PlasticCraic

Yeah the Battleshock is always a problem for them. If you took say 60 plus a Fungoid as allies (350 points all up), that 60 block could be in peril turn one against an Alpha Strike, because you wouldn't have accrued any Command Points (unless you have a Batallion). But then again, it means your opponent is pumping their output into a few hundred points of Grots instead of your big lads. Don't forget that when the first Grot falls, they are on Bravery 9 (4 + 5 extra for 50+ models), so your opponent would have to kill quite a few before it really became an issue. And as terrible as their attacks are, 180 shooting attacks can be vital against armies like Khorne where you really want output from other phases (and they have average to bad armour saves). I think they are a really solid tool in a Stonehorn-based army in particular. Not auto include, but viable.

If you're going Mixed (which you'd have to, to bring Moonclan into the conversation) then I'd say that Gitmob archers backed up by a Gitmob Shaman are the best. 350 for the package and it's a really solid Battleline unit. If you're looking for Beastclaw allies then I do think Gnoblars are a really useful tool. Most games I think you'll want to start them at the back so they don't get under your feet, and they can run onto objectives later on once there isn't much of either army on the table. In some games of course they will be a useful screen against the Alpha strike.

So no update for the Mystic Waaagh! Paint artefact, meaning it now actively nerfs your casting range. Because it's only Destruction. I'm finding it really hard not to feel insulted, when they did update Magical Supremacy for Tzeentch.

Yeah Bone Krusha is a good one with the Portal, straight into D6 range. What I like about Geminids is the 18" setup range. If I was taking one on its own, it would be under serious consideration, because you can fling it out there from relative safety and without investing in the portal (it also does so much for so few points!)

@Kanamorf great write up, thanks for the info! If you are dropping the Warboss, is it worth considering going back up to 30 Arrow Boys with the extra 140 points? An 8 block of Big Stabbas is a great shout, especially with the way Inspiring Presence works now!

Good shout...with multiple opportunities at Dokk dances (and maybe arcane terrain) you'd really be getting this into the realm of the probable. I've just had a look at his warscroll and hilariously, you can do his Amber Breath in both players' turns. It's in "the shooting phase", not "your shooting phase" (much like Kurnoths hunkering down in "the charge phase"). It also can't move "in the following movement phase", so in a Destro army you could totally move it in the Hero phase with Rampaging Destroyers. Please don't change that warscroll GW! ... although I'm sure they will ?

Oops! You are right, I have 7. I put in the 6 Bonesplitterz and forgot the allied Warboss would count too!

And on a side note - we could be an army to benefit from the new pile in rules, it's obviously situational but a 1 or 2 on the Monster Hunter table is no longer garbage now that you can slide around the base. Could squeeze quite a lot of extra movement and attacks out of that in some games now.

Getting on the Kopp Rukk bandwagon... Going full deathstar with the Morr Boys, you could do something like this: Prophet 3x Wardokk Big Boss Weirdnob 30x Morr Boys 30x Morr Boys 5x Boarboys Allied Warboss with Waagh! Banner Kopp Rukk, Drakkfoot 140 points for Endless Spells With the standard spells and popping two command abilities, you can be doing 4 attacks each, hitting on 3s rerolling 1s, wounding on 2s and 3s rerolling 1s, generating extra attacks on 5s. Attacking in up to 3 times per turn. Kinda like the Kunnin Rukk of melee, but without the rend against monsters. You would basically be bypassing rend altogether, and using a combination of Bonesplitterz damage spells, the Mask, and your Endless Spells to put out mortal wounds. The advantages are 6 casts a turn that are very difficult to fail, huge volume of attacks (especially with the triple pile in), plenty of bodies, only 2 drops, 4 artefacts and 2 extra Command Points. Making use of the newly cheap Battleline option and toys. And on a less tactical level, we probably all have blocks of 30x Arrow Boys lying around that we could quite easily repurpose! Downsides are lack of a durable hero, lack of hero phase mobility (other than pile ins), and dependence on spell casters for output other than melee or to crack high armour saves.

My understanding is that we can repeat rumours but cannot post photos, but if I'm wrong I'm sure a moderator will put me straight! It looks like all boars are down 20, arrow boys are up 20, and the batallions have all changed except Kopp Rukk. Kunnin Rukk is now 200 but Bonegrinz has dropped to 110. Icebonez went down to 160 and Snagga up to 170, so only 10 points down overall if you're doing that one. Drakkfoot came down slightly too to 140. So overall the Bonegrinz is still the cheapest 1 drop batallion. Teef Rukk is up to 110 and Brutal Rull is a frankly hilarious 160 points. No changes at all in the Heroes or combat units (other than the Cavalry already mentioned).

I took the fat lads to a tournament at the weekend (Ardfists in Melbourne): went 2-3 which I was quite happy with considering. My list was Tyrant and 3x Butchers, 12 Ogors, 3x Leabelchers, 3x Leabelchers, 10 Grots, 2 Gargants and 2 Ironblasters. 1980 points and I did remember my Triumph a couple of times! Although not every time, obviously. Defeats were Stormcast (Aetherstrike), Khorne (Murderhost) and Daughters of Khaine (Hagg Nar). Victories were against Slaanesh and Tzeetch (Tzaangor Coven with LOC and Gaunty). Tzeentch is actually a really good matchup for Gutties, for the reasons I discussed on Page 1. Gaunty will enjoy zapping a unit of 60 Grots, but since I didn't have one, I was fine. And Ogors love smashing that multiple damage through bad armour saves. The block of 12 Ogors was consistently powerful (only 1 game were they did nothing, because DOK just went straight through them in 1 round of combat. Not much we can do against that unfortunately). I was even quite pleased with the Gargants, because although they were dicey (as expected), having a couple of them in there you start to get a decent chance of some of the Headbutts / Kicks getting through each turn. The artillery was interesting, although I explained to people how bad it was, they still kept targetting it. I guess it looks impressive, and D6 damage means "it can and therefore will do 6 damage to me". 9 wounds on a 4+ save makes them a decent sponge - I am now an agnostic. Although when you look at what other factions can get for 280 points (or even 60x Grots), they are still a poor deal really. Those models though... Going into 2.0, I'm planning on giving these guys a real go, and seeing what the Realm stuff can do for them. I quite fancy a 9-man Ironguts death squad, maybe backed up by a coven of Fungoid Cave Shamans. I also want a 60-block of Grots, but it will be hard to let the 12 Ogors go. What are other people thinking of running in 2.0?

For anyone intersted, Michael from Doom and Darkness has started up a campaign in the Gutbusters AOS Facebook group for Maneaters and Firebellies to be given the Gutbusters keyword in the next FAQ. It wouldn't matter that they are separate factions in the GH18 - if they get the keyword, you can throw them in without eating up your allies slots (similar to Marks of Chaos in STD). They would sell so many! They must be the most beloved Finecast models (not the most hotly contested accolade, I know!). Doom has posted up a very positive and constructive message that he is asking people to copy and paste on all social media channels, just to try and get the message to GW that these are still a very popular faction and we want to buy more. Like @Mohojoe points out, they are still popular: It's actually incredible how many people still love these guys - with just a small amount of support, they could blow up. And it should be pretty low hanging fruit, since they already have a decent range of models, with all the Battleline and artillery already in plastic. Go on GW, throw us a little bone!

Yeah it looks good! Two things I'm wondering: 1) Do you need the Rogue Idol (since you will get most casts through anyway)? I know there is synergy there, but it could be nice to have your combat unit with the Bonesplitterz keyword to benefit from the Prophet's CA and the Drakkfoot unique spell. And you won't be debuffing your own bravery. Worth a try I guess, and it would be nice to see the Big Fella on the table! 2) Is there a way to fit some Endless Spells in, because new shiny? For example that last unit of Morr Boys in Sam's list could become 3x Boar Boys to free up 20 points (gets you the swords), you could drop the Prophet to another Wardokk (sacrifice 1 cast but maximise Drakfoot benefits and free up 40 points), and if you did go Big Stabbas you could put 6 in for 300 points and free up 100 that way. It also depends what the new Rogue Idol warscroll looks like, and whether Endless Spells count towards your drops?

Great post @Mohojoe The warscrolls are mostly pretty decent, the problem is that's basically all you get. I really don't see why they couldn't have been given some Allegiance Abilities last year, let alone this year. But it is what it is. That absence of Allegiance Abilities is probably the biggest thing taking the shine off 2.0 for me personally (along with Bonesplitterz not being properly retooled for combat). Other gripes are that the coolest model in the range (Ironblaster) with the coolest weapon profile name in AOS (The Cannon of the Sky Titans) is still hot garbage. 1 shot hitting on 4s for 120 points is still terrible, and it now has lost its only access to +1 to hit (Damned) and importantly, cannot shoot at all if locked in combat (minimum range is 6"). We have no summoning which at face value means we will probably be facing armies who were already significantly better than us, who now have 200 points of extra stuff. We also have no Batallions whatsoever (they took away the points for our only one), so you will virtually never have choice over who goes first, and no way to access those Command Points without handicapping ourselves points. Generally we lack rend. On the plus side...They can be surprisingly anti-meta, in that the strengths they do have are not things that people usually tool up to deal with. A lot of people will think about how they deal with expensive wounds behind unbreakable armour saves, and how they will clear off hordes. We are generally neither (with the exception of our Grots). If Endless Spells become a thing for example, you will laugh in the face of multiple D3 (or even D6) mortal wounds. They can whack 6 mortals into a unit and kill 1 whole Ogor, and Battleshock isn't going to help them much there. Because we have terrible armour saves, our wounds are generally fairly cheap, so opponents get pretty poor value out of mortal wounds. We are also very modular in that we do not depend on a single trick or synergy, so you cannot bring down the whole house of cards by sniping out a key hero. Losing your Tyrant (if you run one) does hurt (especially if you have been using his Command Ability), butreactive Battleshock could help us in that scenario. 60x Grots at 270 points is quite the bargain. Butchers are amazing, if very dicey. It's all about those Great Maw war stories. 12x Ogors look amazing on the table. Ironguts could be more viable at 180 points. I'm also excited about allying in multiple Fungoid Cave Shamans and having some fun with Endless Spells. They are a dirt cheap wizard with access to 2 rerollable casts each in those crucial early phases. Investing in a Portal means you can safely cast from a corner of the board out of unbinding range, so Nagash and Arkhan can just stare at them impotently with their sexy +3 to unbind. This can overcome our lack of long range sniping and rend, while bypassing Look Out Sir. Could be a really useful tool. Overall Gutbusters are not in a great place competitively, and the 2.0 changes look like a very mixed bag. No Allegiance Abilities, no free summoning and only very modest points tweaks. So as much as I love these guys, I couldn't in clear conscience recommend someone to buy into the army right now for a few reasons. Sustained and consistent lack of support makes me nervous. In fact they have been proactively unsupported, being frozen out of Stoneklaw's Gutstompas for example, and having their only Batallion removed from Matched Play. Leaving Maneaters and Firebellies in their own micro factions is straight up bizarre. And the fact that GW still sell them on squares 3 years down the track means there is a significant extra tax there. But if you have a collection lying around, I would certainly encourage anyone to take them out for a spin. They are still one of the coolest armies around, look absolutely baller on the table and can give people a real shock sometimes.

Yeah it sounds like 1 in 6 will still be hero based (Duality and modified 3PP both there, plus the "Hero counts as 20"). So at most events it's probably fair to say you will face one of those battleplans. 1 drop is our most reliable opportunity to win on those Battleplans with our 6+ save heroes. On Duality I normally Hand one big unit, KR move the other. And run a Weirdnob onto both. With another Weirdnob following behind one objective claimer ready to step on, and the SBB following behind the other (gives them a dilemma in target priority). You are shooting 3" deep with both units so if you can hit key targets turn 1 I will do so, otherwise I will just run both and try to completely swamp out the 6" range (needs a 5+ to run). Doesn't always work (KO still nuked all 4 heroes last weekend!) but it's generally our best chance I think. Full KR has always been a pretty extreme build so you have to accept that you can meet your Waterloo, but playing the percentages there aren't that many bad matchups in what can be a tricky Battleplan at face value. So yeah although 1 drop has been less fashionable recently, I think it's very powerful for Bonesplitterz as a counter to their weaknesses.

I'm looking at something like: Savage Big Boss (4+ Mortal save) Maniak Weirdnob (Brutal Beast Spirits, +1 Bravery or +1 Unbind depending on FAQ) Maniak Weirdnob (Hand of Gork) Wardokk (Damage spell, Mask) 30x Arrow Boys 30x Arrow Boys 10x Boys 10x Boys Kunnin Rukk Bonegrinz 1850 points - room to be tweaked depending on how things shake out What I'm quite excited about is that the Bonegrinz summoning doesn't seem to have been costed in. Granted it's dicey (to say the least!) but across a 5-game tournament you can expect to get 3 of your 30 blocks back (if you run 2). As you said @svnvaldez we would have 3 command points. If there is no restriction on spamming them, doubling up on the SBB ability in those crucial early turns could easily make up for the nerf to Damned. Or tripling up. Or quadrupling up. And if it's one Command Ability per hero, you have room in there to throw in another Savage Big Boss and double up that way (also gives some redundancy). The other options are some Endless Spells (if they become standard in Matched Play), or reshuffling your 4x KR units (could have 20 Arrow Boys in there as your third block for example, or even 2x 10 for more chances at the free units).

Looks awesome! The funny thing is, looking at the cost of the big batallions: Kunning Rukk + Bonegrinz = 310 Kopp Rukk + Drakfoot = 340 Snagga + Icebonez = 330 Even with the points adjustments, the shooty version is still the most competitively priced. I'm still astonised that they didn't drop the melee batallion costs to make them more viable, although it does of course help that the Boars themselves have come down.

So I had the pleasure of getting the big girl on the table for the first time two nights ago...WOW! There are a LOT of D6 damage rolls with this lovely lady, and I aced all of them! When this girl is hot, she's really, really hot. I played a Khorne list with my Mixed Destruction at 1500 points (Total Conquest), and it was one of those where everything went my way. It was beers 'n' pretzels stuff but a whole heap of fun. What really struck both me and my opponent was how slowly this girl degrades. Moving 16" base is amazing, and you have to put 9 wounds on her before she loses her rend -3...she has to be on death's door before she loses her rend -2. Ask me again when I've rolled a heap of 1s and 2s on the damage rolls (and whiffed her dragon breath), but I had a ball using her. Who knows what 2nd ed means for her...I was originally hoping they'd remove the "Realm of Fire" stipulation and just give her one of the two as a normal rule (mainly to save having to explain that yes we are playing in a Realm so let's roll off for it), but now that Realms look like becoming more of a thing I doubt that. We were joking that the wayt things are going, she's more likely to get renamed to a Celestial Dragon and given the Stormcast keyword...

This is the blackened fire one I like the look of...I should point out that mine will look nowhere near as good! But it does say "Magma" to me at least: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/194288171404442906

@Melcavuk yours look awesome, I gotta say

So the big fella arrived on Friday, and I modelled him up on Saturday. In all honesty it's not the easiest model in the world to put together - you know what it's like trying to put three separate pieces together with superglue, and the "leap of faith" where you just hope you've glued something together at the right angle! A fair amount of green stuff was used but it's now in decent shape. One tip I would definitely have for anyone is to buy the Citadel saw. It's invaluable for taking resin off the sprue - it's one of those where you could never go back to not having one! My next question is colour schemes, what would people suggest? One thought I've had is something like the black Magmadroth colour scheme? What are people's thoughts? https://www.games-workshop.com/en-AU/Auric-Runesmiter-on-Magmadroth @Chris Tomlin do you have any photos of yours you'd be willing to share please?

Whoop there it is! Resin incoming! I will be giving that list I posted above a try, I think it will be good fun. Weathering powders added to trigger the free delivery

Deeply impressive mate! Could I interest you in posting these up on the Gutbusters AOS group on Facebook too? It's a very positive group.

Just spotted this in the gallery, check it out!