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

===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.