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I am adding to my AoS army and want some archers for my orcs, Are night or forest goblins better at being used as archers

I'm starting up a Night Goblin army, so I'll add my thoughts. Forest Goblin Spider Riders are better for shooting. Both hit and wound on a 5+, but Spider Riders get two shots at 16" rather than one. Also, Spider Riders will get you within range faster too.

From what I've seen of existing battle reports on YouTube, the overall opinions behind the green skins is that they lack any shooting abilities when you approach it in the old fashioned foot slogging way.

As alternatives, I'm making use of the Night Goblin Shaman's ranged magic and considering a spear chukka. Compared to similar war machines in the game, we've got it hard!

I started a night goblin army for Aos and I have a scout squad of archers lead the the great "catnip evergreen". They all have bows a bad moon icon and a gong basha. They work well for there intended purpose of securing buildings. It really depends what your gonna use them for.

How many archers are you including in the unit? I had 20, including a few netters and full command. They were only good for one turn of shooting before getting charged and ultimately getting smushed almost immediately. The only thing that helped my case was the netters gaining a few attacks and causing a couple of wounds.

10. A small amount but they do a decent amount of damage if I roll well
But they get beaten to a mush in close combat.

On a 5+ to hit and wound? Mine did no real amount of damage, even for 20.

Don't take Archers. With a 5+ to wound, unmodified, they're not going to kill anything. Get all of them nets and manically laugh at your opponents.

A unit of 10 is a waste of points. Or anything else you use. Out of 10, 3.3 Goblins will hit, scoring 1.1 wounds and against a regular save of 4+, you're looking at a unit that has a 50% chance to not kill anything.

I supposed my 'scout' unit is 16 Squig Hoppers. It's also the unit I've been deploying last so I can count models and strategically avoid Sudden Death rulings. I must say, they don't do an insane amount of damage, but at two wounds each, they can easily tie up some other units for a while.

Shed_pon3 wrote:
10. A small amount but they do a decent amount of damage if I roll well
But they get beaten to a mush in close combat.

I think they are a unit that is meant to get squashed easily...

I played two battles the other weekend and won both.

My NG archers did surprisingly well. For the first battle I was playing against Dwarves who aren't noted for speed. I think the trick is to keep them away from other units for as long as possible. Maybe position them slightly behind a block of Goblin Spearmen with nets?

They hit and wound on 5's so you do need to roll well and shoot in large numbers. Keep a Night Goblin Shaman close by to beef up the ranged attack with the spell Curse of Da bad Moon.

In my battle with the Dwarves I used my Spider riders and Boar Chariot to run down the Dwarven Cannon.

I used 10 Orc boyz with full leadership and shields to bash down a group of Miners and Grudge Pony.

Used my NG Archers to annoy a block of Dwarven warrors and Thane. They did get chopped up quickly but only because Thane "just" made his charge on them after the Warriors failed. Luckily I was able to reposition my NG Shaman and NG Big Boss and blast them with nasty goblin magic.

It was a close match but after the final turn I ended up having more wounds left on the table.

I think large blocks of NG Archers combined with other units ...can be very useful and damaging.

On another day sure the Dwarves would probably whoop me... its just the way the game is.

But who cares Orcs & Gobbos are just awesome fun to play regardless of their perceived power!

I can see them as good chaff, getting some range damage in before things start getting close. Once that happens move them to protect more valuable things and force opponents to either waste turns fighting them or go around them.

Havent used them yet of coarse but just my idea on them.

 slowclinic wrote:


As alternatives, I'm making use of the Night Goblin Shaman's ranged magic and considering a spear chukka. Compared to similar war machines in the game, we've got it hard!

In terms of war machines...the Doom Diver Catapult is pretty popular by all accounts. I haven't got one myself but was definitely thinking of getting one for the comedy alone.

Tinwhistle wrote:

Shed_pon3 wrote:
10. A small amount but they do a decent amount of damage if I roll well
But they get beaten to a mush in close combat.

I think they are a unit that is meant to get squashed easily...

I played two battles the other weekend and won both.

My NG archers did surprisingly well. For the first battle I was playing against Dwarves who aren't noted for speed. I think the trick is to keep them away from other units for as long as possible. Maybe position them slightly behind a block of Goblin Spearmen with nets?

They hit and wound on 5's so you do need to roll well and shoot in large numbers. Keep a Night Goblin Shaman close by to beef up the ranged attack with the spell Curse of Da bad Moon.

In my battle with the Dwarves I used my Spider riders and Boar Chariot to run down the Dwarven Cannon.

I used 10 Orc boyz with full leadership and shields to bash down a group of Miners and Grudge Pony.

Used my NG Archers to annoy a block of Dwarven warrors and Thane. They did get chopped up quickly but only because Thane "just" made his charge on them after the Warriors failed. Luckily I was able to reposition my NG Shaman and NG Big Boss and blast them with nasty goblin magic.

It was a close match but after the final turn I ended up having more wounds left on the table.

I think large blocks of NG Archers combined with other units ...can be very useful and damaging.

On another day sure the Dwarves would probably whoop me... its just the way the game is.

But who cares Orcs & Gobbos are just awesome fun to play regardless of their perceived power!

I'm actually quite impressed with the power of 30+ archers. Granted, they're still hitting on fives, wounding much easier. That's why I opt for a blob of 50 NG speared with nets - wounding on 2+, not to mention the 8 Fanatics hid in there...

Tinwhistle wrote:

 slowclinic wrote:


As alternatives, I'm making use of the Night Goblin Shaman's ranged magic and considering a spear chukka. Compared to similar war machines in the game, we've got it hard!

In terms of war machines...the Doom Diver Catapult is pretty popular by all accounts. I haven't got one myself but was definitely thinking of getting one for the comedy alone.

I do have two Shamans in the force, and Curse of Da Bad Moon,potentially being cast on a 2D6 6+ after mushrooms is pretty good. I did find the remnants of a Doom Diver while visiting home recently, although I just don't see the appeal in terms of strength. Maybe two Spear Chukkas with a Bully in between, but then I'd be spending away a large amount of winds and three war scrolls for, and lets be honest, very little out put.