And we arrive at the final part of my OK army list analysis. With Characters and Core choices taken care of, all we need to do is spend the remaining points on Special and Rare choices.
Let's see what I have so far:
A lvl 4 slaughtermaster using the Great Maw lore with the Hellheart, with an Ironfist.
A lvl 2 Butcher using Heavens with a Dispel Scroll, with an Ironfist.
A BSB carrying the Banner of Eternal Flame, with heavy armour and an Ironfist.
9 Bulls with Ironfist, musician, standard bearer.
9 Ironguts, musician, standard bearer, Standard of Discipline.
That's 1367 of my 2400 pts spent, with 715 of those going in Core. That leaves plenty for some nice Special choices, and I know just which two units I want to take.
When I looked through the new OK book for the first time, there were a few things that stood out to me. From that list of things you'll see I chose a Slaughtermaster, with a Hellheart, but I opted to not take three heroes and instead just went with two (much more points efficient, overall). I still like small Mournfang units and think they will be very useful, but I doubt I'll be able to fit them in this army. I think I got caught up a little looking at all the new stuff and neglected to pay proper attention to some of the older units. Silly me.
Leadbelchers, step forward please.
This unit is amazing, and if it wasn't for another old unit in the book having even cooler new rules, they would be my favourite unit by far. As it is, they'll have to settle for being my second favourite unit in the book.
Longer range, more reliable, more shots per turn, these guys provide some great medium range fire support for your advancing army. And, still being Ogres, they can do some damage in combat as well. Don't expect too much from them there, but at least they should be able to hold their own, unlike the missile troops from most other armies.
So, I will definitely be taking a unit of these. The question then is, should I take one unit or two? And also, how big a unit should I take? Now, having played a lot of 40k this current edition, I have learned the value of redundancy. What this means is basically that you should have multiple units in your army that are capable of dealing with the same types of target. Note that this doesn't necessarily mean taking multiples of the same unit, just as long as you have more than one way to deal with any given threat your opponent presents you with.
So, keeping that in mind, I would lean towards taking two units of Leadbelchers. However, there are two things that make me want to take one, larger unit.
Firstly, each Leadbelcher has a random number of shots. Now, because Leadbelchers only have an average BS (probably most always hitting on 5s), making sure that you have as many shots as possible means you will actually hit with a decent number of shots. So, to even out the random number of Multiple Shots and get more hits, I need more Leadbelchers.
Secondly, eventhough Leadbelchers carry a fairly potent missile weapon, I would like this unit to actually pose a threat to opposing players. And let's face it, 3d6 S4 shots hitting on a 5 won't scare many units, not even small units of elite infantry or cavalry. Say you are fighting High Elves and your opponent uses a unit of 5 Dragon Princes. He won't hesitate putting the Dragon Princes across from your 3 Leadbelchers because he's not likely to lose more than one from your fire before he charges you in combat. But if you were to take 8 Leadbelchers, suddenly this becomes a whole 'nother ballgame. Suddenly that's an average of 24 shots coming the Dragon Princes' way, and even with a BS of 3, that will hurt.
Sure, the Leadbelchers will cost me 354 points, including a musician, but that unit will force my opponent to think twice about which units he wants to put opposite them. And that's always what you want to do with games like this. Force your opponent to think, and to rethink. The more he has to think and adapt his battleplan, the more likely he'll be to make a mistake.
Of course, even with 8 Leadbelchers there are still some things you shouldn't shoot at. Hordes of slaves or goblins come to mind. Try targetting elite units with an average Toughness and a 3+ or 4+ save. Infantry and cavalry alike will learn to fear your Leadbelchers, trust me.
Also, for added yumminess, I can put my BSB in with this unit and go after regenerating units as well.
So, I'll take a unit of 8 leadbelchers, with a musician for those quick reforms.
Next we come to my absolute, hands down, favourite unit in the book.
Maneaters.
These guys are just perfect for me. They are better fighters than Ironguts, can choose a missile weapon that is only slightly worse than what Leadbelchers carry standard, they can get a magic standard, are less susceptible to dying from annoying I-test spells, and, wait for it, you can give them two skills to make them fit your army perfectly! Now, all this comes at a price, of course, but that's to be expected. Ogres will almost always be outnumbered, unit-wise, and for me that has never been a reason to not pay lots of points for a unit, as long as it is effective. Emphasize on the part after the last comma.
My original Fantasy army was Chaos 3 or 4 editions back, and back then everything in the book cost an arm and a leg.
Let's look at which skills I will give my Maneaters first. Looking at my army so far I have three reasonably sized units of infantry, one of which can shoot. While being a solid basis for an army, I need something that can apply rapid pressure to my opponent. Pressure means forcing my opponent to adapt, and that leads to rethinking, and that leads to mistakes, as we had already established. So, this means the first skill is pretty easy to pick: Scout. This will allow me to place my Maneaters very close to my opponent's line and threaten him from T1. Brilliant. With any luck I'll be able to place them outside of the forward arch of most of my opponent's missile troops.
To make sure I can do something other than look threatening even if I get the first turn I will equip them all with a brace of pistols.
The second skill then becomes fairly easy as well. Ok, easier, since I basically have two choices now that I've established the unit's primary function. I can either take Sniper and try and kill characters or I can try and somewhat boost their Ld by making them Stubborn. Since I would prefer them to be in combat for as much as possible (being able to shoot is nice, bit they can do a lot more damage in combat, especially when they flank charge), I will go with Stubborn. This might get switched later, but for now I'll take this.
Lastly, I have to decide how many Maneaters I will take. Since, again, I want this unit to pose a threat, I will go for a unit of 6 of these, with full command. Sure, this is a bucketload of points, but they should prove to be a very sizeable thorn in anyone's side.
Give the unit heavy armour for protection and the Gleaming Pennant for that first failed Ld test, and that brings the unit to 431 points. A lot, but for now I think it's worth it.
That leaves me with not that many points left to spend, and still with a fairly sizeable hole to fill in the army. I have combat ability, I have medium range missile fire, I have magical support, but I do not have heavy firepower. I don't have something that will pose a sizeable threat to monsters.
Enter the Ironblaster.
Is it a war machine, is it a chariot? Unclear, so far, but it's fairly cheap, reliable and mobile, so I'll take it! It can shoot at big nasties every turn and poses a great challenge for your opponent's regular war machine hunters to deal with. I ideally would like two (see redundancy, above) but unfortunately, due to tournament restrictions I can only take one. Oh well, such is life!
With the points left over I'll take two single Sabretusks. These can be used as redirecters or wizard hunters (though I might have to use units of two for that). I'm not to sure about how to use these cats optimally yet, but time will tell!
That leaves me with just under 30 points to play with. Maybe the Ironcurse Icon for one of my characters, and champions for my Bulls and Ironguts. Sounds like a plan.
With that done, it's time to set up some more playtest games!
Right, that's this series done. I hope this provided some insight into how I build my armies. If anyone has comments, I'd be curious to see who'll be the first person to leave one!
Let's see what I have so far:
A lvl 4 slaughtermaster using the Great Maw lore with the Hellheart, with an Ironfist.
A lvl 2 Butcher using Heavens with a Dispel Scroll, with an Ironfist.
A BSB carrying the Banner of Eternal Flame, with heavy armour and an Ironfist.
9 Bulls with Ironfist, musician, standard bearer.
9 Ironguts, musician, standard bearer, Standard of Discipline.
That's 1367 of my 2400 pts spent, with 715 of those going in Core. That leaves plenty for some nice Special choices, and I know just which two units I want to take.
When I looked through the new OK book for the first time, there were a few things that stood out to me. From that list of things you'll see I chose a Slaughtermaster, with a Hellheart, but I opted to not take three heroes and instead just went with two (much more points efficient, overall). I still like small Mournfang units and think they will be very useful, but I doubt I'll be able to fit them in this army. I think I got caught up a little looking at all the new stuff and neglected to pay proper attention to some of the older units. Silly me.
Leadbelchers, step forward please.
This unit is amazing, and if it wasn't for another old unit in the book having even cooler new rules, they would be my favourite unit by far. As it is, they'll have to settle for being my second favourite unit in the book.
Longer range, more reliable, more shots per turn, these guys provide some great medium range fire support for your advancing army. And, still being Ogres, they can do some damage in combat as well. Don't expect too much from them there, but at least they should be able to hold their own, unlike the missile troops from most other armies.
So, I will definitely be taking a unit of these. The question then is, should I take one unit or two? And also, how big a unit should I take? Now, having played a lot of 40k this current edition, I have learned the value of redundancy. What this means is basically that you should have multiple units in your army that are capable of dealing with the same types of target. Note that this doesn't necessarily mean taking multiples of the same unit, just as long as you have more than one way to deal with any given threat your opponent presents you with.
So, keeping that in mind, I would lean towards taking two units of Leadbelchers. However, there are two things that make me want to take one, larger unit.
Firstly, each Leadbelcher has a random number of shots. Now, because Leadbelchers only have an average BS (probably most always hitting on 5s), making sure that you have as many shots as possible means you will actually hit with a decent number of shots. So, to even out the random number of Multiple Shots and get more hits, I need more Leadbelchers.
Secondly, eventhough Leadbelchers carry a fairly potent missile weapon, I would like this unit to actually pose a threat to opposing players. And let's face it, 3d6 S4 shots hitting on a 5 won't scare many units, not even small units of elite infantry or cavalry. Say you are fighting High Elves and your opponent uses a unit of 5 Dragon Princes. He won't hesitate putting the Dragon Princes across from your 3 Leadbelchers because he's not likely to lose more than one from your fire before he charges you in combat. But if you were to take 8 Leadbelchers, suddenly this becomes a whole 'nother ballgame. Suddenly that's an average of 24 shots coming the Dragon Princes' way, and even with a BS of 3, that will hurt.
Sure, the Leadbelchers will cost me 354 points, including a musician, but that unit will force my opponent to think twice about which units he wants to put opposite them. And that's always what you want to do with games like this. Force your opponent to think, and to rethink. The more he has to think and adapt his battleplan, the more likely he'll be to make a mistake.
Of course, even with 8 Leadbelchers there are still some things you shouldn't shoot at. Hordes of slaves or goblins come to mind. Try targetting elite units with an average Toughness and a 3+ or 4+ save. Infantry and cavalry alike will learn to fear your Leadbelchers, trust me.
Also, for added yumminess, I can put my BSB in with this unit and go after regenerating units as well.
So, I'll take a unit of 8 leadbelchers, with a musician for those quick reforms.
Next we come to my absolute, hands down, favourite unit in the book.
Maneaters.
These guys are just perfect for me. They are better fighters than Ironguts, can choose a missile weapon that is only slightly worse than what Leadbelchers carry standard, they can get a magic standard, are less susceptible to dying from annoying I-test spells, and, wait for it, you can give them two skills to make them fit your army perfectly! Now, all this comes at a price, of course, but that's to be expected. Ogres will almost always be outnumbered, unit-wise, and for me that has never been a reason to not pay lots of points for a unit, as long as it is effective. Emphasize on the part after the last comma.
My original Fantasy army was Chaos 3 or 4 editions back, and back then everything in the book cost an arm and a leg.
Let's look at which skills I will give my Maneaters first. Looking at my army so far I have three reasonably sized units of infantry, one of which can shoot. While being a solid basis for an army, I need something that can apply rapid pressure to my opponent. Pressure means forcing my opponent to adapt, and that leads to rethinking, and that leads to mistakes, as we had already established. So, this means the first skill is pretty easy to pick: Scout. This will allow me to place my Maneaters very close to my opponent's line and threaten him from T1. Brilliant. With any luck I'll be able to place them outside of the forward arch of most of my opponent's missile troops.
To make sure I can do something other than look threatening even if I get the first turn I will equip them all with a brace of pistols.
The second skill then becomes fairly easy as well. Ok, easier, since I basically have two choices now that I've established the unit's primary function. I can either take Sniper and try and kill characters or I can try and somewhat boost their Ld by making them Stubborn. Since I would prefer them to be in combat for as much as possible (being able to shoot is nice, bit they can do a lot more damage in combat, especially when they flank charge), I will go with Stubborn. This might get switched later, but for now I'll take this.
Lastly, I have to decide how many Maneaters I will take. Since, again, I want this unit to pose a threat, I will go for a unit of 6 of these, with full command. Sure, this is a bucketload of points, but they should prove to be a very sizeable thorn in anyone's side.
Give the unit heavy armour for protection and the Gleaming Pennant for that first failed Ld test, and that brings the unit to 431 points. A lot, but for now I think it's worth it.
That leaves me with not that many points left to spend, and still with a fairly sizeable hole to fill in the army. I have combat ability, I have medium range missile fire, I have magical support, but I do not have heavy firepower. I don't have something that will pose a sizeable threat to monsters.
Enter the Ironblaster.
Is it a war machine, is it a chariot? Unclear, so far, but it's fairly cheap, reliable and mobile, so I'll take it! It can shoot at big nasties every turn and poses a great challenge for your opponent's regular war machine hunters to deal with. I ideally would like two (see redundancy, above) but unfortunately, due to tournament restrictions I can only take one. Oh well, such is life!
With the points left over I'll take two single Sabretusks. These can be used as redirecters or wizard hunters (though I might have to use units of two for that). I'm not to sure about how to use these cats optimally yet, but time will tell!
That leaves me with just under 30 points to play with. Maybe the Ironcurse Icon for one of my characters, and champions for my Bulls and Ironguts. Sounds like a plan.
With that done, it's time to set up some more playtest games!
Right, that's this series done. I hope this provided some insight into how I build my armies. If anyone has comments, I'd be curious to see who'll be the first person to leave one!
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