This article will describe in detail the Orc & Goblin army starting from its lore, describing the main units and their roles, how the army plays and finally our personal opinion of the army.
Orc & Goblin Tribes – Overview
Orcs and Goblins are some of the most iconic fantasy tropes and they are also an omnipresent force of destruction and mayhem in Warhammer games. Their particularity is that they are always fighting: if they don’t have a proper opponent, they just fight between themselves.
Every Orc and Goblin thinks they are the best, and therefore only the toughest and biggest members of their race will be able to lead them (temporarily). Those that brutally or cunningly squashed any challenge and are considered the best way to secure a victory are called Da Bosses! Each group is called Mob and is usually composed by a single type, i.e. orcs, wolf riding goblins, etc. and they gather together around a Warboss who leads the entire tribe.
Normally Orcs and Goblins co-exist, with the Goblins performing all chores Orcs won’t do and obtaining in exchange “protection” from their larger cousins. Although bullying is an intrinsic component of a greenskin camp, so there’s not really a safe place for anyone. Even the toughest warbosses may be betrayed and literally backstabbed by someone usurping their place.
In game they have a huge roster, with a bit of everything. Also, there’s no rule forcing to mix them, so there can be lists with only Orcs or just Goblins, greatly changing the strategy and playstyle. In battle they are joined by all sort of dank creatures, including Giants and Trolls, while the Goblins managed to tame some creatures to do their bidding so that Forest Goblins march riding spiders of all sizes including the gigantic Arachnarok Spider, while the Night Goblin can be seen mounting Cave Squigs, weird spherical creatures with giant fangs.
One thing they have in common is their attraction towards the fight, with a chance they can’t refuse to charge an enemy (Impetuous). Most Orcs get an extra attack when they charge (Furious Charge) and do not perform panic tests when goblin units are affected, while the Goblins are afraid of Elves but hate the Dwarves so much that they can re-roll failed To Hit rolls in the first round of combat. Trolls regenerate (5+) and Goblins have access to all sort of war machines including a Doom Diver Catapult that literally throws to the enemy a goblin able to steer its trajectory until the impact with enemy forces brings to his early demise.
Orc & Goblin Tribes – Lore
Orcs and Goblins are not original from this world but rather stowaways that hid in the spaceships used by the Old Ones. They hid for centuries in the most remote places until the departure of the Old Ones and the arrival of Chaos created an ideal environment for them to prosper.
Orcs are bigger and more brutal, while the Goblin compensate their smaller figure and cowardice with greater malice and attacking in hordes. Normally they live in separate tribes, inhabiting the darkest caves, more isolated wastelands or deepest jungles, but a boss bigger than the others is able to group them in giant invasion parties called Waaagh!
These are migratory invasions led by a Warboss which generate incredible fervour within the participants stoked by the shamans. The more this horde wins, the more Orcs and Goblins are going to join them because they can’t resist a good scrap (but also staying on the winning side!). The only way to stop a Waaagh! is to kill their leader, so that the energies accumulated dissipate and the mobs will hastily retire from where they came from.
It is said that if Orcs and Goblins would unite they would conquer the world, but then they would not have anyone else left to fight and they would destroy themselves.
Orcs rely on Goblins for every mundane chore, like building huts, or even positioning latrines. Should a mob lack in Goblins, infighting would be so common that the result is a smaller but extremely tough mob. The Black Orcs are the biggest of them, tough and with a poor sense of humour. Orcs favour wild boars as mounts, and they use them also to lead their chariots.
Goblins adapt fast to their environment, so that those living in the open plains would prefer ride giant wolves, those in the forests would breed spiders at the cost of ending up being their food, and the Night Goblins live in the darkest caves drinking mushroom wine which is the cause of their cackling in the middle of a fight. Cave Squigs are their favourite companions but their presence in the dark places attracts also a good amount of Trolls.
While Orcs and Goblins inhabit every region of the Old World, from Bretonnian forests to the deepest recesses of the World Edge Mountains, there is a place where they can be found in huge numbers and nothing else lives there: the Badlands. This is a wasteland positioned between the World Edge Mountains and the Dragonback Mountains just south of the Border Princes, separating those from the deserts inhabited by the Tomb Kings.
Orc & Goblin Tribes – Grand Army Composition List
Orc & Goblin Grand Army Composition list includes the following options.
- Characters (up to 50%):
- 0-1 Black Orc Warboss, Orc Warboss or Orc Weirdnob per 1000 points
- Black Orc Bigbosses, Orc Bigbosses, Orc Weirdboys, Goblin Bosses, Night Goblin Bosses, Goblin Shamans, Night Goblin Shamans
- Core (at least 25%):
- Orc Mobs, Goblin Mobs, Snotling Mobs, Goblin Spider Rider Mobs, Goblin Wolf Rider Mobs
- 0-1 unit of Night Goblin Mobs per Night Goblin Chief or Shaman
- 0-1 unit of Night Goblin Squig Herd per Night Goblin Chief or Shaman
- 0-1 unit of Black Orc Mob as core if the general is a Black Orc Boss
- Special (up to 50%):
- Black Orc Mobs, Troll Mobs, Orc Boar Boy Mob, Orc Boar Chariots, Goblin Wolf Chariot, Snotling Pump Wagon
- 0-1 unit of Night Goblin Squig Hoppers per Night Goblin Chief or Shaman
- 0-2 Goblin Bolt Throwas per 1000 points
- Rare (up to 25%):
- Arachnarok Spiders, Giants
- 0-1 unit of Mangler Squig per Night Goblin Chief or Shaman
- 0-1 Goblin Rock Lobber per 1000 points
- 0-1 Doom Diver Catapult per 1000 points
- 0-1 Troll Hag if at least 1 Troll Mob is present
As you can see above, there is complete freedom on how to build the army, with only certain units coupled together so that Night Goblins are present only if their bosses or shamans show up and so on. The core options are extremely wide, allowing for extremely specialised lists or fully mixed with all sorts of greenskinz shenanigans.
But if you want heavy hitters, Black Orcs are your top choice and are extremely reliable as they don’t panic if goblins or other orcs around them are crushed to pieces.
A single Bigboss (Black Orc, Orc, Goblin or Night Goblin) can be upgraded to be a Battle Standard Bearer.
Orc & Goblin Tribes – Special Rules, Lores and Magic Items
One of the characteristic traits of the army is Impetuous, present in most Orcs and few Goblin units. This rule forces any unit able to charge to do so on a roll of 1-3 which can lead to unwanted situations where a unit goes where it’s not supposed to or is dragged out of the core fight by units retreating enough to force the chase.
Most orcs have on their side the Choppas as a weapon, which provides re-roll of natural 1s to wound and increased armour piercing the turn they charged. In addition, they can choose to be Frenzied, adding +1 to their attach characteristic but giving up their armour. In exchange, they can use Warpaint for a 6+ ward.
Orc bosses instead can call the Waaagh ! once per battle giving themselves and their adjoining unit a bonus of +1 to combat resolution and the ability to re-roll natural 1s to Hit for the rest of the turn.
The classic tropes are also all in place, with Elves provoking Fear in most Goblins, and several units having Hatred(Dwarves).
Orc shamans have access to the Lore of Gork allowing to replace one of their spells with one from this list instead of the signature spell from their school. This list has only two spells, both are front-line spells like Gaze of Gork which can damage every unit (friend or foe) in a straight line from the caster’s base.
Similarly, Goblin shamans have access to the Lore of Mork, same conditions as above but these two are great de-buffers with Mork’s Curse forcing a unit to re-roll natural 6s on armour saves and Itchy Nuisance reducing an enemy unit Toughness and Initiative by a D3 for a full round.
The Arcane Journal introduces the Lore of Troll Magic, a full spell lore available only to Troll Hags and Ogdruz Swampdigga. Its signature spell, Big Smartz, allows to re-roll Stupidity tests which can be pretty beneficial in a Troll army.
In the Ravening Horde book, Orc and Goblins have access to a big list of magic weapons, armours, standards, talismans, enchanted items and arcane items. Notable is the Idol of Mork which increases the dispel range by 3″ and allows to re-roll it, the Trollhide Trousers which can be worn with other armour and increase armour value by 1 plus a Regen 5+ roll and Wallopa’s One Hit Wunda which is a cheap weapon with magical attacks and once per game a Strength-10 Armour piercing 3 Strike-first profile.
This already impressive list is further incremented in the Arcane Journal with great defensive options for an Orc like Dead ‘Ard Armour which is a full plate which adds +1 to Toughness (and combines well with the Trollhide Trousers above, but can’t be used by monster-riding characters), and Da Thinkin’ Orcs ‘At which removes the Impetuous rule from this character and their adjoining unit and adds +1 to the Initiative.
Orc & Goblin Tribes – Armies of Infamy Composition List
The Arcane Journal introduces two Armies of Infamy, one focussed on a mounted cavalry oriented army, the other giving some love to the Troll side.
Nomadic Waaagh!
- Characters (up to 50%):
- 0-1 Black Orc Warboss or Black Orc Bigboss per Black Orc Boar Chariot
- 0-1 Orc Warboss or Orc Weirdbob per 1000 points
- Orc Bigbosses, Orc Weirdboys, Goblin Bosses, Goblin Shamans
- Core (at least 25%):
- Goblin Wolf Rider Mobs and Goblin Wolf Chariots
- 0-1 unit of Boar Boy Mob as core if the general is a Orc Boss
- 0-1 unit of Black Orc Boar Chariot as core if the general is a Black Orc Boss
- Special (up to 50%):
- Orc Boar Boy Mob, Orc Boar Chariots, Snotling Pump Wagon
- Rare (up to 25%):
- Black Orc Boar Chariot, Giants
This army gives up any on-foot unit, including all characters which need to be mounted, all Night Goblins and all artillery pieces for a fast and mobile list.
Goblin Wold Riders can exchange Open Order and Skirmishers with Close Order and Horde to transform them in a ferocious and compact pack. They can also get the Ambushers special rule for an extra point, as can Goblin characters mounting Giant Wolves.
Boars obtain Impact Hits(1) which is a nice upgrade and, in addition, 1 unit per 1000 points can purchase the Vanguard special rule for a post-deployment move.
On the downside Black Orc bosses lose Da Boyz and Quell Impetuosity, the second hurting a bit, with the only safety line the item Da Thinkin’ Orcs ‘At mentionnés ci-dessus.
Troll Horde
- Characters (up to 50%):
- 0-1 Orc Warboss or Orc Weirdnob per 1000 points
- Orc Bigbosses, Orc Weirdboys, Goblin Bosses, Goblin Shamans, Troll Hags
- Core (at least 33%):
- 1 Troll Mob per 1000 points
- 0-1 additional unit of Troll Mob as core per Troll Hag
- Orc Mobs, Goblin Mobs, Goblin Spider Rider Mobs, Goblin Wolf Rider Mobs
- Special (up to 50%):
- Troll Mobs, Goblin Wolf Chariot
- 0-1 Orc Boar Boy Mobs per 1000 points
- 0-1 Orc Boar Chariots per 1000 points
- Rare (up to 25%):
- Giants
This army brings the Trolls at the forefront, with Troll Hags becoming key characters of this army. The cost is paid in Black Orcs, Night Goblins and all artillery pieces, but who needs them if you have a core made of Trolls?
In this case the Battle Standard can be carried only by Orc or Goblin Bigbosses.
However Trolls have one thing in common: the Stupidity special rule which forces them to test against Leadership and, should they fail, are forced to move straightforward without being able to engage enemy units. So how can an army heavily hindered by this succeed?
First of all, their enhanced regeneration allows to re-roll failed Regeneration rolls against non-magical attacks. Wounds saved this way still count for combat resolution, but it is incredibly tougher to put down a Troll without magical attacks.
Then, Trolls can use the Leadership of any non-fleeing Orc Shaman, Goblin Shaman or Troll Hag within range. That means that a Shaman, in the appropriate regiment, can reach easily Leadership 10 thanks to the Warband special rule which adds the rank bonus of the unit to the Leadership value. Now those Trolls are not that stupid anymore…
The final rule for this extremely tough army allows all Shamans to learn from the Lore of Troll Magic should they wish so.
Orc & Goblin Tribes – Units Review
Characters
Black Orc Bosses
At the top of the commanding chain we find the Black Orc Bosses. The first requirement is that they always need to be accompanied by a Black Orc Mob (and vice versa) except in a Nomadic Waaagh! Army of Infamy.
As for all bosses in this army, the Warboss is the top tier, and the Bigboss is the lower tier. They are extremely strong fighters and with Leadership 9/8 they are great candidates to keep your troops in line. They come with a full plate armour (4+ armour roll) which they can further increase with a shield, but also adopt an additional hand weapon, great weapon or cavalry spear.
As mentioned above, they benefit from most Orc rules, including the Choppas and being able to call a Waaagh ! once per game. They ignore panic tests from other non-Black Orc units and make units within 6″ of them ignore the Impetuous rule if they want. Which is great to be able to properly direct your troops where is needed.
They can mount War Boars, which transforms them in heavy cavalry and adds an extra +1 to armour (which can become an impressive 2+ with the shield) or Orc Boar Chariots which makes them Heavy Chariots and unlocks Frenzy for an extra attack.
Only in the Nomadic Waaagh! Black Orc Bosses can ride on top of a Black Orc Boar Chariot, which is a tougher and improved version of the previous one.
Finally, only Warbosses can ride a Wyvern. This is a Monstrous Creature which can fly, adds Stomp et Poisoned attacks, brings the Toughness to 6 and wounds to 7/6 and brings Terreur to the battlefield.
Orc Bosses
Le Orc Bosses follow the same profile of a Black Orc, with Warboss being the top tier and Bigboss the lower one. Compared to the Black Orc they have less Weapon Strength, Initiative and Leadership, but they are cheaper and an Orc Bigboss upgraded to Battle Standard Bearer is a good cheap option to increase the chances of fleeing units to rally.
As their bigger cousins, they have the same weapon options but can only wear up to heavy armour or alternatively obtain the Frenzy special rule and with that replace the armour with the Warpaint 6+ ward transforming them effectively in Savage Orcs.
They share also the same mount options with War Boar et Boar Chariot available to any Orc Boss, while only the Warboss can mount a Wyvern.
Orc Shamans
Orc Shamans are the magic wielders on the Orc side with the Weirdnob starting as a level 3 Wizard upgradeable to level 4, while the Orc Weirdboy is a level 1 who can become level 2. Both Shamans can choose between Battle Magic, Elementalism and Waaagh! Magic and if equipped with Da Hag’s Brew they can also choose Troll Magic. As Orcs, they can use the Lore of Gork to replace their school signature spell.
Additionally, if they join a unit of 10 or more Orcs or Black Orcs, they obtain a +1 bonus to cast. As many Orcs, they can optionally take Frenzy et Warpaint.
They do not have weapon options, but they can mount a War Boar, and the Weirdnob can even ride a Wyvern.
Ogdruz Swampdigga is a named Orc Weirdnob level 3 wizard with access to Elementalism and Troll Magic whose spells he can choose instead of selecting randomly thanks to his included Lore Familiar. He is a great addition next to Trolls, or in a Troll Horde army, thanks to the few buffs they provide to each other: Troll Mobs within his command range can use his Leadership (8) while those within 3″ prevent him from being targeted by shooting or spells and give him a bonus to cast of +1 (if the Mob has at least Unit Strength 6).
His time with Trolls left him also with a Trollhide Shawl which gives a 6+ armour/5+ regeneration but becomes Flammable.
Goblin Bosses
Goblin are split into two main groups, the Night Goblins who live in the darkest caves and all other Goblins. Their bosses follow the usual pattern with a Warboss being top tier and a Bigboss the lower one. They are not as tough as an Orc but a Bigboss is so cheap that they can be added to any Goblin Mob to make them more resilient to breaking.
As all Goblins, Elves instil fear in them and Impetuous may represent a problem, but the bonus in Leadership given by the rank bonus thanks to Warband should help maintain order in the Goblin hordes.
They start without armour but can take a light one and a shield, and choose between an additional hand weapon, a great weapon or a cavalry spear (if appropriately mounted).
The mount options are quite exotic and include a Giant Wolf which makes them light cavalry and add an extra D6″ to any charge roll (Swiftstride) plus an extra attack from the wolf itself.
There’s also the Wolf Chariot option that adds also a crew with shooting attacks and 3 more wounds, aside from being a light chariot. On top of having two wolves’ extra attacks (3 if you purchase a third one), it has Impact Hits, the charge bonus from Swiftstride and the Leadership bonus from Warband.
The last mount option is a Gigantic Spider which is also light cavalry, but adds 3 attacks, all attacks become poisoned, a +1 on armour save from Armoured Hide and the charge bonus from Swiftstride. This is the perfect choice to lead a unit of Forest Goblins, recreating their spider swarms.
Kiknik Toofsnatcha, a master of hit-and-run tactics, is a named Goblin Warboss, available in any list that allows them, mounted on a Giant Wolf (Chompa). Chompa provides Armoured Hide which in addition to the light armour and shield, brings Kiknik to a 4+ armour save. On the weapon side, his pick-hammer has 2 profiles and can be used with extra Strength or with Multiple Wounds(2) depending on the opponent.
He works best within a Goblin Wolf Riders unit as, when joining such unit, can decide to Fall Back in Good Order rather than pursuit which is great since when charging he and his unit instil La peur and obtain +1 on combat resolution. He can also give a Wolf Rider unit Ambusher and add +/-1 to the roll when determining when they come out from reserve.
Goblin Shamans
Goblin magic users include the Goblin Oddgit, a level 1 wizard who can be upgraded to level 2, and the Goblin Oddnob, a level 3 which can get to level 4. Both have the usual fear of Elves, the ability to increase their Leadership in mobs (Warband) and access to the Lore of Mork, to swap their signature spell From Elementalism or Waaagh! Magic, with one from that list.
As their military comrades, they can also choose a Giant Wolf or a Wolf Chariot as a mount, with the wolf potentially interesting if you have plenty of short range spells or have a screening unit of Wolf Riders available.
Alternatively, a Goblin Oddnob can mount an Arachnarok Spider: a veritable Behemoth that spreads Terreur, and has poisoned attacks. While it adds 7 wounds and brings Toughness to 6, it is also a Large Target easy to threaten.
Night Goblin Bosses
Night Goblins follow the same pattern of the generic Goblins with a high tier Warboss and a low tier Bigboss. They are not Impetuous, have lower Leadership and hate Dwarves (being able to re-roll failed Hit Rolls in the first round of combat). They have the usual weapon options (additional hand weapon, great weapon or cavalry spear) and can take a shield and/or light armour.
The only mount option is the Giant Cave Squig which transforms the unit in a monstrous cavalry but becomes a Loner, meaning it can’t be a general and can only join a unit of Squig Hoppers. It adds 1 wound, +1 to armour, Impact Hits and Killing Blow (on a natural 6 to wound, the target infantry or cavalry unit cannot make armour or regen rolls, and if a wound is allocated, all remaining wounds of that model are lost). The main drawback is that squigs have random movement (3D6″), meaning it’s unpredictable how far they are going and they can’t charge, rather if they enter contact with an enemy unit during the Compulsory Moves sub-phase, they count as having charged.
Night Goblin Shamans
Night Goblins also have their own shamans, again with an Oddgit starting at level 1 and able to reach level 2, while the Oddnob is a level 3 wizard which can become level 4. Compared to Goblin Shamans they trade Elementalism with Illusion, all other choices are the same. They do not have mount options.
Troll Hag
Le Troll Hag is a Behemoth first introduced in the Arcane Journal as a character of a Troll Horde, but can also be fielded in a Grand Army as a Rare option if there’s at least one Troll Mob in the list. She is a level 1 wizard with knowledge of Battle Magic and Troll Magic, but can also become level 2.
As all Trolls, she has Regeneration (5), Stupidity et Flammable. She has Terreur and Large Target but also few specific attacks: first of all she can make a wound of damage in the Command sub-phase if the target unit fails an initiative test (and she gains that wound back). Then, she can decide to use a profile reminiscent of giant attacks with a random table that goes from a blast template of Strength-6 armour piercing-2 attacks for each model within the template, all the way to D6+1 Strength-6 hits with no armour save allowed and a -1 to Leadership applied.
Her hide is so tough that counts as heavy armour (5+ save) and gives a -1 to hit in melee to enemy units. In addition, she has a breath weapon which generates panic attack if any wound is allocated.
Infantry
The top elite infantry block is represented by the Black Orc Mob. They are expensive, but they are the toughest and the strongest infantry block, they ignore any kind of panic and with Furious Charge they add an extra attack when charging. Single models can be upgraded with additional weapons, great weapons or shields. They can also receive Têtu et Veteran to resist even better enemy charges. While they need to be listed together with a Black Orc Boss, they are both great sources to Quell Impetuosity, especially that of suicidal goblins.
However, the core of any Orc army is made by the boys of an Orc Mob. They are much cheaper than their bigger cousins while maintaining decent Leadership (7 with a champion). Their particularity is that they can be assembled in multiple ways, starting from additional hand weapon and passing to thrusting or throwing spears for that bonus on the first round or by adding a shield for extra protection. But they can also take warbows (to form the old Arrer Boyz unit) or take the Frenzied rule (+1 attack) that mixed with the Warpaint special rule (6+ ward) recreates the Savage Orcs, those brutes half naked which have access also to the Big Stabba, a giant wooden spear which provides Impact Hits from an infantry unit. Other noteworthy upgrades are the Big ‘Uns which add +1 Strength, Armour Bane (1) et Skirmishers to create a screening unit in front of your shamans.
Goblins have also access to their own block of infantry: the Goblin Mob, which is cheap but also not resistant. Horde et Warband special rules can increase their Leadership when positioned in multiple ranks, and in that case the thrusting spears are a good option. Otherwise equipping them with shortbows can make a cheap shooting unit, while one unit every 1000 point can get Skirmishers to create a cheap screen.
Nasty Skulkers are special elite goblins which can hide in a Goblin Mob and thanks to their Armour Bane(2) (the weapon obtains armour piercing 2 on a natural 6 to wound) and First Strike they can be a nasty surprise. You need to record the unit concealing them (up to 3 per unit) and then they appear on the first round of combat.
Snotling Mobs are a swarm unit immune to psychology (fear, panic or terror tests), Unbreakable (automatically gives ground but without break test when losing) with a Vanguard movement (pre-game post-deployment normal move) and some shooting attacks. However, despite the high number of wounds (6 per model) they are not going to do much in game…
Night Goblins Mobs have a similar statline as the Goblin Mob but they trade Leadership for higher Initiative. With Warband et Horde, a champion or maybe a Bigboss leading them, getting back to more comfortable level of Leadership is not hard. The absence of Impetuous makes them also more reliable. They can too swap shields for shortbows. But what stands out are two unit upgrades: the Netters for a high chance to reduce the Strength of the enemy unit by 1 and the Fanatics!
Fanatics (1 added for every 10 Night Goblins for a maximum of 3 per unit) are hidden in a Night Goblin Mob and released at any Start of the Turn sub-phase. They then move 2D6″ in the direction chosen by the controlling player but they cannot be charged or attacked in any way. Any unit (friend or foe) moving through them or crossed by these wrecking balls, suffers D6 Strenght-5 hits with armour piercing 3. Should they move on a terrain piece, end up under a template or roll a natural double when moving, they splat and are removed from play. While completely unpredictable (movement is random starting from the following movement phase), they represent a massive deterrent to charge Night Goblin Mobs.
Le Night Goblin Squig Herds are the funniest infantry block that can be mustered. Each Squig Herder can take up to 5 Cave Squigs which are adorable red balls full of teeth and violence. They are also some of the most dangerous profile at that cost with Weapon Skill 4, Strength 5 and Armour Piercing 1 with Armour Bane (1). They do suffer from low movement and toughness and, should they break and flee, they instead explode damaging all units (friend and foe) within 2D6″ which can be a technique in itself.
A unit of Night Goblin Mob and/or Squig Herds can be taken for each Night Goblin boss or shaman fielded.
The last block is a Monstrous Infantry: the Troll Mobs. These are really three different types of mobs united by few rules, first of all Stupidity which can force them to move aimlessly if not mitigated. In a Troll Horde army, there’s several ways, including pumping up a shaman Leadership, but in the Grand Army you’ll have to rely on your general Une présence inspirante, or on a Troll Hag or shaman with Da Hag’s Brew to use the signature spell of the Troll Magic lore. Flammable is another down-side which reduces their Regeneration effectiveness while Troll Vomit is a great end-of-combat single attack with armour piercing 2.
Le Common Trolls are cheaper but faster (Initiative 2), the River Trolls have one extra Wound (4) and the Stone Trolls are the most expensive but increase Leadership (to 5) and add Magic Resistance (-1) which is nice to give a bit more protection. Their best use is in their own Army of Infamy where they are almost immortal tanks.
Cavalry
The first of our cavalry units is another classic Orc staple: the Orc Boar Boy Mob. It counts as heavy cavalry, and indeed, upgrading the armour to heavy, carrying shields and thanks to the boar Armoured Hide, they can get to 3+ save. In addition, with Swiftstride they can increase their charge roll and thanks to their charge bonuses, the first round of combat is definitely swinging their way. As their on-foot brethren, one unit can take Big ‘Uns for that extra Strength, while Frenzied et Warpaint can recreate the Savage Orcs Cavalry. But where they really shine is in the Nomadic Waaagh! army of infamy which gives them impact hits and the option to give one unit Vanguard for a pre-game move.
Standard goblins have two type of light cavalry. The first one is the Goblin Spider Rider Mob, which uses its spiders to obtain Poisoned Attacks (natural 6 to Hit wounds automatically) on all attacks, including shooting should the shortbow be added to the unit, and Move through Cover which allows them to pass through difficult and dangerous terrain unhindered. A small unit can be an interesting harassing block.
Le Goblin Wolf Rider Mob can be a pretty good screening unit thanks to their Chariot Runners special rule but they can also be used as an efficient harassing unit if equipped with shortbows, Feigned Flight which allows to use Fire & Flee efficiently by rallying immediately after and Reserve Move which adds an extra movement at the end of the Shooting phase. As all Goblins they are Impetuous which can still be combined with Swiftstride to add extra movement to the charge. The Nomadic Waaagh! army of infamy sees them protagonists with few possible upgrades like Close Order or Ambusher.
Our last cavalry unit is the Night Goblin Squig Hopper Mob, an unpredictable mass of hopping beasts ridden by goblin which can be further improved with cavalry spear and light armour. Their random movement can be a liability, but at least they don’t have Impetuous. Impact Hits and the Initiative-4, Strength-5 attacks from the squigs make the unit still a fun one to try out.
Chariots
Orc Boar Chariots with Strength 5 and D6+1 Impact Hits are devastating heavy chariots. They are perfect to support infantry units or in a Nomadic Waaagh! army of infamy to flank the cavalry. Even the Frenzied Orcs can take 1 Boar Chariot every 1000 points to support their madness. Orc Boar Chariots’s ability Warband is still useful for a single rank unit as it allows also to re-roll charge rolls! Aside from adding a third crew member, Orc Boar Chariots can be a mount for Orc bosses.
Le Black Orc Boar Chariot is the upgraded version of the Orc Chariot with Black Orcs as crew, meaning higher Weapon Skill, Strength and Leadership. The crew can also change their weapons with a great weapon or an additional hand weapon and can purchase a standard (for an extra +1 to combat resolution). For the rest, does all a Black Orc does, but can only be used in the Nomadic Waaagh! army of infamy.
Le Goblin Wolf Chariot is the Goblin version, pulled by wolves instead of boars which make it faster (9″ instead of 7″), a light chariot which can go in group up to 5 and with shortbows for some ranged damage, but also much “lighter” with only 3 Wounds and Toughness 4 and less efficient Impact Hits. They can take a standard, add a third wolf, and they can be a mount for Goblin bosses and shamans.
Le Snotling Pump Wagon is the chariot ridden by the diminutive Snotlings. It’s cheap, but also affected by poor Leadership, random movement and overall low values. It can be fun to have one or two, but do not expect anything from them.
Monsters
Le Arachnarok Spider is the crown jewel of the old Forest Goblins. It’s a massive Behemoth, which makes him a Large Target but it also applies Terreur et peut Passer au travers de la couverture. The spider and all its crew have poisoned attacks (natural 6s to Hit auto-wound) and the spider can choose to make a single Strike First D6 multi-wounds attack before all others. The not so exciting part is only Weapon Skill 4 and Strength 5 which goes further down with the crew, which at least has some shooting attacks. The most interesting upgrade is the spidersilk lobber which transforms the Arachnarok in a fast-moving catapult (7″ movement). It can also be ridden by a Goblin Oddnob.
Le Mangler Squig is an oversized Squig “equipped” with spiked ball and chains and thrown to the enemy. Random movement and difficult terrain being treated as dangerous makes them relatively difficult to control, but once they do get in the midst, Armour Piecing-2 attacks and Armour Piercing-3 Impact Hits can create a serious hole in the enemy lines. And when they die, they still have a chance to crash between enemy units.
Le Giant is weird Behemoth with completely random (and unreliable) attacks which can be devastating against the right target. He can choose between two different profiles. The first one rolls on a table with results which greatly vary from headbutting a single opponent (beware heroes and champions) to flattening an entire unit with D6+1 hits with no armour save permitted. The second one can be used only against regular and heavy infantry and starts with an Initiative test from the enemy unit. If they fail, a model from their unit is removed from play. Then, the giant rolls and on a 4+ it repeats the process until the giant forgets (1-3) or the unit is destroyed. While on paper could be the quickest way to annihilate an enemy unit with high armour, like some dwarves, it has a 33% chance to do nothing against an Initiative 2 (going up the higher is the opponent initiative) and then a 50% chance to just stop there. Giants have also Terreur, Stomp Attacks, Unbreakable and the usual rule which determines where he falls once slain to see if his corpse does one last bit of damage when falling.
War Machines
Le Goblin Bolt Throwa is a bolt thrower, which is not a bad artillery to use if you can manage to place it on a side to hit enemy units on their flanks (the bolt keeps going with reduced Strength for each model hit, so with Strength 6, it could theoretically hit 6 enemy models). Attention to its crew extremely low Leadership.
Le Catapulte Doom Diver counts as a Stone Thrower but a bit more precise thanks to the little goblin-bullet being able to steer with his home-made wings: you can move the Bombardment blast D3″ in your chosen direction.
Le Goblin Rock Lobber is another Stone Thrower, bit tougher but less precise.
All goblin war machines can enrol an Orc Bully which is a regular infantry character with Leadership 7 which greatly helps avoiding the crew fleeing at the first smell of panic in other goblin units.
Thematic Mercenaries
The Orc & Goblin Tribes Arcane Journal introduces also two Dogs of War (Mercenaries who can be used by other armies). These are fun additions to an army, but often have to co-exist with Misbehaving rules which can impact their efficiency.
Le Badlands Ogre Bulls are a monstrous infantry, a group of Ogres which sells their weapons to anyone filling their coffers and bellies (available to any army). They have similar statlines as normal Ogres, with above average Strength and Toughness (4), the ability to upgrade to heavy armour (5+ save), take the entire command group (champion, musician and standard bearer) and enlist all sort of weapons (each model can be equipped differently) including the great weapon and the ironfist which gives an extra attack but also improves armour save by 1 (for a potential 4+). Their Impact Hits have armour piercing equal to their rank bonus.
Le Bonegrinder Giant is an enormous giant (also in physical money price) which, at the time, was the tallest miniature produced by Games Workshop for fantasy. It is more expensive than a normal giant, but also stronger (7) and with more initiative. It has the same random table of attacks, but this one is more focussed on their target so it’s much more useful since you don’t end up headbutting a single model in an Infantry unit with 1 wound per model… These Giants can be enrolled not only by Orcs & Goblins but also by Warriors of Chaos and Beastmen.
Orc & Goblin Tribes – Conclusion
Orcs and Goblins are the quintessence of fantasy settings and no game would be complete without them. In the Old World they can fight under the same banner, but by no means they are forced to. Elite armies with only Orcs are perfectly viable (and sometimes also a bit more competitive) and horde armies with plenty of Goblins are also extremely fun to play.
And let’s be honest, if you are playing Orcs and Goblins is to have fun, and nothing says fun more than a bullet-goblin thrown by a catapult and steering his way towards the enemy before meeting his untimely end.
Beginners may find this army a bit confusing because in reality it groups together many sub-factions, some historical like the Savage Orcs, and not all options are clearly available on the Games Workshop website. And it doesn’t help that some miniatures are indeed available in their other fantasy game called Age of Sigmar, so they don’t appear a second time in the Old World sub-pages. Hopefully the next section will help you to navigate the various pages and mitigate this problem, but the Savage Orcs are currently nowhere to be seen (they were available until June 2024).
The 4 main sub-factions represent also different game styles, with the Orcs being the heavy-armoured block, stronger and more reliable but also more expensive and slower. Impetuous makes them difficult to control, so adopting strategies to mitigate it (like having a Black Orc Boss) will be of vital importance.
The Goblins panic much faster and they have overall weaker stats but can be field in greater numbers and with the opportune leadership and the many bonuses like Warband et Horde, they can become much more predictable. They also have all artillery pieces available and most shooting options.
The Night Goblins on the other side stick together (to bring any of their troop types you need to have a boss or shaman of the same race), drop Impetuous with a splash of random movement and high unpredictability with things like the Fanatics and Squigs but they have even lower Leadership than a normal Goblin.
Finally the Trolls can be hard to shift, but their Stupidity rule makes them extremely difficult to manage. On the other side, the army of infamy dedicated to them, makes them “smarter” and more resistant (unless they find against them flaming attacks…). So if you want Trolls the best way is to look at that army.
The other army of infamy is focussed on movement and mounted troops, meaning artillery and big blocks are all sacrificed for more mobile units, mixed with harassing wolves coming from the sides and boars smashing the enemy front-line.
Considering what they have done so far with the army, it is pretty exciting to know where else they can go even just with future publications, although would be nice to see some model returns (Colossal Squig and Squig Gobba, where are you??) and some new sculpts for the more aged ones.
Overall, the roster is so big that this is a compulsive list builder dream. Every sub-faction is viable and there’s plenty of redundancy. The biggest showstopper for a beginner is how to buy what you like as the models are all over the place, with different names. But for a 3D printer, there’s no limit on how to build this army, as there’s a world of options out there.
Orc & Goblin Tribes – Other resources
Orc and Goblin Tribes model availability suffers a bit by being in between the refreshed range in Age of Sigmar called Gloomspite Gitz, and the old roster from Warhammer Fantasy.
Let’s start from things that are exclusive to Old World: the Black Orcs and the Orc range in general is all under the Old World section of Warhammer.com. The Savage Orcs have been currently removed from Age of Sigmar (they were called Bonesplitterz) so if orcs wearing only war paint was your jam, the second-hand market or 3D printing are your only options.
While most orc mounts are available (ranging from metal to plastic, only notable absence an Orc Shaman on Wyvern), Black Orcs are not and will require a bit of kitbashing or adapting.
Only the Common Trolls are available in the Old World section, good replacement models for River and Stone Trolls can be found on round base in the Age of Sigmar roster called respectively Fellwater and Rockgut Troggoths. Giants are available in both Old World and Age of Sigmar web-pages (called Mancrusher Gargants).
The Goblin roster has an extensive range of models, but for some reason, the wolf riding section has been re-sculpted also in Age of Sigmar. It’s called Gitmob and while it does cost more per unit than their Old World counterpart, it has some excellent plastic models of new generation like the Snarlfang Cavalry (Wolf Riding Mob), Sunsteela Wheelaz (Wolf Chariot), Snarlboss on War-Wheela (Goblin Boss on Wolf Chariot), a new Doom Diver Catapult and even a model who would be perfect as Kiknik, including his hammer-pick choice of weapon: Droggz da Sunchompa.
The Goblin boss on Giant Spider was available in Age of Sigmar until June 2024 (metal model) so it may come back soon repackaged for Old World.
It closes the circle the Night Goblin roster, which has again some duplication with the other GW fantasy game in the basic Night Goblin Mob (called Shoota/Stabbas, a more recent sculpt) but the rest is available only under the Age of Sigmar banner, mostly named Moonclan: Loonsmasha Fanatics are the classic Fanatics, Arachnarok Spider, Squig Herd and Squig Hoppers kept the name (the Hoppers can also be assembled as a heavier armoured knight version with spear), Grot Spider Riders are the Goblin Spider Riders and Mangler Squigs come in couples one on top of the other and ridden by goblins so necessitate a bit of work to separate them. There’s also some alternative Night Goblin bosses and shamans.
Coincidentally, the Spearhead box for Age of Sigmar is also a great starter set for the Goblin side with 20 Night Goblin which can be assembled with hand weapons, spears or bows and includes some Netters and command group, 10 Night Goblin Squig Hoppers, 3 Stone Trolls and 1 Night Goblin boss.
If you have access to a 3D printer (in resin for the best results), then there’s a plethora of options out there. We have tried few ourselves, but feel free to browse around as Orc and Goblins are a so classic fantasy trope that you’ll find models everywhere, including in the D&D compatible prints.
Philip Sin’s Miniatures represent an economic, simple and exhaustive list. Dragon’s Lake Miniaturas has different bundles with Orcs and Goblins, this one with few pack of wolves and boars.
Titan Forge Miniatures Midnight Goblin collection is great, in particular their giant rat riders for an alternative spin instead of wolves. They also have some Orcs mixed in different bundles, while the Badland Orcs can be used as Black Orcs, but we encourage to see their entire roster.
Ghamak’s Madcap Goblin collection is mostly for the Age of Sigmar roster, but you can find some good Goblin proxies. Same goes with their Orcs of the Howling Steppes which contains both normal Orcs and Black Orcs.
Avatars of War has some great sculpts, in particular their Goblin Boss Wolfrider, Goblin Chariot et Nasty Gits (Skulkers).
ZBSMiniatures has their own take on Goblins hailing from a desert country so that they ride hyenas and scorpions instead of wolves and spiders: the Goblins of the Red Desert.
Finally, we loved Cult Miniatures Goblin Spider Riders.
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