Monday, March 7, 2016

Horus Heresy Review: Auxilia Ogryn Brute Squad

Background.
There really is something about Ogryns that appeals to me: mutated abhuman giants of men that have been either created or native to high-g worlds. Imported for labour, and to the army to do some brutal work, their strength and durability is superior to an Astartes. Its just a pity that they cannot be implanted with the Astartes genes really. Or can they? Perhaps that's a thought for a different day (e.g., can you imagine an Ogryn teen being implanted with Angron's gene seed? What about Fulgrim's? Okay, I'd better drop this and get on with the review).

Strengths.
Great strength and toughness, combined with triple wounds make these brutes a force to be reckoned with on the table top -- especially in close combat.

The real challenge here is to think how to kit them out without paying too much in terms of points.

Weaknesses.
The rather low leadership is a cause for concern here. You're going to need some way of dealing with this (e.g., discipline collars or similar). And the low ballistic skill means that we probably want to keep the Ogryns focussed on close combat rather than ranged shooting … regardless of how tempting it might be to have a heavy bolter being treated as assault 3 in their hands. The other problem is how to get them in position for an assault. They don't have access to a dedicated transport, so one will need to be specifically bought for them -- and they're classed as very bulky. Its tough to decide what to do with them in this regard.

Builds.
A few ideas.

3 Ogryns, power axes (180 points).
The power axes are to give a low AP for their comparatively high strength attacks. I'd suggest trying to roll Master of Ambush for the warlord trait (or similar) to get these guys in to position. They're a distraction, and a pest if ignored that can cause significant damage.

10 Ogryns (365 points).
This is a pure meat shield squad. Find a way to keep them from routing and have them soak up any wounds and give cover to others behind them. I actually wouldn't run this build, but am just including it for laughs.

5 Ogryns, 2 heavy bolters, 1 lascutter, Carapace Armour (255 points).
A balanced squad with multiple threats at both range and in close combat. 

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