Get them engines revvin’ folks! G-Dubs were good enough to send me the brand new Goliath Mauler kit, and I’ve been having a lot of fun getting my Necromunda groove on over the last few weeks. So buckle up, as I show off my brand new wheelz!

First off, I just want to say that this is the coolest looking “bike” GW have ever brought out. It has that predatory look, an industrial heaviness about it, and it brings a new meaning to the term “Chopper” (or should that be “Crusher”?). It’s a laid back Harley-style killing machine, with a brutal beefcake astride it and I was very excited to get this put together and painted. I should say, the box comes with two, but I’m saving the other in case I want to do something fancy with it one day – I have plans…

I’m sure we’re going to see Ork warbosses and Khornate champions riding these machines in the coming weeks, and I for one am looking forward to seeing those conversions, but in the meantime, I’ll talk to you about building it and painting it.

It’s a dream to put together, with very little faff and some well hidden mould-lines too. If you want my advice though, keep the driver and handle-bars separate when painting and affix together when both components are completed. I didn’t do this and made my life a little more difficult than it needed to be. 

I started off with the main chassis first employing a modified version of a favourite rust technique best demonstrated by Pete The Wargamer. Along with the steps he demonstrates in the video, I added some oil washing and some other steps, but it produces a great result when you want something to look rusty and old.

If I was doing this for a compeition, I’d want that engine block to be Chrome, but I’ve never tried that and this is more for my own enjoyment than anyone else’s. I was quite happy that I painted in the speedo and fuel-guage – and of course he’s going hell for leather. 

The ash wastes themselves were painted first (after I made some grooves to illustrate where the tracks and chompy-wheel had bitten into the surface) and then I hit them with some weathering powder. Well, actually I hit most of it with some weathering powder, to illustrate the dustiness of the wastes. That was a lot of fun.

And that’s more or less all the fun stuff covered. This was a lot of fun, I love the model, and will definitely going back to my 2nd Mauler when I have the time. Onwards!

It’s time to smash some stuff up with my Goliath gang leader completing the gang that I will take into my first Necromunda campaign. Bash ‘The Destroyer’ Bonebreaker is here to lead the Jagged Aggressors into the depths where his power hammer can cause maximum damage, if his combat shotgun doesn’t blast his enemies apart before he gets close enough. This hulking brute represents the end of my initial Goliath gang, as the six that are now done clock in at 995 credits with their added gubbins. What’s more, this allows me to create the warriors I need as campaigns go on, and take advantage of any weapons sprues that Forge World might be releasing in the future.

I went with the Power Hammer because it’s both fluffy and fantastic in a fight. It also looks brutal, and I decided to give it a weathered bronze look to set it apart from other weapons in the gang. And the respirator mask puts the leader out on his own as well. I had to chop and change the combat shotgun with the combi-plasma in order to get it onto the same mini as the hammer, but that was easy enough. And of course, as is now my signature with any leader, sergeant, boss, champion, etc, I added a lone skull to the base.

I like the idea of this guy striding, unbowed and uncaring into the heart of the fray, blasting his enemies apart with shredding buckshot, before swinging that monstrous hammer to crush and cripple any foe foolish enough to try and take him in close combat. It takes advantage of the Goliath’s fantastic strength and the leader’s attack stats. And I really can’t decide which part of this miniature is my favourite, in terms of my painting. I’m very happy with both weapons and how they look, so maybe I’ll pick those as my highlight, but there are other bits I’m equally pleased with.

It’s been a really fun project to work on, and I look forward to expanding the gang in the future with more weapons and maybe even some juves (rumour has it that Forge World are working on this kit), but for the time being, and until my campaigns kick on, that’s this project done!

And so there are the Jagged Aggressors! Looking pretty good (if I do say so myself) in their initial iteration. My camera has just about been able to cope with all the metallics going on which is alright, though they do of course look better in the flesh. I’ll be returning to them a few times in 2018 I dare say, but from this little project alone, the Necromunda miniatures get a huge thumbs up from me. A joy to paint.

Next up from me, well, I have a few smaller projects I want to work on (there’s some very exciting things coming), and then eventually, I’ll crack on with the Eschers. In other news, I’m off to the Heresy/Necromunda weekender in early February, so I’ll be picking up whatever’s new from there, and will of course be reporting from the event as well. Stay tuned for  all of that, but in the meantime, I hope you have a great week of painting. Onwards!

Turning up the heat in the Underhive, my new Goliath champions, Fraggorn Wrenchshouter, and Zaktarg Fragmaker are now complete and ready for action. With the kit’s coolest weapons options – including the controversial krumper (is its range too much of a problem?), they’re now ready to join the rest of the gang. Let’s take a look at the two big boys of the Jagged Aggressors gang.

Fraggorn is a true monster, hefting the beast of a weapon that is the krumper, along with an oh-so-useful combat knife strapped to his back. He’s a great looking mini, with that teeny-tiny cigar hanging from his lips, and a very nonchalant stance, he looks like a real menace. He was a fun miniature to work on, and that weapon does look super cool, even if its very short range might prove problematic in a game that isn’t using a zone mortalis-style setting. But hey, sometimes the rule of cool beats all.

The cigar wasn’t too much of a problem – I know there are a lot of stories about people losing that piece, but if you clip it (gently) and assemble it straight away, it’s really not an issue. And it was fun to get the colours right on that – you can’t really see it on the photos here, but I think I nailed the burning end’s oranges and greys pretty well. The combat blade is from the Betrayal At Calth box, and it’s nice and oversized which is perfect for this Goliath. And like all the others, he’s of course dressed in those utilitarian greys and browns.

My favourite weapon in the whole Goliath kit has to be the Renderizer, and Zaktarg Fragmaker is wielding it with a grin. That axe would look amazing on a Chaos champion too, so I may save one to add into another army or onto a character at some point in the future. I really like the grinning face, and while you can’t quite spot it in these shots, I gave this champion silver teeth with a bloody red wash around them, just to make it extra menacing.

I gave him a couple of grenades – some more traditional frag grenades instead of the huge stick-bombs. They’re a cool bit, but I just couldn’t make them fit on this model in a way that looked good. I also added some snake chain to the base to represent some sort of power cable. I’m going to enjoy watching this chap pulverising his way across the battlefield.

And all of that leaves me with one more gang member to go before the Jagged Aggressors are ready for their first campaign. I’ve put the first few licks of paint onto my leader already, so stay tuned for him – he’ll be appearing on this blog soon. So with all of that done, I shall leave you to enjoy your own painting and modelling efforts. My your brushes never lose their points, and your paint pots never dry out. Onwards!

My Goliath Gang for Necromunda is up and running, and the first three gangers are done. Say hello to Hulkras, Smargrill and Porgsmash of the Jagged Aggressors. Their names come straight from my name generator, and while I’m not the biggest fan of “Porgsmash”, I’ll stick to them for the rest of the project. Let’s take a closer look-see.

Being Goliath, and having a name like Jagged Aggressors, I wanted these guys to have a thoroughly utilitarian, industrial feel to them. Therefore, the colours are browns and greys, and there’s plenty of weathering too. In fact, their rusted armour reflects the rusted walkways that they’re standing on – as it was Goliaths that probably made those walkways in the first place.

Smargrill is the specialist of the gang and the first guy that I painted. He’s wielding that lovely grenade launcher and a brute cleaver – I really think it’s key for each Goliath to have a good close combat option as that’s where their strength really lies, but they need brutal ranged weapons to help get them there. It’s an important balance to get right. I’m really happy with the worn leather look on the trousers of all of these minis, and it was really fun to go a bit more over-the-top with the rust and verdigris. Normally I have to be quite restrained with the rust but with this lot, I let the paint brush have some fun.

Hulkras is next up, and his Spud Jacker shows how far I went with the rusting and weathering. I figured the Goliaths would put older tools to work as weapons as newer, better kept kit would be needed in the foundries. It’s a great looking bit though – GW did a great job with that. And in the top picture, you can see he has the jagged whitish line on his leg plate. This is the symbol of the gang, but I didn’t want to overuse it – these guys are all function first, and fancy details a distant second.

And here we have Porgsmash. If you think the gun looks a little bit different, that’s because it’s from the Ork grot kit. Turns out Goliaths and grots have a pretty similar taste in firearms. Actually, the one criticism I’d have of these kits is that the options don’t give you quite enough flexibility. Some weapons only appear on left hands, others on right hands. A bit limiting if you’re not too comfortable converting things. But other than that, it’s a cracking set of sprues and I’m loving this project.

Those are my gangers. Initially, I’m just building a six man gang as they’ll be going into a campaign in the new year, and I want to have options further down the line, especially if Forge World are going to be releasing some weapons sprues later on. Also, I want to get on to those Escher ladies at some point in the not too distant future.

Next up for me will be my Champions so expect those as the next painted pieces from me. I hope you enjoyed checking this lot out. Oh, and I should say that I tried the rainbow mohawk look for them, but it didn’t quite suit, whereas the red hair looks a lot better. But that’s enough from me. I hope you’re enjoying your painting as much as I am enjoying mine. Onwards!