fbpx JOIN LOGIN JOIN

How to Play Age of Sigmar Orruks Big Waaagh! 2,000 Points

big-waaagh-how-to-playCome see how to play Orruks Big Waaagh! with some 2,000 point AoS army lists and break down the new battletome.

Today we are going to dive for the final into the Orruk Warclans books and look at building some Big WAAAGH lists. The past three weeks we looked at the Kruleboyz here, Ironjawz here, and the Bonesplitterz here, feel free to click on any of those links if you want to see my take on those sub-factions.

All the Orruck Warclans Models Avaialble

Also, I don’t want to spoil anything but the fluff and painting guides in this book are fantastic, I highly recommend checking out these books if you’re interested in the Orruks and Gorkamorka, and there is even a hint at another fan favorite faction that they interact that might be making a return.

How to Play Age of Sigmar Orruks Big Waaagh!: 2,000 Points

orruks season of warAnyways without further fanfare here are the abilities of the Big WAAAGH sub-faction:

  • They get the Venom Encrusted Weapons: Kruleboyz Orruks unmodified hit rolls of a 6 deal a mortal wound.
  • Mighty Destroyers: Ironjawz model must issue the command and an Ironjawz unit must receive the command. Perform one of the following:
    • If the unit is more than 12” from enemy units you must make a normal move.
    • If the unit is within 3” of the enemy unit it must perform a pile in move
    • If the unit is within 12” and more than 3” of the enemy unit it must attempt a charge
  • Warpaint: Friendly Bonesplitterz units have a 6+ ward save.
  • Additional Heroic Action called ‘ERE WE GO, ‘ERE WE Go, ‘ERE WE GO!: Roll a dice, and if it is higher than the current battle round add that many points to your Waaagh! Points.
  • Power of Waaagh!
    • Add D6 Waagh points in your hero phase if the general is alive
    • Add 2 Points if there is a friendly Warchanter on the battlefield
    • Add 1 Point if there is a friendly Bonesplitterz Wizard on the battlefield
    • For each friendly Orruk unit that makes a charge move add 1 point
    • For each friendly Orruk unit that is within 3” of an enemy unit at end of the combat phase
  • Power of Waagh table: Your points are cumulative that add buffs to your army:
    • 8 Points: Add 1 to run rolls
    • 10 Points: Add 1 to charge rolls
    • 12 Points: Add 1 to casting rolls
    • 16 Points: Add 1 to hit rolls for melee weapons
    • 20 Points: Add 1 to wound rolls for melee weapons
    • 24 Points: You can spend all your points at the start of the combat phase to add 1 to attacks for melee units, you then lose all your WAAGH points and abilities.
  • Access to all spell, artefact, and command ability enhancements.

Maximize Your WAAAGH Points

ork waaagh 1An interesting set of rules for a smorgasbord of Orruks that all band together to bring the word of Gorkamorka to their enemies. Let’s kick things off with a melee-focused army that maximizes your WAAAGH points.

  • Gordrakk the Fist of Gork: 560 Points, Leader 1 of 6, Behemoth 1 of 4
  • Orruk Warchanter: 115 Points, Leader 2 of 6
  • Wurrgog Prophet: 150 Points, Leader 3 of 6
  • Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot: 105 Points, Leader 4 of 6
  • Savage Big Boss: 65 Points, Leader 5 of 6
  • Maniak Weirdnob: 100 Points, Leader 6 of 6
  • 10 Orruk Brutes: 320 Points, Battleline 1 of 3
  • 20 Savage Orruks: 330 Points, Battleline 2 of 3
  • 15 Orruk Ardboys: 255 Points, Battleline 3 of 3
  • Total 2000 Points

So this is more of a mash of Ironjawz and Savage Orruks, the Kruleboyz make it kind of hard to introduce them into lists just because I am not thrilled with their battleline option for the costs. This is a list that lets you dip into all the spells lore for support and then send forward your big Orruk units with a lot of leader support. You guys are going to hit hard, and you should be getting maximum WAAAGH points every turn.

For list building, I would take Warlord and Vanguard with this list giving one of your large blocks of Orruks a free at the double or forward to victory (I would go brutes). For spells I would choose Squiggly Curse and Gorkamorka’s War Cry for my Bonsplitterz wizards, then Nasty Hex with my Swamp Caller.

This will let me remove a ward save which is a huge deal, while the war cry will force your opponent to go last in the combat phase. I like giving my swamp called Mork’s Eye Pebble which can give one of your already beefy Ironjawz units a ward save and then Mork’s Boney Bitz for my Profit to help boost his casting abilities.

Da Shooty List

Man-skewer Boltboyz 2Next, let’s move to a more shooting heavy list that will take more advantage of the Kruleboys

  • Orruk Warchanter: 115 Points, Leader 1 of 6
  • Wurrgog Prophet: 150 Points, Leader 2 of 6
  • Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot: 105 Points, Leader 3 of 6
  • Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth: 180 Points, Leader 4 of 6
  • Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork: 300 Points, Leader 5 of 6
  • Orruk Weirdnob Shaman: 90 Points, Leader 6 of 6
  • 20 Savage Orruks: 330 Points, Battleline 1 of 3
  • 10 Orruk Ardboys: 170 Points, Battleline 2 of 3
  • 10 Orruk Ardboys: 170 Points, Battleline 3 of 3
  • Beast-skewer Killbow: 130 Points, Artillery 1 of 4
  • Beast-skewer Killbow: 130 Points, Artillery 2 of 4
  • Beast-skewer Killbow: 130 Points, Artillery 3 of 4
  • Total 2000 Points

This is a list that is going to rely on magic and your artillery to dish out damage and your savage Orruks and Ardboys are just there to claim objectives and be speed bumps. Five of your 6 leaders can cast magic, and then the three artillery pieces can take out some of the most aggressive armies.

If you can manage to get the hex that removes ward saves first onto a powerful leader charter you can knock them down a peg or two. Armies that have a lot of models or that set up half their army from reinforcement might be an issue but if you can keep your casters and artillery alive through round 1 you should be able to clear up a lot of what appears in your territory.

 

For this army, I would again take the Warlord and Vanguard battalions, then also add in the grand battery battalion to get some free command abilities. For magic I would take Nasty Hex and Choking Mist from the Lore of the Swamp to debuff enemy units before they get in melee, with the Lore of the Weird as much as I love Foot of Gork I think Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork is easier to cast and more useful as it lets you redeploy units around the battlefield.

Finally, with the Lore of the Savage Beast, I would take Gorkamorka’s War Cry which buffs all units and is not faction specific. For my enchantments I am taking a Beastkilla Slop with my Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth in hopes that they are leading forward with a big beefy monster to break my line and get to my archers, then Mork’s Eye Pebble to give my units a 5+ ward save and some survivability if I am alpha struck.

The Behemoth List

gordrakk 2For our final list let’s try and max out our behemoths and see what an army like that might look like while still maximizing our WAAGH points:

  • Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork: 300 Points, Leader 1 of 6, Behemoth 1 of 4
  • Gordrakk the Fist of Gork: 560 Points, Leader 2 of 6, Behemoth 2 of 4
  • Orruk Warchanter: 115 Points, Leader 3 of 6
  • Maniak Weirdnob: 100 Points, Leader 4 of 6
  • Killaboss on Corpse- Rippa Vulvha: 240 Points, Leader 5 of 6, Behemoth 3 of 4
  • Swampboss Skumdrekk: 320 Points, Leader 6 of 6, Behemoth 4 of 4
  • 5 Orruk Ardboys: 85 Points, Battleline 1 of 3
  • 5 Orruk Ardboys: 85 Points, Battleline 2 of 3
  • 5 Orruk Brutes: 160 Points, Battleline 3 of 3
  • Total 1965 Points

This is very much a hero hammer list with almost no reliance on any sort of units. You are going to be doing all your damage with your leaders and the monsters they ride. I wish I could have fit a second Mawcrusher in this list but with needing to keep a Bonesplitterz wizard and Warchanter to maximize Waagh points I could swing it. What is fun though is all the unique models this army brings; it will let you clear out your shelf and be able to field some of the coolest models in the line in one list.

You’re looking at Warlord and Ironjawz Fist for your battalions as you have too many units with a wound’s characteristic over 10 and behemoths that are leaders. For magic, I am taking Nasty Hex from the Lore of Swamps and Gorkamorka’s War Cry from the Lore of the Savage Beast. For artifacts with the Killaboss, I am taking Beastkilla Slop, and then on the Weirdnob, I will take Glowin’ Tattooz.

Overall, I think BIG WAAAAGH is a fun way to play some friendly games, but you really lose out on the army bonuses. If I were to play one, I would probably end up taking the melee-focused list as the BIG WAAAGH bonuses really help melee-centric armies, though the shooty list does have its merits if you are a more defensive Orruk player.

There you have it the final post covering the Orruk Warclans book, which is a fantastic read. If you are an Orruk player and on the fence about getting it and jumping into AoS 3.0 I would recommend it, I think all three factions have competitive lists you could field in matched play, and or it is great for Path to Glory to do some narrative gaming.

Don’t forget to check out the other sub-faction army lists and breakdowns below for the Orruk Warclans battletome as well!

 

More AoS How-To For Beginners & Veteran Players!

If you are currently publishing hobby content and would like a shot at getting featured on the site, or getting on our publishing schedule, we would like to hear from you! Please email Rob at spikeybits.com with examples of your work! 

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