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I'm entering the world of WHFB for the first time. Below is starter army list for OnG based on what I have (BFSP and some 40k Orks I plan on converting). Is this a viable list? Also, for my next expansion, should I add a hammer unit (squigs/trolls) or another mob of gobbos/orcs? Thank you.

LORD:

Orc Warboss = 158 points
Ogre Blade
Shield

HERO:

Night Goblin Bigboss = 59 points
BSB
light armor and shield

Night Goblin Shaman level 2 = 110 points

CORE:

39 Night Goblins with spears and FC and Netters = 192 points

20 Night Goblins with bow and musician = 70 points

10 Forest Goblin Spider Riders with FC = 160 points

19 Orc Big 'Uns with FC, AHW, and Banner of Eternal Flame = 216 points

SPECIAL:

Troll = 35 points


TOTAL = 1000 points


P.S. - Should I bother with the lone troll or use the points for better banner or wargear for the warboss?

I would get a ward save for your Warboss, and maybe look at goblin chariots, they are cheap and cheerful

I shall drop the Troll and add Armor of Fortune to my Warboss. Thank you.

Personally I wouldn't take the ogre blade on the boss. He's str 6 with the choppa rule anyway. Armour of destiny grants a 4+ ward.

Good starter list. It is very similar to what I had starting with O&G.

I would consider buying some fanatics (they we $15 last I checked) for defensive purposes to help protect against enemy flanking with cavalry.

Some thoughts:

- a S7(8) Warboss is almost always going to be overkill. I'd either go with just an Enchanted Shield, for a 4+/6+, or a great weapon and either the Armour of Destiny, Armour of Silvered Steel, or the Trickster's Helm, depending on what you think'd be useful.
Also, the Ironcurse Icon is 5pts, and the unit he'll be in is probably Enemy #1.

- getting similar protection on your BSB is also recommended.

- I'd drop the full command on the Spider Riders, and probably the Boss on the Big 'Un unit, to get a few more orcs. That's your Big Bad unit, so you need them to stay big.

- one Troll is actually an amazing unit. He's tough, takes up very little space, is very cheap, and can still help out in a fight.

Warpsolution wrote:
Some thoughts:

- a S7(8) Warboss is almost always going to be overkill. I'd either go with just an Enchanted Shield, for a 4+/6+, or a great weapon and either the Armour of Destiny, Armour of Silvered Steel, or the Trickster's Helm, depending on what you think'd be useful.
Also, the Ironcurse Icon is 5pts, and the unit he'll be in is probably Enemy #1.

- getting similar protection on your BSB is also recommended.

- I'd drop the full command on the Spider Riders, and probably the Boss on the Big 'Un unit, to get a few more orcs. That's your Big Bad unit, so you need them to stay big.

- one Troll is actually an amazing unit. He's tough, takes up very little space, is very cheap, and can still help out in a fight.

Considering tinkering with a solo stone troll next to the general's unit now that you mention it. Would potentially be an arrow magnet.

I wouldn't bother with a Stone Troll. The Scaly Skin won't matter against anything that has a decent chance of hurting him, and MR is, in general, not that great. He'd have a 5+ versus Fireball, basically.
For a solitary troll, I'd just keep him cheap. Assuming your opponent needs a 4+ To Hit, he'll need to throw 36 shots at that troll before he goes down.
Granted, he'll probably just ignore him. And that's when you use your troll to block a tarpit from getting into combat with your general's unit, or charge a small unit of chaff that's in the big unit's way, and so on.

Magical Shields dont allow a parry save, unless it was faq'd.

Definately drop the ogre blade no point, like everyone else said. The spider riders are awesome but in a small game, you will have more impact from chariots. The spider riders shine in bigger games, and in bigger numbers. I personally feel that 10 alone will break and run off way too soon since the spiders are kind of a threat, and they are easy to shoot down and kill. Where as chariots have some defense are just as fast, and can really upset any smaller (under 15 men) unit. You will see some great success with them.

The banner of eternal flames at a 1k point game won't see too many opertunities to be effective, unless you are playing darkelves. Then in a small game you will see a really nasty hydra trying to eat your face. Otherwise won't see many regenerating units and there is a few things out there to neutralize fire attacks, which most likely you wont see in a 1k point game either. Its only 10 points though so you can make an educated decision on that.

On a very positive note, I will give you praise for a very well balanced list that could see a lot of victories.

Magic shields allow parry saves, but magic weapons do not, if I remember correctly.

I'd also break those Spiders into two units of 5, maybe get them some bows, if you can. Wolves are cheaper and faster in terms of stuff-that-gets-in-the-way, but Spiders have their Strider and assault rules.

Looks fairly good, a few tips though.

On your Warboss, I'd definitely switch the those magic items around. Imo, +S blades are kinda redundant on Orc Warbosses, since they're S6 in the first round of any combat, which is pretty darn high. I'd swap the Ogre Blade for the one that gives you +2 Attacks, this makes your Warboss really nasty in the first round of combat (6 W6 S6 Attacks). I'd also get a Ward Save for him, since he won't survive that long with just a shield. Something like the Armour of Destiny, or even the one with a 5+ ward is a really good buy.

Similarly, I'd get a Ward Save on your BSB, since, with an army wide low Ld, it's a really important thing to keep intact.

Your Core is pretty good, though split that Spider Riders up into two units of 5, with only a musician each, and use them as redirectors. Wolf Riders tend to be better, as a note, but as you're using them from Skull Pass, that's fine.

Finally, the troll is useless on its own, you want them in at least units of 6.

If you're short on points from these upgrades, drop the Big Uns upgrade on the Orc Boyz (they'll cope fine without it at 1k). Or, if you can, just drop the Boss on the Big Uns unit (the 15pts is worth paying normally, but not in a Big Uns unit)

Warpsolution wrote:
I wouldn't bother with a Stone Troll. The Scaly Skin won't matter against anything that has a decent chance of hurting him, and MR is, in general, not that great. He'd have a 5+ versus Fireball, basically.
For a solitary troll, I'd just keep him cheap. Assuming your opponent needs a 4+ To Hit, he'll need to throw 36 shots at that troll before he goes down.
Granted, he'll probably just ignore him. And that's when you use your troll to block a tarpit from getting into combat with your general's unit, or charge a small unit of chaff that's in the big unit's way, and so on.

I think the scaly skin, with his 3 wounds and regen, will give him enough of a chance of shrugging off one round of long range archer shooting from one unit.

I hear what you are saying though.

Absolutely. But you're paying extra for the 5+ Scaly Skin, where you could just save the points.
As I said, it takes 36 shots from BS3 S3 weapons at close range to fell a single troll. You increase that to 48 with the Scaly Skin, but since (1) a unit capable of that many shots would have to be huge either way, and (2) who'd spend that many shots trying to bring down one troll? Those arrows will be far better spent taking down Orcs.

But trolls can work wonders on their own! The most cost-efficient speed-bump in the book.

Warpsolution wrote:
Absolutely. But you're paying extra for the 5+ Scaly Skin, where you could just save the points.
As I said, it takes 36 shots from BS3 S3 weapons at close range to fell a single troll. You increase that to 48 with the Scaly Skin, but since (1) a unit capable of that many shots would have to be huge either way, and (2) who'd spend that many shots trying to bring down one troll? Those arrows will be far better spent taking down Orcs.

But trolls can work wonders on their own! The most cost-efficient speed-bump in the book.

I hear what you are saying on the regular troll. I just considered some other aspects to this.

Only a 10 point difference, and it gives your troll a 5+ armor and 5+ ward against damage from magic. That would be a decent value for many magic items out there.

Also takes up a Rare selection instead of Special. This might be of use if you are trying to maximize your Special selections in other units, such as savage orc boar boys, black orcs, or a big block or regular trolls, ect.

I can see situations to take the stone troll. Usually it is probably cost effective for a single regular troll though.

- The 5+ Scaly Skin is good against everything S4 and less. If your opponent is going to spend a turn killing your Troll, he's probably going to throw something S5+ at it, if he has the option.

- The 5+ Ward doesn't stack with Regeneration, and it only works against wounds caused by spells. So, basically, Fire and Metal. Ironically, Stone Trolls are more vulnerable to Metal spells, since regular Trolls lack armour, so they're immune. So really, it's a 5+ versus Fire Spells.

- I don't know when you'd need to save 35pts in Specials, since you can take up to 50% of your points in them, versus the 25% in Rare, but it is a valid point.

But I totally agree with you. It's a small difference, and both are potentially useful.
I prefer River Trolls in larger units, though. That -1 to Hit can make a big difference (especially when they fail their Fear test).

Wow, lots of good food for thought for a new leader of green gits. Thanks all.