Greenskins

"Stunties hide unnerground and pansy-elves hide in the trees. Thas why I prefers yer 'umans. They builds sorta 'ollow rocks wiht 'oles for comin' and goin' fru. They builds 'em on hills where you's have to climb a bit, but at least they's in the open, where a lad can get at 'em. So you can lob a few rocks at the walls, bash frew the holes, and get in there to nick all their gear, wivvout wunderin' if the roof is gonna fall on yer nut or if you's gonna fall off a branch. I like bashin' 'uman places. Only they don't call it bashin'; they calls it a seej."

— Enz Splitter, noted Orc strategist (deceased)

Warhammer-battle-march — Horde of Greenskin

Greenskins is a common collective description for the forces of the Orcs and Goblins and other biologically related races. The broadest division is between the Orcs, who are strong, brutish, and savage warriors, and the Goblins, who are smaller and weaker, but cunning and full of guile.

These two related races are divided in countless barbaric tribes who fight each other nearly all the time. They only stop fighting each other to fight another foe instead, like the kingdoms of men or the realms of Dwarfs. On these rare occasions they often vanquish and destroy whole armies, plunder and burn villages, ravage the countryside, and sack, raze, or conquer large cities and fortresses.

Overview

The Orcs arrived in the world at some unknown point in pre-history. The most likely explanations are that their insidious spores were either mistakenly introduced to the world by the starships of the Old Ones, or that they drifted through space and arrived in the world by their own means. Ever since, the greenskins have spread to become an ever present and belligerent enemy of the other races. A closer look will reveal that these two large races contain several subgroups. Most of these distinctions are of cultural nature. Many tribes also accumiliate other kinds of creatures into their tribe, such as Trolls and Giants .

Orcs

"The Basic Orc" is the most common amogst the tribes of Greenskin. Orcs are large creatures with long arms and short legs, 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 demeanor, 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. While they lack the education of more advanced races, Orcs possess immense cunning and are quick learners, but rarely adopt new tactics to replace their fondness for close quarters brutality. They are usaully arms with a simple Choppa (a catch all term for any close combat weapon) and some type of armor to protect themselve.
Savage Orc are a more primitive and more brutal of the Orc tribes in that they are nearly completly naked, and instead on relying on the iron weapons and armor of their cousin they rely on savage tatoos and cruedly made weapons made of simple wood, stone, and bones. They are considered stone age primitive, even in orc standards. They populated the Badlands, and Darklands and would often aid the orc tribes into battle against other foes. They are known to ride large boars into battle.

Black Orcs are more a powerful breed of orcs. Black Orcs were originally created by the evil and dangerous Chaos Dwarves to use as slaves, but have since rebelled and found a place in regular Orc armies. They are even bigger, stronger and meaner than regular Orcs, and so tend towards command roles. They are not above forming their own units though. Though other Orcs tend to look down on Black Orc intelligence, Black Orcs are, if not smarter, at the very least more well-organized. They are above the petty infighting (called Animosity in-game) that happens in most tribes and settle their differences with other Greenskins with orderly head-butting contests. Being the largest of Orcs and having an air of authority, Black Orcs confiscate large amounts of the heaviest armour from the camp and march to battle carrying a variety of weapons.

Goblins

Goblins, also affectionately known as gobbos or grots, are small, greenskinned and

mean little humanoids. They are the counterparts to their brawny Orc cousins, making up in intelligence and sheer craziness what they lack in size and stature. Another common trait amongst goblins is their remarkable cowardice. Instead of loving heads-up close combat, as Orcs do, their favourite method of fighting is to shoot the enemy with bows from behind; if that can't be done, a spear is second best.

"The Common Goblin " are like the common orc and are the most numerous of the tribes. Hardly brave and effective warriors, they rely on huge numbers to overwhem their foes, using small spears, bows, and even using a creature called a Squig to aid them in killing larger or stronger enemies. Much shorter then thier larger counsin they can often be bullied and become servants for them in thier tribe, but they also often like to play with their larger cousing since their dull-witted brain is often toyed with between some goblins.
Night Goblins are a species of subterranian goblins who live in the deep undergrounds of caverns. They hate the light of any source and would barely leave out of their homes during the day. The most famous of the Night Goblins are the Red Eye Tribe, who lives in the caverns of Gunbad Tunnels. There are known to wear very dark or black clothing.
Gnoblars , and the rarer Boglars, are an offshoot of the Goblin species and share that race's diminutive size, as well as its cruel and vindictive nature. They also share the Goblin's capacity for, or rather, lack of, valor. They are cowards by nature who only fight in large numbers or when otherwise assured of victory. Gnoblars, small goblin-kin, are often bullied by Ogre bulls into being cannon fodder and, sometimes, ammunition for leadbelchers. The most noticably difference is there more wider fatter nose and their bluish-green color
Snotlings are the smallest of the green-skinned races. They are not very intelligent, and left to their own devices they spend their days scavenging in the rubbish heaps in Greenskin camps, stealing any scraps of food or small trinkets they can get their hands on. They have the temprament of extremely enthusiastic and uncontrollable puppies, and their larger Orc and Goblin cousins usually try to capture them and train them to do tricks or basic jobs for them like fetching and carrying, but they are little use for any real work. Almost all Greenskin tribes like to keep a small swarm of Snotlings with them. Even if they're not much good in a fight, they can come in useful as a light snack.
Hobgoblins are the most evilest creatures in the world, that is not tainted or corrupted by the influence of Chaos, (exception will be the Dark Elves ). They are ever more evil, cunning, and backstabbing then their shorter cousins, and many times in their culture the term "backstab a friend" is so true, that Hobgoblins have grown a strong back bone-plate from which a backstab will mostly happen. They are under the servitude of the Chaos Dwarves , but more like Overseer's and servants, then a "Slave" force.

Society

Orcs and Goblins live in countless barbaric tribes. There are some tribes which include only Goblins or only Orcs, but the majority include both. In these mixed tribes the Orcs will always dominate the smaller and weaker Goblins. Goblin tribes don't have any Orcs at all, as any self-respecting Orc will quickly become the tribe's Boss.Almost all Orcs are huge, brutal creatures. On average they stand taller than a man, and are stronger and tougher. They are vicious and brutal, with an abundance of brute force and very little brain power. AnOrc loves nothing more than a good fight, even against other Orcs.Goblins are a lot smaller and weaker than Orcs. However they are quite cunning and smart, and love nothing more than to trick and trade with their slow-witted relatives. On the whole they are a rather cowardly lot, and prefer to attack with a huge advantage of numbers and, if possible, from a safe distance. As a result they are average archers but rather poor fighters.The leadership of the tribe nearly always belongs to the largest and strongest individual who will impose his rule by any mean necessary. Rivals are defeated in savage fights and most fights are not meant to be fair at all.

If an Orc Boss is weakened or wounded his rule will quickly be challenged by an ambitious Big Un's. The Big 'Un's are elite warriors and are his lieutenants. They usually lead smaller warbands or form their own elite warband and a wise Boss will always watch his Big Un's closely.Nearly all tribes also have shamans; gifted individuals who are able to employ Waaagh! magic. There are Orc Shamans and Goblin Shamans; only the Black Orcs don't have shamans. The shamans are always regarded with respect and fear. Most of them are quite content to be feared advisors of the tribal leader, second only to the Boss himself, while some rare ambitious shamans manage to usurp this position.

Notable Tribes

Although there are untold numbers of Greenskin tribes living in the Warhammer World, some are more noticable then others, due to pass Battles, notorious Waaggh, or famous Warbosses that once lead these tribes.

Ork Tribes

Bloody Sun Boyz
Iron Claw Tribe
One Tusk Tribe
Broketoof Boyz
Blue Face Orcs
Broken Tooth Orcs
Red Fang Orcs

Goblin Tribes

Broken Axe Goblins
Broken Nose Goblins
Black Spider Forest Goblins
Bloody Spear Night Goblins
Yellow Eye Goblins
Moonfang Goblin Tribe

Famous Warbosses

Althought there are many Warboss in the whole world, there are several Greenskin Warlord's who became legend's for the deed's they done, and the armies and nations that were crushed under their boots.

Gorbad Ironclaw

Gorbad Ironclaw, atop his vicious boar Gnarla, was the mightiest Warlord that ever lived (in the warhammer fantasy universe). Gorbad Ironclaw and his tribe, the Ironclaw Orcs, absorbed the Broken Tooth tribe along with the local Goblin and Night Goblin tribes, to create a massive force of Greenskin warriors.

Azhag the Slaughterer

An already powerful warlord who ruled over a great many tribes in the Badlands, Azhag's tale truly began after he unearthed an ancient magic crown in the ruined city of Todtheim. But this was no simple trinket: this was the Crown of Sorcery, an ancient artifact of the Great Necromancer, Nagash, and the ancient Liche's insidious spirit still clung to the artifact.

Grimgor Ironhide

Grimgor Ironhide is the most violent Black Orc Warboss ever to exist. He leads tribes of vicious Orcs to lay waste all across the Old World. He and his armies laid waste to entire armies, and he personally fought Crom the Conquer to a stand-still during the battle of High Pass, between the Orcish army and the Chaos Force during the Strom of Chaos.

Grom the Paunch

Grom is a hugely obese extremely fierce Goblin Warlord who ransacked not only the empire, but the fabled realm of Ulthuan. According to legend he once ate a plate of raw Troll meat, and this continues to regenerate within him, a reason for his such obese body

Skarsnik

Skarsnik is the chieftain of the Crooked Moon tribe and the most powerful Night Goblin Warlord in the whole of the World's Edge Mountain. Skarsnik is infamous amongst the greenskin race for his astonishing sneakiness and cunning in strategy and subterfuge.

Sources

Armybook: Orcs and Goblins (8th Edition) pg 4 ,6 ,8, 12, 16, 18 , 24, 28 , 34, 40 , 44, 46, 50 , 53, 64