Ogre Maneaters

[Graxy]

Graxy: Dang right! Gnoblars are indeed the big guns. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to the Stonehorn/Thundertusk, because my ideas are all ridiculous and will take forever to paint.

Oh, you have me intrigued. I'm quite curious as to how ridiculous these ideas are but if you do decide to do it, I'm assuming it won't be any time soon, since as you said, it will take forever to paint which is annoying as hell. Procrastination= win

Also, out of curiosity, will we be seeing a captain jack sparrow gnoblar?

[tominator]

real nice.

[Frostid]

Been watching your work for a while now and thought i'd finally make a warseer account to show my appreciation, your models are inspirational, has made me dig out all my modeling gear with a urge to do something, i know you have started doing commissions now but have you drawn a line to when your army will come to a close(i hope not) and have you got any more large scale models in the pipeline, btw love the indy idea!! brilliant work

[Il Maestro]

I think a small part of my inner self, that part that believes that I might one day be a decent painter, dies a little bit each time you update your log. Thankfully, I don't like that part of myself anyway, so keep updating!!!

Seriously, truly incredible work in this whole project, you continually stun with your creative minis and extremely high level of painting. Kudos, sir!

[Jonahmaul]

Excellent stuff as always. There's so much character in those gnoblars and I can't wait to see them all together with the ship. I'm intrigued as to what you've been planning and hope you let us see soon!

[HiDeke]

Awesome stuff, Lew.

Your sense of balance on the Indy Ogre is spot on- with the leg hanging off and the lasso...I'm taking notes haha. How much fiddling around did that take? Do you generally have everything in place and fixed together while you sculpt, or do you take it apart and put it back together a few times during the process?

[Lew_b81]

Lord Azoth: Thank you!

Graxy: Between my being broke, and uni term starting soon (and laziness!), yeah it'll be a little while. Considering what I'm working on at the moment, I'm guessing it'll be Easter at least. As for a Captain, see below. He's not called Jack though.

Tom: Cheers, guy.

Frostid: Wow, that's great! Glad I can inspire you to do things! I actually have been thinking a lot about when the army will be complete, and had a chat with my friend about it last night. I'm aiming for a 3000 point playable army, but that leaves one or two gaps, so I'll be adding one or two other things (mostly characters and individual units) before making a display base and calling it a day. There will be at least one large scale mini, maybe two, maybe a whole new unit of Mournfang. It sort of depends how I feel when I get round to it.

Il Maestro: Thanks very much! If it helps, I haven't always been this level of painting. I started off just as poor as the next ten-year old. I've just been doing it a fair while, and constantly pushing myself to become better.

JM: Yeah, I'll be showing you what I've been making in the next couple of weeks. I've been doing a bunch of different projects recently (pirate ship, Indy, mystery project, extra miniature), so I'd like to finish up some of them before getting into the next thing.

HiDeke: Well I sculpted him separately then added him. The legs were given a frame (made from paperclips) and bent into shape, posing on the snake as reference. Then I sculpted the trousers, and pinned the whole piece to the snake via the wire frame. Then I added the shoes so they sat properly and realistically. It was a process of positioning everything with blutak to make sure it would work properly. Not too tricky, but it was a little time consuming.

__________________________________________________ _

Thanks for all the comments, guys! My game last night was a lot of fun. I took some battle rep pics, but haven't had chance to take a look at them yet. I'll get to it later.

Until then, here's the last separate crewman for the pirate ship. All the other Gnoblars are already stuck in place.



The Cap'n! This guy will be standing on the prow of the ship, screaming bloody defiance to any Ogre masters (or indeed other people trying to attack him).

[Lord Dan]

You won, didn't you? I've said it before: there's no way I could even do damage to your models in game, as it would mean that you would inevitably start taking them off the table. Instead I'd do everything in my power to prolong the battle for as long as possible so I'd have more time to look at your minis in-person.

Lew: 'That's 14 armor saves on your warriors."
Dan: "Okay, let's see. That's a 5."
Lew: "Haha, only one dice? I think you're missing a couple."
Dan: "Next one is a 2."
Lew: "..."
Dan: "There's another 2. That one's kind of cocked, do you mind if I re-roll?"
Lew: "You're...rolling them individually?"
Dan: "Another 5..."

[ftayl5]

snip

Hahahaha

Nice shirt cap'n!!

[Lew_b81]

Lord Dan: Hahaha! You're assuming that's not how I roll all my own dice anyway though!

Ftayl: Arrr!

_____________________________________________

Battle report! Battle report! Battle report!

My first ever 1500 point battle. Although I had to proxy something, because I wanted to use my new minis, but I'm still a little off 1500.

My army list:

Lords

Tyrant – Gold Sigil Sword, Enchanted Shield
230 points


Heroes

Butcher – Level 2
135 points

Butcher – Level 2
135 points


Core

5 Ogres – Ironfists, Crusher, Bellower, standard bearer
184 points

3 Ogres – Additional hand weapons, Crusher, Bellower, standard bearer
123 points

4 Ironguts – Gutlord, Bellower, standard bearer
202 points


Special

3 Leadbelchers – Bellower
139 points

3 Maneaters – Captain, additional hand weapons, heavy armour
178 points


Rare

Ironblaster –
170 points


Total: 1496 points

Keen-eyed Ogrefans will notice that there are only five Ogres in the big unit. As I was quickly throwing the list together, the mummy Ogre got a hasty promotion to Butcher.


My opponent's (James) list was something like this:

Lords

Wood Elf Highborn – Wild Rider, Great Stag, The Spirit Sword
300 points


Heroes

Branchwraith – Level 1
115 points


Core

10 Dryads – Branch Nymph
132 points

10 Dryads – Branch Nymph
132 points

10 Dryads – Branch Nymph
132 points


Special

5 Wild Riders – Musician, standard bearer, Wild Hunter
166 points

5 Wild Riders – Musician, standard bearer, Wild Hunter
166 points


Rare

Treeman –
285 points


Total: somewhere around 1500 points

That doesn't add up to 1500 (in fact, it was apparently a few points over), but I don't remember all the upgrades or whatever. I've only listed those I remember. Also, the Stag was a last minute addition, and proxied in this game as a tree base for an Eagle. Sigh.

We rolled Dawn Attack. Most of James' army rolled to deploy on his left flank, and most of mine were in the centre.



Our setup. The board is set up to represent the edge of Athel Loren in winter. The Wood Elves have found a herdstone erected by some Beastmen, and have conjured some Waystones in order to contain the evil Chaos power. Unfortunately one night a small group of Ogres decide to march straight through, and don't really understand why the Wood Elves are upset. Doesn't matter to them though - they're hungry!
We decided that any wizard on the hill within with Waystones would be able to tap into the primal forces of Chaos, treating the whole area as Arcane Ruins.

Here are the boys:



And James' (half painted!) pansy Elves:



We rolled up our spells. James got Tree Singing, and I got Toothcracker and Trollguts on one Butcher, Braingobbler and The Maw on another (Braingobbler got switched to Spinemarrow because James' whole Wood Elf army is immune to psychology).

My Maneaters made a Vanguard move along the flank, and we were off!

TURN ONE

James started by moving his Wild Riders bravely forwards, and tentatively marching his other units up. No magic or shooting from him.
My turn started with a brave (but foolish) charge with my big unit of Bulls against a distant unit of Wild Riders in the centre of the board. It turned out to not be so foolish, as they rolled an 11 on their charge dice, and ran straight into the horses!



My Leadbelchers moved to the right flank to deal with the other unit of incoming Wild Riders (accompanied by a Lord), and the rest of my Ogres advanced slowly, to meet the approaching Dryads. My magic was a bit of a wash. I cast Spinemarrow on the Leadbelchers (ready for the impending charge from the Wild Riders), but failed to get off The Maw.
Shooting was equally lacklustre, with the Steamblaster offing two Dryads from the centre unit, and the Leadbelchers managing to unleash one shot each, doing nothing to the Wild Riders. I was hoping for six shots and to wipe them all out, making the risky gambit of facing them head on worthwhile. Oh dear.

The combat between the large unit of Ogres and the Wild Riders didn't even get started though. I rolled 3 impact hits each, and before resolving attacks, I was left with this:



The Leadbelchers may take some time to get their act together, but the Ogres are all too keen to run straight into the enemy! Looks like its horse steak for dinner tonight!

The end of turn one looked like this:



TURN TWO

Predictably enough, the Wild Riders charged into the Leadbelchers, although on the charge, one of them fell down into the ice, only to discover the water's regenerating properties and decided to stay there (the pools in our table are treated as Marshland - this one got rolled as an Earthblood Mere, and one Wild Rider failed his Dangerous Terrain check).
The rest of James' Wood Elves again advanced cautiously. The Dryads on his right flank changed course to try to tackle the approaching Maneaters. Again, no magic or shooting.
The Wild Rider charge went exactly as you'd expect, with two dead Leadbelchers, and the last one on a single wound. He took down a single Wild Rider in return though. This is where my Stubborn spell would come in handy! Except I rolled a 10 for Leadership, and ran away.
Surprise at the start of my turn though:



Double one to rally! The Dwarf Leadbelcher - very conscious that I had to go back to the unit just to add him - did those hours of work proud and turned to meet the threat of the approaching Wild Riders!

On the far flank, the Maneaters predictably charged into the oncoming Dryads, but in a shocking turn of events (James was shocked at least), so did the Steamblaster!



Choo choo! James didn't realise that the Ironblaster operated like a chariot, so that was quite a surprise!
The rest of the army advanced, the Tyrant left his unit to bolster the other Ogre unit in the centre, and the Ironguts turned around to face a charge from the Wild Riders. Not a perfect unit to deal with them, but they'd have to do.
I rolled three magic dice, and didn't manage to get any magic off. No shooting at all, so onto combat! The Maneaters performed admirably. I didn't quite realise how good they were. Five S5 attacks, plus impact hits and stomps is really, really good. I'm glad I painted up those two extra guys! Between them and the Steambelcher, I managed to kill ten Dryads, just leaving the Branchwraith. One poor Maneater died in return, but that's a good result!
The Branchwraith, on a -8 penalty, failed her Leadership test, and fled just out of reach.

[Lew_b81]

I'll catch her yet!




TURN THREE

I forgot to take any pictures this turn, sorry!

James' Wild Riders charged into the lone Leadbelcher, who turned and ran, leaving them to charge headfirst into the Ironguts instead.
He also charged with the Dryads in the centre, but rolled a 3 for his charge, and ended up falling just short. Fortunate for me!
The Branchwraith rallied, and turned around to look two angry Ogres and a cannon in the eye.
Again, no magic or shooting, so straight onto combat!
The Wild Riders with their S5 I5 attacks, and a Lord on stag with an auto-wounding multiple wound sword made extremely messy work of the Ironguts. Only two survived the onslaught, and to their credit they managed to fell two Wild Riders and stomped on the last one. They broke though and were chased down by the Lord on Stag. That guy needed to be dealt with, because he was perfectly armed for taking out Ogres.

In my turn, the Leadbelcher carried on running away!



One double one per game is enough for him. He's not that courageous.
My Ogre unit returned a charge against the Dryads who failed to close the gap, and chopped them down to a man. Between the impact hits and my Tyrant with his I10 S5 attacks, they didn't stand much chance.
Again I failed to get The Maw off. It's a great spell for dealing with Treemen, but my newly promoted Butcher couldn't seem to get his head (gut?) around it!
The big highlight of my turn though was the shooting phase! The Steambelcher turned around, focusing his sights on the Wood Elf Highborn. I think all those calculations I painted onto his parchment came in useful, because the cannonball landed right on top of the Highborn, killing him outright! Hooray!



The end of the turn looked like this.


TURN FOUR

Turn four started with another failed charge roll from the remaining Dryad unit, and absolutely nothing else. James' army was getting quite depleted.
In return I charged the Dryads with my Chaos unit, wiping them out. Two units of Dryads in a game! The one unit of Ogres may be eating horse steak, but these guys would be feasting on tree bark! Huh.

TURN FIVE

Also rolling this one in here, because other than a little moving, nothing much happened. The Treeman charged the large unit of Bulls (now without a Butcher who moved out last turn), who fled as a reaction. They'd just end up dead anyway. If I was going to fight this Treeman, it'd be on my terms, with as many Ogres as I could get into contact with him!
The Treeman opened up with his Strangeroot attack, killing an Ogre and wounding another. That thing is deadly.



Ooooohhh, magic!

Both the Butcher and the Steamblaster opened fire on the Treeman (with The Maw and some cannonballs, respectively), but neither managed to do anything. Despite hitting the Treeman dead on with a cannonball, I rolled a 1 to wound. Gah!



Here's where we are, drawing to the end of the game.

TURN SIX AND SEVEN

Nothing at all happened in turn six! More movement to get everyone closer to the Treeman. He misfired his Strangeroot, and I again rolled a 1 to wound with my cannon! The Maw actually worked this turn, but misfired, letting James place the template squarely on my cannon. Luckily it then scattered away again. That spell sucks so bad. It's really good for taking out Ogres, and letting your opponent place it is a real killer.

Considering nothing at all happened in turn six, and this is where we stood, we decided to play on to turn seven:



Now you see him...



Now you don't!
Between a round of combat with the Steamblaster (which actually survived completely unharmed!) and being charged by the rest of my army, the Treeman just couldn't hack it. My Ogres smashed him to pieces, then ate them all just to be sure.

The end of the game looked like this:



All the Ogres settle down in one place to eat the spoils! Nomnomnomnomnomnom


A fun game! My Ogres performed really well! The big unit of Ogres is a great centre for the army, and can really chomp its way through most things. Putting the Ironguts against the Wild Riders was a mistake, and I'm not sure four of them is enough. I may combine the next unit into one big one instead. The Steamblaster made a decisive move, but otherwise didn't really do all that much. It was nice that it can be hit a few times by a big thing and escape unharmed though.

Hooray! Hope y'all enjoyed that. I know I did!

[Graxy]

A seven turn game? BLASPHOMY!!

The army looks great in-game mate, great job! But I've got to say, when I saw that you kept the maw as a spell, the gamer inside me almost punched a hole in the wall. As you've learnt, the maw isn't exaclty the best spell in the world

It's really great to see that this army will actuallysee game, as opposed to those armies that are made just to be made, then sit there and gather dust. Hoping to see another battle rep in the future, again, great job!

[tominator]

Like. they look really good on the table. Have you heard GW Cheltenham are now only going to open 5 days from 10th sept so alex and seb can both be there everyday. Now not open Mondays and Tuesdays.

[Tonny]

Fantastic game! Beautiful table, beautiful army. It's perfect!

[Lord Dan]

What'd I say?

Congrats on the win, though more importantly, doing it with a fully painted army!

[MikeyC]

One thing I used to do with my VC army was whenever I defeated someone I converted a model to have some form of grisly victory trophy of the opposing forces. It turned into a think in my area for a little while to the point that people started bringin in spare bits to offer up when defeated. You should steal some his his WE bits for a conversion IMO.

[Pumpavius]

Great army, what a pleassure to fight with or against a fully painted army.

[ftayl5]

Great report, awesome pictures, thanks!

[The Odor]

One thing I used to do with my VC army was whenever I defeated someone I converted a model to have some form of grisly victory trophy of the opposing forces. It turned into a think in my area for a little while to the point that people started bringin in spare bits to offer up when defeated. You should steal some his his WE bits for a conversion IMO.

^I agree SO much with this!
Awesome Battle Report. Really made my day (since I have had a sucky day that doesnt mean much....) Super awesome! I loved to see those wonderful ogres doing battle (though I can't wrap my head around why all warhammer races haven't started worshipping them as gods though...) I hope to see more like it one day.
¨

P.S: Also I agree with this. V

One thing I used to do with my VC army was whenever I defeated someone I converted a model to have some form of grisly victory trophy of the opposing forces. It turned into a think in my area for a little while to the point that people started bringin in spare bits to offer up when defeated. You should steal some his his WE bits for a conversion IMO.

[Toshiro]

One thing I used to do with my VC army was whenever I defeated someone I converted a model to have some form of grisly victory trophy of the opposing forces. It turned into a think in my area for a little while to the point that people started bringin in spare bits to offer up when defeated. You should steal some his his WE bits for a conversion IMO.

I did the same with my Orcs & Goblins, was quite popular, also got little bits from my opponents to use.

Great report! Although, isn't his wild riders cavalry? If so you can't stomp them.