Stormbringer is a weekly hobby magazine from Hachette Partworks introducing players to Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. In this 80-week series, our intrepid magazine-receiver will be reviewing each individual issue, its included models, and gaming materials. A Premium US subscription was provided to Goonhammer for review purposes. If you want to follow along at home, US Customers can check out Stormbringer here.
If The Kruleboyz represent a new take on the classic Warhammer Orc archetype, the Ironjawz are conversely a doubling down on that concept. It’s one that loses the “horde” aspect and leans into a more elite – and in many ways more interesting – take on everyone’s favorite green guys. I’m glad they’re finally getting some time to shine after their earlier Premium issue, which some folks might not have gotten.
The Narrative Materials
As you likely assumed, Ironjawz are the focus of this issue. They’re bigger, stronger, and more belligerent than even the rest of Orruk-kind. Their armor is hammered into shape with their bare hands (something that I don’t think the models really sell, to be honest) and they only stop fighting each other to fight someone else. The more they fight, the bigger they get, and their tactics involve moving from point A to point B in more or less a straight line, smashing everything in their path. Their society is formed around the number five, since that’s how many fingers they’ve got and therefore how high they can count. Kruleboyz have something similar, though their society clearly revolves around the middlemost digit. I feel like the heavy armor decorated with hot rod flames betrays a sense of forethought at odds with much of the rest of these details, but it looks cool which is most important.
Next is an article on Ironjawz anatomy, dripping with the sort of snobby xenophobia one would expect from an in-universe writer. There’s multiple drawings of Orruks covered in scribbles and notes like “What is the point in this?” and “Nonsense nonsense nonsense”, as well as the statement that Ironjawz are about as smart as a pork pie. Questions about why Orruks do what they do are largely cut off at the legs, the writer convincing himself that these bestial creatures are just that – beasts – and not a race with their own distinct culture and ideology. This sort of writing always finds a home in 40k and Warhammer Fantasy where the social commentary is much better defined, so I’m always pleased to find it in AoS.
If that wasn’t enough Ironjawz goodness for you, we’ve got a Battle Record for a Megaboss. These are bigger than your average Orruk, sometimes taking to a Maw-Krusha to ride into battle. Of course, ours is on foot:
Snarmag Gitwhakka thumbed the daemon skull on his shoulder. “Ya see, dis one tells me the best place to krump. And dis one – ” his grasp moved to the human skull around his neck “tells me how to do it.” Gubgut nodded along, half understanding the towering figure and hoping he’d stop talking before things got violent. “When I krump someone big and smart, I take their thinky bits along with me. Now ya see why I’m joinin’ up with ya, you’re gettin’ three generals for the price of one!”
The Hobby Materials
Our model this month is the Megaboss, an Ironjawz foot hero that’s pretty representative of the faction as a whole. It’s a satisfyingly chunky model to assemble, though care should be taken to put the head in early, as it could easily be blocked off by all the armor. Alternately you could leave much of the armor off for painting if you wanted full access to his face, but putting the model together painted might prove a bit tricky too. There’s a lot of overlapping detail to paint, even if the model is fairly simple. The painting tutorial is pretty good, even getting down to highlights on his fingernails, but I think there’s a problem with contrast. He’s wearing yellow armor and has a big bone-colored dragon skull on his shoulder, and those melt together at a glance. The ‘Eavy Metal paintjob gets around this by having the skull be more white than cream colored, but we’ve got a more limited palette here.
The Gaming Materials
This week’s mission is Wyrm Hunt, which only made me think of the Alaskan Bull Worm from Spongebob Squarepants. I’m a man of culture, you see. A fire wyrm has been wreaking havoc in Aqshy, and Killaboss Snaglak Wall-Smasha wants it dead. His grots reported it, and an Ironjawz Megaboss has swaggered in, saying he’ll be the one to kill it. Snaglak sends him off, figuring at worst, the Ironjawz boss will get killed and won’t be his problem anymore. As Snaglak’s party is searching, they’re ambushed by the forces of Order who are on their own hunt, and battle ensues. This mission is unique in its deployment, looking like a pair of Order Tetris L-blocks formed around a Destruction Z-block. The wyrm’s tunneling has caused some seismic disturbances, and the unsteady ground causes D3 mortal wounds to a unit any time it advances or charges. There’s pretty standard objective scoring and that special rule isn’t my favorite, but I like the deployment. It’s rare that the good guys get to do the ambushing.
Final Verdict:
The Orruk megaboss is a little $45 nugget of muscle and hatred, and getting him for 66% off with this issue’s $13.99 cover price is about as good a deal as you’re ever gonna get. I don’t know how repeatable a purchase it really is, but I feel every Ironjawz collection should have at least one of these guys around. I enjoyed reading about these guys from both objective and subjective in-universe lenses, and the mission was even decent. This is a solid issue all around, and I’m glad Stormbringer is still bringing the heat even this late in its run.
See you next issue, warhams.
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