The following is a blabber about my views on the new Ogre Kingdoms codex with the thought of a new 2400pt army in mind.
I have always loved Ogres. Their fondness of eating and smashing stuff was exactly what I wanted in an army (or was that in a partner?).
Despite the Ogre’s awesomeness they were not the strongest army in Warhammer and I soon became accustom to losing the majority of my battles (or was that because my strategy sucked?).
Sometime last year I retired my Ogres and decided to build a new army, Dark Elves, but now the new Codex for Ogre Kingdoms has come out and boy I am excited! feck you pansy, pointy eared freaks it’s back to the Ogres I go!
The first codex lacked many options for the Ogres where as the new codex offers many new and exciting additions to the army including a number of epic beasts. In addition, many units are now cheaper, upgrades are cheaper and butchers have more choices for magic. Despite all this added awesomeness the book is surprisingly well balanced and players really need to decide on what strategy they wish to pursue.
Let’s take a quick look at the Army List and at some of the changes and additions.
I have always been a huge supporter of the Tyrant as a General and as an ultimate smashing machine. The Slaughtermaste
r is now a Level 3 Wizard with a Level 4 upgrade available for 35pts (which I will probably take more often than not). Both the Slaughtermaste
r and the Tyrant have become more expensive (250pts and 210pts) and after upgrading the Slaughter master to a Level 4 Wizard I feel that there aren’t enough points left to sufficiently equip both lords. This is ok as now you are able to take a Slaughtermaste
r without taking a Tyrant (Bye Bye Mr Burns).
Heroes got more exciting with the addition of the Firebelly; a Level 1 Wizard with Lore of Fire (level 2 upgrade avalible).
Seems like a very fun Character to play with and a definite addition to my army list.
The Bruiser, Butcher and Hunter are now cheaper allowing more fun to be had in the Heroes section than the Lords. Hunters can be mounted on a Stonehorn (we’ll get to those soon), has a number of interesting upgrades (including the Harpoon Gun which was standard in the old codex). Although he still cannot be the Army’s General he has definitely become a more interesting Hero and is worth looking into. I feel that we may be seeing more Hunters on the field with this new book.
Core Units became much simpler with only three options (Ogres, Ironguts and Gnoblars). Players do not need to take Ogre Bulls in their army (although I don’t see why you wouldn’t). Both the Ogres and Ironguts are cheaper by a few points while Gnoblars are more expensive by 1/2pts. They also have a Trappers upgrade option available if you’re that way inclined.
Special Units is where things get very interesting. Leadbelchers were always a personal favorite and now they are even better and cheaper. Maneaters and Gorgers are now a Special choice and the Maneaters are 30pts cheaper. The two exciting additions are Sabertusk Packs and Mournfank Cavary.
Whether using the Sabertusks in ‘packs’ of one to get in the way of enemy units or a few tougher units of 2-3 to hunt down warmachines they are definitely a useful addition to the Ogre army. The Mournfang Cavalry are epic with D3 Impact Hits, 3x S4 attacks from the rider, 4x S5 attacks from the Mournfang and stomps.
Finally Rare Units. The Gnoblar Scraplauncher is still there and apparently better than before (not that I ever really cared about the Scraplauncher in the first place (sorry)), Giant is no longer a Slave and is therefore not Broken
and introducing… IronBlaster, Stonehorn and Thundertusk!!! The Ironblaster is a chariot/cannon pulled by a rhinox, it can move & fire and has a S10 grape shot. Not too keen on this as I am never too keen on anything with a miscast table.
The Stonehorn and Thundertusk are my two favourite additions. Both are large Monster units with Riders and both are pretty epic.
The Stonehorn acts more as a smashing machine while the Thundertusks is an excellent utility help to the Ogre Army. Check out the following link for some useful info:
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=315809I will probably take both (^_^)
A few changes to the Ogre Kingdoms include the Ironfists, Bull Charge, Ogre Clubs and Utility Gnoblars. Ironfists used to allow a player to choose between an Additional Hand Weapon or Shield at the beginning of Combat, where as now it simple works as a shield, *yawn*
Bull Charge is now called Ogre Charge and occurs on any successful charge (no more minimum 6” rule). Ogre Clubs, Tooth Gnoblars,
Luck Gnoblars and Sword Gnoblars are simply no more, but the Look-Out Gnoblars are still available *yawn*
Butchers and Slaughermaster
s are now able to take on different laws or magic as long as one takes the Great Maw. The spells have changed a bit and I am happy to see that Ogres have been given more freedom in regards to Magic.
I have obviously missed a lot out, but there simply is too much awesomeness for me to write in less than 1000 words and I now need to go dig up my proxies and start building lists. I’ll probably be seeing you guys more at the club on Sundays.
Let me know your thoughts on the Ogres…
kind Regards
Amy Tanabe
General of the Maji Usagi Tribe…
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