AoS 2 - Bonesplitterz Discussion

[bonzai]

12 minutes ago, Mogwai Man said:

I just started my first army and it's bonesplitterz. I have a few questions.

Is there a preference between Morboys & Orruks? Boarboys & Maniaks? 

Are Big Stabbas worth putting together? Wish GW would package the big stabbas separately.

Morboys have better offense, orruks have a bit better survivability. Same with boarboys and maniaks, but boarboys can have a closer damage output thanks to them retreating and re-charging each turn.  You can play some fun tricks with them and catch your opponent flat footed some times.

Big stabbas are very worth it. They are the armies main source of quality damage. What I did is buy a box of boys and made 15 of them and two big stabbas. That way I knew 2 boxes would net me my unit of 30, I would get 4 big stabbas, and I would have a few spares for whatever... 

[Mogwai Man]

4 minutes ago, bonzai said:

Morboys have better offense, orruks have a bit better survivability. Same with boarboys and maniaks, but boarboys can have a closer damage output thanks to them retreating and re-charging each turn.  You can play some fun tricks with them and catch your opponent flat footed some times.

Big stabbas are very worth it. They are the armies main source of quality damage. What I did is buy a box of boys and made 15 of them and two big stabbas. That way I knew 2 boxes would net me my unit of 30, I would get 4 big stabbas, and I would have a few spares for whatever... 

Thank you for the advice I appreciate it. I was also wondering on the weapon choices between chompas & stikkas for boarboys & orruks.

Is the extra 2 inches worthwhile for orruks? Or is it better to stick with chompas?

For boarboys it seems using stikkas is more beneficial than chompas since they gain the +1 damage to monsters.

[bonzai]

4 minutes ago, Mogwai Man said:

Thank you for the advice I appreciate it. I was also wondering on the weapon choices between chompas & stikkas for boarboys & orruks.

Is the extra 2 inches worthwhile for orruks? Or is it better to stick with chompas?

For boarboys it seems using stikkas is more beneficial than chompas since they gain the +1 damage to monsters.

You are right on the boarboys. Especially since it always seems like its the boars themselves that do the heavy lifting, so the spear bonuses are just an extra benefit.

As for normal orruks... my rule is chompas for msu, spears for large bricks.

[Mogwai Man]

10 minutes ago, bonzai said:

You are right on the boarboys. Especially since it always seems like its the boars themselves that do the heavy lifting, so the spear bonuses are just an extra benefit.

As for normal orruks... my rule is chompas for msu, spears for large bricks.

Thanks again for the tips. I'll keep this mind as I grow the army. I'm enjoying the theme of them so far.

[svnvaldez]

55 minutes ago, Mogwai Man said:

I just started my first army and it's bonesplitterz. I have a few questions.

 

Meta shifts and new books come out at a pretty decent pace so this question won’t have a 100% answer. I’d always recommend building what you like the look of for this reason.

I just ripped up the hands on 30 arrowboyz and gave them Spears and Shields.

If you can magnatize everything you should but I have never been bothered to do that.

I would recommend building all the big stabbas you can. Build the boyz as moarboyz and the Boars as Maniaks. 1 tip is to use super glue not plastic glue on the hands and they can be changed easily if you change your mind.

Edited January 18, 2019 by svnvaldez

[Mogwai Man]

10 minutes ago, svnvaldez said:

Meta shifts and new books come out at a pretty decent pace so this question won’t have a 100% answer. I’d always recommend building what you like the look of for this reason.

I just ripped up the hands on 30 arrowboyz and gave them Spears and Shields.

If you can magnatize everything you should but I have never been bothered to do that.

I would recommend building all the big stabbas you can. Build the boyz as moarboyz and the Boars as Maniaks. 1 tip is to use super glue not plastic glue on the hands and they can be changed easily if you change your mind.

Thank you for the advice man. Especially on the super glue and plastic glue.

[Requizen]

Still think I'd like to give these guys a shot. How does something like this look for a 1k list?

 

Weirdnob - General, Squirmy Warpaint, Hand of Gork or Mork, Big Wurrgog Mask
Wurrgog Prophet - Brutal Beast Spirits

30x Morboyz
10x Boarboyz

4x Big Stabbas

Shackles

980/1000

 

Not sure about trait/spells/artifacts yet, the Mask just looks hilarious. 

[Skabnoze]

5 minutes ago, Requizen said:

Still think I'd like to give these guys a shot. How does something like this look for a 1k list?

 

Weirdnob - General, Squirmy Warpaint, Hand of Gork or Mork, Big Wurrgog Mask
Wurrgog Prophet - Brutal Beast Spirits

30x Morboyz
10x Boarboyz

4x Big Stabbas

Shackles

980/1000

 

Not sure about trait/spells/artifacts yet, the Mask just looks hilarious. 

The mask is awesome.  I love that thing.

I think the list looks pretty good.  This is the sort of force that I want to use with this army - I simply wish the army was structured to promote this style of play with better synergies.

This will probably perform middle of the road depending on how you play it.  There are some armies and forces out there that will explode this force, and others that will struggle at this points level to deal with a big block of Morboyz.  This army will rip up any large monsters that show up.  Your issue is going to be scary melee units such as Witch Elves.  Your army also only has 3 units and that might cause issues with objectives - especially if you lose some of them.

[Requizen]

5 minutes ago, Skabnoze said:

The mask is awesome.  I love that thing.

I think the list looks pretty good.  This is the sort of force that I want to use with this army - I simply wish the army was structured to promote this style of play with better synergies.

This will probably perform middle of the road depending on how you play it.  There are some armies and forces out there that will explode this force, and others that will struggle at this points level to deal with a big block of Morboyz.  This army will rip up any large monsters that show up.  Your issue is going to be scary melee units such as Witch Elves.  Your army also only has 3 units and that might cause issues with objectives - especially if you lose some of them.

Yeah, that's difficult for a lot of armies at 1k though. I mainly play SCE so I'm used to having issues holding objectives after a few losses haha. 

It might be worth splitting the Boars up to 2x5 for that purpose, but the buffs are just so good that I want bigger units to stack on. It should hopefully be less of a problem at 2k from what I've seen.

[Skabnoze]

2 minutes ago, Requizen said:

Yeah, that's difficult for a lot of armies at 1k though. I mainly play SCE so I'm used to having issues holding objectives after a few losses haha. 

It might be worth splitting the Boars up to 2x5 for that purpose, but the buffs are just so good that I want bigger units to stack on. It should hopefully be less of a problem at 2k from what I've seen.

That is probably a good idea at this point size.  But try it out both ways and see!

[Mikeymajq]

On 1/17/2019 at 2:14 AM, PlasticCraic said:

@Mikeymajq surprisingly, the Dankhold doesn't have the Monster keyword.

Manglers are kickass.  I'd still consider the Colossal a better standalone Kamikaze unit thought (Mangler benefits a lot from the Commant Trait, and the Command Ability is better when there are multiple Squig units in range to benefit).  So as good as it is, I think it needs the Allegiance to be optimised.

You could take the basic Mangler with no character, but with the free summoning the Colossal works out slightly cheaper in points.

So I'd still be looking at the Colossal for a missile, or the Gargant if you just want a cheap Monster who will die quickly.

That's strange and feels like an oversight. 

I hadn't considered the colossal squig (I'm not much for Fw stuff). But I will give it a look. 

Would there be any point in bringing two gargants? As they seem to come in a box of two's for some reason 😅

 

Also is anyone using the drakkfoot warclan? The amount of wizards and all the bonuses to cast seem intruiging, and the exclusive spell is rather nasty. Especially with a wurrgog command ability too. 

I think I'd prefer the wargrinz clan but I don't field the normal boyz nor feel like having 4 units of arrowboyz  But the bonuses are kinda tempting.

[Mogwai Man]

Are warclans meant for over 2000 point games?

[Mikeymajq]

Warclans aren't that expensive, so no not really. All they require is 1 other battalion (depending on what warclan it is) with some more units in it. 

There is 1 megabattalion that is probably meant for bigger games. 

 

Also, I just won against Stormcasts (1250 pts)  I think this might be the 2nd time I manage to win with this faction and I always struggled against Stormcasts because of our lack or rend... and lack of attacks... and poor saves

But I allied in the Orruk warboss for the first time and he was amazing for the Morboys and big stabbas. Especially since he works in an aura instead of picking only one unit. And the banner on top of that was sweet!

Now I just want a Maniak wierdnob to hand out rerolls to hit too because 4+ to hit is... sad. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Mikeymajq

[Requizen]

Is there any reason to use Arrerboyz outside Kunnin Rukk? My buddy has a bunch to sell for a good price but I hadn't written any lists using them. Still worth putting in a regular list?

[PlasticCraic]

9 hours ago, Mikeymajq said:

Warclans aren't that expensive, so no not really. All they require is 1 other battalion (depending on what warclan it is) with some more units in it. 

I really like the Bonegrinz Warclan competitively. 

1 Drop, free summoning, loads of stackable CPs for a devastating Turn 1 fusilade.  With Hand of Gork + Kunnin Rukk move, your opponent only has a 3" window to backboard in most scenarios, and they won't have any buffs off before you strike.

And if it's one of the rare matchups that you can't hurt sufficiently Turn 1, you can use those CPs to run 6" and swamp the board.

It's utterly horrible to play though.

Spoiler

 

Mortal Realm: Shyish

Leaders

Savage Big Boss (120)

- General

- Stonecleava

- Trait: Squirmy Warpaint

- Artefact: The Ragged Cloak

Maniak Weirdnob (120)

- Artefact: Mystic Waaagh! Paint

- Lore of the Savage Waaagh: Brutal Beast Spirits

Maniak Weirdnob (120)

- Artefact: Big Wurrgog Mask

- Lore of the Savage Waaagh: Kunnin' Beast Spirits

Battleline

30 x Savage Orruk Arrowboys (420)

30 x Savage Orruk Arrowboys (420)

10 x Savage Orruks (120)

10 x Savage Orruks (120)

Units

4 x Savage Big Stabbas (200)

Battalions

Bonegrinz Warclan (110)

Kunnin' Rukk (200)

Total: 1950 / 2000

Extra Command Points: 3

Allies: 0 / 400

Wounds: 194

 

[Mogwai Man]

Was thinking about doing this for a 2k point army. Maybe swap out the arrowboys for morboys

Allegiance: Bonesplitterz

Leaders
Wurrgog Prophet (140)
- General
Wardokk (100)
Wardokk (100)
Wardokk (100)

Battleline
30 x Savage Orruk Morboys (300)
30 x Savage Orruk Morboys (300)
30 x Savage Orruk Arrowboys (420)

Units
4 x Savage Big Stabbas (200)

Battalions
Kop Rukk (200)
Drakkfoot Warclan (140)

Total: 2000 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 2
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 217
 

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Mogwai Man

[Mikeymajq]

8 hours ago, Mogwai Man said:

Was thinking about doing this for a 2k point army. Maybe swap out the arrowboys for morboys

Allegiance: Bonesplitterz

Leaders
Wurrgog Prophet (140)
- General
Wardokk (100)
Wardokk (100)
Wardokk (100)

Battleline
30 x Savage Orruk Morboys (300)
30 x Savage Orruk Morboys (300)
30 x Savage Orruk Arrowboys (420)

Units
4 x Savage Big Stabbas (200)

Battalions
Kop Rukk (200)
Drakkfoot Warclan (140)

Total: 2000 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 2
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 217
 

 

This is similiar to what I want to try out, but with some changes.

1xWurrgog (general)

 3x wardokks

1x maniak wierdnob

1x Orruk warboss 

30x Morboys

30x Morboys

10x Arrowboys

1x Aleguzzler Gargant

Emerald lifeswarm

Kop Rukk

Drakfoot warclan.

2000 pts on the dot. 

Maybe it's a little light on bodies, and maybe too many leaders and it is certainly lacking in big stabbas (   ) , but hopefully the amount of buffs and spells will make up for it, with the emerald lifeswarm trying to migitate casualties a bit, and Morboys going to town with extra attacks and rerolls and Blood waagh + the wurrgogs command ability they will be quite nasty. Altough with so many wizards it's almost hard to get enough spells to throw around.

From my last game I felt reeeally command pts starved even with 1 extra from being 50 pts under. the orruk warboss cmd ability is just so good! And so is the wurrgog... But so is not having d6 naked butt orruks flee in the morale phase everytime a unit takes a hit 

 

@Requizen I think arrowboys are ok, but almost mandatory to bring in units of 30. (but to me rolling 90 dice is a bit of a painful time consumer when hitting on 5+). I have a unit of 20 and even on full strength I feel they do mediocre to ok. I think I'd prefer another block of Morboys tbh.

@PlasticCraic That's one horrible list for sure!  I'd never play it, partly because it feels more like a chore, but also I'm not a tournament goer so I'd much prefer something fun (but that still has a bite)

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Mikeymajq

[Stones89]

++ **Pitched Battle** 2,000 (Destruction - Bonesplitterz) [1700pts] ++

+ Battalion +

Battalion: Drakkfoot Warclan [1680pts]: Wurrgog Prophet
. Battalion: Kop Rukk: Wardokk, Wardokk, Wardokk
. . Savage Orruks Morboys: 3x 10 Savage Orruks Morboys, Bone Totems, Skull Thumper
. . Savage Orruks Morboys: 3x 10 Savage Orruks Morboys, Bone Totems, Skull Thumper
. . Savage Orruks Morboys: 3x 10 Savage Orruks Morboys, Bone Totems, Skull Thumper

+ Allegiance +

Allegiance: Bonesplitterz

+ Game Options +

Game Type: 2000 Points - Battlehost

+ Malign Sorcery +

Endless Spells [20pts]: Quicksilver Swords

++ Total: [1700pts] ++

Then going to take the new gloomspite Troggoth hagboss for 300 points as an ally 

Make him general and can reroll damage on his d6 damage club and artifact gives him a 4+ fnp until you roll a 1

[PlasticCraic]

8 hours ago, Mikeymajq said:

 

@PlasticCraic That's one horrible list for sure!  I'd never play it, partly because it feels more like a chore, but also I'm not a tournament goer so I'd much prefer something fun (but that still has a bite)

 

Fair 

[Requizen]

Anyone allied in an Ironjawz Weirdnob Shaman? A big blob of Bonesplitterz can fuel his casting (only needs the Orruk keyword) and Foot of Gork can really add some punch to our army.

[Requizen]

So been thinking about Allies a bit. Really what Bonesplitterz lack is damage in general - no Rend or Multidamage on anything other than Heroes or Big Stabbaz (some incidental I suppose but not really "build around"). Mortal Wounds are also pretty few and far between, again basically just some spells and Big Stabbaz. Allies can help alleviate the burden on that one unit and our relatively squishy foot Heroes, as well as bring some variety.

Just gonna put down some thoughts, let me know if you agree/disagree:

Aleguzzler Gargant: Not extremely impactful, but at only 160 it's a cheap Monster so can proc the Morboyz +1 to hit once it dies, and brings some good rend and multidamage attacks, which we don't get outside Big Stabbas. Two actually isn't bad as a couple Distraction Carnifex (need to think of a new term for that in AoS).

Mangler +/- Loonboss: The new Gloomspite hotness, very punchy Monster (so good for Duality ), throws out lots of multidamage rend attacks, averages out to being pretty fast, etc. The Loonboss for +60 points adds some damage and can buff himself, and helps in 3PoP, but depends on the points you have left. 

Arachnarok Spider: IMO the only two worth considering are the Shaman and the Skitterstrand. Skitterstrand is a natural Reserve unit that can threaten flanks pretty easily, though without innate rerolls to charges you're relying on that 9+. Shaman is only 40 points more, gives you a Wizard Hero (good for 3PoP/DoD/PoAP), and some extra damage. The Shaman's spell only buffs himself, but 2 cast Heroes are great for Realm Spells and Endless Spells. In fact, you could consider one of the Gloomspite Endless Spells to go along with him - the Scuttletide is easier to cast from him, makes a wall, and deals an average of 2MWs every time it goes off. I think a Shaman + Scuttletide combo is a pretty solid addition.

Rogue Idol: Buffs our dudes, brings damage, brings MWs, is pretty hard to take down. Solid addition, if expensive, not much to it. 

Troggoth Hag: A reasonable Wizard - Debuffing spell, can hurt with Unbinds, good damage. It's a bit expensive for what it does, and I don't think it's much more threatening than other options in the list, but it ticks all the boxes I discussed at the beginning so it is worth considering..

Squig Gobba: I'll go ahead and say that I don't think this is the best ally we can take. But Destruction in general is really lacking in ranged options, so a 30" multidamage threat is something that you can't really get anywhere else, so it could be a big boon if you want to soften targets before reaching them.

Orruk Warboss on Wyvern: Seen it noted a few times, and for good reason. Good attacks and buffs melee units. 240 is a bit steep but seems pretty well worth it. 

Orruk Wierdnob Shaman: Foot of Gork is really good. It's even better when you get +2 to cast standing next to Arrerboyz or Boyz. This guy can bring good damage output, especially if you slap him on a Balewind or use Spellportals.

Fungoid Cave Shaman: So this guy isn't all that exciting. He doesn't bring the damage I talked about above, but for only 90 points, you get a Wizard who generates an extra 2.5 CP per game on average, which is extremely good for an army that need Inspiring Presence and really wants to reroll charge distances. A really solid addition if you find yourself hungering for CP.

Boingrot Bounderz: You can get 20 in a 2k game. While they're squishier than our own Cavalry, they do MWs on the charge and have a bunch of Rend attacks, so they actually make our Boars look pretty tame in comparison, as crazy as that is. You could actually make a pretty interesting Cavalry army with Boarboyz/Maniaks as your Battleline and these guys allied in.

Brutes: You can get 10 in a 2k game. A big brick of these guys is a nice addition to run alongside our hordes, comparing to 8 Big Stabbaz. The Brutes will put out the weight of dice with Rend, though, which is a niche that our army doesn't really fill.

Fellwater Troggoths: Much like Brutes, they compare to Big Stabbaz, trading quality of attacks for volume and in this case, durability and shooting as well. It never hurts to diversify your units, which is something that our army can struggle with.

 

Overall there's some really good options, and I think Bonesplitterz need to explore them in order to stay competitive. Our strength is in bodies and chip attacks, with only a bit of actual oomph damage. Taking advantage of Allies and/or Endless Spells to add more punch to our lists I think is paramount to keeping up going forward. 

I personally think a Shaman on Arachnarok is a solid choice - more casting, good damage, and a big distraction piece ticks a lot of boxes that we want to have in our army. For 30 points, adding in a Scuttletide gives some board control and extra chip MWs, which you can never discount the power of.

[bonzai]

On 1/21/2019 at 5:20 PM, Requizen said:

Anyone allied in an Ironjawz Weirdnob Shaman? A big blob of Bonesplitterz can fuel his casting (only needs the Orruk keyword) and Foot of Gork can really add some punch to our army.

I used to run one on a balewind in a Kunning rukk list before the changes to it. The idea was that it would add mortal wound output to the rukk. With an effective +3 to cast, it was still pretty random, going off about half the time.  I haven't tried it at all since the changes to endless spells.  I would not recommend running one unless you can get it a minimum of +3 to cast, and even then its going to be streaky, going gangbusters one game and nothing the next.

[Gobsmakka]

Anyone have a decent counter to Sylvaneth (Gnarlroot battalion)? 

I've been running a Kunnin' ruck list for a while and its a decent army against most people. My local meta has a sudden influx of sylvaneth though and they can cover most of the board with wildwoods that prevent shooting and can pick of individual models (and slice units in half) on a charge. The Gnarlroot batallion is usually a one-drop army which they rely on to take first turn and flood the table with wildwoods before the opponent can move units up to mid-field to occupy the large unclaimed gaps in terrain. I am also a one-drop army (Bonegrinz) so if I get first turn I half somewhat of half a shot. The whole game just comes down to this one dice roll, a 50/50 chance to lose the game before even bothering to deploy.  I enjoy these bonesplitterz but I find myself filled with actual literal dread at the amount of sylvaneth I will have to play in my area.

So anyone have any sweet tricks or ideas to prevent me from just shelving this army?  here is my brief army comp.

Big boss, wardokk, maniak wierdnob
4x10 units of Orruks
3x2 units of Stabbas
unit of 30 Arrowboyz
unit of Boarboy maniaks
Kunnin Rukk + Bonegrinz warclan

[Mogwai Man]

 

14 hours ago, Gobsmakka said:

Anyone have a decent counter to Sylvaneth (Gnarlroot battalion)? 

I've been running a Kunnin' ruck list for a while and its a decent army against most people. My local meta has a sudden influx of sylvaneth though and they can cover most of the board with wildwoods that prevent shooting and can pick of individual models (and slice units in half) on a charge. The Gnarlroot batallion is usually a one-drop army which they rely on to take first turn and flood the table with wildwoods before the opponent can move units up to mid-field to occupy the large unclaimed gaps in terrain. I am also a one-drop army (Bonegrinz) so if I get first turn I half somewhat of half a shot. The whole game just comes down to this one dice roll, a 50/50 chance to lose the game before even bothering to deploy.  I enjoy these bonesplitterz but I find myself filled with actual literal dread at the amount of sylvaneth I will have to play in my area.

So anyone have any sweet tricks or ideas to prevent me from just shelving this army?  here is my brief army comp.

Big boss, wardokk, maniak wierdnob
4x10 units of Orruks
3x2 units of StabbasKopRukk 2.0.pdf
unit of 30 Arrowboyz
unit of Boarboy maniaks
Kunnin Rukk + Bonegrinz warclan

It seems like Morboys are the way to go now for a bonesplitterz infantry battleline. I am deciding between these two builds at the moment. 

KopRukk 1.0.pdf

KopRukk 2.0.pdf

Edited February 1, 2019 by Mogwai Man

[Requizen]

Anything good to be made out of Snaga Rukk and/or Icebone? I find myself really liking the Boars and would be greatly amused if I could do an all-cavarly or at least mostly-cavalry army.