What to Do, What to Do???

Well, now that we know that the Ogres have weaknesses and we know what some of these weaknesses are, we can start to exploit them.

Kill Them from Afar

Ogres are very fast and tough, but they have little in the way of armour, so you should choose missile troops and war machines with these things in mind.

Blackpowder. Handguns have an even chance to Wound, and they will punch through any armour an Ogre would be wearing. Even so, if half your shots hit and half of those Wound, a unit of 20 Handgunners will take down less than two Ogres per round. If your opponent fields a lot of units of three to four Ogres, then a few units Handgunners might not be too bad. All you need to do is finish off one Ogre to cause a Panic test. As far as point balance goes, four Bulls and 20 Empire Handgunners cost about the same, and at a 25” range, I’d bet on the Handgunners winning the duel. Of course, this theory dwells in an unrealistic vacuum with no other units in play and no terrain. Dwarf Thunderers at nearly twice the cost or half the number would be another story entirely.

Bows and Crossbows. Bow fire just won’t cut it against Ogres’ tough hides unless that fire is deployed in bulk. Crossbows, on the other hand, are just as strong as handguns and have a better range. They are not armour piercing like handguns, so you’ll have to make your decision to use crossbows instead of handguns based upon whether your opponent usually upgrades his Ogres’ armour. Don’t forget that you can’t move and fire a crossbow in the same turn, but then again, you’re probably not going to be moving forward, are you?

Bolt Throwers. These weapons can probably pay for themselves if they are positioned to get three or more shots in a game. Almost every Ogre and monster in the Warhammer Armies: Ogre Kingdoms book cost less than a Bolt Thrower (a Dwarf Bolt Thrower costs 45 points), so all you need to do is kill one of these monsters to earn the points back! With S6 hits that cause D3 Wounds and the ability to punch through ranks, all you need to do is hit with your bolt thrower!

Cannons. The Empire Great Cannon is the way to go if you want to kill Ogre characters. It has a massive 60” range, resolves at Strength 10, and causes D6 Wounds. If you’ve got a good eye for distances, then the Cannon could be your weapon of choice. Remember: If the unit holding a character drops (or starts) below five rank-and-file models, the character DOES NOT benefit from the Look Out, Sir! rule and can be blown back to the pit whence he came.

Other Options. Basically, anything that has a long range, a high Strength, and does multiple Wounds is of use against Ogres. Oh yeah, and you need to be able to hit with it! If it has a Psychological effect (like the Flame Cannon), then all the better.

Live to Fight

With Ogres moving so fast, only your Flyers and Cavalry will be getting the chance to charge. Everyone else will be getting charged. You can do only so much shooting, so you need to be able to survive the Ogre charge. A vanilla unit of four Bulls is, on average, going to hit you with 10 S4 hits. That’s four automatic impact hits and half of their normal 12 (16 if given a second hand weapon) swings. That is the basic Ogre we’re talking about – not the Ironguts with their great weapons or the Maneaters! Do you have units that can survive 10 or more S4 hits?

If you manage not to flee in the face of a devastating Ogre charge, then things are looking up for you. The Ogres don’t get their automatic impact hits in the second round of combat, and it is very likely that you will get to strike first in combat as most Ogres have an Initiative of 2. Also, the Fear test you failed last round only affects your Attacks in the first combat round. In the second round, you can now attack with impunity!

Hard Troops. High Toughness and strong armour are your friends. If you have access to Toughness 4 troops and/or have heavy armour or better, you might have a chance at beating the most basic Ogre units. Toughness 4 means that 10 hits turn into 5 Wounds. At this point, it’s all about the Armour save. Depending upon your unit size/structure/weapons, you might even get to attack back! If you can keep the damage below four or five kills, your ranks, standard, and outnumbering might win the combat for you!

Unbreakable and Stubborn. Unbreakable troops are the way to go when you want to hold up a unit of Ogres. These troops don’t even have to do much damage themselves, as long as they hold the brutes long enough for a counter charge at the side or rear. Stubborn troops are great as well…that is, until you are beaten down enough so that your Fear-ful opponents out-number you. At that point, losing a round of combat will cause even a Stubborn unit to run for the hills.

Large Units/Reach Weapons. As Ogres have a 40-mm base, 10 20-mm bases can be put in contact with a unit of Ogres four models wide. Even if the Ogres cause five or six casualties, you’ve got a chance to even the odds. Of course, you need lots of troops to have such a wide front rank. Things get even better if you’re using reach weapons like spears and pikes. A second rank worth of Attacks could really stick it to a charging unit of Ogres. A third would clinch the deal!

While we are on the topic of large units, any units expecting to survive the Ogre charge should consider fielding a unit large enough to retain its entire rank bonus after the initial round of combat.

Next: The Cavalry Is Coming!