AoS: Things You’ll Love About the Orruk Warclans Battletome
Sometimes earthquakes have teeth and tusks, and that’s precisely what you get with the brand-new Orruk Warclans Battletome!
Welcome in, Generals of the Realms! Da biggest, baddest, and sometimes most kunnin’ boyz in all da land are headed your way in Destruction Battletome: Orruk Warclans. This handy book outlines the two variants of the Orruk warriors in the Realms. Generals can choose between the massive, heavily armored Ironjawz and the sneaky Kruleboyz. Unfortunately, Bonesplitterz got the choppa in the new edition. New to 4.0, you can get this incredible tome in either the standard hardback or a more compact Gamer’s edition, which includes helpful reference cards.
I’ve always been a fan of the Ironjawz, and I dabbled a bit in Kruleboyz when they were the starter army for 3.0. Though I didn’t play with them much on the table, everything indicates that this new book is a net positive. There are new Endless spells, a gorgeous terrain piece that acts differently depending on your faction, and powerful new rules for your green monsters. Best of all, they are user-friendly and easily approachable to brand-new players.
Ironjawz
The Pig Iron Pugilists are first in the book and just as punchy as ever. While the new book robbed the Ironjawz of their tusks a little, it gave them a nasty playstyle that favors aggression. Your angry cabbages can still barrel through units and crush them underfoot, and the gigantic boars ridden into battle by the bravest of Orruks can turn the tide of battle with a single charge. There’s even some brand new Ardboyz to provide a non-Brute mainstay unit.
I was always especially fond of the Gore-gruntas in the previous editions, and they’re back with a vengeance in 4.0. They’re a nightmare for enemy cavalry lines, and they can run over anything they charge with their impact hits. I was always bummed there wasn’t a pig-riding leader for the Ironjawz to go full stampede (the cabbage doesn’t count), but now I have with the Tuskboss. Though he isn’t new with this book, it feels like he really shines now with all the amazing new rules for Gore-gruntas and the larger Maw-gruntas. If you want to unleash an army of roaring pig iron, you can. If you want an army of unstoppable iron warriors, you can do that too.
However, my favorite thing about the new book is the introduction of an Ironjaws Spearhead. Though none of the units can Rally, they PROBABLY won’t need to with how resilient they are. Best of all, you get to deploy your Brutes from reserve, letting them outflank your enemies and arrive precisely where your opponent doesn’t want them.
Kruleboyz
The Kruleboyz were the Orruk poster boys in the last edition and the face of baddies for 3.0. They gave Sigmar’s finest a run for their money thanks to their dirty tactics and were one of the strongest monster-slaying factions in the game. The Kruleboyz haven’t lost much of their punch, but it has been slightly tempered. They still have nearly faction-wide Mortal Crits and are the only Orruks that shoot. However, the all-star of the old book, the Sludgeraker, has seen a bit of a decline. Overall, though, the Kruleboyz are still as nasty as ever and can execute Dirty Tricks to hide themselves, deal extra damage to their enemies, or take down big threats.
The Hobgrots, the wiry companions of the Kruleboyz, got a big upgrade, as well as a brand new hero model. This guy is amazing, and once per game he can ice an enemy hero. I’m really glad the Hobs got a reason to take them, because they never seemed worth it to me. That was probably just the wrong choice, but either way, they’re well worth taking now.
Will you be picking up any Orruk goodies?
