Help me decide, Lizardmen or Ogre Kingdoms

[Nephren-Ka]

Okay folks,

Starting to set my eyes on my next WFB army and am in quite a quandary. Granted, my addiction runs deep and I'll likely collect my second choice at some point in the future, but my funds will be limited for some time to come. Narrowed it down to Lizardmen and OK, both of which hit many of my must haves in an army. Important points for me:

 

1) Ability to participate in every phase of the game 

2) Good looking models, mostly plastic, and nothing essential too dated looking 

2) Cohesive look 

3) Cool looking centerpiece models/monsters

4) Enough versatility to not bore the hell out of me and options for fielding different types of armies

5) Low to medium size model count army (I'd like to avoid carting around hordes of models)

 

With regard to the above points and your own experiences playing with or against these armies what are your suggestions, tips, or general observations. I can't really say that I have a specific play style, so information on how these armies play (if its rigid) would also be appreciated. Thanks  

[HeroZero]

I would LOVE to see a Monster mash style OK army.

I feel that it would be spectacular on the table top and would provide everything you are looking for.

 

1) every phase check.

Movement with the majority of troops being 6+ m or 7+ swiftstride not a problem

Magic: who doesn't bring mages? But beasts and lore of ogres is great

Shooting, hunters+ironblasters check

Combat ogres duh.

2) all plastic minus characters with.huge centerpiece.models

3) see above

4) once you got the initial list you can branch out into heavy shooting, MSU, heavy combat hordes etc.

5) by my estimates at 2500 you can do under 40 models easy.

[Swan-of-War]

Brightly painted Lizardmen make for a pretty cool spectacle on the battlefield.  I think they offer a broader range of unit types and play styles, but OK are pretty good too.  A lot of "counts-as" armies lend themselves to the Ogre list well.  

[lustriangod2]

I know the feelings you have with this addiction for the game. I myself have both of the armies you are looking into. My first love is and always will be the lizards. They have some beautiful models and so many ways to convert them so they look nothing like any other Lizardmen force you might come across. They have one of the best painting schemes in the game and for play style, you pick your poison. Ogres are also great, in fact my second love. They also have really great conversion ability and play style to compete. Both armies are monster heavy armies and that is a big plus for me. I also love the fluff on both armies. Anyways I can't wait to see what you have picked to play

[Fixxer]

Id vote for Lizardmen, they arent as common, they offer some fun painting options, and they are a good match with your HE. I also think they have many interesting builds available giving you versatility over time.

[ratrek]

The only thing I might add is I've found with Lizardmen you are either a Lizardmen player or you aren't. They're very much like Wood Elves in that it takes a certain type of player to get the most out of them and not everyone can adapt.

[Brick Bungalow]

Definitely vote lizardmen. Less common. Brighter colors. More troops. More fun. 

[Drak]

ogres gets my vote, the low model count means you'll be able to maintain good progress in moding/painting while keeping your HE up to a suitable standard as well.

[Murphy'sLawyer]

Tough call. The Lizards have a closer playstyle to your HE than the OK and have Dinosuars. Big win with the big boy in me. He Ogres have a very heavy fist playstyle with an awsome cannon that is very cool looking, and there are impact hits everywhere.

 

Honestly if you want a very different playstyle go with OK, but as for looks and flavor I would say Lizards. My son would freak if I brought home a dinosuar.

[Nephren-Ka]

Wow, thanks for the responses folks. Always had a thing for the lizardmen, but it was the new carnosaur model that won me over. Apart from the aesthetics piece, the theme I'm picking up is that OK have a very different playstyle to my HE but lizardmen may offer more options over the long haul. My concern with OK is that it might come down to: shoot cannon #1, shoot cannon #2, move ogre block A straight forward until you hit something squishy. Oversimplified for sure, but you get the picture.

[HeroZero]

Ogres definitely have a smash mouth style but they can be much deeper if you go with MSU, Gunlines, Monster mash, Gnoblar tarpits, ambushing gorger heavy, super magic etc.

Tactical depth is all about players willingness to explore

[Munkie]

Carnosaurs gobble up Ogres wholesale. Go with that.

[McNathanson]

How about painting?  I firmly believe that the larger Ogre models can be painted quite well even by painters with less than Scott Steady (I just coined that) hands.  They are relatively relaxing to paint compared to small finicky things like skinks, or scales.  Of course, I've seen decent looking Lizard armies that were mostly washed/drybrushed.  But if you prefer layered highlights, Ogres are a lot easier to paint than most.

[Drak]

I also like ogres for the customization factor. I haven't seen many LM armies with much customization (the occasional dinosaur being the exception). skinks and Saurus offer bright colors but they are fairly uniformed in their positioning.

[Nephren-Ka]

Leaning towards lizardmen at this point, its the army I keep coming back to and I actually like the uniformity in this case. Giving myself til the end of the month to reach a decision, I'll likely waver back and forth, but will be making a rather extravagant (for me at least) purchase at that time. Thanks for the input folks.

[lustriangod2]

I also like ogres for the customization factor. I haven't seen many LM armies with much customization (the occasional dinosaur being the exception). skinks and Saurus offer bright colors but they are fairly uniformed in their positioning.

Well then, you need to take a look at mine.

[Murphy'sLawyer]

Well then, you need to take a look at mine.

Not sure who's it was but at the last Raindog's Rampage there was a Lizard army that was just fantastic looking. The color patterns and bases made me realize how nice the Lizardmen models really were.

[lustriangod2]

If it had a bunch of Rippers, a Bastiladon, and a custom ancient Stegadon. Those were mine. I am currently working on a converted bastiladon and painting up my old blood on the carny. I am also repainting my skinks and some of my saurus are getting a face lift. I really love working on my Lizardmen. There are just so many ideas you can run with.

[Nephren-Ka]

And the winner is.....Ogres

 

Just bought the army book. Decided that the low model count, in your face style is a nice contrast to my high elves. There's also a greater likelihood of me painting up a smaller sized army and getting it on the field. Plus, kit-bashing up some maneaters sounds like fun. 

[Murphy'sLawyer]

What do you mean different? (Besides everything about them.)

 

Nice. Looking forward to seeing them, though I hope you haven't given up on building your elves becuase I would still like to see those White Lions.

[Nephren-Ka]

Nope, the high elves aren't going anywhere and the white lions will be showing up at some point in the future (following the sale of a kidney). I love my high elves, they're just squishy and expensive.

[Murphy'sLawyer]

High WS, ASF, Ward Saves everywhere, fantastic wizards and extremly fast units.

 

Having been a O&G player you find there will be a big shift in how you see your old army and will miss some of those things. Of course you are going to love Multiple Wounds, High S and T, impact hits on the charge, single model chaff and much more.

 

But glad to see Elves are not going away. My Dark Pansies need someone to show utter hate towards. What would they do without their hate? :p

[Nephren-Ka]

In the process of building my stonehorn and ironblaster. Just made my online purchase for two battalion boxes, 2 boxes of mournfang, and two finecast characters to represent my slaughtermaster and bruiser bsb. All that remains now is to intercept that package before the wife starts asking questions.

[lustriangod2]

Sounds like you got to be quick. You don't want those questions to start. Good luck