The goblin formation has been part of my goblin armies since it was introduced in KoW3. Now with the new Clash The formation been changed. This change makes me to drop the formation and fleabags from my armies altogether and this blog post describes why.
(here’s them, in all the former glory, btw)
The formation used to be:
2 fleabag rider regiments that cost 10 points more and gain:
Bangsticks (exploding sixes that also wound the unit one point) AND TC +1
plus a mounted king that grants cavalry elite and has the same bangstick rule for +15 points.
Now this has been changed to:
-Any fleabag regiment may buy the Bangstck rule rfor +15 points
The formation used to be a fast and fairly hard-hitting light calvarly unit that was very fragile (13/15 def 4+) and due to wounding itself would inevitably last only a single charge as even the lightest return charge would kill it.
It was, however, a strong canopener that could deal with high defense units, something that goblins struggle with. It also had remarkably synergy with the goblin shooting contignent and units like the Groany Snark.
Now with the new rules, fleabags got a lot less attractive. The difference may not look as much at first glance, but it’s quite a lot. Here’s the math (assuming no hindered charges.)
(Comparison excluding mawpups. If you want thats +10 points for 1.5 additional wound vs def 5+)
Due tot he combination of special rules (Elite AND vicious AND exploding sixes) a 14-attack melee 4+ unit did on average 8.2 wounds. This is damage comparable to a knight unit. The tradeoff, of course, was their fragility and self-wounding.
As I’m looking for 10+ wounds to reliably waver (and possibly kill) a 15/17 defense 5+ unit, such as a unit of dwarf clansmen, the old fleabags were almost enough to do this amount of damage. Joined by the mounted king or charging a wounded unit would be enough to destroy the charged unit. If I got a flank, the fleabags would kill invariably.
The new fleabags, however, need help even when they get a flank. (almost 9 wounds vs def 5+ when doubling attacks). This means that this 170 (!) point unit cannot reliably kill of a regiment of dwarf clansmen when charging it in a flank. In this situation, they will do 6 damage to the dwarves, maybe waver then and deal themselves 2.5 wounds in the process. Then, they will be destroyed (or at least wavered) in the counterattack due to their low defense and nerve. This means, they have failed their purpose.
The old formation was a grand addition to the goblin army, a counterpunch sorely needed in an army that relies mainly on shooting. The new fleabag units are much less useful and the bangstick upgrade is definately not worth the 15 points.
The advantage of owning more than one army is that one can choose which army to play in a new edition, so there’s plenty of other goodness to look at this year!
