Editing Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Ogre Kingdoms (section)

==Building Your Army==
===Buying Your Army===

If you buy only GW models, point to dollar Ogre Kingdoms are, thanks to their small unit size, the cheapest army to build.  The Battalion box is extremely well rounded and you'll use everything in it.  A good thing to do is buy two of those boxes and two boxes of Mournfang Cavalry.  This gives you 12 Bulls, 12 Ironguts (to be used as bulls), 8 Leadbelchers, and 4 Mournfang Cavalry.  With the extra bits from the Mournfang boxes, you actually have enough bits to kitbash yourself a BSB as well replacing one Bull or Irongut giving you a well-rounded, legal, fieldable army for less than $300.  The only other thing you really need to get at that point is a Wizard.

===Army Composition===
Bulls, Butchers/Slaughtermasters, Leadbelchers and Ironblasters are the must haves, build your army around them. Scraplauncher, Thundertusks, Stonehorns, Giants, Bruisers, Firebellies, Mournfang Cavalry and Ironguts aren't quite as all-around good, but all of them are really good choices. Hunters, Sabertusks and Tyrants are if you have the points and are feeling saucy. Yhetees and Gorgers are if you don't mind spending lots of points on shit that won't matter much (unless you're playing Vampire Counts and they take those Ethereal Cavalry). Gnoblars are for causing Dangerous Terrain tests and MSU spam to getting your enemy to fully deploy so you don't get put in a disadvantageous position before the game starts.

===Magic Items and Big Names===
Ogres have 2 forms of magic items, the actual magic items themselves and big names. 

*'''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 technically take 50 points of Big Names (confirmed by FAQ) so they might be useful under those circumstances.

:*''Mawseeker:'' Useful under specific circumstances, but kind of limited. Armor of Silvered Steel protects him better at 5 points more. But can be worthwhile if you want a heavily protected Tyrant.
:*''Wallcrusher:'' Too limited to be really useful. Skip it.
:*''Kineater:'' 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. Not worth the points.
:*''Mountaineater:'' 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 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). 
:*''Deathcheater:'' Would be more useful if you could force him to reroll after he'd already rolled to wound. As with Mountaineater, you'd be better off finding a ward save. Not a bad choice for a BSB with magic banner though.
:*''Longstrider:'' Good for a Hunter who wants to run with his Sabertusks or maybe a Bruiser who wants to hang out with Yhetees. This means you'll likely never take it as both of those are bad ideas.
:*''Beastkiller:'' 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 or a Giant.
:*''Brawlerguts:'' 15 points 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. No thanks.

*'''Magic Items:'''

:*''Thundermace:'' Way too expensive and too limited to be anything resembling worthwhile. Same item had better shit for 30 points less in last edition. This one? Fuck it.
:*''Siegebreaker:'' Fucking trash. 85 points for a great weapon (the thing used to give +3 S) that strikes against Initiative. You're going to be hitting on 3+ and 4+ already and if you really wanted a Strength boost then get Giantbreaker and the Sword of Striking. It'll do the same thing, won't fuck you over if you're suddenly up against a high Initiative enemy, and is 45 points cheaper. It also has a special ability that allows it to hit units in buildings harder, but that's a really specific use that can still be accomplished through other methods. Fucking skip.
:*''Gnoblar <strike>Troll</strike>Thiefstone:'' Really funny under the right circumstances. There are theoretically better items, but this one is good enough for its points and can be really worth it for that time the enemy loses his Ruby Ring of Ruin.
:*''Greedy Fist:'' The ward save ability will activate so infrequently that it's nearly pointless. And while the secondary ability is fun, 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:'' If it was 10-15 points cheaper or worked outside a challenge, it'd be worth it. As is, pass.
:*''Grut's Sickle:'' For 50 points it works surprisingly well on a level 4 Maw caster, with very little effort you can have a +7 to cast on your second spell, besides the wizard only dies on a roll of double 1's.
:*''Hellheart:'' FUCK. YES. An interesting one-use item capable of doing anything between nothing and you-just-won-the-game. You can use it after rolling for the winds of magic in your opponent's magic phase and force every enemy wizard in D6x5" to roll on the miscast table. There is the first caveat, you need to be close. Wizards can also use whatever means they have to counter the effects (Throne of Vines, Teclis, Slann etc.) and it's actually not that probable that a wizard outright dies from a miscast. Still, if enough wizards are in range, you can do some serious damage and, at the very least, shut down this magic phase, as it is likely that your opponent will lose power dice or be unable to cast, whereas you get a free dispel dice for any roll that was made on the miscast table. Do not leave home without it. This is the best goddamn item in the entire Ogre Kingdoms list and one of the best ways to defend against enemy wizards.
:*''Rock Eye:'' Kind of limited in usefulness, especially in casual play where everyone discloses their magic items. But it is 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 them.
:*''Rune Maw:'' Just shy of being worth it for general use. Maybe if you could auto-force it onto Gnoblars or something, or if it worked against regular shooting. 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:'' This one can be really fun. Allows a unit to re-roll all 1's for to-hit, to-wound and armour save rolls on a successful charge. Works wonders with Mournfangs, as it lets them re-roll the Mournfang attacks, impact hits and stomps as well, all of which (if you pointed them at the correct target) should be 2's or 3's anyways. As icing on the cake, it also includes a breath weapon attack, which can turn combat all on it's own. Additionally, units hit by the breath weapon get ASL until the end of their next turn, which sounds great but in reality is barely useful. Your opponent will have already attacked when you use it at I2 in close combat (unless you're facing Saurus Warriors, or Dwarfs/Ogres if you put it on your I3 BSB Bruiser), if anything you might deter a unit from charging you in their next turn.

===Magic===
Ogre magic consists primarily of Butchers and Slaughtermasters. They have access to the Lore of the Great Maw, Death, Beasts and Heavens, but one of them must take Great Maw. 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 hit.
For BRB Lores: Death is used less often now that Deathfisting has been nerfed, if you want it put it on a Slaughtermaster since a Butcher can't reliably use the signature. Beasts works well on both either as a general purpose augmenting Butcher or a Slaughtermaster who can more reliably exploit the other great spells in the Lore. Savage Beast of Horos takes Slaughtermasters from good fighters to near greater daemon levels. Heavens is like Beasts, fantastic signature spell which is easy for Lvl 2 wizards to cast and has a nice variety of spells afterwards that a Slaughtermaster can also use (though he'd normally be better with the Lore of the Great Maw). Harmonic Convergence works fantastically with Ironguts and any other unit hitting and wounding on 2's and 3's.
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. If you already have a Slaughtermaster for the Lore of the Great Maw (take it on him if you can, he can make more use out of it than a Butcher) and just want a straight blast-em caster, Firebelly is the way to go, especially if you have some pesky Ethereal models to deal with.

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'''Heads up''' 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.

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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.

Overall Lore of the Great Maw is all round fantastic and should be used on a Level 4 Slaughtermaster! Great Maw allows you to buff your guys to the high heavens, replenish lost wounds on your Slaughtermaster (opening him up to making him a vicious challenger) and just overall beat your opponents into submission. The other Lores are quite good (Beasts, I'm look at you) but Lore of the Great Maw is a very underated Lore. Not as powerful as other unique Lores, but for Ogres it does the job....REALLY well.

While Ogres have some really awesome offensive stuff available to them, it's just as important to remember the opponents magic phase. Since you don't have cheap, cheerful casters or any back line to bunker them in you won't typically have scrolls (or other minor items) to give you a leg up. Combined with this, a general lack of good armor, wards or magic resistance can be bad news for your flabtastic dudes. It's really important that you understand which spells are a major threat to you and focus on dispelling them even if it means eating some damage along the way. Of particular note is Purple Sun of Xereus which is horrendously damaging to Ogres and needs to respected (it'll kill an entire Gutstar in one cast if you don't take care of it). You can certainly play around it, but this is not just any damage spell. Things like this (hyper killy but situationally tricky to use spells) are the perfect reason to take chaff units to ensure your opponent has to deploy his magebunker before you throw down your main combat units. Simply deploying well can make Purple Sun substantially less bothersome because of it's random movement and limited range. Fortunately your Ogres are fucking amazing so even if you do have to let a few other spells go, you are generally less vulnerable than other armies due to high toughness (and strength for Dwellers) and your guys are badass enough to win even against buffed infantry.