There is a new Sheriff in the world of Sigmar and he is some of the best bang for the buck you can get. Check out how to use Gotrek in your next list!
I am of course talking about everyone’s favorite Gotrek Gurnisson, the slayer of everything. Warhammer Community teased his warscroll and looking at it, yes he can surely go toe to toe with anything in the Age of Sigmar universe right now. Plus at a cheap $35 for 520 points he is a very inexpensive way to build an order army.
Gotrek Gurnisson: Move 4”, 4+ Save, 10 Bravery, 8 Wounds.
He has a single melee attack Zangrom-Thaz: Range 1”, 6 Attacks, Hitting and Wounding on a 3+, with -2 Rend, for 3 Damage. He can re-roll failed hit and wound rolls, and unmodified hit rolls of 6 do D6 mortal wounds in addition to normal damage. He shrugs off all regular and mortal wounds on a 3+, and whenever he is hit with anything that deals more than 1 damage (mortal or otherwise) it is instead changed to 1 damage.
Even abilities that outright slay models only deal 1 damage to this model. He cannot be set up in reserve, nor can he be the target of spells or abilities that allow you to set it up after the battle begins. Finally, if this model is within 3” of an enemy unit at the end of the combat phase it can pile in and attack again.
- Gotrek Gurnisson: 520 Points (considered allied unit and uses up all your allied unit points, can still be used even if he is more than the allowed amount)
As you can see, he is basically a walking tank with a very large stick, if I was playing against him, I would do my best to just stay away from him and play the objectives. But if I was using him, I would be trying my hardest to get him into combat ASAP. Pairing him up with Stormcast Eternals might be a good strategy as you can use the deepstrike for the stormcast to tie up units and claim objectives giving Gotrek time to close the distance. Also, they have pretty good cheap shooting options that can force your opponent to move closer. For me, my army would look something like this.
- Gotrek Gurnisson: 520 Points Allied Points
- Lord Ordinator: 140 Points Leader 1 of 6
- Lord Relictor: 100 Points Leader 2 of 6
- Lord Arcanum on Gryph Charger: 220 Points Leader 3 of 6
- Lord Castellant: 120 Points Leader 4 of 6
- 10 Sequitors: 260 Points Battleline 1 of 3
- 5 Sequitors: 130 Points Battleline 2 of 3
- 5 Sequitors: 130 Points Battleline 3 of 3
- Celestar Ballista: 110 Points, Artillery 1 of 4
- Celestar Ballista: 110 Points, Artillery 2 of 4
- Celestar Ballista: 110 Points, Artillery 3 of 4
- Command Point: 50 Points.
- Total 2000 Points
This list in my mind is one where you are playing against the odds in that your model count is very low. You will be using your Sequitors to claim and hold objectives, while the Celestar Ballista softens targets or removes single characters from play. You’re going to let Gotrek be Gotrek, and if you bless his weapons with the Lord Relictor every 6 to hit does an additional hit (which counts as a regular attack but still) Pretty good way to chew through anything in his path. The command point is to get him 6 inches turn one run (unless your opponent comes close enough to charge turn one…) so that turn two you can get him into combat.
My next army with Gotrek is more of an Order soup list where you are going to be bringing in mobile units to tag objective, lots of ranged to soften targets and kill small units or heroes, and then Gotrek to do the killing.
- Gotrek Gurnisson: 520 Points Allied Points
- Knight Azyros: 100 Points Leader 1 of 6
- Knight Venator: 120 Points Leader 2 of 6
- Freeguild General: 100 Points Leader 3 of 6
- Lord Ordinator: 140 Points Leader 4 of 6
- 5 Reavers: 140 Points Battleline 1 of 3
- 5 Reavers: 140 Points Battleline 2 of 3
- 30 Freeguild Handgunner: 300 Points Battleline 3 of 3
- Celestar Ballista: 110 Points Artillery 1 of 4
- Celestar Ballista: 110 Points Artillery 2 of 4
- Celestar Ballista: 110 Points Artillery 3 of 4
- Celestar Ballista: 110 Points Artillery 4 of 4
- Total 2000 Points
For this list, you’re going to use one of the fastest units in the game the Reavers to run in and tag any objectives you can and then retreat with them. They won’t stand up to much but with their speed, they shouldn’t be near anything anyways. The Handgunners are a perfect objective sitting unit that with the Freeguild General buff can dish out some serious pain. Finally sitting in the back, you have your Ballista with Lord Ordinator that can take out the smaller enemy troops and heroes, preventing them from claiming the objectives. After that let Gotrek just cut through anything that gets in his way.
The final list I decided to do something a little silly with Gotrek and its because he hates magic so much that I though an endless spell bomb army with him could be fun. (might not be that competitive though)
- Gotrek Gurnisson: 520 Points Allied Points
- Celestial Hurricanum With Celestial Battlemage: 380 Points Leader 1 of 6 Behemoth 1 of 4
- Battlemage: 110 Points
- Battlemage: 110 Points
- Archmage: 100 Points
- Lord Arcanum: 160 Points
- 5 Liberators: 100 Points Battleline 1 of 3
- 5 Liberators: 100 Points Battleline 2 of 3
- 5 Liberators: 100 Points Battleline 3 of 3
- Aethervoid Pendulum: 50 Points Endless Spell
- Purple Sun of Shyish: 50 Points Endless Spell
- The Burning Head: 30 Points Endless Spell
- Everblaze Comet: 100 Points Endless Spell
- Balewind Voertex: 40 Points Endless Spell
- Command Point: 50 Points
This is a pretty silly list, but it could be great, let’s get a crazy game in type of list. You’re not going to control many objectives with such few models, but you are going to push your opponent around using all these endless spells. Especially if there aren’t a ton of objectives, you can have Gotrek make for the one in your opponent’s territory right away, while flooding the sides with an endless spell to make it so your opponent must move towards him. Though if they have a shooting army it could end badly for your wizards and against a flying opponent they can just go up and over your spells. Either way, it will still be a fun game!
Gotrek is a classic character that is affordable, hits like a hammer, and is a quarter of the points you need for an order army. Overall, I think he will find a spot in a lot of lists, but his limitations are his speed so you will need to practice with him to figure out how to best utilize him.
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