Warhammer Orcs and Goblins Rumors (WOaGR)

With my dear (beloved) Orcs and Goblins getting their brand new Warhammer Armies book in a month or so, this will quite understandably be the final Orcs and Goblin rumors post for a couple years or so. Then again, one can never know what (and more importantly when) Games Workshop might come up with...

Anyway. On to the new WHFB O&G book, which seems slightly more powerful than the 6th edition one, provided of course you, oh dearest toy soldier addict, are more of an Orc than a Goblin player.

The most important -only according to this humble scribe of course- changes are the four army wide rules. Once again, we have the Animosity and Choppa rules, but those have been tweaked in favor of the Orc and Goblin player. Animosity is rolled on only one d6, where a result of 1 makes the unit squabble and a result of 6 move d6 inches towards the closest enemy (apparently 2-5 have no effect). The Choppa on the other hand always gives +1 S on the first round of combat, provides an armor bonus when combined with a shield and two of them can be used together without penalties.

The other two army wide and rather new rules are Whaaagh! and Size Matters. The first one provides the Orc general with a full-out assault round, while the second is the aptly named way of showing who can panic whom in the Orc and Goblin army. Quite obvious me thinks...

The powerfull and sometimes suicidal Greenskin Magic System has also been changed. The new army book limits the Orcs to the Big Whaagh! and the Goblins to the Little Whaagh!, while the Miscast Table is slightly less brutal. The spells and magic items remain pretty devastating and units in combat produce extra power dice. As for units fleeing, they don't tamper with the miscasts anymore; they simply reduce dispel dice.

Characters. Ah, yes, characters. Well, everyone is here. Only this time Orc Bosses are stronger, Black Orc Bosses don't count as two characters and the extra Goblin Bosses are a thing of the past. The Orc characters can still ride the slightly improved (all attacks are now poisoned) and cheaper Wyvern, while the Goblin Boyz have Giant Spiders and Great Squigs for mounts. Apparently the Squigs are only for Night Goblins, but still those unassuming little creatures are a nice new touch on a heavily cliched army...

Core units. No huge changes here. The Goblins are slightly more expensive, the Arrer boyz cheaper, the Wolf boyz get free light armor without loosing their fast cavalry status, the Snotlings are no longer unbreakable (but a lot more maneuverable) and you can still upgrade a few of the boyz to Big 'Uns. The only addition are the Spider Riders, a difficult terrain ignoring breed of fast cavalry with feathers.

Special and Rare units. Well, the Black Orcs are no more 0-1, the Goblin Charriots are no longer 2-1, anything on a Boar is hideously overpriced and the Squig rules have gotten simpler and quite better. Oh, and the Squig Hoppers are now a unit on their own. Giants and Trolls are almost unchanged, the Pump Wagon has followed the Snotling route, thus loosing its unbreakable status and the Doom Diver seems quite like a bargain.

All in all a fine update. For more information and a final review of the Army Book, please do wait for the ... errr... Orcs and Goblins review that will soon appear here, @ Gnome's Lair, or do bother and pre-order the book yourselves. Thank you.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Warhammer 7th ed. news & rumors, Blood Bowl: the novel, White Dwarf issue #1 (PDF)

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