Gambit Games UK

Warrrrrrrrgh

I played two games of Warhammer with the new Orcs at the weekend and despite my initial reservations they played really well. When I flicked through the book for the first time I was concerned about a few things: -

No free Heroes - you are therefore restricted to the standard four, this cuts down on wizards dramatically, especially if you want to put a couple of bashy characters in units plus a battle standard.

No two for one chariots - each chariot takes up a special slot so no chariot armies of doom.

Points increase - some of the points have gone up for certain units so the armies are a little smaller.

With these new restrictions in mind I flicked through the book wondering what to do. I normally go very Goblin heavy, well all Goblin normally, but I had the new model of the Orc General and wanted to use him, it seemed appropriate for him to ride with a unit of Boar Boyz so they went in as well. I then tried to go with pretty much my standard list. Some wolf boyz (although the ones with shields now do not count as fast cav), Night Goblins, Doom Diver and Bolt Throwers. The one unit I really wanted to try were a unit of ten Squig Hoppers. For 150tps you get a unit that is immune to psy, moves at 3D6 a turn and each of the critters is handing out 2 S5 attacks a pop, you just can’t argue with that. But compared to my other armies it was lacking in some numbers and traditional high amounts of Magic. I didn’t even get to put the Giant in.

With the lack of Magic, my traditional high amount of Fantics and some numbers I thought I would struggle. But with the combination of 7th ed rules and the new O&G book I have to say I was very impressed. With 7th ed, Goblins tend to run off less, and what can happen – the whole line crumbling and running away – didn’t occur at all, even when a terror causing Stegadon started to rampage through my lines.

I would be interested to see their performance against Khemri to see how the fear factor plays out.

All-in-all the games went really well and I won them both, and nothing against the Lizards but both games seemed to be pretty easy. I am not sure what it was, the Doom Diver did some damage and the ability to move the bomb D3 after the scatter is amazing and another Doom Diver will be finding its way into the army soon.

Magic was pretty much a non effect, I had one Wizard against two and he got off one spell in both games. I think you have to take one purely for defence, although I would be tempted to try without one and replace him with a Hero on a Squig Mount. We both played well, no mistakes were made, Baz did have some unlucky rolls, especially on some break tests and I think it was these that mainly turned the games in my favour. One thing I did like was that my army was not relying on Magic and Fanatics to win. In the first game Fanatics were not released until turn 4. They influenced Baz’s choices regarding not charging but damage wise they didn’t do a massive amount of damage.
The one new unit I liked was the Squig Hoppers. I charged a unit of 20 Saurus Warriors and caused carnage, the Hoppers won the combat and forced the unit to flee, the hoppers proceeded to chase them down. Awesome. They did get destroyed in the first game by Salamanders though. But I think they are definitely going to become a permanent part of my army.

There are a couple of things I would like to try. A Goblin hero with the map item that allows him to Scout, I think a goblin hero with a great axe appearing behind the lines could be amusing, especially for those armies with war machines and gun lines. I would also like to try an Orc BSB with the Banner that gives D6” extra charge mounted on a Boar in with the Boar Boyz. Along with a well timed Warrrrrgh this could be a very hard hitting unit with the general in too.

After two games with both new rule sets I am very pleased with the performance of my army. Of course it is only two games against one army, but it’s a good step. I look forward to taking on Baz’s Tomb Kings as 7th ed has been very good for them so I expect them to be a tough cookie.

LaKIR
Gareth