Today we’re going to be taking a look at your first 1,000 points for the Ironjawz in Age of Sirgmar. This is a great starting point for any Ironjawz army.
This first 1,000 is going to build on the Start Collecting Ironjawz Box ($65 on ebay). With this army we are going to do Grand Alliance Destruction – Allegiance Ironjawz to get the better battle-line troops. By doing so you lose out on the destruction artifact and command trait, but we are hoping they release a new Ironjawz book soon that is unique to this force. Note there is currently an Ironjawz book out, but it does not contain any special rules outside of the battalion warscrolls. I would not recommend buying that version, unless you are into the back story and art work of the Ironjawz.
- Orruk Warchanter (80 points) leader 1 of 4
- 3 Orruk Gore – Gruntas (180 points) battle-line 1 of 2
- 10 Orruk ‘Ardboyz (180 points) battle-line 2 of 2
Orruk Gore Gruntas: Move 9, 5 wounds, 4+ Save, and a bravery of 7 makes for a pretty good cavalry base stat line. With either a choppa attack at 1 inch range, 3 attacks, hitting and wounding on a 3+, with -1 rend for 1 damage. Or a Gore – Hacka attack at 2 inch range, 3 attacks, hitting on a 4+ wounding on a 3+, with -1 rend for 1 damage. Then they get their mount attacks at range 1 inch, 4 attacks, hitting and wounding on a 4+, for 1 damage. These guys can cover a lot of ground and put out some damage. Especially if the charge is over 8 inches, in which case the mounts attacks do D3 damage rather than 1. Finally the champion of the unit gets a bonus attack.
Orruk Warchanter: Move 4, 6 Wounds, 4+ Save, and 7 Bravery, makes for a pretty tank like character. His attacks will not wow you with 4 attacks at 1 inch range, hitting on a 3+, wounding on a 4+, for 1 damage. On a hit roll of 6 you get an extra attack, per 6 rolled. Where he helps out is that he can pick any unit of Ironjawz in the hero phase within 10 inches of him and they can add 1 to all their hit rolls in the next combat phase.
Orruk ‘ Ardboyz: Move 4, 2 Wounds, 4+ Save, and 6 bravery makes these a solid battle-line troop. They have three different weapon choices. The first is a single choppa with shield that has 1 inch range, 2 attacks, hitting on a 4+, wounding on a 3+, for 1 damage. A second loadout, is they drop the shield and pick up a second choppa and gain an extra attack. The final weapon choice is a big choppa with a 1 inch range, 2 attacks, hitting on a 4+, wounding on a 3+, with -1 rend for 1 damage. If you go with a shield it gives them a 6+ save against unsaved wounds. The leader of the unit adds +1 to hit rolls, the standard bearer either gives them a +2 to bravery or if a model flees on a roll of a 6 they do not, and finally the drummer adds 2 to charge rolls.
Coming in a 440 points, we have a lot of points to make up to reach 1,000….. We are going to do that with a single model, the Megaboss on Maw Krusher. (This is one of my favorite GW models to date) This bad boy is pretty cheap ($75 on ebay) and comes in at 520 points.
- Megaboss on Maw Krusher (520 points) leader 2 of 4, behemoth 1 of 2.
Megaboss on Maw Krusher: Move is fly, based on a damage table (starts at 12 down to 4), 14 wounds, 3+ save, and bravery of 8 are excellent base stats. He has a single missile weapon with range 8, 1 attack, hitting on a 2+, wounding on a 3+, with -1 rend for D6 damage. He then has 2 different weapon load outs: The first is Gore Hacka with 2 inch range, 3 attacks, hitting and wounding on a 3+, with -1 rend for 2 damage. Paired with a Scrap – Tooth with 1 inch range, 4 attacks, hitting and wounding on a 3+, for 1 damage. Or his other load out is a Choppa with range 1 inch, 4 attacks, hitting and wounding on a 3+, with -1 rend for 2 damage. Paired with a Rip-tooth Fist with 1 inch range, 1 attack, hitting on a 4+, wounding on a 3+, with -2 rend for D3 damage.
Then the Maw Krusher has two attacks his mighty fists and his bladed tail. The fists are 1 inch range, 4 attacks, damage table to hit (starts at 2 goes up to 6), wounds on a 3+, with -2 rend for 3 damage each. His tail has a 1 inch range, D3 attacks, hitting on a 4+, wounding on a 3+, with -1 rend for 1 damage. So he is already dishing out a lot of pain, but when you add his abilities he really shines! First when the megaboss (not the Maw Krusher) kills an enemy hero you add 1 wound to the megaboss and 1 to the attack of the weapon that killed the hero. Then on successful charges the Maw Krusher rolls damage table dice, (starts at 8 down to 4) on a 4+ it causes a mortal wound on the unit. With a bonus in that if this attack kills all the models within 3 inches of him, the Maw Krusher may then charge again and repeat the attack. He then has a command ability that gives him a chance to grant 1 bonus attack to all Ironjawz units within 15 inches of him.
Loadouts: I would take the Orruk ‘ Ardboyz with the choppa and shield. The 6+ save is in addition to their 4+ save and it works against mortal wounds as well. With the Gore Gruntas I would go with the choppa because with these guys movement, chances are you are going to be able to get all 3 of them around a model for a 1 inch attack. Finally the Maw Krusher I would take the choppa and rip-tooth fist because they both have rend. Denying your opponent save rolls is one of the best things you can do in Age of Sigmar.
Tactics: With this army you are going for destroying the opponent’s army, and pretty much ignoring any other mission objectives. With two slow units and only 2 leaders you are going to basically charge forward as fast as you can and dish out the pain. You Maw Krusher is the bad boy of your army, and if you can get him in on a charge against a smaller unit and take them out with his Destructive Bulk attack, you can then charge even further into your opponent and tie up a good chunk of their force. Then bring in the Gore Gruntas to either take out there faster moving troops, or to try and force opponents off objectives. The warchanter should be running forward as fast as possible trying to keep up with the Maw Krusher, and buffing him every turn if able. Finally your Arrd Boys will be around to hold down any objectives, or to mop up any remaining troops that manage to get through your Gore Gruntas and Maw Krusher.
There you have it for around $140 you can field a 1000 point army of Ironjawz, which has a low model count and a really cool center piece in the Maw Krusher.
More of Your First 1,000 points
About the Author: Travis Perkins
An avid homebrewer and Detroit sports fan (yes even the Lions). I am new to the world of wargamming and very much enjoying the journey. If you have any suggestions or comments feel free to comment on the article or email me at perki116@msu.edu
