Mr Mystery
10-09-2013, 03:04 PM
Welcome to the first in what is intended to be a sort of crash course of the pros and cons, ups and downs of the various armies of the Warhammer World!
Please note that these topics are not intended to be a strategic guide, nor are they intended to be conclusive. What I'm aiming for is simply a rough guide to what a new player, either to the system or the army in question might expect from the race covered. And, assuming my army book collection is in the correct order (99% sure it is!), these should be in the same order as their 8th Edition release......
Therefore, Orcs and Gobbos are my first port of call! I shall kick off with a brief summary of the army, then it's army wide special rules!
So, Orcs and Gobbos - What are they?
Put short. Trouble. To me, they represent all that is fun about Warhammer. As an army, they're unpredictable. Whether it's their army special rules, or their more exotic units, no two games with the green menace are likely to be the same! And I would argue, depending on your preference, it's really two armies in one. A pure Orc, or otherwise Orc heavy army, depends on getting up close, personal, and giving the enemy a good taste of boot leather. Pure Gobbo or otherwise Gobbo heavy armies tend to be a bit sneakier, with various nasty surprises, and a decent bit of artillery. Any given build will have it's main strength, and you should find a mix to please you! A common trait regardless is that an Orc and Gobbo army will feature plus sized units of belligerence and general green skinned unpleasantness!
The army wide special rules really set this in stone. First and foremost is Animosity. This is a compulsory test for pretty much all units, unless they number less than 5 models, which barring Artillery, is ridiculously rare in an Orc and Gobbo army, even toward the end game! You simply roll a D6. 2+, and all is good. The unit is about as well behaved as a greenskin can manage this turn, and acts normally. On a 1, you roll on the animosity chart. Two of the three results are pretty useful, resulting in either a compulsory charge, or free movement followed by a compulsory charge. Suffice to say, play Orcs and Gobbos for a bit, and you can soon mitigate the downsides here (like charging something really, really hard which will chop you into tiny little splotchy bits). Worst result? They throw stuff at a nearby unit also subject to animosity, who retaliate. Minor damage potential against each other, but they can't do anything else that turn. Don't worry, you'll soon get used to the squabbles!
Choppas. These separate the Boyz from the Gobbos! Any unit with this rule has +1 strength in the first round of any combat, in addition to any bonuses from elsewhere (such as magic or weapons). Naturally, this is the Orc only, and not anything he happens to be riding! A nice little bonus which sets out the stall nice and early, showing Orcs to be a combat heavy army!
Big 'Uns. A 'one per army' upgrade to Boyz. Can make units really, really 'orrible, as it gives +1S, which of course stacks with Choppas. S5 infantry? Yep!
Size Matters. Orcs just laugh when Gobbos run away (it's expected). Giants laugh when Orcs run away. Everyone laughs when Snotlings run away! Fleeing units of any smaller greenskin don't cause panic. This may not seem especially win, but with careful deployment, in certain builds it helps to mitigate the Greenskins less than awesome Ld, and subsequent risk of mass panic in your lines!
Fear Elves. Oh, the poor little Gobbos! They don't like Elves. Too skinny, and to quote they stink funny. Really not too much to worry about, as a failed Fear test just means you're WS1, instead of WS2..... Although not as bad as it might seem, it can still be a pain (usually means you'll be hitting on a 5+ instead of 4+...)
And that's that for the army special rules! Definitely characterful than overpowering. Again, this compliments the tone of the Orcs and Goblins nicely.
Now for broad brushstrokes to illustrate the sorts of units available to you!
Common or (hopefully not your) Garden Orcs. They're tough! They have Choppas! They're quite reasonably priced points wise! Nothing otherwise special about them. A solid choice in any O&G army!
Savage Orcs. These are like your more Common Orc, except utterly, utterly bonkers. These are a genuine grinding unit. They've got Choppas, naturally. Two of them, unusually. Oh, and they have Frenzy. So on your basic Savage Orc, that's 3 attacks each. That's not especially pleasant! Bump them up to Big'uns, and a unit of them can seriously bring the pain. They also have a 6+ Ward Save, which is more useful than really dependable. Personally, my fave type of Orc!
Black Orcs. No animosity. Immune to Psychology. Literally Armed To Da Teef (they can pick and choose their weapons at the start of a combat), and benefit from Choppas as well....+3S on Great Weapons...that 'urts! A lot! Well armoured, decent stats. A really good unit to centre your battleline!
Common or Garden Goblins. They're small! They're weedy! They're cheap, cheerful and ridiculously numerous! Pretty good for bulking out a battleline. Can also have Nasty Skulkers hidden in them. Which are essentially Gobbo Assassins. Whilst not massively powerful, these dirty fighters do get killing blow and always strikes first. With a smidge of luck, really hard enemy character can cop a dagger to the danglies, and be off the field before they know what hit them. Plus, being Gobbos, even if the character does know what hit them, they're unlikely to ever admit to it!
Night Goblins. Next to Snotling bases, probably the weediest troops available to you in a straight up fight, but also the sneakiest! Can be upgraded with Netters, which can reduce enemy strength, or yours if you roll badly. Can also have the frankly infamous Fanatics. Drug crazed Goblin loonies, the merest hint of which will send your opponent into a cold sweat!
All varieties, except Black Orcs can field bow troops. With distinctly average BS, they're more useful than deadly. But never underestimate the general usefulness of dropping a rank of incoming enemy units! And yep, as cheap as you'd expect from Orcs and Gobbos!
And that sums up your infantry!
Cavalry next...
Orc Cavalry is there simply to charge, and hit stuff really hard. Savage Orc ones offer more attacks (only Cavalry in the game which can benefit from two hand weapons). Common Orcs are pretty perfunctory medium Cavalry.
Gobbo Cavalry! Wolfs - Dead fast. Good for flanking the enemy battleline to hit something squishy. Spiders - Yeah they can walk up walls. And the mounts have poison. Both are cheap units!
I'll lump Chariots in here. Boar Chariots? Ded 'itty. Capable of piling into small units and causing a mess. Wolf Chariots? Again, ridiculously fast. Best off in a supporting role though, as they're also pretty fragile!
Artillery now....
Bolt Throwers. Crewed by Gobbos. But cheap. Oh my they are cheap! Seriously, for what you're getting, a solid little choice if you're going down the ranged route. however, downside is they're crewed by Gobbos. And that means unlike other Bolt Throwers, prone to snapping and breaking and killing your poor Gobbo crew!
Rok Lobba. It's a Stone Thrower. Nothing more, nothing less. Does what you expect. Pretty good value to in my opinion!
Doom Diver. Mostly because pinging Gobbos at people is a laugh. They're also pretty accurate, as the ammo can flap it's silly little wings to get back on target. They're pretty useful as well, as S5, no armour saves hurts many, many things in Warhammer!
And now? Now for the mental stuff!
Arachnarok Spider. It's big. Like, size of a house big. Unseemly number of attacks (8!!!), one of which can potentially drop even the biggest monster. It's also got a decent toughness. It's also crewed by Gobbos (no, you can't have it all!). Oh, and it's attacks are poisoned, which is ace cakes against enemy monsters! Can also be upgraded with a Flinger, which lobs spider webs at people. In itself, not exactly killy. But it does give the enemy always strikes last, which has uses all it's own!
Trolls. A Gobbo's best mate! Trolls are Trolls. Hard to kill, and decent in a fight. Plus, if you take a horde (18 of them), they can all vomit on Knights, which is an auto-hitting, S5, no armour save attack. Not much survives being spewed on by 18 Trolls!
Squigs. Just......insane. A firm favourite of Fantasy players! Largely unpredictable, but pretty deadly in a punch up, whether prodded or ridden into battle. Big Borther Mangler Squig is similarly bonkers, but much, much closer to a really big Fanatic.
Snotlings. Awww! Snotlings! They're fun more than anything! But the same can't be said of the Pump Wagon. You can't depend on it. but it has a decent punch for it's points. And bung 'Giant Explodin' Spores' on the front as an upgrade, and it's first set of impact hits ignore armour, which at S4 (or S5 if you've invested in the Spiky Roller) can prove a deeply unwelcome surprise for your opponent (Chaos Knights....fnarr!).
Giants. The Big Fella! He's Stubborn! He's well big! He might do something useful! For me, best off against enemy monsters, where they can do serious, serious damage! Not quite as useful against Infantry.
Special Characters.
Decent variety. More about helping your theme than winning the battle. Except Grimgor. Grimgor is frankly nuts hard.
Magic!
One of the best bits of Warhammer if you ask me! Two Lores only though, as Orcs and Gobbos don't use normal magic.... Big Waaagh! for Orcs, Little Waagh! for Gobbos. Big Waaagh! is predominantly direct damage, with some augment for your own troops or caster. Spell of the The Little Waaagh!, just like their casters, are far sneakier. It's mostly augments and hexes. Nothing massively powerful in itself, but extremely useful if timed right!
And there you have it! A brief, succinct rundown of what Orcs and Gobbos are about. In summary, a fairly jack of all trades army, with a leaning towards HTH related violence! As promised, no conclusions drawn, as I'll leave that to the would-be Warboss! Hope you've found this rundown useful. All feedback is welcome!
Please note that these topics are not intended to be a strategic guide, nor are they intended to be conclusive. What I'm aiming for is simply a rough guide to what a new player, either to the system or the army in question might expect from the race covered. And, assuming my army book collection is in the correct order (99% sure it is!), these should be in the same order as their 8th Edition release......
Therefore, Orcs and Gobbos are my first port of call! I shall kick off with a brief summary of the army, then it's army wide special rules!
So, Orcs and Gobbos - What are they?
Put short. Trouble. To me, they represent all that is fun about Warhammer. As an army, they're unpredictable. Whether it's their army special rules, or their more exotic units, no two games with the green menace are likely to be the same! And I would argue, depending on your preference, it's really two armies in one. A pure Orc, or otherwise Orc heavy army, depends on getting up close, personal, and giving the enemy a good taste of boot leather. Pure Gobbo or otherwise Gobbo heavy armies tend to be a bit sneakier, with various nasty surprises, and a decent bit of artillery. Any given build will have it's main strength, and you should find a mix to please you! A common trait regardless is that an Orc and Gobbo army will feature plus sized units of belligerence and general green skinned unpleasantness!
The army wide special rules really set this in stone. First and foremost is Animosity. This is a compulsory test for pretty much all units, unless they number less than 5 models, which barring Artillery, is ridiculously rare in an Orc and Gobbo army, even toward the end game! You simply roll a D6. 2+, and all is good. The unit is about as well behaved as a greenskin can manage this turn, and acts normally. On a 1, you roll on the animosity chart. Two of the three results are pretty useful, resulting in either a compulsory charge, or free movement followed by a compulsory charge. Suffice to say, play Orcs and Gobbos for a bit, and you can soon mitigate the downsides here (like charging something really, really hard which will chop you into tiny little splotchy bits). Worst result? They throw stuff at a nearby unit also subject to animosity, who retaliate. Minor damage potential against each other, but they can't do anything else that turn. Don't worry, you'll soon get used to the squabbles!
Choppas. These separate the Boyz from the Gobbos! Any unit with this rule has +1 strength in the first round of any combat, in addition to any bonuses from elsewhere (such as magic or weapons). Naturally, this is the Orc only, and not anything he happens to be riding! A nice little bonus which sets out the stall nice and early, showing Orcs to be a combat heavy army!
Big 'Uns. A 'one per army' upgrade to Boyz. Can make units really, really 'orrible, as it gives +1S, which of course stacks with Choppas. S5 infantry? Yep!
Size Matters. Orcs just laugh when Gobbos run away (it's expected). Giants laugh when Orcs run away. Everyone laughs when Snotlings run away! Fleeing units of any smaller greenskin don't cause panic. This may not seem especially win, but with careful deployment, in certain builds it helps to mitigate the Greenskins less than awesome Ld, and subsequent risk of mass panic in your lines!
Fear Elves. Oh, the poor little Gobbos! They don't like Elves. Too skinny, and to quote they stink funny. Really not too much to worry about, as a failed Fear test just means you're WS1, instead of WS2..... Although not as bad as it might seem, it can still be a pain (usually means you'll be hitting on a 5+ instead of 4+...)
And that's that for the army special rules! Definitely characterful than overpowering. Again, this compliments the tone of the Orcs and Goblins nicely.
Now for broad brushstrokes to illustrate the sorts of units available to you!
Common or (hopefully not your) Garden Orcs. They're tough! They have Choppas! They're quite reasonably priced points wise! Nothing otherwise special about them. A solid choice in any O&G army!
Savage Orcs. These are like your more Common Orc, except utterly, utterly bonkers. These are a genuine grinding unit. They've got Choppas, naturally. Two of them, unusually. Oh, and they have Frenzy. So on your basic Savage Orc, that's 3 attacks each. That's not especially pleasant! Bump them up to Big'uns, and a unit of them can seriously bring the pain. They also have a 6+ Ward Save, which is more useful than really dependable. Personally, my fave type of Orc!
Black Orcs. No animosity. Immune to Psychology. Literally Armed To Da Teef (they can pick and choose their weapons at the start of a combat), and benefit from Choppas as well....+3S on Great Weapons...that 'urts! A lot! Well armoured, decent stats. A really good unit to centre your battleline!
Common or Garden Goblins. They're small! They're weedy! They're cheap, cheerful and ridiculously numerous! Pretty good for bulking out a battleline. Can also have Nasty Skulkers hidden in them. Which are essentially Gobbo Assassins. Whilst not massively powerful, these dirty fighters do get killing blow and always strikes first. With a smidge of luck, really hard enemy character can cop a dagger to the danglies, and be off the field before they know what hit them. Plus, being Gobbos, even if the character does know what hit them, they're unlikely to ever admit to it!
Night Goblins. Next to Snotling bases, probably the weediest troops available to you in a straight up fight, but also the sneakiest! Can be upgraded with Netters, which can reduce enemy strength, or yours if you roll badly. Can also have the frankly infamous Fanatics. Drug crazed Goblin loonies, the merest hint of which will send your opponent into a cold sweat!
All varieties, except Black Orcs can field bow troops. With distinctly average BS, they're more useful than deadly. But never underestimate the general usefulness of dropping a rank of incoming enemy units! And yep, as cheap as you'd expect from Orcs and Gobbos!
And that sums up your infantry!
Cavalry next...
Orc Cavalry is there simply to charge, and hit stuff really hard. Savage Orc ones offer more attacks (only Cavalry in the game which can benefit from two hand weapons). Common Orcs are pretty perfunctory medium Cavalry.
Gobbo Cavalry! Wolfs - Dead fast. Good for flanking the enemy battleline to hit something squishy. Spiders - Yeah they can walk up walls. And the mounts have poison. Both are cheap units!
I'll lump Chariots in here. Boar Chariots? Ded 'itty. Capable of piling into small units and causing a mess. Wolf Chariots? Again, ridiculously fast. Best off in a supporting role though, as they're also pretty fragile!
Artillery now....
Bolt Throwers. Crewed by Gobbos. But cheap. Oh my they are cheap! Seriously, for what you're getting, a solid little choice if you're going down the ranged route. however, downside is they're crewed by Gobbos. And that means unlike other Bolt Throwers, prone to snapping and breaking and killing your poor Gobbo crew!
Rok Lobba. It's a Stone Thrower. Nothing more, nothing less. Does what you expect. Pretty good value to in my opinion!
Doom Diver. Mostly because pinging Gobbos at people is a laugh. They're also pretty accurate, as the ammo can flap it's silly little wings to get back on target. They're pretty useful as well, as S5, no armour saves hurts many, many things in Warhammer!
And now? Now for the mental stuff!
Arachnarok Spider. It's big. Like, size of a house big. Unseemly number of attacks (8!!!), one of which can potentially drop even the biggest monster. It's also got a decent toughness. It's also crewed by Gobbos (no, you can't have it all!). Oh, and it's attacks are poisoned, which is ace cakes against enemy monsters! Can also be upgraded with a Flinger, which lobs spider webs at people. In itself, not exactly killy. But it does give the enemy always strikes last, which has uses all it's own!
Trolls. A Gobbo's best mate! Trolls are Trolls. Hard to kill, and decent in a fight. Plus, if you take a horde (18 of them), they can all vomit on Knights, which is an auto-hitting, S5, no armour save attack. Not much survives being spewed on by 18 Trolls!
Squigs. Just......insane. A firm favourite of Fantasy players! Largely unpredictable, but pretty deadly in a punch up, whether prodded or ridden into battle. Big Borther Mangler Squig is similarly bonkers, but much, much closer to a really big Fanatic.
Snotlings. Awww! Snotlings! They're fun more than anything! But the same can't be said of the Pump Wagon. You can't depend on it. but it has a decent punch for it's points. And bung 'Giant Explodin' Spores' on the front as an upgrade, and it's first set of impact hits ignore armour, which at S4 (or S5 if you've invested in the Spiky Roller) can prove a deeply unwelcome surprise for your opponent (Chaos Knights....fnarr!).
Giants. The Big Fella! He's Stubborn! He's well big! He might do something useful! For me, best off against enemy monsters, where they can do serious, serious damage! Not quite as useful against Infantry.
Special Characters.
Decent variety. More about helping your theme than winning the battle. Except Grimgor. Grimgor is frankly nuts hard.
Magic!
One of the best bits of Warhammer if you ask me! Two Lores only though, as Orcs and Gobbos don't use normal magic.... Big Waaagh! for Orcs, Little Waagh! for Gobbos. Big Waaagh! is predominantly direct damage, with some augment for your own troops or caster. Spell of the The Little Waaagh!, just like their casters, are far sneakier. It's mostly augments and hexes. Nothing massively powerful in itself, but extremely useful if timed right!
And there you have it! A brief, succinct rundown of what Orcs and Gobbos are about. In summary, a fairly jack of all trades army, with a leaning towards HTH related violence! As promised, no conclusions drawn, as I'll leave that to the would-be Warboss! Hope you've found this rundown useful. All feedback is welcome!