by Calvin Rarie

It’s finally here! At long last, after a massive and protracted hype campaign, we’ve got rules for all the new Ironjawz hotness coming out in swift order. This supplement to the already existing Orruk Warclans Battletome essentially doubles the Ironjawz roster in size–but is any of it good? Let’s jump in.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/09/12/flatten-your-enemies-with-a-whole-army-of-unstoppable-maw-gruntas-free-ironjawz-rules-download/

An Overview of BIG PIG(s)

I am pretty sure these are the single most hyped models ever for Age of Sigmar, and the rules don’t fall too behind in the hype. There’s three total:

1. Tuskboss on Maw-grunta (aka Biggus Piggus) at 380 points;
   • Hero Pig
   • Very Important note: As of right now, the Tuskboss does not have the MEGABOSS keyword, so he can’t take the usual Ironjawz Command Traits or Artefacts, meaning no Destroyer on the Tuskboss.
   • If he succesfully charges, all friendly Maw-Gruntas can re-roll their charges in that phase.
2. Maw-grunta with Hackin’ Crew (aka Carrier Pig’Un) at 270 points;
   • Behemoth Pig and Single, not battleline
   • Is Elite, so can issue commands to itself;
3. Maw-grunta Gouger (aka Big Pig) at 180 points;
   • Behemoth Pig and NOT Single, Battleline if you have a TUSKBOSS general;
   • Not Elite nor do they have a Unit Champion;
   • Bravery 7 so they don’t take Battleshock until two Pigs have died in one turn.

Each of the Big Pigs uses a new “Momentum” mechanic–each Big Pig starts with a Momentum score of 1, that maxes out at 6, and at the end of each player turn, each Big Pig’s Momentum score goes down by 1, to a minimum of 1. You gain Momentum by charging and running, and each time you do so you gain d3 Momentum.

This means it’s hard to maintain Momentum, but if you can pump it up the Momentum score does a lot for your pigs:

1. At 4 Momentum or higher, Big Pigs can run and charge;
2. It helps to achieve the unique monstrous actions each pig has;
3. The damage on their tusks and their movement both go up, and for the Tuskboss and Hackin’ Crew pigs, the sidecar-brutes get buffed too:

Getting benefits for charging and running? Those are an Orruk’s two favorite things beyond BASHING AND SMASHING, and these Big Pigs don’t disappoint. Let’s start with the Tuskboss.

Never has a statline wanted to be buffed by a Warchanter more. Look at all that real estate for +1 damage! For the Maw-Grunta with Hacking Crew the rider loses two attacks, and the Maw-Grunta Gouger further loses the Kill-choppas since it’s a One-Orruk ride. Math wise, the closest comparison you can get is between Gore-Gruntas and the Maw-Grunta Gouger, who with similar buffs come out about the same.

The big downgrade between the Tuskboss and the other two variants is that the Tuskboss has a 3+ save and the others don’t. With the preponderance of -1 rend at the moment, a 4+ save isn’t particularly tough to deal with, even on a monster, so you’ll still need to be cunningly brutal to avoid throwing your pigs away needlessly.

Lastly, Big Pigs have unique monstrous actions now, with the Tuskboss and the Carrier Pig’Un sharing the same monstrous action:

While the Maw-grunta Gouger gets their own rampage:

Important note here regarding Carve a Path: rules as written, and based on the faq for the Glottkin, you won’t be able to charge with them if the Big Pig is within 3″ of enemy units. The intention seems to be “If you kill the unit you are in combat with, then you are allowed to attempt a charge.” Be on the lookout for an FAQ here and soon.

A Couple of Tips

Momentum 4 is a bit of a tipping point to really make your Maw Gruntas sing, which means you have to either hit a natural 3 on the D3 on your turn, or go into your turn with a couple already stacked up. When you’re adding D3 but subtracting 2 every Battle Round, that often won’t happen.

We already know that the AOR will help you really rack up Momentum early:

Another way you can build it up is with a sneaky Ironsunz countercharge. The Big Pig Battleline is unlocked via the General (not a subfaction), so you can take Battleline Big Pigs in Ironsunz and rack up Momentum on both players’ turns.

Worth noting that Choppa Ardboyz love to charge too, so that’s another unit that will enjoy being in Ironsunz.

The last one to think about is the interaction between Flattened into the Mud and Smashing and Bashing. Making a unit fight last and then triggering a chain of activations will really screw with people’s plans and expectations of how a combat phase is going to evolve.

Big Pig Verdict

Look, the design on these pigs is unbelievable from a model perspective, 11/10, please take my money.

From a game perspective, they’re still really good. The Tuskboss is a fine Monster Hero who–as a General–enables battleline Big Pigs, which is a big deal.

Earlier I briefly compared the Maw-grunta Gouger to the Gore-Gruntas, and this is important because a single big pig is only 10 points more than 3 Gore-Gruntas, and I’m very excited about running Big Pigs over Gore-Gruntas for the following reasons:

1. Big Pigs are monsters, and come with powerful monstrous actions;
2. Being Bravery 7 means a double reinforced Big Pig unit only takes Battleshock when 28 wounds worth of bacon dies in one turn;
3. They are conditional battleline based on a General choice, rather than Sub-Faction choice (which is a big deal in Big Waagh);
4. They’re Big Pigs.

It’s just a shame that the Carrier Pig’Un with the sidecar brutes just doesn’t do enough to differentiate itself from the others.

An Overview of Ardboyz

The single biggest change is the changes to the Ardboyz, which used to come in units of 5 at a measly 80 points–the backbone of Big Waaagh lists world wide. Now they come in units of 10 at 220 points.

Given that every single Ardboy model in existence currently has Choppas on them, that’s how most folks will be running them. Getting an extra attack on the charge at Rend -1 means Ardboys with a Warchanter on them can dish out some serious damage. Meanwhile, spear-wielding Ardboys LOVE standing on objectives and just daring folks to charge them, and being a 3+ save makes them quite tough–though no more ward saves to be found. Then there’s the shield bash, which anyone familiar to Saurus Warriors has seen before, causing mortals after attacking.

So what do Ardboys do now for Ironjawz? Not much, to be honest–folks ran Ardboyz previously to meet battleline requirements in Big Waagh for dirt cheap, and usually when Ironjawz need foot troops, you will just take Brutes that are 80 points cheaper. Can bricks of Ardboys do work? I’m sure they can, but for now I’m very cool on these guys.

Verdict: Play Brutes for now, save yourself 80 points.

An Overview of New Brutes

These half naked, crazed Orruks who have tattoos who are definitely not Bonesplitterz are pretty sweet. The stars of the show here are the Big Stabbas–I mean, Brute Ragerz:

These lads come in units of 3 at 100 points. What an absolute bargain for what you get! They’re Elite, they can run and charge, they have Rend -2 and 2 Damage innately–everything you could ever want in an Orruk Unit. They’re even Bravery 7, so just like with the Big Pigs they don’t start taking battleshock until 2/3 of their unit has died, and even then they usually pass battleshock. These bad boys were designed for Big Waaagh–imagine 30 of these fuckers hitting on 2s and wounding on 2s.

In addition, since they have the BRUTES keyword, Warchanters can pass out Violent Fury like candy when in the Da Choppaz subfaction:

Verdict: Take as many of these as you can while you can. They’re going to get bumped in points.

Meanwhile, there’s these Weirdbrutes who are wearing skull masks. Sigh.

These Brutes also come in units of 3, but at 125 points. They can still run and charge but their Green Rage ability is super restrictive and more of a nice-to-have than anything else, and it can’t stack with the Anvilsmasha buff (see below) per 1.6.4 in the Core Rules. Their Weirdbrute Masks only work while within combat too, so you’re paying a premium for an ability that’s only on part of the time. If they had tattoos, it would be on ALL the time. Tsk tsk.

Verdict: Just play Brute Ragerz.

An overview of New Heroes

Just like with the new Brutes we’ve got a clear winner and a mediocre choice as well. Let’s start with the mediocre choice: the Arboy Big Boss.

Rallying 3+ save Ardboys is sweet, but is worth a 100 point tax? I’m not so sure–and it definitely felt like GW purposefully removed the previous rally rule from Ardboyz to justify a new foot hero. This would be fine if the Rally ability itself wasn’t also nerfed, but it definitely would be tough to balance rallying 3+ save models on a 4+. The Get Bashin! ability is also immensely mediocre, only mildly increasing a combat-phase only ability by +1. The total combo for a mildly boosted Ardboyz unit is 320 points. He also can’t use any of the command traits or artefacts in the Ironjawz book.

Verdict: Pass unless you’re taking giant blocks of Ardboyz.

Holy moly, check out those abilities! Essentially, either you make him a combat monster than can break Wards permanently, or the much more interesting ability, the Power of Da Great Green God. Giving mortal wounds on unmodified 6s to hit is spicy, especially if you pair it with the new Ardboyz, basic Brutes, new Brutes with Chains, or Gore Gruntas. Orruks believe in a pre-ponderance of violence, and so anything attacking a shitload of times gets a sizeable boost in damage output all at a relatively cheap cost of 160 points.

Verdict: Slam dunk–just about any Ironjawz list can theoretically benefit from this absolute chad, though Gore-Grunta/pig centric lists will likely outpace him at times.

What About Base Sizes?

The short answer is outside of Ardboyz, we just don’t know yet. My current guesses:

• Ardboy Big Boss: 32mm
• New Brutes: 40mm
• Zoggrok Anvilsmash: 40-50mm
• Big Pigs: Likely 120mm x 92mm Ovals

Obviously, a reinforced unit of Big Pigs represents a LOT of real eastate that’s covered, so bear that in mind as you start theory crafting.

What about Lists?

The Battlescroll is nigh upon us, so I’m not looking to craft specifics at the moment since who the hell knows what’s going to happen the boys when it drops. However, my knee jerk observations are this:

1. Big Pig battleline in Big Waagh makes scoring the Waaagh! Grand Strategy infinitely easier when your battleline and general can run and charge.
2. Big Pig battleline will not suffer bravery checks, unlike literally every other battleline choice you currently have.
3. Brute Ragerz are going to absolutely steal the show. Against certain armies, 8+ MSU Brute Ragerz units will be absolute menaces to whatever they’re attacking. They’re also great WAAAGH point generators as well.
4. Ardboyz are just priced too damn high–yes the buffs on them make them pseudo Chosen, but the opportunity cost is too steep at the moment. I hope to be proven wrong though, because their models are incredible.

Final Thoughts

We’ve still got an Army of Renown to be seen, but as of right now this is one of the most exciting range expansions in recent memory. Just like with the Cities of Sigmar book, nothing here is bad at all–at worst we’ve got some mediocrity and at best we’ve got some real homeruns. The hype has been real and–for once–the reveal isn’t a big let down. As a Big Waaagh player, I will desperately miss my 80 point Ardboyz units, but otherwise we’re eating good.

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