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Cad's Cathayan Ogres

This mod adds 2 variants on 1 new unit, the Cathayan Ogres, to—you guessed it—Grand Cathay.

The base variant, Cathayan Ogres, are comparable to the Ogre Bulls from the base game, albeit with minor stat tweaks including better leadership and weapon strength. The biggest differences, however, are their decreased unit size (20 rather than 24), increased cost/upkeep, and Expendable status. These distinctions are intended to specify their place in the Cathayan roster—they are unsuited to use as a massed frontline given their reduced numbers, but offer a more specialized purpose taking calculated risks on the flanks.

Meanwhile, the Cathayan Ogres (Spears) variant has a similarly decreased unit size and is useful specifically in fending off an enemy army’s monstrous infantry—most immediately, other Ogres—or charging down enemy shock cavalry before they can disengage to cycle-charge. The Spears variant (which works off of the Hunter animations for lack of an alternative) is also Expendable; both versions are also Yang-aligned, allowing them to provide harmony bonuses when deployed defensively alongside ranged units.

They can be recruited in via the typical military building chain and via certain resource buildings, and can gain some serious benefits (chiefly to armor) through the Cathayan tech tree; the AI does not spam them for the same reason they tend not to spam Crypt Horror stacks, so I have not yet put a unit cap on either variant, but let me know if you think I should after playing.

Is this canon?
According to the 6th and 8th editions of WHFB, Ogre regiments have existed within the Grand Imperial Army for millennia, with some Ogres having supposedly been “indoctrinated” into the service of the Celestial Emperor before even the coming of the Great Maw. While these ancient Cathayan Ogre warriors may have enjoyed wide repute (and were presumably of use in establishing the Ivory Road), their decline began after a Chaos Incursion in the year 1310 (by the reckoning of the Imperial Calendar) when Kurgan invaders astride war-mammoths reportedly trampled “whole regiments of one-horned Ogres” upon entering Cathay through breaches in the Great Bastion, after which such regiments are not mentioned. This mod presumes the military tradition thus described still exists in some sundry fashion, given what is laid out in the new WH3 Cathay canon. We can infer that any Ogres inducted into Cathayan armies in the modern era are more difficult to distinguish from their mercenary counterparts, in part because Cathayans chiefly use Ogres of both sorts as bodyguards or cannon fodder. Nonetheless, Cathayan Ogres—though barely less intractable than their kin in the Mountains of Mourn—would be expected to adhere to at least a modicum of Celestial discipline, if only insofar as it permits them to visit fear and violence upon the enemies of the Emperor in glad exchange for gold and vittles.

Known Issues
I am going to continue working on this mod as best as I am able; while I haven’t yet encountered any significant bugs or crashes, I’d like to keep improving the lower-LODs on the Ogre heads and bodies. It’s hard to test this as my computer can barely run the game on low settings with a significant draw-distance issue. I’m also tempted to try and create more utility for the new units in garrisons, caravans, etc., but I am quite new to modding and don’t have a knack for it, so these changes will be gradual if they happen at all. If you encounter issues or have suggestions I’m all ears, though there may be certain things that I lack the skill or time to action.

Misc Info
I have not added compatibility with unit caps or other mods of the same kind, though anyone who wishes to do so is welcome to. No other mods I’ve used alongside this one have gone wonky or caused issue, though some graphical mods may have unexpected consequences. You do not need Shadows of Change to run this DLC, though you almost certainly will need Ogre Kingdoms. There are a couple of other assets used—one non-faction-specific bamboo asset and one Bretonnian one—so it may be other DLCs are required, though I’m not certain.

Much Obliged
I got specific guidance on this mod and other mods like it via Da Modding Den[discord.com] and many of the resources and guides available both there and here on Steam. Thanks to Calm, Cryswar, PropJoe, and Cataph for feeding back on questions I had, as well as to Cryswar again for the invaluable unit mod guides available online. Cheers!