Big Love: An Ogre Kingdoms Review
The fatpocalypse is upon us! Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to pick up the Ogre Kingdoms army book, as well as the Leadblaster and Thundertusk miniatures.
The Book
As we've come to expect, it's hard bound and is generally a very attractive book. There are full color illustrations on nearly every page, as well as subtly placed grease and blood stains. The miniatures show case pages are similar to those of the Tomb Kings. Some fairly standard shots of the minis, as well as a few inspiring army images, which I can only imagine are for 10,000 point games.
The writing style is similar as it's predecessor, humorous and brutal, with many stories which illustrate the jovial nature of these fatties. I particularly liked the story about the Ogres fighting through a Dwarven hold, walking right past the treasure room and raiding the ale storage. Anyone who enjoyed the previous writing will surely enjoy the fluff in the new book.
Obviously, we can't talk about the book without taking a gander at the rules. Overall, they did a great job not ruining your previous collection, but still making you want to add the new toys. The most debatably nerfed unit will certainly be the Scrap Launcher; which has been reduced to a small blast, but is no longer temperamental, may move and fire, and is about 20% cheaper. Your rare selection will probably be the most difficult 25% to use, since it is where the Scrap Launcher, Ironblaster, Thundertusk, Stone Horn and Giant live, which only to me means I'll never be putting my Giant on the field.
I had a chance to play a couple 1000 point games, just to try out the new stuff, and I have to say that I was very impressed. All of the units in the new book feel like they have their place, even the Hunter. Maneaters and Gorgers have moved to Special, which for me is great, I love using the Manteaters, and since they don't compete with the other big nasties, they will definitely see some game time.
Overall, I say this book is a great beginning of a new era of fat love. I would definitely recommend picking it up, even if you don't play Ogres, since it is quite an entertaining read.
The Leadblaster Cannon and Thundertusk
I built the Leadblaster almost as soon as I got it. I used it in both of my 1000 point games, and it will definitely be a permanent fixture in my army. The model was clearly designed digitally, and I am very happy about it. Every single piece fits in it's spot like a dream. The flash is very well hidden, with most mold seams traveling along corners and edges, so that they are not very prominent at all. It is quite a large miniature, a bit bigger than I expected, and it barely fits on it's chariot base, the horns of the Rhinox may make it a bit difficult to rank up in combat, but I think I'll survive.
The Thundertusk was an intimidating kit to assemble, it has a lot of pieces, and none of them look like anything in particular, so following the directions is a must (boo!). To my surprise, the model fit together though with the same precision as the Leadblaster. Each piece fitting snugly in it's place and very well concealed mold lines.
I have to say, I'm quite happy with all the Ogre lovin' GW has pushed out this week. The army book is great and the miniatures were far beyond my expectations. My only criticism of all the new stuff is that it's making it very hard for me to stick to my Tomb Kings!