Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Ogre Kingdoms

This is the general tactics page on how to play Ogre Kingdoms in Total War: WARHAMMER.

Why Play Ogre Kingdoms?

• You like doomstacking with monsters anyway so why not play a faction that is 95% monsters?
• You love the satisfaction of seeing a unit's health drop heavily from the impact of a massive charge.
• Because you are the one person on the planet who has asked themselves "What if the Mongols were a bunch of big fat dudes with prehistoric animals and magic chefs backing them up?"
• Because you love meat. In fact, you are likely eating a pork chop wrapped in bacon as you read this.
• Your enemies will scream and run, but you think that's part of the fun.
• You relate to their body image a little too much.

Pros

• THICC: The vast majority of your troops are going to be composed of monsters and large units. If you only play this game to build up large monster stacks to take over the world with, this is the race for you.
• High Charge: Given your rules on the tabletop you will likely be one of the most devastating armies off the charge. If the ogres are done justice a lot of armies are going to evaporate once you make contact.
• Quality: Stat wise, expect Ogres to be one of the scariest armies in terms of pure stats. Few other factions will be able to compare to you pound for pound.
• Armor? What's that?: Everything you have pierces armour. No amount of armour is going to protect your enemies from a 4-meter tall hulk of flesh that swings a hammer the size of a small building.
• Monsters: Monsters, monsters and more monsters, you are the primo monster faction with only 2 (unless otherwise) infantry units that aren’t monsters. One way or another you will have little trouble winning the monster mash.
• Decent Ranged: For a monster focused faction you are solid at shooting. You got two forms of artillery, a monster with a bolt thrower, Leadbelchers and even Gnobblar Trappers can be useful. Ok, the Wood Elves will probably beat you in a ranged fight but you can put out some damage from far away.
• Mobility: For a faction filled with morbidly obese dumbfucks who wouldn't look out of place on R/Incel, you are quick on your feet. Your artillery can move as fast as heavy cav and you do have a variety of cavalry to speak off. You actually stand a decent chance at outmaneuvering your opponent aside from a few extreme cases.

Cons

• Lack of Numbers: Your units have a super low model count, and while the mercenaries are currently cheap, we can assume standard Ogres will want a bit more pay. Even a single casualty in a unit of anything other than Gnoblars will hurt a lot more than what other factions will suffer.
• Anti Large/Charge Defense: Given how reliant you are on size and charge, factions that have plentiful anti large and charge defence might be a massive pain in your giant, 2-ton ass (grins in Dwarf.) Ogre charge does help with Charge Defense somewhat, though you will still be losing a good chunk of your damage.
• No staying power: With limited ammo counts on your ranged units, and a heavy reliance on charges and fear, you will not be winning a sustained fight. If your enemy can outlast your ammo or your charges, you will find your inflexible roster will fail you.
• Feet Guts Firmly on the Ground: You got no air power. Nadda. Partially averted now that it's confirmed that Ogres get Lore of Manticore Summoning Beasts
• Armor? What's that?: I mean, to be fair it's probably hard for them to find armour in their size, but it does mean armour values for Ogres seem to be on the low side. Combine this with their massive hitboxes and archers can have a field day fighting them.
• Footlords only: None of your generic or legendary lords get mounts, though they do have above average movement speed. Your lords can rip up and eat most other lords for lunch, but you're going to have trouble catching them.
  • Lack of Mounts in General: Honestly, the only Lord or Hero with a mount is the Hunter with a Stonehorn. Granted, you have an army of massive, muscled up monsters who will eat most other lords and heroes for breakfast, but they're going to have to get there on foot.
• DLC?: On launch, the Ogres missed out on Yhetees and Thundertusks. It remains to be seen if these will be added as FLC units later or will be added as DLC.

Universal Traits

• Ogre Charge: If an ogre unit charges a braced unit with charge defence, they will only lose half of their charge bonus. This is very important for a faction that is so reliant on getting the charge for their damage it's nice that they have a way to not get completely cockblocked because the enemy is just standing still. That said most opponents, even the AI usually don't just sit there and let you charge them and even if they do you're probably better of circumnavigating their frontline and going for their skirmishers in the rear. So while not the most practical trait in the game it's still nice for the Ogres to have.

• Captives: During a battle the Ogres slowly fill a meter for each unit they kill that is broken or shattered. As the meter fills special army abilities are unlocked, including Dismember (an AoE slow and charge debuff), Massacre (AoE buff for AP damage and gives affected units Terror), and Butcher (basically Regrowth from the Lore of Life). This will be a very useful army mechanic against chaff-filled armies like Skaven or Beastmen, but will be hard to use against armies with a lot of unbreakable units (like daemons or undead) or a lot of low-model counts (like other ogres).

• Mercenarys:At least in Warhammer 2, at various points in the game "ogre camps" will spawn when a battles, sieges, or the sacking of a city occurs giving Non-Ogre factions access to some select Ogre Kingdom units, thus allowing The Empire to have a Core of Monstrous infantry or Dwarves Thicc Cavalry units. It's not the Entire Roster but even a unit of 'common' ogre bulls can give a lot of Campaign versatility for some factions

Lords

Legendary Lords

• Greasus Goldtooth: Overtyrant of all ogres, in his beautiful and shockingly obese glory. Greasus inflicts a leadership debuff on enemy units due to how stinking rich he is. He may or may not be slower due to being pushed by gnoblars instead of being carried by them, but either way he's big as hell and might want to be careful about ranged units.
• Skrag the Slaughterer: Skrag is a legendary caster lord, using Lore of the Great Maw. Skrag is still an ogre (and has big swords instead of arms), so he is capable of holding is own in melee unless against anti-large or duelists. On top of that, Skrag has the ability to summon Gorgers during battle, and his cooking pot can make any gorgers in his army stronger the more kills he gets.

Generic Lords

• Tyrant: Standard melee lord. Should be an absolute beatstick in combat.

• Slaughtermaster: Generic caster lord, supporting the ogres through the power of either the Lore of the Great Maw or Lore of Beasts.

Generic Heroes

• Butcher: A hero version of the Slaughtermaster, in case you want a melee lord but still want magic. Like their lord counterpart, Butchers comes with Lore of the Great Maw or Lore of Beasts.
• Firebelly: A caster hero, cooking the army's next meal during the battle with the Lore of Fire.
• Hunter: A hybrid character with throwing spears, provides buffs to Sabretusks (on the campaign at least) and the only character on launch able to use a mount, a massive Stonehorn.

Units

Infantry

• Gnoblar Fighters: Your chaff unit. Surprisingly tankier than you would think, having the same statline as Goblins. However, that lack of shield really hurts them in the long run. Use them as even more fragile goblins to absorb charges, tarpit units for a small while, and to plug gaps whilst your chungus boys get into position.
• Gnoblar Trappers: Gnoblars, but they have stalk, vanguard deployment, and have ranged attack. Also come with the ability to slow down enemies in an area around them, making them surprisingly good support skirmishers.

Monstrous Infantry

• Ogre Bulls: Your "standard" infantry, they come in the usual monstrous infantry size and a tremendous charge bonus to batter the enemy with. They will cause fear and come with siege-attacker to help get past those city walls so you don't have to wait out in a siege. Come in three varieties: a cheaper, single mace version, dual weapons for anti-infantry and an ironfist for bonus melee defence and missile block.

• Ironguts: Your thiccest bois. Comes with armour-piercing melee and are also one of the only armoured units in your entire roster. Expect them to be able to throw down with the best elite units the other factions have to offer. Notably lack an ironfist variant, meaning that they can only rely on that extra armor to survive missiles.

• Maneaters: The well-travelled mercenaries of your army, they are far more flexible than your standard unit of ogres. They come in a pistol, ironfist and a great weapon variant. The pistol for helping them pepper the enemy before the battle itself is joined, the ironfist for extra survivability and the great weapon for increased charge and a bonus vs large. They also come with Immune to Psych so don't expect to see these guys running away any time soon.

• Leadbelchers: Hybrid missile/melee unit with good range + armour-piercing damage + fire on the move. These guys are one of the best units available, their cannon salvos deal enormous damage. They can do okay in melee but don't leave them in it for too long.

Beasts & Monsters

• Sabretusks: Similar to high elf war lions, except they have more models, more melee atk, more weapon strength, and run as fast as chaos warhounds with 95(!) speed. Try to keep them away from hard targets, zero armour-piercing damage and rampage means they won't survive if they tangle with an enemy that can properly fight back. A hunter hero can make them incredibly scary by giving them frenzy, stalk, and vanguard deployment.
• Gorgers: Come in groups of eight, unbreakable, stalk, frenzy, and vanguard deployment. Use them as you would Mournguls, sneaky flankers to rip apart tasty and tender backlines.
• Slavegiant: Your normal giant unit, except this time cajoled and beaten into battle by the very people who destroyed their race rather than bribed with booze. Sometimes the Ogres are the absolute worst. Ironically enough though, this is the only giant in the game that can actually regain health thanks to the trollguts spell, making it a lot more tanky if you bring a gut magic caster.
• Stonehorn: If Beastmen, Greenskins, and Norsca are any indication, this bigboi will outclass your giant in every way if you're looking for a good single entity monster. Specifically looks to be good against infantry much like a mammoth or War Sphinx, and has one of the highest armor values out of your entire army.

Monster Cavalry

• Mournfang Cavalry: One of the most powerful cavalry units from the tabletop game. And at least their mercenary counterparts don't disappoint. Their statline is scary, they have about the same mass as a carnosaur and their lack of armour actually works in their favour too, since the things enemies would normally roll out to counter monstrous cavalry usually have lower base damage, making them even beefier than they already appear on paper. They don't have Ogre Charge for some reason, but their speed and heavy mass will usually make up for it. Comes with standard, ironfist, and great weapon variants
• Crushers: Rhinox cavalry. I know. We’re surprised they’ve shown up in the base game too. Essentially acting as an even better version of Mournfangs, they come in two variants, ironfists and great weapons. Also, just like on tabletop, they are expensive, at 1800-1900 points in multiplayer.

Artillery

• Gnoblar Scraplauncher: A single entity catapult, with surprising speed and charge stats. When they run out of ammo, using them as a chariot may not be out of the question.
• Ironblaster: Mobile cannon pulled by a rhinox. In other words, it's an artillery piece with none of the weaknesses. This is one of the best units on the roster as it can snipe out large monsters while running over infantry that gets it's hands on it. If left alone, this thing will demolish armies. Cavalry will be it's biggest weakness, as they're fast enough to catch up and tear it down. Also since it only has one model, it may lose in shootouts with other dedicated canon units.
• Stonehorn Harpoon Launcher: Big armoured monster with a fire on the move ballista that can outrange vampire coast deck gunners. Capable of throwing down with an ancient stegadon in melee.

Multiplayer Strategies

You are THE monster faction of the trilogy. You have a grand total of 2 normal infantry units, neither of which is going to carry the day for you, and a bunch of big fat boys in all manners of flavours. You are going to be a scary force on the charge and have some of the scariest units in the entire game. Mournfangs make elite cav from other factions cry and they're your lowest tier cavalry unit. Of course, your reliance on monsters comes with an obvious weakness as you will struggle against... well, pretty much anyone who can bring a decent amount of Anti-Large to the field. You may also struggle since your army tends to be predictable, and I imagine veterans will learn how to counter you fast. Still, if you want to grab a monster horde to feast on your enemies this is the race for you. Here's how to win glory for The Maw:

• Beastmen:

• Bretonnia:

• Daemons of Chaos:

• Warriors of Chaos:

• Dark Elves:

• Dwarfs: If you can reach the Dwarfs you're going to do a lot of damage; they've always had trouble fending off lots of large entities at once. However, that "if" is nothing to sneeze at. You will be eating cannonballs from the beginning of the match. Be sure to bring ironfist variants on most of your Ogre troops to get some survivability against dwarf ranged play. Bring Leadbelchers and Ironblasters as well; dwarfs often have trouble against the artillery of other armies, and while they'll probably focus down your ranged units before you do theirs at least if they're doing that they're not shooting your advancing ogres. If by some miracle your Ironblasters survive they can still serve as chariots, something else dwarf players hate. Gorgers might be a worthwhile investment for stealthily getting into the back lines. Watch out for Trollhammer torpedoes!

• Empire: If you didn't like the Empire before then you'll definitely hate them now. With Markus Wulfheart, Huntsmen, artillery aplenty, and skirmish cavalry running circles around you, fighting the Empire is going to suck. However, With what we know about ogres so far some good advice would be bringing Gnoblar Trappers to ambush, ensnare, and destroy skirmish cav. You can also get good mileage out of sabretusks, they're speedy enough to catch outriders and mean enough to eat artillery crews along with their weaksauce empire infantry bodyguards. The Empire's frontline for the most part will crumple the moment you get in melee, but watch out for halberdiers and try to soften them with your leadbelchers and artillery. Bring Maneaters with great weapons to handle their Demigryphs with halberds, and shut down their artillery as soon as you can because great cannons, steam tanks, and luminarks will blast your ogres and monsters to pieces. As for enemy lords, the primary threat is Markus Wulfheart. He's squishy, but the trouble is catching him before he kills your lord, heroes, your monsters, and your ogre infantry. Try to tie him down with your gnoblar trappers and speedy units, then close in on the bastard and use his bow as a spick to roast him on.

• Grand Cathay:

• Greenskins:

• High Elves:

• Khorne:

• Kislev:

• Lizardmen: Though Saurus won't seem too daunting a proposition, Skink Skirmishers and Chameleon Skinks are going to be a literal pain in the ass due to their speed and your relative lack of armor. The abundance of poison weaponry generally sucks and Lizardmen aren't exactly hurting for Anti-Large in the form of Saurus Spears, Temple Guard, Salamander Hunting Packs and Carnosaurs. Lastly, their Terradon Riders will be a rather annoying nuisance due to your very limited anti-air options. The good news is that your cavalry will generally bowl right through theirs and with proper positioning, you'll likely be able to shoulder check your way through most defensive lines. Leadbelchers can make short work of Saurus and Kroxigors in general if you can get flanking shots onto them. Just make sure you have some Sabretusks and Mournfang Cavalry screen any Skinks or Cav trying to tie them down.

• Norsca: This will probably be a tough match-up considering Norsca's anti-large. Consider bringing artillery to destroy them from afar before you charge in.

• Nurgle:

• Ogre Kingdoms:

• Skaven:

• Slaanesh:

• Tomb Kings: Skelly infantry won't last long against you, especially if you bring a firebelly for lore of fire. What you really got to watch out for are their constructs, especially dedicated anti-large ones like sepulchral stalkers and necrosphinxes. Load up with anti-large and try not to cluster your units too closely together. Your army is highly highly dependent on getting the charge and you don't want your entire strategy to get ruined by a single net of amyntok.

• Tzeentch:

• Vampire Coast:

• Vampire Counts: Should be an easy matchup unless VCs get a drastic rework between now and the launch of TW3. VCs suck at anti-large and they can't easily melt ogres with magic due to their low model count units. That and blood knights will have trouble dealing with mournfangs or rhinox cav unless they dump all their winds of magic into invocation of nehek.

• Wood Elves:

Campaign Strategies

Total War: Warhammer Tactics Articles
General Tactics	Tactics Magic Banner Immortal Empires
Total War: Warhammer	The Empire Dwarfs Greenskins Vampire Counts Bretonnia Warriors of Chaos Beastmen Wood Elves Norsca
Total War: Warhammer 2	High Elves Dark Elves Lizardmen Skaven Tomb Kings Vampire Coast
Total War: Warhammer 3	Kislev Khorne Tzeentch Nurgle Slaanesh Grand Cathay Ogre Kingdoms Daemons of Chaos Chaos Dwarfs