Following on from Aaron’s article last week on Big Waaagh stacks, this week, his gaze shifts to the Man-skewers of the Kruleboyz.
Kruleboyz, and more specifically Man-Skewer Bolt-Boyz, have had a critical weakness since launch.
Man-Skewers feature two shooting profiles on their warscroll, Aimed shot and Hasty shot. Aimed shot has a range of 24″, but unfortunately cannot be used if the unit has moved. What’s a Bolt-Boy to do if the opponent simply hangs out 24.1″ away? Cry? No, a true Swampboss is never bothered by nonsense like “playing fair” and “good and honest fighting”. Instead we are going to abuse poorly worded terrain rules in a proper Mork-y way.
Hopping in
Defensible terrain, also known as Garrisons, allows you to enter instead of a move action if you’re wholly within 6″ of the terrain. What’s important about this is that it does not count as moving. That means you still get to shoot a full 24″. Additionally, your range can be drawn from any point of the terrain piece, so all 9 of those big yellers bolt Boyz can draw from a 1mm point on the corner of a building. If the building is 6″ long, counting the hop in, you have extended your range by 10-12″ farther than your opponent expected.
Hopping out
Even better, hopping out doesn’t count as a move action either. When you leave a garrison, you only have to be within 6″, not wholly, meaning your range is further extended by 7″. Opponents hoping to hang outside your range can find themselves under heavy fire they didn’t expect and too far away to punish it.
This technique is excellent for sniping away supporting characters. The aimed shot is not exactly high damage, but it’s accurate and consistent, making it the perfect tool to pop 5-6 wound wizards and buff pieces. It’s also a great way to have your Bolt Boyz manoeuvre to contest objectives without giving up entire turns of shooting.
Finally, there is another big advantage to holding up in a den of destro sneakyness. Unleash hell can be drawn from any point setting up disgustingly powerful anti charge fire, and your Boyz are -1 to hit and +1 save while in that garrison. On top of that, you can exit a garrison even if tagged in combat and still shoot as it was neither a retreat nor a move. This really makes aggression into your juicy bits a lot less rewarding and much more heavily punished than it otherwise would be.
So get out there and pretend it’s 2006, flip some houses and rain green death on your enemies.
This is the top three AoS lists for King In The North! 23 that took place in Norway on the 12th and 13th of August. It involved 20 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
Leaders Contorted Epitome (210)* – General – Command Trait: Strength of Goodhood – Artefact: The Crown of Dark Secrets – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon Sigvald, Prince of Slaanesh (200)* Be’Lakor, the Dark Master (340)* – Allies
Battleline 22 x Blissbarb Archers (320)* – Reinforced x 1 22 x Blissbarb Archers (320)* – Reinforced x 1 11 x Blissbarb Archers (160)*
Units 5 x Slickblade Seekers (210)* 5 x Blissbarb Seekers (210)* Fane of Slaanesh(0)
Core Battalions *Battle Regiment
Total: 1970 / 2000
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Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords – Subfaction: Legion of Blood – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (460) – General – Deathlance – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Lore of the Vampires: Spirit Gale Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (460)** – Deathlance – Artefact: Cloak of Mists and Shadows – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon Vampire Lord (140)* – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost Necromancer (100)* – Lore of Primal Frost: Merciless Blizzard
Battleline 10 x Dire Wolves (140)** 10 x Dire Wolves (140)** 30 x Deathrattle Skeletons (300)** – Reinforced x 2
Units 10 x Grave Guard (150)** – Great Wight Blades 3 x Fell Bats (80)**
Battleline 10 x Blood Warriors (190)* – Goreaxes – 1x Goreglaives 10 x Bloodreavers (80) – Meatripper Axes 10 x Bloodreavers (80) – Meatripper Axes 10 x Bloodreavers (80) – Meatripper Axes 10 x Bloodreavers (80) – Meatripper Axes 10 x Bloodreavers (80) – Meatripper Axes
Units 5 x Skullreapers (190)* – Goreslick Blades 5 x Skullreapers (190) – Goreslick Blades 5 x Wrathmongers (140) 5 x Wrathmongers (140) 5 x Wrathmongers (140)
Leaders Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)** – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Lore of the Swamp: Sneaky Miasma Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)** – Lore of the Swamp: Merciless Blizzard Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)** – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)* Murknob with Belcha-banna (70)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
Battleline 10 x Gutrippaz (150)* 10 x Gutrippaz (150)* 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)* 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)*
Units 6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)** – Reinforced x 1 6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)** – Reinforced x 1
This is the top three AoS lists for Macki Wojny GT3 that took place in Poland on the 4th and 5th of August. It involved 70 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
I found this tournament last minute, so I’m afraid there’s no commentary here, but I couldn’t resist sharing a Kruleboyz list as soon as I could (and one that isn’t Grinnin’ Blades or includes Gobsprakk).
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
LEADERS Archmage Teclis (740)* – General Scinari Cathallar (120)* – Artefacts of Power: Phoenix Stone – Spells: Merciless Blizzard The Light of Eltharion (230)*
BATTLELINE 10x Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)* – High Warden – Spells: Etheral Blessings 10x Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)* – High Warden – Spells: Speed of Hysh 5x Vanari Dawnriders (120)* – Standard Bearer – Steedmaster – Spells: Speed of Hysh
BEHEMOTH Alarith Spirit of the Mountain (340)*
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Rune of Petrification (60) 1 x Umbral Spellportal (80)
TERRAIN 1 x Shrine Luminor (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000 1 drop
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Army Faction: Flesh-eater Courts – Subfaction: Hollowmourne – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumph: Inspired
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000 DROPS: 1
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Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness – Army Subfaction: Ravagers – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – General – Command Traits: Idolater Lord – Spells: Hoarfrost – Prayers: Heal – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle 1 x Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – Spells: Merciless Blizzard – Mark of Chaos: Undivided 1 x Infernal Enrapturess (120)*** 1 x Be’lakor (340)** – Spells: Binding Damnation 1 x Slaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (150)*** – Daemonic Axe – Trophy Rack – Artefacts: The Conqueror’s Crown – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
UNITS 9 x The Unmade (80)** – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle 9 x Spire Tyrants (70)** – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle 10 x Splintered Fang (100)*** – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle 20 x Splintered Fang (200)*** – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle 20 x Splintered Fang (200)*** – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle 20 x Splintered Fang (200)*** – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle 10 x Splintered Fang (100)*** – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle 6 x Furies (80)** 1 x Cockatrice (120)**
Allegiance: Kruleboyz – Warclan: Big Yellers – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth (180)* – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)** – General – Command Trait: Supa Sneaky – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)** – Lore of the Swamp: Choking Mist Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)** – Lore of the Swamp: Nasty Hex
Battleline 9 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (360)** – Reinforced x 2 – Boltboy Boss 9 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (360)** – Reinforced x 2 – Boltboy Boss 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)** – Boltboy Boss
Units 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)* – Hobgrot Boss – Sulphuric Scrap-grenades – Scrap Totem Bearer – Noise-maker 20 x Moonclan Stabbas (120)** – Allies – Moonclan Boss – Bad Moon Icon Bearer – Gong Basher – Stabba – 3x Barbed Net 5 x Sporesplatta Fanatics (90)* – Allies 5 x Sporesplatta Fanatics (90)* – Allies
This is the top three AoS lists for Champion of Black Oil 3 that took place in Czechia on the 15th and 16th of July. It involved 24 players vying to be champion.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Sylvaneth – Subfaction: Gnarlroot – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumph: Bloodthirsty – Seasons of War: The Dwindling
LEADERS Treelord Ancient (330)* – Artefacts of Power: Luneth’s Lamp – Spells: Treesong, Verdant Blessing Drycha Hamadreth (320)** – Spells: Regrowth, Verdant Blessing Spirit of Durthu (350)** – Artefacts of Power: Greenwood Gladius Warsong Revenant (300)** – General – Command Traits: Spellsinger – Spells: Hoarfrost, Verdant Blessing Celestant-Prime (330)**
This list by Lukas Plagat shows a core combination you’ll be likely to see popping up often for Sylvaneth in Andtor. Gnarlroot for 3d6 + drop lowest casting/unbinding, Dwindling for a re-roll cast/dispel/unbind and a Warsong treesinger general with the Spellcasting Savant Grand Strategy who will sit in the corner and stay alive to achieve a GS with the sole condition of “keep your lynchpin alive”, you’re doing it anyway.
Lukas has gone for a min battleline approach, with the return of the double tree-rev unit to achieve battle tactics like surround and destroy, spreading to the sides easily. The meat (or veggies in the Sylvaneth case) of the list is found in the heroes though, the Warsong Revenenant creating mortal wound output while Durthu acts as the primary strike and fade unit, comprising a majority of the list’s damage. The Treelord Ancient creates a tree anywhere, allowing the warsong to be active from turn one, and adding an additional caster and solidly tanky objective holder. Drycha acts as supporting shooting and a back up objective holder and finally the allied tag team partner of the Celestant Prime sits in space until a key time comes to deal a whole bucketload of mortals in concert with the Sylvaneth casting and to add an additional fighting body/objective scorer. Very versatile listbuilding with damage, casting and battle tactic scoring capacity. Everything you’ll need on the new season.
One additional PS note in this list is the inclusion of Luneth’s lamp, a great anti-meta piece which allows better endless spell dispelling alongside some measure of counterplay with priests, incredibly well thought out inclusion by Lukas.
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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Kruleboyz – Subfaction: Grinnin’ Blades – Grand Strategy: Waaagh!
LEADERS Gobsprakk (240) Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof (120) – General – Command Traits: Supa Sneaky – Artefacts of Power: Amulet of Destiny Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (100)* – Spells: Choking Mist Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (100)* – Spells: Sneaky Miasma Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)** – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)***
The legend that is Pete Atkinson of Plastic Craic joins us again for some commentary this week on his favourite Grand Alliance – Destruction. Check out his site ya dogs!
From earliest Age of Sigmar, there have been two approaches to Battleline: build it up, or treat it as a tax. Some of the powerhouses of 1st Edition, notably Kunnin Rukk and Oops All Witch Aelves, were armies that were blessed with chaff that did their own heavy lifting, so instead of difficult list choices you had those bodies and wounds doing work for you. All killer, no filler.
As the game has developed, the net has been cast wider and wider for what a Battleline unit can be, culminating in the mighty Mega-Gargant; well Kruleboyz take us right back full circle to those hard choices. You can either lean into the Gutrippaz, which means tipping resources you can barely afford into reinforcing them and giving them the buffs (because 10 standalone Gutrippaz will do sweet FA); or you can take the bare minimum and use them grudgingly as an inefficient screen.
GW seems to have recognized what a burden Gutrippaz are on the army, by allowing you to check out of taking three units and using some Hobgrots instead, who are at least a cheap screen. You’re still stuck taking two of them though, and as GW steadfastly refuses to drop their points to something more befitting their chaff-tier stats, Kruleboyz have been left stuck in perpetual Bin status.
Anyway. New Handbook, new raft of points drops, new opportunities? Giga Chad Pavel certainly saw his opportunity for legendary Killaboss status, and grabbed it with both hands. Taking an unapologetic “screw that” approach to his Battleline, Pavel has taken the absolute minimum Gutrippaz tax, and leaned heavily into the good units instead.
There comes a point where the Gnashtoof Boss is just too cheap to ignore, and 120 points seems to be the tipping point for a lot of people – I’ve seen him burst into a lot of lists these last couple of weeks. 12 points per wound with good mobility, a 3+ base save and respectable output is great value, and his warscroll ability heavily limits Battleshock exposure in a world of splash mortals and Geminids.
But he’s not the star of the show. That, my friends, would be Gobby: finally doing the work that this magnificent model deserves. Mork Sez No is terrorizing magic armies right now, with Screamin’ Mandrakk and Primal Magic Dice combining to push through those 10+ unbinds and punch out the revenge mortals. Gobsprakk been an absolute victim for years, and he deserves his moment to shine.
There’s a neat symmetry to the rest of the list: two Shammies and two Crocs buffing two reinforced units of Dakka Boiz early game, and then the Crocs stepping up when it comes to crunch time. You can set up two little shooty castles early on, each protected by its own little escort of Gutrippaz, as the maxed-out ranged damage segues into the climactic Waaagh turn of combat. And boy do those Crocs feel good in combat.
The early energy in Orruk circles is mostly around cherry picking the handful of good Kruleboyz units into Big Waaagh, with a Wurrgog Prophet and the vastly-superior Ironjawz Battleline to anchor the list, but Pavel has showed us that there’s life in proper Kruleboyz armies too. Grinnin’ Blades gives you a pretty effective shield against a lot of magic output, so I’ll be interested to see if this list style has sustained success in the Andtor Handbook. But that’s a question for another day – today, we toast Pavel’s success. Na zdravi!
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Army Faction: Seraphon – Army Type: Starborne – Army Subfaction: Fangs of Sotek – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)* 1 x Skink Starseer (150)* – Spells: Merciless Blizzard, Speed of Huanchi 1 x Slann Starmaster (275)* – General – Command Traits: Lord of Celestial Resonance – Artefacts: Spacefolder’s Stave – Spells: Comet’s Call, Hoarfrost 1 x Lord Kroak (410)**
BATTLELINE 5 x Saurus Guard (140)** – Saurus Guard Alpha – Icon Bearer – War-drummer 10 x Skinks (90)** – Skink Alpha – Boltspitter – Celestite Dagger and Star-buckler 10 x Skinks (90)** – Skink Alpha – Boltspitter and Moonstone Club 5 x Saurus Guard (140)** – Saurus Guard Alpha – Icon Bearer – War-drummer
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (50) 1 x Suffocating Gravetide (30)
Danny: Here we have a mostly archetypcal Starborne list, beaming directly onto the podium in these early days of the new season.
It’s got the dooble-forg and Starseer for mondo casting and star power points, allowing for tactical summoning to adapt to the board state. It’s got the Saurus Guard to bodyguard the fragile froggos, and some nice cheap skinks to, well, do stuff like standing on circles. It’s also got what is SO obviously going to become the meta-endless-spell, Geminids.
The final filth here is the inclusion of Gotrek, who does Gotrek things in a list/army that, otherwise, doesn’t have any real access to a proper anvil/hammer who can just yeet up the middle to screw with the opponent’s head. It’s a combo that makes sense, whether it’s in good taste or not…
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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER 1 x Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)* – General – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork 1 x Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (100)* – Artefacts: Mork’s Eye Pebble – Spells: Merciless Blizzard 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)** – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)** – Warbeats: Killa Beat 1 x Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof (120)** – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un 1 x Wurrgog Prophet (170)*** – Artefacts: Glowin’ Tattooz – Spells: Hoarfrost
BATTLELINE 10 x Orruk Brutes (280)*** – Brute Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka – Boss Choppa – 2 x Gore-choppa 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)**** 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)**** 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)****
OTHER 6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)** 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*** – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*** – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)**** – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka
Aaron Newbom. If you’re an Orruk Warclans player, you know his name as the first player to achieve 5-0 with Kruleboyz. Recently he’s been been a bit of a Traitor and started playing those wet Aelves, but even so, he’s more than qualified to talk about the good old Orruks.
Aaron Newbom: This is definitely a more mobile Big Waaagh list than you usually see, picking lots of small fights while plugging away with bolt Boyz and stacking up Waaagh until the brutes can close in and smash what’s left.
Having this many small mobile units let’s him play the mission really well and go very aggressive when he chooses too. An interesting build for sure.
This is the top three AoS lists for Sydney Salt Smash II that took place in Australia on the 1st and 2nd of July. It involved 18 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz – Gittish Horde: Jaws of Mork – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Skragrott, The Loonking (210)* Loonboss (85)** – General – Command Trait: The Clammy Hand Grinkrak The Great (190)** Squigboss with Gnasha-squig (100)** Madcap Shaman (70)* – Artefact: Moonface Mommet – Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battleline 36 x Squig Herd (390)** – Reinforced x 2 40 x Moonclan Shootas (250)** – Reinforced x 1 20 x Squig Hoppers (360)** – Reinforced x 1
Units 5 x Gobbapalooza (160)** – Spell1: Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork 6 x Grinkrak’s Looncourt (0)* 1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (150)*
Army Faction: Hedonites of Slaanesh – Army Type: Pretenders – Grand Strategy: Selfish Desire – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Contorted Epitome (190)* – Spells: Born of Damnation Keeper of Secrets (400)* – General – Command Traits: Strength of Godhood – Shining Aegis – Artefacts of Power: The Crown of Dark Secrets – Spells: Flaming Weapon Lord of Pain (135)* – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Allegiance: Kruleboyz – Warclan: Allegiance: Kruleboyz – Warclan: Big Yellers – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs:
Leaders Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)* – Artefact: Mork’s Eye Pebble – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)* – Lore of the Swamp: Choking Mist Murknob with Belcha-banna (80)* – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof (130) – General – Command Trait: Supa Sneaky – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
Battleline 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)** 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)** 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)** 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)* 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120) 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120) 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80) 10 x Gutrippaz (150)*** 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120) 20 x Moonclan Stabbas (125)*** 20 x Moonclan Stabbas (125)***
About a year ago, I did some Warscroll, which went down quite well with you all. So I thought, why not bring them back and update them?
There are a couple of terms I’ll refer to throughout the article as well. These are Army Points Required(APR) and Army Points Committed (APC). APR is the number of points required to be used in your army list to create the conditions required in certain scenarios. For example a Marshcrawla Sloggoth buffing a Great Gnashtoof with its Krew Drummer ability would result in 280 APR (130 points for the Gnashtoof and 150 for the Marshcrawla Sloggoth). APC is the amount of points in your army committed to creating that scenario in a single turn – this is essentially your APR value divided by 5 (for the number of turns in a game). The assumption being that you’d use your models for all five turns of the game and so you’d be using a fifth of their points value each turn to achieve your objectives or kill an enemy unit. In our above example where the Marshcrawla is buffing the Gnashtoof, you’re committing 56 points of your army to achieve your goal.
What you’ll find here is every hobby aspect of the Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof. From painting to how it plays on the tabletop. If you enjoyed this, please let me know, and I’ll make more.
Credit: Peter Holland
Paint Schemes
Peter’s Big Yellers Scheme
On the Table
At 130 points I’d consider this great value personally, with a 10″ move it’s one of the fastest units in the army and is great for quickly moving up table and mulching screens and claiming objectives. It’s damage output isn’t terrible either:
Without Buffs
(Attacks Basis) – Buffs
2+
3+
4+
5+
6+
–
(Charging) – Base
4.44
5.63
6.81
8.00
8.44
8.44
(Standard) – Base
4.00
5.04
6.07
7.12
7.56
7.56
Average Damage Output AFTER Saves
This does mean that you’ll be able to inflict a lot of damage, even on units with a 2+ or 3+ save, mainly thanks to the mortal wounds inflicted from the Stikka. If you give the doggo fast ‘un you’ll great a free move in one of your hero phases, giving it an average move and charge range of 27″.
Is it points efficient to buff it this much? Definitely not! You’ll need to have a Shaman, Marshcrawla and Sludgeraker included in your list and close to the Gnashtoof for it to benefit. That’s 670 points of your army right there when writing your list. You’re probably better off buffing other units in your army, but at least you know what you can offer in a pinch.
This is the top three AoS lists for the Alberta Classic that took place in Canada on the 6th and 7th of May. It involved 19 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Subfaction: Petrifex Elite – Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
LEADERS Katakros (440)* Mortisan Ossifector (120)* – General – Command Traits: Dark Acolyte – Artefacts of Power: Lode of Saturation – Spells: Protection of Nagash – Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Mir Kainan (250)*
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Stormkeep) – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADERS Knight-Incantor (120)* – Spell: Celestial Blades Knight-Relictor (120)* – General – Command Trait: High Priest – Prayer: Translocation – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Lord-Imperatant (170)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome
UNITS 5 x Vanquishers (110)* 5 x Vanquishers (110)* 5 x Vindictors (130)* 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (240) 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (240)** 2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)* – Drakerider’s Lance 1 x Stormstrike Chariot (170)* 3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)
ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS Holy Command: Call for Aid Holy Command: Thunderbolt Volley
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Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Radukar the Beast (290)* – General – Command Traits: Hunter’s Snare Torgillius the Chamberlain (125)* – Spells: Fading Vigour Necromancer (90)* – Spells: Waste Away – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master Belladamma Volga (170)** – Artefacts of Power: Ulfenkarni Phylactery – Spells: Spirit Gale
BATTLELINE Deadwalker Zombies (230)* Deadwalker Zombies (230)* Deathrattle Skeletons (255)* – Skeleton Champion – 3 x Standard Bearer Dire Wolves (130)** – Doom Wolf Dire Wolves (130)** – Doom Wolf
LEADERS Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)* – General – Command Trait: Supa Sneaky – Mount Trait: Weird ‘Un Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)** Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)* – Lore of the Swamp: Choking Mist Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)* – Lore of the Swamp: Choking Mist Murknob with Belcha-banna (80)* Killaboss with Stab-grot (100)* – Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm – Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox
BATTLELINE 20 x Gutrippaz (300)* 20 x Gutrippaz (300)** 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)**
UNITS 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)* 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)* 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)***
You may have seen both Ian’s post and my own in the last couple of weeks showing our Path to Glory armies for the campaign we’re running at Woe Towers.
With our armies set, I challenged Ian to a quick game at our local gaming club (shout out to Battlefield Hobbies).
Gollok’s Plan (Kruleboyz)
Da plan is ded simple, right! All we’z gotta do iz shoot dat big boat ov derz outta da sky. Den we goes and stikk da rest of da stunties before dey noes wot ‘it ’em,right! – Gollok Spleenchewa
I’m not going to lie. Seeing where Kharadron sits in the stats, I was dreading going up against the list Ian had in mind. With an Aether-Khemist, Arknonaut Company, Endrinriggers, and a frigging Frigate, my hopes are pinned on removing the Frigate early game and hoping that my army isn’t too badly damaged to then mop the rest of the Dwarfs up. Luckily, I do have a killbow, which could be ideal for taking on a multi wound model such as the Frigate.
Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Kruleboyz – Subfaction: Grinnin’ Blades
LEADERS Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof(Gollok Spleenchewa) (130)* – General – Command Traits: Slippery Skumbag – Artefacts of Power: Eye-biter Ash – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un
OTHER Man-skewer Boltboyz(Gollok’s Skewers) (120)* – Boltboy Boss
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 580/1000
Glory Points: 5 Quest: Tornado of Destruction Territory – Settlement
Khreld’s Strategy
Buck up, lads! My bones are tingling which means only one thing, a prize to be won! And all there is between us and the loot to be recovered is a rabble of greenskins. Lets pump them full of metal and grab our prize. Though we may need to wash the smell off it before we trade it in… – Khreld Thundergust
Going in to my first proper game of Sigmar I will admit I did not have high hopes. Peter is an experienced player who knows his army and has an idea of mine, whereas I am completely new and barely know my own. I know the Killbow needs to be avoided by my Frigate, and taken out quick, but otherwise I will just be seeing what works and what doesn’t.
Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords – Subfaction: Barak-Zilfin
LEADERS Aether-Khemist(Khreld Thundergust) (80)* – General – Command Traits: Cunning Fleetmaster – Artefacts of Power: Celestium Burst-Grenade
The Table with Deployment areas (Blue Kharadron, Red Kruleboyz)
We decided to play a standard battle plan, rolled on the tables in Season 2 to get Battle lines Drawn. So we would need to claim each table quarter. Ian had only four units to do so, but things weren’t much better for me with five!
Being a sneaky Orruk, I used all the tools in my arsenal and broke out the Dirty Tricks. With the recent Battlescroll update, I’m able to choose two of these. The first I chose Noisy Racket, which meant that the Kharadron would be -1 to wound against my units in the first battle round (which we promptly forgot!). I then chose Disappearin’ Act and rolled well to delay both the Endringriggers and the Arkonaut Company. This left just the Frigate and the Endrinmaster on the table. Ian, having the choice of priority elected to give me the first turn.
Kruleboyz Turn 1
Battle Tactic: Desecrate their Lands (Woods in centre)
Having the first turn, I moved and ran the hobgrots to secure the tactical woods in the centre of the table and also put them inside the lower left table quarter. The Rippaz followed them and took up position on the hill behind them while Gollok ran off up the right flank to secure that table quarter. Everything else I left still as a statue as they got ready to unleash all they had at the frigate. I got so excited about shooting my killbow at the frigate and carrying out Gollok’s genius plan, only for Ian to use Cunning Fleetmaster to move his Frigate to the other side of the hill, and out of reach! With his Aether-Khemist hiding out of sight of my Skewers, there wasn’t much else I could do this turn as Ian’s cleverness of giving the first turn to me became apparent.
Points Kruleboyz: 5 Kharadron: 0
Kharadron Turn 1
Battle Tactic: Opening Salvo
Ian, confident in his shooting (and why wouldn’t he be?), chose Opening Salvo as his battle tactic, meaning all he had to do was destroy one of my units in the shooting phase. He moved his frigate back across the hill near to the Hobgrots in the centre, along with his Aether-Khemist, once this had moved he bought on the other units I’d delayed through Disappearin’ Act and set them up around his Aether-Khemist.
Starting with the Khemist, he generated eight shots against the poor defenceless Grots in the centre. Luckily for me these all whiffed spectacularly (You’ll notice a trend emerge soon-Ian). He chose to shoot everything he had on the frigate at the grots as well, but unlucky rolls saw only four of the Hobgrots lifted from the table. The Arkanauts and Endrinriggers kill a further 2, meaning unfortunately for Ian, he was unable to achieve his battle tactic that turn.
With revenge against both his dice and the plucky Hobgrots in mind, the frigate charged into them killing three of them. This left just one alive, which thanks to Inspiring Presence decided to stick around.
Points Kruleboys: 5 Kharadron: 2
Kharadron Turn 2
Battle Tactic: Desecrate their Lands (Centre Woods)
Winning the priority and electing to go first this turn meant that Ian had the double, and the Kruleboyz were in serious trouble. Only needing to remove a single hobgrot, Ian wisely decided to try desecrate their lands and take the centre terrain feature away from my plucky hobgrot.
The Endrinriggers moved across the right to try and get into range of the Kruleboyz missile units while the Arkonauts moved to the south side of the northern hill and within range of the woods for the tactic.
Thinking it through, Ian designated three units for the target of his frigates attacks. The carbines at the hobgrot, the cannon at the Killbow and the skyhook at the Skewers. It didn’t take much to remove the Hobgrot and Ian knew his carbines on the frigate should be enough to do so, which they were. The poor hobgrot was transformed into a red mist giving Ian the objective. The cannon also did its job and left the Killbow as a mound of broken orruk and wood where it had previously sat. All eyes turned to the skewers, Ian rolled for the skyhook and…. missed! (Again…-Ian) However, it wasn’t over yet, the Endrinriggers and a few Arkonauts were still in range! Unfortunately Ian’s bad luck with his rolls returned and was only able to remove a single skewer and cause a wound on another.
With his forces having decimated mine with its shooting, Ian confidently charged his frigate into the Gutrippaz on the hill. Killing two of the Orruks and wounding another. The Gutrippaz replied in kind and with no less than 4 sixes on the to hit rolls, along with the other attacks the frigate suffered a mighty 10 wounds from the Rippaz. More was yet to come as we went into Kruleboyz turn 2.
Points Kruleboyz: 5 Kharadron: 7
Kruleboyz Turn 2
Battle Tactic: An Eye for an Eye
Seeing my opportunity, I chose the tactic, an eye for an eye, with the hope that the Gutrippaz would finish off the frigate in combat that turn.
Before that though, I gave Gollok‘His Finest Hour’ and used his mount trait Fast ‘Un to move him in the hero phase towards the juicy looking Endrinriggers, Arkonauts and Khemist. The movement phase saw him almost on top of the Endrinriggers, while the remainder of my skewers shuffled around to take a bead on the Endrinriggers and fish for those mortal wounds.
The shooting phase did not disappoint as the Skewers did enough damage to completely destroy the Endrinrigger unit. I chose to ignore the frigate, figuring that the Gutrippaz should have enough in their pocket to down it.
With the path to the Khemist and Arkonauts opened up Gollok let out a whoop of excitement as he and his doggo charged into Khemist and the surrounding Arkonauts. Using Unleash Hell, the Arkonauts managed to score 3 wounds on Gollok. Having the choice of first unit to fight, I didn’t want to risk the frigate killing enough Gutrippaz that meant I wouldn’t do enough damage back so I chose to go with these first. It was a formality as the 5 wounds were easy enough for the Gutrippaz to get through. The Khemist attacked Gollok but was unable to land a hit before his savage hound tore into the Khemist and left him for dead. The Arkonauts did what they could but were unable to get through the Gnashtoof’s tough hide.
Points Kruleboyz: 10 Kharadron: 7
At this point Ian conceded the game, with little options left to him and only the Arkanaut company on the table any threat to the Kruleboyz had been removed.
Kruleboyz – Post Battle Thoughts and Sequence
Part of me feels very bad for Ian, this was his first proper game of Age of Sigmar and with the Kharadron Overlords only for it to end at the bottom of turn 2.
Going into turn 2 after Ian’s clever ruse in the the first turn I thought the writing was on the wall for the Orruks. I envisioned Ian shooting me from distance I tried to close with him, this was compounded when he removed the killbow and a skewer, I was lucky to have two left. He then chose to charge the frigate, and this was what turned the tide. With the venom-encrusted weapons, Kruleboyz don’t care too much about your armour saves and this showed why. With 10 wounds in thee first round of combat and then finishing it off in the second it was easy meat for the boyz. If Ian had put his Arkonaut Company inside it however, it would have been entirely different!
I gained a total of 9 glory points from the game and 3 quest points. Meaning next time I can attempt to try and do the Tornado of Destruction battleplan. After their performance against the frigate it only seemed right to give the Gutrippaz the favoured warriors and the additional D6 renown, and this tipped them up into Veterans. I decided to give them the veteran ability Backstabbaz which will allow them to immediately fight after another unit in my army does so inthe fight phase. They did however have 1 casualty point, which would mean I’m starting the next game with only nine of them on the table potentially. All my other casualty rolls went well, apart from the Hobgrots wo suffered two. Deciding to keep the Well Spring I rolled for on the territory table and with 3 glory points remaining, I used these to purchase a Swampcalla Shaman for my small force.
GOLLOK’S SWAMPCRAWLERZ Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Kruleboyz – Subfaction: Grinnin’ Blades – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof (Gollok Spleenchewa) (130)* – General – 16 Renown – Command Traits: Slippery Skumbag – Artefacts of Power: Eye-biter Ash – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un Swampcalla Shaman (Grulb Da Mad) (100)* – Spell: Choking Mist
Well, that could have gone better. Yes, my rolls were against me in that first (and some of the second) shooting phase but that is all part of the game! I can pinpoint exactly where I went wrong, charging that Frigate in! I played with too much agression when, having the mobility, I could have out maneuvered Peter’s Orruks and pulled him out of position. Even used the Fly High command and repositioned my Frigate behind Peter’s weaker units. So, to sum up my learnings – use more commands, try putting my Company into the Frigate for a bigger impact (and better positioning), and don’t charge the unit that deals a lot of mortal wounds!
I gained 5 Glory Points from the game. I had to make casualty rolls for my Endrinriggers and my Aether-Khemist. The Aether-khemist I rolled a 1, which is death! Now that is a little harsh so I spent a Glory Point on a re-roll and ended up with no-effect. The Endrinriggers initially took a casualty point but I spent another Glory Point to reroll this (there are only three of them!) and got no effect. The Frigate rolled against the damage table from the Kharadron Battletome and also got no effect. Where were these good rolls during the game!
As for reknown, the Company gained 1 for surviving and the Frigate gained 2 as my nominated MVP which was a no-brainer. After all this I decided to add some Thunderers to my roster for 4 glory points, just to give me some more options and more boots on the ground.
Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords – Subfaction: Barak-Zilfin
LEADERS Aether-Khemist(Khreld Thundergust) (80)* – General – Command Traits: Cunning Fleetmaster – Artefacts of Power: Celestium Burst-Grenade
Dave and Ed have a game planned within the next couple of weeks. Then, the four of us will be meeting up for our second round of battles at the end of the month.
Ian, who is a recent addition to our team, is looking to get into Age of Sigmar. Coming from a 40k background he wanted a way to build up an army slowly and still get a few games in. We all suggested Path to Glory as there are a few of us in the area who can make it down to our local gaming club fairly regularly.
I’ve been itching to play Path to Glory for a little while, so I jumped at the chance! Hopfully, all being good, you should also see some articles from the others taking part; Ian, Dave and Ed.
What am I playing?
Kruleboyz…..
Yeah I know, I’m a sucker for punishment, but I can’t resist my green lads. I’m not expecting too much, but I’m going to use it as an opportunity to test some units you may not usually see in the competitive scene – after all this is just a friendly campaign.
Gollok Spleenchewa
My warlord for the campaign is one Gollok Spleenchewa, who is a Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof. I’ve given him Slippery Skumbag as his command trait, this’ll allow him to retreat and charge in the same turn meaning I’m always benefitting from the Savage Hound ability (add 1 to hit rolls for attacks made by this unit if this unit made a charge move in the same turn). I’ve also given them the mount trait Fast ‘Un, just to give them a little extra speed to get them into combat.
Gollok’s Rippaz
The main dudes, a unit of 10 Gutrippaz all with wicked stikka’s. Still a little pricey in my opinion at 150 points, but they have more staying power than the Hobgrots. Plus the recent boost to their Scare Taktikz (subtract 1 from hit rolls for attacks made with melee weapons by enemy units that are not Heroes or Monsters that target this unit) means they have a bit more sturdiness in combat than previously when it came down to a dice roll.
Gollok’s Grots
A unit of 10 Hobgrots, these dudes will be asked to capture the occasional objective, but will mainly act as a screen for the Skewers in the force.
Gollok’s Boltboyz
Noticed a theme in the names yet? Gollok isn’t the most imaginative of Orruks.
3 Man-Skewer Boltboyz to give some threat at range. Yes they’re made of paper, and yes it’s likely that all the other armies I’m facing will have decent shooting (Lumineth, Ogors and Kharadron). But, the ability to cause mortal wounds at range cannot be sniffed at, the only problem comes if they are sniffed at.. they’ll likely die.
Gollok’s Killbow
My first unit I’ve chosen that’s a little ‘out there’, I love the model and just want to see how it fairs against mainly the Kharadron and Ogors. It’s likely going to whiff a lot, but let’s see.
Gollok’s Swampcrawlerz
That brings me to 580 points and the vague possibility of a triumph in game, I chose Inspired for this. All of these units are wrapped up in the usual Grinnin’ Blades package which I considered a must considering the amount of shooting I could be facing off against. I also chose a Battle Regiment so that they could all be one dropped and give me the possibility of choosing whether I go first or second.
The First Quest
For the first Quest I chose to go with one in the Orruk Warclans book, Tornado of Destruction. Once I get 3 Quest Points, I’ll be able to play the Battleplan, Tornado of Destruction, and if I win I get to choose a unit from a rival warclan (Bonesplitterz or Ironjawz) to join my force.
Path to Glory for Orruks is incredibly fun since you can add rival Warclan units to your army as you progress. In a Vanguard force which we’re playing at 1 in 4 units can be a rival Warclan. As you progress this can increases to 1 in 2 and eventually as many as you want once you’ve built a mighty stronghold. The only question playing on my mind right now, is which unit would I choose to include?
I’m lucky in that almost all of the units I have in my force are painted. All I need to do is complete the Gnashtoof and I’m good to go. Best get cracking, I’ve got my first game against Ian next Wednesday!
With the release of the Dominion boxset last year, I picked up a few sets as I have some aspects of all the destruction armies. Unfortunately, Kruleboyz started off near the bottom of the rankings and haven’t moved since (argueably getting worse). There’s been a few successes but not enough to tempt me away from Big Waaagh and Gloomspite.
But with fewer tournaments on the horizon and a pressing need to paint something a little easier there was some good news for my Kruleboyz… or at least the Hobgrots – they had reached the top of the ‘to be painted’ pile!
Kruleboyz Hobgrots
My destruction armies are painted to go together so that meant only one thing – Blue! However I wanted to try something different so I decided to paint the skin of the Hobgrot units different colours – and Contrast colours gave me the ideal opportunity.
The colours I chose were Volupus Pink, Plaguebearer Flesh, and Iyanden Yellow… all over a white undercoat, over black. This has recently started to be called ‘Slap-Chop’ after the Honest Wargamer did a painting episode!
The Honest Wargamer – with a painting video!
Pictures
How do they play?
Well, unfortunately not well – but they are cheap. At 80 points for 10 they can serve as shields… but they are lacking synergies with the rest of the Kruleboyz list. No key word as the Orruks don’t trust them with poison so they don’t benefit from the allegiance abilities. It’s all a bit unfortunate and still definitely needs some work.
Woe Points and Hobby Bingo
This also contributes to two of the methods I’m trying to use to reduce the pile of shame or potential! Woe Points is -33 for these group and three squares of Hobby Bingo which I’ll ask Peter to update for me! If you want to be involved in either of these aides to clearing the pile of potential then join us on our Discord Channel.
Buying a Box
You could pick up a box of these chaps, but really you’re looking on ebay. There’s so many Dominon boxes and many were split up for selling – as such there’s lots of Hobgrots available.
