WFB REVIEW: Ogre Kingdoms Armybook
Hi all! The Ogre Kingdoms Army book is here. Lets take a look at what’s new and exciting!
The Characters
For heroes and characters, the majority of them are a huge disappointment. They’re severely overcosted, not as powerful or are non-competitive. Some of the fluff is good, but the majority of the named characters are not viable. The only one that somewhat stands out is Golgfag Maneater. He comes with all the awesome Maneater unit rules and randomly generates 2D6x10 worth of magic items when you bring him along. This means that the character is strictly dependent on the roll of the dice, and like the Sisters semi-codex, I’m not a big fan of RNG in an already random game.
The Rank and File
Now that SCs are out of the way, let’s talk about your average joes and blank template lords and heroes. The biggest winner is the Slaughtermaster in my opinion. There’s a current debate going on right now whether or not the SM can take magical armor (since he has access to Ironfist), but most builds on the Slaughtermaster right now has him running Armor of Destiny. A T5 5W dude that can heal himself via Gut magic and can wear heavy armor? Yes please! Another popular build that people have been using is Glittering Scale + Fencer’s Blades. WS10 and -1 to hit means everything in the game hits him on 5s and 6s.
Yes, I would say the Slaughtermaster is probably the best buy for a lord/hero choice, but there’s also plenty of other viable options. Bruisers are pretty cheap for what they can do. Put a Great Weapon on them and you have a nice T5 W4 beatstick that hits at S7. Since they’re also your BSBs, Bruisers are a must have in every list because the BSB is just that important in 8th Ed. Firebellies are also a nice addition to the army because they’re a T5 4W Fire wizard that has a free S4 breath weapon. Throw on the fact they can take Great Weapons and 50 points of stuff and you can see plenty of odd combos coming from him. Just imagine the surprise on your opponent’s face when you whip out that speed potion. Personally, I would take a Firebelly as a secondary wizard just for that breath attack since your Slaughtermaster will be the one packing his mandatory Gut Magic.
Most people look down on the Tyrant because of all the hotness the SM is providing, but I think differently. You buy the Tyrant for 3 reasons: WS6, S5 and Ld.9. The extra stat bonuses are good too, but the S5 allows you to do quite a bit: Such as equipping the Giantbreaker Big Name for +1S with a Great Weapon. S8 means you ignore 2+ saves and 1+ save gets a 6+ vs. you. Add on a Other Trickster’s Shard and a 4+ ward save of your own and you’re good to go. The only thing I’m a little disappointed with about the Tyrants is the fact they can’t ride any of their big creatures or Mourfang Cavalry. A little odd, but I guess that was done because of balance reasons. More on this later.
Ogre Magic
Let’s take a quick look at Ogre magic these days. With the new book, I’m very satisfied with how Gut magic turned out. Their passive allows the user to roll a D6 after successfully casting a spell and on a 2-6, he heals 1 wound and gains +1 to his next casting/dispel roll. On a 1, he take a S6 hit, but with T5, this might not even wound. The entire lore is suited for Ogres just perfectly: Low casting costs, buffs up the wazoo (+1S spell, +1T spell, Regen) and a good variety of direct damage (2d6 S2 no armor saves or the big template spell at the end!). Players are going to be happy when they roll on their magic charts since it compliments the army very well.
Costing
As for units, you’ll see point cost reductions across the board. The special rule for Ogres now is that if they roll a 10 or better on their charge, they’re doing D3 impact hits vs their normal 1. When you combine this with the Monstrous Infantry Stomp rules and the fact the 2nd rank gets 3 attacks, you’ll see some of the hardest hitting units in the Ogre army. With a healthy point reduction to Bulls (now known as Ogres), Leadbelchers, Ironguts and the like, Ogre players will be jumping for joy.
Ogres are your basic Ogre and they have the option to take Ironfists that give them +1 save (making them 5+ since they have Light Armor) and 6+ parry. It acts exactly like a shield (much cause for debate). Ironguts are still your heavy hitters with Great Weapons and Heavy Armor. The 50pt banner allotment on them gives me plenty to work with. Gnoblars are a bit trash, but they have access to trappers which can force Dangerous Terrain checks on those charging them. Personally though, I would just stick with the cheaper Ogres as your mage bunker and Ironguts for your beatface.
Leadbelchers are now cheaper too, can shoot 24″ while moving and is D6 shots with S4 armor piercing. In the 8th Ed Specials system, they no longer compete for spots and players can take them as they wish. Popular formations are probably 2×2 or 3×3 with Musician and call it a day. Great flank anchors since they can threaten flanking light cavalry (can’t stand and shoot though) and Eagle-equivs. Maneaters are also fantastic since they’re WS4 S5 and can take a 50pt banner in the unit. Their biggest selling point is that they can pick any 2 USRs and mix them up. You can see Maneaters with Scout and Swiftstride, Vanguard and Stubborn, or Scout and Sniper. I mean, the list goes on, especially since you can equip them with all kinds of weapons ranging from Brace of Pistols to Great Weapons. Being Ogres and M6, these guys can threaten anything the game calls for really quick.
New Units
Another great addition to the Special slot is the Sabretusks and Mournfang Cavalry. Let’s start with the Sabres. They’re dirt cheap, less than cost of half an Eagle, is M8 with Eagle-like stats. No armor and crappy leadership and 1W less, but the damage these guys can inflict to warmachines makes them very attractive. Since they’re cheap and you take can take them at 1-10, they make one of the best warmachine hunters in the game. As for Mourfang Cavalry, the Warhammer world has just met its one true heavy cav. Mournfangs sport 2+ saves with 3 wounds at T4 and has a 6+ parry cause of Ironfists. They can carry one of the best banners in the book, the dreaded Dragonhide Banner and rides ontop of a M8 creature that delivers D3 S5 impact hits for each one. Four of these guys with the Dragonhide delivers 4D3 S5 impact hits, 16 WS3 S5 attacks, 13 WS3 S4 attacks, re-rolls all 1s to hit, wound and failed armor saves (in the first round of charging) of 2+. This is before they start stomping. Monstrous is the word I would describe these things. Ridiculous is the other, since in the fluff and by the picture, Ogres are riding giant cat-bears. With that said, they outclass the Yhettes in terms of functionality and durabiliy. Yhettes being Flammable is also hazardous to their playability due to Banner of Eternal Flame being everywhere. Oh, and Gorgers are just bad for their points.
Lastly, let’s talk about the Rares and magic items. The Ironblaster is a cool warmachine because it’s a S10 cannon with a massive grapeshot (of S10 as well) that can move 6″ and don’t suck in combat. For 5 points less than a Hydra, I’d say that’s a pretty good deal. The other good deals in the rares are the Stonehorn and the Thundertusk. The Stonehorn is a beatstick with S6 T6 and 6W and multi-wound weapons like cannons or bolt throwers do half damage to it. This is not what makes the thing good though: With the ability to charge with M7, any rolls of 10+ inflict 3D3+3 S6 impact hits instead of the usual. Then comes the Thunderstomp to make things interesting. If you think that’s cool, the Thundertusk is another viable option since it comes stock with a 6″ ASL aura that effects enemy models. This makes your slower Ogres hitting first to reduce the amount of damage coming back, or makes your GW Ironguts going simul. Despite having an extra rider and a large array of ranged weapons (including a mini-stonethrower), the Thundertusk is primarily a support beast that combines utility and durability.
The Not so Good Stuff
On the items front, most of the stuff here got nerfed. The Thundermace is overpriced and the Siegebreaker is just garbage. The only ones that stands out for me is the Dragonhide Banner, the Greedy Fist (Talisman) and Hellheart. Sometimes you might see the Rune Maw standard, but I think it’ll be a lesser choice because you can only carry it on the BSB. A lot of people were hyped about the Sickle, but I don’t like it for the SM because you can build him to be more killy or defensive. Besides, no one likes to be lynched if you roll double 1s. Hellheart can be good because it makes all enemy casters within D6x5″ of it suffer a miscast but the random distance is a little off-putting because on a bad roll, you’re probably just going to waste it. As for Big Names, the only one I would ever take is the Giantbreaker because +1S for Dawnstone prices is very good.
So that’s the first pass of my newest shiny Warhammer Fantasy army book. What’s your take on the big lunks?
