Editing Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Orcs & Goblins (section)

===Lords & Heroes===

====Named Characters====

'''Note:''' Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can pretty easily emulate most named as wholes from scratch and save yourself some points. That said, a few named characters do have abilities and wargear or wargear combos unique to them, so if you absolutely need to have them, go ahead. Just make sure you're really getting your points worth.

*'''Gorbad Ironclaw:''' The named Boar-Boss for the army and Fantasy equivalent of [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka]], Gorbad has some seriously awesome gear and rules. He carries a huge choppa that Always Strikes First, inflicts d3 multiple wounds, and ignores armor, and his stat-line insures that he won't be going away anytime soon. The real reason you'll be taking Ironclaw is for his strategic bonuses: he can help any unit within 18" with their animosity rolls should they fail and grants Hold Your Ground! and Inspiring Presence to all units in that range as well. He also counts as both your general AND battle standard bearer, which is both a bonus and a curse. On top of all this, your normal limit on the big 'uns upgrade is now available to as many orc boy and boar boy units as you can field with it. His only disadvantage is his high point cost (coming in at almost 400 points!) and complete lack of ward save, and therefore this fellow is often reserved for larger games.  Him being both the general and the BSB is sometimes terrible. If he breaks from combat he automatically dies, because the BSB stands his ground defending the banner and is killed. Definitely not worth it at all as a fighter general.  However, Gorbad comes into his own as a "Leadership Bunker."  Put him in a unit of wolf riders and you can use his huge leadership bubble and animosity table bonus to stabilize your army.  

*'''Azhag the Slaughterer:''' At well over 500 points, this is the ultimate point sink for your army. This one model and his wyvern will consume your entire Lord slot in even very large games, and probably will never be a realistic unit (End Times, please! Take him in 2000pts if you like) to field. That said, he is possibly the biggest bad-ass in the army. He basically makes your units within his range immune to Animosity, has a pair of magic weapons that get re-rolls in cc, 4+/5++, and a crown that makes him a level 3 lore of death wizard (and unfortunately gives him stupidity, but the advantages seem to outweigh this little issue). Additionally, he of course rides his mighty wyvern, Skullmuncha, who shares a similarly insane statline with Azhag, has poisoned attacks, and gets a 4+ scaly skin save. Unfortunate you'll probably never actually get to use this sexy green beast. Also, his model is ''obscenely'' expensive even by GW's standards.

*'''Wurrzag, Da Great Green Prophet:''' Another 350 point lord, Wurrzag is the ultimate choice for anyone centering their O&G army around Shamans. This mean, green, son of a bitch puts out an absolutely retarded amount of magical power since he has a magic item that allows him to store any unused power dice for a turn, a bound spell in his mask, a 5++, and a staff that gives him magic resistance 3 and re-rolls on miscasts. Additionally, he has a unique spell that can reduce enemy casters within 12" to squigs. Perhaps the main issues with Wurrzag are his mediocre statline and his inability to take the Lucky Shrunken Head.  He's also frenzied, but that's less of an drawback in this edition than it used to be.  All in all, there are few things as entertaining as getting a good magic roll and watching someone's Archaon get turned into a squig.

*'''Grom the Paunch of Misty Mountain:''' The first Lord choice to be mentioned under 300 points (barely), Grom is the ultimate gobbo boss and the named character for Goblin war chariots. This model completely changes the way Goblins play, ignoring the normal Fear Elves rule, granting this onto EVERY other goblin unit in the army. He also has a 5+/5++ and has a magic weapon that gives him +2 to strength and killing blow, which goes up to a 5+ killing blow vs Elves. He has regeneration as well, and he has a little night goblin buddy that carries the battle standard for your army. A very good choice if you plan on mulching a ton of sissy Elves or if you field a lot of Goblin units. 

*'''Skarsnik, Warlord of the Eight Peaks:''' Slightly cheaper than Grom, Skarsnik is best in a night goblin themed army. He has an awesome magic staff that fires d3 s6 hits that ignore armor, and this multiplies when he's near other night goblins. His buddy is a fat squig named Gobbla, who gives Skarsnik some real fighting power in cc (not to mention SIX WOUNDS. On a GOBLIN). Skarsnik has some great special rules too, the main one being that he can randomly force enemy units into reserves at the start of the game (perfect for ruining any 'just as planned' strategies), and he also gives night goblin units the ability to move and shoot in the same turn they recover from running from a combat; it is strongly recommended any such screening units take Musicians, and angle themselves to fall back towards your General.  The Bad:  he has no good armor save to speak of and his huge base size (40x60mm) means he's getting picked out by almost the entire enemy unit in combat unless you place him properly. Namely place him in a corner. That way opponent during charge have to touch and fight with most models at time. Which means if you are wide enough he have to charge mainly on your rank and file gobbos instead of Skarsnik and he will meet with only one opponent if you are lucky. Also it is not a big deal to make opponent's time hard to attack as making double flee with your big bosses never was easier than while using them with Skarsnik. Solid choice but needs a lot of list tailoring and result is certainly not best.

*'''Snagla Grobspit:''' A relatively cheap hero option, his low cost is quickly lost by the fact that you have to take a unit of spider riders with him. This isn't a big deal, however, especially if you love yourself some spider riders, as Grobspit makes them all Ambushers, have Devastating Charge, Hatred (Empire), and cause Fear on the charge. Also, SOOO many poisoned attacks. Great at attacking buildings and to clear-off warmachines. Have options but still somewhat subpar.

*'''Gtilla da Hunter:''' Basically Snagla, but mounted on a Giant Wolf and meant for shooting instead of combat. Only way to provide some BS shooting not based on Spiderbanner and big hordes. Da Howlerz with Gitilla are marching for 18", vanguarding, fast-cav, shooting platform hitting at 3+ (if no cover and short distance) with armour save of 4+. Gitilla adds firepower a bit and provides unit with ability of re-rolling flee and pursue rolls and hero stat-line helping in minor chaff game. Basically very tactical, gobliny unit which, although vulnerable, can be real nuissance for enemy.

*'''Grimgor Ironhide:''' If Gorbad is the Ghazghkull equivalent then Grimgor is the Ork himself reincarnated as a Fantasy character, and very certainly the most angry greenskin in existence. One of the cheapest of the Orc named characters, but quite possibly the best if you have a particular fondness for Black Orcs. Grimgor must take a unit of Black Orcs as his retinue and gives them all +1 WS and hatred (everyone!), sadly he cannot leave that unit and noone can join them. As the army's ultimate close-combat monster, he has 1+/5++, a positively nightmarish stat-line, an essentially s7 weapon (s8 in first turn)... and on top of it all Always Strikes First! Grimgor, quite frankly, will absolutely kill anything if you get him to cc and will take an insane amount of punishment from ranged attacks on the way there.  The bad: With both Grimgor and the black orcs having to be joined, it's a huge pile of eggs in a single basket. However you would still put him in bigass horde even if this was not mandatory.<br/> Hint for fun: give the unit standard bearer Banner of Eternal Flame so unit will be especially killy against those Regenerating things. When something with Dragonbane Gem or Dragonhelm want to interfere just bash him with Grimgor as his magic attacks are still non-flammable.

:*'''Grimgor: Incarnate of Beasts:'''  Now Grimgor is bound to the Wind of Beasts for 105 more points.  He has +1 strength, toughness, and attacks and he can now re-roll to-hit and to-wound in a challenge and has an Innate Bound Augment Spell (Casting 6+) that grants all friendly O&G and [[Ogre Kingdoms|OK]] units +1 Strength/Toughness until the next magic phase. Whats more he is no longer bound to join the Immortulz and other character can join them freely which is great advantage in comparison to Ironhide. Unlike other Incarnates, he lacks a mount and lacks any other innate benefits, making the need to upgrade him a debatable matter.

====Generic Characters====

'''Note:''' While named characters are judged against their generic counterparts, generic characters themselves are examined based on their role in your army.

*'''Orc Boss:''' Your quintessential Orky army leader.  He comes in both Lord and Hero form and can be mounted on a chariot, boar, or wyvern.  He doesn't have the killing power of the Savage Orc Boss or the animosity quelling of the Black Orc, but he IS cheaper.  Call him "warboss on a budget."

*'''Savage Orc Boss:'''  Comes with the same options as the orc boss, but has a natural ward save and frenzy.  This is a great one to run in a savage orc unit, as his ward save gets better with the Lucky Shrunken Head and his frenzy isn't as much of an issue in an already frenzied unit.

*'''Black Orc Boss:'''  The Black Orc boss is a significantly more expensive upgrade over the regular orc boss.  However, it gives the black orc boss +1 WS and the ability to switch between two hand weapons, a hand weapons and a shield, or a great weapon at the start of each close combat phase if not equipped with a magic weapon.  Most important of all, he has the "Quell Animosity" rule.  If he's in the unit and it squabbles, the Black Orc knocks heads, does a few wounds, and makes the unit work as normal.  This guy is is a staple of most competitive lists.

*'''Goblin Boss:''' Not much more to be said here. Come standard and in night form, have a wide variety of customization, and can mount chariots, giant spiders, giant wolves, and giant squigs (making them the only units who can roll with your squig-hoppers. Slap one in a squad of those guys and watch their danger level shoot waaay up). Fielding multiple goblin bosses with great weapons is a fantastic way to give an otherwise fairly defenseless unit some real punch.
*'''Orc Shaman:''' All the same customization options as Bosses, but they're wizards of the Big Waaagh! The Orcish lore of magic primarily focuses on damage spells, and boy do they do it well. Roll well and you'll be slapping foot-shaped templates all over the board. Just be sure to give them a ward-save for when they inevitably end up miscasting. Give a savage orc shaman the lucky shrunken head item and pile him in with your savage orc mob and the entire unit will benefit from 5+ ward saves, rather than 6+.

*'''Goblin Shaman:'''  The lore of Little Waaagh! focuses on hexes and irritating the ever loving shit out of your opponent. Field multiples of the hero form of these buggers with your night goblin units for extra . On a good round of magic, you'll get much more channeling attempts and you can quite remorselessly attempt some irresistible force casts, since after all, you have like 10 shamans on the field. Night Goblin Shamans also come with Magic Mushrooms, which improve EVERY casting roll - you must roll for the shroom after every casting attempt; free power dice!!<br />The thing to remember about Goblin Shamans vs. Night Goblin Shamans is that if you want a level 4 goblin caster, the regular goblin is superior to the night goblin.  But in low level casters, the night goblin is better.  This is due to the mushroom dice.  A 1 rolled on a mushroom die shuts down the caster for the turn.  This is a big risk for a level 4 caster.  Better to take level 1 or 2 night goblin shamans so that if one rolls a 1, you can cast other spells with different shamans.

====Mounts====

*'''War Boars''': War Boars are awesome. They give your guy a 2+ bonus to the armour save and have a special rule called "Tuska Charge" that gives you 2+ strength on the charge. These are what make Boar Boy Big 'Uns so dangerous; a unit on the charge that deals Strength 6 attacks? ( This +2 strength only applies to the war boar, the S6 Boar Boy Big 'Uns you speak of are a combination of s4 + spear + 'Choppas' ). A good choice for a boss that is going to join a unit of Boar Boyz, otherwise keep in mind what unit your Lord or Hero is going to join. 

*'''Giant Wolf''': For fast cavalry mounts, a Giant Wolf is quick, but altogether has the same stats as a normal Goblin warrior +1 I and WS. A great mount for a Goblin hero that's going to be attached to a Wolf Riders.  The Giant Wolf has also given rise to the "goblin cowboy" technique.  Instead of running wolf riders, you can run a cheap goblin boss on a wolf for similar points.  The benefit to this is you have a unit with higher toughness, a better save, better strength, and an ability to tank against certain units.  You can take the Dragonbane Gem on a goblin hero on a wolf and run him right into K'Daii Destroyers, Hexwraiths, and cavalry units with flaming.  He'll hold them up forever.  Also, you can give him a cheap magic weapon so that he can run into ethereal units and kill them. What is also important - it's Animosity free and against BS shooting can hide inside a unit.

*'''Gigantic Spider''': Haha, oh boy. This is what makes your Goblin Boss so effective. You get all of the benefits of the Spider's rules, including its Wall-Crawler ability, and you give that Goblin an extra wound. Found that you want another 3 wound character and you've used up your Lords point allocation? Give that Goblin Boss a Gigantic Spider and there you go, for only 10 points more than a Goblin Warboss. 

*'''Great Cave Squig''': See the rules on the Squig section. Use at your own risk. But what's not to like? Dishes out S5 attacks (three from the profile plus stomp), gives a hero an additional wound and an otherwise hard to get +1 on his Armour Save, makes Squig Hoppers more reliable.

*'''Wyvern''': For a flying creature, it's not that bad. It has thunderstomp and poisoned attacks and it gives your general an 18 inches leadership bubble. However it paints a big cannon target on the General's chest and you want to avoid exposing yourself to any warmachine. The Wyvern is generally considered a bad idea for competitive play but don't let that stop you if you play for fun. If you don't face too many ranged threats then the wyvern can be a great addition to your army. Just remember that it's not a dragon, it can't eat entire units by itself and its primary use is transportation. Try giving your Great Shaman one of these babies and watch as he soars around the table blasting spells all over the battlefield. Very effective as a defense against pesky units and you get to actually use your augment spells in combats where you need them.