6 wide Horde Vesus 3 wide Block

Hey guys since I've never played an army which could actually do much in cc (poor humans) I was curious what the general consensus is on hording up ogre blocks versus just going regular width.  In my head the horde seems better since it pumps out just a crazy amount of attacks and makes non bubble versions of buffs so much more valuable.  Thoughts?

A horde can be useful in some situations where you can maximise your attacks, Horde formation normally requires you to take 18 core models in one block, meaning things get really bad if they are redirected. Also, 3 wide formations of ogres have the advantage that with champion bsb and slaughter master at the front, you cannot bleed wounds into your unit, allowing you to give your opponent tough choices with wound allocation, significantly reducing the damage your unit takes.

Due to cheaper points cost and slightly higher durability, Bulls do might be a better choice for a horde unit.

Ah I see what you mean about denying attacks, and while I agree its a good tactic we try to avoid things like that (just to keep the spirit of the game there fresh, bret hyper lance isnt very fun to play against).  So for my big game coming up I was planning on running 2 big horde blocks but given this I was considering at least breaking up the bulls (I figure one big horde with my general and bsb with stubborn to anchor my lines was still a good idea no?).  With the bulls broken up they could protect the flanks but I'm worried about that eating to much of my leadership bubbles.  TBH I've never played an army with such an interesting footprint so I'm struggling with formations.

The problem with hordes is that they are so wide. One mistake in deployment or a turn lost to a redirector and they can be out of the game for good. Also you need 18+ models to make it into combat for it to really give you any advantage so you are probably better off with a more maneuverable unit that has a few ranks to absorb casualties.

My favorite frontage is four wide. Three can be a very strong defensive formation as mentioned but I feel ogres are better at DPS than tanking, so I prefer the extra combat res from wounds than trying to deny wounds and grind out combats.

If you go horde don't develop tunnel vision and forget they can reform to 3 wide to get out of any tight spots.

Well thanks for the advice guys!  What is the general unit size used?  9 for 3 ranks?

It's been a good long time since I last posted here (going back to the last Bellower release...) but in my old 2000 point lists I found I got the most stability out of using two units of 7 Ogres/ Bulls and one unit of 7 Ironguts as the backbone of my army.

The main benefit is flexibility- all of the units are of a reasonable size to be a threat; if you run 3+ heroes, then post-deployment you can add them to any of the units to create your 'hammer'. I find it fun to mess with the enemy during deployment :>p

The reason I keep them all at 7 models and not 9 is simply so you have enough points for character items and Special or Rare choices; any less than 7 each and I find they don't have enough 'bite' left by the time they weather a few magic or shooting phases.