Do'h! Just remembered I forgot the Magic Orc banners
Magic Standards. Mork's Spirit-Totem has, arguably, been made more useful than it was last edition. Harder to negate (needing at least US10 in the flank to drop the ranks), still does the same thing (+1 Dispel Die to the pool for every rank), but now can prove as many dice on average as if you had 18 Wizards attempting to channel a
DD. Very nice. It doesn't do anything particular to buff a unit, but the protection it buys your army in an edition wherein Magic has been heavily improved cannot be denied.
Rowdy Grott's Big Red Raggedy Banner, meanwhile, is now a 50 point point-sink with no use. All Panic tests are re-rolled by default now, along with possibly more effects, so the use of a
BSB is limited.
BTW, this reminds me that
BSBs are less useful for Chaos Armies now. Why did I mention
BSBs, by the way? The Banner can only be bought by Goblins, and the only way to get a Magical Banner for Goblins is to slap it on a Battle Standard Bearer.
Bad Moon on a Stick is similarly redundant... sorta. On one hand, it makes little difference as you can get stubborn from more ranks (which, at 3-4 points a model, should be easy). On the other, it can help if the unit is below normal size: Stay within 12" of the General, you're Leadership 9 Stubborn even when down to just five models. Add in that it must be fielded on a
BSB, you get the standard pros (High-ish stubborn leadership with re-rolls) and cons (you have your
BSB in the Gobbo Unit). Would not be recommended... if you couldn't take the Spirit Totem on Big 'Uns / Black Orcs. Since you don't need a
BSB to get that Totem, the Bad Moon on a Stick can be useful
at times. Just, once more, bear in mind it's on a 6+ save T4 Gobbo at best: Your opponent can probably gib them the moment they realize they're there.
The Spider Banner is mixed for me. On one hand, you get more attacks / shots now in 8th Edition so you get more use out of it. Short Bows had a slight range increase to boot, so you might actually get to fire a few volleys (imagine an eight-by-four block of archers making 24 Poisoned Shots a Turn!). Similarly, in close combat you have an additional rank - possibly two - which might make Horde actually workable for a single Goblin unit (an average of 21-32 poisoned attacks depending on equipment and enemy) provided you keep them large enough to fully enjoy attacks-back (Remember you're only Initiative 2). The problem, once more, is you're putting it on a T4 2-wound model with a crum save. You can get a 5+ save now, but that isn't much better. Might be useful if you intend an "Oh my Mork" huge unit of Goblins, just for the fun of getting 5-6 auto-wounds a turn from Poison (Bear in mind: Even in best case scenarios, you're often as likely to wound with Poison as the rest of the attack: In most cases the Goblin is possibly getting a doubling, tripling, or more improvement to wound chances).
Gork's Waaagh! Banner is somewhat more useful, even though it does the same thing. That extra
D6 allows you to arguably make a 28" Charge (Yikes!) with your Orc Boyz, and more often than not makes your reliable charge distance (albeit once a game) somewhere between 13" (if on infantry without a Waaagh) and 16" (if Boar Boyz without a Waaagh!) and 16" (if on infantry without a Waaagh) and 19" (if on Boar Boyz without a Waaagh!). When you include the Waaagh, the charge distance has yet another 3-4" gain, meaning that one unit once a game can very arguably have a potential 20" charge without needing to roll exceptionally well: You use this banner and a Waaagh! to get stuck in early and fast. Since you'll want to rely on extra ranks so the enemy doesn't turn stubborn (as the loss of Choppa's special rule in later rounds is crippling), this can be very helpful for making a break in the enemy's lines early on. You'll most likely want this on a unit of Black Orcs, if only because then you can put regular Big Bosses inside the unit instead of the General so as to have an assured Waaagh! (You don't want to plow your general 12" ahead of the rest of the army, even if said general is Gorbad).
One possible tactic I can suggest for this now is using it for a Flank-Running Unit, better yet if you take advantage of the lingering conception that Woods are a Barrier. While it'll be expensive - at least a good 250+ points - for the block of B.Orcs, you can use it sans a character to quickly run a Gauntlet and slam into someone's Flank (since you're using it when you declared a Waaagh!, hopefully at the same time a main unit smacks the front). Suddenly you essentially earned +4 to your Combat Resolution, as well as the joy of putting a good 10-S6 to 15-S5 attacks on someone's side with no Parry.
Nogg's Banner of Butchery is unchanged. If it said all models fighting may make an additional attack instead of "all models in the unit have +1 Attack" it would have been better, as then you'd get to apply it to second (possibly even third) rank attacks. As it stands now, a Spear formation of Orc Boyz - even fighting three deep when using the banner - gets just as many attacks now as it would last edition fighting only two deep using the banner. Not necessarily bad (almost akin to going horde / having the HElf Spear rules), but doesn't exactly make up for the fact that it's still only S3 WS3 attacks back.
Overall (Magic Standards): Nogg's Banner of Butchery is not really improved or
de-buffed in this edition, Rowdy Grott's Big Red Raggedy Banner is useless, the Bad Moon and Spider Banners are dependent on situations, and Gork's Waaagh! / the Spirit-Totem are each good buys (neither requiring a
BSB to be taken) for what they can do for the army.
AND NOW ONTO CORE! Since while it was put on hold, having nothing better to do today gives me an incentive to have some sort of time filler.
Core Units
Orc Boyz. These guys are hit somewhat hard by the new rules for a variety of reasons. No more using the Choppa if you have a spear (unless
FAQ states otherwise due to each having Special Rules), which means any Orcs given Spears are stuck with defensive duty from here on. If you take an additional choppa to go with a shield, you have to stick with the additional attack in combat instead of the 5+/6+ save. Being Initiative 2, you have the problem that - without armor - you need a large unit so as to hit combat solid enough to retain you attacks. While normally not too bad - a 30-big unit of Additional Hand Weapon, Full Command Boyz being under 250 points - this is
brutal to Big 'Uns, who go up to just shy of 350 for the same unit (took away the Champion) without even touching their magic banner allotment. Only plus is that, if Choppas do get special mention in the
FAQ, Orcs might become the
only army to get to choose between "hand weapon" and shield or spear and shield. Not that it helps with the initiative / size issue.
Orc Arrer Boyz. A minor buff caused by the additional shots as well as the reform-and-fire schtick. Someone who has a bunch of these might see them in use a little more, adding a slight bit more firepower. That they can kill War Machines now is another buff. Just as poor as the above when it comes to combat, however, needing lots of spare models to keep attacks.
Savage Orc Boyz. Mostly decreased in effectiveness. Spear + Frenzy combination is weakened (they get less attacks now than they had last Edition, akin to Saurus), Choppa & Shield confers no Parry Bonus (as they already have a 6+ save), giving them Bows is still not worth it (Four points more than regular Boyz but with no bonus' at all), and so on. The only particular advantages I can spot for them are:
1) Spear and Shield doesn't have any disadvantage over Choppa-Shield in later rounds of combat: You lose no armor, lose no ward, lose no strength. Key words being "later rounds".
2) You can control them better now, if only 50% of the time.
For their higher price tag, I'd say they're not worth it now. Perhaps as small screens (due to the fact that S4 and better ranged attacks seem to be passed like candy), but not for dedicated combat units: A unit of Orc Boy Big 'Uns the same size (let's go with 20) as a Savage Orc Big 'Un unit gets the same number of attacks for the same gear (albeit at the cost of a magic banner) for 35 points less.
Goblins. Vanilla, they only have a one minor leg-up over regular Goblins: They are Stubborn 6 instead of Stubborn 5. With wargear, they can get a 5+ / 6+ save in hand-to-hand instead of a 6+ / 6+ (though their saves are still pretty much the same v S4 enemies due to Netters). The only real advantage I can think for them now is that - taken with the Spider Banner
BSB - they can get a lot of Poisoned Attacks for a single unit. Probably won't see more than one unit of these barring themed lists (and even then) or casual games. Considering that's how it is now, no real gain / loss.
Goblin Wolf Riders. Well... they're Movement 9? That's all I can really think of as a plus for them in this new edition, as it means they still have a solid charge advantage over infantry (even if they roll a 3,3 for Charge, the M4 enemy unit still needs an 11 to match them / hit them at the same range). The need of ten models with shields to negate ranks is a bit of a con, however.
Forest Goblin Spider Riders. Wall Crawlers means they're one of the few Light Cavalry units that can safely run through Woods and other Terrain without risk. Not as powerful as it was last edition (you can't use them to bait units to be trapped into woods, and 'eavy Cavalry can mostly just ignore the woods' dangerous terrain), but still a leg-up over other fast cavalry. Not that they aren't worse for the wear. Only real advantage they gained is that they have a reason to take a Gigantic Spider Gobbo in the unit (so as to deny ranks again).
Night Goblins.[/i] Lose out on the HW&S + Netters trick, though not by much. Main gain here (as with Common Goblins) is improved Short Bow range, and the 2" isn't too great a buff. Only true advantages rely on either being within proximity of the General, or Fanatics providing Hard Cover screens to units.
[b]Snotlings. USEFUL AGAIN! Snotlings can be dug out of the case, as they have a USE again! Immune to Psychology, Stubborn,
not Swarms! If you keep them within range of the General, you have your tie-up unit. Only three toughness two wounds a base, but since you can field them up to twenty big (you'll never field them that size, though) you should more than be able to add static wounds. Since they're not Swarms / Unbreakable, they don't take Combat Resolution Casualties. They also, not being Swarms, provided Hard Cover to units behind them. Being Stubborn, they gain the General's Leadership allowing them to potentially be either Leadership 9 Stubborn Re-Roll for
BSB, or Leadership 10 Stubborn Re-Roll for
BSB! Being twenty points for three wounds is their only main drawback, but keep in mind: No Animosity. Since they're technically monster bases as well, they fight like Ogres in that they get full attacks from the second rank and need only be three wide for the bonus. These units work well as Screens and - funnily enough - Flankers: They can negate Ranks for only 120 points, 10 points cheaper than Wolf Riders! Not to say the models have particularly good rules now, but they actually have a use in an O&G list now.
Overall (Core Choices): Orc Boyz, Savage Orcs, and Night Goblins are at a minor debuff. Arrer Boyz and Common Goblins have a minor buff. Wolf & Spider Riders are slightly worse due to inability to negate ranks, but now have a reason to take a Boss in them. Finally, Snotlings have a use again since they aren't stuck at Stubborn 4.
