Ogre Kingdoms Review, Part 1 - Book basics and Core

With the advent of hardback army books written by people who understand game balance, 8th edition armies look more balanced each time you forget that the magic phase doesn't exist. Ogres have waited 7 years for an update and many players only dreamed of the day when a new range of models would show their plastic or finecast resin faces on the front page of Games Workshop.

Let's take a look then to see what's new and to see if it really dragged them up to a balanced, fair level or broke them harder than my brain reading the slave giant page.



First up, the universal rules for Ogres have changed. No longer do you suffer for charging less than 6 inches. Guaranteed impact hits. If you roll 10 or above on the charge dice, your ogres get D3 impact hits each. Rank bonus adds to the strength. Streamlined with a buff for good luck. Universally better.

Ogres cause fear. Nothing new.

Ogre Clubs are gone. Not much of an issue as you won't worry so much about losing it. It's one thing where you don't actually need it anymore because the rest of your army got better.

Not much changed here. Let's move on.

Ogres: Basic fatasses are no longer named after male cows. For 30 points you get exactly the same statline as you did before, with light armour standard. Extra weapon is a measly 1 extra point whilst an ironfist (now a shield in all respects, no extra attack) is a miniscule 2 points. Command options are 10 points each and you can get a look-out gnoblar for 5 points (lowers the count of models needed for a “Look Out, Sir!” roll to 3, which might be very important due to the small size of Ogre units).

The new ogres have all the power of the old ogres, more durability and even cost less with nothing given up, other than a free -1 armour save modifier to the enemy. Whilst you'd think they'd hit less hard than before, the fact that you can take more models for the same points means you get more wounds and attacks to even it out. You don't even need a minimum 1 unit anymore if you don't want to, but seeing as they are worthwhile now they will make a good addition to your core.

Ironfists now actually work against ranged attacks and light armour standard nets you a 5+/6++ parry save, which means you actually can take hits before they wreck you. You won't save godly amounts of wounds but it's going to save you some trouble and a lot of wounds, especially against vast enemies with spears.  Whilst an extra 3-6 attacks is nice, I always prefer durability on something that hits good anyway and recommend Ironfists.

To compare: Old bull with light armour and an ironfist cost you 43 points. New Ogre costs you 32 for the same, and you can use your ironfist against shooting too. Beefed up all the way.

Ironguts: Little change here, other than you cost 43 points over 48. A 5 point drop is matched with 10 point command options all over and the same up to 50 points of magic banner, one per army. Whilst S6 attacks hurt like hell, bulls now have a place of being more durable due to parry saves and cheaper bodies. They will never reach an ironguts killing power, so the fact that you can pick for quantity over quantity is a godsend.

Due to bulls not being crap anymore, ironguts will no longer be a core staple of the ogre army. Yet, they will show up, for they have killing power like no others, and you can get as many as you want due to core restrictions. Being cheaper helps too. Variety works wonders and means your army will have several methods of dealing with the enemy. Still worth it, even moreso now.

Gnoblars: 2½ points each. No more sharp stuff but thrown weapons standard. They now can get actual banners and musicians now. You lose 2” of range and more multiple shots but get Quick to Fire, which means the hits you do get will actually hit properly. They're still cheap blocks of wounds used to protect flanks, tarpit and throw shit at the enemy so the price hike isn't too bad. Still workable, even moreso due to better thrown weapons.

For 25 points you can include trappers in your unit. No longer a horrible unit, they now make anything charging your gnoblars charge through dangerous terrain. Now your tarpit can not only use a very good stand and shoot reaction but they will take off chunks of the enemy unit too.  At 25 points it's costly, considering it's 10 gnoblars, but ultimately it depends if you can afford it and if you have something you really must defend.

Ogres stopping from charging counts as something you really must defend. The price hike doesn't take away their usefulness, so these are still good.