The Old World – Goblin Wolfriders

Goblins have always had a somewhat unusual stand at Warhammer Fantasy, and with the announcement of the ominous Old World system we'll be revisiting some of these green fellows from times long past. To be exact, from the year 2002, because in that December a Goblin wolfrider army by Dan Tunbridge could be admired in White Dwarf 276 (issue #275 in the US), which was enough inspiration for me to add some goblins to my then Warhammer Fantasy army.

Goblins have never been particularly strong in play, but they did fulfill an important characteristic that most Greenskin armies lacked at that time: they provided mobility, speed, and were excellent at keeping enemy artillery at bay. They were also very low in terms of cost.

Unfortunately, the rules at that time already reflected a problem that ran through the entire system. Many of the units were only useful in a certain constellation. This sometimes went so far that some models never saw the light of day, simply because there were better options. Of course, even then you could assemble and play your models and armies the way you liked it, but chances were that you spent much more time setting up and packing away your army this way than actually playing the game.

With wolfriders it was advisable to use the most favourable formation in terms of points compared to usefulness. They were usually given spears to pack a little more punch when attacking, while shields were left out so that they could maintain the light cavalry characteristic and make formation changes without sacrificing movement. Of course, a musician was always added, because one thing was for sure - sooner or later the cowardly pack would turn tail and the morally weak goblins were strongly dependent on the +1 for rallying.

Of course they never fielded just one unit, because with only 67 points wolfriders were one of the cheapest units in the game measured by their abilities.

At that time I also always provided at least two units and supported them additionally with a chariot. Not only did this fit together thematically, the chariots had a good chance of reaching the battle this way, while the wolfriders kept the enemy busy. Although they were slower than the regular wolves, they provided the much needed strike power.

My chariot was a conversion, because there were only three crew members in the lead version at that time. I increased the number to four and made sure that the models looked homogeneous within the rest of the army.

Originally, I even wanted to build up a pure goblin army in a Mongolian style, but even before the end of Warhammer Fantasy I drew the line with the system for myself much earlier. There were just too many things that I liked less and less about it. The high number of models needed, the extremely long playtime, the partly very competitive environment and the mentioned limitation in creativity demotivated me. So this mounted shaman unfortunately never got painted.

I had a whole bunch of other goblin models, from war machines to regiments of 20 or more models (which cost only a laughable 100 points), but at this picture I stopped my efforts to build the Horde further.

Well, what Old World is gonna bring, I don't know. In my opinion, the point-free rules for Age of Sigmar in 2016 worked well because you quickly realized if you wanted to play with the other player or if you were wasting your time. I also think the rules for compensating for disadvantages, which could decide a game very quickly, were also very efficient in determining the attitude of the person you played with.

What I liked most was the Skirmish expansion for Age of Sigmar. It brought back a point system in the form of "Glory" and limited the choice of models a bit. Since I played a lot of games with this expansion, I can say that it worked pretty well and I could imagine Warhammer Fantasy coming back this way.

Of course, it is also possible that Old World will take an approach similar to that of the Horus Heresy for 40K. But I don't believe in it, because Warhammer Fantasy, as much as some people might deny it, had been a dying game for a long time, with a constantly shrinking number of players. A company that produces a product and wants to survive must be able to generate sales. A smaller system with a well-functioning and established mechanics would be the most reasonable choice for a company, as the approach can be halted if risks shows to not pay off.

No matter what Old World will become in the end, it is certain that there will be a number of new models that will reflect the style of the older fantasy version. I think there have already been test runs with the Wolfriders for Warhammer Underworlds, or the currently available Chaos Warriors.

What is your expectation or what do you wish for in terms of Old World? Let us know! Until then...

Greetings from the Chaosbunker

Dino