Talk to me about Hobhounds

I`m currently harvesting Hobgoblins to make a unit or two, i`m going to go with the Fake tan skin colour rather than the 3rd edition books suggested green as this will help i-d them in my large Orc army.
I intend making the wagon with banner but am not happy with the idea of paying big bucks for original GW hobhounds to pull it (or possibly having to wait for a log time for them to turn up on e-bay), so i would like to know what if any alternative models are out there, bear in mind they need to look similar in general shape to the GW ones , i`m not looking for wolves. If nothing is forthcoming i will resort to using a couple of bulls but would prefer the dogs.



Oh.. by the way can anyone tell me why Hobhounds are better LD than Hobgoblins?

My recollection for the write-ups & scenarios paint a picture of a VERY loyal mastiff type of dog, but few in number; hence their not normally used as draft-animals - hence in Dolgan's Raiders- they use labotamised Ogres to pull the carts, what's that telling you about Hobhounds & Ogres?

Good luck with your project

Paul / Golgfag1

Finding dogs that look similar to GWs old Hobhound miniatures will be tough. The miniatures looked like a badly shaved poodle in a vicious sorta way.
Oddly, as Golgfag1 noted their descriptions in the writings of the time was that of a mastiff which the actual miniatures bare little resemblance to.

Going with the mastiff theme I've been pecking away at Lockjaw Heroclix miniatures from time to time.

I have the three original Hobhounds but price has stopped me buying more to make the unit of ten needed for Orcs Drift.

I was going to use Mordheim Witch Hunter Dogs... But they aint much cheaper...

I was thinking of using these guys from Reaper but they are still a little expensive

Just use poodles, think of the comedic value my friend

whiskey priest":19kojsr7 said:

I was thinking of using these guys from Reaper but they are still a little expensive

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They look the job perhaps with a "ruff" of fur modeled on. Perhaps they will get released as Bones?

I play with the thought to use fleabags from mantic.

I think thats the metal handler version but they also have plastic, mounted versions.

So here's what I've got going on for Hobhounds so far-
Back in the late nineties I picked up a pack of 5 Orcs on Bulldogs by a French-Canadian company called Enigma shortly before they went out of business.

The one in the middle is from Enigma. Its a hefty lead miniature and a bit crudely caste with the left side slightly smaller so I have to place shims under his feet. But I love these guys. Unfortunately like I said they are gone and Ive never seen them on ebay etc.
I've recently stumbled on the Heroclix Lockjaw figure which mixes in well enough and isn't too pricey. will need a little trimming to put rider on his back.
I'm also toying with the idea of using the bones Hell Hound (cheap). He's too wolf or cat like as is, but maybe if I shorten his neck and bob his tail?



Mantic's fleabags look promising. Reapers guard dogs look good too but if I recall correctly there was a reason I shied away from them, I think they are an odd size- a little to small to ride but much larger then my other warhounds. Reaper also makes Garr the guard dog, tall enough to ride but a bit too proud looking.


Here's part of my fledgling unit of "Hobhound" war dogs. I'm going with the idea that any dog owned by a Hobgoblin is by default a Hobhound and just like all dogs they probably have varying breads of Hobhounds and as such no real set in stone look.
The ones on the left are Mordheim warhounds. The next two are Marauder war dogs from their Dark Elf range. The one with horns is a resin from Mierce miniatures (don't bother with that one, outrageously expensive, I only bought him because their pictures made him look huge, big enough to ride, I feel duped). The next one is Shadow Mastiff a plastic D&D miniature. The last of course is an original Hobhound.



I quite like the Shadow Mastiff. The man-ish face reminds me of the Russ Nicholson drawing of the Hobhound and Handler.

Niibl":25e8z6ya said:

I play with the thought to use fleabags from mantic.

I think thats the metal handler version but they also have plastic, mounted versions.

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I think with a darker paint scheme those could do nicely and hopefully look a bit less comic around the jaws.

Tartar sauce i think you have done the right thing with huge hounds for mounts and smaller ones as attack dogs. The original models were a bit small when you consider that they had a much better profile than a giant wolf, i did have some proxies lined up that were more the size of the originals (plastic 1/72 wargs from orion) but i may have to put these aside for use with handlers and use some of the Flea bags as mounts with perhaps a Reaper one as a leader mount. I have just finished a unit of ye-olde Prince August Hobgoblin infantry with another to go and two units by other manufacturers waiting, so there is no rush so any other suggestions may still be useful.

By -the-way i`m a little put off by the high quality of some of the painting around here as i have moved to more of an "Army Painter" type approach.

Tartar Sauce":u181bw6f said:

I quite like the Shadow Mastiff. The man-ish face reminds me of the Russ Nicholson drawing of the Hobhound and Handler.

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Really like the colour schemes tying the two models together. Nice!

Thanks Zhu! It's a bit of a fluke though, I didn't notice until you pointed it out.