8th Edition Orc & Goblin Armybook Tactics

[Ghremdal]

There are a lot of people who play with a pure only goblin list; there are many ways to field a OnG army.

While Savage Big 'Uns are probably the most efficient unit we have, they are great at fighting other infantry. Against other unit types, I find that they struggle a bit. The other core infantry options, while not as efficient as as SOBU's are very decent, with NG's at the top of the pack. If you take Orcs of any kind, take the Big Un upgrade, its that good.

As for the Black Orc's they do well against things that SOBU's are not good against. Cavalry, Monsters, various chariot things of all types are swiftly dealt with S6(7) great weapons. The banner option is just gravy. They will lose to other elite infantry units, so some care must be taken.

Other special choices are also very good. Common trolls pack quite a punch, but must be babysat. A troll horde is a very scary prospect though.

The biggest downside of squig herds is that you need a lot of models, which is hard on your wallet. They tend to chew through anything they touch though, and are best suited for taking down enemy elite infantry.


All in all, with some exceptions (like snotling bases), there are no real bad or underperforming units in a OnG book. Pretty much anything you take will work, if you make the unit big enough.

[Yowzo]

It's not the best choice but they're alright. The hard part is affording them. They're expensive little buggers to buy and ideally you want at least 30 squigs and 20 herders.

Ebay and cloning goes a long way.

Now that nobody uses squig hoppers you can get them cheap 2nd hand, then remove the riders. Use a giant squig as filler, they're also quite cheap 2nd hand.

[snottlebocket]

Ebay and cloning goes a long way.

Now that nobody uses squig hoppers you can get them cheap 2nd hand, then remove the riders. Use a giant squig as filler, they're also quite cheap 2nd hand.

What is cloning?

[Malorian]

What is cloning?

Making your own casting molds from GW originals, or resin printers.

I'm against both.

[Shimmergloom]

Two words:

War Haggises.

UK:

http://www.blackhat.co.uk/online_sho...ed89dd8424b522

US:

http://www.superherohype.com/news/ar...of-future-past

I bought 3 packs of 3 from the the US site, less than $40 for 18 of them. They are about 70-80% the size of GW squigs, since they are 25mm, while GW squigs are 28mm Heroic. They also came with circle bases, instead of squares, but there's plenty of places to get bags of bases cheaply.

Anyway, they are pretty awesome and you can bulk up your squig herds in no time.

[Jind_Singh]

Still, I cannot deny how good it feels to actually win a game!

Cheers!

~Bravey

Good for you Bravey!!! Well played! Good list too - solid choice of units - just as well you smashed those warriors good!

[Yowzo]

Over the last two weeks I've been trying to squeeze the battleaxe of the last waagh on my list, so for last weekend's game I made a radical decission: no lord-level caster. Lord points were spent on my eternal warboss general on wyvern and a savage warboss on foot with the battleaxe to go with the big'uns.

In the first game (against beastmen) the battleaxe was a little meh (animosity stalled my big'uns twice), but going on the field with a lv2 savage orc (shrunken head caddy) and two lv2 night goblins made for a surprisingly good magic phase vs a lv4 shadow and a lv2 beasts bray-shamans then against a lv4 life empire.

The second game against empire the battleaxe made their points and then some more bagging a steam tank on two combat phases so all is not lost, but I fear it's too situational to be used on tournament settings, and I fear a 5+ ward and striking at I2 would mean it's toast on most challenges (that's why there's a champion in the unit, though).

I'll refine the idea on a double wyvern warboss list for next weekend, though will probably go 1xlv2 savage orc and 3xlv2 or 2-2-1 night goblins. The mushroom dice are just too good, and drain the opponent dispel dice quickly.

[Djekar]

Glad you are trying to find uses for it! You are inspiring me

I too have noticed that we seem to do well without a level 4 caster, which allows us to take a couple pretty nasty Warbosses. My only concern with it every time I run a list like that is how much easier a Shaman with the Shrunken Head is to kill then a Great Shaman, but I haven't been burned ... yet.

[Malorian]

I'd use the battle axe on a black orc warboss. Since you know your WS is going to be reduced you want to start as high as possible and the last thing you want is to be str 10 but hitting your target on a 5+.

[Yowzo]

I'd use the battle axe on a black orc warboss. Since you know your WS is going to be reduced you want to start as high as possible and the last thing you want is to be str 10 but hitting your target on a 5+.

I considered that, but as it was going on the SOBU unit and I has itching to use the new savage orc warboss plastic mini I had just finished painting I valued the extra attack, cheaper cost and inherent ward save over an actual armour save and extra WS.

Truth be told, that black orc warboss would have helped greatly on those two bad animosity rolls. Thankfully the trolls held the fort until the SOBUs finally swung combat.

[Malorian]

I can definately see the appeal of the 5+ ward (assuming head) and extra attack for a cheaper cost.

The WS can be a big deal. On average you will lose 2 points of WS going down to WS 4. Going on the high side and assuming an additional 4 attacks and strength the black orc war boss will have 8 attacks and the savage version will have 9. Now if you are up against some that is WS4 or better the BO version will hit 5.3 times and the savage will hit 4.5 times, so actually even with less attacks the block orc version ends up with more hits.

1/3 of the time you will lose 3 points of WS which means you are now hitting almost everything in the game on a 4+, or if it's a lord on lord combat then probably on a 5+.

As said, keeping your expensive lord and unit free from animosity is nice.

The final issue is the ward which, although is awesome, limits you to just that one unit. Sure you can go to other units and just have a 6+ but in the end that will probably end up the same or worse than the BO's 4+ save (heavy armor shield).


I don't know, you are absolutely right that both have their advantages, but I would give the BO version a try.

[Yowzo]

After using the battleaxe on a few games already (yesterday I crushed some TK and WoC with the same list) I have found out a few things:

- Not good against characters, despite the high number of attacks and high strength you strike very late and with a low I. T5 is not good enough against most kitted out lords out there. Always keep a champion handy to soak up challenges and get those extra D6 attacks towards combat res.
- Great against slow monsters/chariots, who invariable tend to have low WS as well.
- People are not used to see it on the table, directing enough rank and file attacks at the warboss will kill it in two turns max. It is a very expensive, if fun, glass cannon. Thankfully, the axe can generate enough CR that you're usually winning combat BUT there are quite a few things out there that will strike before you and can take those T5 3 wounds rather quickly (halberd WoC, white lions, swordmasters, etc.)
- However, it solves the issue orcs have against high T targets like Stanks, K'daai destroyers, Sphinxes, etc.

For issue 3, stick the warboss on a corner to minimize attacks going your way and stay clear of anything striking S5 and above.

[Tolinwiz]

I've Been out of fantasy since the start of 8th, and am recently returning to the game. I've always -loved- fanatics. I'm wondering how a heavy fanatic/mangler squig with lots of lvl 1 goblin casters for channel spam might hold up. The idea being with enough casters to throw sneaky stabbin, and the anvil nature of large units, hitting n the flanks might be plausible. I haven't played much of 8th so this is just theory crafting o. The little I know of the editon. Competitvenes isn't paramount, but a terrible list isn't that fun either.

Thanks!

[SevenSins]

I'm in the process of scratch building a large number of chariots, I am however torn between beasts and O&G as to who shall recieve my creations

have anyone tried out chariot heavy lists? O&G can field an insane amount of chariots for a reasonable penny, but does it work (panic issues aside)? I really enjoyed the fluff for the Teef-robberz (p.46)and might go for something like that..

Toughts and opinions (and tactics if you can spare)

[Walls]

While Orcs can take lots, Beastmen can take theirs as core, that's the big difference. I've played an all chariot beastmen army and it really sucked. However, chariots are my favorite unit in the game and if an army can have one, there is no reason not to take them. They are brutally powerful and really add a lot to an ongoing combat. In the flanks they are really nasty, able to dish out a ton of damage with very little back in return. Plus they demolish chaff, small units, etc.

[N0th1ng c4n b34t 3lv3s]

You could always use magnets on the crew & swap between beastmen & Orc chariots

[SevenSins]

You could always use magnets on the crew & swap between beastmen & Orc chariots

There is that
main difference would be in the case of wolf chariots though, but hey a beast is a beast (tusker dogs anyone?)

In O&G I could have 9 wolf and 3 boar chariots for 700ish points, now that has a certain appeal. Also the wolf chariots M9 means they don't lag behind marching infantry in the same extent as M7 chariots do.

Considering the above special choices, what would be fitting core choices (planning for 2000 points)?

[N0th1ng c4n b34t 3lv3s]

All the choices are fine with O&G but Savage Orc Big Uns are really good for their pts cost.

[Vaughnilla619]

After using the battleaxe on a few games already (yesterday I crushed some TK and WoC with the same list) I have found out a few things:

- Not good against characters, despite the high number of attacks and high strength you strike very late and with a low I. T5 is not good enough against most kitted out lords out there. Always keep a champion handy to soak up challenges and get those extra D6 attacks towards combat res.
- Great against slow monsters/chariots, who invariable tend to have low WS as well.
- People are not used to see it on the table, directing enough rank and file attacks at the warboss will kill it in two turns max. It is a very expensive, if fun, glass cannon. Thankfully, the axe can generate enough CR that you're usually winning combat BUT there are quite a few things out there that will strike before you and can take those T5 3 wounds rather quickly (halberd WoC, white lions, swordmasters, etc.)
- However, it solves the issue orcs have against high T targets like Stanks, K'daai destroyers, Sphinxes, etc.

For issue 3, stick the warboss on a corner to minimize attacks going your way and stay clear of anything striking S5 and above.

I played a game against wood elves with all glade guard and 2 units of 6 treekin. As my first time playing against them i was taken off guard and ended up losing everything i had but my 2 doom divers and BO Warboss. I used the Battleaxe and it worked like a friggen charm! Although i got destroyed, My BO Warboss by himself beat and broke AND chased down both units of 6 treekin in turns 4-6. He was on a boar and had a shield, so a 2+ AS is good enough. The 2 units of treekin also had the +1 Strength and Toughness spell on them in the lore of breast in each respective turn

[Whut]

Here's 4 questions.

1-2) How much defense would you put on your General before you feel comfortable running him on the front lines? And futhermore, do you prefer to run him in the front or in a bunker?

I have seen everything from a 3+/4++ Save to just a charmed shield.

I can see advantages to both - The bunker keeps him safe, which also allows you to keep him as cheap as possible. Going in the front allows him to apply his damage and gives him a better Ld bubble for running trolls and other chaff further forward. Also you get the Waaagh! bonus if you can remember it exists.

3-4) With the GW goblin boss setup, which I love the idea of, how do you keep them alive before they get to strike? Won't you lose 1-2 of them even before they swing to anything that is decent at fighting? Also, would it be worth running a normal Goblin BB or even maybe a Warboss to grab that bit of extra Ld in case worst comes to worst and you are caught ouside your General's range? If you take the warboss, the extra wound will all but guarentee you get to attack rather than die before you swing, and the WS5 and A4 make him more deadly.

All questions refer to ~2500 point area.