Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Orcs & Goblins

Why Play Orcs & Goblins

The great Green Tide is the army for any player wishing to field a close-combat 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 for those who wish to have lots of fun without being particularly competitive.

Unit Analysis

Lords & Heroes

Named Characters

Note: Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can pretty easily emulate most named characters 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, 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 awesome. 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 better reserved for larger games.Him being both the general and the BSB is 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
• 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 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, 5+/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 only issue with Wurrzag is his mediocre statline and the fact that he is frenzied, which means he's probably going to go get himself killed, but then again there are few things as entertaining as getting a good roll and watching as someone's Archeron is turned into a squig, leaving the opposing fa/tg/uy in a state of unfathomable butthurt and rage, so if you ask me, very worth it if you have the blessings of admiral awesome and lady luck.
• 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. BUT since his little night goblin buddy carries a battle standard, if Grom breaks from combat he is destroyed.
• Skarsnik, Warlord of the Eight Peaks: Slightly cheaper than Grom, Skarsnik is best in a night goblin theme 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 staying 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 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, though this is a mixed bag since with Ld6 they probably won't be doing that anytime soon.
• 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.
• Gtilla da Hunter: Basically Snagla, but mounted on a Giant Wolf and meant for shooting instead of combat.
• Grimgor Ironhide: Very possibly Gazkhull Thraka reincarnated as a Fantasy character, and very certainly the most angry greenskin in existence. 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!). As the army's ultimate close-combat monster, he has 1+/5++, a positively nightmarish stat-line, an essentially s7 weapon... 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.

mounts:

boars: 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. good choice.

Generic Characters

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

• Orc Boss: Your quintessential Orky army leaders, they come in both Lord and Hero form and can be standard Orcs, savage (cheap upgrade which gives them Frenzy), or black (bit more expensive upgrade that gives the warboss +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). They can be mounted on boars and wyverns, and chariots. Look at my hand. The warboss is now diamonds! Anything is possible with the versatility of your standard Orc Boss.

Additionally, it should be noted that Black Orc Bosses can be particularly useful to someone who fails a lot of animosity checks. They have an ability which allows them to quell animosity within their unit by inflicting d6 s5 hits.

• 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 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 misshaping. Give a savage orc shaman a lucky shrunken head and pile him in with your savage orc mob and the entire unit will benefit from 5+ ward saves, rather than 6+.
• Goblin Shaman: See above posts, minus the ability to ride a giant squig. 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 lulz. 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!!

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, but this is a mixed bag as it makes them 8 points each and, lets face it, you're playing a horde army. You need those points for greater numbers, not stronger tarpits.
• 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 30 shots from a single unit? IDakka dakka dakka! whats the onomatopoeia for arrows? 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 (and why wouldn't you?). 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.
• Goblins: Your army's quintessential tarpit. At 3 points per model base, Goblins can be fielded in insane numbers. Just like with other units, you can make them shooty or better in combat, can take shields, bosses, musicians, and standard bearers, and can take a special hidden squad upgrade called Nasty Skulkers. Kind of a mixed bag, these ones, as they share near identical stats with goblins, but they do gain killing blow on the turn you reveal them. This is a hilarious surprise to any player looking to smash through the squishy goblins with multi-wound models although they can't touch monstrous infantry like Ogres, Minotaurs, etc. Always priceless to watch that smug grin turn into shock and horror as the opponent loses a hero or two to a unit as squishy as Goblins.

(Skulkers can additionally be used with two cheap Goblin Heroes and a Goblin unit 5-wide and quite deep - Your opponent will have to allocate wounds to the Skulkers and Heroes, leaving the remainder of the unit safe for combat resolution.)

• 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.
• 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 plenty of poisoned attacks, 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 makes them sort of situational.

• A note on Big 'Uns: While they do cost extra points to field, Big 'Uns can be an invaluable hammer unit. Their increased strength and WS speaks for itself, but another note is that because of the 'size matters' rule, big uns do not take panic checks if a nearby unit of non big uns break.I personally like to take a large block of savage orc biguns with extra hand weapons, and throw a shaman with a lucky shrunken head in. What you have as a result is a durable unit that can destroy almost anything in cc, being S5 with 4 attacks a piece on the charge.

Special Units

• Black Orcs: Your heavy infantry. Black orcs have incredible staying power, 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, 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.
• Orc Boar Boyz: Your heavy cavalry. Though a very high point cost, they have a potential to be very worth it, as you are putting that awesome cc squad into assault relatively quickly, plus with lots of impact hits from the tusker charge special rule. Slap a Warboss on a boar with them so they won't run quite so easy.
• Savage Orc Boar Boyz: Again, not much more to be said here, simply more expensive, batshit insane Boar Boyz with some special frenzy rules.
• 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.
• Goblin Wolf Chariot: A much faster, more fragile chariot option, better for taking on light infantry. Again, give it extra crew and wolf for added killy-ness. Unlike the Orc Chariot you can take these things in units consisting of up to three. Delicious!
• Goblin Spear Chukka: Yes, it's really called a "Spear Chukka". Someone at GW must have thought that making a racial slur into war machine manned by goblins was hilarious. Handy for killing infantry at range, but perhaps not quite as versatile as a rock lobba. Then again, this thing is a special and is much cheaper than the lobba, so one 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. 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.
• 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 and move very quickly, 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, so a loss in combat can potentially cause quite a bit of damage to the enemy. Just make sure to take 1 or 2 herders for every 3 squigs you bring just to make sure you get the things where they need to be.
• Night Goblin Squig Hoppers:Where herds are more about the squigs alone, Hoppers are a special cavalry unit. These are perfect for harassing enemy units and flank charging, as their relatively high speed can get them where they need to go in a more controlled fashion than herds. As with most units in the army, you should try to throw a boss in here so the unit can benefit from the improved Ld.(Characters cannot join units of Squig Hoppers and anyway they are Immune to Psychology) (They can if they're riding a cave squig, and they let the unit re-roll its random movement)
• 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 shot per base that ignores armor. Highly situational, at best. Save your points in this slot for something else.
• Trolls: Big, strong, and fieldable in large groups, 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. They come in three varieties: standard, stone, and river. (Standard counts as a special choice. Who made this segment and didn't read the new book.) The differences here are only slight, and generally one should pick based on how the rest of their army is coming together, but no matter what trolls will be causing some damage. They do suffer from Stupidity(and at Ld4, no less), so you'll have to keep a boss with them at all times if you want them to actually get shit done. Think Ogres, but with a few tricks and retardation issues.

Rare Units

• Giants: Fairly standard rare choice here, the ever venerable giant can serve a fairly useful purpose depending on how you use it. However, as with all other armies, it tends to be somewhat situational. You may want to save your points for some trolls here.

Never ever even consider taking a giant against Ogres! They will slaughter it in a single round of combat while it potentially get one ogre dead. Not worth it, take Mangler squigs or trolls instead.

• 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.

Another take: If you get the "Hand of Gork" spell you have basically won if you are able to cast it. Watch with glee as your enemy cry in horror when a Mangler Squig suddenly appears behind their lines to shred them to pieces. Get your tear cup ready.

• Rock Lobba: The army's heavy artillery, perfect for flattening anything you don't want on the board. A fairly standard catapult, all in all. Take it if you want some long range support to cover your boyz as they march into enemy lines.

Only take this against squishy things; elves, empire, skaven, VC etc. as they tend to have T3 and your Rock Lobba have S3.

• Goblin Doom Diver: Situationally useful. The doom diver is the piece you want to take if you plan on assassinating enemy heroes and characters. However, it tends to be more useful to simply flatten entire units with the rock lobba, so this one might be best reserved for goblin theme armies. On the other hand, the doom diver is incredibly accurate, and can punch through a line of knights with relative ease. The doom diver suits any artillery heavy force quite well.

• Snotling Pump Wagon: A relatively cheap alternative to standard rares, pump wagons are hilarious and dreadfully unreliable. They have random movement and the potential to veer out of control and wreck itself in that movement at any given time. Give it a spiky rolla and giant explodin' spores and it'll literally smash heavy infantry flat. Flappas are a cheap way to give it better survivability and outriggers make it faster, but also increase its chances of falling to pieces.

• Arachnorok Spider: Big fucking scary spider. This thing is EXPENSIVE and is a huge fire magnet, but can make the perfect casting fortress for one very lucky goblin shaman. This thing is FAST as well, and gets the same ignoring of terrain as the spider riders do. If a great shaman is riding the thing it can buff other nearby wizards, and it is positively deadly in cc with it's number attacks, all of which are poisoned, make it very deadly against other monsters. It can even mount a flinger that can shoot out of combat and cause problems for enemies. A fun choice if you like warmachines, but remember, quantity over quality is an ever present issue here. Also note, the spider has poison attacks and a lot attacks, but low strength, so keep away from anything with a good armour save.
  • Often considered pretty shitty in competitive play, as you're paying a fuckton of points for a giant target with no saves. It's mighty Toughness of 8 is offset by the fact that even low Strength ranged attacks can wound it on 6 in this edition. (Its T6 with a 4+ save...Even worse imo considering the amount of fire it will draw. Model looks fuckin' ace though)

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, 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.

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.

Army Composition

Again, due to the whole low Ld thing, in as many squads as you can take them in you should probably have bosses, musicians, and standard bearers. Huge blocks are generally a good idea so you can take advantage of horde rules as well, because Gork knows you'll be suffering from psychology otherwise. The combination of these two principals should help you to actually win a few combats. Next, if you have to choose between a Warboss and a Shaman, take the Warboss. It is absolutely vital to have inspiring presence on as many units as you can. Lastly, I can't help but reiterate: stick with your theme. Whether that be huge blocks of boyz or gobbos, swarms of cavalry, or otherwise, you don't want to end up with too many strategies on the field.

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 following are the O&G specific magic items:

• Battleaxe of the Last Waaagh!:

Gives you d6 additional A and S per turn, but also decreases your WS proportionately. At 100 points, its not worth its price tag.

• Basha's Axe of Stunty Smashin':

+1 S and A, which doubles against dwarfs and causes fear in the stunties as well. Good if you fight a lot of the stubby bastards, but at 50 points it is somewhat situational.

• Armour of Gork:

Heavy armor, and gives you +d3 T and d6 impact hits, but again, at 100 points its not really worth it.

• Lucky Shrunken Head:

Great if you field a lot of savage orcs, as it buffs out their warpaint save by 1+. If Wurrzag is with the unit also, it becomes a 2+.

Edit - This is not correct - Wurrzag receives a 4++ Save if he is in a unit with another shaman with this magic item, the remainder of the unit only retain a 5++ Save

• Mork's War Banner:

Another ridiculously expensive item. Gives you magic resistance (d6).

• Spider Banner:

Something finally worth its high points cost, the 85 point banner gives poisoned attacks onto the entire unit it is in, and buffs already poisoned attacks to a 5+. Goblins only.

• Bad Moon Banner:

This is fucking amazing. It's cheap (for an Orc and Goblin magic item), but can only be taken by a Night Goblin Battle Standard Bearer. Take it, put it in a horde of Night Goblins, and charge your opponent's elite heavy infantry with it. Eg, Chosen, Sword Masters, Knights, things like that. They'll normally hold (anticipating they can chop through the little bastards easily) and then start dying once they fail Dangerous Terrain tests. Additionally, because your horde is now Stubborn, and has soft cover, they'll be mostly intact when they get to combat, and won't be going anywhere. Worth it. Take it. Or die.

Edit: Except it doesn't work like this. Dangerous terrain tests are taken by models that charge into base to base contact with the unit with the BSB, so the front rank of any charging units only, not chargees.

• Skull Wand of Kaloth:

Somewhat pricey, but has good potential. The bearer causes terror and can force any model in base contact with it to take a Ld check or be killed instantly.

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 and buff spells will be coming from the Big Waaagh!, Little Waaagh! spells focus on fucking with your opponent in a variety of ways (such as forcing them to reroll successful hits, wounds and saves or reducing their M, I, and A to dreadfully low numbers). 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 misshaping 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).

Tactics

Saving Money Aside from Daemons of Chaos, this is another army that can be switched back and forth between 40k and Fantasy. As any good Ork/Orc player knows, just scratchbuild whatever you don't have the teef for.

• Orc Boyz = Ork Boyz
• Goblins = Grots
• Black Orcs/Savages = Nobs
• Boarboyz = Warbikers
• Snotling pump wagon = Battlewagon (a lolz one)
• Rock Lobber= Lobbas
• Grimgor Ironhide = Ghazghkull Thraka
• Wurrzag = Old Zogwort

You can also use Mantic Games Orcs and Goblins, which will save you a lot of money. The only problem is that you aren't likely to use them in Games Workshop retail stores, but if you're like me and just go to independent retails, clubs and/or a friend's house, this ain't much of a drawback. Also Games Workshop stores suck ass.