Tomb Kings and Beastmen

The draw for the first two rounds of Summer Incursion has been posted on The Warhammer Forum, and my Ogre Kingdoms have been drawn against Tomb Kings and Beastmen.  Both of these armies allow my Ogres to take an additional 250 points.  So what to take?  

I have the option of two units of two Leadbelchers, or a unit of two Leadbelchers and a unit of  three Bulls with additional hand Weapons, or a Hunter with Beastkiller, or a Hunter with Seigebreaker.

Against Tomb Kings I think my best bet is probably the Hunter with Seigebreaker auto hits and D6 wounds should make a mess of some chariots. I have seen this Tomb Kings army at Gobstyks earlier in the year and it has a bucket load of chariots, so tempted with the Hunter.  Also we have the Bullgorger cast on my three units of Ironguts for smashing chariots, should be fun.  Could the Butcher with his immune to poison tackle the swarms, may give it a go?

Against Beastmen again I am tempted with the Hunter with Seigebreaker or may be the two units of two Leadbelchers.  Depends on how many chariots I will be facing.

I haven't played against Tomb Kings or Beastmen with my Ogre Kingdoms yet, so the first two games should be fun.

Summer Incursion Painting Progress

With only fifteen days until the Summer Incursion and I still have a hell of a lot of painting to complete.  Both the Scraplauncher and Gorger need gloss and matt varnishing.  The Gnoblar Trappers are only partial painted.  And the forty Gnoblar Fighters are built and primed along with the movement trays.  Plus I want to make some more mushrooms for the extra units to tie them in with the current army.   As well as static grass and bits and pieces on the bases there is a lot to do.

So I have drawn up a plan.  If I stick to it religiously then I may be in with a chance, but its going to be tight.

Back to the painting table.

Spangleshard v Wyrdstone Necklace

I have always taken the Wyrdstone Necklace on my Tyrant.  Recently I have been looking into the comparison between the Spangleshard Talisman and the Wyrdstone Necklace.

The Wyrdstone Necklace grants a 5+ Ward Save with the minor negative that the Tyrant could take a wound after deployment.

The Spangleshard Talisman is a strange on.  If wounded by strength 7 or better then you get a 3+ save.  A strength 6 attack and its a 4+ save, Strength 5 is a 5+ save.  Therefore attacks greater than Strength 5 the Spangleshard Talisman is better than the Wyrdstone Necklace.

Here is the snag against strength 4 the save is 6+ and strength 3 no save at all.  This leaves the Tyrant at risk against normal infantry, magic missiles and Elven shooting when taking the Spangleshard Talisman over the Wyrdstone Necklace.  Also the Spangleshard Talisman cannot be used against automatic wound items, but I don't see these very often.

I am now considered the Spangleshard Talisman on a Hunter, but at 30 points it restricts the magic weapons available to only the Sword of Might.  

One option I quite like the look of is the Spangleshard Talisman and the Beastkiller big name on a Hunter.  This combination could be used against dragons typically giving a 4+ save, also causing multiply wounds.  I think I will probably run this combination for the Summer Incursion in a couple of weeks.

Ogre Kingdoms Painting Progress

With forty days remaining until the Summer Incursion tournament at Maelstrom Games I still have a load of painting to complete.  Progress was slow during April, the Scraplauncher, Gorger and Gnoblar Trappers have all been built and primed.   The Gnoblar Fighters are still on the sprues.  I have concentrated on painting the Scraplauncher first because it was the largest model.  The base and Rhinox are complete with the Scraplauncher its self and Gnoblars only half way done.  The construction and painting of the Scraplauncher has taken longer than I expected!

I guess by next Friday the Scraplauncher will be complete.  Next weekend I will start on the Gorger, followed by the Gnoblar Trappers.  The Gnoblar Fighters I am leaving until last.  This will leave me probably only two weeks to complete two units of Gnoblar Fighters.  Its going to be tight with the deadline for army list submission being the 4th June.  Every Ogre Kingdoms miniature I own in already in the army list, so there is no room for tweaking the list should I fail in painting these in time.

When all these are complete I can field a 2,999 point Ogre Kingdoms army,  the only units I won't have are Yhettees and a Slave Giant.  I am really hoping for a new Ogre Kingdoms army book this year after 8th Edition.  With the possibility of different miniatures and different rules the future could be very interesting for Ogre Kingdoms players.

Back to the painting table!!

Summer Incursion Ogres

Summer Incursion is a two day, six game tournament with the same rules pack as for the Winter Incursion.  At Winter Incursion I took my Warriors of Chaos, but this time its the Ogre Kingdoms which will be gracing the battlefields at Maelstrom Games.











I have made the following decisions in building the list.

Include two units of twenty Gnoblar Fighters in the core 2,000 points.  Primary use is to contest a table each.

Include a unit of Gnoblar Trappers in the core 2,000 points.  Primary use is harass and march block the enemies battle line.

Only include a Tyrant and Butcher in the core 2,000 points.  This means my main core 2,000 points can be bulked out with units.

This might sound strange but I have never run Sword Gnoblars, Brace of Handguns or a Tenderizer on a Tyrant. Also I have never run champions in any of my units before, but Randriod on a recent episode of the WaaghCast has opened my eyes to the benefits against shooting. Also I will be taking a Scraplauncher, Gorger, Gnoblar Fighters and Trappers again these are a first for my Ogre Kingdoms army.

At the moment this list is the basis for some practise games which I intend to play before the tournament.  I am hoping to get in around six games.  The core 2000 points will be played against only Orc & Goblins and other Ogre Kingdoms armies.

Tyrant (303 pts)
Heavy Armour, Luck Gnoblar, Tenderizer, Sword Gnoblars, Brace of Handguns, Wrydstone Necklace

Butcher (180 pts)
Bangstick, Dispel Scroll

Bulls x 3 (147 pts)
Crusher, Bellower, Additional Hand Weapon

Bulls x 3 (147 pts)
Crusher, Bellower, Additional Hand Weapon

Ironguts x 4 (247 pts)
Bellower, Standard Bearer, Look out Gnoblar, Rune Maw

Ironguts x 4 (227 pts)
Bellower, Standard Bearer, Look out Gnoblar

Ironguts x 3 (194 pts)
Gutlord, Bellower, Standard Bearer

Gnoblar Trappers x 9 (54 pts)

Gnoblar Fighters x 20 (40 pts)

Gnoblar Fighters x 20 (40 pts)

Leadbelchers x 2 (120 pts)
Thunderfist

Leadbelchers x 2 (120 pts)
Thunderfist

Maneaters x 2 (180 pts)
Heavy Armour, Great Weapons

For the reserves I can take 4 options totaling no more than 250 points each.  I am still undecided what reserves to take against each army.

Against Beastmen, Bretonnians, Dwarfs and Tomb Kings I can take 1 reserve

Against Dwarfs of Chaos, High Elves, Warriors of Chaos and Wood Elves I can take 2 reserves

Against Empire, Lizardmen, Skaven and Vampire Counts I can take 3 reserves

Against Daemons of Chaos and Dark Elves I can take 4 reserves

Reserves A (probably going to be used every battle)

Scraplauncher (165 pts)

Gorger (75 pts)

Reserves B (my next most probable units to use, unless I think a Hunter to be more useful)

Bulls x 3 (127 pts)
Bellower, Additional Hand Weapon

Leadbelchers x 2 (120 pts)
Thunderfist

Reserves C

Hunter (215 pts)
2 x Sabretusks, Seigebreaker, Talisman of Protection

Reserves D

Hunter (235 pts) 
2 x Sabretusks, Beastkiller, Greyback Pelt

Therefore I now have the following to build, paint and base for the 12th June.

1 x Scraplauncher 

1 x Gorger

9 x Gnoblar Trappers

40 x Gnoblar Fighters

More Movement Trays

I have a lot of painting and some practise games to get in before the 12th June.  Really looking forward to this event, and hoping to see all my 2,999 points of Ogres on the battlefield against either Dark Elves or Daemons!

Pins, pins and more pins

Over the past twelve days or so I have been busy constructing my Gnoblar Scraplauncher and its finally nearly built, just some green stuff work to do and it can be primed.

I used 27 pins in the construction of the Scraplauncher and Rhinox, along with another 7 pins for holding the Gnoblars to the Scraplauncher thats a massive 34 pins in total.  Without pinning then super glue alone simply wouldn't hold this thing together with a level of convidence that it isn't going to come apart over time.

This thing is also heavy, the Scraplauncher and Rhinox together weighs a hefty 210 grams!

1001 Gnoblars

I discovered these videos on You Tube after listening to the recent episode of HeelanHammer.

An army of 1001 Gnoblar at the Crossroads tournament in the US.  I won't spoil it for you, and tell you what happens.  Enjoy!

Bellowers How Good are They

Bellowers (aka Musicians) in my mind are a must in any Ogre Kingdoms army.

The "To Rally" roll for an Ogre bull unit is on a 7+ that's a 58% chance, roughly half.

With a Bellower then its on a 8+ that's a 72% chance, nearly a three in four chance. The 14% chance increase for only 10 points is a massive benefit.

A unit of Ironguts chances of rallying increases 11% from 72% to 83%.

Also bear in mind that a unit of 3 models can never go under the 25% model count limit to be able to rally, so therefore even with a single model remaining you can still rally the unit.

In my mind along with the drawn combat +1 combat resolution benefit, every unit that isn't Immune to Psychology must have a Musician.

Keeping the Ogre Hunter Alive

My Ogre Hunter died every game at the recent Squiggle Tournament, it was like hemorrhaging 235 points every game. It was kitted out with Beastkiller and Greyback Pelt. Beastkiller was a complete waste of points. My inability to use the Hunter effectively rendered the Greyback Pelt useless as well.

Do I keep the Sabretusks?

The Sabretusks provided protection against ranged attacks, randomizing hits So I am keeping these bad boys.




Having looked at the Big Names and Magic Items (and there is not a lot to choose from) I have come up this a short list of useful items...

Deathcheater; Once per Game. Forced to re-roll all successful rolls to wound (need to be in base contact).

Mastodon Armour; 5+ Armour Save. If killed not in close combat. 2+ restored on 1 wound.

Greyback Pelt; +1 to hit in close combat.

Spanglehard; Roll higher than "To Wound roll".

Gnoblar Thiefstone; Magic Resistance.

Talisman of Protection; 6+ Ward Save.

The Wyrdstone Necklace will be on the Bruiser General, so not on the list.

Then we have the Butchers Magic Spells...

Toothcracker; +1 Toughness and Stubborn. Butcher takes a Strength 4 Hit.

Trollguts; Magic Resistance(2) and Rengeneration. Automatically takes a wound.

I already have protection from ranged attacks from the Sabretusks, just got to bear in mind if these are released will lose this benefit. I could cast Trollguts on the Hunter early in the game, giving Magic Resistance(2) and Rengeneration.

My only conclusion is the key to keeping the Hunter alive is in deployment and movement. Think about the Hunter first whilst deploying, keep close to the Butcher if possible. Use the Sabretusks effectively.

So this will be my Hunters items (for now!) ...

Greyback Pelt, Talisman of Protection, Cast Trollguts or Toothcracker on the Hunter.

A Butchers Magic Phase

A couple of days ago I mentioned my Lessons Learn't List. I found that my Butcher was completely wasted in games due to poor deployment and movement causing him to be out of range. Therefore I needed a plan to overcome these problems.

Because the Butcher does not roll for his spells at the start of the game and knows all the Gut Magic spells, I can draw up a plan and stick to it.

My Butchers Magic Phase is going to be about causing Panic. With a ranged Magic Missile Bound Spell, and two other ranged spells I have three attacking spells to force a Panic Test on the target unit or hopefully units.

Coupled with the Skullmantle which causes the target unit to suffer a -1 penalty to their Leadership this could be a lethal combination.

For deployment my Butcher will always be deployed in a unit of 3 Ironguts with a Standard Bearer along with a Lookout Gnoblar. This unit will be deployed centrally in my battle line.




First the long range spells....

Bang Stick; Range 24". Bound Spell. Causes D6 Strength 4 Hits.

Bonecrusher; Range 18". Causes 2D6 Strength 2 Hits no armour save. Butcher takes a Strength 4 Hit.

Braingobbler; Range 18". Unit must take a Panic Test.

Next a defensive spell to regain a wound...

Bloodgruel; Butcher Regains a Wound on a 2+.

Finally we have the short range spells, which are all range 6" and all remain in play. Because of the short range I have found that these are very much reliant upon the movement phase.

Toothcracker; +1 Toughness and Stubborn. Butcher takes a Strength 4 Hit.

Bullgorger; Butcher must pass a Strength Test. +1 Strength.

Trollguts; Magic Resistance(2) and Rengeneration. Automatically takes a wound.

So there we have a plan for how I am going to play my Butcher. I know that the "internet" optimal Ogre Kingdoms army contains two or three Butchers, but I like my Hunters miniatures and am not going to drop them just yet!

Next how to keep my Hunter alive?

Ogre Kingdom Army Pictures

After a year in the painting my 2500 points of Ogre Kingdoms is complete.

I have been busy this evening taking pictures of all the units, cropping the pictures and posting to the blog.

So here are all pictures of all the units in the last 13 posts!

Your feedback would be very much appreciated.

Maneaters

Tyrant

Butcher

Hunter II

Hunter I

Ironguts III

Ironguts II

Ironguts I

Bulls III