A few days ago, another box from Forge World showed up on my doorstep. I went through the box and took some pictures. I intended to write this post at that point, but then I unexpectedly had to drive to my home town to say goodbye to a very old friend. Now I am back at the lair, and I can finally write this post. So, without further delay… Goblin Secret Weapons!

As you probably know, Games Workshop recently released a new Goblin team for Blood Bowl. With only one or two small gripes, I found the team to be a really nice addition to the current Blood Bowl line. The one thing that the Goblin team was missing compared to other current teams, was “positional” players. Now, positional players are a little different on the Goblin team than other teams. They do not have Blitzers, Catchers, Runners, or Throwers (unless you count the Trolls throwing Goblins…), but they do have Secret Weapons. Goblin Secret Weapons server two purposes on the team.

1. They allow the Goblin team to more competitive against other teams.
2. They provide a LOT of hilarity on the pitch.

Well unfortunately, Games Workshop did not include any Secret Weapons in the team box, but they have now released a booster pack from Forge World. The booster pack contains the classic Chainsaw, Bomber, and the always entertaining Fanatic (Ball & Chain). Of course, that still leaves us without a Pogoer, Doom Diver, or ‘Oolligan… but hopefully we will see those minis soon enough.

Lets get to the reason why you are all here… the minis!

As with other, non-Star Players, there is no fluff written into the package insert. It is just a single sheet with the artwork on the front, and assembly instructions on the back. As you can see from the image, the Secret Weapon minis only have a few pieces each, so assembly should be a snap.

In the package you get three slotted bases, but no standard bases. We will discuss that further in a minute.

Here are all the different pieces for the minis. Note the pieces on the far left… Remember the Grim Ironjaw unboxing where I pointed out the fact that Forge World made a really strange decision by including base tabs that were completely separate from the rest of the mini… yeah, those three pieces on the far left are more detached base tabs. Now, I have to admit that the only thing I have ever ordered from Forge World are the recent Blood Bowl releases, so this may be something that they have been doing for a while and I just have not seen it before. It still completely perplexes me as I do not see the point of a base tab that is not attached…

Anyway, all three of the Secret Weapon minis have at least part of both feet touching the base, so I decided to use some spare standard bases I have instead of trying to fiddle with detached base tabs. I gave the pieces a nice, soapy bath and started assembling.

I started with the Chainsaw. He only comes in three pieces, so assembly is a snap.

The head attached easily.

I have to do just a little bit of trimming and filing to get the arms to fit properly, but it only took a minute or two. It was very simple, overall. One mini down already!

Next up is the Ball & Chain. The head is molded on, so that is one less thing to worry about.

Attaching the chain and left arm was probably the most challenging part of this build. The angle of the pieces was not QUITE right, so I had to hold the pieces together in a slightly bent position until the glue dried enough to not pop out at a weird angle. There was also a little bit of a seam on the left arm, but some green stuff will fix that.

Adding the ball to the Ball & Chain was easy enough. One more piece to go!

And strangely enough, that one piece is a lower jaw for the ball to make it look like a maniacal face. One mini to go!

The last mini is the Bomber. He is holding both arms over his head because he is holding one big ass bomb… Not sure where he keeps his extras, but I guess that is something we have to suspend disbelief on a little.

That is a nose that only a mother Goblin could love…

That is one big ass bomb…

I have to be honest here, I am not really sure how I feel about all the smoke being sculpted onto the bomb here. I have never tried to tackle painting smoke before, and for some reason, it really is not something that I am looking forward to. Maybe I am just overthinking it. Almost done…

The last piece is a torch for lighting bombs that is basically stuck to the Bomber’s side. How that torch can just be stuck to his side without setting him on fire, I will never know…

Lets take a look at the fully assembled minis.

Chainsaw from multiple angles.

Ball & Chain from multiple angles.

Bomber from multiple angles.

A picture of all the Secret Weapons together.

And finally, a size comparison shot.

Here are the Secret Weapon minis next to a current Goblin and a 3rd edition Goblin. As you can see, they are mostly the same size, with the 3rd edition Goblin only slightly smaller than the rest.

For the most part, I like the new Secret Weapon minis. My only real complaint is the Bomber… That bomb is just ridiculous big and torch attached to his side is just silly. In the grand scheme of things, that is a small thing, though. Other than that, I think these minis are a nice modern take on classic Blood Bowl Goblin silliness. I am looking forward to seeing the last three pieces to the Goblin team get released… whenever that may be.

Let me know what you guys think of the minis!