GRUMGORE'S NOTES
By Mike Marko
MY PRESENT ARMY
My orc & goblin army is based on the region in and around the Black Crag. This ancient dwarven citadel was taken over by the
orcs a long time ago. If one looks out across the valley to the north, one could see Karak Eight Peaks – home of thousands of
night goblins and the venerable Skarsnik.
Because of my background I have tried to select troops that would be common to this mountainous scenery. That would be orcs,
goblins, night goblins (plenty next door), wolf riders, and a giant. I have found through years of experience that a WAAAGGH!
should be developed based on your general. Therefore, you should have a good idea of the role of your general before you select any
troops or supporting characters for your army. I personally like to use my general, Grumgore, as a leadership boost. Therefore, he
will always be found trudging his way with the boyz in the center of my army. All of his gear were selected to try to keep him alive
long enough so that he could lead the army to victory. His only weapon is great axe because he isn’t meant to get into combat – but
if he does he will put up a pretty good fight.
Next I developed the backbone of my army: Grumgore’s bodyguard. The big’uns are a perfect choice for this role. With a higher
strength and weapon skill than the average orc (for only 2 points more), they work very well to hold the center of the army. I
gave them spears because I never expect them to charge the enemy. As I said previously, Grumgore was not designed to get into combat
unless he has to.
The rest of my army was developed with the oblique strategy in mind. The goal of the oblique is that you hold your pivot point with
a slow moving anchor, and then pivot your army around this point with your hard/fast hitting troops on the far flank. This strategy
is very successful against most opponents because a lot of players like to place their weakest troops on the flanks. My goal is to
strip these weak troops away from the flanks as quickly as possible, leaving the soft, sweet meat exposed to a good flank charge.
I have two large night goblin units to hold my pivot point. Large night goblin units will hold an opponent up for a couple of rounds
while he deals with the fanatics. Often it isn’t until turn four or five that these big blocks make it into combat. By then, my fast
hit forces have already collapsed my opponent’s flank and have him on the run. I try to place my night goblin units so that they can
hold up the priciest units. That way, 75% of my army is fighting only 50% of my opponent’s army: making the odds always in my favor.
I also often place my two anchor units based on the strengths and weakness of my opponent. If he has lots of heavily armored cavalry,
I almost always place them on my opponents dominant hand. Most opponents, even many experienced generals, will place their hard-
hitting units on the same side as their dominant hand. I often refer to these as right-handed or left-handed armies. By knowing how
my opponent will place his troops before he does, I can dictate the terms of the battle.
Next I plan out how I will distribute my hard hitting flanking troops. These consist of my two goblin chariots, my large wolf rider
unit, and my giant. The combination of all four "units" will easily destroy the flank screens of my opponent. It is the goal of
these units to clear away the flanks to expose my opponent by turn four when I start going for the big strike into the center of the
enemy. As a very good rule: you should never field more than four hard hitting flanking troops. If you field more than four of these
troops your opponent will feel overwhelmed and he will probably not enjoy his game. That is a very important rule: you must always
design your army so that your opponent will enjoy playing against it. This is especially true for Rogue Trader Tournaments and
Grand Tournaments.
Magic plays little part in my strategy. Although I love the character of WHFB magic, I find that even in fifth edition magic can
dominate a game; and I do not find magic challenging. Therefore I strive to always field over 1200 points in core troops. This
strategy also helps me keep my character percentage to below 30% of my total army composition. I prefer to see my entire table
edge covered with a sea of troops that swarm my opponent.
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