New Goblins and Hipster Toad Tries a New Magic Lore

Today's post is a 2-for-1 special.  I recently got a game in with my lizards against my regular opponent and his night goblin army, using their new army book for the first time.  I've played several games against goblins recently so I'll share my thoughts on how they perform under their new book  versus the old.  I've also made a few promises online that I'd break form from the rather predictable choice of running my Slann with Lore of Life and try what is generally considered their second best magical option, Light.

First, because it's most relevant, I'll talk about the new Gobbos.  I didn't get the chance to really read through the new book, so the following is more a series of educated observations rather than serious analysis.  The army I faced consisted primarily of night goblins units, all packing fanatics, with a supporting cast of trolls, two giants and bolt throwers.  If you're going field night goblins, all or nothing seems to be the way to go.  With only one or two night goblin units on the table, drawing out the fanatics is not as daunting as when your opponent's whole line is chalked full of them.  I hate those damn fanatics.  Skarsnik was leading the goblins, which also seems to be the way to go with a goblin army.  His ability to delay opposing units forced a Saurus blocks, Salamanders and a unit of Skinks into reserve.  The goblin magic was good, but not particularly overpowering - when Curse of the Bad Moon landed on one of my Saurus blocks, they had to roll toughness tests and not initiative, which saved their scaly asses.  My opponent gave some of their new magic items a try as well.  The Skull Wand didn't manage to kill a single model and the Bad Moon Banner didn't do anything since through a series of bad animosity rolls and the close deployment for the Blood & Glory scenario, the unit with the BSB ended up charging early in the game.  Had the BSB not done so, the banner would have been much more effective.  Like many others have said, unless use you run an all goblin army you're not likely to see this item on the board - I fight goblins all the time so I'll have to get used to it.

Are goblins (and orcs) at the top of the heap in terms of competitiveness?  Probably not, but they are by no means a "bad" army.  The new book is definitely an improvement over the 7th edition version.  We played at the GW LA Battle Bunker and there were several other O&G armies at the store, which seemed to have fair mix of results in their games.

For this game I also gave Lore of Light a go with my Slann.  These spells can turn your Saurus and Temple Guard into some serious bad asses fueled by tiger blood.  Having a medium range flaming magic missile with Burning Gaze is also a plus - you can also follow it up with Banishment (which is not flaming) and inflict some serious damage on a unit with regeneration.   With Pha's Protection from the Slann and Ice Shard Blizzard from a Skink Priest, your units have some protection before they get into combat.  However, this does not offer the insane protection that Life spells have - fanatics don't even put a dent on Flesh to Stone + Throne of Vines Temple Guard. 

Had the game not turned into a total blood bath in the early turns due to the close deployment and funky animosity rolling, I think both armies would have gotten better use out of their magic - the lizards would have been more buffed prior to getting into combat and the goblin shamans wouldn't have been so busy squabbling.  I'll give Light another go next game - it's not Lore of Life, but I found it pretty entertaining.

Finally, I feel obligated to prove (to no one in particular) that I'm actually making some progress on painting my damn army.  Here's more work on my EotG Steggadon, which I started sometime last year.  At the rate I paint, the model might be finished before the next Olympics.