Ogre Kingdoms Race Details for Warhammer 3 – Total War

Ogre Kingdoms is one of the playable races of the Total War: Warhammer 3 game at release. The world’s biggest eaters, rowdiest Blood Bowl fans, and largest overall nuisances have arrived.

After many months of speculation, your Early Adopter bonus for the game is the Ogre Kingdoms, filling out the central area of the map with the many tribes of maneaters, ironguts, bulls, and many more. They’re a fully-fledged race with their own legendary lords, units, heroes, goals, dreams, hopes, meals – and campaign mechanics.

• Corruption – Untained
• Climates
  • Suitable: Unknown
  • Unpleasant: Unknown
  • Uninhabitable: Unknown

Greasus Goldtooth – Legendary Lord

• Name: Greasus Goldtooth
• Faction: Goldtooth
• Race: Ogre Kingdoms

Skrag The Slaughterer – Legendary Lord

• Name: Skrag The Slaugtherer
• Faction: Disciples of the Maw
• Race: Ogre Kingdoms

Table of Contents

Ogre Kingdoms Legendary Lords

Ogre Kingdoms has two Legendary Lords at the launch of the Total War: Warhammer 3 game. Greasus Goldtooth and Skrag the Slaughterer.

Greasus Goldtooth- Legendary Lord Ogre Kingdoms

Tradelord Greasus Tribestealer Drakecrush Gatecrasher Hoardmaster Goldtooth the Shockingly Obese was one of many whelps sired by the infamous Gofg, Tyrant of the Goldtooth tribe. Like his brothers, Greasus grew up to become strong and fat. Unlike his brothers, he killed and ate his own father. As word spread of such prodigious deeds, many Tyrants decided to join the ruthless new leader of the Goldtooth tribe and soon, once again, the Ogre Kingdoms had an Overtyrant. These days, grown older, larger, louder and richer than ever, Goldtooth’s coffers fill faster than his Gnoblars can count. Yet Greasus’ rampant success has not diminished his greed, or his all-consuming desire to conquer everything he sees.

As the fattest lad around, Greasus rolls into battle on a custom-made, gnoblar-pushed cart stuffed with gold, gems, and plunder. The glory of being too rich to walk, writ large across the faces of his enemies. His iconic scepter is used equally to steer and smash skulls, while he is always chewing on a massive leg of meat, or equally using it to scratch himself. He is an inspiration and a hero to all Ogres, and a terror to fight on the battlefield.

Selection of unique abilities of Greasus Goldtooth in Warhammer 3:

• Everyone Has Their Price: as your massive, powerful opponent sprinkles you with his spare gold, most combatants are going to rethink their place in the battle.
• Sceptre of Titans: The legendary staff of Greasus grants him huge power boosts, particularly when taking on other Ogres to retain his dominance.

Skrag the Slaughterer – Legendary Lord Ogre Kingdoms

Skrag is the legendary Prophet of the Great Maw, also known as the Gore-Harvester and the Maw-that-Walks. Dragging his massive meat-pot behind him – attached to his back with a series of painful, tearing hooks and chains – Skrag hacks and rips at his enemies in a glorious blood-fuelled dedication to the Great Maw. In his wake, he leaves a trail of dismembered limbs and body parts, which it is the duty of his Gore-Gnoblars to retrieve and deposit into his cauldron.

His history is as sad as it is brutal, brought to his current sorry state by a Tyrant to whom he fed the wrong Gnoblar. However, the punishment only connected Skrag more to the Lore of the Great Maw, making him one of the most powerful Gut Magic wielders in the world.

As well as full access to the lore of the Great Maw, Skrag can summon units of Gorgers to his side at a moment’s notice. The Gorgers are Skrag’s army, about as close as he’ll ever have to friends, fellow exiles and rejects from Ogre society that he found in the mountains after the Gnoblar incident left him wandering and armless.

Ogre Kingdoms Lords

The Ogre Kindoms has access to two lord types in Warhammer 3, the Tyrant and the Slaughtermaster.

Tyrant – Ogre Kingdoms Lord

Ogres call the leaders of their tribes Tyrants and it is easy to see why. Tyrants are the biggest and strongest individuals in a hulking race that prides itself on these physical features. To claim rulership over a group of Ogres requires a mighty brawler, a creature powerful enough to wrestle a Giant to the ground or smash his way through a fortified gate using only his bare fists. An Ogre Tyrant uses his tremendous size and brawn to dominate, earning the right to command the tribe by displaying prodigious feats of what the Ogres respect the most – strength, violence, extraordinary girth and a healthy, all-consuming appetite.

Much of Ogre warfare revolves around the need to eat, and the deliciousness of well-cooked and smartly-prepared flesh of all their enemies – rat or lizard, human or greenskin, it’s all good enough for the pot. In-battle, this is represented by powers gained by the killing of routed enemies, their various organs and limbs added to today’s stew. Each kill builds a meter that allows for the use of three special abilities:

• Dismember
  • Hex (Area) that decreases acceleration, speed, and charge speed, helpful for running enemies down or stopping an advance.
• Massacre
  • Augment (Area) that gives additional armour-piercing weapon damage, base weapon damage, and grants units the ability to cause terror.
• Butcher
  • Regeneration on target unit that gives a very high healing per second and gives significant vigour regeneration.

Unlocking and using these abilities will be key to exploiting every aspect of the Ogres to your ends.

Slaughtermaster – Ogre Kingdoms Lord

Around camp, Butchers are given a wide berth, for it is best not to get too close in case they are looking for extra ingredients, as fingers or whole limbs have been known to go missing. In battle, however, Butchers are most often found right in the thick of the fighting, where they use their cleavers and magic to great effect. The largest, most fearsome and most powerful Butchers are given the additional title of Slaughtermaster, and there are few things that walk or crawl that such expert killers have not chopped up and prepared for a ritual feast.

Lores: Lore of the Great Maw or Lore of Beasts

Ogre Kingdoms Heroes

With the launch of Total War: Warhammer 3 you will have access to three hero types for the Ogre Kingdoms. The Hunter, Butcher and the Firebelly hero.

Hunter Hero

Ogre Hunters are solitary wanderers, outsiders from their own tribe or perhaps even exiles. Those that survive become fiercely independent warriors and savvy stalkers of beasts. Bereft of a tribe’s protection and beefy companionship, lone Hunters must learn to track and kill, while simultaneously not becoming prey to any ferocious beasts – it is all too common for the Hunter to become the hunted. Although most no longer belong to a tribe, Hunters periodically drag an impressive kill back to an Ogre camp for a special feast day. Some return to the tribe of their origins, while others wander throughout the kingdoms.

An Ogre Hunter who has tamed a Stonehorn is a celebrated individual. Stonehorns are oblivious to the most grievous wounds and the only proven way to break one is to take one of its eyes, which is no mean feat given the beast’s stone­armoured skull. After a time, the wound heals, often the eye even grows back, but by then the Stonehorn has been persuaded to allow a rider. A Hunter might keep such a beast as his own mount or, if he wishes to boost his reputation, he could gift the beast to a tribe, for Stonehorns are much-coveted by all right-thinking Ogres.

A hunter aboard a Stonehorn gains a loyal companion, a fierce friend, and incredible melee Weapon Strength (alongside other, significant, stat upgrades). The three things any Ogre needs.

Mounts: Stonehorn

Butcher Hero

Butchers are typically more rotund than an average Ogre and have even worse personal hygiene. They often resemble walking larders, for in addition to being caked in dried blood and offal, they adorn themselves in chunks of meat, along with an array of meat hooks, cleavers, filleting knives and even special tenderisers tucked into a leather apron or even pierced through their flabby skin. A Butcher must be prepared to use these items in their gore-soaked rituals at a moment’s notice. Of all true Ogres, only the Butchers do not wear a gut-plate – they trust their guts to the protection of the Great Maw.

Lores: Lore of the Great Maw or Lore of Beasts

Firebelly Hero

Firebellies are the roaring, blazing priests of the Ogre deity known as the Fire Mouth. Quick to mirth and anger alike, Firebellies are garrulous and vital individuals who are readily welcomed into any Ogre tribe. Fire burns within these larger-than-life prophets in a literal as well as metaphorical sense. Bald and broad, their ruddy skin glows from within, and their bare chests are tattooed extensively with symbols of destruction. When a Firebelly’s wrath is roused, he can breathe out a cloud of billowing flame so fierce that it can melt through chainmail in seconds.

As well as access to the Lore of Fire, Firebellies have various abilities stemming from their, ahem, internal combustion:

• Fire Breath
  • Magic missile ability dealing fire, AP and explosive damage.
• Flame Incarnate
  • Ward Save ability that grants melee damage reflection.
• Eruption
  • Explosion attack dealing reasonable fire and magic damage.

Lores: Lore of Fire

Ogre Kingdoms Units in Warhammer 3

Now lets take a closer look at all the revealed units for Ogre Kingdoms in Total War: Warhammer 3.

Ogre Kingdoms Infantery

Ogre Kindoms has one pure infantery unit, they are called the Gnoblars.

Gnoblars

Gnoblars are wicked creatures possessed of malicious but limited cunning. They are not-too-distant relatives of the Goblins that plague the world and are similar to their Greenskin cousins in height, with most specimens standing little taller than a man’s waist. Gnoblars are cruel-minded, and their ability to do harm is only limited by their lack of physical strength. Ogres tolerate the creatures in their camps, especially if they make themselves useful by carrying and fetching things. In battle, a large group of Gnoblars can be, if not exactly formidable, then at least a bit dangerous.

Unique characteristics of the Gnoblars unit in Warhammer 3:

• Not exactly loved by their larger compatriots, they are Expendable in all ways.
• Absolute meatshields for meatshields, they can hold the ground for just long enough to get your other forces into position.
• Slow, with low leadership, they’re likely to be outmaneuvered and outmatched quickly on the battlefield.

Ogre Kingdoms Missle Infantery

Oger Kingdoms also only has one missle infantery united called Gnoblar Trappers.

Gnoblar Trappers

These outgoing and vindictive Gnoblar Trappers are the largest of their kind, and delight in catching and torturing the small mammals that populate the foothills of the Ogre Kingdoms. Hunting is too sporting for these Gnoblars, who much prefer to trap their prey. To this end, they have perfected the art of laying out jagged man-snappers, pits lined with stakes, wickedly barbed nooses and other cruel devices that will incapacitate the unwary. Once they have snagged something, they like to ‘play’ with it (usually jabbing it with sharp sticks), before devouring it or bribing their masters with it as a light snack.

Unique characteristics of the Gnoblar Trappers unit in Warhammer 3:

• While just as expendable as their Gnoblar melee friends, the first missile unit Ogres have access to they do serve a role to harrass enemies.
• Have Vanguard Deployment to get into position early.
• When enemies get close, Gnoblar Trapper units will launch a volley of traps, dealing damage and slowing them. Perfect for stopping a charge.

Ogre Kingdoms Monsters and Ogres, My Lord

Now it gets interesting, lets take a look at all the various Ogre Kindoms monsters and ogres in Total War: Warhammer 3.

Ogre Bulls

Big, brutish and extremely violent, Ogre Bulls are simple and straightforward creatures; they know what they want and use their brawn to take it. Ogres don’t do contemplative head-scratching, preferring to smash things they don’t understand. The bull-charge forwards is their favoured way to crush any opposition and greedily grab what they like. And what Ogres want is power, respect, wealth and, perhaps most of all, an endless supply of meat to feast upon.

Ogres excel at fighting and this, along with their greed and lack of concern about right or wrong, means that an Ogre army is always ready for a battle against anyone, anywhere. History is replete with examples of Ogres being paid to fight (and even sometimes being paid not to join a fray). When they do enter combat, Ogres make frightening opponents, for they are savage and can sometimes devour the fallen where they lie. In the heat of battle, this horrifies their opponents, who must fight the blood-splattered vanquisher of their former comrades.

Given the chance, an Ogre will barge into combat, using his great lumbering mass as a weapon. When working together, Ogres can harness the tremendous momentum of their formation to deliver an overpowering impact on anything they collide with. It is a living avalanche, an immense tonnage of muscle and fat behind heavy iron gut-plates that slams the enemy before the individual Ogres themselves begin to lay about with their brutal weaponry. They often cover their off-hand with a spiked metal gauntlet, a habit which originated from the traditional sport of pit-fighting. This gauntlet can be used to bat aside even the strongest attacks.

Variants:

• Monstrous Infantry
• Dual Weapons
• Ironfists

Unique characteristics of the Ogre Bulls unit in Warhammer 3:

• All Ogre units – bulls and above – cause fear, being the embodiment of cannibalistic nightmares for all races, young and old. They can also destroy walls and doors during sieges, smashing them apart with their weapons and bare hands.
• They also all have the Ogre Charge ability, representing the powerful and terrifying impact that is visited upon any who stand in their way. It reduces bonuses for being braced against their charge.
• Dual-Weapon Bulls have a bonus vs. Infantry, while those with Ironfists have additional Melee Defence and Armour, and count as being shielded.

Ironguts

Ironguts are the Ogres of any given tribe that have the most status and the best armour and weapons. They go into battle armed with massive two-handed weapons, be they enormous scimitars, rocks bolted to tree boughs with iron bands, or simply gigantic versions of the traditional Ogre club. lronguts wear large, ornamented gut-plates to show off their elite standing and cover their meaty arms and boulder-like heads in heavy armour plating cobbled together from various conquests over the years.

Unique characteristics of the Ironguts unit in Warhammer 3:

• Veterans of much combat and many feasts, Ironguts are the strongest standard Ogres anyone could hope to never see.
• They deal armour-piercing damage and have vastly superior armour compared to their brothers.
• Will drink you under the table, eat you out of house and home, beat you at arm-wrestling, then fall asleep embracing you. True friends.

Maneaters

Maneaters inherit the cultures of the lands they visit, rather than spread their own. These mercenaries learn the fighting skills and adopt the style of dress appropriate to the lands in which they fight. For example, a Maneater in the Empire might wear breeches and an ostentatious feather with a brace of huge pistols across his chest. One who has been campaigning in the jungles of the Southlands, on the other hand, might go into battle as the Savage Orcs do – that is, wearing an undersized loincloth, a gut-plate and nothing else but smeary warpaint.

Ogre Maneaters are veterans of many campaigns fought in far-off lands. Travelling mercenaries beyond peer, they have spent decades accruing scars, tall tales, wealth and exotic wargear before heading back to the Ogre Kingdoms. Maneaters have fought throughout the Old World and beyond, and many races attempt to recruit such fighters into their armies, promising food, gold or whatever else the Ogres want in return for their services. It is the pay that matters, not the foe, although with some contracts Maneaters are awarded fallen enemies to eat, so in those cases the enemy may matter. Ogres eat anything, but they have preferences.

When they return to the Ogre Kingdoms, Maneaters take any opportunity to bore their tribe-mates with long fanciful war stories, some of which are even true. Although such tales are tiresome, an Ogre Tyrant is always happy if he can call on the services of one or two units of Maneaters to aid his tribe. They will be used to lead important attacks or hold a vital part of the battle line. Maneaters are famously stubborn opponents and usually prefer to fight to their last breath rather than flee.

Varients:

• Monstrous Infantry
• Ironfists
• Great Weapons
• Pistols

Unique characteristics of the Maneaters unit in Warhammer 3:

• The impressive and terrifying things they’ve witnessed far afield make all Maneaters immune to psychology.
• Maneaters who have learned the ways of Empire pistols are just as deadly in melee combat, but can also fire on the move to soften up their enemies.
• Spent enough time in foreign lands to … have particular tastes. Y’know, for food.

Sabretusk Pack

Red in tooth and claw – an apt description for a Sabretusk, as this powerfully-muscled hunting beast is a creature perfectly evolved for slaughter. A lone Sabretusk will bound into the midst of its prey, slashing and stabbing with its elongated tusks, seeking to sever arteries and disembowel its quarry. The snarling assault that follows is a fury of pounces, bites and ripping claws. Should an entire pack of Sabretusks attack at once, then even the largest beasts that haunt the Mountains of Mourn can be quickly brought down in a howling flurry, leaving a red mist hanging in the frosty air.

Unique characteristics of the Sabretusk Pack unit in Warhammer 3:

• The fastest thing in the Ogre army, and strong enough to pull down almost anything in a pack, though liable to rampage if hurt.
• Can receive a huge number of buffs – including Vanguard Deployment, Stalk, and Frenzy – from having an expert Hunter in the same army.
• NOT a cute lil’ kitty cat. Do NOT pet.

Gorgers

Even more ravenous than an Ogre, Gorgers are degenerate eating machines consisting of nothing but taut muscle, claws and ferocity. The beasts are so hungry that they will gobble up anything they can scrounge, even the most tainted of things. To aid a Gorger in its all-consuming quest to feed, he can distend his jaws in the same way as many serpents do in order to swallow larger prey. If that weren’t enough, their mouths are crammed full of teeth that grow rapidly through their slimy gums, replacing themselves daily, or sometimes even more quickly.

Unique characteristics of the Gorgers unit in Warhammer 3:

• While fragile, Gorgers are as close to a stealth Ogre as you will find, surprising enemies at high speed with armour-piercing, anti-infantry attacks.
• Drive half-mad by hunger and solitude in the mountains, they are unbreakable combatants that fight in a frenzy.
• Vanguard Deployment completes the package of a terrifying prospect.

Giant

Giants are enormous, lumbering brutes that stride the world seeking battle, food and strong liquors. They are humanoid in appearance, although their features are coarse and misshapen, and they are dull-witted even when compared to an average Ogre. An Ogre Tyrant, if he can restrain himself from attacking a Giant to prove his own superiority, will often try to recruit the solitary wanderer into his tribe. Sharing food or intoxicating drink with the enormous lummox often does the trick, as do promises of an easy life full of eating and drinking.

Unique characteristics of the Giants unit in Warhammer 3:

• Massive and lumbering, even for the Ogre armies, Giants are a terror to face on the battlefield.
• Hired specifically to be a Super Ogre, their strength and power outweighs even that of a Tyrant.
• Lightly armoured, and missing the special effects of actual Ogres.

Stonehorn

Stonehorns are massive beasts of muscle and violence, each several times the size of a Rhinox and – if it can be believed – several times as dense. Intelligence is of little import to these great beasts however, for each Stonehorn is quite literally a living fossil, its skeleton hardened by the same rock as the mountains where it makes its home. As legendary as their hardiness is their belligerence; in fact it is said that a Stonehorn will take any opportunity to headbutt something to death and trample its corpse into paste.

Unique characteristics of the Stonehorn unit in Warhammer 3:

• Just absolutely rampages through enemies, sowing terror and dealing immense damage.
• Takes ‘hard-headed’ to a whole new level, granting missile resistance.
• Once tamed, a good friend.

Ogre Kingdoms Missle Monsters and Beasts

Next up we have the missle monsters and beasts for the Ogre Kingdom in Warhammer 3.

Leadbelchers

It is easy enough to spot Ogres from a Leadbelcher unit, for their faces are scorched, they bear severe powder burns, regularly feature eye patches and often resort to protective metal plates hammered into their faces. This is the legacy of point-blank detonations and an imperfect, if not downright clumsy, understanding of black powder. Regardless, these hardy and noticeably deaf Ogres feel it is well worth sacrificing eyebrows, an eye or even a few fingers for the chance to level their devastating cannons at a foe.

Unique characteristics of the Leadbelchers unit in Warhammer 3:

• Obscene range for missile infantry, hurling projectiles across the battlefield from their mighty cannons.
• What we did, you see, is take an Ogre, and then give him a massive gun – so once his ammo’s ran out, he’s still an Ogre. Smart, see?
• There are significant armour-piercing properties to a massive ball of lead fired from a cannon larger than a man.

Stonehorn (Harpoon Launcher)

Ogres have the greatest respect for Stonehorns, for the mammoth creatures are everything an Ogre aspires to be: big, violent, strong and rock-hard. They never tire of telling and retelling their favourite accounts of a Stonehorn’s prowess or of the gory aftermath they leave after one of their stone-cracking charges. Whether it is the wide trails of Dwarfs flattened and squished out of their armour, the wet crunching sounds a Stonehorn makes when ploughing through Skaven hordes, or fond remembrances of Giants pile-driven deep into the ground, such blood-drenched tales are greedily called for at any raucous Ogre feast.

Unique characteristics of the Stonehorn Harpoon Launcher unit in Warhammer 3:

• They put a Harpoon Launcher on a Stonehorn.
• They took a Stonehorn, already a humongous monster that can crush units beneath its hooves, and put a crossbow that fires spears on top of it.
• The Ogre who invented this is essentially as close to Einstein as they ever got.

Ogre Kingdoms Cavalry and Chariots

Ogre Kindoms has access to two cavalry and chariot units in Total War: Warhammer 3.

Mournfang Cavalry

High up the slopes of the Mountains of Mourn lives a cave­dwelling beast that has always attracted the attention of the Ogres – the Mournfang. Aggressive predators that stalk the icy slopes, they are led by the largest of their kind and, working together, they can hunt and kill anything that lives in that harsh domain. Mournfangs have a notorious tenacity that makes even the most powerful of creatures think twice about confronting them. Ogre tales tell of defiant Mournfangs refusing to give ground and every tribe has a story about a beast continuing to fight long after drawing its last breath.

Powered by thick haunches of purest muscle, a Mournfang surges towards the foe at a speed faster than their muscle­-bulked frames would suggest, not slowed in the least by the large Ogre or saddle atop its hairy back. Protected by thick skin and coarse shaggy hair, enemy arrows bounce off the oncoming beast or ping off the Ogre’s armour, as harmless as hailstones. When they do smash into an enemy, the powerful Mournfangs chomp, slash and stamp the foe whilst the Ogres lay about them, swinging ponderous clubs to bludgeon them.

Variants:

• Monstrous Cavalry
• Ironfist
• Great Weapons

Unique characteristics of the Mournfang Cavalry unit in Warhammer 3:

• Essentially giving an Ogre even more weight and greatly increased speed, Mournfangs would be deadly on their own, nevermind with a slab of meat on their backs.
• Their variants bring extra defense for extended engagements or anti-large weapons for Ogre civil wars (or whatever else an Ogre counts as large).
• If all dogs go to Heaven, we assume Mournfangs have their own, closed-off area.

Crushers

Despite the inhospitable weather, the Mountains of Mourn teem with life. Herds of great woolly beasts are plentiful, criss-crossing the boulder-strewn slopes and snowy plateaus seeking food. They are primeval creatures that have existed unchanged since the world was still covered in ice. Crushers ride one such animal, the Rhinox.

A hard-headed and hyper-aggressive beast, Rhinoxen are notoriously short-sighted and rely on their sense of smell to catch wind of predators. They are likely to lower their heads and charge anything they catch a whiff of that doesn’t smell like a Rhinox. As the weather atop that icy realm is as likely to be blinding as anything else, such short-sightedness isn’t too much of a drawback. Also, their double-horned and stone-hard heads can cause considerable damage. Even a Frost Dragon would move hastily to get out of the way of a stampeding herd of the great shaggy beasts.

Variants:

• Ironfist
• Great Weapons

Unique characteristics of the Crushers unit in Warhammer 3:

• Essentially Mournfang Riders that have decided to be incredibly, incredibly hard.
• Being crashed into by a Rhinox is somehow more painful than being crashed into by a Mournfang. Most who have experienced the latter wouldn’t agree that was possible.
• Really quite stunningly massive.

Ogre Kingdoms Artillery and War Machines

Ogre Kindoms has access to two artillery and war machine units.

Scraplauncher

The Gnoblar Scraplauncher is a large and unconventionally-built catapult pulled along by an enormous woolly beast. Its design is haphazard – the ramshackle construction seemingly built ‘on the go’ with a random collection of cast off materials. With each stride of its shaggy beast of burden, the jury-rigged device teeters precariously while a frenetic crew of Gnoblars swarm about – running alongside, clambering on its ropes and pulleys like sailors amongst the rigging, or just hanging on for dear life. For all its slovenly appearance, the Gnoblar Scraplauncher is a devastating engine of destruction.

Unique characteristics of the Scraplauncher unit in Warhammer 3:

• A massive range, even compared to other siege weapons.
• The Rhinox pulling this Gnoblar construction is happy to trample anyone in range, should smaller units approach.
• While the ramshackle ammunition is plenty fine for scattering infantry formations, it’s unlikely to penetrate thick armour.

Ironblasters

One of the castle-mounted guns the Sky-titans used towards the end of their war against the Ogres. Such is the weight of the vast contraption that the Rhinox which pulls it grunts and strains under the pressure, and even the stone wheels that hold it up can only last for a few battles before cracking under the immense weight. Its multiple cannon balls are able to tear apart a whole regiment in a maelstrom of noise and violence, especially should the lronblaster get in close.

Unique characteristics of the Ironblasters unit in Warhammer 3:

• Will annihilate anything it targets, with a huge weapon strength.
• The Rhinox pulling the Ironblaster is as happy to fight back as its Scraplauncher cousins.
• Can run out of ammo fairly quickly.

Ogre Kingdoms Campaign Mechanics

Lets take a look what Ogre Kingdoms has to offer in terms of campaign mechanics in Total War: Warhammer 3.

Camps

Perhaps the most iconic area of Ogre society is the camp – a great set of buildings (or, often, assorted piles) around a central pot of meat, gristle, beer, and whatever else has been thrown in on this occasion. Ogre Camps can be set up at any sufficient distance from existing settlements and act as major settlements for the faction. Any captured or colonised settlements are minors with four building slots and max rank three.

Camps are limited in number by technology and, as you’ll see below, unlocking your first camp is the initial tech for the race. New buildings require population surplus to create, similar to a horde, and if the garrison is defeated the camp is destroyed.

However, as well as providing access to higher tier units and buildings, there are some massive benefits to camps. They can be deployed in any territory and any distance from your other lands, so long as you can get an army there. Assuming it’s in enemy territory, the garrison inside will automatically be raiding the province it’s in every turn, generating additional income. This garrison can be reinforced by trading units to and from it with an army or recruiting directly into the camp, meaning you can have a properly massive and powerful raiding army that is also well-defended within a pseudo-settlement that must be sieged to be destroyed. It can also provide units to passing armies, giving you a refueling and upgrading station for your forces when they don’t have time to recruit themselves.

Camps also exert a sphere of influence of decent size on the campaign map, and any armies within that area will receive various bonuses, as well as being able to use local recruitment. Various buildings inside the camp will also have effects within this area of influence, letting it provide additional replenishment, extra Meat (see below), or other benefits. Naturally, this makes placement vital to consider – a more defensible location on the edge of your own territory is valuable, but one in the center of enemy provinces is quite a different prospect. The more fighting within range of a camp, the better.

For other factions, Ogre Camps represent a place to bring Ogre talents aboard. Any army that is near an Ogre Camp and is not at war with the owner can hire Ogre Bulls as mercenaries.

Of note is that the non-recruitment buildings in camps also provide some pretty hefty upgrades. Loot Piles give an obnoxious amount of gold per turn while there are options for massively reduced upkeep of the units inside. There are also possibilities for huge increases in local recruitment capacities, global effects, and other profitable ventures. Owning regions is valuable, but multiple large camps will render you a force to be reckoned with.

Contracts

There’s a reason Ogres first entered Total War as mercenaries – it’s what they do best. They’re the largest, toughest, most violent force they’ve ever met (Greenskins really have a problem with this), so why not use their natural talents for profit? Hence, contracts, special missions given to you as an Ogre player by the various AI factions around you.

Every ten turns you will be presented with three potential contracts, each for attacking cities, killing characters, or destroying armies. These will come from factions you are not at war with and offer money for completion. You will also get a significant relationship boost with the hiring faction should you complete their contract.

This is a good excuse to start a war, usually one which will get you a good reputation with someone else nearby. Of course, money talks much louder than loyalty, and there’s nothing stopping you turning on just about everyone once you’ve taken the gold they were willing to give up without a fight.

Meat

As your body may run on water and nutrients and our economy on the blood of the workers, Ogre society runs on meat. Eating and fighting are the central tenets of everything they do, and usually the fighting is to get ready for a big batch of eating, and the eating is so they’re well-fueled for the fighting. The two are often combined in horrific displays of brutality on the battlefield that will send enemies fleeing.

Thus, every Ogre army has a separate upkeep, as well as in gold, of Meat. One unit, one meat consumed. The meat each army has and if it’s increasing or decreasing is tracked above its banner on the campaign map, in the same spot as any passive effects and if it’s garrisoned or not. This upkeep is waived when within range of a friendly Ogre Camp, and as mentioned, there are plenty of camp buildings with interactions surrounding meat. Naturally, enemy armies can also be, ahem, processed into meat, post-defeat.

Far from just a second upkeep bar, meat also has a number of uses. Any time an Ogre army is engaged in battle, it can initiate a pre-battle feast. Up to five meat can be used from its stores, with each piece giving a stacking bonus to speed, charge bonus, and unit mass. Bigger, heavier ogres do bigger, more powerful charges.

In addition, all Ogre armies can initiate Offerings to the Great Maw, giving some of their meat up for bonuses. These are buffs that last for a large number of turns for that army, and are:

• Bloody ‘n’ Raw – extra melee attack for all units.
• Come ‘n’ Get It – additional campaign movement range for the army.
• Fill Yer Bellies – Decrease in global recruitment times.
• Give Me Gut Magic – additional Winds of Magic power reserves per turn.

Only one of these buffs can be active at a time, but they can have permanent uptime assuming there is always spare meat lying around when the offering is available.

Big Names

Ogres can’t read or write and have no interest in the matter. Their campfire stories, once the fighting has died down and only the most obese are still eating, come from personally-told tales, handed from generation to generation or bragged about from the perpetrator. Thus, the concept of Ogre titles, or Big Names, was born. While Settra may claim the most length, Ogres have the largest breadth of names and their possible meanings.

Each and every Ogre Lord has four Big Names he can strive for, each with different unlock conditions. This is as true of our Legendary Lords, Greasus Goldtooth and Skrag the Slaughterer, as it is for the Tyrants and Slaughtermasters that lead your other armies. For the legendary, there is a bespoke choice of four, while the others take a random selection from a wider pool for each Lord type.

Once a Big Name is unlocked, it can be equipped as a primary title, giving a specific effect. The system as a whole is similar to the passive traits that Lords advertise when they are hired, but customisable depending on your plans and usually more powerful. Changing primary titles can be done on a short cooldown, so mix and match as needed.

Here’s four from a random Tyrant, Thrugg Brutbane, I just generated:

• Arsebelcher
  • Unlocked by: It is a mystery!
  • Grants: Arsebelcher ability, a leadership debuff for all enemies nearby.
• Campmaker
  • Unlocked by: deploying a camp with this character.
  • Grants: +1 control to local province.
• Boommaker
  • Unlocked by: winning a battle with a unit of Leadbelchers in the army.
  • Grants: +20% missile strength for various ranged units.
• Kineater
  • Unlocked by: losing a battle but killing more enemies than your opponent.
  • Grants: Passive ability Kineater, which gives unbreakable to this lord so long as they have over half HP.

As you can see, they aren’t army-defining, but could be used to make a specific lord more his own, as well as giving mini-objectives from turn to turn with each of your armies. The Legendary Lord versions are a step above these in power, supplementing the power of your faction.

Tech Tree for Ogre Kingdoms in Total War: Warhammer 3

As mentioned, the subtleties of language and thus research, knowledge retention, education and much else that the rest of the world uses to advance society, are mysterious and uninteresting to Ogres.

Instead, their idea of research is mostly theft, coming up with better ways to eat more and charge higher sums for their services, and consuming the brains of their enemies to discover new possibilities. Their tech tree reflects this by being focused on key points that increase the number of camps you have access to, as well as the starting population of those camps, letting you set up new buildings quicker.

It is quite a dense tree (echoing its researchers), taking not a lot of time to go from end to end if you simply focus on progressing, but with lots and lots of possibilities to take a tech here or there that significantly buffs a unit or economic element. Several of the camp-improving techs also unlock powerful army abilities focused on consuming prisoners in battle for fantastic and terrifying effects.

Ogre Kingdoms Magic in Total War Warhammer 3

The Ogre Kingdoms has access to three different magic types in Warhammer 3, the Lore of the Great Maw, Lore of Beasts and Lore of Fire.

Lore of the Great Maw in Warhammer 3

The Lore of the Great Maw in Warhammer 3 includes:

• Braingobbler (Hex)
  • The spellcaster chomps through a severed skull, gobbling up the brain and projecting the decapitated victim’s worst nightmares into enemies’ minds, sapping their will to fight on.
  • Single-target leadership debuff.
  • Overcast version has extended effect duration.
• Bullgorger (Augment)
  • Devouring the heart of a bull Rhinox or Mournfang, raw vitality is projected into the Great Maw, increasing the ferocity of the Ogres’ attacks.
  • Single-target large buff to melee attack and armour-piercing weapon damage.
  • Overcast version has extended effect duration.
• Toothcracker (Augment (Area))
  • By consuming a hunk of tooth-breaking granite, the spellcaster bestows the rock’s resilience and the sturdiness of the mountains themselves into his brethren.
  • Increases armour and missile resistance for all units in an area.
  • Overcast version has extended effect duration.
• Bonecrusher (Explosion)
  • Stuffing a handful of bones into his mouth, the spellcaster crunches them up whilst cursing his foes, who are crushed by a giant fist which pounds them to dust.
  • Small AOE that deals large damage after a short wind-up with significant armour-piercing properties.
  • Overcast version deals additional damage and armour-piercing damage.
• Trollguts (Regeneration)
  • After downing the toxic and utterly repulsive innards of a Troll, the Ogres’ wounds seem to stitch themselves together before their enemies’ dumbfounded eyes.
  • Significant single-target heal over time.
  • Overcast version has extended effect duration.
• The Maw (Explosion)
  • The Butcher can summon the power of the Great Maw itself, causing the ground beneath to split wide open and crush any foe trapped within it.
  • Huge, long wind-up explosion.
  • Overcast version does more armour-piercing damage.

Lore of Beasts

Flock of Doom

With a mighty bellow, the Wizard invokes Corvus the Crow Lord, summoning his servants to peck at the foe’s eyes.

Pann’s Impenetrable Pelt

Calling upon the beast-spirits of the wild, the Wizard sheathes his vulnerable flesh in unyielding fur and hide.

The Amber Spear

Sounding a gnarled horn, the Wizard summons a glowing amber spear and hurls it at the foe with uncanny accuracy.

The Curse of Anraheir

At the Wizard’s command, nebulous nature spirits assail the foe, clawing with hands not nearly as insubstantial as they first appear.

Transformation of Kadon

Kadon was able to shift his shape to that of any monster, even a Manticore. One day he found he could not change back…

Wyssan’s Wildform

The Wizard unleashes the beast within, using its fury to transform his allies into bestial forms.

Lore of Fire

Cascading Fire Cloak

A blazing aura surrounds the Pyromancer’s chosen ally, shielding them with protective flame and augmenting their abilities.

Fireball

The Wizard conjures a boiling ball of magical flame and hurls it at a nearby foe.

Flame Storm

Conjured by a Bright Wizard or Chaos Sorcerer, a column of churning fire erupts from the battlefield, causing much destruction!

Flaming Sword of Rhuin

The Wizard ensorcels allied weapons, making them burn with a savage fire. The targets of the spell are augmented with superior flaming blades.

Piercing Bolts of Burning

Focusing all his mystical might, the Pyromancer strikes the foe with a flurry of incandescent missiles.

The Burning Head

A cackling, flaming visage appears before the Wizard. With a gleeful screech, it swirls around the battlefield, immolating anything in its way.