Samurai Ogres- Backstory

Clan Kouta Takeshi (Big Warriors) has returned from the Far Easts of Nippon, and with it they have brought many new weapons and strange techniques! It is unknown what this wandering tribe's name was before it journeyed into the far reaches of the east, but upon returning it has been discovered their former leader had been replaced, supposedly beaten and devoured by a mysterious wandering ogre. It was said on that fateful day the blind wanderer "Zaito Ichy" entered the clan encampment, carrying with him a composure and silence unlike that of any of the others who had came to the east in search of treasure. He moved amongst them, seemingly seeking one specific purpose alone- challenging the current Tyrant Brangus Gutstomper in the Fighting Pit. The entire tribe gathered round for what they assumed to be a quick, but no less violent and enjoyable, curb-stomping, for they saw that the challenger had one key disadvantage that even an ogre could notice: he was blind.

They would not laugh for long though as it took the strange newcomer all of one blow to behead the former Tyrant, claiming his spot and dispatching any new contenders in similar fashion. It has since-forth been that the clan, now adopting the new name Zaito Itchy has bestowed upon them of "Kouta Takeshi" (much to the chagrin of some tribe members, who cannot pronounce it to save their lives) has marched forth into the deepest parts of Nippon, finding great wealth and new treasures to horde. Over time, it appears that more and more of the clan's warriors have adopted garb and weapons favored by their new home-land, and upon returning to the Ogre Kingdoms proper now stand out amongst their own kind, carrying with them a sense of regal presence betraying their crude, brutish nature.

For better or worse, Clan Kouta Takeshi is now on the warmarch; the clan now seeks new riches and flavors worthy of a clan that has, at it's not notable, felled one of the famous Nippon "Sky Lizards" and feasted on its flesh, noting that it "Taste's jus' like Rhinox!".



Zaito Ichy, the Flea-Infested
Not much is known about the blind-swordsogre known as Zaito Ichy, having mysteriously appeared one day and taken firm hold of the clan he has now named "Kouta Takeshi". It is known, however, that he himself hates the moniker he has come to be known by: The Flea-Infested. Truth be told, there isn't a flea on him, as Zaito Itchy prides himself on only wearing the best robes and equipment that his clan has access to. It was said that during his initial entrance he only spoke one sentence, and that was a challenge to the current Tyrant Brangus Gutstomper, remaining silent during the long tirade of sneers and mocking insults that the former Tyrant spat at him before their duel.

Once he had proven his superiority he merely spoke one more sentence: "My name is Zaito Ichy, I am your new Master."- A move he thought would show to his new tribe his uncanny intelligence and stoic ways... They promptly responded by asking him why he was so itchy, and from then on began calling him "Zaito the Itchy", obviously assuming that he was so itchy because, having traveled alone for so long, had obviously contracted a nest of fleas in the dress he was wearing. Fortunately for Zaito Ichy, he eventually got his new clan to stop calling him "Zaito the Itchy". Unfortunately for him, the title of "The Flea Infested" has stuck, not only within his own clan but through the others as well. Still he carries on though, deciding that names weren't so important after all. He leads Clan Kouta Takeshi with a ruthless efficiency, claiming great deeds in combat and martial prowess, leading them to even greater acts of glory and wealth. His most discerning trait, however, that of his blindness, is a frequent question amongst his clan, one, when asked, he merely smirks and asks any who think less of him for it to step forth into the Fighting Pit...


Onikaji, the Fire Demon
The Firebellies hold a unique place in Ogre Society, and even more unique are the small group of Nippon Firebellies that have seemingly cropped up in the wake of Clan Kouta Takeshi's return; Onikaji is one such Firebelly. Having joined up with Zaito Ichy's clan during their adventures in the Far East Onikaji is a bit of a legend amongst his clan. It is said that his appearance was heralded by a great fire in the sky, so bright that it awoke nearly the entire encampment the night it began- the next dawn Onikaji appeared, sitting quietly in the entire of the clan's Fighting Pit. At first the ogres kept their distance, not knowing what to make of the strange red being in front of them, but eventually one of the biggest Bulls stepped forth, demanding that the "thing" "git outta' our' Pit!", it was then the red beast rose to it's feet, beckoning the Bull forth to fight him, a low snicker emitting from its mouth- of course he accepted- and was almost instantaneously cut down as the red demon launched itself back, billowing out a huge cloud of fire that enveloped the bull, sending him (disgracefully) running out of the pit... Consequently he also died of his wounds.

Many more stepped up, but through a combination of fire-breathing, wild leaps, and artful dodges the newcomer felled them all, snickering and laughing insanely the entire time. It was only upon the arrival of the clan's leader, Zaito Ichy, that the beast's insane laughter ceased- it took one look upon the blind warrior and fell silent, walking submissively up to the massive Tyrant and bowing, stating its name was "Onikaji of the Fire Mouth", and that he now pledged alliance to the great swordsman.

So it has been since that the red-skinned demon has fought with the Ogre Clan, using his magics and talents to aid them in their fights. They consider him strange, however, not for his red-skin or yellow eyes, but in the fact he does not partake in their grand feasts, nor does he ask for spoils of war. It seems that for this insane and giggling beast the simple thrill of the fight is both pleasure and nurishment enough to sate its eerie existence.

A Taste of Things to Come..

The Clan Begins Its March to War...

Mr. Black Talks Skaven

Let's take a look at some Skaven Fun.

WFB: Island of Blood and Rallying the High Elves

Island of Blood will soon arrive, and with it a host of new High Elf models to build your army!


Mr. Black here, and while I may have started Skaven recently I simply can't ignore the other half of this great starter, even if it does have a few issues...

For starters let's take a look at what you'll be getting in your non-plague ridden half of the Island of Blood starter set:

-High Elf Prince on Griffen
-High Elf Mage
-10 Lothern Sea Guard
-10 High Elf Swordmasters of Hoeth
-5 Ellyrian Raiders

Now, like with my Skaven article we're going to work this up to 1000 pts, unlike the Skaven half though, which bolsters a large amount of plastic sets to choose from, the High Elf army is still majorly metal, this can be a huge pain for players and collectors, but rumor has it that several new plastic kits (including the above models) are on the release-line for later this year.

I'm not here to speculate, so we'll work with what we have... and right away we're introduced to two major issues...

1. The High Elf half does not come with enough core to run at 1000 pts- Even if you max out the Sea Guard unit with an expensive Magic Banner and all possible upgrades you will still fall short of the 250 needed to have a valid army.

2. The Prince on Griffon exceeds your allotment of points for a Lord at any value below 1400, meaning that unless you wish to play the Griffon as a Giant Eagle the model isn't even usable for low level play!

Now the actual starter set addresses these issues (kinda-sorta) but when taken out of that context to one of actual game-play the High Elf half of Island of Blood just won't cut it. But fear not, that's what we're here to discuss and work with today, remember- you're still getting a selection of kick-ass models and with a few small changes/modifications we can make this work!

That being said, let's go through what we currently have:


Prince on Griffon Mount- As I said above, can't even play him in games lower than 1400 pts, so we have two options available to us right now. Either we can shelf him for larger games and let a great model go to waste, or we can play him as a Prince/Noble on Giant Eagle. Frankly the Griffon easily looks like a Eagle already and only the most asinine of opponent's will argue with you.

So, working with our Prince on Giant Eagle, and with most other High Elves in general, one thing becomes apparent- It's hard not simply taking Great Weapons all around. Given the ASF nature of the army and the relatively cheap cost of the Great Weapon itself it almost universally makes for a good pick. More so, at the 1000 pt. level once we purchase the actual Prince and Giant Eagle we don't have a large amount of points to spend on upgrades, so we'll work with what we have- luckily what we have works very well! In this particular case I've chosen to give him a mundane Great Weapon and the Armour of Caledor for some fantastic protection.

High Elf Prince (Giant Eagle, Great Weapon, Armor of Caledor): 237 pts.

High Elf Mage- I'm a fan of the High Elf Archmage, and I will usually recommend him over the standard mage, but in 1000 pt. and lower games he's simply too many points. The High Elf Mage is a fairly typical Wizard and I treat him as such: Upgrade him to Lv. 2 and give him an Arcane Item, in this case I'll be using the Annulian Crystal, allowing him to garner better Dispel and Magic Defense. As with all Mages there are near limitless ways to kit him out, but in the levels we're talking about the opponent is less likely to have multiple wizards, let alone a high level one, thus stealing even one Magic Die will hinder them significantly.

High Elf Mage (Annulian Crystal, Lv. 2 Wizard Upgrade): 175 pts.

Lothern Sea Guard- Here we run into the second issue with the High Elves' half of Island of Blood- there simply isn't enough Core Troops to run at anything other than "starter box" level. We'll address this issue in a moment but first let's look at the Sea Guard. Basically the Lothern Sea Guard are jacks of all trades; they come standard with bows, thus allowing long range fire (and Volly Fire) as well as Spears, which due to being Elves allows them to fight in four ranks, for this point level I would also recommend giving them a Banner of Eternal Flame, as having some Flaming Attacks is always handy and with this unit it's relatively cheap. Just remember the Sea Guard can handle most any scenario, be it ranged or melee, and are one of those units that has no real drawback to larger numbers, specifically a nice block of 20 or so... Unfortunately, we're given only ten in the starter... My recommendations for this is to (hopefully) find another Island of Blood box you can split with someone, thus allowing you to get a full twenty man unit of not only the Sea Guard but also Swordmasters.

Lothern Sea Guard (Full Command, Shields, Banner of Eternal Flame): 295 pts.

Sword Masters of Hoeth- Ok, now I won't lie, even as a Skaven/Dark Elf player, Sword Masters are dead-sexy. High WS, ASF re-rolls, Great Swords... Damn... I really, really love this unit; a shame you only get ten in the Island of Blood box. Yep, just like the Lothern Sea Guard, you're getting only a slim number of these guys, but at least here it's something we can work with. The Sword Masters will dish out the hurt, badly, two attacks each, usually hitting on threes with re-rolls and wounding the average unit on twos with -2 to armor save... Ten will do the job just fine. I'd recommend a larger unit, but with our 1000 pt. limit quickly coming into view for now that amount will do: as I said, they are killing machines and should even half of them reach combat they stand a good chance of winning that combat by a large margin. Get more as soon as you can because as I said they are truly a powerhouse unit.

Sword Masters of Hoeth (Full Command): 180 pts.


Ellyrian Reavers- These are some nice models, now how do they stack up game-play wise? Well they have standard Fast Cavalry stats, which aren't the most impressive in the world, but then one must understand these guys aren't meant to get into combat, at least at the five-man unit we'll be running. Basically I'll opt to run these guys with Bows and have them ride up alongside the enemy, staying out of view and throwing down arrows to whittle down the units before your larger threats can finish them off, if you're feeling ballsy or just see a particuarly good opening then feel free to charge them into an actual combat, the S:4 spears will do some decent damage before the unit is wiped to the man (which has a large chance to happen given their armor save and numbers).

In general though, treat them like you would any Fast Cavalry: Get them up hunting Warmachines and other nasties and use them to whittle away at your opponent's edges. Should they get charged don't feel bad running away, remember, Fast Cavalry still retain their old Fleeing Feint ability and can still move as normal when they rally.

In larger games feel free to double their number to a unit of ten, thus allowing the minor annoyance to become an actual threat with a decent amount of ranged attacks and likewise give a good amount of S:4 attacks on the charge, as well as now actually being able to deny the opponent rank bonuses (until you lose a man, that is).

Ellyrian Reavers (Musician, Bow, Spear)- 112 pts.

With that last addition our army now looks something like this:



High Elf Prince (Giant Eagle, Great Weapon, Armor of Caledor): 237 pts.
High Elf Mage (Annulian Crystal, Lv. 2 Wizard Upgrade): 175 pts.
Lothern Sea Guard (Full Command, Shields, Banner of Eternal Flame): 295 pts.
Sword Masters of Hoeth (Full Command): 180 pts..
Ellyrian Reavers (Musician, Bow, Spear)- 112 pts.


999/1000


Small army? Technically, but each of your units is a powerhouse and the army overall carries a huge amount of Ranged and Magic potential. Remember that your playing an army of elite warriors- You'll probably never outnumber anyone but each of your units is an expert at what they do (in the case of Sea Guard, just good at everything in general). Clever tactics and knowing when to strike are your greatest assets in the lower level games, and building up a core knowledge of your units strengths and weaknesses, as well as timing and positioning tricks, will be a great boon to you come the higher point games.

~And there we have a 1000 pt. rundown of the Island of Blood armies. I know the High Elf one wasn't as diverse as the Skaven Horde but that's what you get when you have an army full of elite elves! Next week we'll be taking a look at bringing the Skaven army up to a full 2500 level, followed after wards by the High Elves! Stay tuned- Mr. Black