Back in June I went to Board Game Expo in Birmingham and picked up the limited edition Swampcalla Shaman from Games Workshop. Sometimes it can take a while for a model to reach the top of the painting pile, but eventually he’s made it! Mugruk Da Watcha is finished.
Swampcalla Shaman painted by Declan
And he even has a back!
He’s a nice little model and very in keeping with the Kruleboyz ascetic. I have painted him in my Destruction colour scheme and basing, which is simple but (I think) effective. Although the later models do have more tufts on them as I think they look better this way! However I do have one problem with the kit:
Games Workshop / Wahapedia
Where is the little chap’s backup Pot Grot? I understand that GW don’t want the limited edition model to have special rules and this is a good thing but it’s a shame he can’t be used with a model from the existing kit.
Otherwise I enjoyed painting him and glad he’s available to play with now.
Woehammer Winner: The Power of the Waaagh! is the undisputed champion in this slot and is one of the reasons that Big Waaagh! army that is Ironjawz + Wurrgog is arguably stronger that pure Ironjawz. At eight different points in a battle round, your army can earn Waaagh! points:
D6pts at the start of your hero phase
2pts at the start of your hero phase if a friendly Warchanter is on the battlefield
1pt at the start of your hero phase if a friendly Bonesplitterz Wizard (i.e. probably a Wurrgog Prophet) is on the battlefield
1-5pts as a heroic action in your hero phase
1pt in your charge phase for each friendly Orruk unit that finishes a charge move
1pt at the end of your combat phase for each friendly Orruk unit that is within 3” of an enemy unit
1-5pts as a heroic action in your opponent’s hero phase
1pt at the end of your combat phase for each friendly Orruk unit that is within 3” of an enemy unit
Arguably I’ve duplicated those last two, but I think it’s worth it to point out that if you lean into it, the points can mount up quickly. As for what you get for these points, they start at 8pts for +1 to run rolls; 10pts for +1 to charge rolls; 12pts for +1 to cast, dispel and unbind; 16pts for +1 to hit in melee; 20pts for +1 to wound. And here’s the magic: they are cumulative, so you get ALL the buffs at 20pts. At 24pts, you can release the Power of the Waaagh! which you should NEVER IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DO! The reason for this is that your Waaagh! points revert to zero for the pathetic buff of +1 to attacks characteristics for ONE combat phase. Hitting and wounding on 2s is better than having one extra attack that hits and wounds on 3s. In addition, there is a battle tactic that requires you to have at least 24 Waaagh! points at the start of the turn and then have at least 30 by the end of the turn. If you release the Power of the Waaagh!, you give away one of the easiest, if not the easiest battle tactic in Age of Sigmar.
Honourable Mention: Although you don’t get the full benefits from each sub-faction when you include them as part of Big Waaagh!, you do get some of the juicy rules with Kunnin’, Brutal and Savage. Namely, you get Venom Encrusted Weapons for any Kruleboyz units (see Part 1 for more details); Mighty Destroyers for any Ironjawz units (see Part 2 for more details); Warpaint for any Bonesplitterz units (6+ Ward). This helps to give a little extra flavour and efficiency to each of these units, which is important as…
Warclans
…you don’t get any! The point of Big Waaagh! is that all the Orruks come together from many Warclans so there aren’t any rules for separate Warclans.
Command Traits
Woehammer Winner: There are lots of command traits available for your Big Waaagh! general, but it does depend on which sub-faction (Kruleboyz, Ironjawz or Bonesplitterz) your general comes from. Who your general is probably depends on what else your army is trying to do, so there are a few ways you could go here. Assuming that we’re going with either an Ironjawz Warchanter or even a Megaboss on Mawkrusha, Touched by the Waaagh! not only has Waaagh! in the name (so it must be good), but also allows an Ironjawz Wizard (thanks Arcane Tome!) to do D3 wounds to a unit within 6” of itself and add that to the cast roll. Once you’ve got to 12 Waaagh! points then that’s D3+1, allowing a relatively straightforward cast of your key spell: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork.
Honourable Mention: Maybe you have Chronomantic Cogs to help with spells going off or maybe you want to go full aggro, but an honourable mention is Supa Sneaky from the Kruleboyz part of the tome, probably put on a Mirebrute Troggoth with Fast ‘Un. Just as with Kruleboyz, this means you can put this very angry trog 9” away from the enemy and then move them 5” forward for an almost guaranteed charge. You can potentially combo this with Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork and Mighty Destroyers to start movement phase one with the Mirebrute and six Gore Gruntas 4” or less from your opponent’s front lines, possibly with a Mawkrusha about to move an extra 12” to be able to absolutely decimate your enemy. The caveat with this combo is Big Waaagh! lists often want to have multiple artefacts and/or mount traits so you may not have the option of who goes first, which puts your general at a disadvantage if you do Supa Sneaky him. However, if you stick with just one artefact (Glowin’ Tattooz), take a Weirdnob Shaman for Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork in place of Arcane Tome and the other options listed above, you can get to a double battle regiment, two-drop list.
Artefacts
Woehammer Winner: If you’re taking the Wurrgog then you need to take Glowin’ Tattooz to improve the Ward save of a hero to 4+ instead of 6+. For your opponent, this takes the Wurrgog Prophet from a threat to an absolute nightmare to get within 12” of, knowing that it can kill absolutely anything in the game.
Honourable Mention: Almost every Big Waaagh! list will feature Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork and almost none of them will feature a Weirdnob Shaman to cast it. Instead, the Arcane Tome fills in, allowing a Warchanter or Megaboss to ping any Orruk unit (i.e. not just Ironjawz) 9” away from the enemy.
Mount Traits
Woehammer Winner: By this point, you can probably guess what’s coming…that’s right, it’s Fast ‘Un! One of the reasons for going Big Waaagh! vs. Ironjawz is to be able to take the Wurrgog Prophet, but almost as compelling is the ability to take the Breakaboss on Mirebrute Troggoth. And as Glowin’ Tattooz is practically compulsory on a Prophet, Fast ‘Un is practically compulsory on a Mirebrute. It’s obviously also amazing on a Mawkrusha and even a Sludgeraker as a budget version of the Mawkrusha.
Honourable Mention: As command traits are at an absolute premium and you won’t be taking Hulking Brute over the options above, the next best option is Smelly ‘Un for that extra survivability on (likely) your Mawkrusha. With a 3+ save base, add in -1 to hit when not charging, +1 to saves from Their Finest Hour, All out Defence for an extra +1 and even Mystic Shield, that Mawkrusha is not going down short of getting in trouble with Kragnos and it will hit back tremendously hard, possibly clearing the unit that had the temerity of attacking it, ready to move on to some fresh victims!
Spell Lore
Woehammer Winner: It has been mentioned several times already, but Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork is the first spell that should be on your army list. Mawkrushas and Gore Gruntas are relatively quick without it, but practically everything else you’ll be taking in Big Waaagh is slow. Add in the combination explained in Part 2 of these reviews where you Hand of Gork Gore Gruntas 12.1” away from an enemy and then Mighty Destroyers it 9” in the hero phase, circumventing Redeploy, then you’ve got a winning combo. It also works on anything with the Orruk keyword, not just Ironjawz, so throw those Boltboyz in danger-close or even some Big Stabbas.
Honourable Mention: There is a very strong case for Nasty Hex taking this slot, particularly in the current meta with lots of ghosts and gross flies wafting around the place. But you do need to either take a Swampcalla Shaman to access it or put the Arcane Tome on a Kruleboyz character. It is much more likely that you’re going to have access to a Bonesplitterz wizard as the Wurrgog is also a wizard when there’s nothing to stare to death within 12” at the start of the hero phase. The spell you’d go for in this case, would probably be Gorkamorka’s War Cry in order to make an enemy unit fight at the end of the phase. Losing out on the Kruleboyz Waaagh! and Smashing and Bashing means that the fight phase is not in your control as you would ideally like. War Cry goes some way to redressing this balance in the favour of the Orruk player.
Grand Strategies
Woehammer Winner: Applying the same logic as I did with the Command Traits, then Waaagh! has to be the option here and it’s definitely worth considering if your general is a Mawkrusha and/or you have taken a big unit of Brutes that can be dropped in by Gork. In almost all games, your Mawkrusha (if you take one) will be wanting to do work in your opponent’s territory and even on foot, Brutes (or even 15 Ardboyz) should be able to make it across the battlefield in five turns!
Honourable Mention: With the manoeuvrability of Big Waaagh! then an honourable mention is No Place for the Weak, particularly if you have included either a Warlord or Command Entourage battalion because then you’re not winning the drop game and you may as well also make the Gore Gruntas you take (and you will want at least six) to be bounty hunters. With a Warchanter buff on them, that’s 3 damage vs. Galletian Veterans, making those battleline units disappear very quickly. Alternatively, if you’re playing a bit more cagey in the first couple of turns with a Mawkrusha, then by turn three, anything that is a genuine threat to your big angry cabbage might already be dead, allowing him to roam the board, chewing up and spitting out any battleline he can find.
Battle Tactics
Woehammer Winner: As alluded to earlier, Big Waaagh! have a book battle tactic that is ridiculously easy to pull off with Wait For It, Ladz. You need to fulfil the following to conditions: have at least 24 Waaagh! points at the start of the turn; have at least 30 Waaagh! points at the end of the turn. It is very likely that you will be at 24 Waaagh! points by the start of battle round 4 and it’s practically guaranteed to be there by battle round 5. If you ever start a battle round with 30 Waaagh! points, then it’s already scored…even if you are tabled!
Honourable Mention: With Wait For It Ladz being our likely turn 5 battle tactic, Barge Through Enemy Lines is a great choice for turn 4 as Big Waaagh! is a melee-centric faction with the buffs from the Power of the Waaagh. Therefore you probably have one Galletian Veterans unit relatively close to enemy territory by this turn and a sneaky Hand of Gork could pop another one in, scoring not only the battle tactic, but the bonus point too.
Warscrolls
Woehammer Winner: The core of your Big Waaagh! list will most likely be Ironjawz as they have the best battleline and Gore Gruntas are great. The warscrolls we’re going to focus on are the two warscrolls that are the most common non-Ironjawz units chosen: Wurrgog Prophet and Breakaboss on Mirebrute Troggoth. Please check out Part 3 of the Orruk Warclans book for more information about what the Wurrgog does and why he’s so fun, but I’m going to give you an example of what he can do with Big Waaagh! If you also have a Mawkrusha in your list, then it is a high-value target that your opponent will want to take out, but sufficiently tanky that something quite substantial needs to be committed to remove it from the board. If you have a Wurrgog Prophet within 12” of your Mawkrusha, your opponent can still charge, but then you’re perfectly placed to ‘Hard Stare’ that unit out of existence if they succeed with the Mawkrusha. You could even point this out to your opponent to check to see if they really want to take that risk. If they choose not to charge, you win. If they choose to charge and the Mawkrusha destroys them, you win. If the Mawkrusha dies, then you win as you then get to play ‘Whose head will blow up first?’, which is fun whichever head pops first! Just don’t try this with Morathi as she ruins all our fun.
Honourable Mention: The other unit is the Breakaboss on Mirebrute Troggoth. You’re not going to find a much more efficient way of delivering up to five damage 2 attacks and ten (!) damage 3 attacks than the Mirebrute. With the Supa Sneaky or Hand of Gork + Fast ‘Un combo, you’re almost guaranteed to get into combat and then he can do some severe damage. In your opponent’s turn, popping Their Finest Hour and All out Defence can make him hang around longer than he really should and if (when) he dies, who cares! He was only 180pts and he probably wiped a fairly premium unit and held your opponent up a turn while potentially a Mawkrusha and Gore Gruntas hammered the other flank.
Final Thoughts
Big Waaagh! is what you choose if you like Ironjawz, but want a few more techy options; or if you like Kruleboyz but want to be a bit tougher and faster; or if you like Bonesplitterz but fancy having a big monster run around the place. It’s also a really fun army from a hobby perspective as you can take all these disparate sculpts and bring them together as a cohesive whole with which to stomp the enemy with. It’s also quite a rare army to see out in the wild, so if you have a few Ironjawz, half a Dominion box and some Savage Orcs from Warhammer Fantasy Battle, then maybe give them a try.
This is the last part of the Orruk Warclans Battletome Review. Is there anything that we missed? Any combos not mentioned? Are any of our choices just plain wrong?! Please leave a comment below, in the Woehammer Discord or even contact me at @yeliabnoreik on Twitter. There’s just one thing left to say and that’s: WAAAGH!
Peter: Kieron has had parts 1 through 4 written for a good while now and it’s only my own schedule that’s prevented me from posting these for him. For those who enjoyed Part 1: Kruleboyz and have been waiting for the others, I can only apologise. Part 3: Bonesplitterz will be posted this time next week. With the final part: Big Waaagh! Coming a week later. If you want to read them earlier they’ll be available on our Patreon site
Allegiance Abilities
Woehammer Winner: How can Ironjawz reliably get three turn 1 charges off, even when their opponent is hiding back in their territory? The defining battle trait Mighty Destroyers is the answer. This amazing ability allows a unit that receives this command to make a normal move if they are outside of 12” of an enemy; attempt a charge if they are within 12” of an enemy unit; or pile in 3” if already in engagement range. Combine that with a Megaboss on Mawkrusha, who can issue the command to three different units and you could have two units of Gore Gruntas moving 18” and then charging. That is to say nothing of the Mawkrusha itself who can also receive the command, moving 12” due to Mighty Destroyers, 12” if they have the Fast ‘Un mount trait followed by a move of 12” and then a charge of up to 12”! Just a casual 48” threat range then on this monster! If your opponent doesn’t screen well, the heart of their army can be ripped out before they can respond, especially when considering…
Honourable Mention: …Smashing and Bashing. This ability means that if the first unit activated in the combat phase kills and enemy unit, instead of your opponent being able to hit back, you choose a second unit to activate. If that unit wipes out an enemy, the Ironjawz fight again and so on until either there are no units in combat or an enemy is not destroyed. Combined with Mighty Destroyers, it is not unusual for an army facing the Ironjawz to be at least three units down while doing no damage in return AND to be pinned in their own territory.
Warclans
Woehammer Winner: This is incredibly close and depends what sort of army composition you are planning. If you want to lean into speed and mobility while avoiding fielding any Galletian Veterans then you are probably wanting to take Gore Gruntas as battleline and Bloodtoofs lets you do that. In addition, if a Gore Gruntas unit is still in engagement range at the end of the combat phase then they can pile in an additional 3”. Even better is that Gore Gruntas that fought but are not within engagement range can either make a normal move or attempt a charge, further increasing the range of these now turbo-charged pigs who may have moved 9” in the hero phase, 9” in the movement phase, 12” in the charge phase, piled in 3” and then charged an additional 12” for a mindboggling 45” or five times the movement characteristic on their Warscroll.
Honourable Mention: If you are looking to include mostly Ardboyz and Brutes in your army, then Ironsunz is probably the one you want to go for. Their clan trait is that you can charge at the end of your opponent’s charge phase as long as you are not already engaged in combat. Nurgle players know and love this ability (called Blightkrieg on The Glottkin’s Warscroll) but Ironjawz had it first and it’s free for all units to use, including your Mawkrusha. With Ardboyz and Brutes moving a frankly sedentary 4” each, anything that can give them extra movement is helpful, so having twice the number of charge phases helps get your Orruks across the board and where they want to be: in combat.
Command Traits
Woehammer Winner: Whereas Kruleboyz players probably want to take at least two if not all three of their versions, the Ironjawz ones are somewhat lacklustre in comparison. The winner is definitely Mighty Waaagh! Leader, which allows you to re-reroll charges for Ironjawz that are wholly within 12”, which is quite big area once you factor in the Mawkrusha’s huge base. With the Waaagh adding 1 to charges and adding a much needed pip of rend to weapons, the last thing you want it for charges to fall short and for this once per battle ability to have gone to waste.
Honourable Mention: There is a possible combo with the Arcane Tome as an artefact and either Touched by the Weird and Master of Magic to help a spell (Hand of Gork – see below) be cast, but I’m going to stick within the book for this one and go with Hulking Brute. Hulking Brute adds D3 mortal wounds once the general has completed a charge on a 2+ to one enemy unit. While not incredibly inspiring on its own, if the general on Mawkrusha also takes Mean ‘Un as a mount trait, then Stomp goes to D6 instead of D3 and there are no more pesky Hunters of the Heartlands left to stop you! Add in the Warscroll ability Destructive Bulk and not only are another 3 mortal wounds (at top bracket) added to the damage, but if a unit is then destroyed, the Mawkrusha can immediately pile in D6” and Stomp again for another D6+3 mortal wounds. Add in the impact hits from Gore Gruntas who are probably fighting alongside the Mawkrusha, ten wound screens are at serious risk of just making charges shorter and not actually achieving any screening at all.
Artefacts
Woehammer Winner: As mentioned above, there is a combo with Arcane Tome available, but I’m going to stick to the Ironjawz Artefacts of Power here with Armour of Gork being the winner of the three. Armour of Gork gives a 6+ ward and adds 1 to hit rolls, but with a penalty of 2” from the model’s movement characteristic. On a Megaboss on foot this results in a hilariously bad 2” move, but on the Mawkrusha, that’s still a 10” move that can get up to 20” once per battle with Fast ‘Un. A 6+ ward also makes the Megaboss effectively 21 wounds rather than 18 and offers some measure of protection against mortal wound spells and shooting.
Honourable Mention: A close second and probably the one you’d give to a Megaboss on foot (though see why this might be different for Big Waaagh in Part 4) is Destroyer for a once per battle +3 damage to the bearer’s melee weapons. Combine with the Warchanter’s +1 damage buff for between seven and eight 6 damage attacks depending on which flavour of Megaboss is carrying this artefact.
Mount Traits
Woehammer Winner: To give the option of a first turn angry Orruk cabbage charge, there can only be one: Fast ‘Un. The base that the Mawkrusha sits on is huge and while this can be a good thing, it can also make manoeuvring difficult, meaning that an extra move can be really helpful to get in exactly the right place for that charge, be it on the first turn or not. It’s also a great combo with Armour of Gork to offset the movement penalty that comes with this artefact.
Honourable Mention: As referenced above, taking Mean ‘Un can maximise the damage done on the charge and through stomps by your Mawkrusha, making it your second choice. Double Mawkrusha lists have taken down many events in the past (and have done so even in 2022-23 Season 1) so Mean ‘Un could be a choice for a second mount trait if you go down the Warlord/Command Entourage Battalion route. Then you need to ask whether the D6 damage vs. D3 damage on the Stomp every turn is worth more than Destroyer as a second artefact? Probably not, but it’s quite a fun option.
Spell Lore
Woehammer Winner: If you are not using herds of Gore Gruntas and Mawkrushas to get across the board, then the mobility of your foot troops is one of the biggest challenges as an Ironjawz general. Step up Da Great Big Hand of Gork to solve all those problems. For a mere casting value of 7, a unit that is not in combat and is wholly within 12” can be redeployed any where on the battlefield 9” from the enemy, but cannot move in the following movement phase. At this point, if Gork is throwing Brutes across the board, you can then Mighty Destroyers the Brutes to get them to attempt a 9” charge, with another two attempts possible in the charge phase if you don’t make it first time. However, if you want to channel that other Orruk god, Mork and be cunningly brutal, you can use Da Great Big Hand of Gork on a unit of Gore Gruntas and then place them outside of 12” (that is, 12.1” away). When Mighty Destroyers in then used, they can make their normal move of 9”, ending up with a 3” charge away from the enemy, getting around the restriction on moving after using Hand of Gork as it’s out of phase and preventing enemy redeploys for the same reason. (You could use the same trick with Brutes too, especially if you plan on calling the Waaagh that turn to get +1 to charge rolls in the charge phase, making it effectively a 7” charge.)
Honourable Mention: While Foot of Gork is hilarious, potentially causing enough wounds to one-shot a fully tricked out Gargant, second place goes to Bash ‘Em Ladz! It is quite tricky to get off, with a casting value of 8, but Touched by the Waaagh! can help with that and it gives a buff of +1 to wound for ALL Ironjawz units wholly within 16” of the caster. Bonuses to hit are fairly commonplace, but there’s a reason that Inspired is the best Triumph you can pick – often there’s no other way to get this buff. Now imagine this on a Mawkrusha and two units of 6 Gore Gruntas…Destruction Grand Alliance indeed!
Grand Strategies
Woehammer Winner: More so than with Kruleboyz, Waaagh is a fantastic Grand Strategy for Ironjawz by virtue of the fact that your general is probably flying around the place and looking to stomp enemies in their own territory anyway and, if you chose the Bloodtoofs Warclan, then a single Gore Grunta can score this for you.
Honourable Mention: For the second choice, if you are going GHB only, the Ironjawz best pick is the opposite to Kruleboyz with Take What’s Theirs as your whole battleplan involves getting right in your opponent’s face and killing their army in their own territory and this Grand Strategy plays right into these strengths.
Battle Tactics
Woehammer Winner: Continuing the theme of Battle Tactics with interesting spellings (or should that be spellinz?), Ironjawz have access to Squish Da Puny Gitz. There needs to be at least one Battleline unit left on the battlefield and there needs to be none left at the end of the turn. With the amount of output possible from Ironjawz, particularly Bounty Hunter Gore Gruntas doing up to 3 damage per attack against Galletian Veterans, this should a fairly straightforward one to get.
Honourable Mention: With such an absolute beat-stick as a Megaboss on Mawkrusha as your general, This One’s Mine is a total no-brainer. Find it. Kill it. Score points. ‘Nuff said.
Warscrolls
Woehammer Winner: This unit has been mentioned repeatedly throughout this review, so it has to be the Megaboss on Mawkrusha. Not only does he allow three uses of Mighty Destroyer a turn and have a huge base for sharing this command and other buffs (e.g. re-reroll charges), but he can be absolutely devastating in combat too. With the Warchanter buff and if the Destroyer relic is taken, he should do between 5-10 mortal wounds before even fighting and then, with All out Attack and Finest Hour (aka Best Day Ever) and the Ironjawz Waaagh, seven attacks that hit and wounds on 2+ at Rend -2 for 6 damage each followed by eight attacks from his mount that hit and wound on 2+ at Rend -3 with the Waaagh for 3 damage each. Add all those up and it’s a potential of 70+ wounds in a single combat from a unit that may have started over 50” away from you. You can close your jaw now.
Honourable Mention: A very important unit to Ironjawz is the Warchanter, but based on a lot of the combos discussed so far, I’m going to go for Gore Gruntas. They’re significantly faster than other troop options available and movement is absolutely key to this edition of AoS. They also hit pretty hard – not quite Fulminator hard – but plenty hard enough to clean up Battleline in short order and push more elite units too, particularly with the chip mortal wound damage they can do to help make any attack back pretty inconsequential.
Final Thoughts
Ironjawz are a really fun army and a pretty good first army to pick up as they’re relatively forgiving with their tough armour and relatively straightforward gameplay, resulting in quite a high skill floor for new players. There is still plenty of nuance in this army though, with Mork-like sneaky plays with Mighty Destroyers and the Hand of Gork and just because you can charge everything turn 1, it doesn’t mean that you should. Jiwan Noah Singh is a great American Ironjawz player who can be found on streams playing a more considered approach. The thinking being that if you can hold the Mawkrusha back a couple of turns then by the time it is committed, there’s nothing left that can meaningfully threaten it, allowing it to rampage around the board, destroying all it touches. Next up will be Part 3 of 4 of the Orruks book, the weird cousins of both Kruleboyz and Ironjawz that live on a commune to be in touch with nature, usually touching them with a massive stone spear: Bonesplitters.
I have had a hell of a year under GHB21 and whilst I’m sad to see it go it’ll be great to see what a new season has in store. At some point I should probably read GHB22!
As part of the seasons Ziggy and the TSportsStatsCentre ran a ‘Best in Faction’ competition within the stats. And it was close at the top… of Big Waaagh!
TSportsNetwork / TSportsStatCentre
And I just sneaked it ahead of Mike & Alex. It was a close competition between us with Quest of Champions almost ruining my chances (1-4), but the 2 games at the Champions (UK) event got me a few more points than Mike! It’s been great fun sharing the competition for top of a faction and I’m glad we all got to meet and chat near the end of the season.
I’m sure they’ll both be back for revenge in GHB22, and hope that others have been inspired to try some Big Waaagh themselves. There’s only so many times we can stare our enemies to death with a Wurgogg, smash them with Maw Krushas or kill Wizards with Gobsprakk. But it’s the variety that makes this allegiance such fun to play!
And in the tradition of US TV Clip Shows the world over here are some of my Big Waaagh articles from the last year:
Dazmaul Tournament My first 5-0 result! As well as reading about it here, you can find my last game on Hobby Room! and see what other armies were there with our Top Three.
Chumpionship My first 3-0 result! A great little event put on by Rhys.
But that’s enough clip show nonsense for now. Hope you’ve enjoyed following me on my journey and hopefully the GHB22 will be as much fun as the GHB21 one! Now where is that book?!
— Declan
Just a quick Postscript – we’ve started a Patreon page for the site to help pay the hosting costs. No benefits yet, so we’ve started it at just £1 a month if you like what we write. If it goes well, we may expand the offerings on it. However, you can also support us by reading our articles, telling your mates and posting on social media. Cheers and have a great new GHB season.
Those who have been following Peter’s Kruleboyz army will already know about the Gutrippaz and what they can do.
When Peter asked for my help to paint a few Bolt Boyz I followed straight on with a unit of Gutrippaz from Dominion.
10 Dominion Kruleboyz Gutrippaz
Unfortunately, they are not the best unit at the moment, due to their high points cost, but the warscroll definitely has potential. Hopefully they’ll get a point reduction in the new General Handbook due this summer.
Closeup!
I have used my regular red & blue scheme which is common across all my Destruction forces. The blue on the shoulder pad is Nihilakh Oxide which I use frequently – it’s especially good for Destruction armies where I see their weapons as being old and reused from previous owners.
Another Closeup
And the red scareshields to cause -1 to hit for opponents!… hopefully.
So, I’m waiting for the GHB update to see if these get a points decrease… especially as I have loads of them from mutiple Dominion sets!
I thought some may be interested in seeing my completed army to date. All of this has been painted in the first four months of 2022 apart from the Gutippaz which were finished in December.
Before I begin, I wanted to clarify that when I discuss anything that involves a dice roll then I will refer to the average dice roll. For example, an average run roll being 3-4″ (average of 3.5 on one die).
This does mean that depending on how lucky your dice rolls are you can achieve more or less than the amount specified. But to keep it simple and for comparison purposes we will always refer to the average.
This is your cheapest Leader option which can still benefit from the Kruleboyz command traits. This option rarely sees play time over the bigger monsters you have available in the list such as Snatchaboss on SludgerakerBeast or Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth.
Though he could still have a role to play. As he’s cheap at 110 points but has a fairly decent damage output he can be used to weaken or remove smaller units by himself or combined with another unit such as Gutrippaz to destroy units. He can also use his All Part of Da Plan to stop them fleeing in battleshock.
in fact having him equipped with a hacks and shield accompanied by a large group of Gutrippaz (20+) is probably what he’s best used for. He can accompany the Gutrippaz ensuring any battleshock tests are passed at the loss of a single model of needed. While in combat he can add a little extra kick to your offensive capabilities.
But, he’d be a last choice on your army list to fill out points and if you have that many points left you’re probably better off getting a Swampcalla or even a unit of Hobgrots!
Combinations
Grinin’ Blades’ Out of Da Mists applies to the this unit, meaning shooting attacks cannot affect this unit on the first turn as long as it remains beyond 12″ of an enemy unit.
Crawly Swarm the Skullbugz allegiance ability will mean that potentially the unit can have units attacking it at -1 to hit. This only applies if an enemy is within 3″.
The Supa Sneaky command trait can also be used on this unit to move them up the battlefield at the beginning of the battle to claim objectives or place them almost within charge range of a juicy target.
As this is a Kruleboyz Orruk unit they’ll benefit from Venom-encrusted Weapons meaning that to hit rolls of 6 are treated as mortal wounds.
This can be further enhanced when near either the Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast or Swampboss Skumdrekk who can add 1 to the number of mortal wounds caused on a 6 via their ability Sludgeraker Venom.
Speaking of their Venom-encrusted Weapons, these can be buffed by the Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-Grot who can grant them Poison, this would mean they cause mortal wounds on 5 or 6. Bear in mind that the previously mentioned Sludgeraker Venom doesn’t work on rolls of 5 in this case and still only applies to the hit rolls of 6.
The Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-Grot can also grant an Elixir which will add +1 to its save.
This unit can benefit from the Kruleboyz Waaagh meaning they get to fight immediately after your General in the combat phase.
Another option is to have them near a Marshcrawla Sloggoth to take advantage of its Krew Drummer ability giving them +1 to hit in melee.
This unit can use Dirty Tricks: Covered in Mud at the start of the game. Though you’d probably be better off using this on your shooting units that you don’t want picked off at range.
Summon Boggy Mist spell can add 1 to this units charge rolls.
You can also use the Murknob with Belcha-banna‘s ability Power of Kragnos to give this unit a 5+ ward save against the effects of spells or Endless Spells.
The Rogue Idol will add 1 to this units Bravery.
Missile Attacks
This unit has no missile attacks.
Melee Attacks
This model has two options for its load out, you can either equip it with a Boss-hacka and Rusting Flail or, Boss-hacka and Skareshield. This either makes them fairly jolly or very tanky depending on what you want.
Attack
Av Threat Range
# of Attacks
Av # of Hits
Av # of Wounds
Damage Output (Pre-save)
Boss-hacka
12″
4
2.0 +1mw
1.3 +1mw
2.6 +1mw
Rusting Flail
12″
2
1.3
0.9
0.9
Prized Shiv
12″
3
1.5
0.8
0.8
Based on average dice rolls
Looking at the damage after saves:
Save
Boss-hacka Unsaved Damage
Rusting Flail Unsaved Damage
Prized Shiv Unsaved Damage
–
2.6 +1mw
0.9
0.8
6+
2.6 +1mw
0.9
0.7
5+
2.2 +1mw
0.8
0.5
4+
1.7 +1mw
0.6
0.4
3+
1.3 +1mw
0.5
0.3
Amount of damage after saves based on average dice rolls
The chance of this units charge connecting:
Distance
Chance
8″
97%
9″
92%
10″
83%
11″
72%
12″
58%
13″
42%
14″
28%
15″
17%
16″
8%
17″
3%
Chance of making a charge (including movement)
Resilience
This fella is fairly tough even before swapping his flail for a shield. With six wounds and a 4+ save, your opponent will need on average 12 damage with zero rend weapons to be delivered BEFORE and saves are made to have a chance of dropping him. When you swap the flail to a Skareshield this increases to 1 damage before saves.
Before I begin, I wanted to clarify that when I discuss anything that involves a dice roll then I will refer to the average dice roll. For example, an average run roll being 3-4″ (average of 3.5 on one die).
This does mean that depending on how lucky your dice rolls are you can achieve more or less than the amount specified. But to keep it simple and for comparison purposes we will always refer to the average.
Swampcalla Shamans appear in almost all Kruleboyz tournament armies due to their abilities to buff nearby units with either Poison (Mortals on 5 and 6’s to hit instead of just 6’s) or Elixir (+1 to save rolls). One option is to park them near your missile units constantly giving them Poison while.
Using Poison or Elixir does mean that you won’t be able to cast however, so bear that in mind.
The Spells aren’t too bad either, Choking Mist can be cast up to 24″ and any units within 6″ (friend of foe) have their attacks characteristics reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 1) and they cannot run. Or Nasty Hex which remove a target units ability to use ward save.
Sneaky Miasma is great for getting your monsters into combat quicker (especially your Sludgeraker Beasts which are surprisingly good in combat) as it allows them to make a normal move in the hero phase. Keep in mind however that Sneaky Miasma does not work on the Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth as it is not classed as a Monster.
Da Black Pit will see you rolling a dice for each enemy model in a unit and for each 6 or roll that is greater than that units armour save characteristic they’ll suffer 1 mortal wound.
But, keep these guys out of combat and constantly giving units Poison.
Combinations
Grinin’ Blades’ Out of Da Mists applies to this unit as well, meaning shooting attacks cannot affect this unit on the first turn as long as it remains beyond 12″ of an enemy unit.
Crawly Swarm the Skullbugz allegiance ability will mean that potentially the unit can have units attacking it at -1 to hit. This only applies if an enemy is within 3″.
Generals with the Egomaniak command trait can offload their wounds on a 4+ to this unit.
The Supa Sneaky command trait can also be used to move them up the battlefield at the beginning of the battle to claim objectives or within range of a unit to cast a spell.
As this is a Kruleboyz Orruk unit they’ll benefit from Venom-encrusted Weapons meaning that to hit rolls of 6 are treated as mortal wounds.
This can be further enhanced when near either the Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast or Swampboss Skumdrekk who can add 1 to the number of mortal wounds caused on a 6 via their ability Sludgeraker Venom.
Speaking of their Venom-encrusted Weapons, these can be buffed by the use of its own Poison, this would mean they cause mortal wounds on 5 or 6. Bear in mind that the previously mentioned Sludgeraker Venom doesn’t work on rolls of 5 in this case and still only applies to the hit rolls of 6.
The Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-Grot can also take advantage of its Elixir which will add +1 to its save. .
This unit can benefit from the Kruleboyz Waaagh meaning they get to fight immediately after you General in the combat phase.
Another option is to have them near a Marshcrawla Sloggoth to take advantage of its Krew Drummer ability giving them +1 to hit in melee. Though with its low damage output, this probably isn’t wise.
Can use Dirty Tricks: Covered in Mud at the start of the game. Though you’d probably be better off using this on your shooting units that you don’t want picked off at range.
Summon Boggy Mist spell can add 1 to their charge rolls.
You can also use the Murknob with Belcha-banna‘s ability Power of Kragnos to give this unit a 5+ ward save against the effects of spells or Endless Spells.
The Rogue Idol will add 1 to this units Bravery.
The Rogue Idol will also give the Swampcalla Shaman +1 to their casting rolls while within 6″.
Missile Attacks
This unit has no missile attacks.
Melee Attacks
Rend -1 attacks with a fairly standard threat range of 12″ (movement + charge). The Shaman also benefits from the Pot-Grot’s Back-up Stabba. But let’s be honest, his damage output isn’t something to write home about.
Attack
Threat Range
# of Attacks
Av # of Hits
Av # of Wounds
Damage Output (Pre-save)
Bogbark Staff
12″
2
1.3
0.9
1.8
Back-up Stabba
12″
2
1.0
0.5
0.5
Based on average dice rolls
Looking at the damage after saves:
Save
Bogbark Staff
Back-up Stabba
–
1.8
0.5
6+
1.8
0.4
5+
1.5
0.3
4+
1.2
0.3
3+
0.9
0.2
Amount of damage after saves based on average dice rolls
Resilience
The Shaman is 6 wounds with a 5+ save.
To destroy this unit with weapons that have no rend you’ll need to score on average 9 hits before any saves are made.
Before I begin, I wanted to clarify that when I discuss anything that involves a dice roll then I will refer to the average dice roll. For example, an average run roll being 3-4″ (average of 3.5 on one die).
This does mean that depending on how lucky your dice rolls are you can achieve more or less than the amount specified. But to keep it simple and for comparison purposes we will always refer to the average.
Gutrippaz are the main battleline of the Kruleboyz faction. In the current meta many players opt to play as Big Yellers and so Man-Skewers are used in place of these usually, with possibly only a single Gutrippaz unit appearing in the army.
They can kick out quite a few mortal wounds especially when buffed by Sludgeraker Venom and Poison from the Swampcalla Shaman. Buffed with these they can cause on average 7 mortal wounds totalling 7 damage as well as another 3-4 standard hits also causing a further 3-4 damage on average before saves.
Unit of Gutrippaz can be used as screens if necessary, they do have more survivability than Hobgrot Slittaz. They may be a little pricey for this role however.
You could use Supa Sneaky and have them move up the battlefield early doors to either claim objectives or get them in combat quicker. Being 9″ away from an enemy on turn 1 with an average 8″ charge (thanks to the musician) means that they have a 91.6% chance of making their charge.
Their main role is to claim objectives however, near or far. They can dish out some hurt but not as much as you may expect for 180 points. To dish out more pain they would need buffs from other units to do so.
Combinations
Grinin’ Blades’ Out of Da Mists applies to the Gutrippaz, meaning shooting attacks cannot affect this unit on the first turn as long as it remains beyond 12″ of an enemy unit.
Crawly Swarm the Skullbugz allegiance ability will mean that potentially the unit can have units attacking it at -1 to hit. This only applies if an enemy is within 3″.
Killaboss units are able to use their skill All part of da plan with Gutrippaz, allowing them to only lose 1 model to battleshock if they’re within 3″. As this unit is very expensive, this can be a wise strategy to keep them around.
Generals with the Egomaniak command trait can use Gutrippaz to offload their wounds on a 4+ to. But when this unit is so expensive do you really want to do that? Situational perhaps.
The Supa Sneaky command trait can also be used on Gutrippaz to move them up the battlefield at the beginning of the battle to claim objectives or place them almost within charge range of a juicy target.
As this is a Kruleboyz Orruk unit they’ll benefit from Venom-encrusted Weapons meaning that to hit rolls of 6 are treated as mortal wounds. This can be further enhanced when near either the Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast or Swampboss Skumdrekk who can add 1 to the number of mortal wounds caused on a 6 via their ability Sludgeraker Venom.
Speaking of their Venom-encrusted Weapons, these can be buffed by the Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-Grot who can grant them Poison, this would mean they cause mortal wounds on 5 or 6. Bear in mind that the previously mentioned Sludgeraker Venom doesn’t work on rolls of 5 in this case and still only applies to the hit rolls of 6.
The Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-Grot can also grant the Gutrippaz an Elixir which will add +1 to its save. Though if you can you’re much better attempting the Covered in Mud Dirty Trick.
This unit can benefit from the Kruleboyz Waaagh meaning they get to fight immediately after you General in the combat phase.
Another option is to have them near a Marshcrawla Sloggoth to take advantage of its Krew Drummer ability giving them +1 to hit in melee.
The Gutrippaz can use Dirty Tricks: Covered in Mud at the start of the game. Though you’d probably be better off using this on your shooting units that you don’t want picked off at range.
Summon Boggy Mist spell can add 1 to the Gutrippaz charge rolls.
You can also use the Murknob with Belcha-banna‘s ability Power of Kragnos to give this unit a 5+ ward save against the effects of spells or Endless Spells.
The Rogue Idol will add 1 to this units Bravery.
Missile Attacks
This unit has no missile attacks.
Melee Attacks
No rend attacks with a fairly standard threat range of 13″ (movement + charge + 1″ extra if this unit contains a musician).
Attack
Threat Range
# of Attacks
Av # of Hits
Av # of Wounds
Damage Output (Pre-save)
Wicked Stikka
13″
21
7.0 +3.5mw
3.5 +3.5mw
3.5 +3.5mw
Wicked Hakka
13″
21
7.0 +3.5mw
4.6 +3.5mw
4.6 +3.5mw
Based on average dice rolls
Looking at the damage after saves:
Save
Stikka Unsaved Damage
Hakka Unsaved Damage
–
2.9 +3.5mw
4.6 +3.5mw
6+
2.3 +3.5mw
3.8 +3.5mw
5+
1.8 +3.5mw
3.1 +3.5mw
4+
1.2 +3.5mw
2.3 +3.5mw
3+
0.6 +3.5mw
1.5 +3.5mw
Amount of damage after saves based on average dice rolls
Resilience
These fellas are two wounds each with a 5+ save, which amounts to 20 wounds for 180 points.
Bravery 5 means they won’t hang around either, so consider using All Part of Da Plan to keep them around.
Twelve unsaved wounds on this unit will likely see the last fleeing to battleshock. This means to remove them from play in a single turn an opponent should look to score 21 damage on them before saves to ensure enough are killed to see the rest flee in battleshock.
Those of you who have followed the blog for a while will be familiar with my 40k series of beginners armies based of each factions Combat Patrol box. I thought we should do the same for AoS.
Ironjawz are one of the more popular armies in Age of Sigmar and they’re also pretty good on the tabletop. Ironjawz lists can often be found gracing our top three lists series.
The Start Collecting box for Ironjawz has everything in you’d want in a budding tournament army. Hard hitting Gore-gruntas and tough ‘Ard Boyz.
Start Collecting: Ironjawz
If you’re starting out with Ironjawz you can’t go wrong by picking up two of their start collecting sets. That’ll give you two Warchanters, 20 ‘Ard Boyz and 6 Gore-Gruntas.
You’ll need someone to lead this mob though. At 1,000 points we don’t have enough points left for anything big, but we can pick up a Megaboss on foot.
You’ll also need a copy of the Battletome as well.
The Cost
Remember that if you sign up with SCN Hobby World you can get all these boxes at 25% off the Games Workshop price.
Set
GW Price
SCN Price
Start Collecting: Ironjawz
£65.00
£48.75
Start Collecting: Ironjawz
£65.00
£48.75
Megaboss
£26.00
£19.50
Battletome: Orruk Warclans
£32.50
£24.38
Total
£188.50
£141.38
What it costs
The Army List
*Core Battalion: Battle Regiment
Megaboss
Credit: Games Workshop
This big fella will be our leader. As we’ve got no shaman in our list we’ve given him the Arcane Tome, this makes him into a wizard who can cast and unbind one spell each turn. We’ve also given him Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork.
Credit: Age of Sigmar App
This is a great spell for getting any of your units closer to the enemy. It can even be cast on himself! For his Command Trait, we’ve chosen Hulking Brute which when he charges into combat means he’ll cause D3 wounds on a 2+ roll.
You’ll want him in combat as well. Look at his weapons:
Lets break that down a bit. The following table shows how much damage you should expect to dish out if you roll perfectly average dice rolls.
Weapon
Attacks
Av # of Hits
Av # of Wounds
Av Damage (Pre-Saves)
Boss Choppa & Rip-tooth Fist
8
5.3
3.5
7.0
Based on Average Dice Rolls
Add on to that, that you’ll likely be causing 2 mortal wounds on the charge as well, and you’re talking 9 damage in combat.
Warchanter
These guys will give you some great buffs to your units. Give one Fixin’ Beat to heal a model within 12″ D3 wounds (looking at you Megaboss). Then give the other Killa Beat, this will add 1 to hit rolls that target a specific enemy unit. As well as this, with Violent Fury they can add 1 to the damage of the attacks of a friendly unit They’re also not bad in combat themselves:
Weapon
Attacks
Av # of Hits
Av # of Wounds
Av Damage (Pre-Saves)
Gorkstikk & Morkstikk
6
4.0
2.6
5.2
Based on Average Dice Rolls
Ard Boyz
These guys are tough with two wounds each and a 4+ save. It’ll take a fair bit to shift them. We’ve got two units of these as well, one of which is reinforced to 10 models. Now imagine the unit of ten has charged into combat AND they’ve listened to the Killa Beat from your Warchanter while attacking a unit that the Warchanters used it’s Violent Fury on. You’d get the following output:
Weapon
Attacks
Av # of Hits
Av # of Wounds
Av Damage (Pre-Saves)
Ardboy Choppas
31
20.5
13.5
27.0
Based on Average Dice Rolls
That’ll do the job…..
Gore-Gruntas
Your fast attack, these can be on the enemy before they know it. Make sure to give them Jagged Gore-Hackas so they can take full advantage of their charge ability.
These fellas are also the reason we’ve chosen the Bloodtoofs subfaction.
The ability to make a move or charge another unit after combat is just too good to resist!
What about their damage output?
Weapon
Attacks
Av # of Hits
Av # of Wounds
Av Damage (Pre-Saves)
Jagged Gore-hackas
10
6.6
4.4
4.4
Tusks & Hooves
12
7.9
5.2
5.2
Based on Average Dice Rolls
The Jagged Gore-hackas are at rend -2 as well! There isn’t a single one of your units you don’t want in combat.
Where next?
Once you’re up to 1,000 points (or nearly in any case), you’ll probably start thinking about a 2k list. Perhaps look at the Megaboss on Maw-Krusha or some Brutes. Perhaps even double Maw-Krusha….
