Ogres have been a part of the Warhammer world for a long, long time. Over the years, some of our most memorable models have represented these savage, flesh-gulping nightmares - nightmares, that is, if they're fighting for the other side. Warhammer Ogres have never given a Snotling's loincloth about whom they fight for. They can be found marching alongside just about anybody, from the forces of the Empire, to the dread legions of the Chaos gods. However, Ogres have always been on the periphery - until now.

The Ogre Kingdoms Army book kicks the lid off of the mysterious origins of these dangerous eating machines, opens up the east of the Warhammer world, and best of all, gives us a brand new army so hard that it would make a Bloodthirster look at his hooves and mumble things about not being able to make the battle.

"The keyword here was 'brutal'," says designer Phil Kelly. "Cannibalism, death, blood, fratricide, patricide, and just about every '-cide' you can think of - I tried to get them all into the book. It is gory, but it's done in a good-humoured kind of way, as though I'm smashing someone's head into a rock, but it's a bit of a laugh actually! One of my favourite bits, for example, is about one of the Ogre Tyrants who was on the throne for 90 years and then choked to death on the skull of his great-grandson who challenged him to a pit fight for the throne. What a way to go!"

As you may be able to ascertain from Phil's cheery words, the book is gloriously nasty and full of blood, guts, and feasts of red meat of dubious provenance. The Ogres' gluttonous need for manflesh aside, Phil is keen to emphasize that Ogres are not evil.

"Ogres are the only truly neutral non-human race we do," Phil insists. "They don't want to eat you because they are evil. They want to eat you purely because they are hungry. It's a food chain thing. It's nothing personal. However, you can bargain with them and employ them. Offer them a better deal, and they might not eat you. You can pay them. You just have to pay them right now! Remember, they are monsters, but they are monsters with brains, even if that brain is roughly the size of a dog's."

GOIN' A WANDERIN'

There are two major driving forces behind Ogre culture, such as it is. The first is eating. Ogres worship the Great Maw, a god of endless consumption. "I thought Gav, who briefed me on this project, just made it up," Phil says. "But in my research, I found it nestling in the old Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay rulebook." An Ogre's belly is his spiritual centre, and the only part of his body he habitually protects with a lovingly made belly-plate.

The other thing that drives Ogre culture is a wanderlust that sends the monsters all over the world, a trend that should be a cause for concern for all other races. There are, according to Phil, more Ogres now than there have ever been.

"The Ogres are migrating in large numbers, not just in dribs and drabs of twos and threes, but in their hundreds. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether you're an Ogre or not!" That "bad thing" is a messy end for whoever is in the way. The good thing is that Ogres get cultured.

"Ogres learn civilisation as they age. They're generally long-lived and can be around 150 when they die," Phil explains. "Typically, an Ogre starts life as a caveman and accrues culture as he travels. He starts learning languages and even begins talking to people instead of eating them. He then goes on to perform great deeds and maybe even earns a surname, which help define who that Ogre is. He might end up in Araby, say, and learn new skills such as surviving in the desert, but he'll also adopt the customs of the land and end up wearing a turban and fighting with a big scimitar. These Ogres who travel may eventually return home, where they are known as Maneaters." (More on the Maneaters later in the article.)

Next: Paul Jeacock tells us how he went about visualising the Ogres.