OK, I know what you are thinking. How can this be June Unboxings Part 4? July is here, June is gone! Well, you are right, and June is gone, but I I still have one blister left to open from my June shipment. The Grombrindal and Black Gobbo blister! This double pack was released to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of White Dwarf magazine.

The rules for using these Star Players can be found in the May 2017 issue of White Dwarf magazine, or downloaded in PDF form from the Forge World site. There was a little bit of a stir online surrounding the rules for these players as they are a little overpowered, but there are special rules for using them which makes them always show up together on the pitch to oppose each other. So, I guess if each team gets an over powered Star Player, then they just balance each other out. As always, I did not get too worked up over the rules for these guys as I like to see most anything new for Blood Bowl.

With all of that out of the way, it is time to get to the minis! Lets start with a front and back picture of the package.

Everything looks normal so far!

The insert displays all of the same artwork that we have seen many times now. I was, however, a little surprised to see that the insert was only a single front and back sheet, and not a booklet like other Star Players so far. There is no fluff, nor are there any rules or stats for the minis. Better download those PDFs or buy White Dwarf!

As to be expected, the back of the insert shows assembly instructions for both minis. It looks like there are only a few parts for each mini. Assembly should be a snap!

As with every other Star Player pack from Forge World, this one comes with two bases, one slotted, and one standard base. I thought this was a little strange at first, since the pack came with two minis. I would have thought that they would included either two slotted bases or two standard bases. It did, however, end up working out just fine as I will show you shortly.

Here we see all the pieces for both minis. There are only a couple of pieces to assemble on both minis, but I was surprised to see that much like the new Grim Ironjaw mini, these minis came with base tabs… as separate pieces. I really just do not understand this, base tab as a separate piece, thing that they seem to be doing. I definitely like base tabs on my minis, and wish that Forge World would include them on more minis. More specifically, though, I wish that they would come MOLDED ONTO THE MINIS so that I do not have to worry about assembling them. They did it for the Skaven booster pack, why can they not seem to figure it out for Star Players?

Rant over… After giving the minis a bath to remove the release agent, I was ready to begin assembly.

I started with the Grombrindal mini because I was most excited about him, and I am not patient enough to wait. I actually decided to use his base tab as it included a pieces of rock that his left foot sat on. His feet would not sit flush on top of the base if I did not use the tab-mounted rock. At first I thought about pinning his feet to the tab, but then I realized that surprisingly, Forge World had released a Star Player that was completely flat footed. All I needed to do was glue the tab into the base, then glue both feet to the base and tab and I would have a nice, strong joint.

As expected, attaching the base tab was super easy.

Just a little glue and Grombrindal is standing… with BOTH FEET on the base! Woohoo!

The right arm was very easy to attach. I only need to attach the beard braid and Grombrindal is done! And here is where it gets a bit interesting…

The beard braid is a really small piece, and the attachment point for it is only a small divot towards the bottom of his torso. Because the piece is so small, I had to get some tweezers to hold the piece while the glue dried. It took me a couple of tries to get right, but I finally managed it. I do have to admit that I am a little concerned about the strength of the joint over time. I guess I will have to see how well this thin resin piece holds up over time.

Time to move on to the Black Gobbo!

When I first saw the pictures of this mini, I REALLY was not sure about my feelings for it. Like the new Troll, the pose just felt… weird to me and I thought I was going to have to see it in person to “get it.”

What is this? TWO Star Players from Forge World with BOTH FEET flat on the base? Surely this cannot be!

Here is the Black Gobbo finished. This is kind of a weird angle, but that is actually a small bomb he is holding behind his back. If you do not like the gigantic bomb from the new Goblin Secret weapon pack (unboxing coming SOON!), this mini might be a good alternative for you to try. Even after getting the mini in my hands, though, I still think the pose is a little weird, but it is not too bad.

Lets take a look at both minis from a few angles.

The White Dwarf!

The Black Gobbo!

And a nice shot of both minis together. Finally we will look at a couple of size comparison shots.

Here is Grombrindal next to the new Grim Ironjaw and a 3rd edition Dwarf Runner. As you can see, even without the hair, he is a bit taller than the Runner, though the Runner is probably the shortest of the 3rd edition Dwarf minis. He is pretty much exactly the same height as the new Grim. I read someone online say that they wanted to use Grombrindal for their Grim, but they thought he was way too short and they were looking for alternatives. Not sure why they thought Grombrindal was so short… he looks exactly the right height to me.

Here is the Black Gobbo next to a new plastic “6th edition” Goblin and a 3rd edition Goblin. The height of all three Goblins is about the same when their poses are taken into consideration. One thing that I thought was interesting, though, was that the Black Gobbo’s head was actually noticeably larger than the new plastic Goblin. Almost all of the new Blood Bowl minis being released are a bit closer to “realistic scale” than the classic “heroic scale.” That means their hands and particularly their heads are smaller and more realistically proportioned than older minis. The Black Gobbo mini seems to be a reversal of that trend as his head seems much closer to the 3rd edition scale than it is to any of the other newer minis coming from Games Workshop. I do not really think that this is a good or a bad thing, just an interesting thing that I noticed…

Anyway, to sum up… I really like the new White Dwarf mini, though I am a bit on the fence about the Black Gobbo mini. The nature of the minis and their rules make sense for them to be sold as a two pack, but honestly, I am definitely more excited about adding Grombrindal to my collection than the Black Gobbo.

What do you guys think?