stonehorn or thundertusk?

title says it all, thundertusk or stonehorn?
one is more survivable, the other makes opponents strike last.

Both?

Really it depends on what expectations you have for the monster. If you want a support monster that will help the army work cohesively, take the Thundertusk. If you want a beast that can run straight at the enemy and cause massive amounts of carnage, take the Stonehorn.

Both monsters work well on the tabletop, although I see more Thundertusks around here as while they cause less damage, the ASL bubble makes the other units work incredibly efficiently.

Realistically? Probably neither, because war machines make Monsters too easy to kill in most games.

But if you're set on using a very nice model, the Stornhorn is superior for that same reason- it will always take at LEAST two successful cannon shots to bring it down, and usually 3-5; it's also pretty devastating on the charge, tearing through most things in the game before they can even swing.

The Thundertusk is cool and its aura is potentially really powerful, but I see it as being too vulnerable and not contributing enough to really pull its weight. If you're using its "stone thrower" ability, it isn't getting stuck in with the rest of your units and if you're charging it forward, a Stonehorn probably would've done the same job better. It's too undecided on what role it wants to play, which ends up weakening it.

With that said, if you can get its aura to work it's pretty brutal- Ogres swinging first make a lot of things pretty sad.

I love both, however I run a Stonehorn and have a bruiser BSB with Dragonhide Banner- the BSB can do much the same as a Thundertusk. I just put him in a unit of 10 Ironguts along with a Butcher and that seems to work pretty well for me. But please don't take this for absolute gospel, there are weaknesses as with any units.

However it all depends on what style you play and of course what model you prefer. In a preferable world I'd run both, but as GW likes hiking prices it's harder to do. You've probably heard it but I'll say it again- Thundertusks are subtle, Stonehorns are not!

Hope that helped you :)

As an experienced Ogre player, I favour the Thundertusk.

It just has too many bells and whistles not to like, so if it's a 'one or other' choice it's mine.

But that's not to say the Stonehorn is without it's uses! It's ideal for piling into Knights. Get the charge and they'll generally crumble. For the most part they'll lack the volume and power of attacks to worry you.

As for artillery? Don't worry about it. Only two armies can field cannon, and with Ogres they won't get many shots in, and they'll have too many targets to make much of an impression!

I agree with Mr Mystery, I always run a thundertusk in my army, the always strikes last effect is great to boost initiative 2 ogres.I run it alongside my 9 strong ogre unit and it is very handy indeed. I would rather take one and have my opponent fire his warmachines at that, than send canon balls ploughing through multiple ranks of ogres and splatting them too easily.

Plus, throw in some Pusscat Cavalry and you're golden. Lots of fast moving threats, none of which can be reliably countered by a single cannonball or spell (well, not for the most part. You soon learn the art of the crafty dispel!)

Seriously, Ogres move ridiculously quickly. Against an aggressive opponent, you can hit combat as early as turn 2 quite reliably, and being I2, it's really hard to care too much about who does the charging with Ironguts.

Even against a defensive opponent, you're down his throat in 3 turns flat, and unless he is exceptionally jammy, that will rarely prove enough time to whittle down your units to a manageable size. Mind you, this is from my perspective, and I think I'm genuinely addicted to my two hordes (one Bulls, the other Ironguts). Just mind your flanks. It always goes wrong if you ignore your flanks!

I have 8 ogres with a character in a 3x3 square, and 7 ironguts with a firebelly and battle standard in a 3x3 too, so very many attacks of all kinds, then a couple of catbears, thundertusk. after that either leadbelchers, gorgers, sabretusks depending on what I am facing.