Let's chat: Ironskull's Boyz

[Killax]

Full box contents:
 

@Black_Nexus I like the deck mate!

Seems solid enough to test out. So far I have never been dissapointed with the Hold Objective cards and with Sidestep, Brutal Kunning and Kunning Brutal and Confusion. The ploy cards created for Orks are also so massively powerful that all I feel you really need is some Glory end phase 1 to continue the brutal stampede that it will essentially become. All in all they strike me as a great Warband and this is largely the case because they are so difficult to kill and flip easier as Stormcast  

[Black_Nexus]

That is the thing, I like the hold objective cards for the free easy glory. But I do see how you could build a deck without it. 

I'll need my undead cards first

 

[PlasticCraic]

On 11/5/2017 at 11:50 AM, Malakree said:

There is also a very cool objective which combos with 1 (2) potential ploys. The cards read

- "score this immediately if one of your fighters attacks with support from 2+ more fighters than your opponent"

Scrag em and dual strike - "for the next attack each of your fighters counts as 2 fighters for support"

Before you say anything, yes this does work, I had it FAQ by the guy who designed the game before I handed my list in!

Totally works!  Who could argue against that?  Spotted the same one and loved it!

Also another cheeky one is the Daemonic Weapon upgrade from the core set (I think that's the name).

It's a powerful Damage 3 weapon, but it makes you take a wound...which Inspires our guys! 

[KillagoreFaceslasha]

Also,  Brutal but Kunnin and Kunnin but Brutal, combined with either the double support or lead by example can lead with a nasty combo. Leaving aside that you get inmediatelly get ploymaster, you're likeing to down two non-SCE characters (in my case downed the champion and reaper) and put a lot of presure on a rather wide Area. That in a single activation.

 

Daemon weapon I haven't tried yet, but I think that basha would benefit greatly from it (or hakka, cannot remember which is which)

Edited November 9, 2017 by KillagoreFaceslasha

[Killax]

Both profit from it. The best Universal card for this deck is the dangerous terrain card though.

Charge = Move Action followed by Attack Action.

Orruk move -Inspired (+1 attack damage) 

Orruk attack and draw or succeed (+1 damage thanks to push). 

Allows Hakka and Basha to charge and essentially deal 3 damage on succession. The others can dish out 4. Good luck boyz!

[CountryMou3e]

50 minutes ago, Killax said:

Both profit from it. The best Universal card for this deck is the dangerous terrain card though.

Charge = Move Action followed by Attack Action.

Orruk move -Inspired (+1 attack damage) 

Orruk attack and draw or succeed (+1 damage thanks to push). 

Allows Hakka and Basha to charge and essentially deal 3 damage on succession. The others can dish out 4. Good luck boyz!

Can You share your  deck  Killax ? Picked up the ‘Boyz’ today and can’t wait to try them out later  the skellies weren’t in stock at my local GW so I’ll have to grab them another time. 

[Killax]

1 hour ago, CountryMou3e said:

Can You share your  deck  Killax ? Picked up the ‘Boyz’ today and can’t wait to try them out later  the skellies weren’t in stock at my local GW so I’ll have to grab them another time. 

Will do asap! Working on my Reavers still and have some bases to do. 

Set up is fairly standard though. Pick best Core set Universals, best Orruk Ploys and Upgrades and top it of with some Universal Upgrades.

Out of the box Id say Orruks their strongest cards are Ploys followed by Objectives and Upgrades.

Also will convert this Warband to Inspired status basically.

[Killax]

20 hours ago, CountryMou3e said:

Can You share your  deck  Killax ? Picked up the ‘Boyz’ today and can’t wait to try them out later  the skellies weren’t in stock at my local GW so I’ll have to grab them another time. 

Ploy (10)
Brutal But Kunnin'
Kunnin' But Brutal
Last Lunge
Gorkamorka's Blessing
More Choppin'
'Avin' A Good Time
Shattering Terrain
Sidestep
Distraction
Healing Potion

Basic set up is simple, very simple but has the basics you want for aggressive play. Moving the model the right way is a large part of any strategy and sets up for BBK, KBB and Avin a good Time. Offcourse cards like Shardfall or Confusion could be wonderful inclusions aswell but I do like most of the Orruk Ploys a lot. They are straight forward and apply to all. Leadin' By Example is awesome too but still forces you to play perhaps too aggressive with Gurzag, while I feel you lock up the game the moment Gurzag is full with Upgrades smashing about.

Upgrade (10)
Brutal Swing
Unkillable
Brutal Frenzy
'Ard Head
Daemonic Weapon
Soultrap
Helpful Whispers
Great Fortitude
Great Strength
Crush and Cleave

Again a mix of offense and defence, as can be seen with the list Crush and Cleave was added the last. I am not a huge fan of this card but it is very important in the mirror and versus Stormcast. Unfortunatly there is no other easy acces to 3 Cleave damage so it's certainly swapable if your local meta allows for it. 

Objectives (12)
Biggest An' Da Best (1)
Call of the Waaagh! (1)
Swift Advance (1)
Plant A Standard (1)
Hold 1 (1)
Hold 2 (1)
Hold 3 (1)
Hold 4 (1)
Hold 5 (1)
Good Scrap (2)
Brawl (2)
Denial (3)

The key to Orruk victory is actually to have a lot of Objectives either in Neutral or very close to it. The Holds are still in there because your opponent will have them in their zone and there is little reason to not go for those if the oppertunity allows for it. There are several defensive cards that basically soack the punch out of Orruks, such as Insensate or being in situations where Healing Potions have healed up a fighter so much you can't thake them out and this is where Holds offer a nice additional bonus. 7 our of 12 are still agrressive cards. Combined with the Ploys this should be enough.

 

[Chris Tomlin]

Hey,

I played my first game with Ironskull's Boyz last night and really enjoyed it (managed an incredibly close 2-1 win over @Paul Buckler's Liberators).

Despite playing a few odd games with the core set vs my missus, this was my first proper match so I suspect I was a little clueless in places. By the 3rd game I definitely felt I was playing a bit better and made some good moves/ploys to help sneak the win.

I am playing again tonight vs @Andy Talbot. I'll stick with the deck I used last night and then hopefully after that I'll be able to come back and share some thoughts.

Chris

[Requizen]

Played against the Boyz the other day. Ironskull with a damage upgrade is absolutely terrifying, especially for Stormcast players who don't have anyone to "sacrifice" into him. The game made me really interested in trying them out, it seems that they have lots of interesting combos and tricks, moreso than the very straightforward Stormcast.

[Timcz]

I’ll be painting mine up soon - will go the red to match the rest of the Boyz in my ironjawz force. 

[PlasticCraic]

Are there any cards from the Skeletons box that people are finding useful? 

[CJPT]

Played my first two matches with orruks yesterday against undead and managed to win both, though the first one was really close - essentially got taken to pieces on the first turn but pulled it back on chunky objective cards in the final round. That win reinforced my decision to go with none of the Hold objectives, however, as I won on the basis of having loads of smaller 'punch a few guys'-style objectives while my opponent struggled to reach objective markers that I'd hid at the back of the field. Good Scrap and Conquest were the game-winners there.

Cards I'm definitely going to add are Confusion, Healing Potion, and Containment I think.

Edited November 12, 2017 by CJPT

[Killax]

7 hours ago, PlasticCraic said:

Are there any cards from the Skeletons box that people are finding useful? 

I believe Shattering Terrain is in their box, so is Plant a Flag, both are very good inclusions.

Lost with my Reavers against Orruks, it was fairly close but certainly think they are the better aggressors, by comparison the Reaver exclusive Ploys also just suck.

A tip I do want to give many is to go full offensive (all 4) against Stormcast. Have seen my mate crush them because 3 vs 3 is still won with the Stormcast. In addition I also think the Upgrade that makes 1 fighter superior if he is the last is great for the Warband to fill it out. The aggressive play route is bound to lead into this.

[Killax]

36 minutes ago, CJPT said:

Cards I'm definitely going to add are Confusion, Healing Potion, and Containment I think.

I certainly like Confusion but do think Distraction is typically better. Easier to use phase 1 and helps clearing or essentially turing thread range to 4-5.

Healing Potion is fantastic and a must include for all Warbands with 2+ 4 wound models. Containment is a good but Denial is better first. As Containment doesnt work if opponents are in the Neutral.

Other than that, boardchoke is ideal for Orruks too. 3 to 4 hex connect is excellent depending on board.

[KillagoreFaceslasha]

35 minutes ago, Killax said:

I certainly like Confusion but do think Distraction is typically better. Easier to use phase 1 and helps clearing or essentially turing thread range to 4-5.

Healing Potion is fantastic and a must include for all Warbands with 2+ 4 wound models. Containment is a good but Denial is better first. As Containment doesnt work if opponents are in the Neutral.

Other than that, boardchoke is ideal for Orruks too. 3 to 4 hex connect is excellent depending on board.

Well, containment and denial can be a nasty combo to achieve if you play pretty agressive and/or with a boardchoke, since you only need to push one tile more than required for the latter to achieve the first .

[Killax]

3 hours ago, KillagoreFaceslasha said:

Well, containment and denial can be a nasty combo to achieve if you play pretty agressive and/or with a boardchoke, since you only need to push one tile more than required for the latter to achieve the first .

Absolutely agree, think the two of them are a great pair for almost any deck. Its aggressive but the moment someone opts to choke Containment isnt difficult to archieve. Ive always felt Denial confirms the win too, which is excellent.

So far Ive liked to split the decks:

7 or 8 - 1 glory Objectives, 5 often are the Holds, Ploymaster is almost always in there too.

2 or 3 - 2 glory Objectives

2 - 3+ glory Objectives, often Denial and Contaiment (for Orruks, Stormcast and Reavers).

The idea remains very simple, put a lot of easy scores for phase 1 (including the 5 Holds) and phase 2 and top it of with 4 to 5 Objectives that score more. In almost all cases the 3+ Objectives are third phase orientated so litterly useless phase 1 and 2.

Most of the time the Hold Objectives serve a great purpose for phase 1 and thats really why I always still include them, regardless of strategy. Placing 2 near the neutral is fine, especially for Orruks because it means movement 3 will always be sufficient and charges are guaranteed due to that placement.

Other than that aggressive play is well rewarded so go for that if you can. My mate playing Stormcast had an exciting battle against Orruks but he won because the Orruk player had Basha too focused on Objectives, this i cool but escelates to an issue quickly the moment Stormcast have Great Strength or further improved defences.

Shattering Terrain offers a dealbreaker too, certainly include it as the push damage is huge. Bellow and Distraction furthermore translate to automatic damage with it and that combination is sick. Used that in the Stormcast deck too and it really annihilates Bloodreavers and Undead too.

Edited November 12, 2017 by Killax

[Thostos]

 Got my first two games in today,used my Ironjawz,won both games.Played against SCE and a 3 player with Sepulcher and Khorne.One thing I didnt realize was that the hold objective cards were universal as I built the SCE and Khorne decks from the base set and never bothered to look at their cards to see if there was any universal ones in them,lol.

 Anyhow I used a total of 25 cards,12 ploy,13 upgrade.Now that I think about it,im probably going to stick with my objecives they way they are as this group can really suffer if you have one guy running off to score an objective when he should be in someones  face removing it for the same reward(with the added bonus of removing an opposing fighter of course:)).

 Ive played tons of MTG over the years and in that game with the multiples allowed of most cards,building a minimum size deck is essential.With this game,with each card being allowed only once,im not yet convinced that a minimum size deck is essential..as time goes on and more of the cards are released that may be the case but right now I dont think it hurts having a few extras especially since you can basically discard your hand 3 times during the game.
 
  From what I can see the Orruks are probably the best of the four currently,,though I need to see more play from the Sepulcher.

 

Edited November 13, 2017 by Thostos

[Wallack]

5 hours ago, Thostos said:

 Got my first two games in today,used my Ironjawz,won both games.Played against SCE and a 3 player with Sepulcher and Khorne.One thing I didnt realize was that the hold objective cards were universal as I built the SCE and Khorne decks from the base set and never bothered to look at their cards to see if there was any universal ones in them,lol.

 Anyhow I used a total of 25 cards,12 ploy,13 upgrade.Now that I think about it,im probably going to stick with my objecives they way they are as this group can really suffer if you have one guy running off to score an objective when he should be in someones  face removing it for the same reward(with the added bonus of removing an opposing fighter of course:)).

 Ive played tons of MTG over the years and in that game with the multiples allowed of most cards,building a minimum size deck is essential.With this game,with each card being allowed only once,im not yet convinced that a minimum size deck is essential..as time goes on and more of the cards are released that may be the case but right now I dont think it hurts having a few extras especially since you can basically discard your hand 3 times during the game.
 
  From what I can see the Orruks are probably the best of the four currently,,though I need to see more play from the Sepulcher.

 

The problem with not using the minimum is that your hand might be full of upgrades. I would play 5 upgrades and 40 ploys if I could.

[Killax]

@Wallack Yeah that's true but at the same time if you start with a hand full of Upgrades and ditch it the mayority of your Power deck will obviously be Ploys  
I think the 20 card deck size is ideal, I also think you can go to 22 or even 25 if you really feel like it. Though most of the time though there are some Upgrades who simply don't have to be included, they add power but often not the kind of power you require every game or feels like worth spending a slot on. For the Ironjawz as an example I think one can skip on:
- Aspiring Boss, it's a cool card but not too likely or smart to really have Hakka (out of all Boyz) dance with the opponent's Leader.
- Dead 'Ard, again cool but stopping being driven back shouldn't really be a big issue ever with the Boyz. Pretty much applies for all though, the situations where it's good are very niche.
- Headlong Rush, so specific.

Other than that the latest article also gave some advice which I 100% agree with. Every upgrade you have should be the first consideration to be put on Ghurzag and if you can't it should really be a worthy inclusion for other reasons. The moment he get's inspired (and he will) he becomes a brutal warrior and I've faced him with Healing Potion, Brutal Kunnin', Unkillable and Soultrap which really make him impossible to kill.
Link to article: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/11/12/ironskulls-boyz-first-ever-grand-clash/ in terms of Ploys the only difference I have to his Power deck is Shattering Terrain versus Leadin' By Example. I do really like Leadin' By Example but I also believe that Shattering Terrain adds some form of defences whilst also being a more relevant card for Hakka or Basha, as before they automatically flip, a hit + push equals 3 damage and just a draw still equals 1 damage. Then with Distraction or other additional attacks you can guarantee 2 damage. Killing stuff. In addition Leadin' By Example also does force out Ghurzag instantly and I believe he's ever so slightly better if he's closeby phase 2. As again all the Upgrades can be put on him so he can dominate phase 2 and 3 to win you the game. I've had this set up happen to me while playing Bloodreavers and the first Soultrap or Unkillable put on Ghurzag makes him such a monster.

Edited November 13, 2017 by Killax

[Wallack]

@Killax the problem is that you are stating an ideal scenario, using 30 cards (15 upgrades and 15 ploys) and having a hand with 5 upgrades.

That's the ideal scenario, you ditch them and now your deck has 15 ploys and 10 upgrades. What if your initial hand is 3 bad upgrades and 2 good ploys?

If we had a mulligan like at the end of each  phase where we can discard any amount we want I'd be up for a 30 card deck probably.

[Killax]

32 minutes ago, Wallack said:

@Killax the problem is that you are stating an ideal scenario, using 30 cards (15 upgrades and 15 ploys) and having a hand with 5 upgrades.

That's the ideal scenario, you ditch them and now your deck has 15 ploys and 10 upgrades. What if your initial hand is 3 bad upgrades and 2 good ploys?

If we had a mulligan like at the end of each  phase where we can discard any amount we want I'd be up for a 30 card deck probably.

If it's 3 bad Upgrades again I feel it's a mistake made during Deck construction. Like the redrawing of Power cards, it's all neat but with just 20 cards as a deck requirement there is absolutely no reason to have any bad card in there  Though if one can validate the reason for card inclusion I think going a little bigger as 20 isn't bad.

We do have a partial mulligan and redraw at the end phase, so give it a try! 30 seems to much for me, 22 seems like a realisticly still good choice.
I think that the Cleave Upgrades in particular are worth the 11th inclusion. In the above deck I think any Upgrade can also lead to including Leadin' By Example and that doesn't make the deck worse. Sometimes Cleave Upgrades are not worth the effort but when they are they are game-deciding.

My local meta analysis has also lead me to believe that soon Orruks and Stormcast will be very popular followed by a smaller group of Sepulchral Guard players (when we're looking at top contenders). I'm personally going to shelf Garrek's Reavers for now too because Orruks just play their aggressive game much better, Sepulchral Guard play better on Objectives and Stormcast still are a very fine in between choice. While Garrek's Reavers seemed designed aggressively their exclusive Power cards just cannot compete to that of the Orruks, lets not even start to compete Bonekutta to Saek and Ghurzag to Garrek... 

Edit: More Orruk stratagies
 

 

Edited November 13, 2017 by Killax

[Killax]

Man aggro Orruks are mighty fun! Still have to figure out a slightly better Objective deck as the income was very random and largely came forth out of melee. It's an amazingly aggressive Warband though, have had multiple games ending up in phase 1 and 2 without any Power cards left to play. The income you can generate phase 1 is extremely high versus Bloodreavers and Sepulchral Guard if the boards allow for it, this is wonderful.

After the first handful of games I will tinker some more with the Power cards though! I feel confident in their melee output but the more heals the better. In addition to that additional movement is also extremely welcome because more as the Stormcast it does feel you consistantly need to push through as once damaged you can most certainly die to a viarity of models. Two boyz gone and this start getting shaky but Upgrading Gurzag to the teeth remains a great plan. I only need to get a little bit more lucky on Unkillable and Soultrap rolls  

[Basha]

It’s a great warband, I’ve been playing it for some time, and I really think they have a lot of potencial, I’ve got good objectives and ploys, but still have problems with my upgrades, witch are your favorits upgrades????

Edited November 18, 2017 by Basha

[Chris Tomlin]

Morning,

I've been really enjoying the Ironjawz and have been doing pretty well with them so far. Still not totally happy with my decks and will continue tinkering as I play more games (still need to play vs the Sepulchral Guard). Whilst I'm not fully comfortable with what I have at present, I can still share it later this week so you can see where I'm at with it.