Review: O&G Magic Items

One of the reasonable yet frustrating points about the 8th edition army books has been the removal of all the fun and cheap magic items from previous editions. That being said, the O&G book still contains some of them, and a few can actually be useful! Overall though, they are generally overpriced and rarely useful against all-comers. I've listed them all with a short review and provided a sample character and unit that I would most likely field as the designated wielder of that magic item.

A 5-star item means that item is better than anything that you can find the rule book and is somewhat of a no-brainer for competitive lists. Meanwhile, a 1-star item means the item is either extremely overpriced, poorly designed and would rarely ever find a solid use in a competitive list, so you're better off with several other combinations from the rule book.

Review: Squig Hoppers

Squig Hoppers on an old CD

Squig Hoppers have gone from being the ultimate mobile and hard-hitting unit of the past edition, to become a specialized unit suitable for very specific tasks, while not fit for the do-all role they once held. Accordingly, they also dropped quite a few points because of this, making them at least moderately attractive to field from a competitive perspective (not to mention still being the most amusing unit in our army).

They're still hard-hitting and mobile, but since they're skirmishers they won't be sending many ranked up infantry units running on their own, and with attacks coming back at them (and themselves having only a moderate initiative) they will take casualties in return. Also, they are now classified as cavalry models, which makes sense and gives the hoppers a 6+ armor save and gives the model an additional S3 attack. More importantly however, it means that only the Night Gobbo on top will be allowed a support attack if you keep Squig Hoppers in your second rank. This means, of course, that Squig Hoppers won't really rise in effectiveness just because you bring larger mobs of them (like for example the Squig Herd).

Review: Squig Herd

Squigs are interesting creatures and a sometimes undervalued unit in the Orcs & Goblins army. A Squig Herd mob will hit as hard as a charging Black Orc (using two handweapons) but will survive attacks back just about as good as a Night Goblin with a shortbow. They are glass cannons in the true spirit of the word, which is why a green General will need to think carefully on what their Squigs should go up against in order for them to do well.

Review: Arachnarok Spider

The Enormous Spider God was an early rumour that got a lot of people excited about the new army book. Once it arrived, most of us loved the look of the model, but once we actually got the Arachnarok Spider on to the battlefield, quite a few were disappointed with the results. Although it's got 8 wounds at toughness 6, it only has a medium armor save, no regeneration, with such a large base that allows even Hordes to fit a majority of their models in against it. Compared to the likes of the Hydra and the Hellpit Abomination, the Arachnarok has trouble matching up but will still cost you more points to field.

What's important to bear in mind when discussing these things is that the Arachnarok seems to be representing a "new era" of Warhammer Monsters that will provide key abilities and support your troops in battle against enemies, rather than take aim for the nastiest enemy unit and destroy it, like the Abomination will do to you. In fact, if you're looking for pure combat mayhem from your Monster, you're better off bringing a Giant to the battlefield.

Review: Orc Boar Boyz

Orc Boar Boyz, as opposed to their more slightly more expensive savage brethren, are quite tough and heavy armored at 3+ save. They won't hit as hard with their single S5 attack, but neither will they be lured away by pesky diverters or overrun into unfavourable positions. Since they won't be frenzied, with all the benefits this means, they'll be hard-pressed to take on monsters such as the Hydra without the backing of a Boss of some kind. They should, however, still make a dent in the flank of an enemy unit and be able to chase them down if the break, thanks to their swift striding ability.

Review: Trolls

Let's talk Trolls. With the new rules for Monstrous Infantry, Trolls looked like an early winner and quite a bargain compared to other medium monsters such as Kroxigors or Minotaurs (with exception of perhaps the Treekin). So with the new army book, the Trolls get a drop in points and a move to special for the common variant, while the Stone and River Trolls remained as Rare choices. Does this mean that Trolls remain a no brainer selection for all Orcs and Goblins armies? Well, yes and no.

Review: Savage Orc Boar Boyz

The overly popular choice in 7th edition, the new Savage Orc Boar Boyz received two solid upgrades in the latest version of their rules: the new choppa rule and a drop in point cost. A minimum unit comes in at slightly more than a hundred points, give or take a little depending on your unit upgrades, which is a fair price for them. It will make for a surprisingly hard hitting unit that, although they lack a little in armor saves, should almost always dish out more damage if flanking a foe that's fighting your infantry, than they surrender in wounds back.

Review: Black Orcs

The key to using Black Orcs effectively is to restrain yourself from using them like their background info would suggest. This essentially means that, although the Black Orcs of lore will look for the baddest enemy unit out there to pick a fight with, the sheer fact that Greenskin elites are a lot worse than the elites of many other races means that in general you should not be fighting them with the Black Orcs. To avoid disappointment, your Black Orcs should stay away from units such as Swordmasters, Black Guards, Executioners, Chosen (even Chaos Warriors will prove troublesome) Hammerers and Temple Guard, since they will beat you down on a consistent basis.

Review: Giant

Back when the new edition hit the gaming clubs, the Giant looked like everyone's favorite whipping-toy. As enemies got to strike back at all times, suddenly that no-save toughness 5 wasn't feeling very stable, and an almost unfathomable (I'm sure) amount of Giants were slain and subsequently dropped from just about everyone's army lists during the first couple of months of the new game. Now as things progress, more players are figuring out how to make good use of Monsters, even the big beasties who won't even regenerate their own wounds.

Review: Wolf- and Spider Riders

As the last core troops to be discussed, it's time to talk about our fast cavalry. While no longer the most valuable unit in your army list, like in the previous edition of Warhammer, there are still some things that fast cavalry will do that other units will not (more on that in a later article). In the last book, you usually wanted to bring an equal amount of Spider and Wolf Riders, with Wolf Riders being quicker and the Spiders Riders being able to ignore the movement penalties of forests. Nowadays you rarely have to worry about moving through forests so the Forest Strider rule of the Spiders are no longer as useful. The additional 4" march move of the Wolf Riders along with the cheaper price tend to make them a more attractive choice for regular fast cavalry assignments. In fact, you might even wish to march your Wolf Riders through a forest and hope that you'll lose one of your numbers, as that means there will be too few goblins in the unit to cause trouble (no more animosity tests).

Review: Goblins

The ugly stepchild of the old armybook, the Goblins got a bit of an upgrade in the most recent incarnation of the army in order to keep up with the Night Goblins and their options. While the nets and fanatics of their darker kin still makes them a superior choice in mixed Orcs and Goblins armies led by an Orc Boss, with Boyz and the Big Waaagh! lore, regular Goblins can work well in a primarily gobbo army.

Review: Night Goblins

Night Goblins were an excellent unit in the old army book and remains one in the new incarnation as well. For a very cheap cost, you get a mob of sneaky gobbos with some of the best unit upgrades in the Warhammer world.

When running Night Goblins, the first decision to make is whether to bring a mob for combat or a mob for supporting, as this will greatly influence how many gobbos to get for the mob and what sort of weapons they will be carrying. It is my opinion that Night Goblins should be bought either in large mobs that will outrank the enemy, or in the minimum amount (20 gobbos) to keep costs down.

Review: Savage Orcs

While Orc Boyz received a one point increase for no obvious reason, the Savage Orcs retained the same point cost as in the last book. Add to that the fact that additional handweapons cost them a point less than they used to, combined with frenzy no longer meaning your unit will automatically charge anything in range (needing only to pass a leadership test to restain) and suddenly Savage Orcs are looking more and more like the proverbial steal of the new Orcs and Goblins book. Such coincidence that this unexpected turn came right as new Savage Orc models were planned for release!

On a more serious note though, Savage Orcs will no doubt turn out to be the no-brainer choice for our core points, once we've had our fill of goblins and fast cavalry, in many respects replacing the Orc Boyz. With each model dishing out three S4 attacks on the charge, Savage Orcs will be able to tear through similarly priced enemy core troops. Although they lose out on the 5+ armor save of the Orc Boyz, with toughness 4 the attacks that are strong enough to worry them will probably go through both the light armor and your shield easily, meaning the Boyz would be depending on their parry save in most instances anyway. Bear in mind then that the warpaint save of the Savage Orcs will also work against shooting, artillery, impact hits and stomps (all of which the parry save will not) and it is clear which Orcs should result in the most competitive army lists (not to mention that almost everyone loves the idea of Savage Orcs in the first place).

Review: Orc Boyz

As the first of the specific unit reviews from the new Orcs and Goblins book, here is a closer look at the Orc Boyz. 

The new army book saw the Orc Boyz rise a point in price compared to the previous incarnation of them, without giving them much of an upgrade aside from a change in the special rule for their choppas. This, combined with the rise of the Savage Orcs has made regular Orc Boyz much less of a compulsory unit selection for the new Orcs and Goblins.

Review: Choppas!

One of the most useful and innovative changes to the army rules in the new Orcs and Goblins book, in my opinion, has to be the new Choppa rule. Instead of the unique handweapon bonus of the old book, now all Orcs receive +1 Strength in the first round of combat as they build up their fighting spirit and let it all out in one go before they tire somewhat. The choppa bonus is of course cummulative with other bonuses, such as specific weapons, and does work on magic weapons as well.

Review: Animosity

The new Orcs and Goblins book hit the stores this past weekend and, naturally, Troll Tales will feature an extensive army review along with some initial tactical and army building advice. To start things out, we take a look at one of the most integral attributes of the army: Animosity.

All in all, the new Animosity table became a lot less frustrating and quite a bit more entertaining for us players, as no longer will each one of our units (on average) do nothing once every game. Gone are also the old school of thought that preached that no Orc Boyz mobs should be without a Black Orc to instill order in the ranks. However, Animosity can still prove bothersome.

Review: Orc Boar Chariots

One of the largest changes to the new Orcs and Goblins army book is the special rule for Choppa. In the old book, the Choppa was a handweapon for Orcs on foot, but nowadays it's a special rule encompassing all Orcs (including characters) which grants them +1S in the first round of combat. What's more is that it is cumulative with other bonuses. S7 on Black Orc great weapons usually comes to mind, but the biggest unit buff in my mind is given to mounted orcs using spears, effectively giving them +2S on the charge. No longer will the orcs hit weaker than their boar mounts!

The Orc Boar Chariot has received a significant buff because of this, with the boars and the crew all hitting at S5 along with their D6+1 impact hits. Use these chariots between your big infantry blocks to add a massive punch to your big charges. Keep the chariots an inch or two back from the front of the infantry, to prevent enemies from charging the chariot instead of your footsloggers, since their swiftstriding rule should still have them charge as far as the orcs on foot.

Review: Wyvern, part two

This post will continue on what I talked about in earlier discussion about the Wyvern in O&G armies. Previously I've brought up a few tactical options and uses for the large monster in hopes of countering the negative view shared by many, that considers the wyvern ineffective for its point cost, and in general too weak to accomplish what you as the general hope to do with it. This time, I'll provide some answers to two common wyvern questions.

Review: Wyvern, part one

Every now and then on Da Warpath (da place for all thinz green!) the topic of wyverns tend to come up; why one should include one in any army, when to field it, how to use it, who to ride it and how to equip the rider. I thought I'd offer my opinion on wyverns in the Orcs & Goblins army, and a take on some of the different questions that normally comes with using one. This is how I would use the flying beasty.