MODELLING AND GAMING WITH OGRE BUTCHERS

To celebrate this offensie an! "rotes#$e O"re %in"!o&s Hero choice' (e)e
asse&ble! a ton of $sef$l B$tcher relate! st$ff for *o$ to che( on+
CHO, SHO,
First we have a pile of converted and painted Butcher models to gawk at. They come
from hobbyists who have either taken a crack at making their own Butcher from the
Bull Ogre plastic sprues, or have heavily modified the proper metal model to suit their
tastes.
GORE-
Next, we have a painting guide on how to apply various types of gore onto your Ogres
be sure to have your Blood !ed paint handy.
GUT MAGIC
Finally there"s a page devoted to using #ut $agic to its fullest, along with some
counters for you to use during your games. %t"s all &uite sloppy and not for those who
are weak of stomach, so click a link below if you dare...
T* .inocchiaro/ To make my Butcher from a standard Bull Ogre, % needed to first
sculpt up an apron. % filled the belly out and very carefully made an apron that
conformed to the Ogre"s leg positioning. 'hile % was messin" with #reen (tuff, %
figured %"d )ust go ahead and make a stitched flesh cowl for the Butcher and added a
few rings on his back. The rest of the work was merely an exercise in gluing as many
meaty bits as possible to the model. % posed the figure so that it looks like the Butcher
is about to chomp down on a festering cadaver for who knows what kind of magical
result. *fter painting the Butcher, % took great pleasure in adding tons of chunky gore
to the model for a truly disgusting Ogre Butcher+
Dai! Robinson/ To get this standard Bull Ogre up to Butcher specs % needed a
suitable apron made out of #reen (tuff. % used a flat rectangle of putty and pressed it
down in areas to contour with the front of his body. Thin wire was then twisted
together to simulate rope at the top of the apron. !ings made out of thicker brass wire
and a small bit of #reen (tuff accomplished a pierced look on his back. One thing %
really wanted to do was make it look like the Butcher had )ust done ripping an
appendage from a corpse that he was holding. The hand grasping the torso was
modified from a bear trap hand from the plastic sprue. $ore thin wires were used to
simulate entrails hanging from the hunk of meat. % then took the most gluttonous head
% could find and stuffed a ,ombie arm in it to complete the effect. * Butcher"s )ob gets
messy, so % made sure there was plenty of gore on the model when it came time to
paint+
Dae Ta*lor/ % put together this Butcher to represent a (laughtermaster in an
enormous Ogre horde. *n ironfist swap on his left hand, a cleaver carved from a
chunk of plasticard to represent the Bloodcleaver, and a #reen (tuff cowl with skulls
from my bit, box to represent the (kullmantle and he was pretty much done. *s well
as adding gory blood splatters all over the model % wanted him to appear a bit greasy,
so % used a watereddown mix of Brown %nk and -amo #reen for suitably sloppy
marks over his apron.
Dai! Robinson/ The Butcher models are great, but seeing as it"s nearly impossible
for me not to convert a model in some fashion, % had to add a few details. The first
part was to have some plastic bits hanging from his belt since a Butcher can never
have too much meat with which to cast his spells. % added a skull to the bottom of the
apron by drilling two holes with a pin vise and then attaching brass wire bent in a -
shape that matched the others. The last and most noticeable change was the head. %
used part of a bear trap from the plastic ogre sprue to make an extra chomping bottom
)aw .sometimes teeth )ust don"t cut it/. % then added a lock of hair topped with a spike
to make him stand out even more. 'ith the conversions done, % made the model nice
and bloody to emphasise how much he en)oys his work.
0ainting gore can be a sloppy, messy thing 1 which suits the nature of the task perfectly+
(hown below are four methods that you can mix and match freely for the perfect gut
wrenching gore look.
Ste0 1 0aint up your soontobe gory surface as you would normally.
Ste0 2 0aint on little blurbs of (cab !ed to demarcate the bloodsplatter basecoat.
Ste0 3 $ix in a bit of Blood !ed with (cab !ed and dab on some more spatter mix over
the basecoat.
Ste0 4 -ontinue the gore highlights by dabbing thick globs of Blood !ed over the
surface.
Ste0 5 *dd a coat of gloss varnish to make your blood shine like it was freshly spilt.
.2www, that"s gross./
Ste0 1 0aint up your soontobe bloodstreaked surface as you would normally.
Ste0 2 Take a thin, wide brush, and separate the bristles with your fingers to spread them
apart.
Ste0 3 'ith (cab !ed on your brush, move the spread bristles carefully across your
surface in one direction only. 3se this techni&ue a few times to create a streak
effect.
Ste0 4 !epeat this streak techni&ue, but this time around, use Blood !ed.
Ste0 5 *gain, use a little #loss 4arnish to freshen up your bloodstreaked model. .3gh,
%"m getting &ueasy.../
Ste0 1 0aint up your soontobe gorespattered surface as you would normally.
Ste0 2 Take a thin, wide brush, and practice flicking the bristles in one direction.
Ste0 3 5ip your brush in some (cab !ed and flick the paint onto your surface. This
techni&ue is absolutely random and messy+ Be sure to set up a backdrop to catch
the flying paint, and wear old clothes.
Ste0 4 Flick more paint at your target, but this time use Blood !ed. -oat with #loss
4arnish as needed. .0lease... no more+/
Ste0 1 0aint up your soontobe gristleandchunkygorecoated surface as you would
normally.
Ste0 2 #ather some fine sand and static grass.
Ste0 3 $ix in the sand and grass with your paints and water it down slightly. 6ou will be
rewarded with a textured paint that resembles bloodsoaked gristle and hair.
Ste0 4 Basecoat with Blood !ed mixed with a bit of (cab !ed. *pply this mix in any
one of the manners described above 1 it"s up to you.
Ste0 5 *dd a coat of Blood !ed and gristle. -oat with #loss 4arnish as needed. .Oh
man... nasty+/
%en %enne!*/ *s if the raw strength, speed, and ferocity of Ogres
7ingdoms armies weren"t bad enough, their shamanistic Butchers give
them access to some very nasty magic. By channelling the raw power of
the #reat $aw, 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 and8or (laughtermasters using #ut $agic,
as it is known, can be very powerful additions to an Ogre 7ingdoms
army. 9owever, it is very important to understand all the advantages and
disadvantages that Butchers have when compared to wi,ards of other
armies.
THE BAD NEWS
Ogre 7ingdoms armies wishing to employ magic must be aware of a few
disadvantages that Butchers have over wi,ards of other armies. Once the
implications of these differences are understood, #ut $agic will go
down a lot smoother.
ONL6 TWO CHOICES
Butchers are a 9ero choice and are considered level : wi,ards, while
(laughtermasters are a ;ord choice and count as a level < wi,ard for
purposes of generating 5ispel and 0ower dice. Thus a Butcher generates
: 0ower and = 5ispel dice and a (laughtermaster provides an army with
< additional 0ower and : 5ispel dice. The only problem with this
hierarchy is that there is no option to have a level = or level > wi,ard in
an Ogre 7ingdoms army. This is not a huge disadvantage, especially if
you are a general who always upgrades your wi,ards. This bit of
inflexibility is a problem for those who like lots of options and want as
much control as possible. %f you )ust want to add a level = wi,ard with a weak but
valuable arcane item, you are out of luck.
LESS BANG .OR THE BUC%
'hile Butchers and (laughtermasters get )ust as many 0ower dice as wi,ards in other
armies, they are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to how many dice they
are allowed to use to cast spells. * Butcher is only allowed to roll a maximum of :
dice to cast a #ut $agic spell and a (laughtermaster may not allocate more than >
dice to cast a spell. This is in contrast to other level : and level < wi,ards who can use
up to > and ? 0ower dice, respectively. *gain, this can be more or less of a
disadvantage based upon a general"s style of play. %f you are a player who is cautious
or likes to cast many low power spells, then this will not be a problem for you.
9owever, this could be a problem when it comes down to crunch time and you have a
spell that $3(T go off, and you can"t afford your enemy dispelling it. Occasionally a
game will come down to this, and you will need to pray to the #reat $aw for lots of
@s.
E7CLUSI8IT6
Fully half of the #ut $agic spells that Butchers have access to can be used to
augment friendly units .see below/. Not so fast+ The #ut $agic 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 #noblars,
6hettees, #orgers, #iants, or anything else that is not listed as an Ogre unit. This
disadvantage will have ma)or implications on how you construct your army, and what
strategy you might use.
NO ,AIN NO GAIN
* &uick perusal of the #ut $agic spell list will show a significant difference between
#astromancy and spells that employ the winds of magic. *lmost all of the #ut magic
spells have the potential to cause damage to the Butcher+ %n fact, the Trollguts spell
automatically causes the Butcher a wound with no save or chance of !egeneration.
-asting spells has never been so dangerous. 9aving said this, Butchers start with <
'ounds and (laughtermasters start with ? and the first spell on the #ut $agic list,
Bloodgruel, can heal one of the Butcher"s wounds... but it could also finish him off.
One the plus side, causing wounds to your Butcher could inspire your opponent to let
a spell go by that they would normally try to dispel. This is only likely if your Butcher
is looking weakly, or if they"ve got something ready to finish him off.
Tricky stuffA be careful out there.
LIMITED NUMBERS
The biggest disadvantages of Butchers are the army list limits that have
been placed on them. Firstly, a Butcher cannot be the #eneral of an army.
This means that an Ogre 7ingdoms player must purchase at least on
Bruiser, at =>BC points, before a Butcher, also at =>BC points, can even
be considered. 'hen playing games below =,?BB points, an Ogre 7ingdoms player is
going to have to make a decision about whether they can afford a #eneral, a Butcher,
and a *rmy (tandard Bearer. These three characters will easily take up a third of your
points at this scale+
(econdly, a (laughtermaster .which, remember, is a ;ord choice/ can only be taken in
armies that include a Tyrant. (ince a Tyrant is also a ;ord choice, a (laughtermaster
will never see play in a game of less than >,BBB points. 2ven then, a Tyrant .at :BBC
points/ and a (laughtermaster .also :BBC points/ will easily set you back ?BB@BB
points once outfitted to do battle. That"s a lot of points on )ust 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 wi,ards as other armies. Dust like the rest of your army, expect your
Butchers to be outnumbered on the magic front. (ince other armies can have wi,ards
as #enerals, and are not limited in the same way as Ogres, the threat of being totally
outgunned is a very real possibility. %f facing a magicheavy army, your Butchers may
become totally ineffectual.
+++AND NOW THE GOOD NEWS-
6ou wouldn"t expect it from lunkheads like the Ogres, but Butchers and
(laughtermasters automatically know all six spells on the #ut $agic list. This is a
ma)or advantage+ No longer will your wi,ard be stuck with that spell that only works
in a certain situationA you"ve got all the spells for all the situations+ 5on"t wait, start
casting on Turn = 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. * solitary Butcher with a total of < 0ower dice .: for
army, : for level : wi,ard/ can attempt to cast < #ut $agic spells with a pretty good
chance of them working. (ound cra,y, but it"s not because...
6OU ONL6 NEED 3-
* Butcher only needs to roll a >C for any of the #ut $agic spells to work. 6es, that"s
not a mistake. This means that a Butcher has a @@E chance of successfully casting a
#ut magic spell with a single 0ower dice. 6our opponent only has so many 5ispel
diceA eventually they will have to choose to let something by or will run out. -onsider
the situation when your single 0ower dice comes up a ? or a @. %f it"s a critical
encounter, your enemy is going to be forced to roll : 5ispel dice to make sure they
dispel the spell .and even then there is no guarantee as we all know/. Two 5ispel dice
down, not many to go. Now you can bring out the big guns, sacrifice a few Tooth
#noblars .add C= to casting value/, and successfully cast your aceinthehole spell
with little chance of it being dispelled. !emember, a = or a : on the total of the casting
dice is always a failure even with modifiers, so sacrificing a Tooth
#noblar won"t help if you roll poorly on the single dice. -heck out #rut"s
(ickle if you want help with this problem, and a little more power for
your #ut $agic.
Thinking of stacking up on Butchers because of thisF 6ou might want to
consider this important limitation. %f a spell has been successfully cast
that phase, a second Butcher needs a @C to cast the same spell, and so on.
'ithout this power check, those that commune with the #reat $aw
would be a bit too powerful.
S,ELLS THAT LAST
*nother incredible advantage of #ut $agic spells is that some of them have G;asting
2ffectsG. This is different from G!emains in 0layG spells in that the Butcher can
continue to cast spells after successfully casting a G;asting 2ffectsG spell. %n fact, they
can have multiple #ut $agic spells in play at the same time, the only limit being that
a unit can only ever have one #ut $agic spell on it at one time. No longer do you
have to make the hard choices between keeping a spell going or casting something
new in an area of the battlefield that needs support. 2ven though they only need a >C
.the first one anyway/ to cast, #ut $agic spells are dispelled as though they were
!emains in 0lay spells cast at 0ower ;evel H. 2asy to cast but hard to get rid of once
they are in play... that"s good mo)o.
,RAISE THE GREAT MAW
The #ut $agic spell list .see p@= of 'arhammer *rmiesI Ogre 7ingdoms for all the
details/ is a really good spell list for an offensive army like the Ogre 7ingdoms. (ome
spell lists have at least a few spells that are either terrible, too situational, or are )ust
plain difficult to cast. This is not the case with the #ut $agic spells. 2very single
spell in the list is as useful and valuable on the first turn as it is at any other point in
the game. %t has a magic missile .Bonecrusher/, a spell that causes 0anic
.Braingobbler/ and three spells that augment units of Ogres. The Bullgorger spell can
give extra (trength .as if they need it/, the Toothcracker spell makes a unit (tubborn
and adds Toughness, and Trollguts gives a unit $agic !esistance .:/ and
!egeneration. Finally, the much needed Bloodgruel can heal the Butcher"s wounds
after casting death across the battlefield. Oh yeah, did % mention that you only need >C
to cast these spellsF
NO WIM,6 WI9ARDS
0rophets of the #reat $aw 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. ;et"s compare an Ogre Butcher .level :/ with a base cost of =>B points to a
level : 5ark 2lf (orceress whose base cost is also =>B points. 'ho"s going to win a
fist fightF The Butcher is faster, stronger, almost twice as tough, has twice as many
'ounds, and has triple the *ttacks+ The (orceress is going to need the higher 'eapon
(kill and ;eadership )ust to survive the first round with the Butcher. Butchers are
almost as good as Ogre Bruisers for the same =>Bpoint cost. They have one less
(trength, *ttack, and ;eadership and don"t have a great 'eapon (kill, but the trade
off is the ability to cast gamealtering spells. Not too shabby.
Ogre Butchers are survivors. They have tons of 'ounds and the ability to heal them.
They start with an incredible Toughness of ? and can increase that to a @ with the
Toothcracker spell. They are immune to 0oison, and -ause Fear. 6our enemy"s all
wi,ard army has you over a magical barrelF Throw the Butcher into the fray and when
all the wi,ards are dead, he can use their flesh to cast his spells.
.EAST ON 6OUR .OES
*s you can see, an Ogre 7ingdoms general has a lot to consider before bringing his
Butcher.s/ into battle. There are many significant problems with using Butchers, but
at the same time, there are huge advantages to be gained if deployed and used
properly. *t 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. !emember that a Butcher isn"t )ust a pale
weakling that has to hide inside or behind your units. *n Ogre Butcher is a terrifying
killing machine that is a physical match for many characters in the 'arhammer world.
The ability to cast #ut $agic could be all your army needs to bring the Old 'orld to
its knees.