# are pure Goblin armies doable?



## Warlord_Winters (May 2, 2012)

could they hold there own or would they need the support of Orks?


something just appeals to me about having a huge army of a bunch of little ass kickers. that's why when I go fantasy I'm getting dwarfs.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Yup, pure goblin armies are very hard to play, very expensive (due to the large numbers of models and the large amounts of metal models you need) and have serious leadership issues... BUT, build them right and have a little luck and they are almost unstoppable.

Where I would consider a lot of pure-gobbo armies have gone wrong is that they get too focussed on fanatics and so never actually take the units that'll really help them out: mangler squigs, squig herds, doom divers, wolf chariots, massed bolt throwers and trolls if your willing to take them.

The big problem with the army is always going to be Ld: being so cheap means you can have huge numbers of units running around the board, but the downside is that they'll be quite close together, quite easy to kill one and then there'll be lots of low-Ld panic checks. This can be countered with good use of goblin warbosses (cheap lords, surprisingly good in combat and Ld8) and a standard of discipline to up your general to Ld9, with a BSB for reroll... but you'll still have issues with small flanking units.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

As Tim/Steve said... fuck. yes. 

Goblins are one of those armies that you approach on the other side of the table and go "This'll be like punting a kitten... heh heh..." and four turns later, you're going "I was wrong! I was horribly, horribly wrong!"

The place luck comes into play with a pure goblin army is mostly in regard to misfires, as greenskin warmachines aren't especially reliable. But you can bring so many of 'em that one shaking itself apart isn't a big deal. 

I would echo what Tim/Steve said and don't neglect the other stuff in favor of just maxing out your fanatics. Fanatics are important, to be sure-- especially if you can position them in such a way that your opponent ends up charging through a couple of 'em to engage your bricks of Goblins.

The hammer and anvil tactic works wonders with Orcs and Goblins, and even moreso with a pure Goblin army. A unit of Goblin Archers that's 60-strong or so is a hilariously dangerous thing to charge, but people will do it... and between the fanatics and you being Steadfast, you're going to both stick a unit in place for a while and do some serious damage to it. At which point, something obnoxious like a big Squig herd, the mangler squigs, or the like snaps the flank, and even things like Chosen Warriors are just too outnumbered and too disadvantaged by static results from the big block to stand up to that.


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