Here come the goblins - goblins as a single race and not mercenaries take a look . It doesn't look like it'll replace the existing goblins expansions though looking at what's in it (no musicians for example). I've seen $39.95 being quoted as the cost. Overall pretty good though not what I would call something completely new and not in line with Richard Borgs hints of what might have been so hopefully this isn't the big news. Next up Dwarves to keep things ticking over in the fall then something big for Christmas?

Contents:
•12 Goblin Halberdiers
•12 Goblin Swordsmen
•6 Ogres
•6 Hobgoblin Cavalry
•6 Hobgoblin Hyena Riders
•14 banners
•Rules Booklet w/5 new adventures
•2 Specialist cards
•5 Unit Summary cards
•15 Call to Arms Deployment cards

One thing I missed - some of these units are from Goblin Marauders.

Bit worried about the Ogres though - a creature with 3 figures, treated as a red banner infantry. The Frenzy power needs to be pretty sweet to get people to take a weaken infantry unit that'll use up a lore council slot. I think I'm going to need some way of finding out if new units etc are from the Mr Borg stable or from the FFG training grounds, given how much longer Mr Borg has had play testing BL I'd feel happier with his bits (I know that makes me sound like a screaming fan boy but...)

Chris

Where'd you find the content info, Chris? That is some great info.

I gotta say that I'm really excited about this set. The CtA deployment cards alone are worth the set in my mind. I'd like to see what the Hobgoblin Cav look like too (I don't recall them in any previous set).

I'm not sure the Ogre's work completely like Creatures (in that they also occupy a lore council level) as you get two sets of them and I thought that you could only have one creature on your side per set up. Maybe I'm not remembering the CtA rules correctly. It could also be that one level equals 2 Ogre units. Time will tell I guess.

Contents I lifted from a post over on BGG. Ogre wise, yeah a case of wait and see, one plus is its unlikely that they'll fall to a speculative archer shot in the first round.....

The most depressing thing is my birthday money has been spent now - perhaps a fathers day present....

I should have guessed something was about to be announced I started to make a push on my siege rules and whenever I release put something out there something gamewise would come out 24hours later.....

Chris

Looks awesome! Can't wait for this one.

What are the "cavalry" riding? Lizards, I guess.

I assume the ogres aren't creatures and don't take a lore council spot.

I will admit right up front, as some of you may recognize, that I have been one of the many skeptical and highly dubious people about FFG's plan for the future of Battlelore. Although I still want to see a bit more on future releases before being completely convinced, I believe this new pack is a good faith move on FFG's part. They could have ignored newer players who never had or will have a chance to get the prior DOW expansions by not re-releasing any of those. Or they could have stuck it to the existing fan base by putting them back out as full packs with with a couple of new units forcing them to buy stuff they already have for just a couple of figures. This pack takes a bit of the old and throws in a bit of new. So both sides get something they want without feeling completely left out or completely screwed over.

Granted this is not a new race a lot of us want, but again I think this is a good move by FFG. If they do the same with the Dwarves that will have my thumbs up too. Hopefully they will have more news on future expansions soon. And even though I already own 2 core sets I'm anxious to see what they do with their re-release of it.

It does look like a neat set. And it doesn't simply duplicate my previous goblin purchases. $40? That's pretty surprising considering the costs of the last two expansions. Maybe this is the first expansion fully produced by FFG?

While I think this is great news, I was hoping for a couple more new units. Updating the goblinoid slingers is nice though. And the CtA deployment deck for the goblins makes this an easy buy for me. I expect that FFG will release a dwarven expansion next with the updated Dwarven Cattle Riders cards. I would even like to see a human expansion with some of the more rare units (i.e. halberdiers).

$40? Well done FFG.

Hopefully this will help rebuild the fan base and the increased interest will lead to increased support of Battlelore.

I'm a bit on the fence about this, as it looks like I'll be paying for figures I already own from previous expansions + I would have preferred a completely new army (Undead would be my first preference), but there looks like there might be just enough new here to justify a purchase.

TeufelHund said:

I know what you mean, but that seems to be the route FFG has chosen. They don't want to totally alienate those who've been with the game before FFG had it, but they want to deliver products in such a way that the totally new player doesn't have to feel compelled to hunt down the old DoW stuff. Also, this would mean that they only have to solve the puzzle of what their new base set will be like and they can just blow off reprinting the DoW expansions.

actually - all the info is already in the online FFG catalogue.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=15&esem=2&esum=20

this is the missing BL 12 !!!!

I missed most of the original expansions so this is wonderful news Looks like I may need to rework my storage solution pretty soon which is a nice problem to have.

This is great! Now people have a choice to have a goblin expansion without having to buy the smaller expansion packs!

There are some strange things in the package though.

14 banners for 12 units.

Only 2 specialist cards? There are 2 possibilities for this: 1) Ogre is indeed creature 2) No specialist card for the hyena rider, meaning have to buy the goblin marauders. Don't know which is worse...

15 CtA cards... 2 decks + 1 odd card? Hmm

Edit: There's a third possibility... that either the hyena rider or the ogre is deployed normally through CtA cards.

I think all the goblin units are deployed trough CtA cards. Those specialist cards will contain something how to implement Ogres and/or coblin cavalry to "human army" ... but the major thing is that you get CtA cards for 100% coblin army. Thats something lookin forward... and also the idea of 4 player game and having two team players have different race is best... no need for tokens to identify owners !

Sevej said:

Looking at the image of the Ogre card I'd say its a monster that is treated as Red Infantry (the one advantage of this is no death in the first round by a speculative archer shot)

15 CtA cards - could be 3 decks of 5, by having fewer cards you could have less subtlety between the decks so it's easier to get the differences between each deck?

Chris

Sweet!

I was one of those who whined about the content and the price of Dragons and Creatures. This is good. The content is a nice compromise for old and new players, Call to Arms cards are a long time fan request, updated Slingers card is a nice bonus and 2 new units! Great!

As for the price. Absolutely on the spot. I was furious with Dragons and Creatures prices vs content but this expansion is spot on.

So Price is good, Expansion is good and looks like BattleLore's future is going to be good after all. Good work FFG.

P.S. I'm speculating for a Dwarven expansion in Autumn and a big fat Elves or Undead release around Christmas. Wouldn't mind a siege expansion too.

It looks like a good start to me. As much as I would like to see an all new race for an army, I see this as a necessary first step. The goblins and dwarves needed to be completed so they could stand on their own before moving on to a new race. I can't help but wonder if the deployment cards will include units from the old DoW goblin expansions.

FragMaster said:

Well I'm working through the specialist cards that are needed but the rules, epic and non epic boards are done, so soon very soon (homebrew not FFG by the way)

Chris

Nematode said:

I don't think so. The units included here are pretty basic. Blue and green goblin swordsmen, red halbediers, green cavalry, blue cavalry... it's going to be like human from the base set + 100 years war expansion. Basic rank and file soldiers that can be enhanced via the specialist cards with more funky units from the smaller expansions. Otherwise, players will need to have the old expansions to utilize the deployment cards.

Let me being a little fanboysh here: WAY COOL!

While the pack throw in something new with something old (and, as I already told, Cretures don't give me, enough added value), units always see a larger use on the battlefield, so, even seeing "more of the same" means only you can configure adventure with greater freedom.

Beside, the sculpts for the new figs seem really good and dynamic: they are a distinctively "FFGesque" without losing the established decore.

Speaking of which: one problem with BL was the manufacturing one, and the sculpts come clearly from a new hand. That said, I wonder if even the old units in the pack will see a "refit", because, consistency aside, to me seems easier to restart production from scratch than running a reprint: this could make me even happier, it's a huge collector plus...

Fanboysh me.

This is great news, and a good move by FFG. I was starting to give up hope.

It's excellent that they will continue supporting Call to Arms. That seems the smart route to go.

Any wild guesses on which of the old Goblin packs would be better with the new one? I'm just starting and I like Goblins and might be able to track down one of the old packs.....

I am most looking forward to finding out what the contents of the deployment deck(s?) are with regards to your question.

My wild guess is that only units from the Horrific Hordes expansion and base game will be included on the deployment cards, but other units in the Skirmishers and Marauders expansions can be included through Specialist cards.

Even if that is correct, if you can get your hands on either or both of the previous goblin expansions, I would recommend it. The units included are fun to play, and while not technically necessary, I would call the goblin band a necessary unit when fielding a goblin heavy army. The Marauders expansion includes one Goblin Band, 2 units (6 figures) of Hyena Riders (also included in Horrific Hordes), and 2 units (6 figures) of Ostrich Riders. The Skirmishers expansion includes one Goblin Band, 2 units of Spear Bearers (8 figures), and 2 units (8 figures) of Slingers.

Enjoy!

Goblin Skirmishers, Scottish Wars and the Hundred Years War expansions are all listed as upcoming products by FFG. So I imagine that the musical units will make a come-back.

I imagine there will be a Dwarven pack to match the Goblin one.

I would be curious to see a Human pack to run alongside Skirmishers and Scottish Wars (more interesting, Specialist units)

I would love to see more army packs after this, though an additional Lore Pack would be great - to flesh out the existing Lore deck and add a Lore Master or two - say a Dwarf and a Goblin Lore Master (though these could be great added to the Skirmisher/Scottish Wars packs).

Cheers,

Giles.

This one looks really nice - except for one little flaw:

There isn´t a single ranged unit in this pack. So if I play a pure Goblin army, I´m reduced to the one hobgoblin archer unit of the core set.

This might render the Goblin forces a little dreary.