Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Orcs & Goblins

Why Play Orcs & Goblins

The great Green Tide is the army for any player wishing to field an army with an insane number of models and perhaps the widest variety of options per force org slot in the game. The level of army customization for O&G, as a result, is almost unparalleled. Orcs are right killy and excel in their specialized role of cc, but tend to suffer from their terrible leadership and initiative stats. In addition, their latest edition reintroduced the Animosity special rule, which can effectively cripple any given O&G unit and spoil any plans you may have so carefully formed. All in all, this army is often for those who wish to have lots of fun without being particularly competitive. However, like most armies, they have a couple of army builds that are very competitive and can do well in most situations given a competent general. Plus, you can fling hang gliding goblins at people.

Army Special Rules

• Animosity: The signature rule of Orcs and Goblins, and a general annoyance which must be worked around. At the start of each turn, you must roll a D6 for each unit that has 5 or more models, that's not in melee, garrisoning a building or is fleeing or off the field. If said unit rolls a 1, it gets to roll another die on the animosity table.
  • On another 1, the unit inflicts D6 S3 hits on the closest friendly unit in 12" which is also subject to animosity, which in turn also inflict D6 S3 hits back. Hordes cause 2D6 S3 hits instead. Neither unit can charge, move, shoot or cast spells for the rest of the turn. The victim unit does not take an animosity test this turn. Wounds do not cause panic tests. If no eligible unit is in 12", treat the result as 2-5.
  • On a 2-5, the unit must declare a charge against the closest enemy if possible. If impossible, the unit stands still, losing any and all ability to move, shoot, or cast spells this turn.
  • On a 6, the unit gets a free pivot to face the closest visible enemy and makes a free mandatory move (no march) towards the unit. If no unit is visible, the unit moves straight ahead. If a charge can be declared after the move, you must do so. If not, the unit does not count as moved and may behave normally.

Although you can mitigate the worst effects of animosity with redundant small units or quell animosity in units with Black Orc characters, this becomes particularly annoying if you want to run a more magic-heavy Orc army. Such a build is questionable given that Orcs & Goblins have to take Azhag or a Wizarding Hat if they want access to BRB Lores, but it still becomes annoying when a unit of Boarboyz gets a glorious flanking charge off, only for the only nearby Goblin Shaman to be unable to cast Sneaky Stabbin'.

• Choppas: This ability is what makes Orc units proppa in a fight. Basically, Orcs (and only Orcs) get +1 Strength to their attacks on the first round of an ongoing combat. This is regardless of charges or being charged, and applies to bonuses granted by Magic weapons and armor.

• Big 'Uns: One unit of Orc (Boar) Boys or Savage Orc (Boar) Boys can be upgraded to Big 'Uns (2pts for infantry, 4pts for cavalry) granting +1WS and +1S. It is a relatively cheap upgrade that is more than worth it. Nearly every competitive list uses Big Uns, more specifically they use Savage Orc Big 'Uns with extra hand weapons. The resulting three S5 attacks per model for as low as 11 points will shred anything on the charge. This powerhouse is generally supported by a Savage Orc Shaman carrying the Lucky Shrunken Head which provides a 5+ ward save for the whole unit, making it quite durable as well as deadly in combat. The only problem lies in getting that unit in combat where you want it to be due to the double threat of Frenzy and Animosity that are just begging to make you lose control of it. And that crazed shaman won't be helping much either, so keeping a black orc big boss in the unit is very helpful to prevent your wizard from running off and doing something random instead of slinging spells.

• Size Matters: Orcs ignore Goblins and Snotlings (including all cavalry, war machines or monsters with Goblin/Snotling riders/crew) for purposes of causing panic. The special rule is lost if any Orc character joins a Goblin unit. Remember: Only Orcs have this special rule, not other "big" units like Trolls or Giants. The main advantage of this rule is that you can run Wolf Riders or Squig Hoppers without fearing that they'll start a panic chain to any Orcs behind them.

Unit Analysis

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.
  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 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!!
  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.

Core Units

• Orc Boyz: Your bread and butter unit. Orcs are tough, have decent stats, and at only 6 points a model, they can be fielded en masse (read: tarpits). Make sure to give them a musician and standard bearer of course, so they can win a combat or two. Give them extra hand weapons as well. With Orcs, it's always a great option. You can also upgrade a single unit of Boyz to big 'uns, giving them +1 strength and +1 Weapon Skill. Also remember that this unit is one of the few that can take a magic banner. Regular Orc Big 'Uns with the flaming banner or banner of discipline unit are a solid unit that's a little more dependable than Savage Orc Big 'Uns.

• Orc Arrer Boyz: Orcs...with bows. It feels so wrong... Again, they make up for their relatively poor stats in solid walls of flesh. Their access to volley fire is useful here, as it allows the whole block to fire their bows, albeit with extremely poor accuracy, but who really cares when you're putting out 35+ shots from a single unit? TWANGA TWANGA TWANGA!

• Savage Orc Boyz: Batshit insane Orc Boyz with 6+ ward saves and Frenzy (and at 8 points a piece, compared to standard Boyz' 6). These are an insane Close Combat Core choice, should they ever make it to assault(and if your enemy is smart, they may use Frenzy to their advantage, leading the squad around aimlessly with a small unit at the edge of charge range). You can give them Big Stabbaz, which give them D3 impact hits. Like most units in the army, feature a wide variety of upgrades for tailoring them into just the kind of unit you want it to be, though they are best off doing what they are meant to: flail wildly around in Close Combat, inflict as much damage as possible before inevitably dying. Another, less common (but still good) choice is to take Big 'Uns and arm them with bows. "You want to stay away? TWANG." This shooting unit can benefit from both goblin magic and/or a goblin BSB with the Spider Banner. No one wants to charge savage orcs with frenzy and Str 5, but no one wants to eat 30 poison shots a turn, either. Try to keep your general/BSB nearby to help with the frenzy.

• Goblins: Your army's quintessential tarpit. At 3 points per model base, Goblins can be fielded in insane numbers. Can be upgraded with Nasty Skulkers which are kind of a mixed bag. With three attacks and Killing Blow on the turn they are revealed them, they can be a real pain in the ass to an opponent who expected to run heavily armored knights into the puny goblins and take no casualty. On the other hand, Killing Blow only works for a single turn (a shame) and does nothing to many unit types such as chariots or monstrous infantry. In fact the most interesting use of Nasty Skulkers is to use them to displace rank-and-file models. With three Skulkers and two cheap Goblin Heroes in a 5-wide unit, the opponent will be forced to allocate wounds, most likely causing the opposing force to waste attacks.

• Goblin Wolf Riders: Your army's fast cavalry. Give them spears and watch them flank charge a heavy infantry unit to death, or at least keep them tied up long enough for your chariots to flatten them. The Vanguard rule and super fast movment makes them fairly effective war machine hunters. At 10 points per model though, you're essentially paying 7 points for a wolf.

• Night Goblins: Same price as goblins, -1 to Ld and +1 to I. They come standard with shields,and can take all the same upgrades as Goblins as well, with just two differences. The first is netters for 45 points, an infinitely useful upgrade to an otherwise simple tarpit unit, netters inflict a -1 strength modifier on any unit they are locked in combat with on a 2-6. There is always the odd chance that they entangle themselves on a 1, but they are already so low strength that that should only add to the lulz. The other upgrade is Fanatics. Ohhh... Fanatics. Excuse me for a minute, slight crisis moment. Watch as the enemy player tries to blast through the squishy night goblins with heavy infantry, only to suddenly be lambasted by up to 18 s5 Armour Piercing hits as the little bastards swing insanely through them.

• Forest Goblin Spider Riders: Goblin special cavalry, spider riders can be quite useful. They pump out a small amount of poisoned attacks (spiders only), but their best trick is their ability to move right up inside of buildings and ignore terrain as they do so. Perfect for flushing well encamped enemies out of cover and the bane of wood elf players. However, their high point cost (13) (at least...higher than wolf riders) makes them sort of situational.

Special Units

• Black Orcs: Infantry. Black orcs have better staying power (the only unit in this book with heavy armor!), and are one of the few units in the army that are immune to Animosity. They also have Immune to Psychology, meaning they won't panic like most of the other units in the army book. The only foreseeable issue with black orcs is that your opponent is sure to try and avoid them, they have no ranged option for when they are avoided, and they cost twice as much as a standard boy. If used correctly, black orcs can be an excellent addition to the army, just make sure you have the spare points. One catch though. Their low I cause them to get brutally slaughtered in cc with tarpits of skaven, swordsmen, elves etc. Be sure to always use shield and close combat weapons in order to survive the combat and thus making them worth their high cost. Additionally, this is one of the few units we can take that has "can opener" abilities. Orcs and Goblins have a huge amount of str 4-5 attacks. But Black Orcs can pull out great weapons and wipe out tough, heavy armored units that would normally give them fits (Steam Tank, anyone?)

• Orc Boar Boyz: Your heavy cavalry. Though a high point cost (16 without upgrades, 20 with spear and shield), they have a potential to be worth it, as you are putting that awesome cc squad into assault relatively quickly, plus with high strength attacks from the tusker charge special rule. Slap a Warboss on a boar with them so they won't run quite so easy. Boar Boyz are a good unit that suffers from the same problems that plague all cavalry units in 8th edition Warhammer: the boars in a second rank don't get to attack, even though they do most of the unit's damage output (with spears and chopppas, the orcs have the same strength. Big 'Unz will have even more).

• Savage Orc Boar Boyz: Again, not much more to be said here, simply more expensive, batshit insane Boar Boyz with some special frenzy rules and they get to take two hand weapons while mounted, one of the few who can do so. They sacrifice surviveability for more 'ead crumpin'.

• Orc Boar Chariot: What's not to love? It's a heavy chariot pulled by boars. Can easily mow enemy infantry units flat. Give it an extra crew for additional lulz and attacks. Suffers from being more expensive (85 points for 1 chariot) than the goblin chariot. both have Str 5 impact hits, so it's hard to justify an extra 30 points for a boar chariot sometimes.

• Goblin Wolf Chariot: A much faster, more fragile chariot option, better for taking on light infantry/fast cav. Unlike the Orc Chariot you can take these things in units of three (150 pts for the unit of 3). However, it's usually better not to due to leadership checks for losing just one chariot.

• Goblin Spear Chukka: Handy for killing infantry and monsters at range, but perhaps not quite as versatile as a Rock Lobba. Then again, this thing is a special choice and is much cheaper than the Rock Lobba so you could potentially field both. In fact, spear chukkas are the cheapest bolt thrower in game currently, partly for the reason that they can misfire just like a stone thrower. You can put a bully in the bunch to keep em in line. Spear chukkas are also a 2 for 1 sort of choice for the special slot, so you can take double the duplicates you'd normally be able to take. The main issue is the ballistic skill of goblins. You'll usually be hitting on 5's or even 6's with the Chukkas, so you have to be judicious in where you place them so that you can get clear fields of fire (very hard to do with Orcs & Goblins). Luckily, with them only costing 35 points and able to field a ton of these, some of them should always be able to shoot. Be warned though, they misfire on a to hit roll of 1.

• Squig Herds: One of the more useful special units for O&G, squig herds are great for taking out large blocks of infantry. They put out a lot of attacks, so at their worst they can at least soften up an enemy unit for your boyz to finish off later. They also EXPLODE if they break or if all herders are killed, so a loss in combat can potentially cause quite a bit of damage to the enemy. Moving the unit forward as fast as possible and counting on them to explode amidst your opponent's units is actually called a squig bomb and very effective. Good unit sizes include 9 squigs/3 herders (squig bomb or multiple small units), 18 squigs/6 herders (flanking unit) and 30 squigs/10-15 herders (horde combat block).

• Night Goblin Squig Hoppers: Where herds are more about the squigs alone, Hoppers are a special cavalry unit. These are good for harassing enemy units and flank charging, as their relatively high speed and random movement can get them where they need to go better than herds. They only have 6+ armor save, so you have to be very picky with what you fight with squig hoppers. Having random movements actually gives Squig Hoppers several interesting advantages: They can pivot then move, giving them an effective 360* threat, and the opponent cannot declare a charge reaction against them, letting them ignore flee or stand-shoot reactions. Although they charge in the compulsory subphase, preventing them from disabling Stand&Shoot for your mainline troops, they can deny a sufficiently large area versus enemy light cavalry. Note that only a Night Goblin Boss riding a Giant Cave Squiqs can join Squig Hoppers, which lets you re-roll the random movement dice. However, said Boss will not benefit from Look Out Sir and will be cannon-bait. Squig Hoppers are both cavalry and skirmishers, so it is not worth it to have multiple ranks: Skirmishers can never disrupt their opponents when charging the flank or rear, and only the riders of cavalry models can make supporting attacks, not the mounts. And let's be honest, you're not fielding Squig Hoppers for the Night Goblin riders.

• Snotlings: Swarms of tiny little greenskins with stats that make goblins look mighty. With 5 wounds and 5 attacks a base, and the fact that they will not run, you can plant a huge swarm of these on an objective and probably hold on to it for a looong time. They can also stand and shoot a single S2 shot that ignores armor, which is highly situational at best. Save your points in this slot for something else. The only use I've found for them has been to put them on a flank and let them run towards war machines. They at least won't panic anything when they die.

• Trolls: Big, strong, and fieldable in large groups (35 points each), trolls are good for keeping between your groups of Gobbos and Boyz in case they fail their Animosity rolls. Trolls are very powerful in cc, and have some great staying power due to their regeneration. Trolls can forego their three regular attacks (they can still stomp!) in lieu of a single vomit attack, which hits automatically with S5 and no Armour Saves allowed. Watch a Chaos Knight die a very inglorious death, guaranteed not to win him any daemonhood soon. Trolls do suffer from Stupidity (and at Ld4, no less), so you'll have to keep a boss with them or warboss near them at all times if you want them to actually get shit done. Think Ogres, but with a few tricks and retardation issues. Remember that Stupidity also gives you Immune to Psychology, so at least they won't panic. Trolls also come in three varieties: standard, stone and river. The cost differences here between common trolls and river/stone trolls are significant, with common ones being much cheaper with the same cc output. Common Trolls also don't come from your rare slot, so they won't take away from your important Manglers/Pumpwagons/War Machines.

Rare Units

• Stone Trolls: Same CC output as the other Trolls, but for +10pts you're getting scaly skin (5+) and magic resistance (2). Scaly skin is always helpfull, but it's the magic resistance which is most useful, since it will grant you a 5+ Ward Save against fireballs and others spells from the Lore of Fire which will usually burn your Trolls to ashes, since you cannot take regeneration saves against them.

• River Trolls: Same CC output as the other Trolls, but for +10pts you're getting strider (rivers and marshes) and your opponent gets a -1 to hit modifier in CC. While strider can of course be handy in the right situation, it's nothing to write home about. A -1 to hit modifier in CC is quite useful though, as it means that they're never hit on better than 4+ and sometimes only 5+.

• Giants: The ever-venerable giant. The model looks pretty pimping hot but its purpose is often limited to receiving multiple cannonballs to the face. A good choice for the purpose of having fun but not much else, the giant is generally skipped by competitive OnG lists. If you have a Savage Orc Shaman in your army you can give it a 6+ ward save but that doesn't do much for keeping it alive. There are way better choices in the O&G rare category. A 200 point distraction that your enemy will only choose to ignore once. No one likes watching their general get eaten.

• Mangler Squigs: Good. Gork. Essentially massive squigs that have been prodded by night goblins till they are insane with RAGE. Manglers behave like enormous fanatics. Point them in the direction you want them to go, pray to Mork they get there (they have no armor, so be careful), and watch as they fling out a positively retarded number of high strength hits. All in all, a very fun (if unreliable) choice for flattening units and wreaking havoc. If you can get off the "Hand of Gork" spell you have a killer combo at your disposition, you can literally win the game in one turn if you can teleport your mangler squig across the map and make it go sideway through the enemy line. Get your tear cup ready.

• Rock Lobba: A fairly standard catapult. Great for flattening Dragons, Manticores, Hydras, Terrorgheists, Daemon Princes, Skycannons and other huge things that orcs normally have a problem dealing with. Even if these juicy targets are not present, it does relatively good against hordes of cheap models. A Rock Lobba is rarely a bad choice. 85 points and less relaible and less str than Doom Diver. Use when you have maxed your doom diver duplicates.

• Goblin Doom Diver: Extremely powerful. 80 points (5 cheaper than the Rock Lobba), this war machine is always worth it. The Doom Diver is one of the most accurate warmachine in the world of Warhammer and one of the most hated unit in the game by non-orc player. If people are going to name something "broken" about OnG then they're going to bring up Goblin Doom Divers. They're perfect for assassinating stuff in heavy armor or enemy characters due to their high precision and ignoring armor saves. Skullcrushers? Dead. Demigryph Knights? Dead. Dragon Princes? Dead. The doom diver suits almost any O&G force quite well and any competitive list will auto-include two of these babies. Important note: if you choose to redirect the Doom Diver then it needs to move the full distance that you roll. The implication is that if you miss a lone infantry character by 1 inch and subsequently roll 3 inches of re-direction, you CANNOT hit that character. You can only fly over the model and leave it unharmed. It's odd to think about but that's the rules. You will also note that the Doom Diver can only hit things where it lands, but in the rare instance that two units are touched by the Doom Diver's base then you get to hit both.

• Snotling Pump Wagon: Pump wagons are hilarious, unreliable and dreadfully scary for your opponent. 45 points with no upgrades makes them a cheap distraction, but only T4 and 6+ armor means it will die fast if you aren't careful. They have random movement and the potential to veer out of control at any given time, but having 2D6 impact hits is nothing to scoff at. Also, never forget that you can tell them to pump harder adding a D6 to movement! Remember that having random movements has its own advantages, namely that you can charge enemy units during the compulsory movement phase without giving them the chance to perform a charge reaction. This is gold when facing a fast cavalry avoidance list that suddenly find itself not allowed to perform their standard feigned flight tactic. As far as upgrades go for the Pump Wagon, Outriggas (10 pts) and Spiky Rollas (15 pts) are pretty much mandatory, with Giant Explodin' Spores being the single most awesome thing you could buy if you face heavily armored cavalry. Also Flappas (5 pts) are very useful, since chariots do very bad with dangerous terrain and your opponent might think his units save from your attack if there is a river, marsh or obstacle between you. Remember that as a suicide unit, the enemy will want to shoot your Pump Wagons at all cost. If you bring Pump Wagons then consider bringing Mangler Squigs as well so that the enemy cannot shoot them all. Mangler Squigs and Pump Wagons serve relatively similar purposes after all.

• Arachnarok Spider: Big fucking scary spider. The model looks fuckin' ace but it is sadly ignored in serious lists due to being overpriced for what it does on the battlefield. It just doesn't have the impact that a 290 points monster ought to have, certainly not with S5/T6 and leadership 6. Only pick it up if you're not particularly competitive or if you're certain you won't face warmachines, otherwise the thing is likely to die from spells or warmachine fire before doing anything cool. On the other hand the Arachnarok Spider is FAST and gets to ignore terrain, so at least there's that. Remember that the goblin crew is equipped with spears and therefore adds eight S4 attacks on the charge. You can give the spider a web lobber and the feeling of not being nomiated to the "Slowest army of the Game" award is a good one, even though it barely scratches Snotling. Additionally you can make this thing a super expensive Lord choice by mounting a Goblin great shaman on it and if you have done this, take the spidershrine, loremaster is a must for your only caster. Also consider putting some low level shamans nearby to take advantage of the bump in channeling attempts. Extra power/dispel dice is a huge advantage.

Building Your Army

The important thing to remember when assembling your Waaagh! is to pick a theme and stick with it. A big downfall of having so many options in the army book is that players can get overwhelmed and try to take one of everything. Mixing too many strategies together is generally a bad idea. For example, it'd probably be a bad move to mix a slow unit like black orcs or trolls in with an all mounted army; by the time these squads get there, chances are your cavalry has already done most of the work (or has been slaughtered and can no longer support your big things). Additionally, both Animosity and Panic tends to be a big problem for O&G, so you should try to build your army in a way that maximizes your bosses' Ld range and minimizes Animosity.

Buying Your Army

As with any army, start with your core choices and first lord or hero and build from there. Always determine just what army you are trying to build before you start purchasing. Sit down with an experienced player and discuss what units synergize best with each other if you are having trouble figuring things out.

Besides GW you can take a look at the new Goblin line of Mantic Games.

Army Composition

You should be judiciously paying for standards, musicians, and characters to boost leadership. In order to lead your greenskins to victory it is absolutely vital to have inspiring presence on as many units as you can. To achieve this there are many types of army composition available to you:

• Orc Warboss and BSB: Provides leadership 9 and rerolls, a strong default choice. The Warboss is a powerful combat character and his Waaagh ability is a fun bonus, albeit small and easy to forget. You can put him on a wyvern for a bigger leadership bubble but most competitive advice will discourage you from doing so, as it is just begging to get sniped on turn 1. The Warboss does a better job on the front line, sending challenges to enemy characters and providing combat resolution through sheer butchery.

• Goblin Warboss with BSB and Banner of Discipline: An alternative to the Orc Warboss, this setup provides leadership 9 and rerolls for those who wish to stick to a goblin-only army. Generally you want to put both the General and BSB in a bunker behind the fighting troops. This makes it harder for the opponent to assassinate either the general or BSB, who are vital in this case since goblins have low leadership by themselves.

• Gorbad Ironclaw: A special character, this guy provides both leadership 10 and rerolls at the same time! Problem 1: he's a special character and they aren't always allowed. Problem 2: he's expensive as all fuck. Problem 3: he is a standard bearer and is therefore bound by the rules that normally affect standard bearers. That means he cannot run, ever. A standard bearer is automatically removed from play when a unit breaks and the same goes for this guy, regardless of whether he is a legendary badass that just happens to have a flag on his back. All things considered, unless you absolutely want to field this character for fluffy reason then you're better off with a separate Warboss and BSB.

• Orc Great Shaman and BSB with Banner of Discipline: Provides leadership 9, rerolls and magic support all at the same time. This is a pretty interesting setup since unlike most wizards, this bad dude is T5 and can actually survive in combat. Equipped with Fencer's Blade and buffed by Fist of Gork, he can even dish out a lot of hurt. He can also be made to carry the Shrunken Head in a unit of Savage Orcs Big 'Uns, in which case he will also be protected by a 5+ ward save. As usual, the biggest danger of using a Wizard general is miscasting: if the shaman gets sucked into the warp on turn 1 then you can pretty much pack your things and go home.

Regardless of what you choose, remember to stick with your army theme. Whether you want to use huge blocks of infantry, multiple small units, big scary monsters or swarms of cavalry, you don't want to end up with too many strategies on the field. If you're going to try something then you need to commit to it. An OnG army with no direction will fall apart quickly.

Magic Items

Anything that gives ward saves is always handy. Bosses should take magic weapons and Shamans should take things that either boost their own powerdice or fuck up the enemy's magic phase. It's also hilarious to put the one that turns enemy wizards into toads on a low level shaman as well. Lastly, if there is a magic banner that can help with Ld issues in your army, take it. The problem with magic weapons for O&G is not about effect to price ratio actually and more about price at all and kind of effect. In fact Orcs and Goblins are just an army which don't need pricy weapons which don't let them attack faster (via ASF or Initiative). Weapons giving you more attack or more strenght are mostly ommited as they cost their share (fair) and help you kill with characters which you don't want to do for most of times! Firstly our bosses are vital in providing Leadership. Secondly they are weakly kitted for combat (speaking about base stats). They desperately need some better protection above T5. Firtly focus on making your vital characters protected - which means BSB, General, main Shaman and probably secondary shaman (last one don't have to be protected - scroll caddy should be enough). After that one should think about obvious magic protection and then you see that you either don't have points for making your characters killy or simply other units will do that better. You will end up taking cheapish magic weapons to kill damned banshees and kind. Orcs cannot be blender lords like Vampires, Chaos Lords, High or Dark Elves. They don't make good killy cowboys (partially due to bad kind of transportation). Goblins can be instead cheapish cowboys. Ther is no place for pricy magic weapons and better come to terms with it if you want to play competitively. The following are the O&G specific magic items:

• Battleaxe of the Last Waaagh!: Not worth it. Getting d6 additional attacks and strength is one can of serious ass-wooping but it's unreliable and risky, on behalf of having to run a lord character completely naked in order to carry it. 50% lord points in endtimes makes this more fieldable, because you have a general with armor and talismans and stuff, and have a supporting black orc warboss take it to destroy whole units at a time.

• Basha's Axe of Stunty Smashin': Interesting item but not that appealing. Getting +1S and +1A and armor piercing for 50 points is about right but it's nothing to write home about. Skip it unless you happen to be fighting Dwarfs a lot and really hate their guts. This axe actually cost the exact same amount of points as the 3 different magic weapons with the same effects in the main book and work as a 3 in one package with the added benefit against dwarves. Is actually worth it at times, but still little pricy. It's funny to see Night Goblin wielding that weapon into scrap with stunties as he is perfectly suited for that with high enough initiative to strike first and hatred to make those attack hit the target despite inferior weapon skill (at least vs. characters and elites).

• Armour of Gork: How about no. The +D3 toughness and impact hits are nice but the 100 points price tag is completely ridiculous.

• Lucky Shrunken Head: Best magic item in the book. The Shrunken Head upgrades the ward save granted by Warpaint from 6+ to 5+ for both the bearer and his unit. It costs 50 points and can only be carried by a Savage Orc Shaman or Great Shaman so you need to be ok with sending your wizard into battle. This is not only the strongest magic item in the whole book but also the most popular, appearing often in competitive lists to support a horde of Savage Orc Big 'Uns. This item also causes the ward save of one character (Wurrzag) to become 4+ if he happens to be in the unit.

• Mork's War Banner: Horrible item. Gives magic resistance (d6) and turns magic items into mundane items when in base contact with the bearer. Woopee doo. Horribly expensive at 100pts but seems to be useful for players from top of the world on Savage BSB. If one can place characters in suitable position then it can turn off some precious magic items letting you unleash some torment of Savage Big'Uns attacks upon unprotected character. Also let you to turn off magic banners (could be funny). A lot of people find it overpriced as MR(3) can be bought for 45 points but still used by some who can use those tricky abilities.

• Spider Banner: Somewhat ok. The Spider Banner grants poisoned attacks to a unit, while attacks that are already poisoned will now take effect on a 5+. This has synergy with the spell Gift of the Spider God from the Lore of the Little Waaargh. Sadly, the 85 points price tag and the specific rules mean that this banner can only be taken by a defenseless goblin BSB. The Spider Banner is typically used to deliver a ridiculous amount of poison shots with a horde of Goblins, Arrer Boyz or Savage Orcs with bows. In the later cases, it means you have a goblin character standing next to a Orc unit which just doesn't look right. It should be noted that a list utilizing 100 night goblin archers and the Spider Banner has been having quite a lot of tournament success. Even snatching up FIRST PLACE. For an Orcs & Goblins list that's extremely impressive.

• Bad Moon Banner: Crap version of Gnoblar Trappers. Can only be taken by a Night Goblin Battle Standard Bearer and makes his unit Stubborn. Dangerous terrain tests are only taken by models that charge into base to base contact with the unit with the BSB, so only the front rank of a charging unit gets hit. Told you it's crap. Stubborn is great but goblins rarely loses steadfast and you have crown of command cheaper and in more flexible way than as magic banner on goblin BSB. Being in soft cover really doesn't change much as you just can add more bodies.

• Skull Wand of Kaloth: Situational item at best. The Skull Wand grants the bearer Terror and can unleash a curse at the start of every round of close combat, forcing one model in contact with the bearer to pass a Leadership test or automatically die. Can only be taken by a Shaman. Interesting item but made useless due to costing a whooping 75 points. Nobody wants to send an unprotected wizard lord into combat, even if it has a cool magic wand. If only our shamans could be better protected and could buy that protection with Wand it would make tricky, nasty item. Also Ld test are nowadays pretty easy to pass.

Magic

As mentioned previously, O&G Shamans get access to two unique lores: the Big Waaagh! (orcs), and the Little Waaagh! (goblins). Where most of your damage spells will be coming from the Big Waaagh!, Little Waaagh! spells focus on debuffs for your opponent and buffs for you. Often times you may want to take one of each type so you can access both lores, and generally this is what you should do. Additionally, sometimes greater numbers of lesser shamans can be more effective than a single great shaman, as with the typical greenskin Ld they will be miscasting at least once a game. It's always nice to have backup casters when your main one's head explodes in a shower of magical gore and brains (and it WILL).

The best magic combo is usually a level 4 Savage Orc Shaman and a level 1 (or 2) night goblin shaman. The Savage Orc usually totes the lucky shrunken head and the night goblin totes a dispel scroll. The night goblin is either a level 1 with the ruby ring of ruin or a level 2.

With this combo, you have plenty of options to choose from.

As far as spells go:

Instead of writing about them, there's an article by a member of Da Warpath (Orc & Goblin website) about our magic. It's written better than anything else I could say. Plus, I'm lazy. Go here to read and be amazed by what our magic can do for you.

http://z3.invisionfree.com/Orc__Goblin_Warpath/index.php?showtopic=33291

Tactics

How Does The Army Play?

The Orc and Goblin army plays a little differently than you'd expect. The main thing that you'll see across almost all O&G armies is 2-3 pretty big blocks of troops backed up by lots of chaff units and war machines. The army works best by softening up the opponent with shooting and magic while using chaff units to hold up/redirect big units and assassinate war machine hunters. Once the opponent's war machine hunters are dead, the O&G player picks his/her combats by using redirectors (wolf riders, heroes on wolves), board denial units (pumpwagons, manglers), and countercharging the units that were weakened with shooting and magic. This changes depending on the opponent's army, but you'll usually see variations on this strategy.

Typical Things You'll Usually See in a Competitive List

• Savage Orc Big 'Uns (30+) with Savage Shaman (and Lucky Shrunken Head)
• Big troll blocks, usually 8 or more
• Rock Lobbas and Doom Divers
• Maxed Mangler Squigs
• Big Night Goblin Units (50+) with netters, sometimes with several cheap night goblin heroes toting great weapons
• Goblin bigbosses on wolves as chaff units and war machine hunters
• Multiple magic levels (usually a mix of big and little waaagh! lores)
• Black orc giving quell animosity to the magic user's unit and a BSB giving rerolls
• Pump wagons and wolf chariots

Tips for Playing Orcs & Goblins

1. Orcs & Goblins is one of the only armies where their special rule is a drawback. Elves get always strikes first, daemons get ward saves, and O&G get...animosity. Thanks, Mat Ward. We also fear elves, which is just icing on the cake. It's almost like they want O&G to be a mid-tier army. Oh, wait...they do. (Well to be fair, the orcs do have choppas, which is extremely good against armies with good armor.) Somehow this is also Mat Ward's fault. Anyway, most competitive orcs and goblins lists mitigate animosity and take a combination of units and gear that minimize it. Here are things you can do to mitigate animosity:

• Put a black orc character in a unit,especially in a unit with a level 4 caster. You don't want your unit squabbling and wasting a valuable turn not stomping the opponent into goo with the Foot of Gork.
• Take units that don't suffer from animosity (trolls, black orcs, pumpwagons, manglers, etc.).
• Use cheap goblin heroes on giant wolves instead of wolf riders for your war machine hunters.

2. Manglers and Pumpwagons are NOT throwaway chaff units. One thing I see time and time again (and used to do) is throwing the pumpwagons and mangler squigs forward. Opponents love moving a fast cavalry into the mangler to kill it. That is not a good use of the mighty mangler squig. Instead, the mangler works best as an area denial unit or a countercharge unit. To do this well, you have to shoot and magic the enemy's chaff units before they get to the mangler and step on it. After you kill the opponent's chaff, you have two great options:

• Area Denial- You move the mangler in front of their expensive unit. They can either stop (giving you more time to Doom Diver/Rock Lobba/Magic/Foot/Curse/Throw Rocks at the unit and soften it up. Alternately, they can walk through it, taking the 3D6 hits and likely decimating the unit.

• Countercharge- Orcs and Goblins aren't a super fast army. Almost every army (unless it's Tomb Kings) is going to be faster than you. Orcs and Goblins excel at taking charges and countercharging in the flank. With mangler squigs, you can hide them behind your lines and throw them against the side of the table (they stay still this way, but you take a dangerous terrain test). When the enemy charges you, you can throw the mangler through the enemy units. Usually by this point they're all lined up for you because they've charged your Savage Orc horde or Night Goblin horde.

Pumpwagons are similar, but have a few slightly different uses. With outriggas, the pumpwagon has a huge threat range. They work great in the early game by protecting your war machines on the edges of the table. You can throw them into the side of the table to stop their movement and then turn and charge when the enemy gets near. After that, they work great as countercharge units (throwing them into the flanks of enemies trying to charge you).

Themed Armies

Orcs & Goblins offer Fluffbunnies (like me) great ways for themed armies. They have probably the biggest roster and many units fulfill similar roles. So instead of a large Waaagh! which draws from all greenskins, you can limit yourself and only pick matching units like:

• Wild Ones: Savage Orcs and Forest Goblins, with everything they bring to the table. Savage Boar Boys, Forest Goblin Spider Riders, Arachnarok Spider, Snotlings, nothing mechanical! Thematically superb, you'll get moral victory just for fielding such a great army. You don't have chaff infantery, lack in ranged weapons and generally cannot take lots of punches, but you have lots of frenzied attacks and are pretty fast. So get into close combat and start moshing!
• Night Goblins: The second army with lots of character. Night Goblins, everything with Squigs in it, Trolls, Snotlings. Skarsnik is an obvious choice to lead your army, as he is both powerful in the magic and close combat phase and your only chance for a LD8 character. Your only core choice is Night Goblins, so a horde of them is pretty much mandatory. But it's OK, a hundred of them only cost 300pts! Always get Netters for the units with spears, every fanatic you can, some heroes don't hurt. Squig herds can bring the pain (remember squig bombs as a viable tactic), so do Squig hoppers with Hero on Great Cave Squig. Your most important unit is the Mangler Squig, don't leave your cave without two of them. Trolls fit thematically (also live in caves) and snotlings are everywhere. And where there are Snotlings, they're going to build a Pumpwagon. Forgeworld introduced the Squig Gobba, which you can of course field. If you don't have/like the rules, just count it as a Night Goblin themed Doom Diver, the rules fit pretty well (and the Doom Diver is excellent, so that one doesn't hurt. You.). This army is lots of fun, because it's so unreliable. Your Night Goblins are subject to animosity and they can be easily panicked, trolls have stupidity and virtually no leadership, all the while your hardest hitters have random movement and can have some fatal mishaps. Lots of things to go wrong and ruin your carefully crafted battle plan. But it's also surprisingly resilient, lots of your units don't care about their (exceptionally low) leadership and you can dish out a high number of high strength attacks which are either Armour Piercing or don't allow Armour Saves alltogether! Beware of shooty armies though, as they will easily pick out your Mangler Squigs and other hard-hitting units from afar and leave you with only your Night Goblins. More melee focussed opponents, especially Warriors of Chaos, however will quickly stop laughing once the first fanatic hits his Chaos Warriors and your Mangler Squig eats his Knights for breakfast.
• Orc tribe / Goblin tribe: Just regular Orcs and Black Orcs or just regular Goblins and all their respective units. Snotlings go anywhere, Giant fits both, Trolls are also pretty much fine. Not as much fun as the other fluffarmies but still themed. These armies are still functioning pretty much all-round, but you lack some of the hardest hitters.

Orcs & Goblins already are a challenging army to field (competitively, at least) and by restricting yourself in the army composition you make it even worse. If you want to have a fun game where anything can happen (really, anything!), you might enjoy this. And this is an excellent area for you and your gaming group to have some custom rules as well!

See Also

• Orcs & Goblins