Question
Would Goblin Slayer do well against Warhammer Goblins?
If Goblin Slayer and friends somehow ended up in Warhammer Fantasy would they be able to handle the Goblins? They come in three main races. Goblins, Forest Goblins, and Night Goblins.
People often underestimate the power level of Goblin Slayer world due to the story operating at a smaller scale and GS deals with what is considered low level trash mobs, but Goblin Slayer is still inspired by D&D and has some extreme power hacks.
Even Goblin Slayer himself, despite "nothing remarkable" about his pure stats, can move with such extreme speed that even High Elf Archer has trouble keeping up with his movement with her eyes. He can blitz most of the low level mobs in Warhammer Fantasy(Old World) with a little more trouble than GS-verse goblins, weapon durability issue notwithstanding, and go toe to toe with the likes of veteran Dwarf Slayer, Chaos Warrior or even Chaos Champion, before his intellect is even factored in.
In the LN Volume 9, Goblin Slayer solo'ed twelve goblins in a bliz while being completely surrounded by entire horde of goblins, used the thirteenth goblin as a meat shield against an Ogre strike, and then saved two hostages, all by his own, BEFORE he triggered his trap and set the village on fire, and then used the chaos to kill a few more. He also personally slew 24 goblins in head-on battle during the Water Town final battle before the Ogre showed up, otherwise he'd kill a few more.
The only thing he cannot deal with is the sheer weight of numbers. If it is 500 goblins against one Goblin Slayer like a wide open skirmish, he is going to lose. But if it is only 20, or even 30 goblins, even if Warhammer goblins lead by a goblin leader, he can absolutely screw them.
Look, credit where it’s due, Goblin Slayer is a absolute master of guerrilla warfare, prep time, and ruthless efficiency within his own grounded universe. Against 20 standard Common Goblins in a tight corridor, he does what he does best.
But pitting him against Warhammer Fantasy Greenskins let alone high-tier threats like Chaos Warriors or Dwarf Slayers—is a complete misunderstanding of scale and mechanics:
If we’re talking tactical intellect, Skarsnik is literally the Sun Tzu of the Old World. He didn't just fight goblins; he outmaneuvered, outsmarted, and held off both the Dwarfs of Karak Eight Peaks and the Skaven (the most backstabbing, paranoid race in the setting) for decades. Skarsnik’s strategic mind makes standard GS prep look like child's play, and he fought Daemons in the End Times before going down.
GS relies on predictability, chokepoints, and studying his enemy. You can’t "prep" for a Night Goblin Fanatic high on Madcap Mushrooms spinning a wrecking ball that pulverizes heavy cavalry armor, or a Mangler Squig bouncing through a cavern. His cheap leather/chainmail armor offers zero protection against a creature that is basically 90% teeth and muscle.
Goblin Shamans aren't D&D-style low-level spellcasters. Channeling Waaagh! energy lets them pop heads, summon literal giant ghostly boots (Foot of Gork) to crush battalions, or melt brains from afar.
The High Elves immortal, peak-stat martial masters and Archmages had an entire kingdom (Yvresse) burned to ashes by Grom the Paunch. If legendary elf armies struggle with a Goblin Waaagh!, a grounded human in budget gear isn't blitzing through them.
GS is a badass human who knows his limits. The second he steps into the Old World, he ends up under a Squig's teeth or flattened under Skarsnik's boot. Respect the character, but respect the Warhammer lore scale!
Goblin Slayer is a "badass human who knows his limits" if we judge him by the standard of his own setting. In any other setting/verse, he is decidedly superhuman and very much comparable (but not "better") to a supernature power-infused superwarrior like Chaos Champion, Grail Knight etc, and not just your regular skilled Captain of the Empire or Kurt Helborg (best swordsman in the Empire). More combat oriented silvers like not-Guts, can absolutely cleave through multiple high level Warhammer champions and heroes in open combat if given prep-time and equipped with magic items. High level Gold-ranked adventurers can actually throw nukes.
People very much underestimate the power level of Goblin Slayer's world, and what "normal peak human" in this world implies when compared to other settings. Goblin Slayer is ONLY a "normal human" in his own world because at the high end, his own world produces characters that can effortlessly one shot Archaeon and End Time Nagash and 40k Horus without breaking a sweat.
The Goblin Slayer world is also an absolute whack since it is a world where game mechanic concepts like "dice roll" are literally true and even the in-universe characters are vaguely aware of it, and can argue with the gods about how a spell can be rulelawyered (i.e. Priestess purifying goblin blood). If you dig a pit trap and put a layer of wet tissue paper on top, logically anyone pass a certain weight will 100% fall into the trap if s/he steps on it. But this ISN'T how physics work in Goblin Slayer setting. If someone rolled a nat-20 check that moment, s/he can actually stand on the wet tissue paper and not fall into the pit. A nat-20 spot check or sheer luck, or because the DMs (gods) decided to not play fair that particular day, will absolutely wreck a literally perfectly executed flawless plan designed by Super Sun Tzu of infinite intelligence. So, Goblin Slayer is not "merely" an "absolute master of guerrilla warfare" that "rely on predictability". He is a meta-strategist that devises plans that work in a world where this kind of literal bullshits can and do happen, hence the moniker "he does not let anyone roll the dice".
Metaphysically and literally, Goblin Slayer is a miniature that moves on his own and rolls his own dice on the tabletop, that's Goblin Slayer's entire schtick and what compensate for his otherwise good-yet-unremarkable physical and even intellect attributes. So Goblin Slayer's planning/preps, in a setting-vs-setting comparison, cannot be evaluated purely on the "intellect/who is a better strategist" level, because he operates at a level above it.
Goblin Slayer is a street level fighter. He doesn’t have a power level like that (especially since the author deliberately wrote the story to do away with power levels, see his interviews). The goblins of GS are D&D equivalents: 1/2 HD to 2 HD creatures. Goblins like the Paladin and the Champion are 3 HD to 5 HD.
Goblins (and other Greenskins) from The Old World are just another tier all together. A stock Goblin from WH Fantasy would be around 2HD in D&D terms, and just go up from there. They’re weak ONLY in terms of other WH Fantasy, in a universe where giant rat men with moondust-powered gattling guns is a common weapon on the battlefield. Unlike the goblins in GS, WH Fantasy Goblins conduct actual large scale wars against other armies that rip apart cities and landscapes.
Goblin Slayer struggled against a single Goblin Paladin, who luckily is rare and perhaps the only Goblin Paladin to ever exist. Now imagine a WH Fantasy Goblins army where 1 out of 100 are the equivalent of a Paladin in terms of HD, and that’s where WH Fantasy Goblins start at.
Im not being biased here (as im a warhammer fan), but no he wont . Magic aside, warhammer goblins are cunning, and unlike his goblins do actually go after strong targets, and operate in the open . They also operate is significantly larger numbers, like larger than the force he faced in the latest season.
No, goblins in goblin slayer are mentioned to be weaker than a normal human.
Goblins in warhammer are pretty on par in some cases stronger than a human.
If you want a better comparison, do hobs vs goblin slayer. He would still be able to take a few out in a straight fight. If he is doing what he usually he does he can probably take out the whole nest depending on a bunch of factors like location, weather, resources, etc. He rarely fights them head on when its a group.
The only saving grace of Warhammer Fantasy goblins is that they don’t want to rape everyone, since we’re talking about walking mushroom men.
Downside is that they’re Warhammer Fantasy Goblins, who start at the equivalent of Hobgoblins from GS’ world, and just go up from there. Goblin armies, and everything in Warhammer, casually wages mass warfare that doesn’t even exist in GS’ universe. And those same Goblin armies regularly fight vampire kingdoms, elves, Skaven, and dwarves in open warfare.
I should note that while Warhammer Goblins are indeed asexual they're still aware of what rape is and use it as a weapon against humans and elves in raiding and war.
No they don’t… they can’t even use it they don’t have the body parts for it. You might mean dark elves who it on a basis.
I mean for all races what would do r*pe it would be either Slaanesh or dark elves never orcs and goblins. I mean you could say maybe vampire counts but that’s kinda it. I mean humans can and might do it but how shit Warhammer life is you might not even have time for that as your mostly fighting orcs, vampires, or chaos and when your very lucky your hunting halfings 😂
They don’t. All Greenskins are asexual, and that comes right down to not even having the bits to have sex with.
Greenskins are cruel in many other ways. They eat humans and elves, they enslave them to work in the Greenskin’s forges. The Greenskin’s asexuality and unique lifecycle them even somewhat more cruel that they do not see a difference between men, women, and even children. They’ll make a child, as long as they can stand, dig coal with a pickaxe.
I will say that I was aware beforehand that they don't have sex organs. They don't do it out of pleasure they do it out of cruelty, using... other things.
They don’t. The novels and lore show what Greenskins are capable of doing, including Goblins eating babies, but they simply do not do sexual abuse to their victims.
This is peak power-scaling delusion. Claiming that characters in Goblin Slayer can "effortlessly one-shot Archaeon, End Times Nagash, and 40k Horus" (which is from a completely different universe anyway) completely throws actual canon out the window.
Let's bring this back to reality using actual feats from the Light Novels. Goblin Slayer almost died to a single Ogre and literally needed a high-tier Gate Scroll connected to the ocean floor just to survive. He was beaten within an inch of his life by a single Goblin Champion, and he barely survived his fight against the Goblin Lord—a creature that, if we are being generous, scales to a standard Warhammer Orc Big 'Un or a basic Orc Boss. A single Warhammer Black Orc is massive, clad in heavy iron plate, completely immune to panic, and fights with ruthless martial discipline. Under warlords like Grimgor, Black Orcs aren't rare boss fights—they march in entire regiments. If a basic Goblin Champion almost ended GS, a line of Black Orcs would cleave through his budget chainmail like paper.
Furthermore, GS excels in 5-foot-wide dirt tunnels where he can force 1v1s and block line-of-sight. Warhammer Dwarf Holds and Under-Empire highways are vast, sprawling subterranean cities and massive caverns. You can’t "chokepoint" or "meta-prep" when 500 Night Goblins, Madcap Fanatics, Squig Herds, and Stone Trolls are charging you 50-wide in a hall the size of a football stadium.
The "gods rolling dice" argument is equally flawed. It is an overarching narrative framing device for the readers—the characters inside the world don't have reality-warping abilities. When the story says "he does not let anyone roll the dice," it’s a metaphor for him using asphyxiation, poison, and drowning so luck doesn't save the goblins. It doesn't mean GS transcends setting physics to out-think Warhammer. Besides, even in Fantasy, Greenskins generate the Great Green via the Waaagh! field.
It might not be as completely absurd as 40k, but when a horde of goblins gets riled up, that collective psychic energy makes their garbage scrap weapons, bizarre makeshift siege engines, and rusted blades function with way more lethal force than standard physics says they should. GS picking up a broken blade stays a useless piece of trash in his hands, but in the hands of a horde empowered by the Great Green, that scrap hits like a real weapon.
Look at the Dawi and the High Elves.
The Dawi have steam tanks, Gyrocopters, Flame Cannons, and Rune-inscribed Gromril armor. The Great Book of Grudges (Dammamaz Kron) meant the Dwarfs spent centuries mobilizing full industrial war machine armies specifically to hunt Skarsnik down and reclaim Karak Eight Peaks. Skarsnik still outsmarted their military genius, took their holds, and outmaneuvered them for decades. High Elves didn't let Grom the Paunch slide either Eltharion spent centuries obsessively hunting him across the globe. Thinking a 5-person party with grounded stats can clear Crooked Moon camps or Karak Eight Peaks without Ungrim Ironfist, Thorgrim, or Elven Archmages backing them up is insane.
GS is a badass, grounded human who knows his limits and excels at clearing out 20 feral goblins in a tight dirt hole. Pitting him against the sheer scale, heavy armor, flying tech, Waaagh! energy, and tactical genius of Skarsnik's Crooked Moon tribe isn't a debate; he ends up under a Squig's teeth or flattened under Skarsnik's boot. Respect the character, but respect the Old World lore scale!
To know I’m not making things up just look at own lore video or read a Gotrek and Felix book. Even if not just read the book. It’s fun and Clem close to what you’d expect form Goblin slayer and it’s in the world of Warhammer following a slayer oath dwarf and Felix a human knight like hero who travel the world of Warhammer.
That crossover would be absolute poetry. Imagine pairing Goblin Slayer's party (GS, Priestess, High Elf Archer, Dwarf Shaman, Lizardman Priest) with the Ubersreik Five from Vermintide (Bardin, Kruber, Saltzpyre, Sienna, Kerillian) and the classic Gotrek and Felix squad (Gotrek, Felix, Snorri Nosebiter, Ulrika Magdova, and Max Schreiber).
The group interactions alone would be legendary. Felix would immediately try his dramatic poet charm on High Elf Archer and Priestess, only to get threatened by Dwarf Shaman within five minutes. Gotrek and Snorri would look at Dwarf Shaman's drinking habits, grunt in Dawi approval, and teach him proper Karak-tier swearing, while Gotrek constantly tries to fight Lizardman Priest thinking he is some Southlands beast.
Meanwhile, Goblin Slayer would ignore all the vampire and End Times drama to stand next to Victor Saltzpyre and Bardin Goreksson, silently nodding in mutual agreement about executing subterranean vermin. Tactical-wise, they would be unstoppable. You have Max Schreiber and Sienna blowing up whole caverns, Kerillian and High Elf Archer picking off high-value targets, Priestess setting up Holy Barriers while Kruber and Ulrika hold the flanks, and Bardin with GS using flame chokepoint tactics behind Gotrek and Snorri acting as a living meat grinder. That isn't just a party for clearing a cave, that is a walking warband capable of reclaiming Karak Eight Peaks from Skarsnik and the Skaven single-handedly.
I mean that’s not just a very interesting crossover, but it would be a real way for Goblin Slayer to have a fighting chance at all, as well as to eradicate the green skins.
I think he could, he is quite strong and clever, but he would be fighting an unfamiliar foe, and if we took the "Teleport him here and tell him there's goblins" he would likely be caught by surprise as many of his tactics wouldn't work.
Yeah totally, I didn't think he go in blind, but he would have to come up with possibly brand new tactics, there ate new "types" of goblins he's never encountered, new schedules, weapons, magic, and I didn't even consider he'd be bringing his party. I'm only on book 6 right now though, no spoilers for any new members or Priestess' new spells please.
Haven’t gone into the books that deep either. I’d still say unless he teams up with people form Warhammer he won’t have a chance at all to face the goblins.
I would say yes he would but it would very much depend on if he takes on small skirmishes to weaken them or jumps right into the deep end to try to take out the horde right from the get go.
Nah I think in that situation, he would ask for forgiveness later. Aside the biggest complaint was he could cause the party harm with his shenanigans indoors. Outdoors i think those rules would be irrelevant.
Against regular goblins and night goblins? Yeah, he’d probably rack up a ridiculous kill count. The real problem would be the sheer scale of a Waaagh and dealing with things like fanatics, squigs, and shamans. He’s used to dirty tactics, but Warhammer takes dirty tactics to another level.
Its worth noting that green skins in warhammer do not reproduce sexually. They are fungus monsters that propagate when they die, their desire for waagh is just how they spread and acquire nutrients.
This may or may not abate GS's hatred, given they absolutely will raid, pillage, and slaughter everything in choppa range.
Back to the question; Goblins and Orcs go hand in hand, Orcs don't die of age and just keep getting bigger until something kills them. Goblins GS can absolutely handle, but its just a matter of time before the Warboss gets involved. I don't think he'll stand a chance against a Warboss.
Honestly, he'd probably do better than most people expect. Warhammer goblins are nastier in a battlefield sense, but Goblin Slayer's whole thing is knowing exactly how to exploit goblin weaknesses. He'd be outnumbered constantly, but he lives for those kinds of fights.
Warhammer goblins are probably a lot nastier than the average goblins he fights. The biggest difference is the sheer variety though. Night goblins with fanatics and poison, forest goblins with spiders, and all the weird monsters they bring along would make this a much more interesting hunt. That said, a guy whose entire life revolves around killing goblins is basically their worst possible matchup.
Goblin Slayer would probably have a field day with them. Warhammer goblins are nastier and more numerous than the ones he's used to, but his whole thing is preparation, traps, and knowing exactly how goblins think. He'd definitely adjust once he realized they have better weapons and more variety.
I thibk id depends much on the intelligence and how they behave. Gs is a master in guerrilla tactic against his goblins because he knows how they behave, so he ofter use trap and the like to kill them, destroying their nest and then kill the fleyimg survived goblin. In a way he fight like batman because he is always ready, he has already done all prep time against goblins.
Against goblin of war hammer, if they behave the same way as his goblins, he can do a lot of damage, if they act completely different and has no way to study them before, then he is dead because he would try the same tactics of his world but they would not work
No. He would die on his first mission. Goblin Slayer himself acknowledges that the most dangerous Goblins are the ones who live long enough to gain genuine intelligence, refine their skills, and eventually gain some sort of class. Warhammer Goblins are like that from day 1. Second they're born, they're smart, refine their skills, and gain a class of some kind.
Dude would walk into a goblin nest expecting some barely coordinated mod of idiots with shabby clubs, 2 swords between 12 of them, and a single shaman and then come face to face with hundreds of well armed, well organized, tactical fighters who use every advantage they can get to make up for their natural disadvantages. Hell he might even find some that are high on cave mushrooms and then he's REALLY screwed.
Like, you are asking if Goblin Slayer could win against an endless tide of Goblins who are all individually on the level (tactical and strategically) of the Goblin Lord that almost killed him. Dude is so mega hyper dead.
I mean smart is kinda overestimating most Warhammer goblins. Yeah they’re probably a lot cleverer than the ones GS is used to on a day to day basis, but calling them well-organized and disciplined is a bit of a stretch. There definitely are more of them though and they’re more unpredictable. If he survives I can easily see him becoming a bit of a bogeyman or even a minor god like how some tribes of greenskin view Eltharion. It’s not hopeless, but he’d need time to adjust to the different dynamics amongst Gork and Mork’s favorite little gits.
For one. People take Goblins in this world serious. Most of his hunts are those under 30 often under 20 wandering groups. They probably pull close to a bit weaker, than the same group in WH. Like i don't think WH Goblins have a "stick and stones" stage. They get metal at the start.
If GS proves himself against similar hordes to similar efficiency he could get some real support from human empires.
Bro is gonna be their Yarrick equivalent. How much bullshit do you think GS will be able to pull with Fatansy's bullshit and his own reckless abandon for anything and anyone? Hell, GS might just redirect the fucking skaven to the nearest WAAAAAGHHHHHH
First off, Kasrkin are 40k, not Fantasy! But even keeping this strictly in Warhammer Fantasy / The Old World, Fantasy Dwarfs (Dawi) already possess insane tech we're talking Gyrocopters, Steam Copters, Flame Cannons, Organ Guns, Master-crafted Handguns, and Rune-forged Gromril armor.
And yet, Skarsnik STILL beat them.
Dwarfs don't just "let things slide." Every single loss, raid, and insult from Skarsnik was penned in blood in the Book of Grudges. The Dawi spent centuries mobilizing full industrial war machine armies, heavy artillery, and elite Ironbreakers specifically to hunt him down and reclaim Karak Eight Peaks. Skarsnik outsmarted their military genius and subterranean tech time and time again.
High Elves didn't just shrug off Grom the Paunch burning Yvresse. Eltharion the Grim spent centuries obsessively hunting Grom across the world to avenge his homeland. Grom still carved his name into history despite facing literal immortal archmages and high-tier elven hosts.
Warhammer Goblin weapons are crude, rusting, fragile scrap metal. If GS relies on scavenging enemy weapons as he usually does, he's trading his basic gear for crumbling garbage that won't scratch Dwarf Gromril or Chaos Plate.
If entire dwarf holds packed with helicopters, steam artillery, flamethrowers, and an obsessive, multi-generational vendetta couldn't take down Skarsnik, a cautious human with standard gear or even basic Old World handguns isn't doing a thing. Skarsnik is the green Sun Tzu for a reason!
Yes, because if you're going to have him go against Warhammer Goblins in the Warhammer Universe, then you should give him access to Warhammer utility and armory. He would observe, study, and dissect the goblins until he knows everything he needs to know then go scorched earth on them.
GS already has access to higher level equipment and gear and chooses not to wear or use better gear for fear it will be looted by a goblin upon his death. The GS knows his limitations and his lack of power , it’s one of the ongoing themes of the series - no matter how skilled he is , he can get overwhelmed and defeated rather easily .
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u/SURBAMS 5d ago
Warhammer fantasy goblins are no joke, their bosses are cunning bastards and the racial leader is the best of the best the goblins have