Ken Kennedy: As if
the raw strength, speed, and ferocity of Ogres Kingdoms armies
weren’t bad enough, their shamanistic Butchers give
them access to some very nasty magic. By channeling the raw
power of the Great Maw, the spiritual leaders of the tribes
can augment their fellow Ogres or can call down the wrath
of their savage God on their pitiful enemies. Ogre Butchers
and/or Slaughtermasters employing Gut Magic, as it is known,
can be a very powerful addition to an Ogre Kingdoms army.
However, it is very important to understand all the advantages
and disadvantages that Butchers have when compared to Wizards
of other armies.
Ogre Kingdoms players wishing to employ magic must be aware
of a few disadvantages that Butchers have compared to Wizards
of other armies. Once you understand the implications of these
differences, you'll be able to stomach Gut Magic a lot easier.
Restricted Choices
Butchers are a Hero choice and are considered Level 2 Wizards,
while Slaughtermasters are a Lord choice and count as Level
4 Wizards for purposes of generating dispel and power dice.
Thus, a Butcher generates two power dice and one dispel die,
and a Slaughtermaster provides an army with four additional
power dice and two dispel dice. The only problem with this
hierarchy is that there is no option to have a Level 1 or
Level 3 Wizard in an Ogre Kingdoms army. This limit is not
a huge disadvantage, especially if you are a General who always
upgrades your Wizards. However, this bit of inflexibility
is a problem for those who like lots of options and want as
much control as possible. If you just want to add a Level
1 Wizard with a weak-but-valuable arcane item, you are out
of luck in the Ogre Kingdoms.
Less Bang for the Buck
While Butchers and Slaughtermasters get just as many power
dice as Wizards in other armies, they are at a significant
disadvantage when it comes to how many dice they are allowed
to use to cast spells. A Butcher is only allowed to roll a
maximum of two dice to cast a Gut Magic spell and a Slaughtermaster
may not allocate more than three dice to cast a spell. This
limit is in contrast to other Level 2 and Level 4 Wizards
who can use up to three and five power dice, respectively.
Again, this Ogre limit can be more or less of a disadvantage
based upon a general's style of play. If you are a player
who is cautious or likes to cast many low-power spells, then
this limit will not be a problem for you. However, it could
be a problem when it comes down to crunch time and you have
a spell that MUST go off, and you can't afford your enemy
dispelling it. Occasionally, a game will come down to a spell
like this one, and you will need to pray to the Great Maw
for lots of 6's.
 Exclusivity
Fully half of the Gut Magic spells (see below) that Butchers
have access to can be used to augment friendly units. "Ah,
some good news," you think. Not so fast! The Gut Magic
spells Bullgorger, Toothcracker, and Trollguts can only be
cast on units listed as Ogre units. These spells can give
Ogres some powerful battlefield advantages but can't be used
on Gnoblars, Ghettoes, Gorgers, Giants, or any other unit
that is not listed as an Ogre unit. This disadvantage will
have major implications on how you construct your army, and
what strategy you might use.
No Pain, No Gain
A quick perusal of the Gut Magic spell list will show you
a significant difference between Gastromancy and spells that
employ the Winds of Magic. Almost all of the Gut Magic spells
have the potential to cause damage to the Butcher! In fact,
the Trollguts spell automatically inflicts a Wound upon the
Butcher with no save or chance of Regeneration. Casting spells
has never been so dangerous. Having said that, Butchers start
with 4 Wounds and Slaughtermasters start with 5. The first
spell on the Gut Magic list, Bloodgruel, can heal one of the
Butcher's Wounds... but it could also finish him off. On the
plus side, causing Wounds to your Butcher could lead your
opponent to let a spell go by that they would normally try
to dispel. This stay of the wand is only likely if your Butcher
is no longer a threat, or if they've got something ready to
finish him off. Tricky stuff – be careful out there.
Limited Numbers
The biggest disadvantages for Butchers are the army list limits
that have been set on them. First, a Butcher cannot be the
General of an army. This rule means that an Ogre Kingdoms
player must purchase at least one Bruiser (at 130+ points)
before a Butcher (also at 130+ points) can even be considered.
When playing games below 1,500 points, an Ogre Kingdoms player
is going to have to make a decision about whether he can afford
a General, a Butcher, and an Army Standard Bearer. These three
characters will easily take up a third of your points at this
points scale!
Secondly, a Slaughtermaster (remember, he's a Lord choice)
can only be taken in armies that include a Tyrant. Since a
Tyrant is also a Lord choice, a Slaughtermaster will never
see play in a game of less than 3,000 points. Even then, a
Tyrant (at 200+ points) and a Slaughtermaster (also 200+ points)
will easily set you back 500-600 points once you outfit them
to do battle. That makes for a lot of points on just two characters!
The end result of these limits and the high cost of Ogre characters
is that it is very difficult to field as many Wizards as other
armies. Just like the rest of your army, expect your Butchers
to be outnumbered on the magic front. Since other armies can
have Wizards as Generals and are not limited in the same way
as Ogres, the threat of being completely outgunned is a very
real possibility. If facing a magic-heavy army, your Butchers
may become totally ineffectual.
You wouldn't expect it from lunk-heads like the Ogres, but
Butchers and Slaughtermasters automatically know all six spells
on the Gut Magic list. This knowledge is a major advantage!
No longer will your Wizard be stuck with that spell that only
works in a certain situation – you've got all the spells
for all the situations! Don't wait, start casting on Turn
1 and don't stop until all your enemies are dead! Not only
does knowing all the spells mean you have choices, but it
also means that you can attempt to cast more spells every
turn. A solitary Butcher with a total of four power dice (two
for the army, two for a Level 2 Wizard) can attempt to cast
four Gut Magic spells with a pretty good chance of success.
"Why?" you ask?
You Only Need a 3!
A Butcher needs to roll only a 3+ for any of the Gut Magic
spells to work. No, that's not a typo. That means a Butcher
has a 66% chance of casting a Gut Magic spell successfully
with a single power die. Your opponent only has so many dispel
dice – eventually, he will have to choose to let one
of your spells by, or he will run out. Consider the situation
when your single power die comes up a 5 or a 6. If it is a
critical encounter, your enemy is going to be forced to roll
two dispel dice to make sure they dispel the spell (and even
then there is no guarantee, as we all know). Two dispel dice
down – not many to go. Now, you can bring out the big
guns, sacrifice a few Tooth-Gnoblars (to get +1 to casting
value), and cast your ace-in-the-hole spell successfully with
little chance of it being dispelled. Remember though, a 1
or a 2 on the total of the casting dice is always a failure
even with modifiers, so sacrificing a Tooth-Gnoblar won't
help if you roll poorly on the single die. Check out Grut's
Sickle if you want help with this problem, and a little more
power for your Gut Magic.
Thinking of stocking up on Butchers? You might want to consider
this important limitation. If a spell has been successfully
cast that Phase, a second Butcher needs a 6+ to cast the same
spell, and so on. Without this check on Butchers' power, those
that commune with the Great Maw would be a bit too powerful.
Spells that Last
Another incredible advantage of Gut Magic spells is that some
of them have "Lasting Effects." These spells operate
differently from spells that Remain in Play in that the Butcher
can continue to cast spells after successfully casting a Lasting
Effects spell. In fact, they can have multiple Gut Magic spells
in play at the same time, the only limit being that a unit
can only ever have one Gut Magic spell affecting it at one
time. You no longer have to make the hard choices between
keeping a spell going or casting something new in an area
of the battlefield that needs support. Even though they only
need a 3+ to cast (for the first one, anyway), Gut Magic spells
can be dispelled as though they were spells that Remain in
Play cast at Power Level 7. Easy to cast but hard to get rid
of once they are in play...that's good mojo.
 Praise
the Great Maw
The Gut Magic spell list (see p. 61 of Warhammer Armies:
Ogre Kingdoms for all the details) is a really good spell
list for an offensive army like the Ogre Kingdoms. Some spell
lists have at least a few spells that are either terrible,
too situational, or are just plain difficult to cast. That
is not the case with the Gut Magic spells. Every single spell
in the list is as useful and valuable on the 1st turn as it
is during any other point in the game. The Gut Magic list
includes a magic missile (Bonecrusher), a spell that causes
Panic (Braingobbler), and three spells that augment
units of Ogres. The Bullgorger spell can give extra Strength
(as if Ogres need it), the Toothcracker spell makes a unit
Stubborn and adds Toughness, and Trollguts gives a
unit Magic Resistance (2) and Regeneration. Finally, the much-needed
Bloodgruel can heal the Butcher's Wounds after casting death
upon the battlefield. Oh, yeah – did we mention that
you only need 3+ to cast these spells?
No Wimpy Wizards
Prophets of the Great Maw may have a few disadvantages when
it comes to magic, but on the physical level, Ogre shamans
are heads and shoulders above their magical peers. Let's compare
an Ogre Butcher (Level 2 with a base cost of 130 points) to
a Dark Elf Sorceress (Level 2 with the same base cost). Who's
going to win a fistfight? The Butcher is faster, stronger,
almost twice as Tough, has twice as many Wounds, and has triple
the Attacks! The Sorceress is going to need the higher Weapon
Skill and Leadership just to survive the first round with
the Butcher. Butchers are almost as good as Ogre Bruisers
for the same point cost. They have one less point of Strength,
Attack, and Leadership, and Butchers don't have a great Weapon
Skill, but the trade-off is the ability to cast game-altering
spells. Not too shabby.
Ogre Butchers are survivors. They have tons of Wounds and
the ability to heal them. They start with an incredible Toughness
of 5 and can increase that to a 6 with the Toothcracker spell.
They are Immune to Poison, and Cause Fear. Does
your enemy's all-Wizard army have you over a magical barrel?
Throw the Butcher into the fray and when all the Wizards are
dead, he can use their flesh to cast his spells.
Feast on Your Foes
As you can see, an Ogre Kingdoms general has a lot to consider
before bringing his Butcher(s) into battle. There are many
significant limitations on Butchers, but at the same time,
there are huge advantages to be gained if they are deployed
and used properly. At the end of the day, the decision to
use your Butchers will depend upon your style of play and
the troops you have available to you as much as it will the
things that a Butcher brings to your force. Remember that
a Butcher isn't just a pale weakling that has to hide inside
or behind your units. An Ogre Butcher is a terrifying killing
machine that is a physical match for many characters in the
Warhammer world. This combat prowess, combined with the ability
to cast Gut Magic, could be all your army needs to bring the
Old World to its collective knees.
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Cut out these disgusting
Gut Magic counters for your games! Just click
on the image above and print.
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