Beastclaw Raider to Ogor Mawtribe list building

Regular readers of this blog (looooool) will know that I built a 1,000 point Beastclaw Raiders list for a doubles event that I ended up not attending. How I wrote that list is here. Well now, after a long break, I’m looking to complete the Ogor project so this has morphed into an exercise in 2,000 point Ogor Mawtribe list building!

Ogor Mawtribe list building – the approach this time

Ok, so my approach to list building per se hasn’t changed all that much from the post linked above. In essence:

1. Don’t try and fight the Codex. I’m sure there’s a semi competitive gun line army in the Ogor Mawtribe book somewhere but, let’s face it, that’s something other armies do heaps better. If you read the codex, it’s clear that Ogor Mawtribes are best when they’re fighting and, even more so when they are charging. Lots of buffs for movement and rewards for successful charges.
2. Be active in all phases. I stand by this and there may be some tinkering to do to the list because magic is a big problem for me right now but I’ll work through that as I write this
3. Be really good in one phase. See point one.
4. Don’t play the meta, play what beats the meta. Again, great advice assuming you know what the meta is (which I don’t!)

Where am I starting from?

As I try and lift my Ogor Mawtribes list to 2,000 points there are some practical things that encroach on the process of Ogor Mawtribe list building:

1. I already have several models. My 1,000 point list in the old BCR book was i) a Frostlord on Thundertusk ii) a single unit of Stonehorn Beastriders iii) two units of two Mournfang. These are staying in the list.
2. Because of how the Start Collecting! boxes are filled I have an ‘extra,’ four mournfang on the sprue. These are also going in. Actually, when I look at the Ogor Mawtribes book I can see that how command models for Mournfang units work has changed. The four I have built are 2 bellowers and 2 banner bearers. In the BCR book you could run a unit of two and both of them be command models. Not any more. In Ogor Mawtribe list building it’s a case of one model in four can be a command model. So, effectively, I need to model two champions and two regular dudes out of the four I have on sprue and I’ll have two Mournfang units of four models including full command.
3. Now that I’ve gone to the lengths of defining my aesthetic (you can see that here) for a Beastclaw Raider themed force, even if this means the list isn’t as strong as it could be, I’m not going to add common Ogors into the list – I’m sticking with the monster theme.
4. If I total all of that up it comes to 1,250 points. So I have 750 points to spare.

What to do with 750 points when Ogor Mawtribes list building?

A great question. Well, I’ve mentioned the Start Collecting! box earlier here. It’s absolutely brilliant value. It’s £55 full RRP but I got mine for less at Element. In the box is a Stonehorn / Thundertusk kit that you can build any of the units that use these mounts from and four Mournfang. The saving against buying these separately is significant (£22.50 saving which is nearly 30% at full RRP) and if you’re going full Beast Claw Raider then you’ll need everyone of these models in your army, every single time.

Is there a way I can add another SC! box to my army and get close to 2,000 points?

Of course there is! One of the places I’m weakest in this list (in that it doesn’t exist) is Magic. I could get a Huskard on Thundertusk in this list. That plus four more Mournfang takes me to 1,870 points. That means I could take another two Mournfang and get to 1990 points. However, there are two things that hold me back from that:

1. I’ll have had a gutful (good Ogor pun there) of painting Mournfang by the end of this
2. Taking a Huskvard on Stonehorn gives me access to a battalion called Eurlbad which makes combat massively more impactful for all units in the battalion (which would be everything except the general). Taking a battalion also gets me down to two drops (which apparently is a thing in AoS) as the whole battalion drops as one unit

So I’m going to go this way and suck up the lack of magic using items (or some other way, we’ll come to that).

Ogor Mawtribe list building – the meat

General: Frostlord on Thundertusk
Hero: Huskard on Stonehorn
Battleline: 3 x 4 Mourfang with full command
Battleline: 1 x Stonehorn Beastriders

Adding in the Eurlbad battalion brings that all up to 1990 points (great year by the way).

Ogor Mawtribe list building – the sauce

Righto, with the models, battalions and points all fixed what gaps do I have and how can I fix them as i work through the abilities, items and attributes in the book?

Frostlord Command traits. Ok, I hadn’t read this properly. I can make my general a Priest (which is good because there’s a mortal wound snipe they can do) but priests can’t dispel (which is something I would like to add). So, ultimately, I’m going to use the trait that means I can use command abilities without spending a point.

Relics. I can get some magic resistance here. The artefact, “Skullshards of Dragaar,” gives me an auto dispel once a battle. It’s probably not as good as some of the other relics but it does fill some of the magic gap so feels sensible (like eating broccoli I guess)

Mount traits. Golly there are some goodies in here! Because I’m using Boulderheads, all my mounts (two Stonehorn and a Thundertusk) get traits instead of just one. I’m going for:
-Metalcruncher on the Huskard
-Belligerent Charger on the Beastriders and
-Rimefrost Hide on the Frostlord

The Mawtribes. Ok, there are two obvious ones here. Thunderheads would make my Mournfang better but Boulderheads would make my monsters better. Given that I’m spending 200 points more on monsters than Mournfangs that feels like a better bet. There’s some wastage here as part of the tribe ability makes priests better but that will have to pass

Alright! So what do I end up with?

Thanks for asking! What I end up with is an army which has some really great points:

1. Low drop (2)
2. FAST in the movement phase! I get extra movement on monsters from Boulderhead, my native general’s command ability rerolls charges, and Mournfangs add 1 to charge rolls
3. They have some shooting. Blood vultures and Frost Wreathed Ice will plink off a few mortal wounds. Harpoon Launchers and Man Traps are good (although there’s not many of them here) and the Mournfang units each have an Ironlock Pistol on the champ.
4. The combat is off the chain. Trampling Charge, Metal Cruncher, Belligerent Cha…actually I’m bored already and that’s only the first page. There are so many different ways of doing mortal wounds or improving damage output either on the charge or in combat (but especially on the charge). There are also some nifty ways or abilities that make me more survivable. I have to make the most of this phase.

And what about the downsides?

There’s an obvious one and it’s the magic phase. I can auto dispel one thing per game. The hero phase isn’t a disaster in and of itself but the lack of magic is an obvious hole in the list.

So what’s next?

Well, I’ve actually put an order in for a SC! box so when that arrives (should be in the next ten days or so) I’ll have all the models I need for the army and just need to start building before I move onto the phase (painting) which will lead me down another rabbit hole (buying a new airbrush)