'Competitive' Ironjawz

[Malakithe]

Still even with the changes its a huge tanky buff machine. I can see some unusual tactics with a Weirdfist loaded with lots of Ardboys and the Idol then the Shaman can Foot easier across the entire board. 

[Kmzz0r]

Can u play without Brutes? With the new points out I was thinking (very sceptical) about this 1500 point list:

Megaboss on maw-krusha

Warchanter

Grot shaman

30 Ardboys

3 Gore gruntas

3 Gore gruntas

Ironfist Battalion 

 

would look really cool on the table, shaman ms ardboys, insp pr on ardboys. And well nothing hardhitting.... 

[BunkhouseBuster]

Last night, I played what is now my last game of Ironjawz with the first edition of the General's Handbook.  And here is a short report:

My army - Ironjawz

Spoiler

 

Megaboss

Megaboss

Warchanter

Wierdnob Shaman

Ironfist Battalion

Brute Squad (5)

Brute Squad (5)

Brute Squad (5)

Ardboy Squad (10)

Gore-gruntas (6)

Aleguzzler Gargant

 

His army - Seraphon

Spoiler

 

Astrolith Standard Bearer

Skink Chief

Skink Priest

Skink Starseer

Skinks (30)

Skinks (30)

Skinks (10)

Kroxigors (3)

Bastiladon

Bastiladon

(I don't know if he had any Battalions in this army.)

 

Matched Play, Gift from the Heavens

It was awesome.  I have played with this player before, and he plays well.  His Skinks provided lots of Dakka and chaff for my army to chew through, and his Bastiladons were near impervious once he got them buffed up with his spells.  We ended up trying on objectives, but I won the game in a minor victory as my his Bastiladon defeated my Gargant in melee, which then toppled on top of it in a form of mutually assured destruction.

After packing up my models and tracking the game into my WLD stats I have been keeping, I realized just how well I actually have been playing Ironjawz over the past 7 months.  Not counting games where I was teaching others how to play or demoing, my personal record for the past 7 months is 13 wins and 3 losses.  WOW.  I have never played that well in any other game in my life (except maybe Team Fortress 2, but that was years ago) and certainly not for tabletop games.  I never went out looking for a powerful army, I just wanted to play a fun army, and get my Ork army in that I had dreamed about for years.  Waaagh!

Whatever changes come with the latest edition General's Handbook, I look forward to it.  Will the Ironjawz play just as well in the coming years?  Or will they suffer through the next year until the next major update?  Time will tell.  And no matter what happens, I'll keep on playing my Ironjawz as my schedule permits, and keep the Crimson Waaagh! moving forward.

Now to decide whether to start on one of my 3 or 4 other dream army projects, add to my Ironjawz, or make a big pledge to the current Reaper Miniatures Kickstarter.  Decisions, decisions...

[Chaotic Neutral]

9 minutes ago, BunkhouseBuster said:

Last night, I played what is now my last game of Ironjawz with the first edition of the General's Handbook.  And here is a short report:

My army - Ironjawz

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Megaboss

Megaboss

Warchanter

Wierdnob Shaman

Ironfist Battalion

Brute Squad (5)

Brute Squad (5)

Brute Squad (5)

Ardboy Squad (10)

Gore-gruntas (6)

Aleguzzler Gargant

 

His army - Seraphon

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Astrolith Standard Bearer

Skink Chief

Skink Priest

Skink Starseer

Skinks (30)

Skinks (30)

Skinks (10)

Kroxigors (3)

Bastiladon

Bastiladon

(I don't know if he had any Battalions in this army.)

 

Matched Play, Gift from the Heavens

It was awesome.  I have played with this player before, and he plays well.  His Skinks provided lots of Dakka and chaff for my army to chew through, and his Bastiladons were near impervious once he got them buffed up with his spells.  We ended up trying on objectives, but I won the game in a minor victory as my his Bastiladon defeated my Gargant in melee, which then toppled on top of it in a form of mutually assured destruction.

After packing up my models and tracking the game into my WLD stats I have been keeping, I realized just how well I actually have been playing Ironjawz over the past 7 months.  Not counting games where I was teaching others how to play or demoing, my personal record for the past 7 months is 13 wins and 3 losses.  WOW.  I have never played that well in any other game in my life (except maybe Team Fortress 2, but that was years ago) and certainly not for tabletop games.  I never went out looking for a powerful army, I just wanted to play a fun army, and get my Ork army in that I had dreamed about for years.  Waaagh!

Whatever changes come with the latest edition General's Handbook, I look forward to it.  Will the Ironjawz play just as well in the coming years?  Or will they suffer through the next year until the next major update?  Time will tell.  And no matter what happens, I'll keep on playing my Ironjawz as my schedule permits, and keep the Crimson Waaagh! moving forward.

that is awesome sir.

"Whatever changes come with the latest edition General's Handbook, I look forward to it." is very heart warming.

it's good to see more players out there that did not shelf ironjawz because they were not earning ez mode wins, and stuck with them for the love of the game and the faction.

interesting that they might be looking stronger, and the waac players that have the models are possibly dusting them off or buying in.

great post sir.

[BunkhouseBuster]

10 minutes ago, Chaotic Neutral said:

that is awesome sir.

"Whatever changes come with the latest edition General's Handbook, I look forward to it." is very heart warming.

it's good to see more players out there that did not shelf ironjawz because they were not earning ez mode wins, and stuck with them for the love of the game and the faction.

interesting that they might be looking stronger, and the waac players that have the models are possibly dusting them off or buying in.

great post sir.

Thanks!  I just try to not take life too seriously anymore.  What with the drama and stress of legal and financial issues my family has been going through and will to go through, I find that playing wargames works better as an escape.  Perspective on what's important and finding a relaxing way to deal with stress in a healthy (albeit costly ) hobby.

I was talking with my Megaboss last night before the game, and he had this to say about things:

"Oy, dat's right, right dere.  It don' ma'er oo wins er oo loses, so long as da scrap was a good 'un and gets remembered fer a long time.  It don' ma'er oo da gits are dat need crumpin', so long as dey get crumped!  If'n we win, den we win.  If'n we lose, den we get ta fight again next time.

Since we's done so good, 'ows 'bout we get some more Boyz fer da Waaagh?  An' wat 'bout me Maw-crusha?"

[Sangfroid]

Only completed mutually assured destruction once with my giant on a mutuality vortex beast, a bastilidon is a much more satisfactory target well done! 

[Lanoss]

Hey Boyz

Got a sneaky lil 1000pt tournament coming up shortly. Was wondering what you think about 2x Warchanters VS another Megaboss

List I’m going to run as follows

 

Megaboss (Bestial Charisma) (Destroyer)

Megaboss (Metalripper’s Klaw)

Brutes (3x5)

Ironfist

980

 

OR

Megaboss (Ironclad?) (Destroyer)

Warchanter (Boss Skewer)

Warchanter

Brutes (3x5)

Ironfist

1000

 

Shout it out boyz

[Malakree]

@Lanoss

Generally for "competitive" Ironjawz you want the warchanters, you also want to merge two of the Brute squads into a unit of 10 with 2h to maximise the warchanter buff and inspiring presence.
 

Spoiler

Allegiance: Ironjawz
Orruk Megaboss (140)
- General
- Trait: Ironclad 
- Artefact: Metalrippa's Klaw 
Orruk Megaboss (140)
Orruk Warchanter (80)
Orruk Warchanter (80)
10 x Orruk Brutes (360)
5 x Orruk Brutes (180)

Total: 980 / 1000

You are going to be quite slow with this list though so potentially dropping the unit of 5 brutes and the second warchanter would get you something like this which has much better map mobility, still grabs the second megaboss and has the death unit of brutes to murder stuff. The units of Goregruntas could be combined into a single unit of 6 which would let you dump a frenzy of violence on them if you didn't think the brutes will be able to charge.

Spoiler

Allegiance: Ironjawz
Orruk Megaboss (140)
- General
- Trait: Ironclad 
- Artefact: Metalrippa's Klaw 
Orruk Megaboss (140)
Orruk Warchanter (80)
10 x Orruk Brutes (360)
3 x Orruk Gore Gruntas (140)
3 x Orruk Gore Gruntas (140)

Total: 1000 / 1000
 

 

If however you don't want to be a dirty pansy humie then we could always support this list instead.

Spoiler

Allegiance: Ironjawz
Orruk Megaboss (140)
- General
- Trait: Ironclad 
- Artefact: Metalrippa's Klaw 
Orruk Megaboss (140)
- Artefact: Daubing of Mork 
5 x Orruk Brutes (180)
5 x Orruk Brutes (180)
5 x Orruk Brutes (180)
Brute Fist (180)

Total: 1000 / 1000

My personal preference is for the 2nd list but I'm not a top tier player and might just end up taking the brutefist for roflmao.

[JonnyTheKing]

Hey, I'm new to Ironjawz (Picked up a SC box today) Before I buy anything what units are considered good to take? Example lists of semi- competitive would be nice too!

[PlasticCraic]

12 minutes ago, JonnyTheKing said:

Hey, I'm new to Ironjawz (Picked up a SC box today) Before I buy anything what units are considered good to take? Example lists of semi- competitive would be nice too!

You're in luck!  Chris T and Kieran H (Lord Sangfroid on here) are widely considered the top Ironjawz players on the UK scene - both are extremely experienced with this army, both consistently do well at the top events, and best of all, both are very active on this forum!  I suggest you follow both on here so you always see their posts, and look at their batreps to see what they are running and how.

But even Gitz like me are happy to help out where we can, so...

The building blocks for most armies are:

Spoiler

 

Megaboss on Maw Krusha: Essential.  Gives you damage potential outside of the combat phase (via shooting and Destructive Bulk).  Don't bother with Gordrakk, he costs too much and he can't take artefacts or command traits.  Most people (myself included) seem to be gravitating towards Ironclad as a command trait.  I like Armour of Gork (combos well with the above and Mystic Shield - people often won't even bother attacking you in combat).  But Daubing of Mork and Metalrippa are strong too.

Warchanter: Ideally x 2.  One for the Big Lad above, one for your big block of Brutes (see below).  If you take a batallion, slap a Boss Skewer on one of them.

A source of Mystic Shield: Might be the Weirdnob Shaman, might be an ally.  The MBMK is exponentially better when Shielded.

10x Brutes: Your punch.  A 10 is much better imo than MSU, because you are benefitting more from the Warchanter buff, and you will usually delete something (triggering Smashing and Bashing).  It's far from unanimous that this is essential, but they are very popular in IJ armies.

Some Gore Gruntas: I run 2x 3, which again is quite common I believe.  They are quite reasonably priced now, give a good screen on those big bases, and are mobile and durable.

Allies: Pure Ironjawz is arguably the most one-dimensional army in the game, so we stand to benefit a lot from things like artillery.  The downsides being that you are cranking up your drops, and getting non-Ironjawz keywords units doesn't contribute to the Mighty Waaagh.  I use the Troggoth Hag.

An Ironfist: Personally I feel like we need that extra movement.  Or maybe that's just because I make mistakes and need to recover!  I believe Kieran and Chris T are both currently running without one...but they don't make mistakes.  They know what needs to be where and when.  So I guess in some ways this is a Chump Tax...but I do also like the Boss Skewer!  And of course it gets your drops down.  Most people do run one.

 

This doesn't come to 2000 points, so of course there is room for putting your own spin on things.  This is just to give you an idea of the core 1400-or so points that are the building blocks of most Ironjawz armies that are aiming to be competitive.

There are of course some armies totally out of left field.  A few Double Cabbage lists are popping up - there was an awesome game on the stream a few weeks back which used 2x MBMK and the interrupt charge thing on one of them.  He popped the 5+ every time which helped, but man was that game good to watch!

Doom and Darkness also runs a Double Cabbage list with a Gorefist and some Warchanters.  I guess it's our take on the current "pop and pin" armies doing the rounds (Sayl + a block of Slaves to Darkness, or the Vanguard Wing for example).  Get in their face turn 1 and don't let them out of their deployment zone while you mop up.  He explains the list tech on YouTube in the "Ironjawz Unlocked" video (well worth a watch), and has some decent YouTube batreps out.

Welcome to the Waaagh!  Come on you Boyz in Green!

[Malakree]

1 minute ago, JonnyTheKing said:

Hey, I'm new to Ironjawz (Picked up a SC box today) Before I buy anything what units are considered good to take? Example lists of semi- competitive would be nice too!

• Mawkrusha is king. At 1k point's he's a good choice, at 2k he's basically mandatory. One won't go a miss and 2 is completely viable.
• A Megaboss on Foot (Footboss) is an ok choice at 1k. He's not needed but it's nice to have the option to throw one in a list if you want. Probably our only mediocre choice.
• One Warchanter is essentially mandatory. Two is close to mandatory. Easily one of the best heroes in the game for his points and a huge force multiplier.
• A Single Weirdnob Shaman is good to have. Two or Three is probably overkill but gives you list options.
• Brutes are Amazing, you want to take them in blocks of 10 with 2h weapons. With frenzy of violence they will kill any and all monsters in a turn. The boss should have a Klaw.
• Goregruntas recently got a points reduction making them a competitive choice. A  gorefist list recently came 2nd in a huge tournament. 6 is a good number, 15 is overkill.
• Ardboyz, these are generally used as filler. They are ok at a unit of 30 now (massive units) you will get enough of these just by getting the rest of your army.

For a pure Ironjawz army the following will give you everything you need and more.

Weirdnob Warband - 4 of these will get you 20 brutes, 2 blocks of 10. Each box is £40, £10 more than the brutes, but has 5 Ardboyz and a Weirdnob shaman in. So for £160 you get 20 Brutes, 20 Ardboyz and 4 Weirdnobs. If you were to buy them individually that would be £232. The 4 weirdnobs are the most you will need even for a cheese list, the 20 ardboyz are useful because.

Start Collecting - Ironjawz - Litterally the only way to buy Gore Gruntas. These are £50, basically the same as the Goregruntas alone. So for £2 you get 10 Ardboyz and a Warchanter. 4 of these will cost you £200 giving you 12 Goregruntas, 40 Ardboyz and 4 warchanters. Again the only thing you might want more of is the Goregruntas. You could feasibly use 4 warchanters, although 2 is the standard number and 3 will be top end. There's no point even comparing the price value, if you want 3 Goregruntas buy this box.

Buying the 4 of each of these will give you the following.

• 4 Warchanters - You could seriously run all these if you wanted. They are THAT good. I'd recomend having at least 2.
• 4 Weirdnobs - 1 more than you will ever want, 2 more than you will regularly want, 3 more than you realistically need. A nice bonus to have just for list options.
• 12 Goregruntas - They work as units of 3, as your flanking heavy cav and objective grabbers, or in units of 6 as devastating shock cav. 6 Pigs doing an 8" charge with frenzy of violence is disgusting. Build them with the choppas, the 2" attack is never really needed.
• 20 Brutes - If you are going to magnetise, do it. If not give them 2h. While ok in blocks of 5 with DW, especially at 1k, they really shine in blocks of 10 with the 2h. Apply frenzy of Violence and watch them delete any monster you want. Current single turn kill count is a Magmadroth, Neferata and a vampire lord on zombie dragon. That's out of 6 games.
• 60 Ardboyz - Exactly 2 massive size units, this is the most you will ever want for 2k. Build every Drummer and Every Banner/Icon you can, you can never have to many. Build 2 Bosses. Split the rest between shields, 2h and dual wield. Realistically this will let you field whatever combination of 30 weapons you want. 

From this you can see why, despite it's cost, I recommend getting 4 and 4. This right here is almost every variation of an Ironjawz you could ever want at 2k. From here all you need to sort out is your allies and the Big Daddy himself.

Mawkrusha, Death Cabbage, King, Living incarnation of Gorkamorka - Personally I will be getting 3 of these eventually. 2 Standard MK's and one painted up as Gordrak. Magnetise them. You can Magnetise the Megaboss on top so that you can switch him for Gordrak if you want, don't forget to magnetise Bigteef's hood as well. In addition you magnetise the megabosses arms to let you swap between the two weapons options. The only reason not to get 4 is that they don't fit in a 2k point army (YET!). As an added bonus they are a stunning model and an amazing centrepiece for your army.

 

Allies

This is the final section. We have a wide variety available to us at the moment so I'm going to list them, without explanation, from Common choices to the most exotic.

1. Giants. Buy 2 because you can. Mostly used singularly but there isn't really a solid reason NOT to get the second.
2. Spear Chukka, Doom Diver, Rock Lobber. Grot artillery. Choose your favourite.
3. Troggoth Hag. 
4. Orruk Warboss on a Pig with a Great Waaagh! Banner. Seriously read what that banner does!
5. Moonclan Grots with Fanatics
6. Cheap Grots potentially with a Grot Shaman for sneaky stabbin
7. Wizards, Wizards, Wizards and Crazy Wizards

This is not an exhaustive list of allies but it covers the few obvious and most basic choices. We are really spoiled for choice here.

 

I hope this helped. I do see people asking the same sort of question regularly so maybe we can get @Chris Tomlin to write us a proper introduction to ironjawz post and then sticky it!

[GingerGiant]

18 hours ago, Malakree said:

• Mawkrusha is king. At 1k point's he's a good choice, at 2k he's basically mandatory. One won't go a miss and 2 is completely viable.
• A Megaboss on Foot (Footboss) is an ok choice at 1k. He's not needed but it's nice to have the option to throw one in a list if you want. Probably our only mediocre choice.
• One Warchanter is essentially mandatory. Two is close to mandatory. Easily one of the best heroes in the game for his points and a huge force multiplier.
• A Single Weirdnob Shaman is good to have. Two or Three is probably overkill but gives you list options.
• Brutes are Amazing, you want to take them in blocks of 10 with 2h weapons. With frenzy of violence they will kill any and all monsters in a turn. The boss should have a Klaw.
• Goregruntas recently got a points reduction making them a competitive choice. A  gorefist list recently came 2nd in a huge tournament. 6 is a good number, 15 is overkill.
• Ardboyz, these are generally used as filler. They are ok at a unit of 30 now (massive units) you will get enough of these just by getting the rest of your army.

For a pure Ironjawz army the following will give you everything you need and more.

Weirdnob Warband - 4 of these will get you 20 brutes, 2 blocks of 10. Each box is £40, £10 more than the brutes, but has 5 Ardboyz and a Weirdnob shaman in. So for £160 you get 20 Brutes, 20 Ardboyz and 4 Weirdnobs. If you were to buy them individually that would be £232. The 4 weirdnobs are the most you will need even for a cheese list, the 20 ardboyz are useful because.

Start Collecting - Ironjawz - Litterally the only way to buy Gore Gruntas. These are £50, basically the same as the Goregruntas alone. So for £2 you get 10 Ardboyz and a Warchanter. 4 of these will cost you £200 giving you 12 Goregruntas, 40 Ardboyz and 4 warchanters. Again the only thing you might want more of is the Goregruntas. You could feasibly use 4 warchanters, although 2 is the standard number and 3 will be top end. There's no point even comparing the price value, if you want 3 Goregruntas buy this box.

Buying the 4 of each of these will give you the following.

• 4 Warchanters - You could seriously run all these if you wanted. They are THAT good. I'd recomend having at least 2.
• 4 Weirdnobs - 1 more than you will ever want, 2 more than you will regularly want, 3 more than you realistically need. A nice bonus to have just for list options.
• 12 Goregruntas - They work as units of 3, as your flanking heavy cav and objective grabbers, or in units of 6 as devastating shock cav. 6 Pigs doing an 8" charge with frenzy of violence is disgusting. Build them with the choppas, the 2" attack is never really needed.
• 20 Brutes - If you are going to magnetise, do it. If not give them 2h. While ok in blocks of 5 with DW, especially at 1k, they really shine in blocks of 10 with the 2h. Apply frenzy of Violence and watch them delete any monster you want. Current single turn kill count is a Magmadroth, Neferata and a vampire lord on zombie dragon. That's out of 6 games.
• 60 Ardboyz - Exactly 2 massive size units, this is the most you will ever want for 2k. Build every Drummer and Every Banner/Icon you can, you can never have to many. Build 2 Bosses. Split the rest between shields, 2h and dual wield. Realistically this will let you field whatever combination of 30 weapons you want. 

From this you can see why, despite it's cost, I recommend getting 4 and 4. This right here is almost every variation of an Ironjawz you could ever want at 2k. From here all you need to sort out is your allies and the Big Daddy himself.

Mawkrusha, Death Cabbage, King, Living incarnation of Gorkamorka - Personally I will be getting 3 of these eventually. 2 Standard MK's and one painted up as Gordrak. Magnetise them. You can Magnetise the Megaboss on top so that you can switch him for Gordrak if you want, don't forget to magnetise Bigteef's hood as well. In addition you magnetise the megabosses arms to let you swap between the two weapons options. The only reason not to get 4 is that they don't fit in a 2k point army (YET!). As an added bonus they are a stunning model and an amazing centrepiece for your army.

 

Allies

This is the final section. We have a wide variety available to us at the moment so I'm going to list them, without explanation, from Common choices to the most exotic.

1. Giants. Buy 2 because you can. Mostly used singularly but there isn't really a solid reason NOT to get the second.
2. Spear Chukka, Doom Diver, Rock Lobber. Grot artillery. Choose your favourite.
3. Troggoth Hag. 
4. Orruk Warboss on a Pig with a Great Waaagh! Banner. Seriously read what that banner does!
5. Moonclan Grots with Fanatics
6. Cheap Grots potentially with a Grot Shaman for sneaky stabbin
7. Wizards, Wizards, Wizards and Crazy Wizards

This is not an exhaustive list of allies but it covers the few obvious and most basic choices. We are really spoiled for choice here.

 

I hope this helped. I do see people asking the same sort of question regularly so maybe we can get @Chris Tomlin to write us a proper introduction to ironjawz post and then sticky it!

Those are some really good ally suggestions. What's really nice is that you can run both an Aleguzzler Gargant, a unit of Moonclan Grots, and a unit of Fanatics and go 400/400 on your allies.

Question: When you say 2h, are you refering to the Jagged Gore-hacka? At least on paper, the Two Brute Choppas deal 33% more damage over the Jagged Gore-hacka. Is the extra 1" on the weapon really that important?

[Lanoss]

What is everyone’s experiences against the typical Disciples of Tzeentch  Skyfire list? Seems like we don’t really have a counterpunch(/fist) for it

[Ollie Grimwood]

35 minutes ago, GingerGiant said:

Those are some really good ally suggestions. What's really nice is that you can run both an Aleguzzler Gargant, a unit of Moonclan Grots, and a unit of Fanatics and go 400/400 on your allies.

Question: When you say 2h, are you refering to the Jagged Gore-hacka? At least on paper, the Two Brute Choppas deal 33% more damage over the Jagged Gore-hacka. Is the extra 1" on the weapon really that important?

If you’re going to use Brutes in bigger units it does. They’ve got big bases and tend to get in each other’s way so the 2” reach lets you attack through the Brutes infront. Brute Choppas on 5 strong units and Gore Hackas on 10+ sized units 

@Malakree that is an excellent post. 

[Malakree]

59 minutes ago, GingerGiant said:

Question: When you say 2h, are you refering to the Jagged Gore-hacka? At least on paper, the Two Brute Choppas deal 33% more damage over the Jagged Gore-hacka. Is the extra 1" on the weapon really that important?

So in a group of 10 there are 7 brutes with your choice. 3 Brutes with dual wield do the same number of attacks as 4 with 2 handers. That means for every 1 brute which is in range because of the 2" it's as if 3 of your brutes are dual wielding rather than 2h, at 2 brutes in 2" but out of 1" then the weapon options are essentially the same. 

When you then consider the advantages gained by having the extra 2" range normally at 10 it easily out weighs the DW.

[Sangfroid]

Check out this topic from a year ago or so about brutes from the forum there is a picture I took which also shows you “formation” for different weapons to maximise attacks and why the 2” weapons can be better for application of force, or for maintaining a tight battle front

I will say though that it is possible to use 1” weapons as well in 10’s just takes more thought but as they lose models they maintain their power very well.  In my “maximum effort” list which is 3x10 brutes I use 1 with 2” and 2 unit with 1” weapons partly models I own but also as I string the two units out a bit more for coverage and then buff up the 2” weapons ones to use as my scalpel alongside the Mawkrusha