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Sunday 14 June 2015

An old Bugbear of mine...

Or rather six of the big buggers!


I've had these irascible chaps in my collection for a while yet but no clear idea as to what I might do with them, other than a little dungeoneering perhaps. They will no doubt be appearing down some murky tunnels some time in the future, however, I was rather pleased that they'd fit right in on a Journey to the East with my Hobgoblins.


Lao Er - The oldest of the three siblings - certainly the biggest and ugliest at any rate.

Although Bugbears aren't strictly speaking of the Warhammer World, I have no problems with a bit of a D&D crossover - who's to say what goes on in the mysterious lands of Cathay...

Xiao Didi - the middle one - not quite an adolescent yet but certainly big enough to spoil your day.

For those not overly familiar with Bugbears, they are considered to be the largest and only hairy species of Goblinoid. They live in small tribes and tend towards a quiet life of hunting, drinking and ambushing unwitting strangers - and eating them. The more adventurous among them seek the life of a mercenary and enjoy lording it over the smaller, greener and balder Goblinoids.

Lao Touzi - the Head Honcho...

This particular family group, the Guifang tribe, found themselves in somewhat of a predicament after the demise of their matriarch (the true power behind any Bugbear Warlord), Lao Mu by natural causes. Natural causes in her case involved choking to death on a Dwarf femur which had been left in the stew.

... and wearer of the hat. 

With no other females in the group to organise things, conditions in the squalid encampment deteriorated rapidly, even by Bugbear standards. Finally the males were forced out by the stench and found themselves on the road - even the youngsters.

Ru Xiu Wei Gan - the smallest and most obnoxious of the three brothers.
When they came across a large war party of Hobgoblins, Lao Touzi, the tribal leader, was more than happy to throw his lot in with them in the hope of rich pickings on the battlefield - both in terms of shiny things and keeping the larder well stocked.

A face only a mother could love...
Things have certainly been going well for the tribe since tagging along with the raiding party and they have roamed throughout the Mountains of Mourn, even almost to the great gates of Shangyang.

Chusheng - a bit of a beast!
In terms of stats, I'll probably field the big guys as Black Orcs, possibly with an extra point of BS to reflect their hunting skills.

The nose bone doubles up as a tooth pick...
The younger Bugbears can have Orc and Goblin stats. I am quite tempted to give them a nauseating stench - a bit like Troglodytes. Perhaps a WP test to charge them and then -1 to hit in close combat.

Ai Er Wei Si - you don't want to know what he puts in his hair to keep that quiff up...
To balance that up I figure they'd need some kind of variation of the stupidity rule to reflect their disorganised nature (no Mamma to cuff them round the head!). They could also have a variation of the Minotaur's Blood Greed - a failed Cool test after they have routed their opponents sees them halting their pursuit to loot the dead of all their shiny things! The looting continues until they pass a Cool test or they are charged by new opponents, at which point they become frenzied - they really don't like their shiny things being taken away from them!

Shakin' all over!

6 comments:

  1. Looking very nice, I'm missing the very smallestfrom my collection, if you want to expand them check out Kev Adams Bugbears from Otherworld.

    Zhu has statted the guys out (for 2nd obviously) and produced a nicely illustrated bestiary entry for them.

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    1. Thanks Erny!

      Kev's Otherworld Bugbears are great - might be an option if I ever expand the tribe.

      I wouldn't mind picking up the Shaman and Bugbear Mother from citadel at some point too.

      Zhu's bestiary is great - I like the spells he came up with for Bugbear shamans in particular.

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  2. Love these models. Great paint jobs. I've painted up one myself and found it surprisingly easy to paint/get a good result.

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    1. Thanks Leadhead - I was pleasantly surprised myself. Once you've done the flesh and fur there's just a few bits of leather, armour and pouches to pick out - very satisfying and easy to paint!

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    2. I have them subject to feeding as per ghouls, frenzied if attacked as prone (who likes being interrupted at dinner time) and causing fear in Men (running on all fours 6/3 and feeding takes their souls - folklore and nightmares!)

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    3. I'd forgotten about the Ghoul feeding thing - yeah, that fits very nicely! Also - running on all fours - terrifying...

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