Ironjawz: Killer Combos 2021

Written by Benjamin Lolmaugh

Let's see what kind of shenanigans we can get into with Ironjawz and the new Orruk Warclans book when we try to kit out our Heroes. 

Megaboss on Mawkrusha w/Amulet of Destiny and Battle Lust - Let's start off by saying I think that at least 1 Megaboss on Mawkrusha is a must include, as much as I hate to say "must include". But he's still an absolute missile. I want two things out of my Mawkrusha, the first is to krump things and the second is the survive. The artefact takes care of the latter while the command trait takes care of the former. Is there anything worse than a Mawkrusha who is out of position? Just sitting there near the edge of the board, nothing left to kill and having to hobble for a turn or two to get to the closest scrap? Not anymore! Battle Lust lets your general re-roll runs and  charge rolls, that gets you in the fight fast or on the objective. In lieu of taking Battle Lust for something else, you could take the Fast Un mount trait instead for a free movement in the Hero Phase. Amulet of Destiny's 5+ Ward is just sooo good especially on an expensive beat-stick that wants to be in combat. If you aren't taking the Amulet for... magical protection, I'd suggest taking Weird Un as your mount trait. I had to do a lot of soul searching, which I implore you to do yourself. Did I want a fighty Mawkrusha or Dead 'Ard Mawkrusha. Is it better to krump longer or krump harder? You be the judge, follow your inner Orruk.

Amulet of Destiny vs Armor of Gork and Hacka vs Riptoof

Which should you take any why? 

Amulet of Destiny = 5+ Ward

Armor of Gork = 6+ Ward, +1 to Hit, -2 Move, Cant Run

Hacka = 4+ Save & 9 attacks

Riptoof = 3+ Save & 7 attacks

Megaboss w/Arcane Tome & Skilled Leader -  The Megaboss on foot can definitely slap in melee combat with his whopping 8 attacks. Add Flaming Weapon and your average damage goes from 4.7 to about 7.1 vs a 4+ Save unit!  Need some durability to your more valuable units? Cast Mystic Shield to that Megaboss on Mawkrusha that has Amulet of Destiny to give them a nice 2+/5++. If not, he could take Bash Em Lads if you feel lucky since you'll need to roll 8+ or the good ol' Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork. But to be honest, for me he's throwing Mystic Shield all day. Brutes on a 3+ Save, YES PLEASE! If you just need to cast Bash Em Lads, you could take Master of Magic instead for the re-roll to cast but the chance to get that precious command point from Skilled Leader seems super useful to me, especially in the a command point hungry army like Ironjawz. Thanks to Ear Splitting Bellow, the reduction in points, and increase in attacks I think the Megaboss on foot will be fielded more often. Anyone have a link to an STL of Azhag the Slaughterer's head? Asking for a conversion...

15 Spear Brutes & Warchanter - I know what you're thinking. And its you that's CRAZY! So what if I want an excuse to buy more brutes! 15 brutes. I said it. Violent Frenzy and Killa Beat vs 1-3 wound models or Duff Up Da Big Thing for 4+ Wound models. Getting all the brutes in combat shouldn't be that difficult with 2" range, its gonna be the movement that's going to be a problem. Good thing we have the tools to help with that. The Ironsunz command ability to charge in the opponent's charge phase and the Warchanter's Get Em Beat can help mitigate that shortcoming. Bravery is also going to be a problem, so make sure you have a Hero nearby and a command point to spare. You could give the Boss Skewer (+1 Bravery to friendly units, -1 Bravery to enemy units) to a nearby Megaboss but then that's another squig egg in the proverbial basket. Can 15 buffed up Brutes (say that 10 times fast) kill a Mega Gargant or Archaon is one go? 

 

Stats referenced in this article were found using AoS Statshammer at https://aos-statshammer.herokuapp.com/

Dice probability calculator provided by https://www.omnicalculator.com/statistics/dice