[Tim/Steve]

I haven't built my Scrap Launcher or Bull Rhinox unit yet... so here goes.

Likely opponents are Dark Elf, High Elf, Dwarf, Skaven and Vampire Counts!

Tyrant (300)
Ogre Blade
Armour of Destiny
Mawseeker
I4 isnt that great- just take a great weapon if you want S7, otherwise go for a cathayan longsword... either way its a lot cheaper then a magical weapon (and unneccessary unless fighting ethereals). Personally I suggest swapping the armour of destiny for an enchanted shield and the talisman of preservation. Same base cost, same base saves... but pay the points for mundane heavy armour on top and you get a 3+/4++ rather then 5+/4++.
If you are going to take mawseeker then make sure to stay close to the BSB (not usually a problem for ogres)... its not something I normally use but its fun to throw it in ever once in a while.

Slaughtermaster (295)
Biting Blade
Dispel Scroll
Talisman of Preservation
The Other Tricksters Shard
I prefer the skullmantle but a scroll is a good choice too- just depends if you are offensively minded or defensively (especially if you are likely to face purple sun/pit of shades). I prefer 3 gnoblar thiefstones to teh talisman of preservation- you still get a 4++ ward against gutmagic wounds either way but where you lose the save against shooting/combat you give a save to the whole unit vs magic...
The other trickster's shard is fun, but I would only use it if intend to leave the slaughtermaster next to the BSB- a KB combined with all ward saves being re-rolled is evil (I normally just put the other-tricker's shard on the my bruiser with skullplucker... but not if he is the BSB.

Bruiser (205)
Skullplucker
Wyrdstone Necklace
I'm assuming he is the BSB, he's costed to be. Decent set up. I like defensive BSBs such as enchanted shield+talisman of preservation or wyrdstone+greedy fist (love that combo)... but then again last game I did manage get my BSB killed from the first 4 wounds he took (even with a 3+/4++ and 1 reroll).

Ironguts x12 (646)
Full Command
Rune Maw
Im not really a fan of ironguts in the new edition, just too expensive to my mind. If the rune maw protected against things like pit of shades and purple sun then I might take them to bodyguard characters... but as it is I would prefer a unit of bulls (18 bulls with banner and bellower is cheaper then these 12 ironguts).

Bulls x18 (680)
Full Command
Great. Vulnerable to pit of shades/purple sun... but then you're playing ogres so so is everything else (although to a lesser extent). I rarely bother with the champion, he's expensive and doesnt do a lot (unless you want the extra points from champs killing characters in a challenge). I would use the points from the champe (and a few extra) to grab an extra bull- you'll be attacking after pretty much everyone so will almost never get the full 18 bulls worth of attacks.

Bulls x3 (105)
I see why you've put them in... not sure that its worthwhile but whatever works for you if good.

Leadbelchers x4 (230)
Thunderfist
Ugh (personal bias), they never work for my in practice... and I can't get them working with mathammer either, but again if they workj for you use them (neilbatte uses an ogre gunline army quite successfully... but his and my luck with leadbelchers are polar opposites).

Gnoblar Fighters x51 (102)

Gnoblar Fighters x50 (100)
Ok, standard pattern tarpits... but I can't see them working. They'll be too slow to keep up with tyrant/BSB and their own Ld is too low to be of any use whatsoever. Fine if you are standing still in defence... but just how often do ogres do that?

Gnoblar Trappers x17 (102)
Never used them, certainly not in these numbers. Must be a bitch to move around the board
Gorger (75)

Gorger (75)

Gorger (75)
Always a crowd pleaser, love these guys.

TOTAL = 3000

I've used quite a similar army at 2.5k to devastating effect (and have since not used it again)... but you seem to stretch the points without adding much to it (my army was 17 ironguts, 19 bulls a tyrant, a slaughtermaster/butcher, a couple of gorgers and a few other bits).

I suggest you decide how you want to play and then build to that ideal. If you blitz (like me) then gnoblar fighters aren't going to help you (unless you leave your BSB and/or general back near them). To help protect the ironguts I would be tempted to have a smallish unit of fighters trying to keep up and a min unit of trappers deploying foward of the ironguts (to bounce spells onto once you outpace the fighters or to go warmachine hunting).

Although something I would point out- if you cut the unit of 3 bulls, all the gnoblar and the leadbelchers you would have enough points for another unit of 18 bulls... I'm not saying its the best option in the world, but it turns a few semi-useful units into a terrifying thunderblow of a unit).

 

[Tim/Steve]

I always thought bulls were rubbish and used to include a unit of 3 to fulfill the 1+ choice, then filled up on ironguts. But with the new rules I like bulls far more- mostly because of the cost (almost 30% cheaper) because they give me more wounds for the same points... so my army lasts longer. They are also better against hoard infantry... they arent as good vs heavy cav but I still think they do well enough: standard -2 to the enemy save and if you use bullgorger to up yourself to S5 thats a -3... you'll tear through pretty much anything (especially in a hoard).

I dont like the hoard so much, but I haven't found anything else that I can do to make my army effective other then multiple scraplaunchers... problem with that is that its:
1- boring
2- I only have 1 scraplauncher
3- I broke it into pieces and am trying to rebuild it with half the parts (and an ability to actually stay in 1 piece).

 

[Tim/Steve]

I used the thundermace a few times in 7th ed and it is certainly quite fun... but I would still only take it if I had a BSB with the dragonhide banner in the unit. As it stands, in standard games, I just prefer to have a nicely built tyrant who can go toe to toe with all enemy characters while I rely on my unit to kill enemy infantry. A thundermace tyrant can take on whole units by himself if he hits... but if just 1 model in B2B has WS6+ then its only a 50-50 whether you do nothing or masses. Best case is if you charge a <WS6 unit with the dragonhide next to you so you hit on 3+ and reroll a 1 (78% hit).... but do that with a BSB, tyrant and unit and you're almost always going to win regardless of the thundermace or not...

Personally I still prefer the tenderiser- get into a challenge and you'll stack up on overkill, and any monster/character that comes close to you is going to be in serious pain. Although another fun combo I like to use is greyback pelt and the new glittering armour combined with either fencer's blades or cathayan longsword: makes you WS7/10 and -2 to hit. So most other characters will hit you on a 6 while a lot of infantry are on natural 7s to hit you (as well as anything that fails its fear test)... if only you could combine it with the crown of command it would be glorious (almost impossible to hit and stubborn... you can fake this with toothcracker, but it'll normally be dispelled for the second round of combat).