Following on from our review of Frank’s win, let’s dive into Dalton’s army which also won a separate one-dayer within a week of the book launch. Dalton is a friend of the blog and it was really exciting to see these two Megabosses blast out of the traps so quickly. Tell us how you did it, Dalton!

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Dalton Copeland, Australia

Dalton is one of Australia’s top Destruction players, regularly repping the Boys in Green at major events. We also have an ongoing personal rivalry, since we are both usually contenders for Best In GA Destruction at any large tournament we both attend. This year I won out at SAGT and Lord of War, but Dalton got up at BBBB.

The List

Measured Gaming’s monthly tournaments are typically a chance to try new or experimental lists.  I decided to bring a list with the box-fresh Rogue Idol to see what he could do in a Big Waaagh:

Allegiance: Big Waaagh!
Mortal Realm: Aqshy

Leaders
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (460)
– General
– Boss Gore-hacka and Choppa
– Trait: Ironclad
– Artefact: Ignax’s Scales
– Mount Trait: Mean ‘Un
Wurrgog Prophet (160)
– Lore of the Savage Beast: Kunnin’ Beast Spirits
Wardokk (80)
– Lore of the Savage Beast: Breath of Gorkamorka
Orruk Warchanter (110)
– Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat

Battleline
30 x Savage Orruks (300)
– Stikkas
30 x Savage Orruks (300)
– Stikkas
5 x Orruk Brutes (140)
– Pair of Brute Choppas
– 1x Gore Choppas

Behemoths
Rogue Idol (400)

Total:  2000 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 1
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 184

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Tactica

The list focuses on giving the Rogue Idol +2 to save from Glyphdokk Dance and Kunnin Beast Spirits, as well as applying +1 Damage from the Warchanter onto either the Maw Krusha or Idol, dependant on the situation.  

The Maw Krusha is a solid piece that does benefit from the Warchanter but realistically doesn’t need it, and the rest of the list ensures I have a decent mass of bodies.  These bodies in turn mean that I generate plenty of Waaagh points, and also gives me the flexibility to protect buffing units early on and then switch gears to serve as waves 3 and 4 if I need more punching.

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Game 1: Better Part of Valour

Opponent: Legion of Night led by Mannfred, backed up by an Ethereal Zombie Dragon, two 6-man packs of Vargheists and 3 units of Skeletons in a Nightfall Pack

Deployment: So immediately I was on the back foot: having just explained to my opponent that I don’t get my Allegiance Abilities until I get a turn, I just realized I was going to be outdropped and that he would probably deepstrike a bunch of surly vampires behind my lines to kill all my support Heroes killed pretty fast. 

So I castled up, holding my Objectives as best I could while still surrounding my Heroes in walls of green flesh.  I left the Maw Krusha outside of the castle because I was pretty sure he could tackle either Mannfred or the Dragon alone; the Idol was at the front of the castle, 3” from the front of the line so I could pile him in and bash some heads in; and the Brutes were strung out holding the backfield, screening out vampire deepstrikes.

BATTLEROUND 1

My opponent set up his Vargheists in ambush, surrounded all this objectives with a unit of Skeletons each, and plonked Mannfred and the Vampire Lord on either flank.  He then proceeded to take first turn, buffed the snot out of his Vampire Lord on Dragon, and moved both Mannfred and the Vampire Lord up in position to charge.  He also ambushed one of the 6-man Vargheists next to his Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon.

Shooting phase found the Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon stripping 6 wounds off the Maw Krusha, but that was all the damage that would be done since my opponent flubbed all his charge rolls. Sucks to be him.

So my turn one, I was keen to see what a buffed-up Rogue Idol could do!  I gave him +2 to save and double movement, got a free Command Point out of the Wurrgog, and used ‘Ere we go, ‘Ere we go to shoot straight up to 12 Waaagh points.  To round out the Hero Phase, I healed the Maw Krusha for a wound and buffed him with the Warchanter.

Movement saw the Idol move to 3” away from Mannfred, the Maw set up to charge the Vargheists, and some shuffling of bodies and support Heroes to keep in place the screening and buff ranges.

Shooting had the Maw Krusha yell some wounds off the Vargheists, and the Charge Phase saw both of my monsters get into combat.  Showtime!  First activation was the Maw Krusha, who ripped off 5 Vargheists (noice!) and the Idol tanked all of Mannfred’s output before punching the Mortarch of the Night right off the fucking table.  The remaining Vargheist decided to run in Battleshock – smart guy.

BATTLEROUND 2

My opponent won priority into Round 2, and brought the last wave of his buffed-up Vargheists in to fight the Maw Krusha.

Nothing else moved, shooting was uneventful, and the charge phase had the Krusha charged by both the Zombie Dragon and Vargheists.

Combat happened: the Maw Krusha barely survived the hail of blows from the Zombie Dragon, then turned around and fucked up most of the Vargheists before they could get a swing in.  He was able to tank out the remaining two Vargheists’ return blows, because he’s a stone-cold legend.

My second turn was mostly me being annoyed that I’d ran my Rogue Idol outside of buffing range.  However I was also at around 20 Waaagh! Points, so I threw what healing and damage buffs I had at the Maw Krusha, and moved the two Wizards up into range of the Idol for the next turn.

The Maw Krusha shot at the Vargheists, killing one more and then in combat he proceeded to kill the Vampire Dragon.  The Krusha alone punched through a cheeky 20+ damage after a bunch of horrid save rolls, and the last Vargheist was removed with by the Megaboss’s own attacks.

BATTLEROUND 3

I won initiative and buffed up my Idol, getting the double on spell casting so it could move a saucy 30 inches and fly. 

This meant that I could move him up next to the Skeleton unit on Mannfred’s side of the table, charge it and delete the unit.  At this point my opponent decided that he had seen enough and gave me the win.

Result: Major Win

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Game 2: Scorched Earth

Opponent: a Bloodtoofs Ironjawz list comprising of 3x 5 Brutes, 20 Ardboyz and 3 Goregruntas all bundled up in an Ironfist.  The Hero line up was a Warchanter, Weirdnob, Maw Krusha with Weird Un, and a Footboss with the Quickduff Amulet.

Deployment: Obviously, it was time for a Maw Krusha duel! My opponent deployed mostly on the frontline, keeping his Warchanter back along with the Ironfist Big Boss’s unit.

Seeing another list with teleport shenanigans, I castled up again, similar to last time.  This time however I kept the Maw Krusha inside the screens, as I was certain another Maw Krusha swinging first would annihilate mine.  My opponent took first turn.

BATTLEROUND 1

My opponent popped a Mighty Destroyer to launch his Maw Krusha forward towards my own Krusha’s flank.  He simultaneously used the Amulet to teleport the Ardboyz to the opposite, promptly forgot to buff his units with his Warchanter and then moved onto the Movement Phase. Christmas comes early!

His Maw Krusha surged forward another 12” and parked his fat ass on some Mystical terrain, then shot at and charged the screening Savage Orruk unit, killing 10 of them.  The Ardboyz charged the other screening unit, pulling off 4 for their trouble.  I used my Command Point to auto pass Battleshock on the unit hit by the Maw Krusha, and luckily rolled low on the other unit.  My opponent scored his objectives and we moved onto my turn.

My Hero Phase had me buff the Idol (double movement) and give the Savage Orruks fighting the Ardboyz +2 to their save. I used a CP to farm 12 Waaagh Points, and gave the Maw Krusha the Warchanter buffs.

In movement I ran the screening unit away from the enemy Maw Krusha, making sure to screen my support heroes, and jumped my Maw Krusha over the screen, landing on the same Mystical terrain. The Idol advanced towards my opponent’s Weirdnob, and shooting was predictably a non event.

Praise be to Gork, all my charges went off, meaning I swiftly killed his Weirdnob and a Brute that was minding him.  In return his Maw Krusha swang, doing relatively little damage because of the two 6+ aftersaves and me rolling hot.  In return I hit back a little harder but his Maw Krusha also survived. The four remaining Brutes rolled hot and took my Rogue Idol down to 6 wounds remaining, and the Savage Orruks and Ardboyz continued their pillow fight off to the side, losing a couple of bodies apiece.

BATTLEROUND 2

My opponent won initiative, buffed a unit of Brutes with his Warchanter, and advanced them menacingly towards the Ardboy / Savage Orruk pillow fight.  Meanwhile his Maw Krusha used its Command Ability on itself, and he set up to charge his Megaboss on Foot around my screen and into my Warchanter.  The Goregruntas positioned to back up the Brutes fighting the Idol.

Shooting phase was another damp squib so we continued through to Charging.  The Idol took wounds from the Goregrunta charge, and the Brutes joined the pillow fight.

Combat saw the Idol dying, triggering a Smashing and Bashing into my Maw Krusha, which managed to survive.  In return I took his Maw Krusha to the brink of his demise, took the Ardboyz down to half strength and killed a Brute.  Poor Brute.

Onto my turn, and the buffs went up on the Maw Krusha and Savage Orruks. My Brutes moved forward into charge distance while my Warchanter fled from his Megaboss.

Fuck all happened in Shooting, but the good news is my Brutes made their charge and by the end of the combat phase my opponent had lost the rest of his Brutes and his Ardboyz to my Savage Orruks. These guys performed so well all day, and they honestly look like one of the big winners from the new book.  The Maw Krusha duel finished with my cabbage asserting his dominance and reigning triumphant.

The later turns were mostly clean-up of his units and grabbing objectives. By the end of the game, my opponent had only managed to kill my Rogue Idol; the rest of my army remained, battered and spoiling for another fight.

Result: Major Win

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Game 3: Duality of Death

Opponent: Troggoth Heavy Gloomspite. My opponent brought three units of Rockgut Troggoths (6/3/3), two units of 3 Fellwater Troggoths and a Dankhold Troggboss in a Troggherd battaltion, along with three units of 20 Stabbas, two Fungoid Cave Shamans, a Scuttletide and Geminids.

Deployment: Knowing what I was in for (being a Gloomspite player myself), I tried my best to bait my opponent to one side, where I could brutalize his Troggoths before moving onto beating his Stabba units. This is all provided I could stop him stacking on the debuffs to hit.

Fortunately I got what I wanted: 40 of the Stabbas, most of his Rockguts and one of the 3-man Fellwaters joined his Troggboss General on the same flank as the majority of my army, sans a 30 man Savage Orruk unit who were threatening the other objective and stood facing the remaining Trolls and Stabbas.

BATTLEROUND 1

My opponent outdropped me and took the first turn, failing to cast his spells but quickly racking up five Command Points. He ran his army forward, making sure that he had his Stabbas on the Objective and the Netters in his unit spread around, so I had to fight through -1 to hit. Meanwhile his Troggoths were sitting pretty beind a wall of bodies, waiting for me to come at him.

My turn saw me throw a speed buff onto my Rogue Idol but only manage to activate one of the armour buffs, which were put onto the Savage Orruks. I managed to barely scrape my way to 12 Waaagh! Points, so I counted my blassings and then abused the fact I was on Damned Terrain by moved my right flank up in its entirety.

The plan was to try and wipe my opponent’s two 3-man flanking troll units and his front line of Stabbas, while my left flank of 30 Savages backed off to try and avoid the countercharge of my opponent’s Rockgut units. It was important to keep the Savages relatively healthy in order to compete for the objective on that side.

Combat went the way I hoped (mostly), with the Stabbas swiftly knocked down to two Grots standing. My Idol killed the three Fellwaters it had charged, and my Maw Krusha also succesfully wiped the unit of three Rockguts it had engaged with. So all was looking good for me if I could win the Round 2 priority…

BATTLEROUND 2

…Which I did not. My opponent had another underwhelming outcome with magic (other than sending a Scuttletide into my support Heroes), and I was a little lucky to unbind Geminids.

My opponent sought to press the advantage by moving aggressively forward: he sent all 6 Rockguts into my Maw Krusha, and his Troggboss moved in to try and pull apart my Rogue Idol, while his Stabbas streamed towards the Objective. Meanwhile on the left flank, the 3 Rockguts moved up to engage with the Savage Orruks, while the Fellwaters and Stabbas stayed on the home Objective.

The charge phase went my opponent’s way, with every charge being successful; however his activation against my Maw Krusha was less so, with my Cabbage surviving on a few wounds. Big mistake. My Idol then flattened his Troggboss in return, and the Savage Orruks chipped off one Rockgut as well as backhanding off all the remaining Stabbas.

My wounded Megaboss stepped up to smash off all but one of the remaining Rockguts, who promptly ran to Battleshock, and on the left hand side of the Battlefield my Savage Orruks lost only 4 boyz to the Troggoths’ attacks.

Battleshock saw only one of the Savages run away. My opponent then set up a replacement 10 man Stabba unit blocking my way to the left Objective.

In my turn (yep that’s right, all that devastation happened on his turn), I buffed up my Idol including, crucially, the double speed spell; and used another Command Point to get up past 20 Waaagh! Points. Show time.

Movement Phase, and it was time to dispatch my task force of the Rogue Idol and Brutes to clear off the 10-man Stabbas who were blocking the left side Objective. My Maw Krusha had benefitted from some healing and shuffled his fat plodding ass around to line up against the remaining 20 Stabbas on the right flank.

Shooting from the Maw Krusha killed a couple of grots, and more importantly I managed to successfully charge the Idol into the 10-man Grot unit screen. The Maw Krusha limped into combat against the Stabbas, and as predictably as death or taxes, the monsters managed to take their respective Grots off the table. The Savages made similarly short work of the last of the Troggoths, in return for losing a couple more of their number to combat and Battleshock.

BATTLEROUND 3

Having secured the initiative, I threw all the buffs onto my Idol, making use of my extra Waaagh points to buff the spellcasting. This is a really useful option to have, for bludgeoning a clutch cast past those unbinds.

In the Movement Phase I surrounded my opponent’s brave, last Stabba unit with my Savage Orruks, my Brutes and the Rogue Idol, while my Maw Krusha trudged into combat against the Fungoid on the right flank.

All the charges were successful (hurray for +1″ to charge), and we quickly rattled through combat with the Idol and Brutes managing to eliminate his Stabbas and Fungoid on the left flank, while the Maw Krusha managed to krump his last Fungoid.

My opponent had a final crack at securing some kill points with his remaining three Fellwater Troggoths, but when they only managed to kill a single Brute before dying in return, we called it a game.

Result: Major Win

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I ended the day 3-0 and had tabled all my opponents! While I wasn’t up against the strongest of lists, I reckon we have the casting ability to muscle through the buffs when we need to, and I feel like Big Waagh could really have some legs competitively.

This list will continue to evolve, but one thing I’ll be looking out for in the FAQ is whether I can add in a whole bunch of Greenskinz Orruks to up the body count in the list.

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Thanks for that Dalton! When I received your write ups and noticed none of them went beyond Battleround Three, I wondered if there was something missing… I needn’t have worried, hey?

I’m delighted that you and Frank were both able to win one-day tourneys so quickly after the book dropped. Looking forward to seeing where you guys and all the other Megabosses can take this book next.. exciting times for Team Green!