AoS 3.0 GHB2021 Orruk Warclans First Impressions

 Written by Benjamin Lolmaugh

OVERVIEW:

This quick blog post is based on preview copy of the GHB2021 that was found on Facehammer's Youtube channel. The video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoGwGjNBBwk . This does not discuss the information actually in the book, only the points will be discussed. If you would like me to right a more bird's eye view of the state of Orruk Warclans as of GHB2021, let me know and I'll see if I am able to muster up the motivation. ADHD is a bitch.  

First, we expected increases, so that will be mentioned in passing and if it can be justified. Second, minimum unit sizes and reinforcement points are a thing now. This is a HUGE problem for Orruk Warclans players who usually play a horde army. You basically pay 2 prices for your large units, once in points and again in reinforcement points. It doesn't feel good. Hopefully there will be some ways to increase the reinforcement limits for horde armies in the future. As of this writing I was unable to find anything to increase the reinforcement limits using the universal battalions. 

THE GOOD:

As a rule, I try to be optimistic It just doesn't feel good to be negative or be around people who are negative, so let's see if we can see some good in this. First, we expected increases, so that will be mentioned in passing.  

ARDBOYS down from 100 to 95. So Ardboys are a mixed bag but generally in Good shape. The minimum unit size stayed at 5. Which will eat up a lot of reinforcement points to get to the horde levels we had before. Running 60+ Ardboys was easy and actually really fun to do. 40 Ardboys are still gonna run you 760 pts and use all of your reinforcement points, but HEY, who cares?! The Ardboys also lost the conditional size requirement to be considered a BATTLELINE unit in Ironjawz and Big Waaagh armies. This makes Ardboys the cheapest way to fill out the BATTLELINE require for lists running only 285 pts. 

WARDOKK up from 80 to 85. This naked dancing orruk is still a great buff piece and an auto-including in all of my Bonesplitterz lists, usually 1 per block of Savage Orruks. Wardokks got off light here. They are easily worth 120 pts being both a PRIEST and a WIZARD. With Mystic Shield back to AoS 1.0 levels, this means Wardokks might make it into Big Waaagh lists for that easy cast. The lost of stacking save buffs is a little lame but it was gamey and a little weird to have a 3+ Save naked Savage Orruk running around. Being able to Banish endless spells or Invocations will be hella usefully for any list coming up against Khorne, Disciples of Tzeentch or Fyreslayers. 

KRAGNOS down from 760 to 695. Well that was quick! An almost 10% decrease is great. He is considered your general so he has extended range on command abilities and can keep getting those sweet sweet Command Points each turn. Will this make him more competitive? Probably not but compared to a Megaboss on Mawkrusha (495 vs 695) it definitely makes Kraggy more appealing, especially in Bonesplitterz lists where they generally lack mortal wounds and high Rend. His average damage output against a 4+ Save is 20.6! That's discounting any mortal wounds from Rampaging Destruction. Remember that Kragnos has access to both Their Finest Hour, Heroic Recovery (at Bravery 11), Titanic Duel and Stomp. 

THE EXPECTED:

WARCHANTER up from 110 to 120. With TOTEM able to extra the range of command abilities namely Mighty Destroyers this was expected. The Warchanter is probably the greatest buffer for any army for the points. Violent Frenzy IS JUST THAT GOOD! I'm sure this increase will not diminish out many Ironjawz or Big Waaagh players field. I'm still going to field 2 in a Ironjawz Da Choppaz list or 3 in my normal Big Waaagh list.

SAVAGE BOARBOY MANIAKS up from 140 to 150. 70 attacks. We had 70 attacks at 140 pts. Only 10 points feels like a light touch, but I'll take it. 

THE BAD:

SAVAGE ORRUKS up from 120 to 130 and no Horde Discount. This is TERRIBLE news for Bonesplitterz players like me who relied on our large sturdy block of Savage Orruks with stikkas to hold the objectives all game. No more stacking the +1 to Hit buffs mean that if Big Waaagh isn't changed, you won't be seeing Savage Orruks there either. Casting Kunnin' Bone Spirits or Brutal Beast Spirits now feel wasted in a Big Waaagh list. At least there are is one drop that loads of 20 orruk strong blocks of Savage Orruks can fit in and still be a one drop.

SAVAGE BOARBOYS up from 130 to 140. Well this came out of nowhere. Who is running Savage Boarboys so well that they need an increase? They honestly need to be 120-110 to work or getting the bonus for having 5 in the unit like Maniaks do. No clue why Boarboys got this slight nerf... this affects 0 people since everyone just runs Savage Boarboy Maniaks instead. CARRY ON!

ORRUK BRUTES up from 130 to 150. Ouch. That hurt! Why!? Were they a great buy at 130? Well yes they were. They were still struggling to get into lists for the more maneuverable Ardboys. This increase definitely won't help. They are still the most points efficient Orruk Warclans BATTLELINE unit we have. Brutes are going to be most effected by the unit coherency rule. If you run 10 Brutes they are definitely going to be armed with Jagged Gore-Hackas and walking in a phalanx formationn, no more lines of Brute Choppas. Just expect more of them on the table if you are building a Da Choppas list. 

AoS 3.0 has brought us Orruk Warclans players a lot of emotions, a lot of mixed emotions. But one really stands out and that's da feelin' of DA WAAAAAAGGGGHHH!

Orruk Warclans: Ironjawz Brutes GHB2019

Written by Benjamin Lolmaugh

OVERVIEW:

As of General's Handbook 2019 the iconic Brutes are 140 pts for 5 models on 40mm bases. Not much has changed for the Brutes since the Ironjawz stand-alone book. The Boss Klaw has changed to lose its trick and the combined into a faster, easier to use profile. The Brutes also lost re-rolling to Hits against 4+ wound models to get a +1 to Hit. It's a straight nerf as a +1 is a 16.7% increase while a re-roll is almost always better

THE WARSCROLL:

The Stat Wheel looks pretty good. For 28 pts a model, its not too bad.

Movement - The 4" Move is one of the biggest problems on this Stat Wheel. Luckily for both Ironjawz players and Big Waaagh! players this can be augmented. Mad As Hell and Zog 'Em will allow you to move in any phase in which you take any wounds or mortal wounds. Mighty Destroyers also can be used from either a nearby character of by the unit themselves if selected as Brute Boss in an Ironfist battalion. Which is absolutely crucial to get to combat or to close that distance to an objective. The Weirdnob Shaman or a character in an Ironjawz Bloodtoofs army with the Quickduff Amulet can cast the Ironjawz spell, a Great Big Green Hand of Gork to teleport a large unit of Brutes directly to the front lines (or back lines) of the enemy. Please note that if the unit took damage in that Hero phase from any source (:wink:wink: Green Puke :wink:wink:) is eligible to still move due to the wording on both Zog 'Em and Mad As Hell. The last option for extra movement I can think of is the Bloodtoof warclan command ability  Breakthrough Da Line, which allows you to "At the end of the combat phase, pick a friendly unit that's already fought wholly within 24": of a hero, that unit can make a normal move but can't retreat or run". 

Wounds - 

Bravery - The Bravery is the other big hurdle you're going to need to overcome when fielding a Brute heavy list. I have not a clue why Brutes on a Goregrunta are braver than a Brute on foot, but there you go. The Brutes is at a middling Bravery of 6. There are no options of a standard bearer for +2 or +1 Bravery. None. Besides using a CP to auto-pass a Bravery check there are a few Ironjawz artifacts that could help. The first being The Golden Toof. This makes your Ironjawz boys auto pass all Bravery checks as long as that unit is wholly wtihin 12". A little hard to do with a missile like the Megaboss on Mawkrusha, but much more manageable with a foot Megaboss. The other artifact is The Boss Skewer. This artifact gives off +1 Bravery to friendly Ironjawz units wholly within 18" and -1 Bravery to any enemy units within 12". It can certainly be useful now that we have to shy away from Realm Artifacts. The last option isn't a good one, but you should know all the options. A Ironjawz Megaboss general can take the Command Trait, Bestial Charisma, which allows you to once per battle round, use Inspiring Presence command ability without spending 1 command point. Now none of these options are ideal to be completely honest. The Boss Skewer can be generally useful and has a large range, so I can see that on the table. Chances are you'll just have to take an Ironfist and Brutish Cunning and keeping your CP for an Inspiring Presence when you need it. Lastly, you can always include a Rogue Idol. The Rogue Idol is a great monster! An absolute unit, an anvil and hammer all in one with two useful buffs. The one we are looking for is called Livin' Idol. Livin' Idol gives all units wholly within 18" +1 Bravery. Nice. Exactly what we need. With The Boss Skewer and the Idol you can have these guys run around at Bravery 8 to 9 depending on the size. 

Weaponry -  Just how the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, the weaponry is the powerhouse of the Brute. 3 in every 5 Brutes you are taking is going to be either wielding a Pair of Brute Choppas or a Jagged Gore-Hackas. The Pair of Brute Choppas is swinging in at 4! attacks each, 4!. That's incredible! Hitting on 3+s, yes please, and Wounding on 3+s, yes please, and with -1 Rend. Fantastic! Absolutely fantastic for 140 points, for 15 wounds at 4+, that can fight in the Hero phase. Jagged Gore-Hackas are great too. Don't get me wrong. In a unit of 10, these Brutes can sit behind a screen and play defensively or Rip and Tear! into any enemy. Brutes have the volume of attacks and the Rend necessary to take down most threats.

Choosing to build Brutes. You'll have to answer 2 questions. 1st Question is: Pair of Brute Choppas or  Jagged Gore Hackas? In units of 5, Definitely the Brute Choppas. In unit sizes of 10, what if I told you the math is basically the same for both the Jagged Gore Hacka and Brute Choppas if you make sure you're fighting 6 brutes wide. It doesn't matter what you take for it. If you take the pauldrons off the Brute and give him the Jagged Gore-Hacka, he makes a great Bonesplitterz themed Brute. 

The second question is :Boss Choppa or Boss Klaw and Brute Smasha?  The basic math is essentially the same. an average of 1.8 damage against a 4+ Save. Against a Big Thing, the Boss Klaw and Brute Smash wins out by  0.01 wounds. So really, it doesn't matter. Just make sure he fights, because you know who else is gonna show those runty gits if not da boss. 

In either case, make sure you have 1 Gore-Choppa for each 5 Brutes. These always increase your overall damage per activation and have a range of 2". It's a no-brainer. Plus they look soooo cool!

If I remember correctly Duff Up da Big Thing used to be re-roll Hit rolls against a unit with a Wounds characteristic of 4 or more, a little nerf with the new book but better for the speed of the game. Duff Up da Big Thing gives the Brutes unit +1 Hit for attack against 4+ Wound units. So, the big shit that every player has access to, you get a buff, not only a buff, a great buff and not only that, its within the warscroll and doesn't require a character to schlep around babysitting them. 

Now that we have all that information rattling in our orruk skull, this is big brain time.

We can slap just about any buff we have onto these killers and come out on time but we'll highlight just two. The first and second (cuz I'm kunnin') is the Big Waaagh powers Smash "Em and Bash 'Em. You can get these by turn 2 if you build for it. The +1 to Hit and the +1 to Wound will almost completely double the your damage out. Versus a 4+ a unit goes from 12.9 wounds to 20.8. That's a complete unit wiped from the board, a huge monster just *poof* gone. Getting the Warchanter buff of Violent Frenzy also almost doubles the damage out to 23.6! Again fantastic. Not much can stand up to that. Combined, Smash Em + Bash Em + Warchanter Violent Frenzy dishes out a grand total of 37.8 wounds. Nothing in the game can survive that. 10 Brutes, 280 points plus a Warchanter in Big Waaagh is all you need.

SUB-FACTIONS:

Ironsunz - Ironsunz Kunnin' is very useful for to keep your brutes alive through an alpha strike and if you can shuffle them forward fast enough, into combat with a definitive advantage with the -1 to Hit. The Ironsunz command ability, Alright - Get 'Em! is useful to make some really terrible match-ups or trades for your opponent. If you keep a CP handy, it may also keep your opponent from even trying to charge. Keep in mind that the Brutefist's mortal wounds would also tick off in this pseudo-charge phase as the battalion only specifies it deals mortal wounds after you make a CHARGE MOVE. 

Bloodtoofs - This warclan really helps mitigate a lot of the mobility losses of the Brutes warscroll. The Warclan trait, Hunt and Crush is great with Brutes because they don't have any native movement buffs save the Eager for Battle for being Ironjawz. Having +2 to charge is great those long bomb charges and the +1 to run can help get into position early game or for grabbing late game objectives. Breakthrough Da Line, which is a command ability for Bloodtoof characters allows a unit to move at the end of the combat phase if they fought in that same phase. So this is the 3rd way that a unit could move in an Ironjawz army. Once in Hero phase from Mighty Destroyers, another in the regular Movement phase and a third at the end of the combat phase. That's not counting and charges! The Quickduff Amulet is a great artifact especially for the slow thicc bois. Having a free, and unstoppable deep strike with a large unit of Brutes will absolutely wreck an opponent's battle plan. 

Da Choppas - Da Choppas is a great warclan to take a load of Brutes on foot. The warclan trait, Vandal Hordes allows you to re-roll charge rolls if within 12" of a terrain feature 1/2 way on enemy territory. A weird hoop to jump through but great when you remember. But we all know why you're here. It's for Rabble Rouser, a command ability, possibly one of the most powerful command abilities in the game but often overlooked due to Mighty Destroyer spam. Rabble Rouser allows you to use a CP to apply Violent Frenzy on 3! YES 3! DIFFERENT FRIENDLY Choppa Brutes unit instead of 1. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! Yes please. Is this better than Smash 'Em and Bash 'Em of Big Waaagh, maybe. But it's damn close if it's not. So many times you'll have to pick and choose which unit will benefit from Violent Frenzy. NO MORE, I say. NO MORE!. Anyways, let's move on. Da Choppaz have a fantastic Command Trait in Checked Out. This gives a +2 Bravery to all friendly Choppas units wholly within 18". This shores ups the other weakness of the Brutes. So combined with a Rogue Idol your Brutes are looking pretty at a Bravery of 9. Ignore the artifact, just don't take a Weirdnob Shaman, he's shit anyways.  

Big Waaagh - For my money, Big Waaagh! is the best place for Brutes. Not only does Smash 'Em and Bash 'Em Waaagh powers double (!) the effects, but the Brutes gain the much needed after-save, albeit a 6+ from Laugh At 'Em. Zog 'Em and Get 'Em help mitigate some of the movement problems of the normally slow Brutes. Zog 'Em let's you move D6" in a phase in which you took wounds or mortal wounds, aka Ironjawz Mad as Hell. Get 'Em is the replacement for Ironjawz Eager for Battle, which gives +1 to charges. It literally has everything that you want for the Brutes if you take The Golden Toof or The Boss Skewer and a Rogue Idol.

PROS & CONS:

+ Fantastic Sculpts

+ Cheap for 3 wounds

+ Lots of damage

+ A solid Self Buff

- Low Bravery

- Low Model Count

- Slow

- No after-saves if in Ironjawz

BATTALIONS:

Ironfist - 160 pts -  I'd say a must have in any list. It's so useful and so powerful that it can really swing a game in your favor. This gives your Brute Boss +2 wounds, which is great too. What is useful, is that you can take this a Big Waaagh! army and I would every. goddamn. time. Every time. Say it with me. EVERY TIME.  Getting Mighty Destroyers in an army while having +1 to Hit and +1 to Wound turns your orruks into Super Saiyans. You're already taking these units, just take the 160 pts and say thank you.

Brutefist -  120 pts - Your Brute Boss gets +2 Wounds again. When you charge your brutes, roll a dice for each brute that ends their charge move within 1" of an enemy model. On a 4+ they deal a mortal wound. Meh. Better in Ironsunz because of the out of sequence charge but you're not taking Ironfist then and that's frankly a waste. 

Weirdfist - 140 pts - Honestly the Weirdnob Shaman feels like a tax by now, with being a single caster for 110 pts (the same as the more useful Warchanter). Anyways, about the battalion. It has 2 big restrictions on here that make it almost unusable. 2 or more units of 10+ from the battalion have to be wholly within 18" of the Weirdnob Shaman. If you jump through all those hoops, you get something spectacular.... wait you dont?... nope you can do his warscoll spell for free again! And it's still a random distance of 2D6". Not worth the points. Not worth the Gorkamorka forsaken tax of a shit-caster. Avoid.  

Da Bossfist - 220 pts -  300 pts of tax in the Megabosses on foot. 60 pts over costed. But, BUT if you want to take this you get some nice bonuses. Great for a narrative game. +1 attack to all your melee weapons, included mounts. The 4+ to gain a CP is a nice touch too. Great if it was fixed and would give Ironfist a run for its money. The forced subfaction to Ironsunz and the forced command ability is not cool because this would be fantastic with Da Choppas and maybe worth the points. 

Moggorz's Rekrootin' Krew  - 150 pts - 150 pts tax in the Megaboss on foot. Da Rekrootin' Krew js your Brutes unit. All you get to do is ignore battleshock for aspirant units. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE. Sike. That's it. Oh, and you have to take Ironsunz and the aspirant units don't benefit from Ironsunz Kunnin'. Extra terri-bad. Just forget this information, its not worth the memory space. 

WRAP UP:

The Brutes can be amazing and get back their points, yes. Can they be duds and feel like a waste, yes. The Ironjawz Brutes are probably the most controversial unit in the Ironjawz army. While Ardboyz can absorb the same buffs, have an in-built after-save in the Orruk-forged Shields, and have a better Bravery due to the Gorkamorka Banner Bearer. But nothing FEELS as Ironjawz as a Brutes unit. These thicc bois will slice there way through an army and make it out on the other side. But you need to be aware and plan for the worst of it, the Bravery and the low model count. If you can compensate for that, you'll love field blocks of these murderous armored hulks. (just take them in Big Waaagh!)

GRADE: B

Orruk Warclans: Rogue Idol GHB2019

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

Orruk Warclans: Gore-Gruntas GHB2019

Written by Benjamin Lolmaugh

The wild vanguard. The tip of the jagged spear. The thundering destruction. The Goregrunta is the armored knights of the Ironjawz faction. Riding giant boars straight into the fray, the brutes on top reap a terrible toll on whatever unfortunate souls are caught in their charge. 

OVERVIEW:

The Gore-Gruntas play an interesting role in the Ironjawz army. Fast enough to careen into the enemy first turn, tough enough to slug it out with heavy hitters but unable to capture most objectives. Slow enough to be unable to catch those truly fast units. Not good enough to trample through chaff but strong enough to not be ignored by the enemy.

THE WARSCROLL:

As of General's Handbook 2019 these bad boys come in at 160 pts (up from 140 pts) for 3. Battleline in both Ironjawz armies and Big Waaagh! armies. I find Goregruntas to be most effective in units of 6 which will run you 320 points and 30 wounds. They gained +1 Attack from the last book, which seems to be why they went up in points.

The Stat Wheel seems pretty good. Average movement for a mounted unit at 9", which can be augmented by Mad As Hell and Mighty Destroyer. No flying. No other movement tricks save the teleport. 

Weaponry will be the big question for Warbosses choosing to field Gore-Gruntas. If you're using Ironjawz faction, I'd use Jagged Gore-Hackas. If you're using the Gore-Gruntas in a Big Waaagh! list, I'd use Pig Iron Choppas. The bonus on the charge is lost after getting 20 Waaagh Points. 

A huge problem with the Gore-Gruntas is that there are no inherent buffs such as +1 Bravery or +1 to charge. However the Bravery is one more than Brutes and is native on the warscroll. 

 

Gore-Grunta Charge got better since the last book. No more will you have to make those long charges in hopes of dealing D3 Damage instead of 1 on the Tusks and Hooves. Now we have a vastly more useful ability. +1 to Hit and +1 to wound will also be useful. Especially when buffed with Violent Frenzy from the Warchanter or further improved upon by Go On Ladz, Get Stuck In! or Waaagh Point buffs. 

Rolling a D6 after the charge move for each model within 1" sounds good but in the best case scenario is only going to amount to 3 mortal wounds. Yes, some mortal wounds are better than none, but at what cost? However, the ability says "after a charge move", so this applies when you use Mighty Destroyer in the Hero phase to charge in or in the enemy charge phase if you use the Ironsunz command ability.

Gore-Gruntas are best used in two of the Ironjawz warclans. Ironsunz and Bloodtoofs. Da Choppas is not really a viable choice for Gore-grunta heavy lists. The warclan ability will still work for the re-rolling charge rolls but the Bravery boost from the Aretefact is wasted and the command ability can not affect Gore-Gruntas.

Ironsunz will let you capitalize on the -1 to Hit debuff your enemy is suffering 1st turn. Combined with a Gorefist, and getting first turn will allow you to take the most advantage of the debuff. 

Bloodtoofs allows the Gore-Gruntas to capitalize on their speed. The +1 to run and charges is a great addition to a unit that loves to charge. Combined with the native Ironjawz buff, that's +2 to charge. If you get lucky you might be able to trigger Get to da Realmgate! after destroying a small unit of chaff and sit on an objective.

PROS & CONS:

+ Fun to Paint

+ Cheap on eBay

+ Potential to kill anything

+ High Bravery

+ Lost of attacks

+ In built mortal wounds

- Charge dependent 

- Weapons decide your faction

- The ears! THE EARS!!!

- Expensive per Model

BATTALIONS:

Ironfist - A unit of 6 Gore-Gruntas is a great choice for the Big Boss of an Ironfist. With the high movement value and killing power, Mighty Destroyer will never be wasted. 

Gorefist - Gorefist has changed wordings but functionally stayed the same in this book. Gorefist + Gordrakk used to be the winning combination for an Alpha Strike that even Gorkamorka would respect.  Now, we just have a better option in the Ironfist. Unless you really need all of your units of Gore-gruntas charging, you'd be better served with fighting in the Hero phase in later turns.

WRAP UP:

Let's be honest and realistic for a minute here.  A fully buffed unit of Gore-Gruntas is going to destroy pretty much anything it touches. A partial buffed unit can destroy most things in the game. A non buffed unit can slug it out and waste 2 combats. You make 2 gambles with this unit, once for the weapon choice, and again on the charge. Whichever way you choose, you will feel like you chose wrong. Will they under-perform for their points? No. Will they deliver the battle on their own? No. Does it feel like Christmas when you wipe a unit out with 6 models? HELL YEAH. If you don't want to gamble with a huge potential pay-off, why even play Orruk Warclans. Tough, fast, killy. What's not to love. Just remember to buff em before they move to far away. 

GRADE: B

Orruk Warclans: Ardboyz GHB2019

Written by Benjamin Lolmaugh

The iron host, the horde, the green tide, the great green menace. When you think of orruks, you think of the unending tide of green skin, heaving muscles, barbaric rage surging across the landscape to burn and pillage everything they can touch. The pinnacle of Gorkamorka's fury is found in the Ardboyz. 

OVERVIEW:

The Ardboyz are the heart and soul of the Ironjawz, of the orruks and I would go even as far as saying as the whole Destruction allegiance.  Everything about the Ironjawz is concentrated into the Ardboyz. Tough and killy and just cunnin' enough to sucker punch the enemy when he's not lookin'. One of the best units in Ironjawz even among the star-studded list. Competitive in both Ironjawz exclusive lists and Big Waaagh lists. You'll ask me "Chaos Spawn, are you telling me that Ardboyz can do everything?" and that answer would be YES, yes they can. 

THE WARSCROLL:

As of General's Handbook 2019 these bad boys come in at 90 pts for 5. Only becoming Battleline for Ironjawz and Bonesplitterz in units sizes of 10 or more. That's perfectly fine. I take them in 10-15 and usually 40-60 in every list. Seriously. Unless it's a niche-list like a Gorefist, I take as many as I can. 

The Stat Wheel isn't impressive. Slow. Average save at a 4+, average wounds (2). Low Bravery (6). The attack profile is quite good for a cheap(ish) Battleline unit. Stuck on 32mm, and 1" Range weapons means you'll only ever get 1 rank into combat at a time. But that will be enough to grind through the opponent. 

The first hint of flavor we taste from the Ardboyz is that their unit composition is COMPLICATED. In the best circumstance of 10 Ardboyz you will have 1 Ardboy Boss, 1 Waaagh! Drummer, 1 Gorkamorka Banner Bearer, 1 Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer 4 Ardboyz with Orruk-forged Shields and 2 with regular Ardboy Choppas. 

 

The Ardboy Boss is the king among unit champions. Having 2 EXTRA attacks is phenomenal and multiplicative with the Violent Frenzy buff from the Warchanter. The Waaagh Drummer is another great addition the a normally slow unit by adding 2 to the charge rolls. In any army that loves to be stuck in combat, you'll have no problem getting your units of Ardboyz across the table to krump the enemy. The Gorkamorka Banner Bearer is a must-have, if you want to only include one banner in your units, take this one. Granting +2 Bravery is a god-send for this elite infantry unit. No longer in danger of losing models when one Ardboy falls means they will stick around until far longer. The Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer is a nice-to-have. Bravery in most armies is not even a thought, but when you start to do that damage, another model fleeing can make the difference between securing an objective or losing it. 

All of these extra components are worth it and are worth making sure you have the right bits in each unit. So be mindful of where each Ardboy is when you remove causalities or you might just screw yourself out of 2 points of Bravery or extra charge range.

The last ability on this lovely warscroll is the Orruk-forged Shield. Not as nice as many other shield abilities, but its better than nothing. From last edition, its more of a nerf. Each Ardboy could equip a shield instead of 2 out of 5 now. Keep in mind that this rule does not affect MORTAL WOUNDS, as wounds and mortal wounds are different. This is just effective enough to make yourself add shields onto your Ardboyz, but little enough to make you think you might be wasting your time. 

The Ardboyz are just cheap enough, just tough enough, just killy enough where you will feel confident throwing them at the enemy buffed or not. If they die, so what, it was a cheap unit and absorbed lots of damage. Maybe you threw Go On Ladz, Get Stuck In! or Killa Beat and a Violent Frenzy on a unit of 10. Well they can now reliably deal 16 wounds AFTER saving throws. 

One Ironjawz warclan really stand out for the Ardboyz-centric warboss. DA CHOPPAS. They have a fantastic relic to help buff those Bravery numbers and a Command Ability that makes Violent Frenzy affect D3 Ardboyz units instead of 1. 

Big Waaagh is also a great place for the Ardboy hordes. The large unit sizes and amount of boyz you can fit within 18" means that you can maximize on how many Waaagh points you can get each turn. Taking units of 10+ will allow you to claim them as Battleline and also gather more Waaagh points when you make those charge and activate in combat. Once you get to the hallowed level of 20 Waaagh Points, your Ardboyz are now on 2+/2+. A true threat. 

 

PROS & CONS:

+ Cheap

+ After Save

+ Buff Sponge

+ Cheap on eBay

- Love it or Hate it model

- Terrible to Paint

- Requires Buffs to really shine

Painting the hordes and hordes of Ardboyz is probably the worst part.

BATTALIONS:

Ironfist - which can fit 4 units of Ardboyz and 1 unit of either Goregruntas or Brutes and still be completely competitive. A free fight in the Hero phase or move, can help you screen an objective or slaughter those last few survivors to get to the next big fight.

Ardfist - made for those madladz like me who love hordes and hordes of Ardboyz. Allowing you to attempt to bring back units of slain Ardboyz on a 4+. You'll be taking Warchanters if you are taking Ardboyz anyways. Ardfist is particularly good in Big Waaagh since those new units are affected by Smash 'Em and Bash 'Em Waaagh abilities, making them immediate and dangerous threats on the table edges. 

Moggorz's Rekrootin' Krew - From the White Dwarf. Gives your Ardboys immunity to battleshock. Not too useful. Your Ardboyz are almost immune already considering the bravery buff, unit size buff, Rogue Idol buff and possible auto-pass with a CP. 

WRAP UP:

While needing a little love in the buff department, the Ardboyz can really do and be anything for the warboss who fields them. Always herded into battle by a Warchanter, they can take on anything. 'Ard as Nails and absolutely cunningly brutal. A true Testament of Gorkamorka's finest. 

GRADE: A

Orruk Warclans: Megaboss GHB2019

Written by Benjamin Lolmaugh

When you hear the sound of the WAAAGH, you often imagine a huge hulking greenskin bellowing as his underlings surge past him. This is the warboss, the chieftain, the clan leader, the Megaboss. In Orruk Warclans we have such a creature.

OVERVIEW:

The Megaboss is an iconic figure in every Greenskins army in Age of Sigmar. He is often the best fighter, the most cunning and of course the most brutal. At least in the lore. On tabletop, it can be a bit different but that's always how things go. This monster of a foot-character can punch up, killing characters twice his points or be stuck footslogging with the rest of the horde. So lets dive in and take a look at the Megaboss.

THE WARSCROLL:

As of General's Handbook 2019 this bad boy comes in at only 150 pts. Which is an absolute steal when you take a look at what you get.

Taking a cursory look at his Stat Wheel you can gather that this is a slow moving but tough foot Hero. The movement can be overcome by the Thermalrider Cloak if you are trying to keep up with Goregruntas but the 4" is on par with all the other Ironjawz infantry. Keep in mine that if you're going Ironjawz allegiance you will be move from Mad As Hell and from using the Mighty Destroyer command ability. 

Melee is where all Ironjawz shine and the Megaboss stand head and shoulders (literally) above the others.  6 attacks at 3+ 3+ -1 and 2 Damage is great for only 150 pts but when combined with Realm artifacts or Ironjawz artefacts, he can chew through just about anything in a turn or two. While many heroes, including melee specialized heroes only have 3 attacks at 3+ 3+ -1 D3 damage, the Megaboss is throwing double or quadruple that in combat. 

The Rip-Toof Fist used to be a weapon with a shit profile that didn't really do much. Now its always on, and always worth watching for. Dealing a few mortal wounds back to a Hero during a crucial combat phase can turn the tide of the whole game. But it is easy to forget in the haze of dice rolling. 

Strength from Victory is probably the coolest improvement to the Megaboss and Megaboss on Mawkrusha in the whole Orruk Warclans book. Instead of just relying on killing a Hero specifically with the Choppa, now it works no matter who the Megaboss is fighting. Plowing through skeletons, you're getting more wounds and attacks. Plowing through human sized Heroes, more wounds and attacks and triggering Smashin' and Bashin'.

The Megaboss lost the 5" reroll 1s to Hit buff to Brutes and kept the same Go on Ladz, Get Stuck In! command ability that he had before. Thankfully it has been updated for AoS 2.0 with the new wordings of wholly within. Also the ability can only be triggered at the start of the combat phase and only lasts until the END OF THAT phase. It does not last until YOUR NEXT phase like many other buffs do. Like the Warchanter Violent Frenzy. Note, that this CANNOT work with Mighty Destroyers that trigger in the Hero phase. While this ability is okay in my book, I rather use my command points on as many Mighty Destroyer extra fights in the Hero phase as I possibly can. Unlike the Violent Frenzy, you also can use this before teleporting your large group of Ard Boyz in front of the enemy.  

While the Megaboss doesn't have a great command ability, he can use the Mighty Destroyer ability as well as the Ironjawz/Great Waaagh Waaagh ability. 

Mighty Destroyers for those new to the Ironjawz game, is probably the most powerful ability the Greenskins have. It allows a unit around the Hero to do one of 3 things depending on distance away from the closest enemy unit. That unit can move if outside 12", charge if within 12" or pile in and attack if within 3". If you are interested in going in depth into the Ironjawz faction abilities, check out the article. 

PROS & CONS:

+ Sturdy

+ Self Heal

+ Great attack profile

+ Good value

- Poor warscroll command ability

- No after saves 

- Pivotal model that is easy to snipe

- Lost Brute buff

BATTALIONS:

He's not need for any Matched Play battalion save the Bossfist from White Dwarf. In that battalion, the Megaboss are actually a tax.

ARTIFACTS:

While the Megaboss doesn't really need an artifact to bust heads, he can certainly shove a shiny sword up the ass of a Stardrake. With the prevalence of mortal wounds, he might not even make it combat. 

Thermalrider Cloak - +4 movement and fly is amazing for such a slow model. Not only does this give you an excuse to make a Megaboss riding a goregrunta but it works well with the extra movement from Mighty Destroyers. This will allow that slow Megaboss to keep pace with the Goregruntas or a Gorefist or to snipe those weedy support heroes behind the main lines.

Metalrippers Claw - This give the Boss Choppa -3 Rend instead of -1. This is certainly better than -1 but its not only that. There are many units in the game now that reduce or ignore -1 Rend altogether. This pretty much guarentees whatever the Megaboss touches will be taking wounds. Just watch out for those ghosty-bois. 

Gryphfeather Charm - +1 Movement and -1 to Hit. Very good at keeping your Megaboss general alive. Especially useful in Ironsunz for -2 in the first turn. In lower point games (1000 or under) this is basically a must. It makes your wholly within ranges more manageable with the 1" leeway in movement.  

Ethereal Amulet - Reserved for Megaboss on Mawkrusha. If you're trying to keep your Megaboss alive, go with the Gryphfeather Charm. 

WRAP UP:

While this model certainly had a place last book, it doesn't really have one this time around. For 300 more points I can have a Mawkrusha that kills 3 times as much in a turn. While he is pretty cheap, I also always cut him first in favor of another Warchanter.

GRADE: C