Written by Benjamin Lolmaugh
The Savage Orruks are the stereotypical orruk left out to bake in the sun. Only the raw Waaagh to cloth him, and anything solid in his hands to protect him. He is the true embodiment of Gorkamorka's will to destroy.
OVERVIEW:
As of General's Handbook 2019 these bad boys come in at 120 pts for 10, with a horde discount at 30 Savage Orruks for 300 pts. Fantastic value. Battleline in Bonesplitterz or Big Waaagh! armies. The package comes with the ability to create 20 Savage Orruks armed with either Chompas and Shields, Stikkas and Shields, a Chompa and a Tooth Shiv or Bows. 4 of the Savage Orruks can instead be equipped with a Big Stabba. This box is honestly one of the best values you will get from Games Workshop. Being able to create Savage Orruks, Morboys, Arrowboys and/or Big Stabbas is fantastic. Not only that, but none of those units are bad, or feel like a tax for battalion. Games Workshop really put in the effort to fix the old Bonesplitterz and bring them into a new age. The Time of the Orruk.
THE WARSCROLL:
Well, the Warscroll is underwhelming. But let's see what we are working with here. 5" Move is average for non-aelf infantry battleline. Remember that if you are going Big Waaagh! you will be getting Zog 'Em as the first Waaagh Power, this ability allows you to move D6" every phase in which that unit took damage. Alternatively, in Bonesplitterz you can pick a big block of Savage Orruks to use the Tireless Trackers allegiance rule to move 5" at the start of the game. The Skull Thumper, the musician of the unit, adds 2 to this unit's charge roll, which amazing. Never failing 3" charges is a life-saver. 2 wounds is fantastic for the price point on these units, usually doubling the amount of similarly priced units. Keep in mind that Wardokks do have a healing dance if you really need to save that one boy, but I'd save the healing for Rogue Idols. 5 Bravery is absolutely terrible, but average for non-Death, non-Daemon Battleline units. This is augmented by the Bone Totem Bearer for +1. If you get a large unit of 30 (which I highly recommend) you'll end up at Bravery 9, hitting Bravery 10 if there is a Rogue Idol nearby (which I also highly recommend).
At first glance it seems like the Warboss has a real choice between Chompas and Savage Stikkas. In reality, sorry, its not the case. In ever scenario Chompas are outperformed by Savage Stikkas. The simple fact is that when you are taking 20-30 Orruks you really want them to fight in two ranks. If you want a small unit of boyz, just take Morboys. A quick look at Spirit of Gorkamorka gives you reason enough to always take blocks of 20-30 Savage Orruks. Getting +1 Attack to the melee weapons of the unit, while that unit has 15 or more models. Devastating! Large blocks of Savage Orruks with Savage Stikkas can have 91 attacks with only their warscroll buffs. If you are so inclined you can always cast Brutal Beasts Spirits on the orruks to give a +1 to Hit. The amount of attacks that this block of orruks can deal will shred chaff. If a MONSTER decides to enter the fray, you will average about 7.7 mortal wounds before any saves are made if you choose Berserk Strength from the Monster Hunters trait. The Savage Big Boss, which often accompanies large blocks of Savage Orruks, has a great ability called Let Me at 'Em, which would allow a unit of Savage Orruks wholly within 12" to fight right after the Savage Big Boss fights. Which is amazing and adds a tool in our tool box to fight in the Activation Wars. The Savage Big Boss also can use his command ability, Savage Attack on the unit. This will make any 6s to Hit in the combat phase count as 2 hits instead 1. Lastly the Maniak Weirdnob can cast his spell, Bone Spirit, which lasts until your next Hero phase (this is longer than Savage Attack) and does the same thing, 6s to Hit count as 2 hits instead of 1. Interestingly enough, the book states that these two types of effects can stack, so if both are on the Savage Orruks, each hit of a 6 deals 3 hits. I assume you can still use the Bonegrinz warclan for 4 hits!
The 6+ Save is terrible. This can be augmented several ways. Bone Shields lets your Savage Orruks have a 5+ Save in melee instead of 6+. Not great but it turns a shit save to an average save. Let's stop here for a second before moving on.Combined with the 6+ Save-after-Save from either the Bonesplitterz Warpaint allegiance ability or the Big Waaagh! Laugh at 'Em Waaagh ability, this takes our Savage Orruks into a solid ANVIL territory. 60 wounds, 5+ Save and a 6+ Warpaint save is very good. Very few units will be able to chew through your Savage Orruks blocks before being ground down. Additionally, the Wardokk's Glyphdokk Dance will improve this Save to 4+ on a 3+. Solid. The Wardokk can cast Kunnin' Beast Spirits on them. Give them another +1. Taking what on the surface is a fragile unit to at 3+ Save 6+ after Save nightmare.
FACTIONS:
The Savage Orruks work great in any Bonesplitterz Warclan and can fit into some Big Waaagh! armies.
The Bonegrinz Trait, Bring It On! which makes it impossible for enemies to retreat from you, and enemies within 12" MUST declare a charge if able; is absolutely crazy for board control. Armies that have precise battle strategies, layers of chaff and close support structures for abilities lose all of that if they get too close to this giant tarpit of a unit. Bonegrinz has a fantastically useful command ability, Feel Da Spirit, which gives causes a 6 to hit to deal 2 hits instead of 1, which on a 30 Savage Orruk block gives 15 extra hits.
Icebone clan is a hit or miss for the Savage Orruks and sometimes I feel like its a trap when I'm in the middle of a game and rolling dice. The clan trait is useful in both melee and shooting; but in the end the -1 to Rend on a wound roll of 6, just adds time to the game without much benefit. Of course when you are rolling hot and score those magic 6s you feel great, but that's not likely. The Icebone command ability Freeze and Run doesn't affect Savage Orruk units. The clan artefact, Kattanak Pelt is useful for small units of Savage Orruks, but with the larger blocks its a bit redundant.
Drakkfoot clan is my favorite. Is the clan trait, Strength of Purpose, always useful? No, but when it is, you thank Gorkamorka you made the right decision. Ignoring the effects of Ethereal doesn't help much with the footsloggin' Savage Orruks who have no Rend at all, but no save-after-saves can be taken against attacks from Drakkfoot units. There are several armies that you will face in tournament that will give you a hard time even if you play right. Many of these "scary" armies depend on the ability to shrug off wounds and keep killing. That won't happen against Drakkfoot units. Blocks of Hearthguard, Witch Aelves, any Death unit, Phoenix Guard, all lose those save-after-saves. Additionally when facing magic heavy armies, you can Shout Down Da Magic by using this command ability. Best of all, those large blocks of Savage Orruks get +1 to that dispel attempt.
Big Waaagh armies might use Savage Orruks as screening units or cheap Waaagh energy batteries. However I think that in those lists its better to have large units of Ard Boyz instead. Too much is lost when taking the Savage Orruks out of Bonesplitterz.
PROS & CONS:
+ Easy to Paint
+ Cheap blocks
+ Solid anvil
+ Lost of attacks
+ In built mortal wounds
- Fragile to shooting
- Really only one choice for weaponry
BATTALIONS:
Brutal Rukk - 140 pts. Battalion units wholly within 12" of the Savage Big Boss can run and charge. This can be fantastic and a great way to get the first turn charge. 5" movement before the game starts from Tireless Trackers, 5" for movement, average 3 for running, with an average charge of 9" due to the Skull Thumper. Let Me At 'Em is great for when you get to melee but needs some precise aura management.
Kunnin Rukk - 140 pts. Still fantastic but no so much for Savage Orruks. Max of 20 Savage Orruks in the battalion but you can still use the Savage Big Boss to strike right after he strikes in melee due to his Let Me At 'Em. The free movement in the Hero phase is great but you'd be using that alternate to that ability to shoot in the Hero phase instead.
WRAP UP:
The Savage Orruks really made a huge transformation from its previous book to Age of Sigmar 2.0. 3x the attacks. Better saves. A lot more synergies. There is really nothing that this unit can't do. Movement tricks? Yep. Stick on an objective through the whole game? Yep. Kill a Monster? Yep. Grind through chaff? Yep. Kill Gotrek? YEP! Seriously, they can do anything you want, the best 300 points you'll ever spend.
GRADE: A
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