Draconis:
hobgoblins do not win combat at all...
they distract and break ranks...
and giving them an overpriced banner is like throwing VP down a well...
if you want to win combat cheaply get orcs...
your hobgoblin article should be humuorous to say the least...
metro_gnome
Hobgoblins can, and do win combats. Especially if you have a unit with a hero in it. Also especially if you use the Lore of Death to have them Cause Fear. I have enough experience against Empire, Skaven, and other armies with Str 3 Toughness 3, the same as hobgoblins, to say that with a strong stance on the matter. Especially since I play Vampire Counts, an army that I design to be notoriously Skeleton heavy in several large blocks of 30 each. Lahmians in fact. Not blood Dragons, Not Von Carstein, Lahmians. And my record out of 50+ games is only 2 losses. No ties. So I think I know of what I speak on the matter. Of course, you will just come out and say I am beyond help and disagree with me on the matter entirely...but I am not saying this for your benefit. I know my own personal win record in games to know that my level of tactical knowledge suffices to carry me through.
I am stating this so I can hopefully abolish a view that I feel is personally wrong, that may spread.
The difference with hobgoblins is their low leadership, and that is their weakness. If they are 12 inches within the general, great. Face it, there are not alot of high strength units out there. With hobgoblins, tactics are essential. Not only that, but you can outnumber your opponent quite a great deal with hobgoblins. Naked or no. Against high point armies like the High Elves, this is great. As it allows us to use swarm tactics. Chaos Especially if they go Chosen Heavy. We can descend down on Chaos, with the correct tactics, like a veritable tide of death.
You need to pick and choose your targets, and send your Chaos Dwarf Warriors against the stronger stuff while the hobgoblins pick off weaker units. If they are maximized in armor, they can do this better for Static Combat resolution. And that is going to be key. Any sane and knowledgeable veteran is not going to send in hobgoblins against chosen mounted chaos knights. However, we can use them to flank, rear attack, and generally otherwise use various tactics to turn the side towards our favor with them while the Chaos Dwarf Masters hold up the front line.
Hobgoblins are sneaky, devious, cowardly greenskins. Use them to reflect that, and you start to understand the tactics behind them.
I've had enough combats be won with VC and only Skeletons against opponents that just from math alone should say I should lose time and time again. But due to tactics I can pull it off. And I'm talking just a basic unit of skeletons fully armored, and massively outnumbered on my end in the combat due to loss of rank and file members. Hand weapon, Light Armor, Shield. 4+ Save. Not something to scoff at when a skeleton can't hit it's way out of a wet paper bag. It's a bog pit. Plain and simple.
As I stated, the only difference is hobgoblins don't cause fear. That can be remedied with the lore of death.
So to sum up my feelings. Tactics make the unit more then any other factor. Use them wrong, and their worthless. This goes for our Chaos Dwarfs, as well as any other units. Use them correctly, and they are invaluable. Especially since you can have so darn bloody many of them.
I don't care how good your math is. Don't care how good probability is. Don't even care how good the stats on a model are. Stats don't win Wars. Tactics and Strategy do. Plain and simple. If you charge headlong into combat with a unit that you know is going to die before you even roll the dice, you're doing something wrong.
A Good general knows how to take what he has, and maximize the efficacy of it to the foremost capability. Hobgoblins are cheap for what they can do, and though they may be throwaway units, we can take ALOT of them. This allows us to hold the Phalanx, and out Maneuver our opponents quite a great deal.
Play against a skaven horde army. You'll see how well slaves work. I've seen a single unit of skaven slaves, weak, pathetic can't win for nothing skaven slaves....completely DESTROY a wood elf army all by itself.
There is always a way to make something worthwhile. Always.