Mitch Bugg interviewed Peter Atkinson

Strong as an ox, fresh out the box, the mighty Mitch Bugg took his Ogors all the way at Border War, one of Australia’s first 4th Edition GTs. The field of 28 players was one of the biggest shark tanks you’ll ever see: packed full of previous Tourney winners and Masters-level players like The Joels and Pat Nevan, with two former Team Australia captains in the field (who for context could manage only 16th and 22nd places). You had all the early edition Big Bads on display: Lumineth, Ogors and a whole bunch of Spooky Ghosts. The room was packed wall to wall with the top players running the top lists, and ya boy Mitch Bugg came out ahead of the lot of them.

Let’s find out how he did it.

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The List

Border Wars 2024: Ogor Mawtribes
Prophets of the Gulping God
Points: 1990, 3 Drops

Spell Lore – Lore of Maw-magic
Prayer Lore – Everwinter Prayers
Manifestation Lore – Krondspine Incarnate

General’s Regiment
Slaughtermaster (130)
 • General
Ironguts (480)
 • Reinforced
Ogor Gluttons (440)
 • Reinforced

Regiment 1
Butcher (140)
Gorger Mawpack (260)
Ogor Gluttons (220)

Regiment 2
Tyrant (180)
 • Gruesome Trophies
 • Touched by the Everwinter
Frost Sabres (70)
Frost Sabres (70)

Faction Terrain
Great Mawpot

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Intro

My name’s Mitch Bugg. I first got into Warhammer when I was 11 years old with my twin brother Christian: we got hooked on the hobby the day we split a 6^th Ed Fantasy starter set (I chose Orcs and Goblins) and many years later, when Age of Sigmar felt like it started to find its bearings, he suggested we give competitive play a shot for 6 months. We showed up, played a 2 day event and never looked back. That was about 2 years ago now. It’s been a heap of fun and we’ve met some really cool people along the way.

Being a local of Wollongong in NSW means there’s a pretty cool AOS scene here and I often find myself playing at events both here and in Sydney, which is only a short drive away. My brother Christian is my best friend and the person I play AOS with, week in and week out. A 4-1 player in his own right, he’s damn good and having that type of player around constantly means I’m always trying to up my game IQ.

Since I was a kid, I’ve always loved Orcs, Goblins and anything else Destruction related! These days in the AOS tournament scene, you’ll only ever find me playing my Destruction armies, while Christian only plays Death – so I’ve been getting plenty of practice against Nighthaunt. I own every Destro army and it’s been a nice challenge to play each of them for a year and really get some mileage out of them.

I’ve been given some amazing opportunities that I’ll be forever grateful for, and had some really great experiences since starting down the competitive path of AOS. The highlights so far have been playing in the Australian Masters event earlier this year, as well as flying over to Atlanta Georgia in the USA last November to compete in the AOS Warhammer World Championships!

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Your Army

So let’s smash into it: How does this list go about winning games?

I found that my list seems to perform well into most matchups and battleplans as it was designed to score easily, take damage and dish out some pain of its own. Every unit I have can carry out multiple roles so that if I lose one, the army can still achieve what it needs to. The units I chose don’t need too much babysitting and are solid in their own right, which means I can send them off to do a job if needed without worrying too much about auras or buffs.

The army has speed, hits hard and if I find myself in a bad spot, it can take a ton of punishment due to its wound density. My list might not be great at one particular thing, but it is good at most things which means it can be quite tricky for my opponents to work out how to approach it.

A proper Destro army! Brutal and Kunnin. So are you a Pot guy, or a Pit guy?

I used the Mawpot over the Mawpit because currently I feel it lends itself better to a magic meta. Having that extra cast can really help, and especially when you activate a Place of Power, you make that +1 go further. The Pot is also great for the simple reason that if you choose to use the “Feast on Flesh” ability at the end of a turn (and then take the next turn), using its Heal ability can see some of your units healing a potential 2d3 with a bit of luck.

Fair enough. I’m currently using the Mawpit myself for a couple of reasons: I value the huge footprint for my Butcher’s run and charge aura, I value the ability to wrap big Honour Guard units around it, and I value the accumulating chip damage (alongside the Hailstorm prayer) to seriously threaten enemy heroes across a couple of turns. Good to know there’s two good choices though, and I know we’ll come back to Hailstorm soon.

So this list was a lot less spammy than some I’ve seen (which go way harder on the Gluttons).  What was behind that decision?

My list was exactly that when I first wrote a list for my Ogors! All Gluttons and some Butchers haha. But after a few test games and finding out that other people had the same idea when it came to Gluttons, I felt like the meat needed a little seasoning. Having a list that doesn’t rely on one trick means it’s versatile and can take on a lot of different match ups.

Ironguts for example are a fantastic unit due to their once per game double fight activation which allows them to reach hard-to-get-to priority units (through the ability to pile in twice), or simply hit a unit twice over and make sure it’s good and gone.

Combo this with the ability to hand out extra attacks to every model via the Slaughtermaster’s meat points plus the Ogors’ extra attack spell (Blood Feast) and you’re looking at 41x Damage 3 attacks from an 8 model unit … that’s 123 potential damage per activation, and you’re fighting twice! Sounds….mighty tasty.

A particularly memorable moment came for me in Game 3 against FEC, when all of this was planned and executed successfully.

8 Ironguts lifted 40 Ghouls and a Varghulf in one activation before piling in for a second time, destroying Ushoran and icing the game right there!

Ha! You love to see it. Now how about the Enhacements in your army – what were the decision points?

I chose to give the Tyrant the artefact Gruesome Trophies as most Big Bads this edition – Nagash, Teclis, Ushoran, Belakor and more – are all heroes or/and monsters. With Ogors hitting on 4s, any -1 to hit makes them suffer. This artefact makes sure I get the damage where it’s needed, when I need it.

I also gave my Tyrant the Touched by the Everwinter heroic trait so he could build up his Ritual points as the game went on, and deliver mortal wounds via the Hailstorm prayer for some AOE chip damage.

I notice that you went Full Hipster and chose Not Morbid Conjuration in this list.  Any tips on using Manis effectively?

Yeah I took the Krondspine Incarnate. In the Nighthaunt meta I found that having the all-desirable Purple Sun for its -1 save just wouldn’t mean as much. Sure the Morbid lore has some amazing tech and damage pieces, but the Krondspine’s base size can be used to great effect when keeping enemies at bay early on, and unlike other Endless Spells it can’t be casually removed by the likes of Teclis . 

Your enemy putting Manifestations on the board early can actually be an amazing thing for you. They give you the ability to slingshot your own units. An opponent might think it’s a nice play to put an Endless Spell in the way but if one of your own units charge into it and then pile into a nearby unit, it’s forced them into a worse position.

And finally in this space – how did you decide on the composition of your Regiments? I feel like that juggling act around Honour Guard is something that a lot of people aren’t giving due consideration currently.

The Frost Sabres are a cool addition as they can open up more battle tactics for you and can soak up some Covering Fire if needed. The Gorgers are handy for taking terrain in a pinch, as well as forcing your opponent to leave behind a unit to cover the backline. In need of a screen to help guard against an alpha strike? The Gorgers have that covered too. Again, in this list, units performing multiple roles is key.

Due to keywords it had to be either an Icebrow Hunter or a Tyrant in there to lead the doggos, so a 6+ ward from the Tyrant for the Ironguts (plus a bit more punch) seemed like the right move –  that way I wasn’t paying points for a hero just to lead Frost Sabres and it could actually add something to my army.

I placed the largest units I had into the General’s Regiment to make it harder for an opponent to achieve Slay the Entourage, and so I could get the extra rend on a bigger unit. I knew I was going into a Nighthaunt meta so the ability to get +1 to hit and +1 to wound on a bigger unit also really helps with that Shademist debuff!

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Your Games

Yeah fair to say that Nighthaunt are the terror of the meta currently (along with Lumineth and our own Fat Lads).  And you played against them on Table 1, Round 5. What was your approach in that matchup?

Nighthaunt are certainly a scary faction at the moment. They have access to a tonne of awesome rules: ignoring rend, army-wide Ward saves, the ability to move-run-charge, -1 wound debuffs AND being able to charge while in combat means these guys are a faction that are swarming all over the top tables. It helps to have a really good understanding of how they play, what to expect and most importantly, what you can and can’t do to them with your own army if you come up against them, or else they can run rings around you!

Yeah I was kind of following along on the tourney software, and any time I checked about half an hour into the round, Zak’s NH had already submitted their results and crushed the opposition. I was surprised and delighted to see a fellow Destro Bro lower their colours in the big dance!

Nighthaunt are certainly the boogie men. A faction that can reach out and grab you whenever they want. They’re fast and a lot of their units get bonuses for charging: Hexwraiths increase their damage while the Bladegheists get extra attacks. Pair that up with their cheaper heroes who provide extra buffs for their own units and debuffs to your units (through spells such as the infamous Shademist, which dishes out -1 to wound when attacking that enemy unit), and you’ve got a rather horrific combination.

Get stuck into Nighthaunt armies early if at all possible (before they get off important spells), as well as making sure to charge units that would benefit from charging you. That’s how you minimise the overall damage output of the army and increase your effectiveness against them.

Another thing to consider is that if you’re going to hit a Nighthaunt unit, make it count. Not wiping a unit in one go means you’re going to be stuck in combat with them, while they bring back slain models (and in the case of Nagash a whole unit), then they’ll retreat and charge you in their turn, providing even more debuffs to your units. It’s a losing battle in the long run.

Most times if I can spare the resources, I’ll commit two units into one Nighthaunt unit to ensure it’s lifted quickly.

That game vs Zak looked like an absolute classic

Being out-dropped Round 1 saw my opponent give me the first turn, which I feel was a major factor in the game overall. I knew I had to shut down Nagash, the spells and Nighthaunt buffs early, as well as making sure I wasn’t charged by them.

I deployed aggressively right up on the line and ran + charged into his lines turn one. I used a Suffocating Gravetide that Nagash had cast in my hero phase to slingshot myself into his units at the back. It was meant to be a path blocker but looking at it now, it served to be a help in reaching the units I needed to get to.

If I could kill Nagash before he brought back a full unit, the game was much more even and I was able to do that. The turning point was Nagash falling turn two, after I’d thrown the kitchen sink at him as well as his block of 10 Hexwraiths and most of the Bladegheists.

His two units of Dreadblade Harrows were still alive through all this and teleported around the board to make sure Zak was still getting tactics and objectives, keeping him in the game until the very finish. I was impressed with how well those Dreadblades can score and how long they kept Zak in the game. You can’t charge them, because they just move away in your movement phase.

Zak was a really good player and a true gentleman – and humble in defeat.

On ya, Zak. So what beats your army – which list at the event did you not want a bar of?

My list was strong and I felt confident going into the event. I feel my list can handle most armies out there as it was designed with that in mind, though there were a lot of great players at the event. A few of those were Australia’s best and the type of players that could challenge me no matter what list they had chosen to play. I’m proud to call them close friends who have taught me so much about the game.

Fair enough. I’m playing Ogors myself currently and I feel like S2D will give us a lot of trouble: they’ve got the DPS to blast through our blubber, Strike First on 3 units will put us in all sorts of trouble and Bela’Kunt can switch off one big unit while the Karens go to town on another. I’d honestly rather play NH than S2D with Ogors right now, and that’s saying something!

Let’s have a look at a couple of big moments from the weekend: what was one move from your opponent that made you say “Wow”?

I think seeing the use of the “bodyguard” honor guard rule was something I hadn’t yet encountered and it was effective. Most people go for the extra rend or the hit and wound buff.

And in your own case, what was the one big moment from the weekend that you really enjoyed?

Having my unit of Gorgers drop onto a back corner, watching a nearby enemy unit that was on an objective redeploy 2 inches further away, only for the Gorgers to land an 11 inch charge onto the point, kill that unit and score 2 points for holding more objectives! They even tied up a block of 40 Ghouls for two turns which was rad.

Wrapping It Up

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to people writing lists in early 4th Edition?

I think if I could offer one piece of advice for list writing it would be to think about what your list can and can’t do. Does your list deal a heap of damage, but lack the ability to score tactics? Can your list score tactics, but lack the ability to take a hit? Spending the right points in the right areas is always a challenge as there’s no one correct answer but for me, it’s one of the things that I find most fun!

Well done mate, it was a great win. Any shout outs?

Thanks! A big thanks for having me on the page guys and shout outs to my girl Dalice, who loves and supports me and my love for the hobby. She’s always waiting for me to get home so I can tell her about every game in detail! And my twin brother Christian. My best friend and the person who’s usually beating the hell out of me in most games.  My friends and the greats – Joel Graham and Tom Oliver. All of the Cake Thieves crew. Chris and Lucy Moore for all the games I’m always fond of. Last but certainly not least, Terence Voller: the current reigning AOS Australian Champion, and someone I owe a hell of a lot to.

Congratulations Mitch! A great victory. I’ll be taking my own Ogors to a GT in a couple of weeks, so hopefully I can have a good run with them too. Thanks for the interview and good luck at your future events – and good on ya for keeping it green, always.

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