Ogre Kingdoms Warmaster Fantasy Paper Army

The Ogre Kingdoms are a brutal, gluttonous race of massive, nine-foot-tall humanoids living in the Mountains of Mourn. Driven by an endless, ravenous hunger, their society revolves around fighting, eating, and worshiping a crater-god called the Great Maw. They fight as powerful mercenary armies across the world for gold and meat.

Not one of the armies in the original Warmaster rulebook, the Ogre Kingdoms is one of the expansion armies created for Warmaster Revolution. For this set of counters, I used version 2.26 of Warmaster Revolution Armies, which is the latest version as of this post.

Printing the Counters
I hope you find these paper army sets useful. You can print them at places like Staples or Office Depot, using 110lb card stock paper printed at actual size. You can also print on regular paper and then glue the counters to wooden bases. (Check the older posts on how I did this with my Empire army.) Do not print the pdf to "fit margins." Always print at 100%.  I like printing the counter sets on good copy paper, spray gluing the dull side of a 'Silver Age' comic backing board with Super77, attaching a sheet to the board, and then cutting out the counters using a sharp Xacto knife with a steel ruler. Using the backing boards makes for cheap, sturdy counters. I like keeping the shiny side down to make moving them easier on a table. Note: This version is designed to fit Silver Age and larger comic backing boards.

Click on the counter set image above to download the complete army counter set in PDF format. The set has enough counters to create many armies of 2,000 points or less. Of course, if you need more counters simply print more copies!

 

[Let me know if the link above does not work, and use this alternate link to download the Ogre Kingdoms Counters on Google Drive.]

Ogre Kingdoms Sample Armies
Ogre Kingdoms is an interesting army because it does exactly what you would expect Ogres to do: hit hard, take up a lot of room, and make subtlety somebody else's problem. The catch is that Ogre units are expensive. A small Ogre army can become dangerously close to its Break Point very quickly, so I've been experimenting with lists that combine the big hitters with enough cheaper units to give the army some staying power. If you have any comments or suggestions on these lists or counters, please leave some comments below. Have fun experimenting with these free counters!

1,000 Point Armies

List 1: Classic Ogre Hammer

6 units   |   Break Point 3

Qty	Unit	Points
3	Bull Ogres	315
1	Ironguts	140
1	Gnoblars	30
1	Rhinox Riders	200
1	Tyrant	125
1	Bruiser	80
1	Butcher	90
1	Scroll of Dispelling	20
TOTAL		1,000

This is a very straightforward Ogre army. Bull Ogres form the main battle line, Ironguts are your tougher infantry hammer, and the Rhinox Riders are the "please remove that part of your army" button. The downside is the Break Point of only 3. Lose three units and dinner is over. I would use this one for learning Ogres, because it teaches you exactly what the army does well: concentrate force and hit something very, very hard.

List 2: Gorger + Rhinox = Smash!

10 units   |   Break Point 5

Qty	Unit	Points
3	Bull Ogres	315
1	Gorgers	110
1	Rhinox Riders	200
4	Gnoblars	120
1	Sabretusks	40
1	Tyrant	125
1	Butcher	90
TOTAL		1,000

I actually like this one quite a bit for casual 1,000-point games. You give up the Ironguts from the first list, but cutting them allows you to jump from 6 units to 10. Plus, having Break Point 5 instead of 3 gives you considerably more breathing room. The Rhinox Riders remain the obvious hammer, but the Gorger with infiltration presents a completely different problem for the enemy. Meanwhile, the Gnoblars and Sabretusks give the army inexpensive units that can screen, support, occupy ground, or simply avoid getting eaten long enough to help preserve the army's Break Point.

2,000 Point Army: Double the Gorgers, Double the Fun

The basic idea: At 2,000 points, the army really begins to breathe. This Ogre Kingdoms list allows two Gorgers and two Rhinox Riders, and that opens up a much more interesting style of play. Ogres in front, Rhinox Riders threatening the flank, and two Gorgers waiting to appear somewhere deeply inconvenient.

17 Units   |   Break Point 9

Qty	Unit	Points
6	Bull Ogres	630
1	Ironguts	140
4	Gnoblars	120
2	Gorgers	220
2	Rhinox Riders	400
1	Sabretusks	40
1	Scrap Launcher	75
1	Tyrant	125
2	Bruisers	160
1	Butcher	90
TOTAL		2,000

Starting Brigade Structure

Warmaster brigades aren't permanent formations, of course, but I would probably begin the game thinking about the army in the following groups.

Main Hammer
3 Bull Ogres + 1 Ironguts
This is the toughest conventional formation and belongs near the center. The Ironguts can take on the nastier fighting while the Bulls provide the mass.

Second Ogre Brigade
3 Bull Ogres
Advance, threaten, and make the enemy commit. There is no prize for charging the first thing that wanders into view.

The Cheap Seats
4 Gnoblars
Screens, supports, flank guards, terrain occupiers, and four inexpensive units contributing toward that very useful Break Point of 9.

The Fast Wing
2 Rhinox Riders + 1 Sabretusks
Deploy both Rhinox units on the same general flank at the start. They can move together while the army develops, but I wouldn't consider them permanently joined at the hip. Break off the Sabretusks when they can go there own way. Two Rhinox units hitting the same part of an enemy army can be horrifying. On the other hand, splitting them later can force the enemy to protect two different areas. The important thing is the threat they create. Sometimes a unit earns its points before it rolls a single combat die simply because the other player has to react to it.

The Gorgers

Start both Gorgers off the table because a deployed Gorger threatens one place. An undeployed Gorger potentially threatens every legal infiltration point on the battlefield.

Remember, Gorgers can be withheld from normal deployment and infiltrated after the game begins. Their entry point can be in dense terrain or on a table edge other than the enemy's own edge. They suffer their normal -1 Command penalty, but ignore distance modifiers when receiving orders.

That makes them excellent independent troublemakers. The important thing is not to think of them as another pair of units that must immediately charge into the front of the enemy army. With three Hits and 5+ Armour, they aren't indestructible. At 110 points each I don't want to throw them away just because a target happens to be within reach.

Gorger Principle: Make the Ogres and Rhinox Riders the first problem your opponent has to solve. The Gorgers should be the second problem.

What Should the Gorgers Hunt?

Excellent Targets Artillery Exposed missile troops Damaged units Isolated support units

Good Targets Exposed flanks Isolated cavalry Units caught in awkward positions Troops diverted away from the main battle

Usually Avoid Fresh heavy infantry from the front Large intact brigades Strong defensive positions

Character Commands

Character	Primary Command
Bruiser #1	The Main Hammer brigade
Butcher	Second Ogre brigade + spell support
Bruiser #2	The Fast Wing, The Cheap Seats, or whichever flank needs help
Tyrant	Central reserve, critical orders, emergency movement, and Gorger infiltration

A Very Important Command Point
This is standard Warmaster knowledge, but it bears repeating. Don't automatically use the Tyrant (General) first. If a Bruiser (Hero) or Butcher (Wizard) fails an order, that character stops issuing orders. If the Tyrant fails an order, the entire army's Orders sub-phase ends. Ouch!

Therefore, I would try to get the routine movement accomplished with the Bruisers and Butcher first. The Tyrant can then handle the critical order, rescue something that didn't move, or attempt a Gorger infiltration without risking the rest of the army's movement before anyone has done anything.

A Simple Battle Plan

1 Turns 1-2: Threaten

Advance the Ogre brigades and put the Rhinox wing somewhere the opponent cannot comfortably ignore it. The Gnoblars screen and support. Normally, keep both Gorgers off the table at this stage.

2 Turns 2-3: Dislocate

Look at how your opponent reacted to the Ogres and Rhinox Riders. Now bring in the first Gorger where that response has created a weakness.

3 Turns 3-4: Overload

The second Gorger brigade appears. Usually put it somewhere different from the first. The enemy now has to worry about the Ogre battle line, the Rhinox threat, and trouble developing somewhere behind or beside the main fight.

4 Turn 4 and Later: Break the Army

At this point, stop thinking about destroying the enemy's most impressive units and start looking for the easiest route to its Break Point. A damaged or isolated unit may be far more valuable than another round of pounding away at the enemy's toughest formation.

The Pressure Pattern

This isn't really about surrounding the enemy. It's about making the enemy solve too many problems at once. If they reinforce the flank against the Rhinox Riders, another part of the army becomes weaker. If they turn troops around to deal with a Gorger, fewer troops are facing the Ogres.

Don't Get Too Greedy With Infiltration

It is tempting to place a Gorger as close to the enemy as possible, but proximity to the enemy makes the command roll harder. Infiltration also counts as the unit's first order, so any attempt to move it again is a subsequent order.

Sometimes the better entry point is 25-35cm away.
The Gorger appears somewhere threatening but doesn't have to make an immediate all-or-nothing charge. On the next turn it can threaten artillery, missile troops, damaged units, or the rear of the enemy line.

Dense terrain is particularly useful because Gorgers don't suffer the usual dense terrain Command penalty. Once deployed, they also continue to ignore distance modifiers. That lets the Ogre characters stay near the main army instead of chasing after the Gorgers.

Final Thoughts

Of the lists here, the 2,000 point Double the Gorgers, Double the Fun army is the one I'd most like to put on the table. It still looks and behaves like an Ogre Kingdoms army. There are six scary Bull Ogre units, Ironguts, and two units of Rhinox Riders coming directly at the enemy.

The difference is that the two Gorgers make the army much less predictable. They don't need to win the battle by themselves. They only need to appear in places that force the enemy to react badly.

Whew! This is the largest article I've done for Warmaster to date. I've been working on this since someone asked for it a few years ago. Since this post is chock full of info, I won't be posting just yet the counter sheets to the master page. I hope you enjoy the counters and the rest of the article. Let me know in the comments what you think, what I got right, and what I got wrong. Cheers!