Ogre Character Tactica/Builds (2010)

So looking at the common builds in 8th Edition most armies run with a Tyrant, Slaughter Master, BSB Bruiser and second supporting caster Butcher. There are obviously other alternatives depending on the points level of the game and play style of the player.

Lords

Tyrant
Traditionally all armies at higher points games have this guy for his higher Leadership 9 and now coupled with the BSB (re-roll failed Leadership & Break Tests) the central core (bubble) of our army no longer suffers from the Leadership issues that it did in 7th Ed.

The Tyrant is a killing machine whichever form this may take in your army will depend on the role you intend him to play.

I will just mention a few of the more popular builds I have seen on this website.

Defensive Tyrant Builds
1. Ninja Tyrant: Cathayan Longsword, Yhetee Pelt, Glittering Scales, Luck Gnoblar, Wyrdstone Necklace and either: Mawseeker, Deathcheater or Giant Killer Big-names. (Only WS7 but the points saved allow a better defensive build. also Initiative 5 instead of 4)

2. Ninja Tyrant 2: Fencers Blades, Yhetee Pelt, Glittering Scales (WS 10 ensures the opponent is hitting you on 6's most of the time, also 6 Magical attacks)

3. Durable Tyrant: Armor of Silvered Steel, Mawseeker, Wyrdstone Necklace, Luck Gnoblar (2+ AS, T6, 5+ WS)

4. Durable Tyrant 2: HA, Enchanted Shield, Talisman of Preservation, Luck Gnoblar (3+ AS, 4+ WS)

Rank & File Killing Tyrant
Why would you take a Tyrant  with the Thundermace? because he is the only guy who can wield this weapon.

A Tyrant with the Thundermace is excellent for decimating large blocks of T3 troops combine this with the Dragonhide Banner (re-rolling 1's to hit & wound on the turn you charge) and you have a lot of dead opponents troops. Not as effective if there are characters in your opponents unit as it hits vs. the highest WS in the opponents unit (don't use vs HE Swordmasters for example). Also not much use vs. troops that have high AS (such as WoC, and Heavy Cavalry) as most of the hits are Str 4 only.

You can also tailor the Thundermace a bit vs. specific armies.
So when fighting armies with Ward Saves such as Daemons or Forest spirits then you might take Another Tricksters Shard alongside the Thundermace to force Ward Save re-rolls.
If fighting troops with lots of Regen eg: Trolls, Nurgle, etc.. then the Banner of Eternal Flame will be useful alongside the Thundermace. Some people swear by this weapon but if it misses then having the Crown of Command or the Stubborn buff on the unit as back up is important.

2. RnF Killer: Fencers blades, Mawseeker, HA, Wyrdstone necklace, 2 Sword Gnoblars (8 attacks counting Gnoblars)

3. RnF Killer: Sword of Bloodshed, Mawseeker, HA, Wyrdstone Necklace, 2 Sword Gnobs (10 attacks)

More in depth Tyrant discussions (see links)
http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=17504.0

Slaughter Master
This guy is very popular in 8th Ed for 2 reasons:
Firstly we couldn't use him in 7th Ed so he's a novelty.
Secondly he is worth his points in most games as long as he doesn't miscast and blow himself up (watch out for the Infernal Puppet & items which modify your miscast roll). The SM gets +4 to casting and Dispelling which is very nice.

The SM can also be tooled up and is a pretty good combat Mage as good as the best in most other armies. One of the nice builds is Blood Cleaver, Talisman of Preservation & either (Scroll, Another Tricksters Shard, Potion, etc.. to taste). With his WS4 and 4 attacks he can generally heal his wounds pretty well in combat as well as with Gut Magic. Generally cast his spells second after the supporting caster has attempted to cast the same spell first.

Alternative builds see links
http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=17625.0

Heroes

Butcher
In order for Ogres to have a decent Magic phase in 8th Edition it is essential to have a second caster in order to ensure our buff spells get cast. Two attempts at each spell is often needed if you wish to buff your combat units. We also need to stack as many buffs as possible on units as they are easily dispelled in 8th Edition due to the +4 to dispelling from enemy Achmages.

There are various builds for the Butchers depending on whether you want a fighty, survivable or Spell enhancing Butcher.

1. Fighty Butcher: Fencers Blades, Another Tricksters Shard (4 attacks at WS4 forcing opponents to re-roll Ward Saves)

Bruisers
The main role of Bruisers in 8th Ed is as a Battle Standard Bearer (BSB), and  most of the builds seem to be defensive to help keep your BSB alive for his valuable Leadership Re-rolls. Also a lot of builds include the Crown of Command on the BSB to make the unit he is with Stubborn.

Popular BSB build: HA, Enchanted Shield, Cathayan, Crown of Command, Mawseeker, Luck Gnoblar & Lookout Gnoblar

An alternative Bruiser build gives the BSB the Dragonhide Banner and this build is very useful when used with a Tyrant who has the Thundermace.

See links below for more in depth discussions of BSB builds.
http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=17161.0
http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=16705.0

Another role for a Bruiser might be as a specific Monster killer, this is yet to be explored fully in 8th Ed and most armies don't put in a 5th character. However a possible Monster killer build might be the following.
Bruiser with HA, Siege-breaker, Wyrdstone, Luck Gnoblar (4 Str 8 attacks, 5+ AS & 5+ WS, 1 re-roll for AS or WS).

Hunters
Not popular in 8th Ed for a number of reasons, one of them being the use of Slaughter Masters taking up points spent on characters. Also the traditional usefulness of the Hunters Crossbow vs. Monsters not so good these days as you no longer get the +1 for hitting Large Targets. The Hunter could also be put in as a 5th character monster killer and has the advantage of being able to field that second unit of Trappers.

More detailed discussions on Hunters can be found in these links.
http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=17448.0
http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=16913.0

Special Characters
These guys are about as popular as the Hunter, well we only have 2 choices and these are due to our book being from 6th Edition.

Skrag the Slaughterer
Definitely the better of the Ogre Special Characters especially for the points cost.
He's a a Slaughter Master with Leadership 9, Frenzy, Strength 5 and T6 and gets 6 attacks while Frenzied and has the Killing Blow special rule. He makes Gorgers special which in 7th Ed and may still be useful in 8th in my opinion.

The downside is his only defense is his T6 and his Gut Magic until he starts killing things in combat.

So get him in combat as soon as you can, the more he kills the more bonuses he and his Gorgers will get.
See chart page 76 Ogre Kingdoms Rulebook.

You can also take a Tyrant in the same army as Skrag in 3000pt+ games.

Greasus Goldtooth
This guy is almost useless for the points you spend on him at games under 4000pts. He may have a use in Larger Battles? but I am sure there are better options even at higher points games.

See Discussion in link
http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=17451.0

to the Tyrant section i would add Durable and RnF killers.

Durable tyrant: Armor of Silvered Steel, Mawseeker, Wyrdstone Necklace
Durable tyrant2: HA, Enchanted Shield, Talisman of Preservation, Luck Gnoblar.


RnF Killer: Fencers blades, Mawseeker, HA, Wyrdstone necklace
RnF Killer2: HA, Enchanted Shield, CLS, Talisman of Preservation, 2 Sword Gnobs.

Thanks for your input Grey Templar I will add more stuff to what I have started when I get time.

It is a work in progress at present.

Grey templar i think this one should beef up the Durable tyrant2:  healing potion and Cls or Gw, 1 luck gnoblar, 2 sword gobbos

With support from a maneater in the back he is almost impossible to kill or brake from combat

my next battle will see me trying a hammer and anvil tactic - maybe more of a hammer and hammer! The anvil is my tyrant w/ cls, ha, mawseeker, tricksters helm, luck gnobbo. 4 arm save, 5 ward, reroll on successful wound rolls, ws7 and t6 means little gets through to start. Will be supported behind by a maneater so stubborn, itp. True hammer will be 8-9 ironguts.

In battles where i am not afraid of too much magic/shooting i can swap out items for magic armor and thundermace!

2. Ninja Tyrant 2: Fencers Blades, Yhetee Pelt, Glittering Scales, Luck Gnoblar, Wyrdstone Necklace, Mawseeker Big-name

Sadly this guy comes in using 125 points of magic items. Drop off the Glittering scales and hook him up with some standard HA =D

this guy doesn't need the fencers blades, give him a cathayan longsword instead.

this guy doesn't need the fencers blades, give him a cathayan longsword instead.

Yup, thats true, but thats basically the number 1 choice. I was trying to make a suggestion that was different than the first =D

Mawseeker coupled with Trickster's Helm makes a Tyran really hard to kill, and if you really want him to survive anything, you can throw him a 5+ ward save.

Give him a mundage Great Weapon, and he can even kill Lords while surviving.

the best he can get is a 5+ ward along with the Helm and Mawseeker

leaves room for a magic weapon though

Wyrdstone necklace, Tricksters Helm, Mawseeker, Gold Sigel Sword. 300 point tyrant.

I've been thinking about that loadout for my Tyrant. I want him able to kill tough characters and monsters, whilst surviving their attacks back.
Trickster's Helm + Mawseeker is awesome, but I feel he needs a Ward save too and my SM is making great use of the Wyrdstone Necklace so that leaves my Tyrant with the Talisman of Endurance. Not too shabby.
The issue comes with his weapon. Is a standard GW enough? With this build I only have 10 points of magic left and you can't get a good magic weapon for that, but I'm not sure that 5 Str 7 attacks at WS 6 is going to be enough to down monsters and tooled combat Lords.

I've also been trying to fit the Other Trickster's Shard in there, but then I either lose Mawseeker or the Ward save, and I don't really want to lose either. Any suggestions?

     Why not try this

     Luck Gnoblar, Sword Gnoblar x2, Great Weapon, Heavy Armour
     Dragonhelm
     Talisman of Preservation
     Mawseeker
     Healing Potion
     
     He never dies for me anyway, and backed upp by a maneater he seldom breaks from combat either.

I've been thinking about that loadout for my Tyrant. I want him able to kill tough characters and monsters, whilst surviving their attacks back.
Trickster's Helm + Mawseeker is awesome, but I feel he needs a Ward save too and my SM is making great use of the Wyrdstone Necklace so that leaves my Tyrant with the Talisman of Endurance. Not too shabby.
The issue comes with his weapon. Is a standard GW enough? With this build I only have 10 points of magic left and you can't get a good magic weapon for that, but I'm not sure that 5 Str 7 attacks at WS 6 is going to be enough to down monsters and tooled combat Lords.

I've also been trying to fit the Other Trickster's Shard in there, but then I either lose Mawseeker or the Ward save, and I don't really want to lose either. Any suggestions?

With reroll to wound and T6, not that many wound will get through. Even lucky heroic killing blow might be dodged that way. And its those KB that makes me want to keep a Wardsave just in case.

So far, i've faced many lord, and none really scare me. The only one that could be a problem is a Dark Elf one with the reverse wardsave, but again, who can really beat that? or a mage with speculum.... But those are two build you wont be facing everyday.

For trickster's shard, i've had bad experience with it, mainly because he's a pain to use with Ironcurse icon (seriously, what am i supposed to reroll on my unit when i get shot by a catapult?). So i kept away from it to avoid annoyance to a minimum.

With reroll to wound and T6, not that many wound will get through. Even lucky heroic killing blow might be dodged that way. And its those KB that makes me want to keep a Wardsave just in case.

So far, i've faced many lord, and none really scare me. The only one that could be a problem is a Dark Elf one with the reverse wardsave, but again, who can really beat that? or a mage with speculum.... But those are two build you wont be facing everyday.

Good point. And I suppose he would have a 4+ Armour save for those tricksy 6-followed-by-a-6-from-a-low-strength-hit wounds I was worried about. I may have to try him without a Ward save. That would leave 40 points for a decent weapon. I was thinking about the Sword of Anti-Heroes with an Ironfist for a shield - would give him 6 Strength 6 attacks against a single character, and more against more. He would certainly be doing what he was supposed to be! (though I'd be worried about big monsters like Hydras, but as I've said, that's what the Ironguts are for. I may try this...)

For trickster's shard, i've had bad experience with it, mainly because he's a pain to use with Ironcurse icon (seriously, what am i supposed to reroll on my unit when i get shot by a catapult?). So i kept away from it to avoid annoyance to a minimum.

Good point again, I hadn't thought of that. The answer I suppose would be to keep him on the end of a rank, so the models that are targetted by a Stone thrower (generally the ones in the middle) will be out of base-to-base with him.

Some interesting ideas!!!

Thanks Twon I have fixed the second Ninja build.