Starting Orcs and Goblins

[Lord Borak]

Hello chaps. I'm looking to start playing Warmaster (I've been bullied by a friend into starting).

Any help or pointers on what sort of things I'll need for an Orc army? Preferably no night goblins.

[Dave]

The game requires certain units for every 1k of your list, and limits what you can take for every 1k as well. Start by building up the minimums to 2k, and add in your characters as well (all but the goblin hero are going to be useful for you). That ought to get you to around 1k, then you've got another 1k to spend of cav or more infantry.

[Lord Borak]

Thanks mate. I've had a quick look at the rules and the army lists and worked out a list based purely on what I used back in WHFB days.

This is 1000pts. Just to get to know the rules to be honest. Anything else can be added in later. Is 2000pts the standard list size then?

Orc General on Wyvern [175]
Orc Hero [80]
Orc Shaman [45]
Goblin Shaman [30]

1x Black Orcs [110]
3x Orc Boyz [180]
2x Goblin [60]
1x Trolls [110]
1x Wolf Riders [60]
1x Giant [150]

I can print basically anything so happy to change anything if needs be.

[Stormwind]

2000 is the standard, for sure.  But for shorter games in my old gaming group we would sometimes do 1500 ones.

Because Orc command is a low value, my friend would always put a Crown of Command on the General, which looks expensive but can be invaluable.

Boar boys are a must I think as they are hard hitting cavalry.  I would only have a giant if I gave him a cheap goblin hero to be his baby sitter and try and get him moving.

Trolls having -1 command in an already low command list is very frustrating so I probably wouldn't go for them I must admit.

[Lord Borak]

Pity, I've always liked Trolls. 

Is Terror that much of a thing in Warmaster? I though having two Terror causing monsters would be quite nifty but if not I can ditch the Giant for some boar boys.

Truth be told. I was trying to keep the model count down as I don't have much time at the moment. Perhaps O&G was not the best choice to make 

[Stormwind]

Sorry, I guess I was thinking more like 'competitive' rather than just having fun, ha ha.

I always did very poorly against my friends as 3 of them(!) chose orcs and gobbos and I don't think I won against them with my Chaos once!

I think taking advantage of having a nice horde of cheaper models with high attacks makes them quite powerful despite the low command.

My thinking about WM armies is even if they aren't competitive, pick the models you want to paint!  For Chaos I painted 3 Dragon Ogre units as I like them so much.  I proxy them as chariots (a much rarer to find unit) as I only ever played friendly games.

I have a very uncompetitive Dark Elf army as it has a Hydra and not enough cold ones, but the Hydra model is so fun I had to have it!

[Lord Borak]

Competitive? Bah, I've given up on that. The dice gods are far too fickle. It seems the dice gods favour it when I do silly/fluffy lists. They abandon me when I do competitive lists lol.

The project is now started. Everything has been printed now and I've got a few regiments near completion. But I'm trying to finish my Titanicus Warmaster and some titanicus scenery as well as a Green stuff project for a mate as well.

  There aren't enough days off.

[Stormwind]

Well in that case, go for what you like!  Whatever sparks some joy and makes you pick up a paintbrush is worth going for!

[industrialtrousers]

With the Orc army it can pay to have a look at the Grimgor list as well as its a wee bit different and you only need  a few units in addition to what you already have. I'll second the call for boar Boyz as they are.decent units. I keep trying with trolls but they're  tricky to get moving. Loads of lads are pretty hard to break down. Terror can be handy but depends on who you are playing. Careful with characters on terror causing mounts, you lose them with a defeated unit so you can only throw.them in when you've got.a.reasonable chance of.winning the combat.

[cjbennett22]

I would second the boar boys.
i would also second what dave says about minimums.  Try to get the 2k point minimum done early on, the game is best at that level of a game.

what you list above will include a lot of the orc and goblin trickery.  if you enjoy the game just go straight to boar boys and chariots with a full character pack.  The wyvern riding hero is fun to throw into a combat here and there.

Good luck, congrats!