Brutes build

[Tizianolol]

Hi all, christmas is near and i decide to play ironjawz..on my starter list i thought to play 3x5 unit of brutes , but  maybe I think I ll play 1x10 brutes + megaboss as my 1 assault force, and I'll play 2x10 ardboyz to def points.

what is best way to gear my brutes?is 2" weapon better if I play 10 brutes together?;) thx guy all!

[Sangfroid]

I've been playing with 10 brutes armed with 2 choppas (plus max gorehacka and boss with claw and smasha) and I have found that with good positioning you can get all 10 to attack however one thing I have noticed is that with this set up the formation gets very spread out after initial contact and so sometimes as it's so spread can get locked into combats that counter charge and then it takes a turn or so to pile in back properly, with 2" you can keep a very tight formation and be sure all guys will attack. 

That said if you can get at least 8 of the 10 brutes fighting with 1" weapons you haven't lost anything due to the extra attacks. 

Also as they die the unit contracts anyway so having more attacks becomes more useful. 

Finnaly there are uses for 2" weapons though that I haven't tried out yet such as fighting over Ardboyz so in that instance only 2" weapons would be useful without really really careful deployment and moves 

[Tizianolol]

Ok thx s lot, I play with 6 gruntas too..in this case 2" right?:)

-another question ..you play 2 Gore choppa too?;)

[foolsama]

To play Gore-Gruntas, and be effective, you only have one choice: Don't play Gore-gruntas.

If you do not choose to heed that sound, experienced and sage advice, use Pig Iron Choppas. The models are too big for the extra inch to matter, and losing the 3+ hit is more detrimental than you'd think.

[Dez]

Gore-Gruntaz are good at blocking/board control/Speed. They aren't going to hit hard. So they have tactical use, you just can't base it in the old 'earn their points back' equation. Learn to use them to force your opponent into moves or even charges they didn't want to make, they soak up a ton of damage.

[Lord Biscuit]

Running 3x5 brutes or 10 and 5 brutes is something down to preference. A 5 man brute squad often want to be given targets as they more rapidly lose strength but their min-bosses do incredible damage. Truly they are the best monster slayers if they make contact and good flexiability. 

while the 10 man, given inspiring presence is more of anchor unit that is easily buffed and can act like a centrepiece unit to be supported and can clean up isolated units like no mans business. They also have the advantage of having more attacks within a turn while multiple 5 man can take hits by the time their turn has come around. Given their fast movement speed it's also easy to get a fairly advantagous charge, though the one turn miracle is pretty rare.

That being said, Ironjawz units all cost a lot which means theres no piece of their army that is disposable.

 

Goregrunters I find are fantastic flankers and tie up units. Small units are practically immune to battle shock and they are robust enough to deal with small units. They lose a bit of value because the Ironjawz army generally doesn't have any problems with movement, but it is nice to have them around. As mentioned though they aren't really the most killy units. 'ardboys benifit from Whagggs better, Brutes kill better. They love frail artilarry though, they are probably the only Ironjawz unit that can make it to a back line and forcing a foe to pull some fighty units off to one side reduces the battle strength they have to face the main bulk of the force.

[Tizianolol]

So guys i can play only 3 gruntas and i play another unit of brutes? Or you suggest to play 2x5 brutes more and 0 gruntas?;)

-and what is best build for 10 brutes?:)

[Lord Biscuit]

It depends. I think Ironjaws unlike every army has to run a very limited list to compete because it is so focused on winning one phase of the game unlike most other faction. 

[Lord Biscuit]

Second question: Spears allow models to make more concentrated engagements, but to be honest I haven't enough experience with the unit. I know that you should ideally never take spears on a small unit, I feel that missing the 3 or so attacks isn't worth the slight range increase. 10 man brutes may not be able to fully engage one squad and hence spears make it more likely, but tobe honest the detail likely won't be that noticeable most the time.

[Chris Tomlin]

In 2016 I've played with the following 2 configurations;

• 5 Brutes - Klaw & Smasha, Gore-choppa, Choppas

Or;

• 10 Brutes - Klaw & Smasha, 2 Gore-choppas, Jagged Gore-hackas

All my lists have included at least 1x 10 and 2x 5. Going into 2017 I do have some other ideas I'd like to try, but for now I feel I have more than enough experience to say that both of the above work well.

The unit of 10 is solid and will do all your hard work. It needs Inspiring Presence, I really can't stress the importance of this enough. I like @Sangfroid's comments on running the 10 with Choppas regardless. Whilst I have not tried this, I can clearly see that it is not perhaps as clear cut as I once thought. That said, the Jagged Gore-hackas are aesthetically so much cooler so it's a great excuse to use those components.

The units of 5 is great as a bit of a glass hammer. It pumps out a bunch of damage over a pretty small footprint (bear in mind that Gore-choppa still has a 2" reach so you can tuck him behind) and multiples of this unit allow you to maximise the terrific Klaw & Smasha armed Brute within your army. Again, not to be underestimated.

At the risk of annoying people by spamming the link (I would argue it is relevant haha!! ), it may be worth newer players checking out my recent podcast where I cover the basics of the Ironjawz warscrolls. All the above is covered, plus more. There's nothing ground-breaking there tbh, but its core information for the army I think;

 Enjoy  

[Sangfroid]

To follow on from @Chris Tomlin comments about 2" weapons below is a photo which shows the advantages of them (I was just literally in the process of spraying my new 10 brutes for painting all armed with 2" weapons). The comments about more attacks with 1" is true but look at how the formation has to be spread out (it's literally the size of a Megaboss) also if you get charged you can bring as much output to bear on a canny enemy whereas with 2" you can get 66% of the unit fighting even if flank charged.  Basically if your playing offensively and think your going to get the charge off where and when you want it 1" better, plus they retain strength once you start losing bodies, if you want a more rounded and solid block 2" is the way to go especially against monsters and targets that are smaller than  your footprint 

If you go up to 15 or beyond then must be 2" weapons I feel, thanks to Chris for pointing this out for sure, I am converted over :-)

 

[Chris Tomlin]

Very helpful @Sangfroid - people usually use diagrams to depict that sort of thing, but seeing it with the actual models makes for such a better example IMO.

Well, as you've mentioned it there...yes, I can confirm that a unit of 15 Brutes is going to be the crux of my plans for 2017 after being underwhelmed with 2x10 towards the end of this year. I love the idea of 20 just for lolz, but its unwieldy and excessive. 15 on the other hand....I reckon that's pretty juicy.

#youhearditherefirst (well maybe I said it somewhere else first, but you get me! )

[Tizianolol]

If I play so mutch brutes, do you play only a megaboss as general right? And about inspiring presence..if I cast it I can t use Waaagh command ability?:) thx all

[Uprising]

4 hours ago, Tizianolol said:

If I play so mutch brutes, do you play only a megaboss as general right? And about inspiring presence..if I cast it I can t use Waaagh command ability?:) thx all

The waaagh ability is a bit underwhelming, so much better to make that 10 man unit immune to battleshock.  No point losing elite troops for a chance on more hits(aka can I roll a 6?). 

[Chris Tomlin]

On ‎24‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 1:53 PM, Tizianolol said:

If I play so mutch brutes, do you play only a megaboss as general right? And about inspiring presence..if I cast it I can t use Waaagh command ability?:) thx all

The Waaagh! is fun, and potentially has it's uses, but when it comes down to it you will want that Inspiring Presence all the time. Battleshock is the Brutes single greatest weakness so mitigating that should be your primary concern.

You can take this to such a level where you actually make the Boss of your large Brute unit (or Big Boss if he's in an Ironfist or Brutefist) your armies General. This is nice as it means you are guaranteed Inspiring Presence as long as your unit is alive. He can also take a Command Trait as per the FAQ (but no Artefact).

Whilst I trialled this last night and will discuss in full elsewhere, I do have to say it came as a direct result of a conversation with @Sangfroid (the Boss as General that is).