By Jarrod Coad
All images © Games Workshop, used without permission.
Da Orcs Iz Here!
The first release for 7th edition of Warhammer Fantasy is here – Warhammer Armies: Orcs, supported by the release of several new plastic sets and some tasty new metal miniatures too.
The 7th edition version of the Orc & Goblin book makes some large changes to the play style and specific tactics that will be useful for the Greenies, and also seems to indicate a new direction that may be followed by forthcoming releases.
To get the basics out of the way, this updated version comes in at the same page count as its predecessor, sporting 80 pages plus a brand new full colour cover. Unlike its predecessor, however, the new book opens with 14 pages of Orc history and background, following exceptional ‘Waaaghs!’ and their effects on other races, culminating in a timeline of Orc history that ends with Grimgor defeating Archaon at the gates of Middenheim.
The Green Tide
Immediately following the background section of the book, we find the Bestiary, containing descriptions of the units, characters, war machines and rules of the Orc & Goblin army. This section is obviously of much interest to those considering building a Greenskin force, and almost as much to those contemplating facing one on the field of battle.
The rules basic to the army as a whole begin this section, and here we find the beginning of the changes from 6th edition. The Animosity rule now consists of one d6 roll per unit, with a 1 causing a squabble and a 6 giving the unit a free d6” move towards the nearest enemy. Whilst this does lessen the number of dice that need to be rolled during the Animosity check for an entire army, it makes the force as a whole more unreliable, with an average of one-third of the force not moving under the general’s control throughout the game. Also, the ‘6’ result has been changed from a free move to a d6”, which can be good for a unit of footsloggers but is definitely a loss for cavalry.
The power of the “Waagh!” has been introduced as a new rule, where once per game the general can instigate a “Waagh!” – allowing bonuses to the Animosity roll for all the units subject to it. The general’s unit automatically counts as rolling a ‘6’ on the Animosity table, Orc units can add their rank bonus, and Goblin units add a +1 to their roll. To further represent the volatility of the ‘Waagh’, any unit that rolls a ‘1’ during this phase takes d6 wounds in addition to squabbling. Here can be seen part of the definite trade-off in this version of the force, where Orcs have been slightly increased in cost-effectiveness whilst Goblins have been severely downgraded.
The final basic rule of the force defined here is ‘Size Matters’, whereby small members of the force do not panic larger ones – Snotlings do not cause panic in Goblins, Goblins in Orcs, Orcs in Trolls, Trolls in Giants… This basically updates a similar rule from 6th edition.
Characters
Orc and Goblin characters have undergone a fair amount of revision in the new book, and this section also demonstrates a major change to characters under 7th edition. There are five special characters contained within the new book, and all of them are available under the ‘Lords’ section of the army list – without requirements for the permission of an opponent to field them!
These characters include Gorbad Ironclaw, Azhag the Slaughterer, Grimgor, Grom the Paunch and Skarsnik, and not Wuurzag from the 6th edition book. All these characters have interesting special rules and will no doubt see some fantastic miniatures released – Gorbad is definitely a spectacular example.
None of them, however, allow for different choices in the army selection process – a rumour which had circulated previously.
Black Orc characters now do not cost an extra selection slot to choose, whilst Orc generals have gained a point of strength. This may balance which is chosen more often in a force. Other points that will be interesting to a prospective Greenskin general are the fact that an all-goblin character selection does not now allow any extra character choices; night goblin shamans are now cheaper, but do not come with magic mushrooms, and great cave squigs are now available as mounts for goblin characters.
Core
There are some fairly comprehensive changes in this section of the book, although the only addition is that of Forest Goblin Spider Riders – which is a throwback to 5th edition for those old-timers who remember them! Unfortunately, no infantry unit of forest goblins makes an appearance to complement their cavalry…
The big changes in this section are to the cost-effectiveness of several units. Orc Boyz drop a point of cost, and also gain the benefits of a handweapon and +1S in the first round of a combat with their choppas. The Choppa bonus strength also applies when wielding two hand weapons. This change, from the 6th edition where the bonus strength applied only on a charge, and allowing the save bonus from the handweapon/shield combo, makes basic Orc Boyz dangerous indeed for their five points apiece.
The option of upgrading one unit in the force to Big’Uns was useful in 6th edition, but sometimes difficult to take up due to the requirement for another unit of Orcs the same size or larger to be taken also. In the new book, this restriction has been lifted, but the cost to upgrade the unit to Big’Uns has doubled to 4 points per trooper – making this a difficult choice indeed, as the player faces the decision of paying for +1WS and +1S to one unit, or paying almost the same points cost for another entire unit (4 points to upgrade, 5 points for a basic Orc).
The biggest change to core troops has been to the cost of Goblins, both Common and Night increasing to 3 points for a basic trooper, and Wolf Riders increasing in cost also. The common goblin has been hurt the most by this, changing from 6th edition’s compulsory shield, to 7th edition with light armour. This is a problem for two reasons – firstly, existing players will already have this unit built with shields, and no-one wants to rip the shields off sixty-plus painted models, and secondly, the cost-effectiveness of the unit drops, as a handweapon and shield grants a 5+ save in close-combat, as opposed to the 6+ that light armour provides. Night goblins keep their compulsory shield, but can trade it for a short bow at no cost. This price increase, whilst only a point, constitutes an increase of 50% in the base cost of goblins, which is a major problem for those Greenskin generals who have been composing their forces exclusively of little ‘uns, and also hurts due in mixed forces due to the comparison between a Gobbo at 3 points and an Orc at 5 points base costs, where the Orc gains +1WS, +1T and +1Ld, and the Choppa special rule.
Night Goblin Fanatics also weaken, with their no armour save attacks reduced to armour piercing, giving them a -3 to the save. This makes little difference against any unit other than heavy cavalry – which is strange considering that this is their primary use. It would seem that this change accomplishes little other than to increase the power of heavy cavalry-based lists, such as Bretonnia and Chaos, which is unfortunate.
Special
The special choices available to the Orc list sees one new addition, again harkening back to the days of 5th edition, with the return of Squig Hopper Herds – a skirmishing unit of Squig Hoppers, who are now slightly easier to direct than in previous days.
Big changes in this section lie in the removal of the 0-1 unit limit on Black Orcs and Squig Herds, and the major increases in the points costs of Boar Boyz (normal and Savage). This does seem to add evidence to the idea of a blanket increase in the costs of cavalry under 7th edition. Wolf Chariots also cease to be a 2-for-1 choice in terms of Special slots, but become slightly cheaper.
Black Orcs become slightly more expensive, whilst gaining the ‘Armed to da Teef’ rule, which allows them to switch between choppa and shield, two choppas, or great weapons at the start of any combat.
Squig Herds change markedly, in that when they flee (from panic, being broken, or no Herders remaining alive), rather than bounce wildly about the table (something that in 6th edition slowed down many games to a crawl) all units within 2d6” immediately take d6 S5 hits, and then the unit is removed.
Rare
The Rare choices in the list remain much the same – Trolls, Giants, Doom Divers and Snotling Pump Wagons. The option for Dogs of War has been removed, as in the recent Dwarf book, and not included are the rules for Ruglud’s Armoured Orcs – the Orc Regiment of Renown – which would have been useful.
Trolls change in points cost and also in minimum unit size, and many generals will be quite interested in a 40 point unit with Regeneration to protect their flanks, despite the recent changes to Regeneration.
Doom Divers remain much the same, although the replacement of their unique misfire chart with that of the stonethrower lessens their appeal slightly, and the ability to reroll the Scatter die has been replaced with being able to adjust the hit point by d3”. This is a major decrease in their utility for accurate guessers, as rerolling the Scatter die effectively increased their chance of scoring a Hit by 1/3.
Snotling Pump Wagons and Giants remain unchanged.
Waaagh! Magic
Major changes take place in the magic rules for Orcs and Goblins. The Miscast table for the Greenskins is much nastier than the basic Miscast table, with almost all results damaging the caster badly, up to and including the death of the caster, all models in base contact taking a S10 hit, and all friendly units on the table taking D6 S3 hits – don’t roll a 2 on this table!
The sheer danger of this table is not really justified now that it is much more difficult to generate additional dice, and the power of the Waagh! magic spells has been lowered.
The additional power dice are now only generated by units of 20 Orcs or more on the table – a major change from 6th edition where units of 10 Orcs and 20 Goblins counted when in combat.
Little Waagh! and Big Waagh! are now differentiated by caster race, with Little for Goblin casters, Big for Orcs. The spells remain similar, although a couple immediately stand out, such as “Gork’ll Fix It”, which is cast on an enemy unit which then must treat all rolls of 6 as 1 until the end of the next Orc magic phase, or “Fists of Gork”, which now has a range of 18” and causes each model in a target unit to suffer a S4 hit on the roll of a 4+.
The magic item list for the Orcs and Goblins has changed significantly. Gone are all those items which helped to prevent miscasts, and also gone are all but one item granting a ward save. Forty magic items are presented, not including the Common Magic Items, a decrease of four items from the previous edition, but many of those items are now gone. Instead, we find items such as the Ironback Boar, a mechanical boar that grants an additional d3 S5 impact hits on the charge; Maad’s Map, an item that allows one model on foot to be deployed as a scout on the roll of 2+ before the game begins; and the Skull Wand of Kaloth (another returnee from 5th Edition), a wand that forces the victim to pass a leadership test after every hit or die – no save. The changes here again seem to hurt Goblins, with several protective items disappearing, all protection from miscasts being taken away, and changes to several Goblin-only magic banners.
Special Characters
Several old favourites return in the new edition of the book, including Grom and Skarsnik, and a new addition in the form of Gorbad Ironclaw. Almost all of them seem to be worthy of their points costs, although Grom is a dubious inclusion due to the fragility of chariots under the current rules system. An interesting point with the five special characters is none of them now require an opponent’s permission to use, and they can be found in the Lords section of the army selection list – an indication that they will see much wider use, and something that will obviously be seen in future army book releases.
Gorbad Ironclaw, a big boar-mounted Warboss, who also counts as a Battle Standard Bearer, and has an 18” Leadership range until he suffers his first wound, is as in-your-face as it gets. He strikes first in combat and grants no armour save, thanks to Morgor the Mangler, but has no ward save – which could be a problem for him! He also allows any number of units of Orcs and Boar Boyz to be upgraded to Big’Uns, which would allow for a very elite (and expensive) strike force.
Azhag the Slaughter is a wyvern-mounted Warboss that also casts spells from the Lore of Death. He is slightly more resilient (having a 5+ ward save) than Gorbad, but being mounted on a Wyvern makes him a bigger target...
Grimgor remains basically the same as his previous incarnation, and is still a nasty footslogger with an elite bodyguard of Black Orcs.
Grom the Paunch rumbles onto the field in his chariot, and comes with a bonus Battle Standard Bearer in the form of Niblit, but has the major drawback of being mounted on a chariot – very fragile under 7th edition. He also prevents Goblins in his force from suffering Fear against Elves.
Skarsnik is another Goblin Warboss, this time a footslogger, with his own Giant Squig Gobbla to protect him. An almighty 8 attacks in total from this dangerous duo will make many opponents think twice about engaging them, but Skarsnik also has magic bursts from his Prodda to help out at range.
The Rest of the Book
The last few pages of the Army Book (22 pages to be exact) are the inevitable colour showcase, all about showing off the new models, with very little useful information. This could definitely have included conversion guides, painting tips, themed terrain ideas or even designer’s notes, which would have been more useful then the same colour photos that will be seen in the next few White Dwarf issues. This space could have been utilized far more effectively than it was, and whilst new players may find it useful for a pictorial guide, overall this was a waste, especially for something that took up over a quarter of the entire book.
Conclusions
This new edition of the Orc and Goblin Army Book for Warhammer changes the existing army in several ways, some subtle and others not. Several units familiar to players of older editions return, including Squig Hopper Herds and Forest Goblin Spider Riders, whilst the costs and abilities of many units change.
The power level of the Orc units have definitely increased for their costs, and many opponents are likely to find themselves surprised by the resilience and strength of core Orcish units. Goblin units have definitely been lowered in power and cost effectiveness across the board, however, from the cost increase of basic troopers, to the “Waagh!” not effecting goblins in the same manner as Orcs, to the fact that Goblin units of any size do not generate extra power dice. For whatever reason, this new version of the Orc and Goblin army book has lowered the power level of the pure Goblin force – a force that was definitely not game-breaking in 6th edition. This seems a poor result for those Goblin generals who have painstakingly put together forces of three hundred or more gobbos, or fifty plus wolf riders.
Orc generals, and Greenskin generals that select more mixed forces will tend to find that this version of the army list is definitely different to choose from, and will need some tweaking to play effectively, but should still be able to choose a fun and effective force for the tabletop. One reservation to this is the fact that Orcish Boar Boyz have become much more expensive, and will remain so when compared to enemy forces such as Bretonnia and Chaos until and if these books are released with a comparable increase in costings.
Overall, the book does present a good resource to Orc and Goblin players, and the changes made from the previous edition seem to maintain the general nature and power level of the Greenskins in general, despite the distinct lessening of the pure Goblin force in power level. However, the book does spend over a quarter of the pages on widely spaced pictures of units, which could have been used far more effectively.