There is an assumption so deeply ingrained into Kruleboyz list building that it rarely gets questioned. If you’re playing Kruleboyz, you’re playing Man-Skewer Boltboyz.
They are treated like an auto-include in nearly every Kruleboyz list. How many can you fit in, how do you protect them and how do you get the most out of their shooting?
But when we stepped back and asked a much simpler question, what actually happens when you don’t take them? The answer was uncomfortable, and clear.
The Data
Across 462 recorded GT level Kruleboyz games, Man-Skewer Boltboyz appeared in 371 of them. That alone tells you how relied upon they are.
But those lists posted a win rate of just 40%.
The remaining 91 games, where Boltboyz weren’t included, tells a very different story. Those lists won 59% of their games.
That’s not a marginal difference.
At this point, the question stops being “are Boltboyz good?” and becomes “are Kruleboyz good when they’re not built around them?”
Data Without Boltboyz
Once Boltboyz were removed from the dataset, a pattern emerged almost immediately.
The units that performed best were not exotic picks, but the core units of the army.
Gutrippaz: 61% win rate across 51 games
Monsta-killaz: 60% across 66 games.
Swampcalla Shamans: 57% across 76 games
Gobsprakk jumps to 67%, albeit in a smaller sample of 15 games.
Even support pieces like the Marshcrawla Sloggoth gets away with 58%. This all strengthens the idea that this version of Kruleboyz may have legs.
Boltboyz aren’t bad. The issue is what they force the army to become. Taking them encourages castle builds and investment in screens. That also means predictable deployment and a narrow game plan.
Without them, Kruleboyz revert to something far more aligned with their ruleset: an army that wants to sit on objectives, while having units that can flank and ambush.
Boltboyz aren’t useless, just that building around them may be actively holding the faction back.
So, what’s the list?
Starting from the idea of “what does Kruleboyz look like without Boltboyz?” this is where the numbers led me.
The backbone of the list is simply reinforced Gutrippaz units doing the work of occupying space, supported by the Shaman. While Monsta-killaz provide the damage with Crit Mortals.
Gobsprakk features in the list not as a disruptive presence. He’s here to bully the enemies spellcasters.
The Scourge of Ghyran Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof is included to assassinate any unprotected heroes and harass the flanks of the enemy. I’ve given him the Slippery Skumbag to help with this.
Remember though, this is an experiment. This is data led and matches up the list with units that win more often when Boltboyz aren’t included. But the data can’t tell you about local metas or player skill.
If you’re playing Kruleboyz and struggling, the answer might be stepping back and asking whether you’re trying to force the army to play a game it doesn’t actually win.
The most interesting part of this exercise isn’t the list itself. It’s the implication that Kruleboyz have been competitive all along in the way most players didn’t expect.
