Most overrated magic item available to ogres?

Just looked through the Most Underrated topic, and I liked the theme.

So, what is the most overrated magic item available to Ogres (both from the BRB and our army book)?  What items make our opponent's cringe and cry foul or broken, when they really just aren't that bad. 

hmm... the dragon hide banner maybe? Honestly aside from the weapons we have some good items. I'd say the dragon hide banner because I don't run mournfangs at the moment and I don't always manage to get the charge with other units I put it in, also the breath weapon never really does much for me, sort of hit and miss, though still a good item, but perhaps a little overrated.

The rune maw. It only finds a use in a army build that is both dull and honestly not that great in game.

There isn't really anything that is that overrated in my opinion. The Ogre players are very good at not taking redundant items

Actually, that is a point. We have become more competitive minded. No one wants to have some (different) fun anymore.

I'd actually say that's a good thing. A savvy community is a good community - I can't stand it when I see newbies ask for advice in other forums and get pure nonsense from the "veterans".

As far as the most over-rated item... if we include external opinions, I'd go with the Hellheart. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid item. But if you listen to some people, they treat like a canned apocalypse.

I know, that is a very good point, but I see it that if someone is asked what to use to be good, they should get it. If they want the answer to how they can get something to work, they should get it too.

I have to agree that the HellHeart isn't that gamebreaking as some people have it too.

The Runemaw banner is awesome if you are running a horde and although dull, it is effective.

Hellheart's probably the worst offender here, the amount of interwebz outrage I've seen it garner is often more than a little disproportionate for the usual results of the thing and I think it's telling that most Ogre generals rate a simple Dispel Scroll higher.

The Rune Maw. At least the Hellheart has worked for me once already

The problem with the hellheart is people can't see past the item to see the player. I won a game yesterday with it simply because I used it the moment I knew my opponent needed his Light spells to win a combat he was in. Had I used it the previous turn and got the same result on the miscast table it wouldn't have changed the game in the slightest.

Hellheart, when used correctly against any army that relies upon it's magic phase, can buy you an entire turn by sucking dice with the miscast or stopping them from casting and even losing levels. That can completely turn the tide of battle and many people seem to run a decent amount of magic outside of dwarves when I look around at events quite often,  making this more likely to help you win games from it's use.

With that said, it's more overrated that is deserved often still and I'm glad about it's cost. It's a scissor to someone's paper.

Indeed - with the prominence of magic (particularly Level 4's), the Hellheart is just too viable! If peoples battle plans relied less on magic, then it wouldn't be so useful. I do feel for TK and VC plasyers though as this item can ruin games!

Back on topic though, i feel that the Runemaw is overrated. If it works then another units takes a beating and since you've probably got this on a large horde, the other unit will be small and is now dead or reduced beyond efficiency! If there's not other units around to bounce it to and therefore the spell is wasted, then your horde-star is woefully out on its own and will likely be getting dual charged etc soon enough!

The Greedy-Fist combo is the worst culprit in my eyes though! Considering the pts spent to have a L4 Deathmaster (ie, L4 Slaughtermaster, Greedy Fist, Butcher Tax) - and for what...to nullify your opponents magic phase! that might be sweet - but they're still very much alive! Whilst hindering the Ethereal Slaan is fantastic news - there's still 550pts worth of frog you've not really got the points for but have spent nearly as much just to nulify!

And said frog can still go into a unit without magical attacks and tie it up until they all die of starvation.

I agree with the Runemaw.

With that said, [the Hellheart's] more overrated that is deserved often still and I'm glad about it's cost. It's a scissor to someone's paper.

I like this statement, and I think it applies to the Runemaw, as well.

The thing about these two items is that they're geared to take on a particular opponent; granted, both affect the magic phase (which, imho, is the primary phase Ogres need to worry about, with the kinda spells out there), but they're tailored in different ways.

The Hellheart is great and can often make up its points in an enemy list of 2-3+ casters; against one it's not worth the points as much, and zero it's 50pts down the drain (that's a whole unit of Gnoblar trappers!).

The Runemaw can be very helpful in hordes against target spelling, but what if the opponent goes Life/Beasts, which don't have as much direct damage? Not quite as useful, persay; plus, it doesn't stop Suns or Pits (if I understand correctly).

So, they work in certain situations, but not all, which I think makes them work in of themselves.

However, for the sake of the rant, I'd say the Runemaw is a bit more overrated between the two... and, honestly, those two are the only items that are generally in these kinds of discussions. Nobody uses the exorbitantly priced T-mace or Siegebreaker (I used to love T-mace-SMASH, but not for 85 points!), and I think the only other Ogre items used are Grut's and Dragonhide (oh, and the occasional RockEye for the sake of extra points).

The Runemaw can be very helpful in hordes against target spelling, but what if the opponent goes Life/Beasts, which don't have as much direct damage? Not quite as useful, persay; plus, it doesn't stop Suns or Pits (if I understand correctly).

Pit of Shades is a Direct Damage spell and as such targets the unit and is therefore affected by Rune Maw.  If my opponent is running life, I am glad that I have spent the points on Rune Maw to protect my death star from Dwellers, which I assure you will be cast with 6 dice pretty much every turn around here.

If my opponent is running Beasts, I am GRATEFUL. 

All magic items are situational. If used in the right situation, they can significantly change the outcome of a battle.

For example, if you played a lot of armies that use solo wizards you probably wouldn't field a Hellheart in your all comers list.

On the same token, if you're fielding an expensive unit with multiple characters, perhaps Rune maw is worth the points for some extra protection.

An item is only overrated when people blindly add items to an army list without actually understanding what situations they should or would use them in.

My first choice would be the Hellheart, just because of what it CAN do if all the planets align and you sacrificed the right species of Orchid it gets all kinds of hate. I've only used it twice and while the first time it literally won the game by killing off a load of Vampires the second time it did exactly nothing and was a waste of 50pts.

I think sometimes the benefits of such items is not always tangible.

For example, if the enemy knows you are rolling with Hellheart he may well stay well back with his wizards which could be considered worth 50pts because he is staying outside of a 15-20" bubble.

Another example would be if the enemy knows your hoard is running the rune maw and decides not to bother casting some spells or plays his magic completely differently to how he normally would.

There is so many intangibles in this game which is one of the reasons it's so great.

Thats a great point Jusebert - my opponents play away from my Slaughtermaster and Firebelly 15-20" purely incase they have the Hellheart!

Bluff marching a Firebelly towards their caster will have them sweating!