With the release of the Maggotkin of Nurgle book, I’m going to be scouring the internet for information on the book and presenting it to you over the next 7 days, so that you don’t have to (but we all know you will!).
It’s the seventh and final day, so I’ll be giving an overview of the Maggotkin of Nurgle.
There will be definitely be players of Nurgle from the previous book who are disappointed, and I understand that disappointment. The previous book was fast, could hit hard, and had great survivability, but it wasn’t a Tier S army, and would only go 5-0 in the hands of very experienced players – so it wasn’t setting the scene alight.
The Maggotkin have lost that speed, and are now 4″/5″ on most of their foot troops with no teleporting options.
The Plaguebearers have also changed significantly but are 2 wounds (which is a great improvement), going to 6+ save – which in the current Meta isn’t too much of a disadvantage – but retaining their 1″ reach. They provide a different option to Nurgle and should be a good anvil for the Nurgle army.
The disease tokens – whilst being additional admin – are a great new rule for Nurgle and very thematic. The enemy slowly dying because of Nurgle’s Rot is surely something we all want to see. Will have to wait and see if the admin just gets too annoying!
Perhaps the largest improvement is the 5+ ward save for the mortals in the book (joining the daemons with their aftersave). This should make more mortal armies appear on the scene which would be great for the modelling, painting and different gaming challenges. The Blightkings will need play to see if they have any potential, but the Blightlords on Plague Drones are wonderful models and would definitely find a way into a Nurgle army if I were to play one.
So things have definitely changed, and the army now plays differently. Strangely players new to Nurgle may find it easier to play, whereas those with existing armies may have more difficulty getting used to the changed playstyle.
I think they are going to sit well alongside the Kruleboyz in power level, sit at 2-3/3-2 in tournaments with the occasional 4-1 and 5-0 possible with a good draw and in the hands of an experienced player. As long as Games Workshop continue to reduce the overall power level of new books Nurgle should be well positioned in the ‘fat-middle’… and that’s definitely appropriate for Grandfather Nurgle!
Thank you for reading my thoughts and comments over the last 7 days. I’ve enjoyed finding out about potential new opponents and looking at the 3rd AOS3 book released by Games Workshop.
With the Winter FAQ about to drop we wanted to take some time to talk about the new kids of the block, kicking butt and taking names… the Ironjawz! Since the Orruk Warclans book was released the Ironjawz have been climbing the stats and have appeared on tables everywhere in the UK and beyond.
What makes them so popular, and what is driving up this win-rate? We wanted to get the view of a tournament attendee and what better person than the Top Ironjawz player according to Bad Dice Podcast. We searched high and low, vale and dale and all across the UK but wouldn’t you know the person was sat here in Northampton all along!
I was as surprised as all our readers, so I demanded a recount… but blow me if it didn’t come up with my name again… So we’ve asked Declan to write a few words! (and talk about himself in the 3rd person for a bit for some reason).
Screenshot, before it all changes!
Who are the Ironjawz?
The Ironjawz are one of 3 allegiances within the Orruk Warclans book which was recently released. Along with Bonesplitterz and Kruleboyz they make up a book which you can run the allegiances separately (with limited model availability) or run them all in one list called Big Waaagh! Under the previous book Big Waaagh was the most popular list, but this has now pivoted to Ironjawz – although Kruleboyz are likely behind because fewer people have armies painted for them.
What is their playstyle?
Ironjawz love Smashing & Bashing and so they are an army that fights in close combat – none of the sneaky Lumineth shooting shennagins. This means that they will be attacking their opponent quickly and early in the game and hitting hard when they do so. Beware of the speed (up to 36″ + charge with the right Mount Trait) and the damage of their MawKrushas (Wyverns who fly because gravity itself is too scared to stop them).
Their Warchanters add to this damage, whilst the Gore Gruntas charge in with the MawKrushas and the Brutes slowly cross the table, before hitting like a steam train.
This means that they damage and then get damaged if the attacks don’t go as planned. So they are beatable, but as their opponent you do need to be careful.
A bit of everything in this one-drop. Apart from the Shaman… he’s at home!
Ironjawz Abilities
Ironjawz have 3 great abilities:
Smashing & Bashing – If an enemy unit is destroyed in combat by an Ironjawz unit, the Ironjawz player may immediately select another unit to fight
Mighty Destroyers – Hero phase free move if outside 12″ of enemy, pile in if within 3″ (no fighting), or charge otherwise
Waaagh – +1 to charge and -1 Rend
All of these abilities get the Ironjawz closer to the enemy, faster and they are great. A little care is needed with Mighty Destroyers as the 12″ rule for charging is regardless of whether you could make a charge or finish within 0.5″ of an opponent so a clever opponent can throw units forward to prevent the move being used.
Allegiance Abilities
There are 3 allegiance options for the Ironjawz but only two are regularly seeing play at the moment.
Ironsunz is the one I use as it gives a command ability to allow Ironsunz units to charge at the end of an opponent’s charge phase – perfect for counter charges with Brutes.
A small selection of my Brutes – the backbone of the Ironsunz!
Bloodtoofs makes Gore Gruntas battleline, and any Gore Gruntas that fought in a combat phase can make a pile in, move or charge at the end of the charge phase.
Both of these are great for speed, and getting into combat to do the Smashing and Bashing and get enemies killed. Again the Ironjawz do need to be in combat to do damage, but they do a lot whilst they are there and alive.
Megabosses – Command Abilities
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Maw Krushas and Megaboss special abilities (on their warscrolls). The Maw Krusha can issues the same command ability three times, and the Megaboss on Foot can do one twice – all for one command point. I’ve lost count of the number of redeploys I’ve done to stop Broken Ranks (step back one unit, step forward another) or Savage Spearhead (step up to my territory to stop the enemy). Or simply saving 3 units with Inspiring Presense. It’s a great ability – be warned!
Warchanters
The warchanters are the key to the army, although they only have 6 wounds on 4+ armour, but they use Vicious Fury which gives an Ironjawz unit +1 damage. This is critical to the Boars and Brutes and great on the Maw Krushas, but without it the army’s damage is severely reduced. Don’t leave home without 2 of them – and I’ve seen some Ironjawz players run 3!
Army Lists
I’ve run a few army lists that you can find in these articles
I also did well in War in the Heartlands with a similar list to my Carnage list. These are all Ironsunz lists, because I love Brutes and the counter charge ability is very complimentary to my playstyle. (Sit back, take a hit, punch… hard!)
The other army list available at the moment is Bloodtoofs and Gore Gruntas (pigs) massing for a charge. There is a 2 MawKrusha, 2 Warchanter, 24 Pigs list… and it is brutal! This list has done very well into the current meta, but before you start picking up Gore Gruntas wait for the Winter FAQ! Things may be changing.
How do I play them?
As alluded to above and with the lists in the other articles I play with 1 MawKrusha, 2 Warchanters, and lots of units – often being 10 or 11 drop. My favourite unit in the Destruction tomes – Rippa’s Snarlfangs – joins the army for some much needed speed, but you can leave these at home if you are going Bloodtoofs.
I tend to sit back, occasionally throwing the MawKrusha forward to krump, to get my Brutes in range so that I can charge in my opponent’s turn – or at least threaten to. I also make extensive use of Hand of Gork with the following combo (cheer Russ Veal of Facehammer fame for discussing this one):
Megaboss on Foot (you can use a MawKrusha) with Arcane Tome as the general. He then takes the Wizard Command Trait Touched by the Waaagh! This gives the Hand of Gork between +1 and +3 depending on causing D3 mortal wounds within 6″ (even the enemy if they are close enough). This turns a 50/50 spell into something much more likely to come off, and makes my Brutes appear in the strangest of places – exactly where my opponent doesn’t want them. Hand of Gork also forces opponents to stay on objectives in much the same way as a Fast ‘Un Maw Krusha.
How else can they play?
In a word Fast! The Bloodtoofs ability to make Gore Gruntas battleline and bringing 2 MawKrushas gives you a smashing & bashing army that no-one wants to fight. Swapping out a Maw Krusha for a Rogue Idol (Forgeworld, not in the book), means you can have a very powerful and hitty Battle Regiment – 1 drop. So you can decide who goes first. Just don’t face Morathi who can stop this tactic in it’s tracks.
How to beat them?
This being a Destruction book, it is obviously unbeatable (see also Gloomspite Gitz in the same position)… but if you wanted to beat them then you need to survive the alpha strike, and be able to do damage back to them.
Screens are coming back into the game and this is only a good thing although it does stunt the Ironjawz alpha strike capabilities. I bring 2 x Ardboyz and they are great in the mirror match either for holding objectives, or preventing the turn 1 charge by the GoreGruntas doing massive damage.
The Ironjawz are also surprisingly easy to kill – in combat or with shooting. A 4+ armour save (except for the Maw Krushas) means that most armies have something that can kill a Maw Krusha in 2 rounds, so if you can survive a charge (Morathi!) and get a few additional wounds in on the Ironjawz turn, you can be killing a Maw Krusha turn 1!
They also have very poor bravery for their size – just 6 on the Brutes & Gore Gruntas – so causing damage to multiple units can see models flee from battleshock – or means the Ironjawz player has to keep command points for inspiring presence.
Finally, remember that this is an objective game, so go after the objectives (unless your models are 1 wound and there are brutes), and don’t worry if the Ironjawz are ahead in turn 1 and 2 – it really is an alpha strike armour and a glass hammer and it can be stopped and then killed!
Good luck to the Ironjawz players out there – hope the Winter FAQ treats us well.
I’ve added a page to the website called Wargame Rules. In there you will find any rules for scenarios or wargames that I write. At the moment its pretty empty apart from one item which is Clausewitz.
Clausewitz is the Napoleonic wargame I’ve been working on for a number of years now. This is still very much a work in progress but I’m pleased to say it’s at a stage now where I feel comfortable releasing it for public consumption.
What is Clausewitz?
Clausewitz is a Corp level game designed primarily for 6mm Napoleonic warfare. I always wanted a Napoleonic game which focused on the whole battle but where what the individual battalions actions were still important to the outcome. Therefore in Clausewitz although the basic unit is the Brigade, those brigades are made up of individual elements called Battalions or Squadrons. Think of this like individual models inside a squad in a game like 40k or AoS.
The key features of Clausewitz include:
A departure from the traditional IgoUgo turn sequence and instead relies upon chips drawn from a bag to represent a Generals actions in the turn (with each turn representing 10 minutes of battle).
The game is driven by your Generals, they must position themselves and activate the right units at the right time in order to win the day.
Objectives – There are six objectives and units can only claim an objective (and therefore score points) if a General has ordered them to do so.
Mini-Game – there is an optional fun mini pre-game to the main event in which your light troops determine the deployment zone in the upcoming battle.
Formations matter! Brigade formations and individual unit formations are presented in an intuitive fashion. The players must ensure that their units are in the right formations for the task at hand!
Alternatively there are two mods on Tabletop Simulator just for Clausewitz, the first being the test bed which is used to test the various rules as they are implemented or adjusted and the second being the Battle of Elchingen 1805, where the Austrians attempt to defend against the French advance.
With the release of the Maggotkin of Nurgle book, I’m going to be scouring the internet for information on the book and presenting it to you over the next 7 days, so that you don’t have to (but we all know you will!).
It’s the sixth day today I’m bringing you news on the Summoning options available to Maggotkin of Nurgle
Again shout out to those with preview access to the book for sharing it. Today’s is mostly from the gang at Sprues and Brews. Do go and give them a read!
Each of the 4 Chaos Gods have a summoning mechanic which is different in every case. Tzeentch benefit from spells, Khorne from units dying, Slaanesh from not quite killing, and Nurgle… from existing!
The mechanic for Nurgle has not changed a lot, but there are changes to the cost of units and the availability of units (no more 5 or 20 plaguebearers for example). Nurgle have contagion points (which you’ll have seen referred to in my previous articles).
3 Contagion Points (CP) – at least 1 Maggotkin of Nurgle unit in your territory
3 Contagion Points (CP) – at least 1 Maggotkin of Nurgle units in your enemy’s territory
1 Contagion Point – no enemy units in your territory
1 Contagion Point – no enemey units in their territory
This means that you will get 5 points if you go first – perhaps 4 if your opponent Alpha-Strikes into your territory (looking at Ironjawz again!). It is possible to build more into summoning, but as there is no secondary benefit (like Tzeentch in casting spells), it might be difficult to do that. Summoning for Nurgle has mostly been a nice benefit in addition to the army, and not something to work towards. That said I’m sure someone will come up with a summoing list when the book is available this weekend.
But what can be summoned:
CPs
Unit
30
Great Unclean One
18
Plague Drones (3)
14
Plague Bearer Host (10)
12
Poxbringer – Herald of Nurgle
10
Beast of Nurgle (1)
9
Feculent Gnarlmaw
8
Nurgling Swarm (3)
7
Sloppity Bilepiper – Herald of Nurgle
7
Spoilpox Scrivener – Herald of Nurgle
There’s a few options there and the internet is already discussing the benefit of summoning Sloppity or Spoilpox over including them in the intial army, as you should get the summoning for them turn 2. But it is expensive to get any of these units, and feels to me (with no summoning in Destruction!) that they are useful as last turn objective grabbers, or to block up and kill a low wound character. But Nurglings… for 8 points — I’d definitely have some of that!
Conclusions
Nurgle hasn’t been made overpowered with the summoning and it feels at the right level, although the loss of 5 Plaguebearer summoning will hurt some of the existing players I’m sure they’ll be able to adapt.
Join us tomorrow for Day 7 of Nurgle where I’ll be wrapping up this coverage!
I’ve done a number of top 3’s now for Age of Sigmar, so today I thought I would branch out and cover a top three for 40k. This time we’re back in Europe and looking at the West Coast GT held in Bohus, Sweden.
Olof Svensson – Forces of the Hive Mind
Tyranids by John Stone
Olof won the event with 77 battle points and 31 path to victory points over five games.
With the release of the Maggotkin of Nurgle book, I’m going to be scouring the internet for information on the book and presenting it to you over the next 7 days, so that you don’t have to (but we all know you will!).
It’s the fith day today I’m bringing you news on the Allegiance Abilities from the book.
Again shout out to those with preview access to the book for sharing it. Today’s is mostly from the gang at Sprues and Brews. Do go and give them a read!
The Maggotkin book has 6 Plague Legions/ Contagium included. That’s not a bad number considering that each of Orruk Warclans had 3 (so 9 in that book). But, are they any good, and what will see play in Matched Play tournaments?
Munificent Wanderers
If an enemy unit is within 3″ of a Plaguebearer Host unit that has 10 or more models at the end of the movement or combat phase it receives 2 disease points instead of 1.
With disease being added in combat it’s difficult to see how the Plaguebearers wouldn’t cap on the 7 disease points anyway, but it may convince opponents to retreat in their movement phase to avoid the ‘chip’ damage of the disease points.
Befouling Host
If this army is led by a Deamon General it can include 2 Feculent Gnarlmaws instead of 1
The summoning Host! If you want to try out the summoning, I would imagine this will be your go-to choice!
Droning Guard
Subtract 1 from hit rolls that target Plague Drones units in the first battle round, or when they are set-up on the battlefield.
Plague Drones are how the Maggotkin can retain a fast(ish) army, and -1 to hit is very good. I love it on my MawKrusha and being able to appear, charge and be at -1 to the retaliation hits is very good. Especially against that Gate-Breaker Gargant.
Blessed Sons
If a mortal model is slain within 1″ of an enemy unit then when the model dies roll a number dice equal to the wounds characteristc of the model. Each roll of 6 inflicts a mortal wound.
A shame it is only 1″, but this is consistent with similar abilities. Just be careful about units in a line being hit on the side. That said, if you want a mortal army the extra damage – with disease – may be enough to kill a unit that would have survived.
Drowned Men
After deployment move Lord of Afflications and Pusgoyle Blightlords units up to 8″
Having recently played against Bonesplitterz with their similar abilities — this is great. Speed is so useful in Age of Sigmar, especially if you want to pin your opponent in their own deployment zone, or reduce the likelihood of a alpha-strike from Ironjawz or similar.
Filthbringers
You can include a Rot Coven in your army. (360 points for 3 Sorcerers as a single leader option). One wizard from the cover gets +1 to cast, unbind and dispel. If near others from the coven (3″), gain an additional +1 (up to +3)
This definitely makes the magic build viable, although only one wizard getting the bonus is a little weak considering what other armies can get (Hurricanum anyone). However if you like the Nurgle magic, this should help it go off… and you’ll have lots of spells available.
Conclusions
If I were to run Nurgle, it would likely be with hordes of Plaguebearers, so Munificent Wanderers would probably be my choice – despite my critiscm of it above. I think Matched Play will see the Droning Guard and Drowned Men taken regularly though. Movement is still king in Age of Sigmar.
Roger managed four from five wins with 169 points.
Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders ———- Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (105 pts)++ – Spell: Nasty Hex Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot(105 pts)+++ – Spell: Nasty Hex Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (General)(480 pts)+++ – Artefact: Amulet of Destiny – Command Trait: Hulking Brute – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un Orruk Warchanter (115 pts)+++ – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat – Spell: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork
With the release of the Maggotkin of Nurgle book, I’m going to be scouring the internet for information on the book and presenting it to you over the next 7 days, so that you don’t have to (but we all know you will!).
It’s the fourth day today I’m bringing you news on the Command Abilities from the book.
Again shout out to those with preview access to the book for sharing it. Today’s is mostly from the gang at Sprues and Brews. Do go and give them a read!
Similarly to the Spell Lores there are 2 sets of Command Traits in the book. One for Mortals and one for Daemons.
Mortal Command Traits – Lords of the Rotbringers
Grandfather’s Blessing
Once per game you can move the cycle of corruption 1 step forward.
This seems to be the only way to do this, and so the ability is powerful. But as a one-use command trait it won’t be liked by many players. As I like randomness (see my Squig Armies!) I probably wouldn’t take this, but it definitely has value.
Advertisements
Internal Conduit
If your general is on the board at the start of the hero phase, roll a dice. 2-5 – gain a contagion point; 6 – gain D3 contagion points.
This will enable a turn 1 summoning, and boost a bit of summoning, but the output is low. I couldn’t find out if this was your hero phase only, so if it’s all hero phases it would twice as valuable! Assuming you can keep your general alive.
Living Plague
At the start of the Hero Phase roll a dice for each unit within 7″; on a 2+ they get a disease point and you gain a contagion point.
This feels better than internal conduit, assuming it works on your own troops… lots more disease markers though!
Avalanche of Rotten Flesh
When the General charges you roll a number of dice equal to the charge roll, for each 6 they suffer a mortal wound and also get that many disease tokens
A few bonus mortal wounds, but you’re likely getting disease tokens from the corresponding combat (or destroying the enemy), so its value is slightly reduced here.
Bloated and Corrupted
If the general rolls a 6 on their disgustingly resilient you can give an enemy unit within 3″ a disease token
Having your general in the middle of the enemy may seem risky, and isn’t something I often do. As such I’m not sure I would ever take this ability.
Overpowering Stench
Enemy units within 7″ of this general cannot issue commands and enemy units wholly within 7″ cannot receive commands
This is my favourite of the bunch. Commands are used extensively in the game, and preventing these – particularly in combat or for Inspiring Presence – can make a big difference.
Advertisements
Daemon Command Abilities – Avatars of Corruption
Gift of the Febrile Frenzy
Once per battle at the start of combat phase, give all Nurgle daemons wholly within 7″ + 1 attack
Great if you’ve got smaller units of plaguebearers, or some Great Unclean Ones, but limiting to once per battle seems a bit mean
Nurgling Infestation
Subtract 1 from hit rolls that target the bearer and nurglings wholly within 7″ get +1 to hit.
-1 to hit your general – especially Great Unclean Ones – is going to be great, and a little bonus for Nurglings… and as everyone knows Nurglings are the best small gitz you can get since Snotlings disappeared.
Pestilent Breath
Pick an enemy unit within 7″ and roll a number of dice equal to the number of models within 7″. For each 5+ do a mortal wound.
Whilst we fight in Ghur and with horde armies being near the bottom of the meta the value of this is probably low… but who knows what will happen when we leave Ghur. Keep this in your mind if your local meta has large units.
Conclusions
Not a bad set of command traits, but nothing to set the world alight. If I was taking a general it would likely be a Great Unclean One with Nurgling Infestation… if nothing more than an excuse to get some Nurglings!
With the release of the Maggotkin of Nurgle book, I’m going to be scouring the internet for information on the book and presenting it to you over the next 7 days, so that you don’t have to (but we all know you will!).
It’s the third day of Nurglemas and today I’m bringing you news on the Spells from the book.
Again shout out to those with preview access to the book for sharing it. Today’s is mostly from the gang at Sprues and Brews. Do go and give them a read!
The Maggotkin of Nurgle have two spell lores. One for Mortals, and one for Daemons. Read on to find more!
Mortal Spell Lore – Lore of Malignance
Magnificent Buboes
Casting Value: 7; Range: 21″; Pick an enemy hero; they are -1 to hit, chant, cast, unbind and dispel
Great to be able to affect Chant and the long range will mean this can be cost. But a 7+ on 2D6 is not straight forward. I know from Hand of Gork that this is not guaranteed.
Plague Squall
Casting Value: 6; Range: Visible; Roll 7 dice and for each 6 you can assign a disease token to a visible enemy unit
A great way to get the plague & disease rolling. And inifinite range!
Cloying Quagmire
Casting Value: 5; Range: 14″; Pick an enemy unit and roll a dice. If the roll is equal or higher than the unit’s save characteristic then half their move and subtract 2 from all running and charging rolls.
Easy to cast, likely to affect those units you want to affect, but low range. When the opponent is this close, is the reduction in speed going to be a benefit?
Blades of Putrefaction
Casting Value: 7; Range: 14″; Cast on a friendly unit. It generates disease tokens on 5s and 6s to hit (rather than just a 6).
We know how powerful this can be with Kruleboyz poision and so this is likely to be a popular spell. 7+ is still a difficult number though – despite being the number of Nurgle!
Gift of Disease
Casting Value: 6; Range: 21″; Pick an enemy unit in range. Give that unit and all other enemy units within 7″ if the target a disease token.
This is great, and with a reasonable casting value and good range is likely to be a popular spell with mortal wizards
Rancid Visitations
Casting Value: 6; Range: 7″; Roll a dice for each enemy model in the target unit and in range. On a 2+ they suffer 1 mortal wound.
This is great against hordes… which unfortunately are not currently dominating the top tables. But you never know, they may be back once we leave Ghur behind in June 2022… a sleeper option
Daemon Spell Lore – Lore of Virulence
Favoured Poxes
Casting Value: 7; Range: 14″; Cast on an enemy unit. That enemy unit has -1 to hit, wound and save rolls until the caster moves, attacks, casts, unbinds, attempts a dispel, or is slain.
Wow! Just think of this on a Gargant cast from a small Daemon Wizard hidden 13″ away. Great!
Fleshy Abundance
Casting Value: 7; Range: 14″; Cast on a friendly NURGLE DAEMON unit. That unit has +1 wound
Wow! A great spell to turn the 2 wound Plaguebearers into a tarpit. 30 wounds for 150 points is far from bad. But it is cast on a 7+ – not straight forward.
Stream of Corruption
Casting Value: 6; Range: 7″; Roll a dice for each enemy model within 7″. On a 5+ that model suffers a mortal wound. You can optionally increase the range to 14″, but mortal wounds are inflicted on a 6.
Easier to cast, you need to be close – so Great Unclean One – but it is another horde cleaner.
Conclusions
Overall, I like these spell lores and they definitely have a few options. The large number of 7+ spells means that they can’t be relied on, and with many other armies have bonuses to dispel it makes these more difficult to rely upon. I think I would take the easier ones to cast, and use Mystic Shield a lot!
