Hmm...some pretty harsh observations there, and I guess if you take the miniatures out of context, fair enough.
Yes, there are actually 3 poses there, two of each. James painted these for an upcoming box release, which will contain 5 miniatures. The female will be Special Edition and only one per box but we didn't decide that until after we saw them painted.
The extravagant bases are because these are the studio paintjob. I'm not sure many people could afford to pay James to paint their meant-for-play armies. So, the display bases make sense since these are display minis.
The chains are symbolic. These are elite troops that have undergone highly specialized training with these weapons. I agree that if your rank and file troops were running around with these weapons, they'd be as much a danger to themselves and friendlies as the enemy. But these are not goblin fanatics, they are elites.
But as I always say, everybody has the right to their opinion and I thank you for sharing.
I was actually quite impressed with how close to the concept art Werner stayed. Originally there was some deviation in the poses, but we asked him to fix them up and he did.
Supervike, thanks for posting these, it's been a long time since I dropped by. Good to see that the word is being spread without me.