The Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz are experienced monster trackers specialised in snatching valuable beasts in their infancy to tame and use in battle when they reach adult age.
Background and Lore of the Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz Warband
The Kruleboyz are a faction of swamp-dwelling, clever Orruks all about traps, deception, poisons and ambushes. As part of their constant dirty warfare, they use all sorts of monstrous beasts to throw to their opponents. Those creatures are better captured young, or even better when they are eggs, so that they can be properly trained with minimum casualties.
Stealing eggs, however, is not exactly a risk-free profession, and that’s why the Monsta-killaz are the experienced veterans sent to snatch eggs and other younglings from their nest for future uses. And since the parents of their preys may not collaborate, they are more than equipped to deal with that threat, with the remaining of the fallen creatures adorning their belts and weapons.
The Beastnob is the leader of these warbands, that adopts Bawla Boys to lure out the monsters while the dispensable Klutcha-grots steal from the nest. If a prey becomes too irresponsive, the Neckslicers are tasked to bring it down.
The Gnarlwood are a place thriving with the most dangerous fauna and flora in Ghur, the Realm of the Beast, and that’s where the Monsta-Killaz can find their best targets. Should they require extra expertise, their simian companions, the Howlas, are acquainted with the environment and can support the snatching business or just become a convenient distraction.
But are the Monsta-Killaz able to live up to their name of killers? Let’s find out.
Fighters in the Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz Warband
Note: if you haven’t read the basic rules for Warcry before reading this article, it might be helpful to know that the game’s abilities are activated by using 6 dice that you roll at the start of your turn.
If two of the dice show the same value, they can be used to activate a Double ability. If three show the same value, they can be used for a Triple ability, and so on.
So, when this article refers to an ability being a Double, a Triple or a Quad, it refers to this system. It might sound a bit confusing, but takes no time to get used to when you start playing
The Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz warband is made of 9 different fighters, of which 1 is the leader.
Beastnob: 200 points
The Beastnob is the warband leader and a nasty one at it! His melee profile has 4 attacks at Strength 6 for 3/6 damage, but even the ranged one can hurt with Strength 4 for 2/4 damage at 8″ range.
Put that on a 25 wounds Toughness 4 fighter and you have a good profile, not super resistant but tough enough to be scary to engage. His movement, as for all the warband, also is above average with 4″.
If you feel confident he can take a hit, or stay away from enemy’s harm, his Double forces an enemy fighter within as many inches as the ability’s value, to either target him or reduce his damage for the entire battle round by 2 (to a minimum of 1). While this is pretty bad for critical hits, heavy fighters usually also have a high damage on normal hits. Note that nothing stops using this ability before performing any move meaning a potential 14″ range with a Double 6. It can be nasty used in the right situation.
The other abilities are shared with the rest of the warband excluding the simian beasts. The reaction, in particular, can complement the previous Double: when an enemy ends a move within 6″ of any fighter, if they activate the reaction and you roll a 5+, the enemy has to choose if they can’t move anymore or take 4 damage (with less than 5 they get 2 damage and the reaction ends). So if the enemy uses bonus moves to get in position, they can become costly. Consider, however, most of your warband has high damage on normal hits, so it can be more useful use to block opponents running away.
The warband Double works only against already wounded enemies, but provides an extra damage per hit or critical hit on melee attacks. The Beastnob now becomes a 4/6 damage fighter, and that’s where those pesky reactions can really turn the tide of the battle by softening up the enemy removing 5 wounds.
The warband Quad, Nasty Muggin’, instead allows the Monsta-Killaz to gang up on an unfortunate opponent, giving all friendly fighters a free attack action if they are within 3″ from the targeted enemy. Quite thematic, and quite brutal if there’s few Neckslicers as they have 2″ and 3″ melee weapons…
Bawla Boy
- Bawla Boy with Stabba: 110 points
- Bawla Boy with Flogga: 110 points
The Bawla Boy main role is to prevent the use of reactions within 6″ of them at the cost a Triple. They have 2 profiles: the Bawla Boy with Stabba is a balanced 4 attacks for 2/3 damage, while the Bawla Boy with Flogga loses in damage (1/4 at Strength 3) but introduces a 3″ range weapon with 5 attacks that is good to hit enemies out of engaging distance.
His ability is extremely situational (not all reactions are equally good in the game) and costs quite a bit. He also goes down to Toughness 3 (the same across the rest of the warband), so Neckslicers are probably better profiles if you want to get the maximum from this warband.
Gnarlwood Howla: 125 points
The Gnarlwood Howla is a Beast, with all its limitations, and has access to no warband ability or reaction. Toughness 3 but 18 wounds give a bit more survivability than the rest of the warband, but its best trait is the 6″ movement. Its 5 attacks for 2/4 damage are less impressive once it is taken in consideration the Strength’s value of 3.
Neckslicer
- Neckslicer with Beaststikka Harpoon: 115 points
- Neckslicer with Bonehakka: 120 points
- Neckslicer with Smasha: 110 points
The Neckslicers are the majority of this warband and they come with 3 different profiles but they all start with 15 wounds and Toughness 3.
The Neckslicer with Beaststikka Harpoon has few attacks (2) but a good damage 2/5 on both weapon profiles, one at 3″ range and one at 8″ range. Both weapons allow to use his Double, Rip It Out, that adds an extra damage if at least one attack hits. The damage depends on the ability’s value, and with 2 attacks at Strength 4, often you have a 50% chance to hit. On low Doubles, is probably better the warband Double that adds an extra damage for each hit if the enemy has 5 or more wounds already allocated.
The Neckslicer with Bonehakka has “only” 2″ range, same damage but increases both attacks and Strength (3 and 5 respectively) making him our favourite. His signature ability costs a Triple and is a mini-game: you roll as many dice as the ability’s value from a minimum of 2 then you try to make a sequence of consecutive numbers ignoring the duplicates. If you have at least 2 numbers in sequence, you allocate 3 damage for each dice in that sequence. So to make it visual, a sequence of 2,3,4 would do 9 damage, a sequence of 1 to 6 would do 18 damage. If you have a high-value Double, is an interesting gamble.
The Neckslicer with Smasha is the most balanced profile, with same damage as the others but 4 attacks at Strength 4. However, no special ability. He can still use the warband Double to increase his damage on wounded enemies, and is an overall good base profile.
Klutcha-grot: 60 points
The Klutcha-grot is the cheapest profile in the warband with a surprising Toughness 4 (but only 6 wounds). His 3 attacks have only Strength 2, so he is probably better suited as a sacrificial pawn, or to activate the warband reaction. He does have decent damage for his price if he manages to hit: 2/3.
Abilities for the Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz Warband
- Krule Taunt (Double, Beastnob): An enemy within up to 6″ does 2 less damage on each hit and critical hit (to a minimum of 1) unless it targets the Beastnob.
- Rip It Out (Double, Neckslicer with Harpoon): If the next attack action scores 1 or more hits, add up to 6 extra damage.
- Krule Stabbin’ (Double, Everyone except the Gnarlwood Howla): Add 1 to the damage from hit and critical hits on melee attacks targeting an enemy with 5 or more wounds allocated.
- Saw ‘Em Up (Triple, Neckslicer with Bonehakka): Roll up to 6 dice and allocate 3 damage for each consecutive number rolled to an enemy fighter within 2″.
- Drum and Holler (Triple, both Bawla Boys): Enemy fighters within 6″ of this fighter cannot make reactions.
- Nasty Muggin’ (Quad, Everyone except the Gnarlwood Howla): Pick 1 enemy fighter within 3″ and every Monsta-Killaz within 3″ of that enemy can perform a bonus attack action towards that fighter.
Reaction for the Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz Warband
Introduced in the new season of Warcry, Reactions are things that can be done in certain circumstances, but always during the enemy turn. They cost one action, so they can be used only by fighters that have not activated yet or are waiting. There are 3 universal reactions and one specific to each warband:
Krule Trap (Everyone except the Gnarlwood Howla)
- When: After an enemy ends a move within 6″.
- What: On a 5+ the enemy cannot move anymore that round or suffer 4 damage, otherwise suffers 2 damage.
Strategy and Tactics for the Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz Warband
The Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz are a warband with some dirty tricks up their sleeves for sure! True to their name, they can hurt more the high-wounds characters as they can use Doubles to increase their damage if the target has 5 or more wounds already allocated. They may not find many monsters on the battlefield, but enemy leaders and tougher opponents are all easier targets.
And the Quad that allows every close-by friendly fighter to beat up the opponent like big bullies is extremely thematic. As is the way they set up traps (through a reaction) for a guaranteed 2 damage that can become 4 or prevent the enemy from moving on a roll of 5+. Not super reliable, but any chip damage counts, especially if the fighter is ready to take the flight and move away, even better if carrying a treasure.
And the list of abilities with this trend continues, with the Beastnob being able to taunt enemies so that they either attack him or make weaker attacks, or the mini-game of the Neckslicer with Bonehakka that with a good roll can do quite some damage.
Where the warband lacks a bit is Toughness, with most profiles having only 3, and long range, with only 2 profiles reaching 8″. To compensate this, they do have 2 Neckslicer profiles with 2″ and 3″ range that are the best melee weapons as they allow to attack without being engaged, so forcing an enemy to waste an action to move to attack, or allowing to move to another target without a disengage action.
Despite this, the best fighters in our opinion are the Beastnob, that is your mandatory leader but also the best hitter, and the Neckslicer profiles. Either Bawla Boy is a bit “meh” with an extremely situational ability that may never be used (many warbands have poor reactions). The Klutcha-grot is cheap and that’s the only thing going on with him (unless you want to use them for the warband reaction to throw traps).
And the Gnarlwood Howlas are fast with their 6″ movement but rely on the law of the big numbers with their 5 attacks at low Strength. Statistically they may perform as a Neckslicer or even better, but the 1″ melee profile is not compensated by 3 wounds more considering the same point cost. They are going down, and fast, but a few of them are still interesting in a warband to add those 2″ extra movement, and considering that in most scenarios you’ll not encounter situations where a Beast will hinder your progression. Unless you are fighting in a Catacomb…
Overall Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz is a warband extremely thematic, well designed and easy even for beginners to start with. Veterans may work with what’s there and give up certain profiles in favour of others, but there’s enough here to satisfy every palate.
Pros and Cons of the Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz Warband
Pros:
+ Thematic dirty tricks
+ Above average movement
Cons:
– Low Toughness
Some thematic warbands for the Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz
Just for fun here we present few thematic warbands, meant more for fun or narrative context than for competitive play. Note that in narrative play you need to complete a quest that allows you to recruit a Hero before being able to add him to your roster.
Out of the box: 1 Beastnob, 1 Bawla Boy with Flogga, 1 Klutcha-grot, 2 Gnarlwood Howlaz, 3 Neckslicers, each equipped with a different weapon (Harpoon, Smasha and Bonehakka).
How to buy a Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz Warband
Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz have their own Warcry box. The sprues inside allow to build:
- 1 Beastnob
- 1 Bawla Boy with either Stabba or Flogga
- 1 Klutcha-grot
- 2 Gnarlwood Howlaz
- 1 Neckslicer with Harpoon or Smasha
- 1 Neckslicer with Harpoon or Bonehakka
- 1 Neckslicer with Bonehakka or Harpoon
With this set up, you can have every single load-out available except a Bawla Boy, for which you either magnetize or you’ll need a second box.
Tips on painting a Kruleboyz Monsta-Killaz Warband for Warcry
There are plenty of painting guides out there for Kruleboyz, since they are one of the poster factions for Age of Sigmar’s third edition, but a good basic one is this Battle Ready painting tutorial from Games Workshop themselves.
If you want something a little bit more advanced, Vince Venturella has you covered.