Ah Warmaster - such a great game.  And currently, I’m heaping all of my attention on my Orc and Goblin army.  Today I’d like to go over the units available to the Orc and Goblin General, and my personal thoughts on each.

Anyone looking at the Orc and Goblin army list will immediately notice that they have the largest list of all the armies.  They have ten units to choose from - five character choices, and two mount options.  Obviously, this list brings plenty of options. 

Orcs are an army of dishing out the pain, but they can’t take it very well.  Every unit in the list aside from the weedy Goblins and their war machines pack four or more attacks in combat.  However, on the flip side only 3 units - the black Orcs, Ogres, and Giants bring more than 3 hits to the table.  Couple that with the fact that the highest armor save in the army is a 5+, with the average being 6+ or nothing at all, and you can see what I’m getting at.

Orcs also suffer from a low leadership - the lowest in fact, with the general only bringing a command value of 8 - Orcs are tough to boss around!  However, the list does allow the Orc player to field a whopping 7 characters per one-thousand points, so you can have plenty of underlings to help push the green tide along - hopefully.  That being said - Let’s check out what the list has to offer, you can view the official Orc and Goblin army list here.

Orc Warriors- You can’t have an orc army without Orcs!  You are required to take 2 units of basic Orc warriors per one-thousand points in the army, and they pack a pretty nice stat line.  4 attacks, 3 hits, with a 6+ save for 60 points - not too shabby for a basic unit.

Goblins- Your second required basic unit - you’ve gottah take 2 units for every 1k.  Goblins basically suck - 2 attacks, 3 hits, with no armor save - yikes.  But they only cost 30 points per unit.  Coupled with the Orc Warriors requirement, the Orc general must take 4 units for every one-thousand points that total 180 pts. - this leaves plenty of points for all the other great units available to the Orcs - but watch how you spend, you don’t want your break point to be too low.  Speaking of which, goblins are an excellent choice for increasing your army’s break point - every 2 units boosts the break point by one for 60 points.  This is a great way to add staying power to your force. 

As you can see, you may have quite a few of these buggers running around - so keep them brigaded with more powerful units, and use them as a supporting force - but keep them to the edges of your brigades.  You don’t want them in the middle where concentrated enemy fire can wipe them out or confuse them, thus screwing up the entire group’s ability to be commanded.

Black Orcs- These guys are tough - packing 4 attacks, 4 hits, and an armor of 5+.  They’re as good as Ogres in combat, and make a fine hammer unit for any brigade.  You are limited to one unit per one-thousand points.  They cost 110 points, so yer basically paying close to double the cost of a standard Orc warrior unit for +1 hit and +1 armor save - but its worth it.

Ogres- Ogres and black Orcs have an identical stat line - but they cost 5 point less.  This is because they have a taste for human flesh - so when fighting a human army, they must use their initiative to charge.  This isn’t a problem at all if you’re facing armies without humans, so they are an awesome alternative to black Orcs in these cases.  You are limited to one unit per 1k, but with the black Orcs, you should be able to have one of these powerful units in each brigade of standard Orcs and goblins.

Trolls- Trolls are powerful units - 5 attacks, 3 hits, with a save of 5+.  They cost 110 points like black Orcs.  Basically, they get +1 attack at the cost of -1 hit.  They have an awesome ability to regenerate damage - basically they regenerate 1 hit after every round of combat - this is awesome.  However, they are as dumb as a bag of hammers, and this means that they are at -1 to command - this sucks.  Oddly enough, you can take up to three of these units per one-thousand points, so perhaps a brigade of these baddies would be a nice choice, where their command penalty would only effect them, and not an entire brigade.  Orcs have a hard enough time as it is commanding their troops!

Boar Riders- Boar riders are Orc warriors with a cav classification.  This also has the added bonus of squeezing all those attacks onto the short side of the base which makes for a really hard hitting unit.  They ring in at 110 points.  Brigade them with other boar riders or wolf cav for a fast moving, effective flanking front.

Wolf Riders- Wolf riders are goblins with a cav classification - unlike goblins though, they enjoy an armor save of 6+.  Like goblins, they have short bows, allowing them to shoot 15cm.  This can make for an effective harassing unit against infantry - moving to the side and rear flanks, pelting with arrows, and then finally charging, where they can run away if they fail in combat - with infantry unable to pursue. 

Don’t make the mistake of using wolf riders like the boar riders - you can’t use them as a brute shock trooper cav unit.  Wolf riders only ring in at 60 points though - making for an exceptionally cheap cav option.

Wolf Chariots- Wolf chariots pack 3 attacks, 3 hits, and a save of 5+.  They only cost 80 points which is awesome for a unit that is just as powerful as boar riders when they manage to land the charge.  Used in tandem with cav units, wolf chariots can provide a devastating flank charger on the outskirts of the battlefield.

Rock Lobber- Rock lobbers provide the only shooting in the Orc and Goblin army outside the short bow fire that goblins can muster.  This makes them somewhat useless unless used in pairs.  Unfortunately, you can only take one per 1k, so these rarely show up in my armies.

Giant - Arguably one of the best big monsters in the game.  This bastard brings 8 attacks and 8 hits to the table, but with a 5+ save.  This means that on the charge this guy is rolling 10d6 attacks!  Be careful not to throw him out on his own though - if he takes 4 hits, his effectiveness if halved for the rest of the game.  Giants can’t be brigaded with non-giant units, so you have to reserve a command roll just for them, and when you’re dealing with low command characters, this can really suck - especially because failed orders can send a giant into an uncontrolled frenzy against friend and foe alike!  But for only 150 pts, how could you not take one!?

That concludes the units available to the Orc and Goblin army, but how do the characters measure up?

General- Everyone has to get one, unfortunately the Orc and Goblin general only has a command value of 8.  On the plus side, he only costs 95 points. 

Orc Hero- Fortunately, Orc heroes also have a command value of 8 for 80 pts.  You can take two of these guys for each 1k, so make sure you have one or two to support your general.  I like to keep a single hero touching my general - this basically forms a command base that is the equivalent of your command 8 general being allowed to fail and single command before the command phase ends.  Let the Hero issue orders like he’s the general - once he fails, let the general take command - its all the same command 8 roll.  The Orc Heroes are really what keeps the Orc and Goblin army going.

Orc Shaman- These are the wizards of the army.  Orc spells are pretty good, but don’t rely on these guys to lead anyone - they have a command of 7.  They should only command units as a desperation move.  If it’s magic yer after, go with the goblin shaman - he’s cheaper and just as good at casting spells.  If you want to go magic heavy, get both!  Orcs and Goblins can get 2 wizards per 1k, more than anyone else aside from the tomb kings.

Goblin heroes- Pretty worthless as commanders, goblin heroes only have a command of 7.  Unless you’re going goblin heavy for theme purposes, I don’t get the point.  They add +1 to any combat they’re in, so they can be used as a little 45 pt. buff to units in combat - but you’d be better off buying a good magic item and another unit of goblins for the same points.

Goblin Shaman- As mentioned before - if it’s a wizard yer after, get this guy first.  He’s affordable at 30 points - that’s cheap magic support.  He’s got a command of 6 though - no self respecting Orc is going to take orders from this weakling. 

Wyvern- A pretty nice dragon type mount.  It’s only 80 pts. which is cheap for this type of mount.  It’s cheaper because he grants +2 attacks rather than 3, and lacks a breath weapon.  It still flies and causes terror though.

Placing a goblin hero on a dragon is a nice idea.  Goblin heroes don’t command well - but on a dragon you get a flying character that grants +3 attacks to any combat he joins as well as effecting the enemy with terror.  This will ring in at 125pts. though, so make sure you have the points to spare.

Chariot - A chariot simply adds +1 attack to any character that’s in it.  Basically a 10 pt upgrade to any character. 

The Orc and Goblin army provides anyone who takes it up with lots of opportunity, and plenty of challenges to overcome.  They can be incredibly rewarding when things go right, or terribly frustrating after multiple failed commands - but in either case, the right player always finds the Orcs and their antics entertaining.

-

DEACON

Filed under: Games - Wargames, Warmaster by DEACON
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Some of you may have noticed a few days ago I posted an article on the painting project I decided to take up which was a copy of Battle of Five Armies. As I mentioned in the article BoFA is just Warmaster in Lord of the Rings clothes. The reason why I picked that game, and also decided to write this article, is to share some information on what I think is one of the tightest and well designed army command games. Many people do not realize that Warmaster is actually a system. Much like the Command and Colors system, the Warmaster system is flexible enough to cover a range of many topics.

The brainchild of Rick Priestley was born onto the world in 2000 and somehow managed to break it free of the typical Games Workshop mould of constant rule updates/changes, codex creep, rules compiled across several different formats…etc. Priestley has created a system which has become an often overlooked gem. The flexibility of the rule system has allowed the Warmaster system to be taken to the Lord of the Rings setting, and also on a history lesson through time. Currently there are three versions/settings (Warmaster; Ancients; BofA) for the Warmaster system and some may be surprised to hear that across the Warmaster system there are well over 50 different and legal army lists within their respective systems and dozens more fan created lists.

As I mentioned there are three systems currently out: Warmaster is the system adapted to the Warhammer Fantasy setting; Battle of Five Armies is the system adapted to the Lord of the Rings setting; Warmaster: Ancients is the system through the ages representing armies from Biblical times to around 1000AD give or take a hundred years or so. Today I’ll focus on Warmaster though because that is the only one that receives any support (as little as it may be) from Games Workshop and is the most accessible of the three for new players.

Warmaster is abstracted. Let me make that clear because the level of abstraction may make people uncomfortable with the game. Mechanics like movement, close combat and command all have nuances to them which go against the typical GW cannon. If you don’t have a problem with the level of abstraction then what you will find in Warmaster is a very tight and clean game which rewards positioning of troops and leaders and those who know when to pick their fights.

Warmaster is like many other games where you pick and army list, line up and fight. Here would be my only gripe about the game. Units are all pretty similar to each other between army lists. Stat lines are copied between army lists and just about every unit is within one point of the average for the stat up or down. The redeeming factor is many units have special “character” rules associated with them that do add enough to keep it from feeling like both sides are lining up the same armies across from each other. I would have liked to have seen a wider range in stats and character between the army lists, but overall it works. The game isn’t about who can build the better army lists like other GW games, but who can position and maneuver their army better to get the favorable match-ups.

Command to me is the heart and soul of the game. Though as I mentioned command is abstracted and since command is the core to this game the abstraction trickles down to other aspects of the game. When creating your army list you need to get characters. These are the generals, heroes and wizards or in other words the guys that issue orders and get your troops moving. Each character has a command stat which is used to order the troops around. To issue an order you nominate the character issuing the command, calculate modifiers (these would be if the unit has taken damage, distance from unit issuing the command, if enemies are nearby…etc.). Two d6 are rolled and if the dice are equal to or below the modified number the command is successful, if it is higher than the command fails. There are two catches to this. First is after a successful command being issued to a unit another order can be issued as well (at a modifier). This allows units to move multiple times during a turn. The second catch is once a character fails a command that character cannot issue anymore commands for that turn and if you fail with your general then no more commands can be issued at all during the turn, so you’ll want to save your general for last whenever possible. This sudden failure is an abstract way to represent command lines breaking down and momentary chaos while communication channels are reinstated. Now you may notice that with poor selection on how and what order to issue orders could result in a large chunk of your army not moving. This is the abstraction that people may have problems with.

A few other abstractions which should be pointed out are the multiple movement of a unit. There is not a max to how many orders can be received by a unit so in theory a unit has unlimited movement during a turn but the modifiers will eventually end that. So people may be frustrated when a unit moves three times and then the unit right next to them cannot move forward once.

The other thing is combat. In this game when units engage you roll dice until it is done. Units push and battle back and forth (there is an interesting mechanic here to give a visual representation of the tide of battle going back and forth but I’ll let you discover that). This battle goes on until one decides to break of combat or until one side is eliminated. So with the movement and combat and how those are resolved you get a feeling that keeping things moving in time with one another was not high on Mr. Priestley’s list.

As I mentioned the Warmaster system has three different versions with each set having rules unique to the setting. For example BoFA has slightly different flyer rules and Ancients does not have magic. I’m not really familiar with Ancients and I’m sure there are some other differences but I don’t know what they are offhand.

Overall the gripes I have with the game is the armies at times do feel very similar to one another and sometimes the abstraction gets frustrating when a few bad rolls immobilizes your units for a turn or two. But I will say that because of the lists being very similar it usually means the player with the better control over their army will win. With the command system, that threat of suddenly having your machine of war grind to a halt in the back of your mind does keep the player for overextending their forces and leaving units vulnerable to attack. So if the negative side of the abstraction outweighs the positive side, then it isn’t for you. For me the abstraction is what makes this game the gem that it is.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
LvT

Filed under: Games - Wargames, Warmaster by LordVonTush
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