03 Jan 2010
by Polymphus
Alright, so I've thought about all of my recent games of WFB and I've realised something odd; in every single victory I've had, gorgers have played a significant part. So I've decided to write an analysis of gorgers and their various uses. So without further ado...
Stats
The only really disappointing stat is the WS3, which means that a lot of units are going to be hitting him on 3s. However, his high toughness and wounds tend to negate this. Overall, he's got a very respectable statline, and this should be played to your advantage; he can take a lot of punishment from shooting, and if you've positioned him right, not much can target him anyway.
Thoughts on the Gorger
He comes in from a chosen board edge using similar rules to tunnelers, but cannot charge on the turn he arrives. This isn't terrible, but it does tend to lead to inexperienced ogre generals trying to use gorgers to attack warmachines, which often ends up with the gorger getting a cannonball straight in the face. With W4, you can get a bit cocky in this regard, but never assume indestructability. The most common warmachine to cause D3 wounds is the dwarf cannon, and they usually come in pairs. Many others cause D6 wounds, and you're really pushing your luck hoping that they won't kill the gorger straight off.
If you aim to try and attack a pair of dwarf cannons, position the gorger so that one cannon blocks the LoS of the second. The 7th edition changes to grapeshot don't seem to have hit a lot of people yet, so I'll break it down for you: being close to a cannon is no guarantee at all that it won't turn you into paste. Grapeshot causes only D3 wounds, but the sheer number of times I've had three wounds taken off and the last removed by Empire crew makes me 1) slightly embarrassed and 2) extremely reticent about trying this. Overall, I don't think that attacking warmachines is the way to go with these boys. I've had much more luck with units like yhetees and trappers in that regard, so let's move on.
Being able to arrive from any table edge coupled with a high movement means that it's very easy to have him arrive and then peg him forward as fast as possible. It's a very useful manoeuvre to march block: remember that units in combat still block march moves. Chuck him forward right into the middle of a group of important units and you emphasise one of the ogres' greatest strengths: high movement. Now you're moving 12" a turn and they're moving between 4-5". For the cost of one gorger (he'll die eventually, don't worry, he's done his duty) you can halt one enemy unit completely and slow the rest down significantly. The rest of your units can then use the spare turns they've been given to get into good positions for flank charges, which quite frankly we'd be sunk without. You can also use this tactic to selectively remove enemy units from the fray until you're willing to deal with them.
Unbreakable coupled with his high toughness means he can hold up a single infantry unit indefinitely. He's no slouch in combat, but he isn't actually fantastic either, whatever it looks like on paper. Only expect to win the combat if you've flanked a unit of cavalry: you can expect to kill one, and S5 and KB greatly helps against higher armour saves. Don't try and tackle nastier infantry units like chosen warriors or saurus, as they'll likely kill him in 2-3 turns. Always position yourself so you have multiple units in his LoS and can pick and choose who you want to charge. Remember his objective is not to kill the enemy, but to stay alive himself and stop them moving. So that's all simple enough: he's tough, unbreakable and arrives from unexpected places so he's useful for pinning a large number of enemy units in place. Next slide...
I discovered this completely by accident, but it's become a lynchpin in my strategies. If an enemy is using a cheap skirmish screen like skinks, charge a gorger into the screened unit, and ogres into the screen. Resolve the ogre combat first and overrun/pursue. Then you can fight the combat against the larger unit in the same turn. This prevents enemies from holding you in place and flanking; you can slam into an important enemy unit and run then down with the gorger. Then if an enemy tries to flank your ogre unit, you can flee, which has the nice side effect of putting the enemy at an angle to be easily flanked by your other units. It doesn't only work with skink screens. If you think you can reliably defeat the front unit in one turn, then a gorger into the second unit allows you to take two. It's a very, very handy and very, very nasty trick. Use it.
Sneaky Trick #2
If you're playing against Orcs and Goblins, it's a very nasty tactic to sprint a gorger into the midst of their Night Goblin units. The fanatics are forced out and begin to rampage around the Orc lines. There's a high probability that your gorger will die, but the sheer chaos that the fanatics will cause after having been released early has to be one of the most hilarious things you will ever see in a game of WFB.
In conclusion
The above two paragraphs reveal something interesting and the whole point of my argument: the point of the gorger is not to kill, but to disrupt. When using a gorger think not only how he can enhance your own plans, but how he can screw up the enemy's. Nothing else in the ogre army can provide such a power. Use it wisely.
Alright, so I've thought about all of my recent games of WFB and I've realised something odd; in every single victory I've had, gorgers have played a significant part. So I've decided to write an analysis of gorgers and their various uses. So without further ado...
Stats
The only really disappointing stat is the WS3, which means that a lot of units are going to be hitting him on 3s. However, his high toughness and wounds tend to negate this. Overall, he's got a very respectable statline, and this should be played to your advantage; he can take a lot of punishment from shooting, and if you've positioned him right, not much can target him anyway.
Thoughts on the Gorger
He comes in from a chosen board edge using similar rules to tunnelers, but cannot charge on the turn he arrives. This isn't terrible, but it does tend to lead to inexperienced ogre generals trying to use gorgers to attack warmachines, which often ends up with the gorger getting a cannonball straight in the face. With W4, you can get a bit cocky in this regard, but never assume indestructability. The most common warmachine to cause D3 wounds is the dwarf cannon, and they usually come in pairs. Many others cause D6 wounds, and you're really pushing your luck hoping that they won't kill the gorger straight off.
If you aim to try and attack a pair of dwarf cannons, position the gorger so that one cannon blocks the LoS of the second. The 7th edition changes to grapeshot don't seem to have hit a lot of people yet, so I'll break it down for you: being close to a cannon is no guarantee at all that it won't turn you into paste. Grapeshot causes only D3 wounds, but the sheer number of times I've had three wounds taken off and the last removed by Empire crew makes me 1) slightly embarrassed and 2) extremely reticent about trying this. Overall, I don't think that attacking warmachines is the way to go with these boys. I've had much more luck with units like yhetees and trappers in that regard, so let's move on.
Being able to arrive from any table edge coupled with a high movement means that it's very easy to have him arrive and then peg him forward as fast as possible. It's a very useful manoeuvre to march block: remember that units in combat still block march moves. Chuck him forward right into the middle of a group of important units and you emphasise one of the ogres' greatest strengths: high movement. Now you're moving 12" a turn and they're moving between 4-5". For the cost of one gorger (he'll die eventually, don't worry, he's done his duty) you can halt one enemy unit completely and slow the rest down significantly. The rest of your units can then use the spare turns they've been given to get into good positions for flank charges, which quite frankly we'd be sunk without. You can also use this tactic to selectively remove enemy units from the fray until you're willing to deal with them.
Unbreakable coupled with his high toughness means he can hold up a single infantry unit indefinitely. He's no slouch in combat, but he isn't actually fantastic either, whatever it looks like on paper. Only expect to win the combat if you've flanked a unit of cavalry: you can expect to kill one, and S5 and KB greatly helps against higher armour saves. Don't try and tackle nastier infantry units like chosen warriors or saurus, as they'll likely kill him in 2-3 turns. Always position yourself so you have multiple units in his LoS and can pick and choose who you want to charge. Remember his objective is not to kill the enemy, but to stay alive himself and stop them moving. So that's all simple enough: he's tough, unbreakable and arrives from unexpected places so he's useful for pinning a large number of enemy units in place. Next slide...
I discovered this completely by accident, but it's become a lynchpin in my strategies. If an enemy is using a cheap skirmish screen like skinks, charge a gorger into the screened unit, and ogres into the screen. Resolve the ogre combat first and overrun/pursue. Then you can fight the combat against the larger unit in the same turn. This prevents enemies from holding you in place and flanking; you can slam into an important enemy unit and run then down with the gorger. Then if an enemy tries to flank your ogre unit, you can flee, which has the nice side effect of putting the enemy at an angle to be easily flanked by your other units. It doesn't only work with skink screens. If you think you can reliably defeat the front unit in one turn, then a gorger into the second unit allows you to take two. It's a very, very handy and very, very nasty trick. Use it.
Sneaky Trick #2
If you're playing against Orcs and Goblins, it's a very nasty tactic to sprint a gorger into the midst of their Night Goblin units. The fanatics are forced out and begin to rampage around the Orc lines. There's a high probability that your gorger will die, but the sheer chaos that the fanatics will cause after having been released early has to be one of the most hilarious things you will ever see in a game of WFB.
In conclusion
The above two paragraphs reveal something interesting and the whole point of my argument: the point of the gorger is not to kill, but to disrupt. When using a gorger think not only how he can enhance your own plans, but how he can screw up the enemy's. Nothing else in the ogre army can provide such a power. Use it wisely.