Sabretusk and Redirecting

Hello,

I'm new to Fantasy and to Ogres. I've been reading quite a bit about using the Sabertusks to redirect enemy units but I don't really know what this means. Can someone explain the tactics used with Sabertusks to affect enemy units and hunt down warmachines?

Thank you,

Well, the first thing is that a Sabretusk can likely gobble up a war machine crew all by his lonesome. It causes Fear, which can be an issue for war machine crews that aren't Dwarfs, and it has WS4/S4/T4 and 3 attacks at I4, which means that on average you're chewing up one crewman (often before they get a swing at you), and likely not getting hurt in return. Even if you do get hurt, it has 2 Wounds to prevent a fluky win by the crew.

As for redirection, it has M8, so you can position it in front of your Ogres without having to hold them back (be sure to place it at an angle, don't just put him facing straight forward, remember charge maximization rules), and then offer your opponent a choice - either he charges the Sabretusk, wipes him out, and exposes himself to a countercharge from your Ogres (or overruns, and effectively takes himself out of the fight for at least a turn), or he doesn't charge the Sabretusk, and then the Ogres mash him in the front while the Sabretusk runs off to charge something else.

Hope that helps.

To redirect enemy units. you basically march the unit up into the face of one of his units and turn the Sabretusk so that if he charges it he will end up facing sideways and exposing his flank.

But you have also positioned the Sabretusk 1" away from his uni so they will actually have to walk backwards to get around him.

and you always have the sabretusk towards the edge of the enemy unit so their majority is in the Tusk's front arc(forcing all charges to be front charges)

if the enemy unit charges the tusk you can either Flee or Hold and you enemy will be turned and out of position, leaving them vulnerable to a Flank charge.

But if you flee, chances are it isn't coming back at ld4 (with no option to use the general or bsb bubble)

True enough, but I will gladly pay the cost of a Sabretusk to get a flank charge on an enemy block of my choice.

True enough, but I will gladly pay the cost of a Sabretusk to get a flank charge on an enemy block of my choice.

Amen to that!

If you flee in that situation, the enemy unit will probably just redirect into whatever unit you were trying to stop them charging in the first place. Always go into the manouver assuming that your sabretusk is going to die.

thats why you use 2 units of sabres! 1 to the rear and side to stop the redirecting

Another alternative is place the Sabretusk say 6-9"s away from the unit then hold the charge. You will die but once again the opponents unit will have turned and exposed their flank.

Be careful not to have units close bye for them to overrun into however.

Another alternative is place the Sabretusk say 6-9"s away from the unit then hold the charge. You will die but once again the opponents unit will have turned and exposed their flank.

Be careful not to have units close bye for them to overrun into however.

This doesn't really work because of the free combat reform after they win.  However, it is good to make sure you get a charge, even if it isn't in their flanks.

Don't forget how many people don't know/forget combat reform. In friendly games I like to remind people of obvious things like that. In a tourney however...

Or that they may decide to/have to overrun.

a Frenzied enemy will have to overrun for example.

Also remember to not flee with these guys. They almost never rally, and they can do wicked damage against most things. One of my sabertusks ate a peg knight and a half the other day 

If they get charged by any real combat unit they are dead as dead can be. if they flee they at least have a chance to rally as opposed to just getting wiped.

True enough, could try and eat a champ for funnsies 

If they get charged by any real combat unit they are dead as dead can be. if they flee they at least have a chance to rally as opposed to just getting wiped.

Never know though. I tried a multiple charge and against a HE spearman unit of 30 one time. Only thing to make it was a kitty in the flank. Killed on elf and took a wound back. With charging and a flank I only lost by 2. If I could have got lucky with some rolls.......Not bad for a single kitty.......

Try and charge enemy light cav/beasts. 3 WS4 etc attacks plus fear can win a combat. mine was charged by 5 dire wolves and just one made them all crumble over 2 phases. Not too bad. Just never flee with them.

Yeah, but 5 dire wolves is hardly a combat unit. It has basically the same purpose as our Sabretusk.


I did charge a unit of TK archers in the flank and held them up for a couple of turns. The Tusk killed about 6 out of 20 before they finally managed to cause some wounds on him(4s to hit and 5s to wound is a pain)

Yeah, but 5 dire wolves is hardly a combat unit. It has basically the same purpose as our Sabretusk.


I did charge a unit of TK archers in the flank and held them up for a couple of turns. The Tusk killed about 6 out of 20 before they finally managed to cause some wounds on him(4s to hit and 5s to wound is a pain)

thats pretty much the point i was making. dont take on combat units with the cats and they can do very well, far better than you may expect.

Thank you all for the different tactics and information. I greatly appreciate it.

Yeah, but 5 dire wolves is hardly a combat unit. It has basically the same purpose as our Sabretusk.


I did charge a unit of TK archers in the flank and held them up for a couple of turns. The Tusk killed about 6 out of 20 before they finally managed to cause some wounds on him(4s to hit and 5s to wound is a pain)

thats pretty much the point i was making. dont take on combat units with the cats and they can do very well, far better than you may expect.

I did a similar thing against chaos war hound units.  The cats could be relied on to beat the dogs . It did mean I didn't have to worry about getting my ogre blocks tied up with the opposing chaff.  Which was nice.

Personally I think redirects are not now as effective under 8th. The whole combat reform/redirect business can make them troublesome. Double redirectors work well as a unit can redirect only once but, as others have said, your tusks are then gone. Tusks have enough resilence to be able to hold a core unit in place for one turn if you get them in a flank. This can be pirceless. You may even win combat with flank, charge and a wound or 2.

They are great guided missiles though and can be aimed at heroes and mages. Run them into the character, even in a unit, and allocate all attacks against him. Not many L2s can survive. Even better equiped heroes and L4s will struggle against 2x1 of them. Having Rockeye in the army helps to pick your targets here.

Best use, I think, is to tack them on the corner of a mid-line combat. If enemy breaks pusue with your tusk using swiftstride and reform the bigger unit for flanking the rest of the army. Bazinga.