Thought I'd bring up this topic since, in our group, we're allowed to have Ogre Kingdoms 'dog of war' units in our armies (even Brets). So there are five units which Ogre Kingdoms can donate to armies. Below they're listed w/ brief description. Ogre Bull This unit is 'cheap' for Ogres. Starting at more than our Terradons. They are M6, WS3 S4, T4, W3, L7. You can upgrade them to have LA, AHW, and something called an Iron Fist which allows them to have either a shield or AHW in close combat. They're usually used bare or perhaps w/ AHW and are bait for other units. However as a DoW unit most people take them as heavy hitters and flank protectors/flankers. Ironguts This unit is more expensive than Bulls but come with HA and GW. They have no upgrades (besides command groups) and their only stat line upgrade is WS4 and L8. They are used at heavy hitters and flank protectos/flankers. Lead Belchers Besides perhaps the Bulls this would be my unit of choice. They have the same stat line as a Bull and have BS3. They are more expensive than a Bull or Irongut but with LA and their cannons. These guys can move and fire and stand and shoot. Each Bull can pump out an artilary dice worth of shots at a twelve inch range without penalties for multiple shots. However, once you've determined the number of shots you have to roll to hit. Once they've shot they must remain still and not do anything for an entire turn so they can reload or else they can't shoot. Maneasters These are considered elite infantry to Ogres. Higher WS than iron guts but otherwise have the same leadership and statline. The nice thing about these guys is they are stubborn and have better options for weapons which include ranged and close combat. They are generally considered over priced for what you get but at least the models are pretty cool (especially the collectables). Rinox Riders This unit came after the Ogre Kingdoms book was released but was included in the army under a White Dwarf article which legalized the unit. Basically your putting the below average Ogre Bulls and mounting them on Rinox. They unit is usually insainly expensive, especially if you upgrade the Rinox to bulls and start adding on things like armour and weapons. However the unit packs a punch! Doing D6 impact hits per model at S6 for bulls in addition to the half dozen attacks per model makes for a VERY heavy hammer. This unit's downfall for DoW is that it takes up Two Rare slots instead of just one. A note about Ogres. Each model does one impact his when it charges at the model's unmodified base strength. If there is another model behind the front rank (i.e. two ranks of bulls in a single unit) then the strength of the impact is modified by one. Example: 3x2 Ogre Bull unit. When they charge the base strength value of the bull is 4 but will be 5 for the impact hit because of the second rank of bulls. ----------------- So what do you guys think? Though LM don't really need Ogres' aid in combat is it cheese to have them in the army? Even for that surprise factor? It's worth saying that, besides the cold blooded rule, Ironguts have the same power as Kroxigors but with impact hits...same movement too.
Interesting question. My problem with DoW and I guess ogres by the same token is they essentially do unbalance an army because they allow you to compensate for the army's natural weaknesses. For example Chaos can get shooting units, elves can get heavily armoured and really high strength units etc. Does this neccesarily make an army cheesy? No. Does it unbalance it? Yeah I think so. I have tried a DoW cannon once or twice with my elves and didn't really enjoy it, it didn't fit in with the army and looked weird on the table. Having said that, I don't really think ogres would unbalance LM because they can't really give us anything we can't already do. They are similar in use to kroxigors, the only thing unique is leadbelchers and they are similar to razordons or even a unit of skinks if you only consider their range potential.