on the new releases? Do you have any favourites or anything you thought were sub-par and failed to meet your expectations?