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Howdy Dakka, I'm a long time whfb player (20 yrs next year) but a friend who has converted to AoS has convinced me to try a few games with him. He plays dwarfs.

I've had a nosey through the lists and got a fairly decent idea of what my army is capable of. But I'd appreciate some input from those of you that do this AoS stuff more regularly. What is good and what is useless out of what I've currently got available for my Gobbos??

Current list:
- Night Goblin Shaman
- 40 Night goblins (hand weapons/shields)
- 3 fanatics
- 10 wolf riders
- 20 spider riders (2x regiments of 10)
- 8 bases Snotlings
- 5 squigs (no herders yet, not sure where they went)
- Arachnarok Spider (as yet unbuilt)


I know I could do with some more characters for a start. Particularly interested in how to build the Arachnarok - I like how the Shaman works in game but I'm not a huge fan of the model and love the look of the catapult. Is it any good - don't forget my opponent will be Dwarfs.

Any help appreciated! Thanks.

I'm not personally a huge fan of the flinger on the arachnarok - only one attack and just D3 damage. The shaman on the other hand can cast 2 spells per turn, one of which is the easy cast to double mortal wounds from spider venom, which is pretty crazy. There's a ton of synergy between spiders, especially when you throw the big boss on spider in there too. That said, go with the model you like the look of first and foremost, in my opinion.

Dwarf shooting is going to be a problem early, and your wolf riders are your fastest unit to get to their war machines.

It's a bit unwieldy to move around, but a 40-man block of Night Goblins will be wounding the enemy on 2s in combat so long as it has at least 30 left. They get weaker the less there are. Hiding the Fanatics in there would be the logical thing.

Never played with snotlings but it's cool they have a shooting attack with rend! I might just hover them around the side of units fighting, or engage them and waste your opponent's time fighting them.

Thanks! Sounds like I can use what I have and still have a good game.

Welcome to AoS

Two things that I find help alot are leaving my units on square based (easy to jump from AoS to 8th and vice versa) and when building a list, just cause a unit looks weak youd be surprised that it does have a good use and might not be! Always be watching for synergy to get the most out of your units. Example is plague monks, rats with no save that people laugh at, add in a priest and a furnace and now you have rats with no saves that swarm and kill everything in their path before the opponent can hit them.

With that in mind looking at what you have presented I see alot of fun synergy, hiding fanatics in the night goblins, shaman support, Arachnarok (with shaman) and the spider riders for crazy amount of wounds! One thing id suggest getting is a mangler squig, they are absolute beasts and have steam rolled me many of times haha

A goblin warboss of some sorts will help you, you are gonna want to mitigate bravery as much as possible to keep as many guys on the field as you can. I dont recall his rules at the moment but I believe the boss on spider is a strong candidate.
For range go with a goblin doomdiver with a orc herder, they are a deadly combo that really puts out the pain. And if you are looking for a good shaman model have you tried forge world? they have one I am particularly fond of

Solosam47 wrote:With that in mind looking at what you have presented I see alot of fun synergy, hiding fanatics in the night goblins, shaman support, Arachnarok (with shaman) and the spider riders for crazy amount of wounds! One thing id suggest getting is a mangler squig, they are absolute beasts and have steam rolled me many of times haha

A goblin warboss of some sorts will help you, you are gonna want to mitigate bravery as much as possible to keep as many guys on the field as you can. I dont recall his rules at the moment but I believe the boss on spider is a strong candidate.
For range go with a goblin doomdiver with a orc herder, they are a deadly combo that really puts out the pain. And if you are looking for a good shaman model have you tried forge world? they have one I am particularly fond of

Thanks amigo - that was the lines I was thinking of. Its also pretty much exactly the next things I was thinking of investing in, especially the boss on spider as it seems to be an awesome way to get the best out of the forest gobbos.
Tempted to get the Doom Diver, and the Orc bully makes it much more effective - but I'm considering proxying something instead of an Orc as it wouldn't fit the all-goblin army - is that ok or is AoS completely WYSIWYG?

I run a Night Goblin army for AoS and have had a surprising amount of success. Depending on the size of the game, I have a blob of 40-50 Night Goblins with spears, a few hidden netters, both banners, a musician and a boss. Hidden amongst them are up to 8 Fanatics. A Big Boss providing inspiring presence and a Shaman casting Mystic Shield means they make it into combat mostly intact. Three Fanatics are effective in WHFB, but now you can take as many as you like (without being silly), why not take more?

Fanatics are great if you read their rules carefully.

They come out during his .. uh .. "Declare charges" step, so you move them directly in front of your unit you want to screen. This means they are their own unit and basically block his charge into you, and makes his use an early activation in the melee step to deal with them.

 grantosjones wrote:

Solosam47 wrote:With that in mind looking at what you have presented I see alot of fun synergy, hiding fanatics in the night goblins, shaman support, Arachnarok (with shaman) and the spider riders for crazy amount of wounds! One thing id suggest getting is a mangler squig, they are absolute beasts and have steam rolled me many of times haha

A goblin warboss of some sorts will help you, you are gonna want to mitigate bravery as much as possible to keep as many guys on the field as you can. I dont recall his rules at the moment but I believe the boss on spider is a strong candidate.
For range go with a goblin doomdiver with a orc herder, they are a deadly combo that really puts out the pain. And if you are looking for a good shaman model have you tried forge world? they have one I am particularly fond of

Thanks amigo - that was the lines I was thinking of. Its also pretty much exactly the next things I was thinking of investing in, especially the boss on spider as it seems to be an awesome way to get the best out of the forest gobbos.
Tempted to get the Doom Diver, and the Orc bully makes it much more effective - but I'm considering proxying something instead of an Orc as it wouldn't fit the all-goblin army - is that ok or is AoS completely WYSIWYG?

Proxy as you need my friend, its your army, your hobby, your way. The rules are pretty lenient on it and if your going for a theme nobody should mind, heck it makes the army more enjoyable to play against!