How to Smash Face with Big Waaagh Part Two: The Lists
Have you ever been overpromised and underdelivered? Across the Easter break we witnessed a dog dash, which is a staple of certain Australian country fairs. Now bear in mind that these aren’t professionally-trained greyhounds: they are family pets, and they “race” as such. A bunch of kids line up their poodles, cavoodles, labradoodles and assorted other oodles, all ready to bolt for the finish line and secure something really prestigious, like maybe an Easter egg and a photo with the head of the local Rotary club.
When these fine beasts are unleashed, the instantly set about pissing, shitting, fighting each other and shagging each other. If any of them make an inch of progress towards the finish line it’s purely coincidental, and eventually when one of them does happen to wander over in that direction, there’s a carnival atmosphere beyond anything that Rio de Janeiro has ever known polite ripple of applause from the mums and dads still watching. The whole thing is obviously just a bit of fun and not meant to be a serious race, and it does have a lot of charm – but it’s scarcely a dash.
Now I confess that I’ve sold you this article on the premise that I will be writing up some competitive Big Waaagh lists, but I’m afraid there’s really just one core list on offer, although it’s hopefully a good ‘un. What I’ve done instead of running off in multiple directions at once is to offer that one foundation list, plus a couple of offshoots to demonstrate how it could be tailored to meet the challenges of your local meta, and closing out with a link to some further reading on the topic.
Ready? Let’s go.
Credit: Captain Chris Ramen
The List: Bamm Bamm Rides Again
Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)* – Boss Gore-hacka and Choppa – Artefact: Destroyer Orruk Warchanter (115)* – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat Orruk Warchanter (115)* – Warbeat: Get ‘Em Beat Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)** – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork Wurrgog Prophet (150)** – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Universal Spell Lore: Levitate Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth (180)** – Artefact: Mork’s Eye Pebble – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un
Battleline 10 x Orruk Ardboys (170)*** – Reinforced x 1 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)* 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)**
Units 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)*** – Jagged Gore-hackas – Reinforced x 1 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*** – Jagged Gore-hackas
Core Battalions *Warlord **Warlord ***Hunters of the Heartlands
Additional Enhancements Artefact Artefact
Total: 1980 / 2000 Reinforced Units: 2 / 4 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 140 Drops: 11
When the previous Warclans Battletome dropped, the first thing I ran was a Maw Krusha and Rogue Idol one-two combo, also known as Megaboss Bamm Bamm and Pebbles. I graduated away from that build to running a Big Stabbas infinite-damage murderbomb that saw some success and was wild fun to play, but this list will be placing Megaboss Bamm Bamm front and centre at the head of his Waaagh once more.
How it plays
I won’t rehash the list tech in its entirety, but this army does have some cool tools to work with. Key things to note are:
Mork’s Eye Pebble offers decent shooting protection for one crucial early turn
Rerollable Hand of Gork, which can usually be cast from outside of unbind range early on, works on the whole army
Multiple Pop ‘n’ Slide trading threats from the Mirebrute Troggoth (teleport then Fast ‘Un), and Gore Gruntas (teleport then Mighty D)