Gothmaug

I had hoped that with the release of a mixed Orruk Warclans book, we'd finally get a mounted Ironjawz hero. Oh well. I'm hoping the Warclans codex is well written, and has some good rules for mixed orruk forces other than just a Big Waagh. It would be nice to have a 1 out of 4 units rule for the various Orruk clans, so you could still have an ironjawz force but mix in a few Kruelboyz units.. Just like how cities of Sigmar can mix with stormcast or sylvaneth. As for Big Waagh! After the Broken realms stories, if Gordraak or Kragnos is my general I want my Big Waagh to allow me to take 1 out of 4 units from the Gloomspite, Mawtribes or Gargant factions. (or similar mechanic)

I also was underwhelmed by the breath attack...Then I went and looked at the exisitng dragons in the Game. Blazing Tempest is identical to the Dragonfire ability of the archmage on Dragon, and markedly better than the Noxious breath of the black dragon (dice = to models in target unit, 6's = 1 mortal) and the zombie dragon Pestilent breath which has a hit roll, a wound roll, and only 1d6 mortals if you manage to score the hit. SO in the grand scheme of dragons in AOS, it son par with the old ones we already have. The forgeworld dragons have better breath attacks, but who knows how long those will be playable.

Oh I agree, and attacking the dragon wont be too bad, as you can plan for it, and be stragetic with the number of models you send in. Its the opposite side that terrifies me, and that's when the dragon is on the offensive. Combining high movement and fly gives the Dragon's player a ton of freedom to pick his engagement spot to maximize the number of attacks. I look at my Orruk Warclan army, if I was the Stormcast player, I'd charge a big clump of ardboys or Gutripperz, and make sure to be within 3" of a high profile target like a Mawkrusha. Then dump all my attacks into the single target and delete it, relying on a high save and All out Defense action to protect me from the counterattacks. Its going to require some more strategic placement of units to defend against it. Its not overpowered, but its going to catch unprepared players for a nasty surprise.

Why Great Green Hand/Fist/Foot of Gork hasn't been created as an endless spell yet still blows my mind. I used to hope Gordraak's giant Gargant pulled Ram would become some sort of mobile terrain totem for destruction armies, but that hope died with Broken realms and the introduction of Kragnos. Personally I still cant warm up to that model for Destruction. Beasts of Chaos or Sylvaneth? Sure, fits right in, but not Destruction. I may just put a howdah full of orks and goblins on the shoulders of a mega-gargant and use that as a proxy for Kragnos.

Calamitous Tail Remind me not to charge the new dragons with a horde of grots or skellies, If i'm reading this right, I could have an entire 30 man unit of light infantry on 25mm bases surround the dragon, and the dragon gets 30 attacks at 3, 3, -2, 2. Ouch. Or worse yet, with a 3" range, the dragon charges a large 30 man infantry block, and then uses its 3" range to dump all 30 attacks (theoretical maximum) into the hero or elite unit hiding behind the infantry block. In actual play, it shouldn't be very hard at all to charge a large infantry unit (or a castled up group of MSU's) and get 15+ attacks. It would be less scary and more realistic if those attacks had to be allocated to the models within 3" which generated the # of attacks. I.E. 3 attacks to unit A, 7 attacks to unit B, etc. In the current iteration, the dragon generates the total # of attacks based on nearby models, and then gets to choose where those attacks are allocated. In its current iteration Calamatous Tail should have a different name and description. The Title and flavor text makes it sound like the dragon swings its tail and hits everything within 3" of it once. Thematically, then the power should have been something like. Make a number of attacks against each unit within 3" where the number of attacks is equal to the number of models in that unit within 3". In its current iteration, should be called Calamatous Fury or some such thing, and not a "tail sweep". That said, my Soulblight are not looking forward to having to deal with one of these new Dragons, but man o man I really like the look of them and I'm happy to see dragons returning to AoS. I hope Chaos/Death/ Destruction eventually get new dragons as well.

Probably a variant weapon option for the Beastbreaker or the Sloggoth Kit.

It has a butcher cleaver, a mallet and what look like stakes. At first I thought it was a new Ogre Butcher model, now I'm not so sure.

I would like to see more dragons in AoS. Most of the "dragons" that are still out there are old Fantasy kits that got carried over. New plastic made for AOS dragons are the Magmadroths, Stardrakes, and Mawkrushas. I think all the rest (elven dragons, zombie dragons, chaos dragons, forgeworld dragons), date back to Pre AoS times. I hope these new seraphon hatched Dragons are low enough points that they can be brought in as allies to all the Order armies. Be a damn shame if only Stormcast can use them. And if Stormcast gets new dragons....WELL that means DEATH can lich-i-fy them into new Zombie dragons. Hail Nagash! and bring on the new Death Sculpts. Im sure Chaos can corrupt a couple and destruction can tame/enslave others, so all 4 branches of AOS can have a dragon of their own.

Some generic cross faction monsters from Ghur would be nice.

I was thinking of using it as a mangler squig proxy, as a fun ally to any Orrk Army. Theres also so many new mounts for Kruelboyz, it could easily be used as a Killaboss on great Gnashtoof, or perhaps that Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast. I've got an extra Crow's Cage from the ole aleguzzler gargant sprue, that I could easily hang off the beastboss on squigasaur to make a good proxy. Or Ive got to wait for a new anvil or apotheosis article for Orruks, so I can build a boss with a mount Oh and that Beastboss would make a fantastic megaboss conversion with just a few tweaks. I've already got two megaboss on foot, so i'm not sure what I'd do with a 3rd. Heck, most of the time I have trouble justifying including one. Perhaps that will change with the new Ork codex.

Oh I don't know...My Soulblight gravelords Battletome is 128 pages long, 72 pages of art and story, 56 pages of rules and warscrolls. I think they could include a few less bits of art and story fluff, and stuff both armies into one book without too much trouble 🤔

Ooh, well that makes me feel better We missed that. And that's why we were playing an exhibition game to learn the new rules.

I would LOVE beasts of chaos rolled into slaves to darkness. Perhaps similar to the Big Waagh! in Orruks, where the armies run seperately, but have rules for a combined force. It just fits the great image of hordes of chaos rolling over the landscape.

Got to play in my first 3rd edition matched play game yesterday. Broke out my ironjawz with some Kruelboyz, and was paired up against the new stormcast eternals. We each took mediocre lists with a diversity of models just to see how the new edition worked., Used just the core rules new battalions, so no help from old codex battalions. At the end of it all, the two things that stood out the most were the increased saves/tankability of certain units, and the mortal wound prevalence. The new Stormcast Annhilators were tough to deal with, as they deepstriked 7" away (using a hero ability) and exploded in Mortal wounds to all units within 10". Then proceeded to all out defense for a 2+ save. Playing orruks, most units have none or at most a -1 rend, meaning those Annhilators absorbed a huge amount of attacks before dying. Oh and of course they resurrect on a 5+ and can then lightning deepstrike again. **Shudder*. Now I've got a new Orruk Warclans Codex coming, so I'm expecting some unit buffs (Kruelboys MW generation will be clutch i'm thinking), but I'm not sure how low rend armies without heavy spellcasting or MW generation are going to deal with the prevalence of 2+ saves. On the flip side, I brought a megaboss on foot for sh*ts and grins, and gave him "Ironclad" command trait for a 2+ base save. His warscroll ability is basically a renamed "all out attack" getting around the whole "a command can only be used once per phase" limitation, and he ROFL-stomped piles of stormcast light infantry. They had the same problem, no good way to overcome the 2+ save. And if they did, I just used the Healing heroic action to regain health. He felt heroic and scary for the first time ever, carving through units like you'd expect a megaboss should do. Are we just entering a new era with a different playstyle? One where you have ultra tanky units that dominate the battlefield, and have to be dealt with by shoveling them chaff. I see that playstyle in 40K (hello Mortarion) and I really don't want to see that appear in AoS.

Oh Fuggers!!!... I always wanted more dragons in AOS. Now it looks like I'll need stormcast eternals if I wish to use them. Still they will be pale shadows of my mighty Mawkrusha! I wish we had a non-mounted sculpt and warscroll for Mawkrushas. Instead it sounds like we're getting a feathery wyvern/vulture thing ., Sounds like the Chaos cockatrice model. Oh wait, I just noticed tis, the cockatrice has a claw at the end of its tail. Isn't there a recent rumor thread with a weird claw on a tail or other appendage? Could we be getting non-chaos corrupted cockatrice? I doubt it, but Ill take a longshot and say that "claw" rumor engine if from the tail of the new Mouth of Mork beastie.

Oh and for those wondering if the Kruelboys sculpts will mesh wit the current Orruk warclan hodgepodge of models... Well if you match the shields to your current army main color, I think they will blend in just fine. Could even headswap some brute/grunta heads into the kruelboys line. The heads appear to be the same size. I think the weedy muckdwellers are growing on me. Here's a complimentary to classic ironjawz color scheme.

My ardboys are already a hodgepidge of the basic Ardboys kit with different heads, weapons and limbs from a brutes kit and also the Gouged Eye Bloodbowl orks team. Really gives them some individuality and character. For Kruelboys, I think i'm going to paint them with a reddish-brown hue instead of classic greenskin. I want to differentiate them from my Ironjawz on the battlefield, Or maybe a yellow simmilar to hobgrots. hmm.... As for bonesplitters...Well I plan on converting a whole bunch of Beast Snagga 40K orks to use as Bonesplitta proxies. But I'm awaiting our new Warclans codex before I dive into that project. Perhaps they'll be another unit in there to convert the beast snaggas to that will make more sense. I just really like thier aesthetic. Also the new Blood Bowl Black ork team Thunder valley greenskinz would make fantastic brute conversions...but again, unless their stat lines changes significantly in the new codex, I don't really need more brutes at this time.

I hope we're getting the modern rendition of this beauty on a mega-gargant! KingBrodd this ones for you! Actually...I may build this out of a mega-gargant anyhow, and load it with Man-squewer boltboys!

I'm getting the feeling we're going to get one Enormous centerpiece model, with a platform covered in orks (or grots) loaded with long spears and ballista, either on top of, or pulled by, some huge swamp beast. Model Wise I hope its the size of a mega-gargant, so there's something out there to rival/challenge Brodd's children

*shrug* Ouor 2.0 coxes is going the way of the dodo in the next month, I wouldnt worry too much about it. Big Waaagh is going to have to be reworked to include kruelboyz allegiance powers anyhow. I equate it to the soulblight book, which had lots of bits that didnt make sense, until we saw the 3rd edition ruleset.

Spikeybits article from today has the warscroll cards from Dominion up to view. Hobgrots warscroll contains the Orruk Warclans and Kruelboyz keywords. No idea if they are battleline, but we'll know for sure when the codex hits. Can't imagine its more than a month away.

And here's another way to look at it. What we think is a creatures head on the lower left, is actually part of a larger siege machine. With bodies pinned to it , hung from the spikes, like the tongue on the Kruelboys hero totem. That row of symmetrical spikes could be the top of a gibblet, with a body stuck on there spread-eagle. two of those dangling sillhouettes look an awfully lot like human thighs and calves. This whole thing could be some nasty scaffold system of a war machine. Could even be sitting on top of a huge gator we cant see in the picture. Or its a Hobgrot taskmaster on a warwagon, being pulled by captured humanoids from Excelsis. :😁 But boy oh boy, does that lookllike a pair of Jaws

Its got the feel of a centerpiece model, those two prisoner crow cages on its back necessitate hat its a larger miniature than a standard mount. And with a name like sludgeraker, it implies something different than a gnashtooth. It could be a giant Gnashtooth, though it seems a waste of a development slot, when they could have hobgrots or kruelboyz riding a 5 man squad of normal gnashtooths.

Looking at the bottom jaw in the silhouette, it has a very distinctive curved lower jaw tip with protruding teeth. reminds me of a Spinosaurus skull. But the GW Troglodon model is already based on that creature, so 'Im betting its their rendition of a fantasy sarcosuchus or other giant prehistoric crocodile. Whatever its modeled after, It appears to be a large predatory beast with that looks like scaffolding on its back and two "crow cages" where the Kruelboyz can store prisoners/snacks for their mount. I wonder if it will have the TOTEM keyword? I hope it has a poisonous breath weapon. Here's a Sarcosuchus skull for fun:

Im still leaning toward blood bowl figure, with that footgear looking like a sneaker.