Kings of War/Tactics/Ogres

Why Play Ogres

Why indeed?

I'll tell you why. So that you can rampage across the battlefield, pumping out a crapton of accurate crushing strength attacks with your legions of warriors. So your shooters can blaze away at opponents as they come charging forward - and then whack them in melee.

Army Special Rules

• Brutal: Just like Nathan Explosion, the entire army has the Brutal special rule unless otherwise noted. Thus any enemy unit in melee with one of your units will add +1 to all nerve tests they take.
• Not a special rule as such, but it's worth noting that every Ogre hero (except the Red Goblin Biggit) has nimble, instead of individual - which means they still get to move like any other hero, but they don't suffer the penalty to flanking attacks (and likewise nothing is penalised for flanking them) that afflict the heroes of other armies. Powerful when used correctly.

Unit Analysis

Hero

• Army Standard Bearer: Cheap and fairly limited in hand to hand combat. That being said they don't have individual and so can serve as fairly cheap chaff unit.

• Boomer Sergeant: One Ogre, one bloody big gun. Odd ball unit with little use due to lack of inspiring, mainly exists to cater to people who single based their Boomers in an earlier edition.

• Captain: More or less a budget Warlord that gives up 2 attack dice and 2 nerve for a cheaper entry feee, but does have the option of carrying a heavy crossbow. Take him if you need more muscle than an ASB, but don't have the points for the Warlord.

• Grokagamok: With his big fuck off axe, Grokagamok is the only hero in the game you could consider a serious combat unit in his own right - he hits on a +3, has 7 attacks, the blast (D3) rule, and on top of that he gets to double and triple attacks with side and rear flank charges. On defence he's also tough, with a 5+, the same nerve as a horde of warriors, and a 9" inspiring range. At 260 points, you're paying for it though.

• Red Goblin Biggit: Your goblin hero choice. Inspires your goblins and is pretty cheap, but your ogres don't care how much he does for your goblins and won't get that nerve re-roll.

• Siege Master: Since it only provides inspiring to Siege Breakers, it's effectively a way of giving them an inspiring aura that's as difficult to snipe away as they are, without letting it replace the ASB in all circumstances. Limited use, in other words, but a use none the less.

• Warlock: Somewhat overpriced magic user. With a magic item a standard bearer will be able to case just as well, fight better, be able to inspire all units (not just beserkers) and be the same price. Only downside will be the lack of extra casting dice from being close to beserkers.

• Warlord: The biggest sledgehammer in an army of sledgehammers, aside from legendary choices. Put him on a chariot and he has an amazing CS2, TC2, which lets him wound everything on a 2+. Throw in a Brew of Sharpness to boost his melee to 2+ as well, and you've got a 7 attack blender that carves through the elite units of other factions like nobody's business. Avoid getting him stuck in tarpits, though, as the downside of treating every target the same is that his seven attacks struggle hard with massed, cheap targets.

• Nomargarok: A new living legend added with Edge of the Abyss, fluffwise Grokagamok's long time adviser, on the table he's a special Warlock with proper inspiring, heal, bane chant, an 18" ranged attack, and more melee bite, without the need for dice boosting Berserkers like a normal Warlock.

Infantry

• Red Goblins: Identical to Spitters in the Goblin list, but without the yellow-bellied army special rule. A good unit for putting damage on the flyers that Ogres can struggle with, and otherwise cheaply screening the flanks of your melee Ogres.

Large Infantry

• Warriors: Staple Ogre troops with an option for two-handed weapons to boost the carnage. They're relatively cheap and effective. Warriors are the only unit available to Ogres that can be taken as a legion (12). If you've got the points and their wide frontage doesn't bother you, a Legion of Warriors is an excellently punchy and tough unit. The units of 3/6 are good to use as base of comparison to other melee Ogre units including Chariots.

• Hunters: For 15/20 more points you get Warriors that lose 1 Defense but gain Ensnare and Pathfinder. Since losing Defense and gaining Ensnare is kind of a wash (though keeping Defense seems generally preferable) these guys are judged mostly by your need for Pathfinder.

• Berserker Braves: For 20/30 more points you get Warriors that lose 1 Melee and 1 Defense but gain 6/12 Attacks and 1 Nerve. They also amplify the Warlock through Bloodlust (see Warlock, below) and have no Wavering limit. You might think they're a good choice to add more offensive punch. The truth is, Warriors with two-handed weapons will provide more punch for your buck. Their value depends more on your need for the boosted Nerve, lack of Wavering limit, and whether you field a Warlock.

• Siege Breakers: For 35/50 more points you get Warriors that lose 1 Speed and 1 Defense but gain Crushing Strength (+2), Thunderous Charge (1), and Big Shield. When used correctly, the loss of Defense is irrelevant with Big Shield (Defense 6 to the front). They're highly effective against Defense 5 or 6 targets where other units would struggle. Their high strength is lost on low defense targets so choose your targets wisely. One of the Ogre's most effective and toughest units when used correctly. Elves can shoot at them to the front all day to close to no effect.

• Boomers: Warriors with a Breath Weapon that lose 1 Melee and 1 Defense and cost 20/30 more points. A hybrid ranged/melee unit more so than Shooters due to their short range and ability to move and shoot without penalty. Further, they're great at tearing into those dodgy/sneaky Individuals since their weapons ignore that penalty and Cover. Though at 12", its not hard to avoid with said targets. Since you can either Shoot or Charge, these guys may find themselves less effective than Warriors or Shooters at the respective tasks.

• Shooters: With limited selections that shoot, these guys fill the hole nicely. Piercing (2) and 36" Range makes Shooters a cross between War Machine and missile troop. If you need non-allied ranged support then look no further. If you need help taking out pesky Individuals, consider Boomers. They're still decent in melee when Disordered or if a flank/rear charge presents itself but otherwise you're better off shooting - and boy can these guys shoot. They throw 18 dice for a horde that damage most things on a +2 or +3, and the toughest of tough units on a 4+, with the +5 to hit, being outranged by true war machines, and not being able to shoot and move in the same turn keeping them in check. Try putting the brew of keen eyedness on these guys, and park the horde in the best, flank protected firing lane you can visualise, because hitting on a +4 will delete a chaff regiment per turn. Because every motherfucker on the planet started adding this as a single allied unit to every army, we can't have nice things anymore, so per the Clash of Kings rules the Brew of keen eyedness is no longer a valid item.

Cavalry

• Red Goblin Scouts: Decent light cavalry, however don't expect them to hold their own in any kind of combat. Not too bad at clearing out chaff. Also the only unit on the Ogres list with a speed greater than 7, which makes them mandatory flankers and counter chargers if you want to run Chariots, because other cavalry heavy armies will just run rings around you all day otherwise.

Large Cavalry

• Chariots: For 40/65 points over your basic Warrior you gain +1 Speed, +3/6 Attacks, and Thunderous Charge (2). The only drawback is the considerably larger footprint and 30mm wider frontage. Given open terrain, Chariots are a very good and punchy unit, however given their relatively low nerve (for their points) and their movement being lower than most other heavy cavalry they will need screening to ensure that they don't die to shooting/other cavalry charges.

Monsters

• Giant: The same as the Giant in the Goblin and Orc lists. Big, mean, tough, ignores hindered charges, and has the second highest nerve in the Ogre list after a Warrior Legion. With a +4 to hit and crushing strength 3 it can hurt anything, but the D6+6 attacks means that a giant can oscillate between tarpit and death incarnate, depending on how well you roll.

• Mammoth: Wielder of by far the biggest trunk in the Ogre army. Not as resilient as a giant, but has a guaranteed 12 attacks, and thunderous charge to add to crushing strength for the initial blow. For an extra 30 points, you can also strap a 36" range, Blast D3, Piercing 2 ballista onto its back - that doesn't have the reload rule Shooters have - which is the closest the Ogres ever get to a war machine. Decent use of 30 points if you're already taking a mammoth, and have them to spare.

• Red Goblin Blaster: A cart filled with explosives, pushed towards the enemy by a Goblin, who proceeds to light it, and then run really, really fast. Only of limited utility, especially since a lucky hit while it's still in your lines results in it pasting all of your units instead, but a useful 1-2 turn decoy when rushing to melee a gun line, and a good softener before meeting a melee army with your own, if you roll well on the blast.

War Engines

• None. Ogres have no War Machines in their army list. These units ordinarily provide excellent ranged support to the army. Without them, you cannot easily hit distant targets, pick off damaged units that may be hiding, destroy enemy artillery, etc. There are a lot of tasks that War Machines can accomplish. If you want them in your Ogre army, you're going to have to buddy up. Since Ogres are Neutral they can ally with any other army. Your choice will largely depend on aesthetic preference, lore compatibility, and choice of useful parent units. Since you'll have to take a Regiment, Horde, or Legion to access an ally's War Machines, maximizing the utility of those required units will ultimately decide which army you choose to ally with. Arguably, any army you choose will likely have a useful parent unit to include. Below is a list of solid choices to include as War Machines. It excludes War Machines with less than 48" range. That's because the long range is what this army needs out of a War Machine in the first place.
  • Abyssal Dwarfs: Angkor Heavy Mortar, G'rog Mortar, Katsuchan Rocket Launcher
  • Basilea: Heavy Arbalest
  • Dwarfs: Ironbelcher Cannon, Jarrun Bombard
  • Elves/Twilight Kin: Bolt Thrower
  • Goblins: Big Rocks Thrower, Sharpstick Thrower
  • Kingdom of Men: Ballista, Cannon, Siege Artillery
  • Ratkin: Artillery, Shredder
  • Undead/Empire of Dust: Balefire Catapult

Tactics

Tactica here.