Ogre's Final Version? - Throne of Skulls

[Pawn of Decay]

Fantasy Army: OK

After a lot of play testing and a few tweaks here and there I have settled on this to take to Throne of Skulls in March. Now I understand that this list is not the most competitive build for Ogre’s but I find it a good balance of a list and it copes well in a lot of situations.

The new Vampires are proving a difficult opposition with their new ethereal things but I have been able to hold my own and even pull off a couple of wins. My army is Slaneesh themed and I will be posting some pictures of it so far on warseer when I can get hold of a decent camera.

I would like people to tell me what they think is wrong with my army list and what they feel I would struggle against. If possible I would like people to rate my army list out of 10 for me, so I can get a grasp of the general feeling. 1 being sucks and will get trounced in every game to 10 being amazing and will own anything. (I do not expect any 10’s...)

Thank you all in advance for any comments, tips and criticism’s.

Lord:

Slaughtermaster – 355pts
- Level 4; Lore of the Great Maw
- Talisman of Endurance
- The Gold Sigil Sword (or cleaver in this case)
- Dispell Scroll

Hero:

Bruiser – 191pts
- Battle Standard Bearer
- Armour of Destiny
- Great Weapon

Core:

Ironguts (11) – 513pts
- Standard Bearer with the Standard of Discipline
- Musician
- Lookout Gnoblar

Special:

Mournefang (3) – 230pts
- Standard Bearer with the Banner of Eternal Flame
- Ironfists
- Heavy Armour

Mournefang (3) – 210pts
- Ironfists
- Heavy Armour

Rare:

Stonehorn – 250pts

Thundertusk – 250pts

[Pawn of Decay]

No comments or anything at all?

[yedee]

Items on your SM - DS is fine, but 5+ ward won't matter most of the time - it doesn't help against insta-killing things and you can always heal up using lore attribute; sword is fine (if just for dealing with etherals) but I find sword of might a lot better, the extra initiative doesn't make any difference most of the time. Why don't you squeeze in the best item ogres have - hellheart - instead of ward save?

Bruiser BSB - if you think you are lacking magic weapons then consider talisman of preservation + cheap weapon, I don't believe that you need even more high-strenght attacks considering you have 11 ironguts already...

I'm not too fond of the big monsters, so I would consider dropping at least on of them to beef up mournfangs to 2x4 and get some sabertusks. Or if you really want to keep them both then make mournfangs 4 with BoEF and REALLY get some of the best chaff in the game...

[Kamenwati]

I think dropping the Stonehorn for an Ironblaster and using the points difference elsewhere may be a better choice. I see the way the Thundertusk supports the army, the Stonehorn just to mee doesn't add anything you army as it's built doesn't do well already. An Ironblaster will give you something to do in the shooting phase and help deter other big gribblies. Even if they can't kill some monsters outright, their mere existence on your side will make them have to react to it somehow or risk losing monsters/characters to cannon fire.

[Gaargod]

I'd agree with dropping the Stonehorn. Personally I'd say lose both of them to take 2 ironblasters, then use the spare points elsewhere, but that's just me.

Definitely, definitely squeeze some sabretusks in there. Crazy useful.

I would also agree that hellheart is rather lovely, although it does bring the problem that you can't have it and dispel scroll both, unless you take a lv2 along. Not necessarily a bad idea, mind.

Maybe fencer's blades might be a better idea for your slaughtermaster? More expensive of course, but extra attack + higher WS will help protect.

I dunno how nervous you are about ethereals - if it's very bad, you could try, as Yedee says, talisman of prev + warrior bane.

[Mid'ean]

I'd agree with dropping the Stonehorn. Personally I'd say lose both of them to take 2 ironblasters, then use the spare points elsewhere, but that's just me.

Definitely, definitely squeeze some sabretusks in there. Crazy useful.

I would also agree that hellheart is rather lovely, although it does bring the problem that you can't have it and dispel scroll both, unless you take a lv2 along. Not necessarily a bad idea, mind.

Maybe fencer's blades might be a better idea for your slaughtermaster? More expensive of course, but extra attack + higher WS will help protect.

Agree with the above. I run fencers on my SM. I would drop the rares and get 2 IB's and use the points left over for a Firebelly. If you really want to keep a monster keep the Thundertuck and drop the SH for a IB. A FB can give you options for dealing with Ethereals with a fireball spell and help with a breath weapon and removing regen.Other than that looks like a good list.

[Pawn of Decay]

Hmm... i may have a look at the fencer's blades. Ethereal do worry me a bit. Especially with the new Vampires. Without the Magic Weapon, a big unit of Wraiths almost means instant loose for me.

I love the big monsters for the Ogre's. The Stonehorn has always worked well for me, but I can conceed that it may not be that useful, as the Ironguts themselves can easily munch through units. Perhaps look at getting an Ironblaster into the list could work. I have tried them out before and just found them to lack something... Is a Firebelly really that useful?

Also is dropping the Talisman of Endurance a good idea on the Slaughtermaster? He hasn't died in any games yet. However I just feel that the lack of a Ward Save at all could prove a nightmare...

[Mid'ean]

Really? You have found the IB lacking? It's super accurate with the double bounce roll. Move and shoot. Hard for our normal warmachine hunters to tackle. And still hits hard when it charges as a chariot. What's not to love.....

As for fencers blades, if you take a FB you can give him the D-scroll. And you would have enough points to give your SM fencers and a 4+ ward save (still 15 points to play with) if you wanted as fencers blades will function as your magical weapon against ethereals if needed.

[Pawn of Decay]

When I tried the Ironblaster it died fairly quickly with achieving very little damage output. But maybe I will try it again and give it another go.

If I swapped the Stonehorn for an Ironblaster and swapped the equipment on the Slaughter master around a bit, would you just fill up the rest of the points with Sabertusks?

[Spinocus]

Believe me, over time you will appreciate the beauty & deadliness of Ironblasters. To be blunt they are the most destructive and reliable cannons in the game. Only the use of engineers, runes, spells or other nonsense allows the Dwarf or Empire cannons to match their performance. The simple fact that you use two artillery dice to determine the distance for the bounce and that TWO misfires are required to negate the shot for the bounce instead of the default one is huge! If you can avoid rolling a misfire for the initial distance you're golden!

Beyond that +1 to what Mid'ean said. And don't forget the S10 grapeshot...

[Pawn of Decay]

Ok, so taking everything into concideration this is what i end up with.

Slaughtermaster - level 4, fencers blades, hellheart.

Bruiser - battle standard bearer, armour of destiny, great weapon.

Ironguts (11) - standard bearer with the standard of discipline, musician, lookout gnoblar.

Mournfang (3) - standard bearer with the banner of eternal flame, ironfists, heavy armour.

Mournfang (3) - ironfists, heavy armour.

Sabertusk

Sabertusk

Sabertusk

Thundertusk

Ironblaster

I tried this out today against the new vampires which went very well. Hexwraiths screemed across the battlefield and took out the Ironblaster, but not before the Ironblaster had destroyed a Mortis Engine. It was a very good win with me getting 2,150 Victory points to the Vampire player getting 656 points from me.

Is this list better than the original one then?

Thank you for everyones input.

[Pawn of Decay]

I have changed the army again. This time thankfully it is only very slightly. I have tried this new army list out twice with 2 successful wins. 1 was against the new Vampires, whilst the second one was against my friends Warriors of Chaos monster army, where the Ironblaster was amazing killing the Tzeentch Daemon Prince turn 1.

All comments and criticism are greatly appreciated and any suggestions will be taken into consideration. I am still reasonably new to fantasy and whilst this is going to Throne of Skulls I would like to do reasonably well.

Thank you in advance.

Lord:

Slaughter Master – 375pts
- Level 4: Lore of the Great Maw
- The Fencers Blades
- Hellheart
- Rock Eye

Hero:

Bruiser – 188pts
- Battle Standard Bearer
- Talisman of Endurance
- Sword of Might
- Heavy Armour
- Ironfist

Core:

Ironguts (11) – 513pts
- Standard Bearer
- Musician
- Lookout Gnoblar
- Standard of Discipline

Special:

Mournefang (3) – 230pts
- Standard Bearer
- Banner of Eternal Flame
- Ironfists
- Heavy Armour

Mournefang (3) – 210pts
- Ironfists
- Heavy Armour

Sabertusk – 21pts

Sabertusk – 21pts

Sabertusk – 21pts

Rare:

Thundertusk – 250pts

Ironblaster – 170pts

[mistrmoon]

Just a thought with the sabretusks. My friend plays a handful of them in singles and they are awesome but they cant use your generals leadership so be careful with your spacing. He liked to use them like old school skirmishers and just run them around in a blob but if i kill 1 then the others all need a panic checks so spacing is key to single sabers.

[Pawn of Decay]

Thank you for your warning. I almost ran into the trap where due to poor spacing 1 died and the other two due to panic almost ran straight back and be rendered completly useless.

Luckily down to my amazingly famous bad dice rolls both passed their bad leadership and stayed. But it was a valid lesson learnt early.

I love the list and how it is playing at the moment, but against my friends dwarf army I just got mopped up and shown the door the last time I played him. We have played 4 times now, having won 2 games each, but do you have any advice on playing against the dwarfs?

My friend has amazing dice rolls, but there has to be some way to combat the dwarf list?

[SaltGut]

The second list is twice as good as the first. I would love to see dragon hide banner on the gut star.

[Zeroth]

I'd say make points for a Hell Maw banner on your bsb. It's vital to be protected from magic on your gutstar. Too many points to be simply nuked away with a dreaded 13th or similar spells

[Ophidian]

Against the dwarfs, any room to shuffle things around for a unit (or two!) of scouting and/or vanguarding Maneaters to get in and lock up the guns early on?

[His Imortal Shadow]

i would drop a mournfang from each unit, replace with a butcher, butcher takes maw magic, then take lore of beasts with slaughtermaster, beasts works well with ogres, and you have a great shot at the top spell of beasts, say hello to mountain chimera (youll be sold once your read its stat line)

[Pawn of Decay]

Hmmm. The mournefang are staying. Dropping them any lower starts to make them pointless in being taken. Whilst having a second caster in the army could be a nice thing I probably would stay away from a Butcher and be more content with a Firebelly as a Fire Ball caddy. The top Beasts spell is ok, but it doesn't really add anything to the list, which it can't achieve anyway.

Whilst the vanguarding Maneaters are a great idea against the Dwarfs, I think it would make the army list weaker against other match ups. I do want the army to be able to achieve well at a tournament level, but how well would the Maneaters do against other armies, and what would you have to drop and shift around to fit them in?

The Hellmaw banner does seem like a worth while investment, but loosing the magic items on the Bruiser will make him vunerable. Hellheart so far has been a good bonus being able to shut my oppositions magic phase down for a turn which has generally left them with 1 turn, possibly two before I am in combat. Magic hasn't really been able to achieve much so far against the army. Purple Sun can certainly prove to be a big problem, but so far it just doesn't seem to have done very much in the play testing. Is the Banner really worth the loss in protection on the Bruiser and the loss of the second magical weapon which is needed for ethereal units?

As for the Dragonhide Banner on the Ironguts unit. I like the idea, and I was tempted with it, but the plus 1 to the leadership is very helpful. Having that Ld 9 inspiring pressence certainly helps the Ogre's cause.

[Pawn of Decay]

Thank you to everyone for all of their help. Unfortunately due to running out of time to get the army painted in time I ended up running;

Lord:

Slaughtermaster - 370pts
- Level 4
- Hellheart
- The Fencers Blades

Hero:

Bruiser - 175pts
- Battle Standard Bearer
- Talisman of Endurance
- Great Weapon
- Heavy Armour

Core:

Ironguts (11) - 513pts
- Standard bearer
- Standard of Discipline
- Musician
- Lookout Gnoblar

Special:

Mournfang (3) - 240pts
- Standard bearer
- Banner of Eternal Flame
- Ironfists
- Heavy Armour

Mournfang (3) - 210pts
- Ironfists
- Heavy Armour

Rare:

Thundertusk - 250pts

Stonehorn - 250pts

I ended up taking this as it was the only viable option of getting the army painted in time. I would like to point out that the Stonehorn was completely useless with a kill record over the 5 games of; 8 Clanrats; 5 Dogs and 1 Boar Boy...

The Thundertusk was brilliant however and did amazingly well. I am planning on going again, but I am going to get the Ironblaster done in time.

I came away with Best Ogre Player though, so thank you to everyones advice and help.