Gnoblars - A Good Choice VS A Good Waste Of Points

Well, I personally believe that they are a good troops choice, but I am unable to use them properly, so at the moment they are a waste of points, and how do you use them and upgrade them? I am mostly looking for tactics against Tomb Kings, but any help would be useful

While I don't have much experience with fighting against Tomb Kings, I almost never play a game without my Gnoblars.

Gnoblars can be used in two different methods: Tarpit or Misdirection. I will cover each method separately

Method 1: The Tarpit
Basically this is where you field a unit of 40-50 Gnoblars in bus formation (5 across by 8-10 deep) and use them to receive a charge from a unit that you don't want to deal with for a few turns. This allows you to limit the number of threatening units coming your way and helps you to setup an easy flank charge.

Loadout:This strategy is relatively cheap at only 100 or so points. For equipment I would suggest taking a Musician and maybe a Standard for Blood and Glory scenarios but otherwise keep it cheap.

Pros: Great for holding a flank and keeping some of your opponents harder-hitting units out of the fight while you line up a flank charge or ignore them altogether.

Cons: Aside from the fact that the Gnoblars will die in droves, this Method has one big flaw, you MUST keep the Tarpit unit within 12" of the General and preferably the BSB as well. Steadfast on Leadership 5 is basically no Steadfast at all.


Method 2: Misidirection
For this method you should run the Gnoblars in units of 10 without any upgrades (maybe a musician if you have nothing better to do with 10 points). These guys can be great for allowing you to get charges off and stopping the enemy from charging you. Its a little difficult to explain how to misdirect without pictures but the idea is that you send your little 10-man unit right in front of an oncoming enemy unit but you angle it in such a way that they A) have to charge you and B) if they overrun they will go off to one side, giving you a flank charge. This leaves the opponent with 2 options: take the side charge or reform. Most people will reform, giving you the chance to charge him instead of him charging you.

Loadout: Again, low cost is your friend here. You want naked units or those with just musicians. They are chaff and throwaway units, so don't give your opponent any more points than necessary.

Pros: Amazing for getting charges and keeping frenzied units away from your units.

Cons: Experienced players will know to shoot these guys down so they cannot ruin their plans which is why more than 1 unit is suggested for this option (or a combination of Sabretusks and 10-man Gnoblar units). Also tends to slow down your advance because you want these guys in front of your Ogre/Irongut/Maneater blocks.

Personally I run method 2 most often and it works very well for me. If I don't think I will need to use them for misdirection, I simply deploy them behind my lines so as not to slow myself down.

I'm not a big fan of trappers, particularly for 10-man units because it is quite expensive and really doesn't do too much from what I've seen. 1/6th of a unit of Clanrats or Spearmen isn't that great. On the other hand, 1/6th of a knight bus or Chaos Warrior unit can be very nice. This one is really up for play testing. I would suggest it only on Method 1 though.

Hope this helps and sorry for the long read,
Triddion

I like fielding a unit or three, size 10 with trappers.  If I fight a list where I can expect ambushers or scouts, I put them in position to intercept; otherwise I use them as redirecting flank-guards. 

March them as redirectors in front of big expensive units, and the damage potential from traps makes the redirect even more costly, causing many players to try and maneuver around them (to my benefit)

Another minor thing they do is to just be another deployment.  Nice to drop 2 10 man unit of gnobs and maybe have a chance to counter deploy with your main units.

I always run at least 1 unit of 10 with trappers. I put them in front of the enemies largest unit and force him to choose between charging (taking loads of dangerous terrain tests) or to just stand there.

Units of 40-50 can be used to negate enemy steadfast in later turns of combat, where you can charge them in having only one touching the enemy unit ( ogres allready being in base-to-base).

Another use that I frequently put to the table in some units of 10 to support my leadbelcher shooting output.

I have a unit of 8 leadbelchers where I put 2 units of 10 gnobs in front of them. The gnobs march 8 inch forward, the leadies move just enough to get into shooting range with the enemy. From then on I manouvre the units of gnobs around to keep the enemy busy while my leadies move (forward/backward/sideways) and keep shooting.

The true line of sight rules make it so that the gnob units do not give a penalty while you shoot over their heads.

Hope this helps.

D...

I always use a unit of 10, rarely upgrading them to trappers, though I often find 5 points for a groinbiter because I like issuing challenges and the name amuses me.

On paper the unit doesn't look like it'll do much, but it often proves invaluable as a flank speed bump, or an objective grabber. I like them there as a slightly more survivable (albeit much slower) sabretusk. More often than not I'm pleased with what they achieve in game.

Another thing you can do with Gnoblars for Blood and Glory is just drop 2-3 units of 10 with banners in the back of your deployment zone and forget about them. The enemy probably won't get to them and they can put your Fortitude rating up a large amount, essentially making it impossable for the enemy to break you.

I always use a unit of 10, rarely upgrading them to trappers, though I often find 5 points for a groinbiter because I like issuing challenges and the name amuses me.

Hahahaha! You and I have the same sense of humour. 

In the old book just after 8th came out I had a Groinbiter win a challange against a Supreme Sorceress. The Gnoblar had been buffed up by a Temple of Skulls to be T5, Str4, and have 4 wounds. 3 turns of praying to Chaos and BOOM! munchie munchies

If you come up against Skaven, take a small number of Gnobler trappers and keep them infront of their big units. Against Skaven, I took 6 10 man trappers unit, and killed about 60 clanrats and loads of slaves... *Clang!* "Eek! Ma foot!"