WAAAGH! Review! New Ironjawz! Tuskboss on Maw-grunta, also builds Maw-grunta with Hakkin’ Krew or Maw-grunta Gouger! Ardboys! Weirdbrute Wrekkaz and Brute Ragerz dual kit! Free Battletome expansion download! Waaaagh!!!
The new Orruk Warclans Ironjawz models will be available for preorder starting Saturday, September 15, 2023, and go on sale one week after.
Ironjawz Tuskboss on Maw-grunta review
The new centrepiece kit of the Ironjawz range builds one model on an 120mm oval base, spanning three medium sprues. In addition to the Tuskboss, a Maw-grunta Gouger (a regular Ironjawz Brute rider) can also be built, which can optionally receive a Hakkin’ Crew, two of the slightly smaller new Ardboyz, which are chained to the left and right of the Maw-grunta.
Unfortunately, apart from these three assembly options, there are no other optional cosmetic components. The Tuskboss only has a single head and pose, and the Gouger rider also has no other heads or arm options. Only the Maw-grunta can get an optional nose ring, otherwise, the models look 1:1 like in the promo pictures. Especially if you want to have several Gougers or Hakkin’ Krews in your collection, the models will look duplicated.
Ironjawz Ardboys review
The Ardboys models, which date back to Warhammer Fantasy / The Old World, have been completely redesigned. And what an update they are. Their armour now matches the sharp-edged, dented design of their bigger brothers. Instead of the dual choppas or big choppas of the former Black Orc models, they now carry shields with either a spear or choppa. The models are a little smaller than Ironjawz Brutes, which fits their background of being the most heavily armoured Orruks, but at the lower end of the Ironjawz hierarchy.
The 10 models stand on 32mm bases (Brutes have 40mm bases), and the kit includes three medium size sprues, which contain the following:
- 10 body sculpts
- 10 interchangeable shields and lower shield arms
- 10 interchangeable right hands with spears
- 10 interchangeable right hands with choppas
- 12 interchangeable heads
- 2 extra heads for the Champion, plus a right hand with a bigger choppa
- 2 small back banners to make a Standard Bearer
Ironjawz Weirdbrute Wrekkaz & Brute Ragerz review
This kit includes three models on 40mm bases that can be assembled as either Weirdbrute Wrekkaz or Brute Ragerz. Both units are distinguished by their stripped torsos, which visually sets them apart from the heavily armoured Brutes and Ardboyz. While the Brute Ragerz are practically Dwarf Slayers looking for redemption for showing off too much, the Weirdbrute Wrekkaz are Orruks gone mad from too much Waaagh energy, wearing crude masks and carrying heavy ball-and-chain weapons.
The kit spans three small sprues and includes three models that are pretty much monopose except for the choice of the various weapon arms. All three Brute Ragerz can be armed with either a Heavy Chain-smasha (ball-and-chain), a Mighty Gore-hacka (two-handed blade), or a Brute Crusha (two-handed club). Weirdbrute Wrekkaz are always armed with Chain-smashas. Unfortunately, there is only one head per model, and they aren’t even interchangeable. For the Wrekkaz there are six different masks that you simply glue onto the heads of the Ragerz.
Value
Price-wise, the Tuskboss on Maw-grunta is £47.50 / 62.50 Euro / $80, which these days is surprisingly within reason for a model of this size. The Ardboys are priced at £37.50 / 50 Euro / $60, which is also within expectations for a unit of 10 models on 32mm bases with lots of mass. The Weirdbrute Wrekkaz & Brute Ragerz join the ranks of expensive three-model boxes at £35 / 45 Euro / $60, but are at least a bit cheaper than Exalted Eightbound.
A welcome surprise is the free Battletome expansion, which offers not only warscrolls and rules, but also updated lore and new photos and artwork. It is available for download on Warhammer Community.
You can find the new Ironjawzs models and other Orruk Warclans and Gloomspite Gitz releases at our partner stores 🇬🇧/🇪🇺 Wayland Games, 🇬🇧 Element Games and Firestorm Games, at 🇩🇪 Taschengelddieb, 🇩🇪 /🇪🇺 PK-Pro, and at 🇺🇸 Noble Knight Games with a welcome discount of up to 20% over RRP. Using our links helps to support Tale of Painters at no additional cost to you, so thank you very much for using them!
I hope you found this review helpful, feel free to leave a reaction or comment below, or post your questions here or discuss on our Discord channel.
8.0Score
Pros
- New centrepiece model with three build options
- Updated Ardboys that better reflect the design of the Ironjawz range
- Dual build Weirdbrute Wrekkaz / Brute Ragerz
Cons
- No cosmetic options for the Maw-grunta variants
- Weapon choices in the new Ardboyz kit invalidate the former models
- Wrekkaz/Ragerz are quite expensive for a three model box
Final Verdict
The Ironjawz miniature range gets more depth with a second centrepiece option that can be built as three different units, revised Ardboys, and more unit types and characters. The faction feels much more complete than it did at launch in Warhammer Age of Sigmar 1st Edition, and thanks to a free Battletome, there's no need to buy an extra book for a handful of new rules. I would like to see that more often.