Did someone say OGORS !!!

Thats right the Ogor Mawtribes are on the march again with a new and exciting battletome, which you can order through Element Games link to support the site.

Thank you to Games Workshop for sending us a free copy of the battletome to review and for sending us the new Bloodpelt Hunter which you can see in our unboxing video below.

So lets dive straight into the review.

Allegiance Abilities

Battle Traits

I love the battle traits from the previous book as they did a fantastic job of bringing the narrative of what an Ogor army should be like to the table and this new book builds on that idea, the battle traits are mostly similar but with some slight changes. The trampling charge is now better for units of Ogors that contain 3 or more models doing mortal wounds on a 5+ now (roll a number of dice equal to the charge roll) instead of a 6 which is better, monsters still do mortal wounds on a 4+.

Might makes right is the same as it previously was which will help your Ogors take objectives, your normal Ogor units count as 2 models for contesting an objective, heroes that are not monsters count as 5 and monsters count as 10 models.

Your Ogors still either count as hungry (+2 to their move if not within 3 inches of the enemy) or eating (+2 bravery if within 3 inches of the enemy) both of which really help your Ogors get into combat and stick around when they are fighting.

The ever popular Beastclaw Raiders have a rule that I always forgot to use called the Grasp of the Everwinter which only affects units that are in combat with your beast claw raiders at the start of your hero phase and then you have to roll equal to or lower than the current battle round number to do D3 mortal wounds. This battle trait I feel should have been changed to something a bit more impactful as I still think I will forget to roll the dice for this rule.

The last battle trait is a new one called Gulping Bites, in the previous book all Ogor models that were not monsters had an extra attack on their profile that was okay at adding a bit more damage to combat, you now roll a dice at the end of combat and on a 4+ you do D3 mortal wounds. This only applies if you are within 3″ of any Gut buster Ogor unit not for each one so it doesn’t stack, I like this new battle trait as I think it will do more damage then the previous version and when you consider how many mortal wounds you could do on the charge this trait adds more mortal wounds which is good.

The last trait we get in this new book a two unique monstrous rampages, one for a Stonehorn unit and one for a Thundertusk. The Stonehorn is allowed to make a 3D6 move which it is allowed to pass through enemy units as if it had the fly keyword, it must end this move within 3″ of an enemy unit and any units it moves through take D3 mortal wounds on a 2+. This could be really good as you could charge a unit then move through that unit to get to those all important support heroes on the other side. The Thundertusk’s is a lot simpler but just as impactful, after the charge the chosen Thundertusk can let out a strikes last effect on enemy units within 3″ on a 3+ ( roll separately for each unit). I can see people taking some version of a thunder tusk for this ability alone, both really good and useful monstrous rampages.

Enhancements

Command Traits

The command traits are divided into two groups one for the Gutbuster’s and one group for the Beastclaw Raiders. Both groups are very specific to which units can take them which really limits the combo’s you can have on your general.

The Gutbusters ones are okay overall there are a couple of good ones that add to the flavour of the general, the Gastromancer one which is Butcher specific allows your general to know all the spells from the Gutmagic table while the Killer reputation trait allows a Tyrant to pick two big names instead of just one. There is a cool trait called Ex-Mercenary which makes Maneaters battline and allows you to generate more command points that can only be used on Maneater units, at the moment of writing this article you cannot buy Maneaters from Games Workshop so I imagine they are getting repackaged or there is a new kit on the horizon.

There is a trait for the new Bloodpelt Hunter that makes him hit on a 2+ with shooting attacks but I’m not sure how often I would make him my general just for that trait.

The Beastclaw Raider command traits are again okay overall, we get the ability to issue a command from a general board wide rather than the normal 18″ which could be good, there is a trait that allows a Stonehorn / Thundertusk hero to fight on their top bracket once per game, this is good but you might not get a chance to use it before your general dies. My favourite is for the Icebrow Hunter which allows him to ambush with 3 units of Sabertusks rather than just 1 which is pretty good.

Like I said the command traits are good but there is no stand out choice as they are for the most part all locked behind who your general is.

Artefacts of Power

Like the command trait the artefacts are divided into two groups one for Gutbusters and one for Beastclaw however they are a little less keyword specific which is good.

The gut buster traits are a real mixed bag, there is a +1 to hit aura for gut buster units that target an enemy monster or hero if they are wholly within 12″ of the bearer which is very good against those scary heroes riding monsters, my favourite is a once per game 3+ ward save for the bearer which you use at the beginning of a phase which lasts until the end of the phase, this could be super important at keeping you hero alive and deny your opponent potential battle tactics or even keep the enemy locked in combat for a turn longer than they wanted to, this artefact has a lot of potential.

The beast claw artefacts are very mixed, the best in my opinion allows your general who must be either a Stonehorn or Thundertusk to do two monstrous rampages in a charge phase once per game instead of just one, so you can do the Stonehorn rampage to move through an enemy unit and then roar at another unit, the other useful artefact does D6 mortal wounds on a 2+ to an enemy unit with 6″ in the shooting phase which is very short range but again coupled with the mortal wounds from charging the damage will add up quickly.

Sadly though I find myself looking at the generic artefacts more like taking the vial of manticore venom on my Frostlords spear or arcane tome on a butcher / slaughter master.

Spell Lore

The spells for the Ogor Butchers are all pretty good, two of which are good depending on what is in your army and the other two are just solid all rounders.

• +1 attack in melee for non – monster units.
• Rhinox unit is treated as a monster for the trampling charge trait and for contesting objectives and can carry out monstrous rampages, really good for taking objectives off your opponents if they aren’t careful.
  • A friendly Monster adds 1 to the damage of their mounts attacks.
    • An enemy unit gets -1 to hit until your next hero phase.

I like the spells for Ogors, I have two butchers built and painted so I am glad that the lore has some good choices in it but I think that you need to take a mixed list to get the most out of all the spells, having some Mournfang cavalry in your list is going to be pretty good when combo’d with the spell that makes them count as monsters.

The Lore of the Sun Eater is the Firebelly specific lore which gets three spells.

• The first is an anti horde spell with a range of 12″ where you roll a number of dice equal how many models are in range and on a 4+ you do a mortal wound not too bad.
• The second spell subtracts 1 from hit rolls of enemy units that target friendly units wholly within 12″ of the caster which is really powerful.
• And the final spell picks an enemy unit within 18″ that has 5 or more models and every time that unit finishes a move it takes D3 mortal wounds, still good but I like the other a bit more.

I really like this spell lore as I brings a unit that you never saw to the table top, i will be adding a Firebelly to my army now thanks to the new spells.

Prayers

We get access to three prayers in the new battletome that are actually okay depending on how you build your army, we get a mortal wound prayer that you pick a point on the battlefield within 18″ and every unit 3″ takes D3 mortal wounds on a 2+ which I fully expected to be a 4+ but no its on a 2+ which makes the prayer pretty good at doing some more damage, there is a prayer called “Keening Gale” that adds 3″ to a monster or mourning units move effectively adding 5″ to their move which coupled with on of the tribes you can make mournfang cavalry very quick.

The last prayer feels a bit wasted as it returns a model to a Yhetee or frost sabre which I have never run either unit so for me I won’t be using this prayer over the other two.

Mount Traits

In this new ogor battletome we get access to six mount traits, three for Stonehorns and three for Thundertusks, once again the Stonehorn traits are much better in my opinion than the Thundertusk ones which is a bit sad as Stonehorns don’t really need the buff and I would have like ed a better incentive to take a thunder tusk in my army other than the monstrous rampage.

The stand out one for the stone horn is the Rockmane Elder that subtracts 1 from wound rolls that target the stone horn, this trait makes your frost lord on stone horn extremely survivable and will be taken a lot, Metal cruncher returns but now only works if the target has a 3+,2+ or 1+ save rather than a 4+,3+ and 2+ save so it won’t effect as much things in the game.

The thundertusk traits are not great, we get a +1 charge aura for thunder tusks who most likely do not want to be charging, there is a D3 heal if you are within 3″ of the enemy at the start of your hero phase which is okay but the best choice to me is the 5+ ward save.

Sadly though since you only get 1 mount trait I think you will take a frostlord on stone horn and after that I can’t see people taking an extra mount trait as a second enhancement choice. There is a Mawtribe that can help give you more mount traits for free saving you an enhancement choice.

Mawtribes

Meatfist Mawtribe – add 1 to the trampling charge trait for gutbusters units in your army, making your gut buster units that have 3 or more models doing mortal wounds on a 4+ thats a lot of damage over a game.

Bloodgullet – Butcher know an extra spell from the gut magic lore and can cast 2 spells instead of 1, pretty good if you want to get a lot out of your butchers but now that the spell lore only has 4 spells I like some of the other tribes a bit more.

Underguts – add 1 to the rend of missile weapons for leadbelchers and iron blasters, if you want to run a shooting ogor list this is the go to tribe as that makes your shooting -2 rend for the most part .

Boulderhead – add 2 to the wounds characteristic of stone horns and thunder tusks in your army in addition you can take 3 mount traits instead of just 1, if I was running a monster ogor list I’d take this for the extra wounds the extra mount traits are like icing on the cake.

Thunderbellies – Mournfang units can run and charge, simple and makes mournfang units very quick.

Winterbite – winter bite units are -1 to be hit while within their own territory against missile weapons which is good if you play against a shooting alpha strike army like KO alot, also frost sabre, yhetee and ice brow hunter units are not visible to enemy units more than 12″ away which is really good for a lot of match ups but due to my dislike of the Yhetee models I probably won’t take this tribe.

Overall I am very happy with the tribes as they all encourage different units in the book which makes for some interesting lists and adds a lot to the replay-ability of the army.

Matched Play

Grand Strategies and Battle Tactics

Over the last few months I have really gone off putting grand strategies and battle tactics into battletomes as some battletomes seem to get some really easy ones while other books get very difficult ones, now an argument could be made for some armies might struggle to gain points in games for capturing objectives and need to recuperate points in battle tactics which makes the decision to have unique ones in every battletome more understandable from a external balance perspective.

With that said this section is not good for ogors, the grand strategies are all extremely difficult, one of which is a generic one ( Take what’s theirs ) just with a different name which feels a bit lazy to me. Overall I think most ogor armies will take a generic grand strategy over any battle tome ones.

The battle tactics are marginally easier to do, there is one that requires a play to do 10 mortal wounds with the trampling charge trait in a turn which is difficult but can be done, there are two other that require your whole army to either be in combat or not in combat for a whole turn which is hard to do. Overall the battle tactics are hard to do and I think most ogor players will just use the generic ones instead.

Core Battalions

There are four core battalions in the new ogor battletome, 2 focus on Stonehorns and mournfang which give the swift or slayers abilities and require the same number of units. There is one that focuses on thunder tusks and gives you the option to take a frost lord of stone horn in the battalion which I feel was meant to be a frost lord on thunder tusk as it seems strange to have a stone horn in a battalion that focuses on thundertusks.

The junk mob returns and encourages you to take Gnoblars and scrap launchers neither of which are very good, I think that Gnoblars should have been given the hobgrot treatment where if you take a gut buster unit as a battline choice you could then take a unit of gnoblars as a battline unit as well then I would consider this battalion as the scrap launchers have been improved.

Warscrolls

When I get a new battletome one of the first things I do is go straight to the warscrolls section and look at what has changed as that gives me a renewed excitement to buy models. In this new book there has been a focus on the Gutbuster side of the ogors just like the previous book while the Beastclaw Raiders are pretty much the same. I’ll pick out the biggest changes below.

Bloodpelt Hunter – This is the new hunter model and he is very interesting, to put it simply he is a bolt thrower that cannot be seen by enemy units while he is within cover, his shooting attacks get very scary when he targets a Monster and he can move in your opponents movement phase so he will be difficult to pin down. There is a command trait that makes him hit on a 2+ with his shooting attacks which I think is a must take if you take the hunter.

Gluttons – Man am I glad that I have 24 of these guys built and painted, they now have a 2″ reach on their melee weapons which is great as it means all 6 in a minimum unit could attack in combat, their paired blades now give them 4 attacks a model which makes them a lot better in combat not to mention the addition of rend which is a great choice and I think we will see these guys in some lists however they might be overshadowed by the next unit…..

Ironguts – Ironguts are easily my favourite ogor unit even going back to the days of Warhammer fantasy and this latest version is to be feared, they now have -2 rend on their damage 3 weapons and can once per battle fight for a second time at the end of combat phase in either players turn !!! They also have a nice bodyguard rule which works for a Tyrant model only which will help keep your Tyrant alive but thats not why you take these guys.

Gorgers – These guys have been bad for a while but have received a good buff in this latest book. They can be deployed as a reserve unit anywhere on the board more than 9″ away from your opponent but now enemy units within 9″ cannot receive the inspiring presence or rally commands which makes them a great utility piece.

Leadbelchers – If you want to build a shooting ogor army then these guys will be your go to guys, the only big change for these guys is that if they stay stationary in the movement phase they fire 2D3 shots in the shooting phase now instead of D6 which doing the math works out a bit better but where these guys shine is in the Underguts tribe which gives them -2 rend on their shooting attacks, couple that with the butcher spell of -1 to your opponents save rolls and these are very scary.

Ironblaster – If you want to run a shooting army then you will be taking the maximum 4 of these models as they are very scary now, I’ve always wanted 2 of these and 2 scrap launchers for completions sake but never got round to buying them…. I will now. At long range they fire 2 shots that wound on 2’s are -2 rend and most interestingly do D3+3 damage, something we see a lot in 40k but not in Age of Sigmar. These cannons though are more scary at short range as they now have 10 attacks at -1 rend ( -2 in the underguts tribe ) and are now damage 2, thats very scary.

Scrap Launcher – I have never seen this model on the table which is a shame and sadly I think it will still be a rare sight which is a shame because it is now a lot better but the Ironblaster does what it does slightly better, so its main shooting attack has a number of shots equal to the number of models in the target unit to a maximum of 20 which is really good and it can get +1 to hit with that attack is their is a unit of Gnoblars wholly within 9″ which is a lot of points for that bonus, like I said its not bad but I think the Ironblaster is still better as it requires less to make it good.

Huskard on Stonehorn/Thundertusk – Both of these models now have access to the heal prayer and another prayer that gives a beast claw unit +1 to wound rolls in combat whereas it was only the thunder tusk version that had those prayers.

Frost Sabres – These pups have the same rule the blood pelt hunter has so that they cannot be seen by enemy units if they are within cover, pretty sneaky doggies.

Mournfang Pack – These ogors now have a rule called line breakers that gives them a -1 to wounds rolls when they are being shot at which is great and they make unleash hell only wound them on a 6 to wound which makes these guys a solid threat.

Path to Glory

When I read the path glory section for the ogors I was sooo happy as it is really good, to start with you can generate big names for your Tyrant by completing certain criteria in your path to glory games which is very cool. I really like the long strider big name which requires you to roll a 12 on your charge roll….. epic !!!

In your path glory games you are after meat, weapons and anything shiny really and when you play a path to glory game you can take what you get back to your hold to gain benefits, you gain spoils for doing certain things in your games and you can’t return to your gut hold until you have more spoils than you did the last time you were there which is very ogory.

Conclusion

So is this new book a hit or a miss ? for me I would say it is a hit I really like ogors and I love it when an army I enjoy gets some love, this new book does bring the Ogor Mawtribes into 3rd edition and makes them feel like they should be … a put force of destruction.

Now with the recent meta watch articles mentioning internal balance and external balance as a big focus of these battletomes I think they have done a good job at both. I would say about 85% of the units in this book are worth taking depending on the army you want to build which as a fan and collector of ogors is great because it adds a lot of options and longevity to the book which makes the internal balance of the book very good to a level that I am super happy with.

The external balance of the book will obviously take some time to settle but I am optimistic for the ogors, I think there are several builds that could compete at a matched play event which is what I want to see, I’ve taken my ogors to events in the last year and always felt like I was playing with an under powered army and there was nothing I could really do, this book feels like I can now compete.

Overall I am super happy with the battletome and will be painting up some a lot of ogors in the not too distant future.

Thank you to Games Workshop for sending us a free copy of the battletome to review

Published by Andy

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