Goblins have been my favourite faction since I rejoined playing in tournaments a few years ago and settled into a mixed grill of Moria, Gundabad, and Goblin Town goblins before Jay and his meddling Alliance Matrix came into effect! Nowadays I look at both factions and it's always an easy choice for me as to which to take: Moria by far and away has the most model choices, available tactics, and intra-faction synergy. Though despite that, Goblin Town has had far greater success in tournaments around the world simply due to the number of bodies it can put down, and then call even more. But for me, it's just a very 1-Dimensional and boring faction to play (King+Gollum, otherwise numbers, Mercs/Scribe to grab objectives). So I had a look back at the film, and even picked up the book for the first time in years, to see if there was any untapped profile potential. Turns out, there's a reasonable number of things you could add to a Goblin Town list if they were to be revisited in a future Sourcebook!
However, being very aware that GT are already a strong faction, these profiles are written with an intention of giving more options and fun synergies rather than powercreeping the faction, which is a difficult line to tread! But largely GT struggles where an opponent can camp between terrain in order to force waves of goblins to die against a shieldwall. Some of these options have the intention of providing just a little (or in one case, a lot) of hesitance to blindly trust in the security of the impasse... But at the same time, every single one of these options would make a list writer think "oh, but that's X many goblins, is it worth it?", in an Army where having an astronomically high Break Point is key to success. Maybe these would only be seen at 700pt+ where scaling up becomes less and less helpful, but hopefully there'd be some interesting choices at the list building stage. See what you think?
Goblin town profiles
WARRIORS
Goblin Town Band 100pts
Counts as 5 models and can be included in any warband as normal. The Band is made up of Goblin warriors carting with them roughly hewn, improvised, or scavenged instruments. When played together, the racket can have a profound impact on the organisation of their enemies…
Warhorn: 1 Goblin warrior with Warhorn.
Alphorn: 2 Goblin warriors carrying the Bullhorn (Golden King style). Goblin models who have charged that turn are treated as being in range of a banner (1 per combat). Heavy Object D6 2 Wounds.
Drums: 1 Goblin warrior with Drums. Goblin King can call a Heroic March each turn without expending Might. D6 3Wounds.
Gong: 1 Goblin warrior with Gong. The Stand Fast! Of Goblin Heroes is extended by 3”. Heavy Object D6 2 Wounds.
Cacophonous din: Whilst the Goblin King remains on the table, and the Instruments are within 3” of each other, for every Instrument playing after the first, reduce the range of enemy Heroic Actions and Stand Fasts! by 1 inch.
Musicians: Instruments may only be played in a turn in which the models assigned to play them perform no other action that turn (with the exception of the Warhorn player who can move as normal). If a Gong or Drum player is slain, their drumsticks may be passed to a friendly Goblin within 1”. If a Warhorn or Alphorn player is slain, they may pass their instrument (or end of it!) to a friendly Goblin within 1”.
King’s Lackeys 6pts
Mv5 F2/5+ S3 D4 A1 W1 C2
Spear and Shield
Cave Dweller
Yes, your Malevolence: King’s Lackeys may only be included in the Goblin King's Warband. King's Lackeys increase their Fight Value and Courage by 1 each whilst within 6” of the Goblin King.
EQUIPMENT
The Bone Breaker 50pts
The Bone Breaker is moved in the same manner as a Siege Tower as outlined in War in Rohan, requiring a minimum of 4 rather than 6. The Bone Breaker has a Defence of 7, 3 Wounds, and, on turns that it has not been moved, counts as a Battlefield target.
Instead of making strikes, Goblin models may attempt to carry a man-sized or smaller model to a Rack within 2” of that victim. All goblins involved in the fight, including those supporting, can roll a D6 to drag the enemy model away, which is successful on the roll of a 6.
When on The Bone Breaker, the enemy model counts as Paralysed. During the end
phase, if two goblin models are in base contact with The Bone Breaker and have taken
no further action that turn, The Bone Breaker inflicts 2 S6 hits on the Paralysed
model. This is rolled against the model’s Strength rather than Defence, exactly
as if subjected to the Rend BPA. The Strength of The Bone Breaker can be
increased to a maximum of 10 by increasing the number of goblins operating The
Bone Breaker, with each additional Goblin adding an additional point of Strength
to The Bone Breaker.
Victims on The Bone Breaker may not otherwise be targeted for Shooting or have Strikes made against them- the Goblins prefer to watch them suffer! They may, however, be released from The Bone Breaker by one Goblin model ending its movement in base contact with The Bone Breaker, if it would be to the Goblin player’s tactical advantage…
Victims may roll additional dice for their End Phase paralyse rolls by having friendly models in base contact in the usual manner for the Paralyse rule. Alternatively, The Bone Breaker can be disabled by a model spending an entire turn of inaction in base contact with it. Heroes may use Heroic Strength or Heroic Resolve whilst on The Bone Breaker in order to negate the hits from The Bone Breaker for that turn, in an exception to the normal rules for being able to call Heroics whilst Paralysed.
The Mangler 50pts
The Mangler functions the same as The Bone Breaker with one exception:
The Mangler inflicts 1 hit per turn, but successful To Wound rolls cause D3 Wounds.
Goblin Town Rudimentary Explosives
25pts each, up to 3.
These are placed before the game begins anywhere on the board, at least 12” apart, and count as immovable objects (they could be moved in theory, but nobody is willing to take the risk!). A goblin in base contact with one of these during the move phase may light the fuse of the explosive on a roll of a 6 (Might may be used).
The next turn, at the end of the movement phase,
the Explosive will detonate. Models within 6” are showered with shrapnel and
suffer D3 S5 hits. Models within 1” will be Set Ablaze on the roll of a 6.
For every Explosive included in your army, up to two Goblins may be equipped
with Flaming Torches. These models will automatically light a fuse, no need to
roll for it.
Goblin Warriors
Wargear: Orc bow 1pt
Scarce resource: Goblin Town Armies have a bow limit of 1/6 rather than 1/3.
Rigged Terrain
25pts (Once)
This may not be a safe place to sleep after all!
Before the game, make a note of one terrain piece on the board. At the start of any priority phase, you may reveal to your opponent which terrain piece was selected. Remove the terrain piece from the board and any models within it are knocked prone. This may even inadvertently be used to remove a terrain piece your opponent had selected for an objective in Fog of War, denying them VPs!
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