Ogre guide & tactics - Various authors

Post 3: Big Names and Magic items

Ogres have 2 forms of magic items, the big names and actual magic items themselves. This post will cover just the army book magic items.


Big Names:

Most of the Big Names aren't very good, or are at least kind of limited in their application. Keep in mind though that a Bruiser who is your Battle Standard Bearer and has taken a magic standard can still take 50 points of Big Names (confirmed by FAQ) so they might be useful under those circumstances.

It’s also worth noting that the cost of the big names come from your magic allowance limit (it’s not like vampires where you get an allowance on top of the magic item allowance), so it is one reason why you often don’t see them used.

Mawseeker: This is only available for Tyrants and for 40 pts, gives him +1 Toughness (so it will take him to T6). This is good but it also gives him the stupidity rule. With a base LD of 9, he is unlikely to fail the test but you can almost guarantee that on the one turn you don’t want him too, he will fail it and that will impede the unit he is in!

Wallcrusher: For 30pts, the ogre gains one additional impact hit. They will also ignore any effects of obstacles when attacking units that are defending them (this is only for him, not any unit he is in). It’s a bit too expensive for an additional hit that only comes into play when you charge and a secondary bonus that is highly situational.

Kineater: This is only available for Tyrants and for 25pts and any friendly unit within 6” may re-roll failed panic tests. The range is too limited to be of more than superficial usefulness. If it had bigger range it could be useful against a gunline. As it is, it means the Tyrant's unit and maybe one other if you're lucky. It is basically the same as the Dwarf Longbeard’s ‘old grumblers’ rule and I know how often I’ve seen that actually be used (none!). Not worth the points.

Mountaineater: For 25pts the bearer can never be wounded on lower than a 3+ (it doesn’t affect things that auto wound). With a standard toughness of 5, the list of things that can wound a Tyrant on a 2+ are very limited and if you think he's going to find himself facing one of those alone, you're better off finding him a ward save.

Giantbreaker: Costs 25pts, 5pts more than the Sword of Might but is much better since it increases your base-strength by +1 and not only your close combat hits. So it also affects impact hits, stomps as well as characteristic tests and it cannot be broken by spells and the like. Also, if you want to go with +1 Strength and a magic weapon, this is the way to go. For lulz, combine it with the sword of might for an expensive Great Weapon that doesn't strike last (AKA an expensive Ogre Blade that has to accept challenges). Combine it with a Great Weapon and you have a Strength 8 Bruiser! Great against heavy cavalry (not that you see many of those that S6 wouldn't deal with anyway). The only drawbacks are it doesn’t allow the character of his unit to flee as a charge reaction and he cannot refuse challenges.

Deathcheater: This costs 20pts and once per game, nominate one model is base to base contact that has hit the Deathcheater (but not yet rolled to wound). That model has to re-roll successful wound rolls made that phase (includes any mount/chariot etc.). I can see it having some utility if you were expecting to be targeted by a mounted character or hit by something with impact hits and crew attacks but how often would that kind of thing target characters? This is again a fairly situational ability but not too expensive. There are just better options.

Longstrider: For 20pts, adds +1 to the characters movement. Good for a Hunter who wants to run with his Sabertusks or maybe a Bruiser who wants to hang out with Yhetees.

Beastkiller: Hunters Only. 20pts gives you +1 to hit (shooting or combat) on rolls vs large targets but if you are using a magic weapon, you don’t get the bonus. Not really worth your time as not every army has a large target that they run regularly. Maybe if your opponent keeps running a Star Dragon and he's pissing you off, but then you should just dump the Hunter for another Ironblaster.

Brawlerguts: 15pts to get to re-roll the hero's impact hits to wound. Not his mounts or else this might be funny on a Hunter on Stonehorn. Probably the best thing to be said about this is it is cheap.



Magic Items:

Thundermace: For 85pts you get a great weapon (+2 Str, ASL and requires two hands). In addition, in combat, the wielder can exchange all of their attacks to make a single thudercrush attack. Roll to hit against the highest WS of anything in base to base contact. If it hits, place the small template so it touches your base. Any infantry, war beasts or swarms under the template are hit at Str 3 and any model under the centre, gets a S9 hit with D3 wounds. Any other troop type are unaffected. It’s just too expensive for what it brings. I’d rather give the tyrant the giant breaker name and sword of bloodshed so he got a consistent 8, str 6 attacks at initiative 4 for the same cost.

Siegebreaker: Again another 85pt item that is at its core a great weapon (ASL, +2 Str, requires two hands). In combat you roll to hit against initiative not WS and no parry saves are allowed. In addition, when assaulting buildings, you can make a Siegebreaker attack – D6 hits at a strength equal to the height of the building in inches. You're going to be hitting on 3+ and 4+ already and if you really wanted a Strength boost then get Giantbreaker or a sword of might or a standard great weapon for a good deal cheaper. They'll do pretty much the same thing and you won’t find yourself at a disadvantage if you're suddenly up against a high Initiative enemy. This is another weapon that I’d avoid like the plague.

Gnoblar Thiefstone (talisman): This gives the bearer Magic Resistance (MR) 2. In addition, roll on the table below to see what additional item you gain. If another character (friend or foe) has the same item, you steal the item off them. It can result in you having two magic talismans.

1. Nothing

2. Luckstone

3. Talisman of Protection

4. Other Tricksters Shard

5. Ruby Ring

6. Talisman of Preservation

It can be amusing if you do steal the ToP off an enemy wizard but it’s so random, has a 1/6 chance of doing nothing and for 45pts, you may as well just buy any of the items listed as they either work out cheaper or the same cost and you guarantee that you get the item you want.

Greedy Fist (talisman): 40pts buys you a talisman that grants +1 Str and a ward save of 6++. If you ever make your ward save against someone attacking you with a magic weapon, you drain the weapons powers and it counts as a normal weapon for the remainder of the battle. A nice ability but you can’t count on it happening with any frequency. The other ability of removing a magic level and spell of any enemy wizard hit is also a good ability but 90% of Wizards who are getting punched by an Ogre hero/lord are going to die so quickly that it doesn't matter that they're losing Wizard levels. The only wizards it can be decent against are the Incarnates, Glottkin and Archaon, however in all of those situations those are going to kill your character and possibly make their points back in combat anyway. If you want to try this, put it on a Bruiser and give him nothing else (as he's not going to live very long anyway).

Gut Maw (armour): For 45pts you get heavy armour and the Terror special rule. In addition, in a challenge, the bearer recovers one lost wound for each wound caused. Like the other items looked at so far, it is too conditional and expensive for what it brings.

Grut's Sickle (arcane item): At the start of the magic phase the bearer can inflict a single wound on their unit. If he does, he adds +2 to all casting rolls during that magic phase. At the end of the phase, roll 2D6. On a 3+ nothing happens. On a double 1, the unit automatically slays the bearer and he is removed as a casualty. It costs 50pts and you can think of it as an infinite powerstone for only 30pts more. It’s a great item that works very well on a level 4 Maw caster, effectively making him a Lvl 6 on the first cast of the law of the great Maw or lvl 7 on the second+ cast of the lore. There is the small matter of the potential drawback of losing the caster but the chance is very small (which means it will probably happen the first time you equip and use the item…)

Hellheart (arcane item): A one use item that is used at the start of the opposing player’s magic phase, after rolling for the winds. All enemy wizards within D6*5” immediately have to roll on the miscast table. After resolving this, the Ogre player gains +1 dispel dice for each wizard that rolled on the miscast table. This item is almost universally agreed to be the best one in the book and one of the best ways to defend against enemy wizards. Its potential is massive against armies that rely on or like to bring plentiful wizards (Light Councils beware). The drawbacks are the random range, the price (50pts) and getting your bearer into the correct position to use it correctly.

Rock Eye (Enchanted item): At the start of each turn, the bearer may nominate one unit in line of sight and the opposing player must reveal any hidden models (fanatics etc.) within it and also what magic items are contained by anything in the unit (though not who who has them). It’s limited in usefulness, especially in casual play where everyone tends to disclose their magic items. But it is only 5 points, and finding out an Assassin is in that unit you're about to go crush is worth it. Also useful if you can see which unit is running the Eternal Flame Banner before you try and Trollgut the unit nearest to them.

Rune Maw (banner): A 60 point banner. If a spell is cast at the unit, roll a D6. On a 2+ they must choose a new target. If there is no target available, then the spell is wasted. Just shy of being worth it for general use. It can still be worth it if you want to run a deathstar, true it can't help you with Purple Sun but it can really save you against spells like Dwellers or Final Transmutation which can easily kill 1/3'rd of your unit or by ensuring that you avoid debuffs in a crucial combat. It has also been FAQ'd to only effect enemy spells so you can keep buffing your unit.

Dragonhide Banner: A 50pt banner which allows the unit equipped with it to re-roll hits, wounds and saving throw rolls of ‘1’. On top of that, it gives you a Str 3 breath weapon that also gives anything hit by the breath weapon the ASL rule until the end of its next turn. This one can be really fun. A breath weapon attack can turn combat all on its own and the forced ASL and rerolling 1's is just the icing on the cake. It works wonders with Mournfangs as they are one of the few options in the army that can make the most of the re-rolls on armour saves and also on the missed stomps, impact hits and the Mournfang attacks themselves all of which (if you pointed them at the correct target) should be 2's or 3's anyways. I’d consider this an almost auto include choice for Mournfangs (though it does add to their already considerable cost). This is the other magic item vying for the best item in the army book award.

POST 5 - Generic Lords and Heroes



Tyrant: Your combat lord and the biggest guy in the army. Perhaps a little overpriced, He boasts a stat line that rivals many fully fledged monsters with 5, WS6, S5 I4 attacks. He also has 5 wounds and is toughness 5 which makes him difficult to take down too.

The Tyrant boasts a healthy LD of 9, the highest in the Ogre Kingdoms army, which is important to think about when you're building a list. The tactics for a Tyrant are pretty straight forward, give him a big club, give him some protection and then watch him beat people into paste.

The main drawback is that he unfortunately competes for Lord Points with Slaughtermaster, which has MUCH more bang for your buck, especially since you no longer need to take a Tyrant to take Slaughtermaster. As he costs just over 300pts fully kitted up if you are playing with a 25% allowance, you could also take a slaughtermaster but if you were also wanting to take a BSB and Firebelly you will be seriously eating into points that could be used for troops.

Can be useful in larger point’s games, but be careful not to waste him by throwing him into fights he can't win (no matter what the fluff tells you, a Tyrant will struggle to deal with a Bloodthirster alone).

Possible equipment: Giant Breaker, Sword of Bloodshed, Enchanted Shield, Dragonbane Gem, heavy armor. This makes a Tyrant with 8 attacks, at S6, he has a decent 3+ save, which you can always add Regen to with a Butcher, plus the Dragonbane Gem for when he's fighting the ever popular flaming attacks. He's a vicious brute who will definitely kill a few guys.



Slaughtermaster: Your lord level wizard. He has the statline of many other armies combat lords with 4 I4 S4 attacks and 5 wounds and toughness 5. He only comes with LD 8 and at 250pts base will normally be both your only lord and your general. He does only come with WS4 and that is one of the reasons he is normally found wielding the Fencers Baldes (for WS10 and an extra attack).

Also unlike most other wizards, he's technically allowed for you to take Magic Armour, due to the fact that they can take an Ironfist. This is confirmed in the FAQ, but discouraged as an oversight by the writers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone not give him magic armour.Recommended combos are: Grut's Sickle and the Armour of Destiny, or Fencer's Blades and the Glittering Scales (to make him only be hit on a 6+ by most troops). Kitted up right this guy can take the same beating that would destroy a small unit and walk away barely scathed, even before we consider he can cast Regeneration on himself, turning him into an absolute rape train with no brakes. Only thing to watch out for is anyone that strike first with a shitload of Strength 5+ attacks.

It’s worth mentioning that at least one slaughtermaster or butcher must take the Lore of the Maw. This is not a drawback as it is a fantastic lore, especially for a tightly packed line and the Lore Attribute means that these guys can sit there and heal themselves over and over (while getting a 5+ total boost). A single one of these can be all you need to turn the game, especially in a 2K game.

Possible Equipment: Fencer's Blades, Glittering Scales, Earthing Rod. In combat, most things will need 6's to hit him, and often 6's to wound, so he's not going to be suffering much damage from being picked out like a weedier wizard, plus he's dishing out 5x WS10 S4 attacks, which isn't bad. I didn't used to take the Earthing Rod, but with how often I 6-dice Troll Guts, I won’t leave home without it.



Bruiser: A Bruiser is just a Tyrant Jr. His stats are still on par, if not better than most Lords, though at 105pts, he costs a considerable amount less. The Bruiser also acts as your BSB, which is great considering he has T5 and W4, plus access to good armor and magic items and when compared to most people’s T4 W2 BSB's, he truly shines. If you have the points to add a Bruiser to a block, then it will dramatically increase the damage output, causing a S5 impact hit, plus his 4x S5 attacks, add on some suitable magic items and not much can stop him. As much as I would like to add a fight Bruiser to most of my blocks, the point cost of the rest of the army frequently prevents this, and he usually relegated to BSB in my army.

Possible Equipment: Crown of Command, Dragon Helm, Ironcurse Icon, heavy armor, ironfist. Since I don't often have a Tyrant, usually this guy is running with my Crown of Command, which is so very important for Ogres. Also, he has a 3+ armor, 6+ parry and a fair number of wounds, which makes him ideal for defending the banner.



Hunter: 25 points more than a Bruiser, for 1 higher BS and Ld (but he can't be the general) and has some nifty choices, but he can never join non-Sabertusk units. Can also take a Stonehorn as a mount which, along with a Harpoon Launcher, is a solid choice for him as it lets you deal with enemies on the move and stonehorns just look the nuts! Not the most competitive choice, but can be fun and useful under the right circumstances. Also remember that even though he can't use Hold Your Ground when he joins a unit of Sabretusks, he can use it when he's on his own or on a Stonehorn.

Possible Equipment: Longstrider, additional hand weapon. That's it, keep him simple! He's going to run 14" a turn and piss off your opponent to no end. If you absolutely must doll him up a bit, go with the Berserker Sword and Shield of Ptolos, as that will protect him from ranged attacks, as well as panic.



Butcher: The Butcher is our Level 1/2 mage. Similar to the Slaughtermaster, the Butcher has a respectable stat line, and can survive a great deal of punishment. Not quite as useful as a Slaughtermaster, but costs less than half the points. Can be useful to make sure you get all the Spells in the Lore of the Great Maw, or alternatively can be used as a pretty brutal damage based caster with Lore of Death, or a specialty augmenter with Lore of Beasts. He can also take Lore of Heavens for its awesome signature spell or you can try for the comet. Can take the Hellheart or Dispel Scroll, if you want to save your Slaughtermaster's Arcane Item for something else. You will normally want to do this.

Possible Equipment: Hellheart, great weapon. Since the Butcher is often at the front of the army, casting Wyssian's on his buddies, it’s good to give him the short ranged, yet very potent Hellheart. You certainly can't go wrong with dimensional cascading someone's frog or elf.



Firebelly: The last slice of Hero pie is a burnt one. Firebellies are a new addition to the Ogre army, and a very welcome one at that! For 20 more points than a normal Butcher, you get a hero level wizard with the same base statline, that specialize in the Lore of Fire and killing stuff with fire in other ways. Flaming Attacks is always welcome, and the Lore of Fire is pretty decent. The fact that he has a S4 Breath Weapon (Breath Weapons, for context, can turn an entire combat on their own) means that he makes a good mainline unit supporter and he's invaluable if you find yourself facing Hordes or Ethereal units.

As a bonus, he also gets a 4++ ward vs flaming attacks. Also, don't forget that ALL of the Firebelly's attacks are flaming, that means flaming impact hits and flaming stomps!

Possible Equipment: Potion of Speed, Dispel Scroll, great weapon. The potion of speed means that he gets to use his breath attack at initiative 5 in combat, which means it strips off regen BEFORE the rest of your ogres take a swing, this is absolutely massive, and a steal at only 5 points! Alternatively, you can go with the Sword of Swift Slaying or the Gold Sigil Sword, but I prefer the handy flaming great weapon any day.

Post 7 - Special


Leadbelchers

Leadbelchers hold a special place in my heart. For the price of an Irongut, you are getting an Ogre with what is essentially a D6 S4 AP shot handgun, which suffers no penalties for moving and shooting or multiple shots. I used these a lot in the previous book, where their gun had a limited 12" range, but now they've been increased to 24" and don't have to reload! The new rules for 8th edition regarding missile weapons allows you to fire these in two ranks, which now adds a lot of versatility. For a narrow frontage of 2 models you could have 4 firing, which will be an average of 14 shots... not bad for some ogres!

Typically, I either run them in small units of 4 with a 2-model frontage, or as a bigger block of 8. They are unable to stand and fire, but when they're a big unit of 8, they are still very deadly in close combat. Keep them advancing with your army, pelt the units that need to be ground down (Whitelions, Executioners, etc.) so that your main combat blocks, or even the Leadbelchers themselves can have an easier time in combat. There aren't really any special tricks with the Leadbelchers, as they are a pretty straightforward unit, but that doesn't mean that they aren't deadly.

No Ogre Kingdoms army is complete without a unit of these lads.



Maneaters

This is one of those units that a little article like this won’t do justice. Maneaters are an incredibly versatile unit, which can be anything from a monster close combat block, to character snipers or scouts. I'll go over them a bit more in detail in my next article, but for now I can tell you that whatever you want to do with them, make sure that they are fully specialized. If you want a unit of scouts, take a smaller unit that is either stubborn or immune to psych, if you want a nasty combat block, go with a unit of 6 with additional hand weapons in the front rank, great weapons in the back rank and probably the flaming banner.

Several common ideas for special rules are presented below, but most combos can work on one level or another. Just don't forget to give them heavy armor and remember if you're stuck, Stubborn is always a good choice. See Post 10 for more detail.

• Classic: Immune to Psychology and Stubborn. Stubborn is always a good choice, but the weakness of Terror and Fear under the current edition makes ItP pretty much worthless.

• Runners: Swiftstride and Strider. Can be fun, especially with great weapons, allowing them to intercept a unit you need dead. Drop them on the flank and have them go diving through terrain to hit the enemy where it hurts.

• Snipers: Sniper and Poisoned Attacks, with Brace of Handguns. This one is especially nasty against Vampire Counts/Tomb Kings where killing their general can really hurt. Don't spend too much on this unit though, as they're only really useful at killing heroes.

• Trolling: Scouts and either Strider, Swiftstride or Stubborn. Not a great choice, but really lulzy (SCOUTING OGRES), especially against Dwarfs and armies that thrive on units with lots of ranged weapons and war machines.

• Bland: Stubborn and either Strider or Swiftstride. The best overall and therefore blandest choice but not a bad one. Swiftstride has some nice synergy with the Ogre Charge rule.



Sabretusk Pack

The Sabretusks of yesteryear are long dead, and thank god. Now you can pick them up in units of 1-10, without any pesky hunters. For 21 points you get a M8 beast with T4, 2 wounds and 3 S4 attacks There are a few different ways to run them, though the most effective I've seen is taking 2-3 individuals and have them run around the edge of your army, charging into lone characters or warmachines. Killing a warmachine, or at least tying it up for a couple turns can make a huge difference in the game. The major fault of Sabretusks is that they are LD4, cannot use the General's Inspiring Presence nor the BSB's Hold Your Ground special rules... Ouch! The only character that can join them is a Hunter, so if you're going to take a unit of more than 1, you're probably going to want a hunter so that they don't run off at the first sign of trouble, but then you're also increasing their points drastically.

The Sabretusk also have the Running With The Pack special rule, which allows them to have Vanguard as long as the Hunter is part of the pack, and it also gives the Hunter Swiftstride. This can be used as a nasty tactic by taking a single Sabretusk to catapult your Hunter across the board, allowing him Vanguard and Swiftstride so long as the single Sabretusk is alive. I have toyed with the idea of taking a bigger unit of Sabretusks (6 or so) with a Hunter, but since they are Warbeasts, they will only grant a single supporting attack, and with a hunter, that unit is going to cost at least 256 points (2 points less than 6 Ironguts).

They are in the running for the best chaff unit in the game and I’d recommend never leave home without at least 2.



Yhetees

These are the black sheep of the Ogre Kingdoms book. One more point than a Leadbelcher or Irongut gets you an unarmored model which moves incredibly fast on paper actually looks pretty decent. They're faster than a normal ogre with M7 and Swiftstride, with an impressive I4 and S5, in addition, enemies have -1 WS when in base to base contact. So why does everyone think that they're so bad? The first reason is that they have no armor at all. The second, and much more important reason is that they are Flammable! With everyone out there running the Banner of Eternal Flame, unless you're playing an open list game, you may have the unfortunate experience of being burnt to the ground by any army you face.

If you're like me and enjoy giving the "bad" units a try, I have to strongly suggest taking the Rock Eye when using Yhetees, for 5 points you can hopefully identify the unit with the Banner of Eternal Flame before they end up eating your Yhetees.

If you are taking them, at least try to give them Regeneration, at least then they'll be able to cause quite a bit of damage and maybe earn their points back.



Mournfang Cavalry

These are the other popular kids in the Special section. When it comes to the ability to take punishment and deal it out, nothing in the game comes close to the Mournfang Cavalry. At 60 points base, they're an okay unit, but after you upgrade them to have Heavy Armor and Ironfists, you now have a 2+ save (and 6+ parry) unit that does 4 S5 and 3S4 attacks per model! Top that off with D3 S5 impact hits and an extra S5 stomp in each round, it is no surprise that many Ogre players have come to swear by this new unit.

I prefer to take mine in units of 4, and since one unit of them can take a magic banner, I always oblige, either with a Dragonhide Banner for some added punishment, or even the simple flaming banner so that they can eat up trolls and take down hydras (who doesn't like a little BBQ?).

Some armies I've seen take 3 units of 4 Mournfangs, and while this is a pretty nasty thing to have to face, Mournfangs are not invincible. When using them, avoid anything that is S5 or higher, as they will demolish your save, and with only 12 wounds for a full unit of 4, you don't have as much staying power as you may think. That said, if you manage to get in combat against S3 spearmen, you are going to have a grand time, crushing dozens of foes every turn and making taking a wound back.

Mournfangs also have the ability to take Great Weapons, which is something that I haven't personally tried, and while it does sound like an interesting prospect, losing your 2+ save and parry seems very dubious.



Gorger

The unit which was once ever present in the previous book has unfortunately become almost completely ignored. The Gorger is largely unchanged from its previous incarnation, except that its ambush rule has changed slightly for the better, so why do we not see them as often as we used to?

The answer is simple, we don't need them. In the old OK book, Gorgers were necessary to fill gaps that nothing else in the book could, they were warmachine hunters, flankers, redirectors and tarpits all in one. Now the OK book has new options to perform all those tasks, so sadly the Gorger does not have much of a place. With all that said, are Gorgers a bad unit? Definitely not, they now have a greater chance to come in earlier in the game, and if you don't have any other way to hunt warmachines, they are not a bad addition. Stat wise for 90pts you get 4 (5 with frenzy) S 5 Killing blow attacks in an unbreakable model. They also become considerably better in an army with Skragg as they can gain +1 attack, hatred and regeneration.



Rhinox Riders

These are elite Ogres mounted on the toughest and most savage type of Rhinox, the Grimhorn. They are monstrous cavalry that can be taken in units of 1+.

The Ogres themselves have a boosted statline with WS and BS or 4, S5, I3, A4 and LD8. The T4 and W3 are the same as a standard Ogre.

The Rhinox are best compared to Mournfang and share the same stats of WS3, S5, I2, A4 and LD5. They have a reduced movement of 7 but boosted T5 and W4. On top of that, the model gets the following rules: Fear, Frenzy, Impact Hits (D3+1), Iron Skinned, Stubborn, Swiftstride and Broadbacked (and don’t forget the stomp as well)..

Iron skinned means that a model gets +3 to their armour. This means that as standard, the model will have a 3+ armour save (as they start with Light armour). The unit can be upgraded to heavy armour and also have the option to equip Iron fists, so they can all get the magic 1+ save.

Broadbacked allows an ogre to use an additional hand weapon with no penalty (I believe in the same way as Savage Orcs on boars).

One thing worth noting (and my guess is this is a mistake in the rule writing), is that both the Ogre and the Rhinox receive the +1 attack from frenzy.

The unit can also take a 50pt magic standard but with each model costing 105pts base (115pts to get a 1+ save), auto losing the standard if they break is an expensive gamble. The command options are the same cost as any other unit, so adding a musician/champion could be worthwhile.

You are likely to run these in two ways. Units of 3 or 4 models (as you would other monstrous Cav) or using them as a single model, fielded similar to a chariot.


The Rhinox are a forgeworld unit with ‘experimental’ rues. As such you should probably ask your opponent if they are ok with you fielding them.

Post 9 - Ogre Magic

One of the great things about 8th edition Ogre Kingdoms is that they now have access to some new magic! To be precise, they can now take Lore of Death, Lore of Beasts, Lore of Heavens, Lore of Fire (Firebelly), and their own Lore of the Great Maw.


The Butcher Tax

Similar to Tomb Kings, Ogres have to pay a tax if they want to take something besides Lore of the Great Maw, or a Firebelly. Before you can select Lore of Death/Beasts/Heavens, you must first have a Butcher with Lore of the Great Maw. This means, if your Slaughtermaster wants Lore of Death, you'll need to take another Butcher with Great Maw as well. Because of this, I'm going to be looking at the lores they have available from the perspective of a Level 4, or a Level 1/2.



Lore of the Great Maw

This is the signature lore for Ogres, it contains 4 buffs (+1T, +1S, Regen, Stubborn), a Magic Missile (2D6 S2, ignores armor), an auto panic check, and a so-so Vortex. The Signature Spell causes Stubborn, which can be extremely useful when fighting through some of the tougher units, like hordes of Empire Knights (damn you Damon!), Chaos Warriors, etc. Be careful though, since it is a spell, it's not something you can rely on 100% of the time.

As with all 8th edition lores, do not forget your lore attribute, as a few casts of low level spells can really help you get the bigger one off later in the phase. Also remember the lore attribute for Great Maw is not optional, even if you have no dice left and full wounds, you still need to roll to see if you take the S6 hit.

Slaughtermasters or Butchers who are using the Lore of the Great Maw can happily use the Forbidden Rod to gain D6 additional Power dice while suffering D3 wounds. Usually quite a bad item since many Wizards are 2 wound or 3 wound models and some people only give their Wizards basic protection (if any), so in many circumstances it can kill their Wizard outright or leave him on the verge of death... however not for Ogres! They have 4/5 wounds so D3 wounds isn't that bad PLUS with Great Maw they can restore wounds. It's an item worth considering.


The Ogre Lore is as follows:

• Lore Attribute: Bloodgruel. Whenever you cast a spell, roll a D6. On a 1, take an S6 hit, on a 2+ you get to recover a wound you lost earlier in the game AND get +1 to your next attempt to cast or dispel. This is pretty useful, as it can mean a quick and dirty first spell can make your next bigger spell easier to cast, or a small spell at the end of your magic phase makes your next dispel easier. Plus getting wounds back is useful.

• Spell 0: Spinemarrow Makes one friendly unit within 12" Stubborn on a 6+. Can be increased to 24" for 9+. Since Ogres rarely have enough ranks to get Steadfast, this is an easy way to keep your units from running (and an easy way to trigger your Lore Attribute).

• Spell 1: Bonecrusher: A range 18" Magic Missile that 2d6 S2 hits with no armor saves allows on an 8+. Can be beefed up to 36" inches for 11+. Low toughness heavy cavalry (Elves for example) HATE this spell and it's generally a pretty good spell, but not great.

• Spell 2: Bullgorger: One friendly unit within 12" gets +1 Strength on 7+. Can be increased to ALL friendly units within 12" on a 14+. Good way to make sure your Ogres hit harder than before, but generally overshadowed by the next spell.

• Spell 3: Toothcracker: One friendly unit within 12" gets +1 Toughness on an 8+. Can hit all friendly units within 12" on a 16+. Fucking awesome. There is almost no situation where casting this is a bad idea.

• Spell 4: Braingobbler: One enemy unit within 18" has to take a panic check on a 9+. Can be pushed up to 36" inches on a 12+. Can either be fucking amazing (ask those Poisoned Wind Globadiers how they feel about it), mediocre (Elves, Warriors of Chaos and Lizardmen will often shrug it off) or useless (just switch it out if you're up against Daemons, Tomb Kings, Vampire Counts or Dwarfs). Still, if you're up against low-medium Ld, it's often a good way to send a chaff unit out of position and can occasionally be used to disrupt your enemy's battle line, so it's usually worth a look.

• Spell 5: Trollguts: Back to augments, gives one friendly unit within 12" Regeneration 4+ on a 12+. Can be boosted to all friendly within 12" on a 20+. Unlike the others, this one will be hard for a level 2 to cast with less than 3 dice (and even 3 dice can be risky) so if you roll it on them, might as well drop it. Level 4's will get good mileage out of it though, and it's a good spell (since Ward Saves are rare to non-existent in Ogre Kingdoms armies).

• Spell 6: The Maw: A big direct damage spell (NOT a vortex) that's quite fun. Drop the small blast somewhere within 18" and Scatter it. If misfire is rolled, enemy gets to place and scatter it. Once it lands, everyone under it takes an Initiative test. Pass and you take a S3 hit. Fail and you take a S7 hit with the Multiple Wounds (D6) rule. This casts on a 15+ and can be pushed up to a large blast on a 21+. This one is quite risky, requiring 4 dice for a Level 4 to reliably get off (and 6 for it to reliably get the big version off) and a misfire can cost you dearly with your Ogres' poor Initiative. This spell's not usually worth it; to start it relies on hoping you get it but don't get a miscast that fucks you, hoping that your enemy didn't bring a scroll for this moment (or dispel it themselves), hoping that you don't misfire or scatter off the unit you wanted to hit and hoping at the end that the enemy fails the test (and gets hurt enough to make a difference). On top of all the chances that it might fail (or do nothing), even if it succeeds it's probably not going to justify it's massive cost. This one spell is likely going to drain most to nearly all of your magic dice and waste most of your phase when there are so many buffs you could've been using instead.


Lore of the Great Maw on a Level 4

On your Slaughtermaster, you are essentially guaranteed to get some great buffs. These can often be augmented to affect all units within 12", due to the Slaughtermaster's lofty +4 to cast, those aren't always that hard, plus you can always 6-dice a big regen spell and make your opponent cry. If you aren't sure about what to give your level 4, this is not a bad choice.


Lore of the Great Maw on a Level 1/2

When you are using a level 2 wizard of any kind, it is very important to look at the Signature Spell. Stubborn, while handy, isn't often a super important spell to have, and will be even less useful in the presence of a Crown of Command. If your level 4 is going for a different lore however, you have little choice. I wouldn't ever take a Level 1 with this lore, since there are too many spells that you might just not want or need.



Lore of Heavens

Similar to Lore of the Great Maw, Lore of Heavens has a lot of utility. Two hexes, one augment, 2 magic missiles, Comet and Wind Blast. The Signature Spell is going to make your ogres harder to hit in combat, while simultaneously making it more difficult for your enemy to pass fear tests (which could put you up to needing 6's to be hit!), plus it can help negate a cannon to boot! The main Hex and Augment from this lore will either let you re-roll 1's, or force your opponent to re-roll 6's, while not huge, this can help against Poisoned attacks a ton, or give you a couple extra hits.

Lore of Heavens on a Level 4

On your Slaughtermaster, you will reliably end up with a magic missile of sorts, Ice Shards, and maybe some extra offense, or another Augment/Hex. Harmonic Convergence works fantastically with Ironguts and any other unit hitting and wounding on 2's and 3's. The magic missiles are both amazing at eliminating chaff and redirectors, especially so if they happen to be a flyer, and Ice Shards will help keep you alive in combat. If you're playing against a static, or clumped up army, Comet of Cassendora is really nice. I typically tend to play an army with few units, so the amount of damage I will take from Comet, is minimal when compared to the enemy. With this in mind, you can often cast it into the middle of the field with little worry. This is definitely not a bad lore for a Level 4, though keep in mind that using this on your Slaughtermaster will mean you won’t necessarily have all the great buffs from the Great Maw.

Lore of Heavens on a Level 1/2

The Signature Spell here is Ice Shards, which you may have noticed that I'm a huge fan of. With that in mind, the other spells in the lore (maybe except Wind Blast) are all pretty good. If you need to save points, you can take a level 1 for just Ice Shards and he will be well worth his points, though with the utility of this lore, I would recommend taking a level 2 and subbing the less desirable spell for Ice Shards.



Lore of Beasts

Now we're talking a lore I can get behind! Lore of Beasts spell attribute won’t mean much for your army, but generally, this lore makes your characters stronger, tougher and have more attacks. Combine that with a nasty curse, a good magic missile and the ability to turn yourself into a Mountain Chimera and we're talking a lore that Ogres can really take advantage of.

Lore of Beasts on a Slaughtermaster

The most impressive spells in the lore, and the Signature Spell are all 10-16+ to cast, because of this, your Slaughtermaster is an ideal Wizard to take this lore. On a Level 4, you'll probably be able to get one of the offensive boosting spells, plus the Curse of Anraheir or Amber Spear. Personally, if I have to pick between one, I'll take the Amber Spear, while the Curse is nice, it does slow down the enemy and can keep them from getting within charge distance, which is never a good idea. Savage Beast of Horos takes Slaughtermasters from good fighters to near greater daemon levels. The only spell that I really don't like taking is Flock of Doom, generally the rest can all be useful, and often times I even use Pann's Impenetrable Pelt on my deathstar to make all the models in the front rank, sans musician and standard, T7-8.

Lore of Beasts on a Butcher

When I take Lore of Beasts on a Butcher, it is probably for one reason, Wyssan's Wildform. This handy spell is going to turn your unit of ogres into S5 T5 monsters! Even though it has a fairly high casting value, this is a spell that I have no problem taking on a Level 1/2 because I'm going to be throwing quite a few dice at it anyhow! The problem with a Butcher with Beasts is that just about any other spell he gets is going to also need several dice to cast, so it means your lower level wizard may be sucking up all the dice in your magic phase. All that said, if you've got a Level 1 that you're not sure what to give, Lore of Beasts can complement the Great Maw nicely, giving you yet another spell to make your units stronger with.



Lore of Death

Lore of Death is clearly an offensive based lore, though it also has a sprinkling of debuffing. It also contains the dreaded Purple Sun!

Lore of Death on a Slaughtermaster

When considering Lore of Death, there are many reasons to get it on a Slaughtermaster, the Signature Spell, Spirit Leech is based off of Leadership, so there's a good place to start. A Slaughtermaster has an unimpressive LD8, but that's still one better than a Butcher at LD7! Additionally, there are some spells that just aren't useful, like Aspect of the Dreadknight, and when you're rolling more than one or two spells, it is less of a problem if this one comes up. In terms of utility, having a Slaughtermaster with Death isn't a bad idea, since it will give you some good offensive magic, as well as making your enemies weaker in combat.

Lore of Death on a Butcher

Sadly, due to the LD7 of a Butcher, it is very rare that I would justify taking Death magic on a Butcher. Since you will frequently take the signature spell with a Level 1/2, having one based on your own LD isn't a great starting point. In addition, all the fun spells have a fairly high casting value, which will mean 3-4 dice, just to have an average chance of casting. Sorry Butcher, I'm leaving this to the Slaughtermaster.



Lore of Fire & Firebellys

Another option is the Firebelly, who has access to Lore of Fire (duh). Lore of Fire offers decent offensive spells and the Firebelly himself is a useful hero, with some solid combat abilities.

The Firebelly is one of my favorite models in the Ogre Kingdoms range, and fortunately, he's pretty useful in the game! In addition to being a Level 1/2 Fire wizard (which I'll get to in a minute) he also has Flaming Attacks, a Breath Weapon and a natural ward save to flaming attacks! The Flaming Attacks is very important because it means he has flaming impact hits! This means, when you charge into a regenerating unit, if his Impact Hit causes a wound, it will strip regeneration from the unit before the normal attacks and stomps are made. Similarly, if he is in a unit of Ironguts, you can use the Breath Weapon at his normal initiative to strip regen, before swinging with his, and the rest of the unit's, great weapons.

In addition to the awesome utility that the Firebelly brings with his combat abilities, he is a Level 1/2 Fire Wizard. Generally, I only take him as a level 1 with Fireball. The other spells in the lore are alright, but typically I find my ogres do best when their magic supports the units in combat, rather than blasts the enemy from afar. Fireball is very useful to kill charge redirectors, but unfortunately the other spells don't fill this role reliably enough. The only other spell from Lore of Fire that I would like is Flaming Sword of Rhuin, which makes your units a bit harder hitting in a fight, but only being a level 2, means the chances of you getting that particular spell aren't very high, so I typically save my points and just be happy blasting chaff away before it slows me down.

Post 11 - Ogre Tactics: In Defense of Hunters

www.thediceabide.com/blog/2011/10/ogre-kingdoms-in-defense-of-hunters?rq=ogre


So hopefully by now, all of you who enjoy sweaty larders as much as I do, have played a few games with the new book and tried out everything there is to offer. After playing a few games, I feel that the Hunter is an underutilized unit in the army book. You may disagree, but hear me out...


The Package

So what does this hunter look like on paper? For 130 points, you have a Bruiser stat line, but with a boost to LD9 and a respectable BS 4, he comes with a Hand Weapon, Light Armor and a Great Throwing Spear (12" range, S+1, Quick to Fire). The Hunter is a Loner, which means that nobody can use his LD (except Sabretusks), and he can't be the general. A Hunter's equipment options include an Additional Hand Weapon, Ironfist, Great weapon, Harpoon Launcher and Blood Vulture (pick 1 from the list). A Harpoon Launcher is usually a decent choice, offering you a 36" S6 D3 wounds weapon, though when you're not mounted it becomes Move or Shoot. The other unique equipment option is the Blood Vulture, which gives you a S4 Sniper weapon, if it didn't have to roll to hit, I'd consider it, but since you only get one choice from the list, I would skip it.

On top of the equipment options, your Hunter can take 50 points of magic items and big names. Lastly, your hunter has the option to take a Stonehorn, which I'll go over later. So after looking over the equipment, and realizing that your awesome Hunter can't fight in units, you need to figure out exactly what you can use them for. There are are 3 options on how you will run a Hunter: alone, with Sabre Tusks, on a Stonehorn.


All by myself

Taking a Hunter on foot with no back up may seem like suicide, but it can actually be a wonderful use to get a cheapish monster running around and being a huge pain in the neck. At the end of the day, a Hunter still has an impressive stat line which rivals many actual monsters in the game. When running alone, I would recommend Long Strider, to move up to M7, and some sort of ranged protection like the Shield of Ptolos, plus whatever close combat option you fancy. This allows him to shrug off most ranged shooting long enough to charge someplace tender.


Run with the Wolves

Building on the same idea of a Hunter being a speedy torpedo of fat and fists, you could run a Hunter with some Sabretusks. At 21 points a piece, these guys are pretty cheap and have a very impressive stat line. With the Hunter, the unit's typically low LD of 4 is increased to 9, and they gain the ability to Vanguard, though as a down side, the Hunter is going to be slowing them down significantly with M6. Increasing the Hunter's movement with Long Strider is again a good idea, which makes the unit M7 Swiftstride. Running a Hunter with Longstrider, some magic items and 8 Sabretusk is going to run you a mere 348 points to have a unit which is dishing out as many attacks as an Ogre, on a more narrow frontage and has WS/I 4. On top of that, they're making Vanguard moves and have Swiftstride, so if you go second, you could end up with a very nice first turn charge.


Scary Monsters

The last option I'm going to talk about is the wonderful and dreaded Stonehorn. This guys stats are sporting multiple 6's, and it does a whole boat load of Impact hits. You can read more about the strengths of the Stonehorn by itself on my article "Ogre Tactics: Stonehorn vs Thundertusk!" There are a few reasons to consider taking this as a mount for your Hunter; for me, the biggest reason is that the Hunter is LD9, meaning that your monster is much less likely to run when things turn sour, there is nothing more embarrassing than a massive Stonehorn running off the field because he got a little spooked by some Night Goblins. Another reason for taking a Stonehorn as a mount is that it means you're not using up your precious Rare points, so you could still take a pair of Ironblasters and a Thundertusk without going over your limit. The last benefit of being a Hunter mount is the Hunting Beast rule, which until a FAQ comes out, seems to overwrite the normal way that characters on mounts are affected by shooting attacks ("any shooting attacks against he model will hit the Stonehorn on a D6 roll of 1-4, and the Hunter on a roll of 5+" - p.53, Ogre Kingdoms), this means that 1/3 of all the weak shots that would normally wound the Stonehorn are now hitting the Hunter instead, and 2/3 of the cannonballs that would normally splatter the Hunter across the field impact into the Stonehorn instead.

When running a Hunter on Stonehorn, I typically give him the Shield of Ptolos (1+ save to range), the Berserker Sword (also giving the hunter frenzy and ensuring you never lose it and thus Immune to Psychology). The only down side is that at 425 points, it puts a large strain on your Hero choices, meaning you have to choose between a L2 caster and a BSB in normal 2500 point games.


The End

So there you have it! Hopefully you'll give these fur clad fatties the credit they deserve on the field and give them a try!

Post 13 - Ogre Tactics: 'Guts vs Bulls

www.thediceabide.com/blog/2011/11/ogre-tactics-guts-vs-bulls?rq=ogre


Once, a long time ago, you had a requirement of 1+ bulls, but that is no more, now you are free in your decision to take Guts or Bulls! Today I'm going to go over the two units and why you should take one over the other.


Bull Hockey

Ogres are a wall of meat, fists and fat, boasting the fairly impressive stat line, they move fast and hit hard. At a mere 30 points apiece, each model is dishing out 3 S4 attacks, and now they come with light armor! They have 2 equipment options, neither of which are particularly expensive, your choice is either an additional hand weapon or an ironfist (basically a shield). Standard command options, though unfortunately no magic banner.


Gut Instinct

Ironguts are a bit more costly at 43 points a model, each one comes equipped with a great weapon and heavy armor, meaning they're going to dish out more damage and take potentially less. They also have normal command options, but they also get the ability to take a magic banner, which is extremely important to remember.


Medium Units

Now we are down to units of 6 Ironguts vs 8 Bulls. Meaning 18 S6 attacks and 3 S5 impacts vs 24 S4 attacks and 4 S5 impacts. Against T4, the bulls are dealing 7.166 wounds on the charge, while the Ironguts weigh in at a whopping 9.5, though when dealing with lower toughness, the Bulls are hitting for 11.33 wounds and the Guts for 10.5. That's actually a pretty marginal difference, and when you factor in armor (5+), that 11.33 wounds on the Bulls is reduced to 9.4, while the Guts are unaffected. The Bulls can take more punishment with the extra parry and wounds, but even for the same point cost, the Guts just take the cake in combat.


Hordes

A horde of Ironguts is a terrifying sight, and for the same amount of points you could get 24 Bulls! I wouldn't recommend a unit of 24, but a unit of 18 plus an extra unit of 6 isn't a bad idea. Lets pretend that you're fortunate enough with your horde fully in combat and they charged, your Bulls will deal 18.5 wounds vs T4 and 23 against T3. Ironguts however in this kind of volume are dealing 27 wounds against either T3 or T4! When it comes down to sheer hitting power, the Irongut horde will probably butcher anything in it's path, if you put in the Flaming Banner then very little will be able to stand up to you. Now lets talk price tag, 18 Ironguts is starting at 774 points, which could very well be 30% of your whole army, but the Bulls are only going to run you a modest 576 points, still expensive, but only 23% of a 2500 point army.

I've tried playing with both the Gut horde and the Bull horde and honestly, while the damage the Guts deal is impressive, it is hard to justify spending nearly a third of my army on a single unit. When you're running a Gut horde, it will become a Gutstar, and basically dictate the whole way your army plays, while if you're taking a Bull horde, you will still deal a ton of damage and be able to withstand a gruesome amount of punishment. Of the two, I now prefer the Bulls, since they allow me to still have a flexible army with multiple hard hitting units, instead of just the one.


Take the Bull by the Horns

I know that Bulls is now an antiquated term, but I don't care, I still love them and want to give them the credit they deserve. For both small and large units, I think the Bulls win every day, they are just so much cheaper now that for a large unit, they aren't terribly expensive and for a cheaper unit, you can still get a fair number of models on the board. I still do enjoy my guts though, but they are mostly mitigated for mid-sized units where they can deal a lot of damage without taking a huge chunk from your budget.