Kromlech has sent Blood of Kittens products for review and like any good wargamer we sent them off to someone better at painting and hobbing than me, here is a review by one of my favorite players and painters Jody Pez Man. 

The past few days, I’ve spent some time working with the Iron Reich Goblin Squad from Kromlech.  I was curious to see how these models would blend with the current GW Grots and if they would be a viable option for increased Grot diversity for Ork armies.  Here’s what I found out after spending some time with the kit…

As you can see from the picture, these models are characterful and expressive in a way the GW Grot models just can’t compete with.  There is so much personality in each model, that as I was cleaning them, I found myself making up narratives complete with “pew pew” sounds.  Truly, my inner 6 year old was enamored with this kit.  As far as the quality of the figures is concerned, the Iron Reich Goblins squad is on par with the other Kromlech kits I’ve worked with.  The models are generally free of mold lines, and only have a few venting ports which need to be scraped away.  Given the pointy ears, noses, bayonets and teeth of these little models, I was impressed that I didn’t find a single bubble in any of the castings.  The quality of the casting, was on par with some of the best I’ve seen.

As for painting these guys the heavy coats and huge toothy faces, would make painting them a breeze.  Again, like the other Kromlech kits I’ve painted, it really is just a matter of how much time and detail picking out, before the models are table top ready.  I took the same approach with the Iron Reich Goblin Squad that I do with all of my Ork models, I put down my base coat, wash liberally with water based stain, and then picked out highlights and details.  As expected the deeply cut details of the sculpts did a wonderful job of holding onto the wash, and the details were crisp and clear making them a breeze to pick out. I painted the squad in yellow and black, as my Ork army is a Bad Moon clan, but another obvious choice would be to use the Iron Reich Goblins Squad in a Blood Axe Clan force, where they would look perfectly themed to match the traditional, military imagery of that clan.

“But how do these Iron Reich Goblins compare to the GW Grots?” I hear you ask.  Well, it’s a bit of a mixed bag in terms of comparison.

 As you can see, the scale of the models in terms of height is very similar, with the only real size difference being that the Iron Reich Goblins are a little stouter than their GW counterparts. However, the faces on the Iron Reich Goblins are much more Ork-like than the Grots and, while far more interesting and expressive than the traditional Grots, they do not necessarily blend together very well.  In the end, I think most Ork generals would be happy to add the Iron Reich Goblins to their army, but would keep them isolated as their own small detachment rather than mixed in with the traditional sculpts.  However, given that Ork armies are nothing if not varied and ramshackle, this variety would only serve to heighten the wild and dynamic nature of any massed Ork force.

Hopefully you’ve found this review helpful, soon I’ll be back soon with more Kromlech model reviews.  Until then, thank you for reading and happy hobby!