Why play Kruleboyz?
Kruleboyz are one of the few armies which enjoy dishing out mortal wounds in buckets. It’s also the one Orruk army which enjoys a tonne of shooting attacks. They are a glass cannon however, and suffer from the odd breeze. They lack any serious screening but enjoy a surfeit of monsters that both dish out the damage and buff your troops attacks.
What’s in the Vanguard Box?
In the box you get:
- Killaboss on Great-Gnashtoof
- Murknob with Belcha-Banna
- 10 Gutrippaz
- 3 Man-Skewer Boltboys
- 1 Beast-Skewer Killbow
All for £85 at Games Workshop. Unless you wanted to buy it through our affiliate Element Games, in which case it would cost you £72.25.
The total points of these units under the current battlescroll comes to just 540 points, so we’ll need to buy a fair few more units to get up to the 1,000 point mark.
Next go and pick up the Age of Sigmar Harbringer Set, it’s great value and you’ll get the difficult to source Swampcalla Shaman as well as 10 more Gutrippaz and 10 Hobgrots to act as a screen. This brings us up to 870 points. For the final spend, pick up another set of 3 Man-Skewer bolt boys.
Your total spend through Games Workshop will be £215 (if you include the Orruk Battletome which you’ll need for the rules). But as mentioned, if you use our affiliate link with Element Games, you’ll get all of this for just £176.25 (including the Battletome).
Don’t forget though, you can probably get at least £20 back for selling the Stormcast half of the Harbringer box. So consider this 1k army as £150ish with the Tome.
The List
Faction: Kruleboyz
Subfaction: Grinnin’ Blades
Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS
Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof (120)*
– Warlord
– Command Trait: Slippery Skumbag
– Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un
– Artefact: Mork’s Eye Pebble
Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (100)*
– Nasty Hex
Murknob with Belcha-Banna (70)*
BATTLELINE
10x Gutrippaz (150)*
– Wicked Stikka
10x Gutippaz (150)*
– Wicked Stikka
10x Hobgrots (80)*
ARTILLERY
Beast-Skewer Killbow (80)*
OTHER
3x Man-Skewer Boltboyz (120)*
3x Man-Skewer Boltboyz (120)*
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 990/1,000
Wounds: 89
Drops: 1
First off, we’ve chosen Grinnin’ Blades to nullify your squishy army from getting popped outside of 12″.
We’re then wrapping them all up into a single drop Battle Regiment. In theory this should give you control of the first turn. If you’re facing another ranged army like Kharadron Overlords or Lumineth Realm-Lords this can mean you actually opt to give them the first turn, force them to move closer but stay outside of their ranged attacks, then on your first turn have your Man-Skewers and Killbow take down some fools. If you’re lucky you may even get th priority into the second turn…
The Units
Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof
This fella is great, and it’s a model I personally love. With a 10″ move, he’s not particularly fast, so we’ve given him the mount trait Fast ‘Un to get that one extra hero phase move. Meaning, in theory you could potentially pull a move and charge off against an enemy 27″ away.
Rather than the traditional Supa Sneaky you often see on a Kruleboyz warboss, we’ve gone for Slippery Skumbag. This is to maxmise the Savage Hound ability which gives the unit +1 to its hit rolls if it made a charge in the same turn. This means if you’re locked in combat, you’ll be able to retreat out, and then charge once more in the same turn.
Swampcall Shaman and Pot Grot
This guy is going to be key to maximising the amount of damage your units can kick out during the battle. Using his Poison ability means that the unit you buff will cause mortal wounds from their venom-encrusted weapons on a 5+ instead of the usual 6+. During the early stages of a game, you’ll want him giving poison to your ranged Man-Skewer Boltboyz. Follow this up late game with the Gutrippaz when they make combat and watch the colour drain from your opponent’s face.
We’ve also given him the spell Nasty Hex, so if you do come up against any armies with ward saves, he’ll have a chance of turning them off before your Poison enhanced units pick them apart.
As a last little gift, this guy will sticking close to either your Man-Skewer Boltboyz or your Gutrippaz, so we’ve given him the artefact Mork’s Eye Pebble. Meaning once per game in a single phase, the Swampcalla Shaman and all units within 12″ will have a 5+ ward save. Not bad for a bit of extra survivability.
Murknob with Belcha-banna
Under the current General’s Handbook (Season 23/24), this model has improved in value. With the amount of Wizards now able to cast various spells without too much difficulty, it helps to have a source of ward saves against them. Make sure you keep him near your key damage dealers like the Gutrippaz and Man-Skewers so they benefit from that 5+ ward save against spells.
On top of that he can dish out some mortal wounds alongside the Gutrippaz with the Breath of the Mire-drakes ability. Just don’t rely on it too much.
Gutrippaz
I hope your woman loves you like Woehammer Pete loves Gutrippaz
– Pete Atkinson (PlasticCraic)
It’s true, I love these guys. I’ve found so many times that people underestimate the amount of damage that they can kick out (that’s why I have a list with 60 of them…).
With Poison from the SwampcallaShaman a unit of 10 of these boys they dish out the following damage on average:
| v Save | Gutrippaz (Wicked Stikka + Poison) |
|---|---|
| 2+ | 7.29 |
| 3+ | 7.58 |
| 4+ | 7.88 |
| 5+ | 8.17 |
| 6+ | 8.46 |
| – | 8.75 |
At only 150 points a unit, they’re great. Their downside is their lack of bravery, but this can be compensated for by the Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof‘s ability All Part of Da Plan.
Hobgrots
These are here as a simple screen, but to be honest they’re not even too great at that. They won’t stick around and they won’t do too much damage. They’re not bad for protecting your Man-Skewer Boltboyz and Beast-Skewer Killbow, or for claiming home deployment area objectives. But otherwise don’t expect a great deal from them.
Beast-Skewer Killbow
It’s a lot cheaper than it used to be, but don’t expect great things from it. Really, it’s only use is against multi wound monsters and even then you have to pray that it hits. IF it hits, and IF you roll a 6 on that to hit roll, you’ll be laughing though as every wound caused will be mortal…
Man-Skewer Boltboyz
These are your early game damage dealers while the enemy struggles to get to grips with you. Get the Poison on them from the Swampcalla Shaman and fire at long range at first. If you have your target within 12″ though, make sure you shuffle them to ensure you’re using the hasty shot. Doubling the amount of shots means you’re fishing for those all important 6’s for the mortal wounds (5’s if you’ve given them Poison from the Swampcall Shaman).
As an idea as to what just 3 can do in terms of damage:
| v Save | Aimed Shot (+Poison) | Hasty Shot (+Poison) |
|---|---|---|
| 2+ | 3.56 | 5.19 |
| 3+ | 4.00 | 5.44 |
| 4+ | 4.44 | 5.70 |
| 5+ | 4.89 | 5.96 |
| 6+ | 5.33 | 6.22 |
| – | 5.33 | 6.22 |
What Next?
When you’ve had a few games and you’re looking to expand your list up to 2k, I would seriously consider purchasing Gobsprakk. In the current meta with his Mork Sez No abilty and Primal Dice being able to enhance this he’s an absolute menace to enemy casters.
You may also want to look at getting a Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker, they’re beasts in combat and their Sludgeraker Venom means that the venom-encrustd weapons of any units nearby will be causing one additional damage each. That means your Gutrippaz could be causing 2 damage and your Man-Skewer Boltboyz 3 damage.
Most lists also run 2 Swampcalla Shamans to maximise the Poison output. If you also like running lots of Gutrippaz, I’d consider buying a Killaboss with Stab Grot or two for the bravery benefits.
