Age of Sigmar: ‘Kruleboyz’ Faction Focus – Bust Out The Dirty Tricks
Games Workshop is back with a new Faction Focus and this time it’s for the cunning Kruleboyz. Get ready for their Dirty Tricks.
The Kruleboyz made a splash at the start of the previous edition but never quite found their footing as a real powerhouse. They had some neat tricks and some wombo-combo gimmicks but they just didn’t have the staying power — at least in the win column. Could this be the edition for them to make a resurgence? Let’s take a closer look at their rules previewed in the lastest Faction Focus to find out.
“Despite their more cautious attitude towards warfare, the Kruleboyz are orruks through and through. They’re slender compared to their hulking cousins in the Ironjawz, trading bulk for a longer reach. Hard finkin’ is something to be encouraged, and they will calmly calculate a plan of attack rather than hurtling headlong into a scrap. A Kruleboyz warparty creeps forward under cover of night and fog, hefting jagged weapons coated with venom harvested from bog-dwelling horrors, and gleefully lays traps and lures their foes into an ambush.”
Kruleboyz Battle Traits
The Dirty Tricks of the Kruleboyz are back and they have a new system. Now, you get to use Dirty Tricks every round but the odds of being able to use them keeps getting slimmer. Also note you can only use ONE Dirty Trick per phase. Theoretically a Kruleboyz player could wait until the later part of the battle round to have better odds of pulling off their Dirty Tricks. But, well, you can see the options above.
Lethal Surprise happens in any charge phase and can do D3 mortal damage to a target — that target also cannot gain the benefit of a Charge (+1 Damage) ability. That could really neuter a big cavalry charge. Venom-Encrusted Weapons are still around and provide a crit hit on unmodified 5+ to hit rolls. Sneaky Sneakin’ is a a great way to redeploy a unit away from impending danger. And Noisy Racket is also great way to hold-up a scary unit by making them strike-last for the rest of the turn.
Kruleboyz Battle Formations
We’ve got a look at one of the Battle Formations from the Kruleboyz with the Kruleboyz Klaw. This is a great way to avoid getting shot at by ranged elements outside of 12″ at least. Depending on the shooting meta this could be very useful!
“Other battle formations keep a supply of specially-fletched bolts ready for when ranged units need to pick off distant targets, focus on stealth and mobility to better ambush the enemy and steal their shiniest stuff, or go to battle with a menagerie of fearsome warbeasts.”
Kruleboyz Lore of the Swamp
The Swampcalla Shamans are up to some of their old tricks but expect some new stuff, too. Choking Mist is just one example of what they can pull out of their swamp bag of tricks.
Kruleboyz Warscrolls
Games Workshop has dropped four warscrolls again. This time we’ve got Gobsprakk, a Killaboss on Gnashtoof, a Murknob, and the Gutrippaz. I like this mix of units as we get a good cross-section of the army. Personally, I like seeing a named character, a “generic” leader, and a common core battleline unit in the mix. That’s pretty much what we’ve got here. Although in this case I would have liked to see what the Man-Skewer Boltboyz could do, too.
Kruleboyz Spearhead Swampskulka Gang
The Spearhead is the same as the current Vanguard box again. Not a huge shock there. It’s still a smart pick if you’re looking to start the army. And with the Spearhead format it’s relatively easy to start playing the game, too.
Contents:
- 1x Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof
- 1x Murknob with Belcha-banna
- 1x Beast-skewer Killbow
- 3x Man-skewer Boltboyz
- 10x Gutrippaz
We don’t get their full rules but we do get a look at the Kruleboyz WAAAGH! ability.
We also get a snapshot of the Beast-Skewer Killbow warscroll too. Odds are the “full” version of this unit is going to be fairly close to this Spearhead version — likely with some additional rules.
Well that’s all from the Kruleboyz. Personally, I’m still on the fence for this army. I’d like to see it in action on the tabletop again but I’m a little worried their Dirty Tricks might not go far enough as they feel pretty swingy. There’s going to be games where the Kruleboyz are unstoppable at rolling those tricks and then there will be games where they roll a whole bunch of 1s and it’s just over for them. But that’s the mercy of the dice, right?
What do you think of the Kruleboyz? Are they going to be a powerhouse this edition or just a load of hot swamp gas?
