Many thanks to Games Workshop for providing us with an early copy for review. Kruleboyz come to Warcry with the Monsta-Killaz, a unit that plays into their fluff about capturing and training monsters of various kinds. Kruleboyz are new for this edition of AoS – with a model range at the launch of the edition, followed by an Underworlds warband and now a specific Warcry box adding yet another unit to the army. So how does this new crew fare on the battlefield?
Table of Contents
Abilities and Reaction
Reaction
Krule Trap – After an enemy model within 6″ of this fighter completes a move action, roll a dice. On a 5+ that fighter either cannot make move actions for the rest of the battleround or takes 4 points of damage (you choose). If you don’t make the roll it takes 2 points of damage. This is fairly simple, and reasonably useful – for example if a model moves into melee range with one of your models that hasn’t activated and they’re almost certainly off to orc heaven, you’ve got nothing to lose. Shutting down enemy movement so they can’t move into melee or run off with treasure is another obvious use, especially if they then have to essentially waste their second action. Bear in mind you can use this to react to free move actions that end within 6″ of you, and shutting down big models like Gorgers before they can get into contact is a good idea.
Abilities
Double – Krule Taunt – Only useable by the Beastnob. Pick an enemy fighter within a range equal to the number of this ability, until the end of the battleround subtract 2 from the damage that models causes with normal and critical hits from attack actions, unless those attack actions target the Beastnob. Great to drop on something that can’t get to you, nerfing it’s damage output.
Double – Rip it Out – Only useable by the Neckslicer with Beaststikka Harpoon. After the next attack action using either the spear or ranged weapon runemarks, if it scored one or more hits, allocate a number of damage points to the model equal to this ability. A way to just add extra damage onto an enemy model. The attacks are 2 dice and strength 4, so one hit is reasonably likely.
Double – Krule Stabbin – Finally an ability almost every model can use. Until the end of the models activation, add one to the damage done by hits and critical hits against a target that already has 5 or more wounds. This is great for piling damage onto something that’s injured, and making dealing with the giant stacks of wounds on Chaos Warriors/Stormcast/Monsters/Ogres easier. Monsta Killaz aren’t a low damage warband with a lot of 2/4 damage around, so this helps take big chunks out of high wound models.
Triple – Saw ‘Em Up – Only useable by the Neckslicer with Bonehakka. Pick a visible enemy fighter within 2″. Roll a number of dice equal to the value of the ability (minimum of 2). Arrange them sequentially, discarding duplicates (so 1,2,2,3 would be 1,2,3) and score 3 points of damage for each dice in the sequence (so 1,2,3 would be 9 points of damage). This is great if you have a triple 6 to spend, but terrible if you have a triple 1, 2 or 3.
Triple – Drum and Holler – Useable by the Bawla Boy, until the end of the battle round, enemy fighters within 6″ cannot use reactions. This is situational depending on your opponent and what their reaction is. Given a number of factions have reactions that allow them to disengage after taking damage, or inflict damage on your fighters, it can be very useful to turn off reactions and trap/not eat a bunch of damage when you attack.
Quad – Nasty Muggin’ – Pick an enemy fighter within 1″. Friendly fighters with the Monsta Killaz runemark within 3″ of that fighter may make a free attack action that must target that fighter. This is for when you’re swarming something with a giant stack of wounds and you just need it to die. Enemies with large bases to maximise the attacks they take are perfect for this, and bear in mind you do have fighters with range 2 and 3 melee, or ranged weapons.
Heroes
The only hero in the band is the Beastnob.
Beastnob
A big beaty bruiser in melee with a 4 dice, str 6 3/5 attack (so a perfect model to use Krule Stabbin if you can), the Beastnob also has toughness 4 and 25 wounds, meaning it can take a bit of punishment. Krule Taunt is situational as an ability, but good to use on something that otherwise has high damage output but which can’t get to the Beastnob to attack it. Having a reasonably decent ranged attack makes the model more flexible, but 1/5 of the points for the warband are tied up in them, so you’ve got to maximise what you get back.
Fighters
Klutcha Grot
Well you need someone to caddy treasure around, and a cheap 60 point model is perfect for it. With 6 wounds it’ll die to a stiff breeze, and it’s melee attack is around the light slap level, but expendable models serve a purpose in giving you extra activations, sitting on objectives, etc.
Bawla Boy
This model comes with two loadouts, the Stabba and the Flogga. The Flogga is range 3, and better against tougher targets, while the Stabba is range 1 and better against squishier targets. On balance I’d choose the Flogga for the ability to hit your opponent from outside engagement range. The Bawla Boy has Drum and Holler, and while being a bit squishy at toughness 3, has 15 wounds, so staying out of reach of enemy melee attacks but in range to attack back and use their ability is the way to go.
| Fighter | vs T3 | vs T4 | vs T5 | vs T6 |
| Bawla boy with Flogga | 5 | 4.17 | 4.17 | 4.17 |
| Bawla boy with Stabba | 6 | 4.67 | 3.33 | 3.33 |
Gnarlwood Howla
Another weird monkey creature, this has no abilities (though can benefit from Nasty Muggin’) but does have move 6 to get around the board quickly, 18 wounds to not drop dead the first time it takes a hit, and a 5 dice, str 3 2/4 melee attack to do an average of 5 damage in an attack on anything T4 or better. It’s a fast bruiser that can chase down enemy fighters and contest objectives and table quarters.
Neckslicer
These come in three types, Bonehakka (giving access to the Saw ‘Em Up ability), Beaststikka Harpoon (giving access to the Rip It Out ability) and Smasha (with no ability but a little cheaper because of it). The models are all toughness 3 with 15 wounds, so while they’ll take damage fairly easily, they can take a fair bit before dying.
| Fighter | vs T3 | vs T4 | vs T5 | vs T6 |
| Smasha | 6 | 4.67 | 3.33 | 3.33 |
| Bonehakka | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Beaststikka Harpoon | 3.67 | 3 | 2.33 | 2.33 |
The smasha may have a better damage output on paper against T3 and T5, but the Bonehakka has range 2 and the Beaststikka Harpoon has range 8, and that gives you a lot more flexibility and options, as well as those two weapons having abilities tied to them.
Example Warband
The box content come in a little light at 965 points, but if you have access to two boxes you could go with:
Beastnob
2 x Bawla Boy w/Flogga
Gnarlwood Howla
Neckslicer w/Bonehakka
Neckslicer w/Beaststikka Harpoon
2 x Neckslicer w/Smasha
This gives a slightly tougher warband with more ranged weapons and dead on 1000 points. Unfortunately without loading up on Grot Klutchas you aren’t going to get over 8 models in the warband.
Overview and Suggested Allies
This is a high wound warband with decent damage output, and the possible weaknesses (speed, lack of numbers) has solutions within the warband in the form of Gnarlwood Howlas and Grot Klutchas to provide move 6 and cheap models.
The warband have a lot of models with access to ranged attacks, or range 2 on their melee (Neckslicer w/Bonehakka). This opens up the usual options for engaging outside of range 1 models melee range.
The majority of your models are toughness 3, but with a decent number of wounds that mitigates that. Range 2 and 3 on some models keeps you outside of a lot of models melee range, increasing survivability.
This is a warband comfortable without allies, and any you would get would be either competing with the Beastnob in terms of points or the Gnarlwood Howlers for their role as fast model. It doesn’t mean you can’t though, and Da Kunnin’ Krew thematically fit as a source of another big character and some cheap chaff.
Your abilities push you to surrounding your opponent, shutting down their movement/reactions, and piling on extra damage from Neckslicers. You’ll have to carefully think about your abilities, as they’re almost all tied to specific models and/or conditions and the value of the dice matter for some of them. This means you’ll need to plan at the start of the battleround, and create the conditions to use them.
Conclusion
Another warband given to skirmishing, though tougher than the Wildercorps Hunters and with fewer models – and with a play style where wearing your opponent down isn’t as necessary. The abilities lean towards taking down models with high wound values, with abilities that cause a bunch of extra wounds without having to get past toughness.
I think this will be an interesting warband to play, and it’s ideal for taking on elite bands like the Gorger Mawpack. As always, if you have any questions or suggestions – drop us a line at Contact@Goonhammer.com.
