OVERVIEW:
As of General's Handbook 2019 these "elite" Savage Orruks come in 120 pts for 10 dudes with no Horde discount available to them. That's okay, you aren't going to take them in units of 30 anyways. The Morboys were a staple unit in the previous book and make a fantastic warrior in Warcy but with the re-balance that came with the Orruk Warclans book, its time to revisit this maniac menace.
THE WARSCROLL:
The Stat Wheel is actually okay for the amount that we are paying. 6 Bravery is pretty great for an orruk to be completely honest. This goes up to 7 with the Bone Totem Bearer which is quite respectable. This can obviously be augmented by the rank bonus but I wouldn't go up to 30. If you're taking a Rogue Idol, and you always should in a Bonesplitterz army, the Rogue Idol's ability Livin' Idol will also give +1 Bravery if the unit is wholly within 18". So all in all, in a unit of 20, you're looking at 10 Bravery and that's excellent. The movement on the Savage Orruk Morboys is bog standard for a non-aelf at 5". This can be augmented by doubling or tripling the Movement value and adding the ability to FLY with Breath of Gorkamorka. The Bonesplitterz ability Tireless Trackers would let this unit move 5" before the start of the game. Fantastic! If you're in Big Waaagh, in which Morboys are not Battleline, you can use Zog 'Em in any phase in which the unit took damage, and move D6". The Skull Thumper, the musician of the unit, adds 2 to the charge rolls. When combined with Brutal Beast Spirits, you can get up to +3 in Bonesplitterz or +4 with the Big Waaagh! Get 'Em trait. 6+ Save is absolutely terrible and the true drawback of the Morboys; but you're Bonesplitterz, you're used to the heaving masses of naked sweaty Savage Orruk booty running headlong into the enemy lines. This can be augmented in two way if you're into that kind of thing, you might not be that kind of orruk. The Wardokk's Glyphdokk Dance will give the Morboys +1 to Saves on a 3+. Great, but better on a Rogue Idol or a 30 Savage Orruk blob. The second, is Kunnin' Beast Spirits, which is cast on a 6+. This also give another +1 to Saves. So all of this will get you into the 4+ save with a 6+ Warpaint save, not too bad for a naked orruk. Combined with 2 wounds each, for the points that's pretty efficient.
The Chompa and Toof Shiv, no longer the two profiles which were tedious to always look back at your book before rolling the dice to make sure you weren't cheating. It's all been moved to one profile. A great change. The range of 1" on a 32mm guy is bad, but they have enough attacks to make it worth it. The Chompa and Toof Shiv have 3 attacks if you have less 14 or less orruks left in the unit. If you have 15 or more (buy the units in 20s) you will have 4 due to the Spirit of Gorkamorka ability. 4! attacks from one orruk with no outside buffs. That's amazing! Hitting on 4+, which can be augmented a few ways. The first way we can improve this is by killing a enemy Monster and triggering Power of the Beast Spirit; this will give the unit a permanent +1 to Hit for the rest of the battle. Useful in the late game against some armies. A few armies you might be able to trigger this on first on second turn. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking Seraphon, Beasts of Chaos and Beastclaw Raiders heavy Ogor Mawtribes armies. Brutal Beast Spirits is a Bonesplitterz spell that is cast on a 6+. This is give the Morboys +1 to Hit and if you cast it on a double you can pick 2 units instead of 1. If you're running a Big Waaagh army with Morboys and get to 16 points, you'll unlock the Smash 'Em trait, giving a +1 to Hit. Lastly, if you're fighting a Monster, you can choose to use STAB!STAB!STAB! to get another +1 to Hit. Lots of ways. There is only one way to get a +1 to wound that I could find in the book. That being in a Big Waaagh! army and getting to 20 Waaagh! points for Bash 'Em. Turning your 12 point model into an absolute blender!
The Savage Orruk Morboys have lots of attacks, that's indisputable. That means that the exploding attack abilities and spells that we have access to do more for us. This includes Bonegrinz Warclan command ability, Feel Da Spirit!, the Maniak Weirdnob's warscroll spell, Bone Spirit and the Savage Big Boss's command ability Savage Attack. Please not that Savage Attack and Feel Da Spirit! only last that one combat phase and that the Bone Spirit spell lasts until your NEXT hero phase.
MORBOYS VERSUS ARDBOYZ
After all that, Mathhammer is something I use to validate my choices for army composition. If you need pointers for Mathhammer, Paul Conti does a great job on his channel on Youtube at Radio Free Hammerfall. Saying that, Morboys are actually more points effecient in wounds and attacks that our mighty Ardboyz in the Ironjawz half of the Orruk Warclans book. One Morboy will deal approximately 0.67 wounds to a 4+ Save enemy while the Ardboy deals 0.60. You might say that that might just be a small margin, but it's not, its more than 10%.. Even buffed by Smash 'Em and Bash 'Em in a Big Waaagh army, the Morboy deals 1.13 wounds at 12 points per model; while the Ardboy deals 0.95 wounds for 18 points per model.
SUB-FACTIONS:
Bonegrinz - We've already discussed that Feel Da Spirit! command ability can be very useful on a unit of Morboys. The Bring It On! warclan ability is very useful in disrupting those complex battle lines. The Morboys will have trouble taking the punch from a true offensive powerhouse unit, but for how cheap a unit of 20 is, it may be worth it. Bring It On! also prevents those same units from retreating from your maniac beast slayers once they get to grips.
Icebone - With the large amount of attacks that the Morboys throw out, you will definitely see some return for Freezing Strike. Adding 1 Rend to attacks with a Wound roll of a 6, can be useful in a faction mostly without it. In reality, you're looking at about an 8% increase in damage across the board. Kattanak Pelt will also help the Morboys with the age old Greenskinz problem of leadership and Bravery. Adding 1 to friendly Icebone units wholly within 18" of the bearer. Not as good as Checked Out in Da Choppas but a base Bravery of 8 is fantastic!
Drakkfoot - My favorite clan. Strength of Purpose's first sentence doesn't help with our Rend "-" Morboys.What does help is the second sentence that allows these green nutters to negate any after-saves. Shout Down da Magic! can also be useful against the current magic heavy meta. For 1 CP you can attempt to dispel an enemy spell with a unit of 10 or more Morboys. Since your Morboys should run 20 orruks-strong, you'll even get +1 to the dispel.
Big Waaagh - Not a Battleline unit in Big Waaagh but can certainly make a mark among the big boys. After Smash 'Em and Bash 'Em are in effect you will be rolling tons and tons of dice looking for 3+s to Hit and 2+!s to Wound.
PROS & CONS:
+ Cheap in points
+ Comes in a great multipurpose box
+ Loads of Attacks
+ Good Bravery
- Fragile without buffs
- 1" Range
- No good battalions
BATTALIONS:
Kop Rukk - 140 pts. 780 pts at optimal size. At the start of your Hero phase, you pick 1 Wardokk (you need at least 2 in the battalion) that is wholly within 18" of 2 or more units from the battalion with 10 or more models (so the two units need to have 10 within 18"). That Wardokk can attempt to cast the Fist of Gork spell from the Wurrgog Prophet warscroll in that phase in ADDITION to any other spells it can cast. That's pretty good. The Fist of Gork spell is cast on a 5! You pick an enemy unit with 24" and roll a D6 for each model in that unit. On a 6 that unit suffers 1 mortal wound. If you cast that on a 10+, you inflict the mortal wound on a 4+. Absolutely fantastic. Easy to cast, with casting modifiers everywhere in the army. It can be an absolute horde killer and a real source of mortal wounds, that you get to cast FOR FREE. But come on, Kunnin' Rukk is where it's at.
WRAP UP:
Although I love the Ardboyz and have for a long time, I feel like my love for Morboys is slowly overtaking them. In a Bonesplitterz army, they are fast, can have tons of buff potential from Wardokks and Savage Big Bosses and can shred anything it touches including those signature rock-hard units like Hearthguard Berserkers and Witch Aleves due to Drakkfoot (you're always taking Drakkfoot ,right?!). Even if you love to play Big Waaagh with a Mawkrusha and all the Goregruntas and such, the Smash 'Em and Bash 'Em will take the Morboys' damage output into the stratosphere. I know, I hear you, Ardboyz lovers, I was once one of you but its time to let Gorkamorka into your heart and accept your home within the Morboys Mob.
GRADE: B
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