Written by Benjamin Lolmaugh
OVERVIEW:
As of General's Handbook 2019 this big boi comes in at 400 points of pure awesome and counts as a Behemoth. This big beautiful bastard has all of the keywords that we care about when it comes to buffing; ORRUK, BONESPLITTERZ, IRONJAWZ and GREENSKINZ.
THE WARSCROLL:
The Stat Wheel is good for how expensive he is. 10" Movement is great. With Breath of Gorkamorka this earth and dung elemental can be flying 20" to 30" in a turn. If included in a Bonesplitterz army, he can also use the Tireless Trackers ability to move 5" before the game starts. If included in an Ironjawz list he can benefit from Mad As Hell, allowing him to move D6" each phase in which he took any wounds or mortal wounds. If included into a Big Waaagh! army, the first Waaagh! ability unlocked is Zog 'Em, which allows the same thing, D6" movement if you took wounds or mortal wounds in a phase. He can even be selected for Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork from the Ironjawz spell lore.
16 wounds and a 4+ save is fantastic. He also comes with Da Big 'Un special rule, which allows you to shrug off wounds on a 5+. Of course this can be buffed further in this book since we have so many ways to layer our defenses. If you take the Rogue Idol in a Bonesplitterz army, it gets another 6+ after-save. The Wardokk can use either Glyphdokk Dance to give the Rogue Idol a 3+ Save or use Grimdokk Dance to heal the Idol D3 Wounds. You can even get to a 2+ Save if you also cast Kunnin' Beast Spirits on the idol. Combined this makes the Rogue Idol extremely hard to remove, even against mortal wounds, which he would have a 5+ then 6+ to save against them.
Bravery 10 doesn't matter much on a single model but it's actually Bravery 11 due to the Livin' Idol affecting itself.
The Rogue Idols has 2 attacks with its Boulder Fists has a Range of 3"! hitting on 3+ wound on 2+ (degrading) -2 Rend and D6 Damage. This is comparable to any dragon's bite. The Boulder Fists stay reliable until the Rogue Idol has suffered 14 wounds and by that time, the game is over or your line has moved up to support the big guy. The Stompin' Feet has a range of 2" with 10 attacks (degrading) hitting on 3+ wounding on 3+ -2 Rend and 2 Damage each. That's a lot of damage! That's about 10.8 Damage against a 4+ Save unit.
Since the Rogue Idol has both the Ironjawz keyword and Bonesplitterz keyword lets see what kind of nasty shit we can come up with. Any ability to allow exploding 6s to Hit will work well with the 12 attacks the Idol can throw out. That includes the Savage Big Boss's command ability Savage Attack, the Maniak Weirdnob's warscoll spell Bone Spirit and the Bonegrinz warclan command ability Feel Da Spirit! The Damage on the Boulder Fists can be increased to D6+1 and Stompin' Feet can be increased to 3 Damage by the Warchanter's Violent Fury ability. The Rogue Idol has the Spirit of the Waaagh! ability on his warscroll that allows him to reroll Hit rolls of 1 if he made a charge that turn. With the movement of this thing, you usually won't be on the receiving end of charges.
There are several ways to give this guy +1 to Hit. Smash 'Em from the Big Waaagh!'s 16 Waaagh! point ability. For Ironjawz armies, the Megaboss on Mawkrusha or Megaboss on foot can use a command point for Go on Ladz, Get Stuck In!. Or you can use Killa Beat from the Warchanter to tack this on the enemy unit that is about to be beat into the ground. Bonesplitterz player can cast Brutal Beast Spirits for the +1 to run, charge and Hit rolls. '
To get +1 to Wound. You will need to get 20 Waaagh points in a Big Waaagh! army. Ironjawz casters can cast Bash 'Em Ladz! to get a bubble of +1 to Wound around the caster. The Orruk Warboss with Great Waaagh! Banner which allows reroll of 1s to Wound if the idol is within 16" of the Warboss in the combat phase.
Livin' Idol is probably one of the most needed buffs in any Orruk army. The ability states that Orruk (and Grot) Wizards within 6" add 1 to their casting rolls. This is extremely useful for Bonesplitterz casters and for those lone Ironjawz casters. The Livin' Idol ability ALSO gives Orruk (and Grot) units that are wholly within 18" +1 to Bravery. This is incredible! This shores up two deficiencies in most Ironjawz and Bonesplitterz lists.
FACTIONS:
Rogue Idols can fit in any army, Ironjawz, Bonesplitterz or Big Waaagh! but some better than others.
Bonesplitterz - If you choose a certain warclan or not you'll get a few things that could be useful for the Rogue Idol. Tireless Tracker, that allows him to move 5" before the game starts. Great for setting up the Rogue Idol for a first turn charge or to protect him from receiving the charge. Monster Hunters is a great rule for the Rogue Idol if you remember that he also gets it. +1 to Hit other Monsters (2+) is absolutely fantastic. As far as the math breaks down, you gain about a 50% increase in damage dealt if you charge a Monster and choose Stab! Stab! Stab!. And of course we've already spoke about Warpaint, another chance albeit a 6+, to ignore mortal wounds or normal wounds is always helpful.
Bonegrinz- The warclan trait, Bring It On can get your enemy's units in a bad match up against the Rogue Idol, but he'd be taking the charge. Being unable to retreat once in combat, is great if you're fighting armies that like to flee and charge later like Skaven. The command ability, Feel Da Spirit! will net you an average of 2 extra hits, which can make a big difference.
Icebone - The warclan trait, Freezing Strike can be good against those Ossiarch Bonereapers, Seraphon or Stormcast Eternals players that love their high Saves; -3 Rend will do work. The command ability doesn't affect the Rogue Idol. The warclan artifact, Kattanak Pelt likewise doesn't really matter to the Rogue Idol. Pass.
Drakkfoot - The warclan trait, Freezing Strike really comes into play with a Rogue Idol... or two. -2 Rend vs Ethereal models means that they only get a 6+ Save and no Deathless Minions 6+ Save. Goodbye Hearthguard Berserkers, Witch Aelves, Phoenix Guard! The warclan command ability to Shout Down Da Magic doesn't really help a whole lot since the Rogue Idol won't be getting the +1 to dispel.
Ironjawz- If you choose to pick a major Ironjawz warclan or not, there are a few benefits for big daddy rock elemental. Mad As Hell, as discussed before can be used to move the Rogue Idol in any phase in which he suffered any wounds or mortal wounds. It's great for closing the distance or making enemy charges harder. Eager for Battle, gives your big guy +1 to charge, which is always useful. Mighty Destroyer being used on Rogue Idol can be a true nightmare for your opponent. Fighting in the Hero phase is a great way to take care of those units with a few stragglers so you can move onto stomping other units or setting yourself up to trigger Smashin' and Bashin' in the combat phase. Smashin' and Bashin'! One of the best abilities in the entire game and our thiccboi gets it. Kill a unit and fight somewhere else immediately. With the amount of attacks and the damage coming from the Rogue Idol natively, you can easily start a Smashin' and Bashin' train to victory.
Ironsunz - If you Mighty Destroyers your Rogue Idol on turn 1, then absolutely yes. You'll be able to take advantage of the warclan trait of -1 to Hit for as long as possible and be able to punch your enemy in the face. Good thing you get an extra command point for the mandatory general trait. The warclan ability to counter charge can be useful but I always find it better as a deterrent on my opponent's turn and using Mighty Destroyers on my turn.
Bloodtoofs - MOAR SPEEED! YES. The warclan trait combined with Eager for Battle means this big guy gets +2 to charge. The warclan artifact, the Quickduff Amulet is more useful on a large unit of Ardboyz or a unit of 10 Brutes. Get to Da Realmgate! could be useful to get more movement, onto an objective since not much will survive long against a creature with chariot sized fists.
Da Choppas - The warclan command ability doesn't effect you. The rerolling charges when near a terrain feature in enemy territory does. Which can be very useful. The warclan artifact doesn't really apply those this single model unit already with bravery 11.
Big Waaagh - Imagine all the buffs in the book. Now back to me. Now imagine all those buffs on the Rogue Idol. Now back to me. I'm happy. Look at you. You're happy. Big Waaagh allows the Rogue Idol to truly have it all. Another after save, moving after being damaged, +1 to Hit and +1 to Wound. You also have the opportunity to mix those faction specific buffs such as the Wardokk and Warchanter. The only problem is that you lose a lot of boyz. 400 pts is a lot boyz. And that is the fuel that Big Waaagh needs to burn the realms down.
PROS & CONS:
+ Killy
+ Resilent w/After Save
+ Fast for a foot monster
+ Lost of attacks
+ Can take ALL the buffs
- A huge target
- Difficult to put together
- $112 USD
BATTALIONS:
NONE! But who cares!
WRAP UP:
In Bonesplitterz armies, the Rogue Idol is definitely a MUST INCLUDE item. With a major source of Rend on a thicc boi with 16 wounds and saves out the ass, its hard to argue. But then he gives +1 to cast on all your needed spells and gives you +1 Bravery to all those Savage Orruks and Arrowboys you're taking. In Ironjawz, I can see instead taking a Megaboss on Mawkrusha
GRADE: A
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