Age of Sigmar: The New Ironjawz Are Awesome But The Vanguard Box Is Not
We got our hands on the new wave of Destruction minis and they are fantastic! Except the price on the Vanguard: Orruk Warclans box.
The new Ironjawz have free rules and look awesome. We are excited to see these models and hope we get even more of the style of releases with a batch of models and Battletome Supplement. But that vanguard box is…not great.
Bad News First
Look, we’ve already hammered on this point: The Vanguard: Orruk Warclans box is a bit of a let down. Why? Because 1) it should have just been called Vanguard: Kruleboyz because that’s what this box is. And 2) While it’s still a “deal” compared to the individual MSRP you’re just better off getting the Dominion Boxed Set if you can find it…which you probably can. Heck, even some of the starter boxes are basically the same models at a better price point. The only thing you’re missing in a lot of these and perhaps the only value out of the Vanguard box is the Beast-skewer Killbow.
So unless you can’t get a copy of the Dominion boxed set, or can’t find a friend to split the cost of the box with, then sure…the Vanguard: Orruk Warclans box is your best option. It’s also the only place to get a couple of these models so there’s that, too.
Not to keep harping on this point but really this is an issue with the pricing structure that GW has in general. I get that the Vanguard boxes are their “Start Collecting” replacements and they have a specific price point they are looking to hit. But it’s just this particular box that’s the problem because the contents have been repackaged and reboxed in so many other boxed deals that this one seems redundant. Oh well. I suppose the silver lining is that if you wanted to play Kruleboyz then you should be able to get your hands on a ton of models for relatively cheap!
And Now For Some Good News: The Ironjawz Are Awesome!
On the other side of the coin we have the new Ironjawz models. I’m a fan of every single one of these new kits! The new Maw-grunta is finally here and I’m all for that. The various heroes are cool and characterful. The new Ard Boyz are great sculpts and replace those old Black Orcs models AND have alternate weapon options. And the Brute Ragerz/Weirdbrute Wrekkaz are wild!
One of things that surprised me about the Maw-grunta is that it’s actually three different options in one — so you’ve got a few reasons to pick up more than just one of these kits. In fact, if you snag the new Dawnbringers Book II there’s an entire Army of Renown for these Ironjawz. It’s fun times. As far as assembly for all these kits they don’t have too many issues when building them. Although I do have a couple of tips for some of the fiddly bits. Learn from my mistakes.
When you’re building the Brute Ragerz/Weirdbrute Wrekkaz just be aware their torsos come in three parts. One of which is the front of the torso — yes, those Brute torsos are actually hollow. I put a little bit of glue on the side of the front torso bit to attach to one of the other sides. Then, before I added the third side, I applied some more glue inside the seam to help solidify it. Now, I’m using plastic glue and not regular super glue so that actually melts the plastic and forms a stronger bond once set. The point is just be mindful of those torsos as they are probably the trickiest bits on those models.
The second tip is for the Maw-Grunta. So, for some reason, it’s got this little strap bit that goes on the rear of the beast. You have to glue this into place after you’ve assembled the main part of this pig. There’s going to be a step that tells you to glue on the armor plates and then add this little strap. My recommendation is to actually do that in reverse order. Why? Because the armor plates should sit on top of the strap and if you do it the way the instructions tell you then you’re going to have to jam this tricky bit into place.
Is that bad? Well, it’s going to seem like you’re bending the bit or it’s about to snap if you do it slowly. I didn’t like the idea of damaging the model! However, that strap does fit where it’s designed so it might take some coaxing if you put the plates on first. But if the plates weren’t there then the strap should still fit and then you can glue the rear armor plates in place.
Other than those two things everything else I built was pretty clean and simple. They look great and this is certainly a great batch of Ironjawz from Games Workshop!
I kind of want to paint a unit of Ard Boys now…
