Orcs & Goblins
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Orcs & Goblins is the collective term in the Warhammer Fantasy setting for the hordes of "Greenskins" and the title of the Warhammer Army book covering rules for them in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle war game.
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[edit] The Greenskin races
There are a number of different greenskin races. When they are together or cooperating an order of precedence is ascertained through size and strength. Orcs and Goblins also have dealings with Ogres, trolls and Giants, though the latter two are generally too stupid or drunk respectively to assume any precedence over Orcs despite their size and strength.
[edit] Orcs
Orcs are large, stooped creatures with long arms and short legs, like gorillas. Huge slabs of muscle move under tough green skin, and their jaws are lined with vicious fangs that jut out from their underbite. They have beady red eyes, a generally foul demeanour, and are naturally bald. Normally six feet tall, they are up to seven feet tall when stretched out of their characteristic stoop. They respect power and strength, and naturally tend towards becoming bigger and stronger as they rise through their society. Intelligence, however, is clearly not valued too much, as even the smartest Orcs are almost guaranteed to be quite stupid.
[edit] Black Orcs
Black Orcs were originally created by the Chaos Dwarves to use as slaves, but have since rebelled and found a place in regular Orc armies. They are naturally even bigger, stronger and meaner than regular orcs, and so tend towards command roles, also they do form their own units; they are also, if not smarter, more well-organised, and they are immune to the effects of animosity (Although if another orc unit attacks them, they will definitely fight back). Being the largest of Orcs, and having an air of authority, they procure large amounts of the heaviest armour from the Camp, and march to battle carrying a variety of "Choppas" and heavy, two-handed blades.
[edit] Savage orcs
Savage Orcs are a different culture of orcs; their tribes have a stone-age level of development, and are even more shamanistic and savage than their regular orc cousins. They are most well known for riding giant boars into combat, and paint their bodies with magical tribal designs which provide them with some level of natural protection.
[edit] Goblins
Goblins are much smaller and skinnier than the Orcs, their pointed noses is another distinctive factor. They are only a few feet high seldom reaching the height of a man. They are more common and smarter than orcs (though "smarter than Orcs" isn't really saying much), and prefer stabbing their opponents in the back, shooting them from out of the enemy's reach, or just attacking in massive numbers. They are afraid of Elves because they "stink funny." Goblins tend to be bossed around by orcs because they are smaller and weaker, but the goblins outsmart them when trading scavenged goods.
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- Common goblins - are, like the plain orcs, the most numerous of their type
- night goblins - inhabit underground places and have adapted to see in poor light
- forest goblins - are a goblinoid group at a primitive level like savage orcs living in the Southlands
[edit] Snotlings
Snotlings are smaller and weaker than goblins; about half their height. They are far less intelligent than goblins and can do little except in imitation of others. They congregate on the edges of greenskin villages, hunting (and being hunted by) squigs. In battle, they usually gather in large swarms that are too stupid to know when they're beaten. Sometimes they manage to cobble together examples of the infamous snotling pump wagon; a gigantic, uncontrollable wrecking machine. It is difficult to tell where a large snotling is different from a small goblin, but to orcs, this doesn't matter; they're all just weedy little "grotz" to be bossed around.
[edit] Gnoblars
Gnoblars were not well known to the Old World until expeditions from the Ogre Kingdoms became commonplace. They serve as "pets" who are used to scavenge battlefields and carry luggage. Gnoblars are between normal goblins and snotlings in size and hence hierarchy.
[edit] Hobgoblin
Hobgoblins are a race of large goblins living out on the Eastern Steppes where they are ruled by Khans and fight in huge wolf-mounted hordes. They are so underhanded that normal Greenskins refuse to have dealings with them but are used by the Chaos Dwarfs.
[edit] Biology
Little is known about how orcs and goblins reproduce. No females are mentioned in the main orc background texts; though this is not uncommon across the armies described in Warhammer, there are no female orc models in the current range of miniatures. In the Blood Bowl game, Orc cheerleaders appear to be female, but Blood Bowl's style is a largely tongue-in-cheek and the game is considerred non-canonical[citation needed].
One possibility is that the Orcs and Goblins reproduce in the same way as the Orks in Warhammer 40,000- this hypothesis is supported by the description in the Warhammer Rulebook of the Orcs and Goblins coming to the Warhammer World by means of their "insidious spores". However, since they only inhabit certain regions of the Warhammer Fantasy world the spore theory is lacking.
Games Workshop has refused to comment on any speculation about similarities between Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. The ambiguity surrounding greenskin reproduction can therefore be considered the "official" position, and any speculation remains simply that.
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| Major Games: | Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warmaster, Mordheim, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Man O' War, Warhammer Ancient Battles |
| Nations and races: | Bretonnia, Chaos, Chaos Dwarfs, Dark Elves, Dogs of War, Dwarfs, The Empire, High Elves, Kislev, Lizardmen, Ogres, Orcs & Goblins, Skaven, Undead (Tomb Kings & Vampire Counts), Wood Elves |
| Places: | The Old World, Araby, Cathay, Lustria, Ulthuan, Southlands, Naggaroth, Dark Lands, Albion, |
| People: | List of major characters |
| More: | List of creatures in Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer Fantasy deities, Lores of Magic |
