Goblins have always been partners of Orcs, and I didn't want to change that.
First of all, Orcs will be a very demanding range, for what concerns overall production costs, so it's important to have subjects that can grow the raw numbers without adding too much weight to the already heavily solicited budget. Moreover, Goblins can add extra flavor to the range, allowing me to explore different themes and portray different shades of the Orc society.
Last, but not least, Goblins can be adorable, of course in their own way!
If you know me, you can bet that I'll focus a lot on this last thing.
When I imagined the Goblins of Inneath, I thought about...classics.
I grew up with a specific image of Goblins: cunning and treacherous troublemakers!
Obviously, I wanted to connect them somehow to the main theme of Orcs, so I went for a slightly piratical theme, I wanted them to be mainly raiders with a strong passion for bombs, dynamite, and everything that can make a big bang and a lot of funny destruction.
Individually, Goblins know to be small and relatively puny. For this reason, they decide to compensate for their lack of strength with powerful tools.
Of course, Goblins are not just crazy arsonists: they are well known for being smart merchants and skilled builders, able to recycle even the most useless object into something profitable (at least, for them! Customer service is not a thing, in Goblin society!).
After these premises, I think that it's easy to illustrate this new Goblin character: the Goblin Raider A!
The concept behind this little guy portrays an average Goblin, doing what he likes the most: to blow stuff up!
His look merges well with the main theme of the Orcs of Inneath, with a subtle Old West vibe brought to the scene by the vulture's skull that this Goblin uses as a helmet. Goblins are part of any crew of Orcs, so I thought about giving them a coherent style with the other Orc characters.
In specific, there will be 6 Goblin characters, including a mysterious Merchant that I think might be one of our best-designed kits: as you may imagine, the pyrotechnical vibe will be the main focus, but there will be also space for a real Goblin warrior, the proud pupil of the towering Orc of "Before the Battle"!
I realized that this Orc range is full of smiling characters, I think it's interesting. Since the beginning, the cornerstone of the Orcs of Inneath is Urghor, which is the incarnation of raw ambition. I thought to portray this concept with smiling subjects, it contrasts extremely well with the serious and grim attitude of the other ranges.
Orcs and Goblins are cursed with short lives, so I think they really learned to enjoy anything they do, or maybe they learned that the best thing to do is to have fun by cultivating their favorite hobbies. Which, in this case, is to blow things up!