GH2017 - Ironjawz Review & Discussion

[svnvaldez]

If you own the Megaboss on Maw-Krusha model he is a must for every list, give him mystical shield and Ironclad and if your opponent doesn't have something to deal with him you should stomp them.

For 1k IJ I run:

Allegiance: Ironjawz
Leaders
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (460)
- General
- Command Trait : Ironclad
- Artefact : Destroyer
Orruk Warchanter (80)
Fungoid Cave-Shaman (80)
- Allies
Units
3 x Orruk Gore Gruntas (140)
3 x Orruk Gore Gruntas (140)
4 x Ironskull's Boyz (80)
Total: 980 / 2000

[PlasticCraic]

@svnvaldez I like that, on a 4x4 table he will cover the ground really fast.

Warchanter to get him hitting on 2s, wizard to give him a 2+ save ignoring (/ reducing) rend.

Also the 2x 3 Gruntas for added mobility and board control makes up for not being able to fit in the batallion.

And Ironskullz Boyz for that one cheap unit to sit on a home objective rather than wasting another 100 points on Ardboyz to do the same.

And a cheeky Triumph to round it all off.

If there is such a thing as "the" optimum list, this would have to be pretty close for IJ at 1000 points IMO.

[Banglesprout]

Yeah I have a 1000pt tournament in the near future too and I was thinking of going for something very similar to what @svnvaldez suggests. My list was going to be:

Allegiance: Ironjawz
Leaders
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (460)
- General
- Command Trait : Ironclad
- Artefact : Metalrippa's Klaw
Orruk Warchanter (80)
Units
3 x Orruk Gore Gruntas (140)
3 x Orruk Gore Gruntas (140)
10 x Ard Boyz (180)
Total: 1000 / 1000

For me it's nice that it's just the start collecting box set plus the Mawcrusher and an extra unit of grunts.

However I must admit that switching out the Ardboyz for the Ironskullz Boyz plus a grot shaman does look like a nice optimisation..

I've just bought the Cave Shaman too, and most admit I've been tempted by Shadespire recently... ?

Only sad thing is that the Ardboyz I've just painted won't get to step foot on the field!

[PlasticCraic]

I ran this one last weekend, finished 3rd at a small local event (12 player event in a Melbourne FLGS):

Allegiance: Destruction

Leaders
Fungoid Cave-Shaman (80)
- General
- Trait: Ravager
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (460)
- Artefact: Hammerblade

Battleline
10 x Orruks (90)
- Choppas & Shields
10 x Orruks (90)
- Choppas & Shields
1 x Grot Wolf Chariots (40)
- Gitmob Grots Battleline

War Machines
Grot Spear Chukka (120)
Grot Spear Chukka (120)

Total: 1000 / 2000
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 56

The list was really drawn up to showcase the Cave Shaman and his ability.  Aiming to trigger multiple charges from the Maw Krusha and chain together Destructive Bulk and On Da Rampage.

The idea being that you could potentially get the charge off in the hero phase (actually using the Destruction ability to your advantage rather than it being a restriction), retreat and charge again.  The Spear Chukkas being there to soften things up before that second charge, to hopefully trigger On Da Rampage and charge again! 

The takeaways I had were:

- The Cave Shaman is definitely more durable than I expected (starting from a very, very low expectation!)

- The Maw Krusha being able to retreat, run and charge is MASSIVE.  He can't get bogged down at all.  I think he will feel really pedestrian in a pure Ironjawz army after this

- New Death stuff is good...I think you'll need to restrict their ability to respawn by zoning out the Gravesites (similar to how you block Wyldwoods)

- Destruction GA Battleline is pretty weak.  GH17 took the GA with the worst battleline options and made them significantly worse.  Don't think this has been commented upon much (lost amongst the various other nerfs) but this really needs some attention in GH18 imo.

Overall, this list was great fun to play, I will definitely use it again.  In a 2k game, I would think the Cave Shaman is a good source source of Mystic Shield and viable in your Ironjawz allies.

[tolstedt]

1 hour ago, PlasticCraic said:

The list was really drawn up to showcase the Cave Shaman and his ability.

Did you have problems keeping the krusha wholly within 18" of the shaman?  How is the shaman surviving while having to move up the board with the krusha?

[PlasticCraic]

I was worried about that, but in practice it wasn't a big issue - I was running the Shaman up into the wild blue yonder, to keep as close as possible.  Obviously taking cover etc where I could get it.

Because you can retreat the Maw Krusha, you can bring him back far enough to get back into range - once or twice I had to leave myself say a 5" charge rather than a 3" (and you don't get the IJ +1 to charge, so it is a nervous moment), but I never had to retreat so far I left myself a long 'un.

The -1 to hit in all phases and 5+ Nurgle save was enough to keep the Shaman alive...along with target saturation.  They have a Maw Krusha in their face ruining them, Spear Chukkas zapping them across the board, Orruks sitting on objectives and the Wolf Chariot zooming around threatening their objectives.  For a 1k list that's quite a few targets to deal with and they get relatively poor value out of their attacks on the Shaman.

  I think the earliest he died was turn 3, and that was without really protecting him at all (other than the obvious taking cover etc).  Mystic always went on the Maw Krusha.  

At 2k points I think he would be easier to deal with (the opponent can target him AND try to knock the Maw Krusha down a tier / target the Spear Chukkas).  But at 1k they often don't have the tools to deal with everything, so his intrinsic abilities will be enough to keep him going for long enough.

[Tizianolol]

Guys how competitive can be this list?

godrak

Weirdnob shaman 

Warchanter

megaboss

3x3 gruntas

2x5 brutes

Gore fist battalion 

with the 15" move in hero phase and godrak command ability I can charge first turn enemy line with 8" or more gruntas rule for sure! Maybe megaboss godrak can be buffed with shaman and warchanter , megaboss and brutes can è used for hold objectives! What about it?:)

 

[Malakree]

8 minutes ago, Tizianolol said:

Guys how competitive can be this list?

godrak

Weirdnob shaman 

Warchanter

megaboss

3x3 gruntas

2x5 brutes

Gore fist battalion 

with the 15" move in hero phase and godrak command ability I can charge first turn enemy line with 8" or more gruntas rule for sure! Maybe megaboss godrak can be buffed with shaman and warchanter , megaboss and brutes can è used for hold objectives! What about it?:)

 

If you are guna go for the Gordrakkfist then you should go all in on it, don't mess about with the brutes/megaboss/weirdnob. You are an alpha strike list and you should embrace it, 1/2 warchanters, Gordrakk and then just as many GG's as you can fit in the fist.

[Tizianolol]

Ye I have thought about it too, but I was trying to build a list good for every type of map. If I play in a map where hold ojective is important what I can do if I chose to put all my units in?:)

[Banglesprout]

Thanks for the posts @PlasticCraic it was super interesting to think about how you could use the Fungoid command ability, made me go away and write some lists with it in mind!

I do think it's a big blow having to have him as general and drop Ironjawz allegiance for Destruction though, and you're right at 2000pts he'll feel a lot more vulnerable!

What are people's thoughts on the Fungoid compared with the other shaman options for an Ironjawz allegiance list? (Ie Fungoid cannot be the general)

I think he's clearly better then the other two goblin shamans, unless you're pairing the gitmob shaman with a unit of gitmob archers.

[Sangfroid]

You don’t need to drop ironjawz allegience ability to have Fun-guy as the general it’s just he cannot benefit from Command traits, artifacts or the allegience ability unless he as the key word. (Note how the other 3 heralds are from factions that have specific allegience ability whereas ours is from a faction that has none.....) 

 

[Malakree]

8 hours ago, Tizianolol said:

Ye I have thought about it too, but I was trying to build a list good for every type of map. If I play in a map where hold ojective is important what I can do if I chose to put all my units in?:)

After GBH2017 there was a guy ran Gorefist at a big tournament almost straight afterwards. Not the full Gordrakkfist list but the same concepts apply.

Essentially you ignore objectives and try to obliterate your opponent first turn, after you've alphastriked him off the board you then go back and claim objectives etc. with the hope being that you did so much damage he can no longer properly contest them.

[Banglesprout]

13 hours ago, Sangfroid said:

You don’t need to drop ironjawz allegience ability to have Fun-guy as the general it’s just he cannot benefit from Command traits, artifacts or the allegience ability unless he as the key word.

Hmm maybe I am misunderstanding what you're saying but allied heroes can't be your general so you can only have the Fungoid as your general if you are using Destruction, or Moonclan allegiance.. I think?

Reason I brought it up is because, without being your general, you don't get to use that interesting command ability so he them becomes very comparable to the other Grot shamans.. I think this spell is worse than the other two, but his extra survivability and mushroom are nice so I think overall he's slightly better, since I'm probably only really casting mystic shield and arcane bolt with any of them anyway.

But I thought it'd be more interesting to compare him with the Weirdnob! I feel like the Fungoid is a bit more survivable with his -1 to hit and ward save.  On the Weirdnobs side his bonus to casting does make him a bit more reliable at getting spells off.. at the cost of mortal wounding your own models at some point in the game. He also allows you to make one more attempt at the Ironjaws Might Destroyers move, which is kinda nice.

I feel like they're pretty even, and which you include doesn't make a big difference, but I'm thinking I'll keep my Weirdnob... unless I really need those 40 points for something else...

[tolstedt]

1 hour ago, Banglesprout said:

Hmm maybe I am misunderstanding what you're saying but allied heroes can't be your general so you can only have the Fungoid as your general if you are using Destruction, or Moonclan allegiance.. I think?

It's in the rules for malign portents.  He can be your general as ironjawz.

 

15 hours ago, Malakree said:

Essentially you ignore objectives and try to obliterate your opponent first turn, after you've alphastriked him off the board you then go back and claim objectives etc. with the hope being that you did so much damage he can no longer properly contest them.

Doing the math doesn't look promising on a first turn gore grunta charge.  Especially if they just put a line of chaff in front.  

[Malakree]

7 hours ago, tolstedt said:

Doing the math doesn't look promising on a first turn gore grunta charge.  Especially if they just put a line of chaff in front.  

With Gordrakk and gorefist it's basically guarenteed. Plus the damage output of it is insane.

Depending on how your opponent deploys it's possible to get round or through chaff with proper charge, activation and pile in sequencing.

[tolstedt]

2 hours ago, Malakree said:

With Gordrakk and gorefist it's basically guarenteed. Plus the damage output of it is insane.

Depending on how your opponent deploys it's possible to get round or through chaff with proper charge, activation and pile in sequencing.

I meant the damage output.

[Anaticula]

I thought I could mention that I started a youtube channel with battlereports for 40k and AoS. I have just recently uploaded one in which I play with my Palefacez against Stormcast: Ironjawz vs Stormcast Battle Report

 

[Imperial]

36 minutes ago, Anaticula said:

I thought I could mention that I started a youtube channel with battlereports for 40k and AoS. I have just recently uploaded one in which I play with my Palefacez against Stormcast: Ironjawz vs Stormcast Battle Report

 

Nice job man! I watched this video before. If you can add some visual info about what unit attack now and what unit he target or who cast some spell or etc, it's will be very cool!

[Anaticula]

1 hour ago, Imperial said:

Nice job man! I watched this video before. If you can add some visual info about what unit attack now and what unit he target or who cast some spell or etc, it's will be very cool!

Thanks. I'm glad you ejoyed it.

Visual Info is always a pain to put in, because it takes so much time inserting many little titles. As most batreps do it without, I probably won't do it either, or just very limited to some things. However, thanks for the feedback!

[Banglesprout]

Hey @Anaticula thanks for the battle report, it's really good!

Really nicely painted models on both sides and of all the different battle report styles I've seen you gave the best view both of the individual models and the battle field as a whole.

Are you planning on doing reports regularly?

[Anaticula]

12 hours ago, Banglesprout said:

Hey @Anaticula thanks for the battle report, it's really good!

Really nicely painted models on both sides and of all the different battle report styles I've seen you gave the best view both of the individual models and the battle field as a whole.

Are you planning on doing reports regularly?

Thanks a lot. Much appreciated. It's a lot of work, so if people enjoy it's what we do it for.

Yes, we will try to upload one ever 2 weeks. That seems like an achievable goal. We will also have both 40k and AoS. I myself have more fun with AoS tbh but my buddies are a bit more into 40k...

[Banglesprout]

Sounds good! I play both too so happy to check out your 40k reports, must admit Fantasy was always more my thing than SciFi though

Oh I also forgot to mention - I like the way you edited down the gameplay - it felt like you made some good choices about what to skip over, but still showing you guys playing the game. I dunno if you've watched Frontline Gaming's reports, but they're really good as shorter faster reports which give lots of insight into the decision made during play...but they do lack that feeling of watching the guys play because it's whizzed through so fast. So it's nice that you've struck a different balance from them.

Anyway looking forward to seeing more of your Palefaces (and your miniatures trolololo) in future, hope your opponent gives them a harder fight next time!

[albin100]

Hello, Waaaghlords. I've played a few games with this list:

Gordrakk 

Warchanter 

10 brutes 

5 brutes 

10 ardboys 

10 ardboys 

Spear chukka

Spear chukka

Ironfist battalion 

The tactic is straight forward. Give your enemy the first turn and then try to time an attack with the whole battalion buffed by VoG. 

It's not a top tier list by any means but it has been a great way of playing my new MBoMK model. 

A question; does smashing and bashing go on for ever och will it only trigger once per combat phase? And does it also trigger in enemy combat phase?

[Sangfroid]

It goes on for as long as you destroy units and have units in combat that haven’t fought yet and it does work in both combat phases 

[Bladesway]

Hi all,

Apologies if this list has already been posted, but this thread is really long and it is highly likely I missed some stuff in there. I am aiming to build the following 2k list and would like feedback on if it would work and where it's major weakness would lie, both in terms of scenarios and other armies. I am a very new player, I have been playing 1k openwar ironjawz for a few months and I have been doing fairly well so far. 

 

Here is the list I want to build to:
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (460pts)
General
Role: Leader, Behemoth
Quantity: 1
Artefact: Daubing of Mork
Command Trait: Prophet of the Waaagh!
Weapon: Boss Gore-hacka and Scrap-tooth 

Orruk Megaboss (140pts)
Role:Leader
Quantity: 1
Artefact: Armour of Gork/Boss Skewer

Orruk Warchanter (80pts)
Role: Leader
Quantity: 1

Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (120pt)
Role:Leader
Quantity: 1

Orruk Brutes (180pt)
Role: Battleline
Quantity: 5
Upgrade: Boss Choppa x1
Upgrade: Brute Boss x1
Upgrade: Gore-choppa x1

Orruk Brutes (180pt)
Role: Battleline
Quantity: 5
Upgrade: Boss Choppa x1
Upgrade: Brute Boss x1
Upgrade: Gore-choppa x1
Weapon: Twin Brute Choppas

Orruk Brutes (180pt)
Role: Battleline
Quantity: 5
Upgrade: Boss Choppa x1
Upgrade: Brute Boss x1
Upgrade: Gore-choppa x1
Weapon: Twin Brute Choppas

Orruk Brutes (180pt)
Role: Battleline
Quantity: 5
Upgrade: Boss Choppa x1
Upgrade: Brute Boss x1
Upgrade: Gore-choppa x1
Weapon: Twin Brute Choppas

Grot Spear Chukka  (120pt)
Ally
Role: Artillery 
Quantity: 1

Grot Spear Chukka  (120pt)
Ally
Role:Artillery 
Quantity: 1

Ironfist (160pt)
Role: Warscroll Battalion
Quantity: 1

Ironskull’s Boyz (80pt)
Role:Other Unit
Quantity: 4

Total 2,000pts
240pts/400pts Allies
0pts Reinforcement Points