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🐂 Dragon Ogres | The best analysis in the (Old) World

Dragon Ogres in The Old World | Beasts of Chaos Warhammer

I usually make posts about army lists and analyses of various units.

In this one, we’ll analyze just a single unit in depth. The occasion demands it.

It’s such a good unit that it can be used in many different ways, not just in army lists playing different styles, but in two completely different armies, excelling in one or several roles in both: Warriors of Chaos and Beastmen.

Let’s get straight to the point.

Why Use a Single Dragon Ogre?

First, it’s important to mention that unlike previous editions of Warhammer The Old World, the minimum size for this unit is now a single Dragon Ogre. Gone are those days when you had to include three. In fact, I see players still including three out of pure habit, and when you ask them, they don’t know why. It’s inertia.

A single Dragon Ogre offers specific advantages:

  • Four wounds, Toughness 4, and a 3+ armor save (since we’ll always pay for heavy armor).
  • 5+ ward save against magical missiles.
  • It’s cheap (63 points).
  • If wounded but alive, it gives no points to the opponent.
  • It works well as a redirector, to hunt down support units, and to withstand charges from enemy light troops.
  • Immune to Panic (and psychology in general).

Some critics say it doesn’t deal enough damage because it only has three attacks hitting on 4+. But consider that part of its damage output includes its 2 Stomp attacks at Strength 5. This results in three attacks at Strength 7 (due to using a great weapon) and two automatic Strength 5 hits. By the way, all these have Armor Bane 1, which can occasionally bring some joy.

Additionally, it’s highly useful against ethereal units due to its Chaos Ensorcelled Weapon (magical attacks and Armor Piercing 1).

Equipping a Shartak: Is It Worth It?

Here’s another question: for 7 points, you can upgrade the Dragon Ogre to a unit champion or Shartak. I’m not a big fan, because it can be counterproductive. If challenged, you can’t refuse, potentially allowing the enemy to survive combats involving multiple units or even combats against a unit of Dragon Ogres that we’ll see below WITH a Shartak.

However, a Shartak can have a 2+ armor save, as you can equip him with the Blackened Plate for 25 points. This is full armor and additionally provides a 3+ ward save against flaming attacks. Is this worth an extra 32 points—half the cost of another Dragon Ogre? Most of the time, no.

Advantages of Using Four Dragon Ogres

If analyzing just one Dragon Ogre seemed insufficient, let’s analyze four Dragon Ogres. Four is the magic number, because for the opponent to get victory points, they must reduce the unit below 25%.
Twenty-five percent of four is one, meaning the enemy must eliminate the entire unit to score points. This means killing all four Dragon Ogres, totaling 16 wounds at Toughness 4 with a 3+ armor save.

Specific advantages of taking four:

  • Due to their base size (50mm frontage each), they perfectly fit against heavy infantry units of four models wide, such as Iron Breakers or the Phoenix Guard, allowing all attacks—including their Stomp attacks—to be delivered.
  • Relatively low cost (252 points).
  • Massive damage output: 12 Strength 7 attacks and eight automatic Strength 5 hits (Stomp attacks).

It’s truly a unit to consider seriously, and fighting against them can be a nightmare. You usually avoid engaging large units such as monsters or mounted characters for fear they’ll be cut down by the Strength 7 hits.

How to Counter Dragon Ogres

Weaknesses? How to deal with this unit? Their primary weakness is mobility. Even though they have Movement 7, which seems high, they lack Swiftstride and, despite being Beastmen, don’t have Warband, meaning they charge seven inches with just two dice. This often leaves them falling short. Additionally, since they cannot flee as a charge reaction, if they receive a flank charge from a strong enemy, they can easily collapse.

In 80% of matches, if Dragon Ogres advance through the center, it’s hard to redirect them and prevent combat. But many players tend to deploy them on the flank. Take advantage of this.

You wanted more ideas on how to counter them, right?

Yeah.

The thing is, it’s genuinely a very good unit with few weaknesses. Moreover, Beastmen and Warriors of Chaos in Old World can include them as Special Units, meaning they can spend up to 1000 points on Dragon Ogres (enough for 15 of them, and you’ll still have points left for a unit of Harpies). Only the Chaos Sea Raiders list has them as Rare Units, thus able to include fewer. They have significant limitations, but they’re interesting for tournaments with restrictions. If you’re interested in that analysis, you can read it in 4 minutes right here:

If you think there’s an error in the post, feel free to reach out at theoldwarrior@theoldwarrior.com, and I’ll review it. Hope you enjoy ToW!


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