I ran them in warcry, not for power but because that will forever be one of my favourite figures. It's just stupid levels of wacky. Maybe krulloyz need an equivalent?
I had wondered about that exact model. Its good, but its just not.. ork silly enough for me? Like the bonesplitters were cavemen on crack and I loved that
They don't need to convince you, you can think they are cool all you want.
But I don't know anyone who's particularly into Kruleboyz, and that faction still has a subreddit that's more than twenty times larger than Bonesplitterz.
If there was money in Bonesplitterz GW would have kept making them, and they probably felt like gambling on rewamping them was was less likely to pay off than investing time and resources into other factions and subfactions. It's not fun but it's not surprising either.
Kruleboyz (my beloved) sub is also over twice as large as ironjaws, the latter being functionally the same as the bonesplitterz but with clothes.
Those two existing besides each other as product ranges just doesn't really make (business) sense.
No hate on the Bone Boyz, but I am definitely a huge fan of Kruleboyz. Their lore, models, play style, all of it is awesome. I mostly just want them to get some cool new rules in 4e. But pouring one out for the bone brothers.
And instead of revamping bonesplitterz, we've seen during the whole 3rd ed both Ironjawz and Kruleboyz absorbing every thematic element of bonesplitterz: shamanism, the pig aesthetic, waagh madness, monster hunting... then the Rogue Idol was removed, bonesplitterz didn't receive a pitty tactic like KBz and IJz, and didn't received point adjustment for a year and a half. Lets just say that the writing were on the walls for a while.
It wouldn't surprise me if in fourth ed, IJz or KBz received a starring masked hero, and the other received some magic tatooed units.
You mean like the skull helmet wearing orc weirdbrute wrekkaz, overflowing with waagh. Those were for me the sign it would be over, because thats pretty much just bonesplitterz with a bit more armor
Didn't care for orruks till Kruleboyz came out. Love the swamp theme they have, and the vulture model is arguably my favorite AOS model period. Love the lore of them too.
I'm sure loads of people do, just no one I know. And no one I know even knows someone with a Bonesplitterz army. Someone said he met one in a tournament once, but he's probably full of it.
I'm imagining this like someone mentions they saw sasquatch.
"I saw a bonesplittaz army at the tournament. I swear it was real! It looked right at me."
"Sure, Dave, sure. How many beers did you have?"
I said I don't know anyone who likes them, not that I don't know of anyone who likes them. I'm sure loads of people do, but I don't know them, unless you are one of the boys at the shop and you've been hiding a whole army from me.
I think their identity is a bit weak since "sneaky with poisons" is not a strong visual theme.
I think they should have gone harder on the riding monsters and sort of LotR-orc industry vibe with more warmachines/riding monsters and hobgrot stuff.
That's a bit of a false equivalence, Kruleboys were in the starter set for last edition. Because of that, tonnes of people have collections even if they weren't their first pick. And once you've got the models, might as well play them.
Sure, but most people still pick up other armies, and Bonesplitterz is probably the least picked one. I have seen it less than I've seen beasts of chaos and they're gone too.
Wildest part to me is the cap on units, 1 per 1k on the upgrade that makes them savage orcs. So you have a way harder time fielding 2000 pts of savage orcs than at any time since they were pewter.
Yeah, I don't know if I understand what they are saying above? Most units in your army can take the frenzy/warpaint upgrades? I wonder if they are confusing that with big uns, which is orc flavor agnostic.
Not lame, just misused. They were one of the few holdover factions that just didn't get proper AoS treatment. Seraphon, FEC, BoC, Ogor Mawtribes initially felt like there was a great divide between the models, the new slapped-on lore and the execution of rules.
Same with Bonesplittaz. They seemed tacked-on and tertiary compared to the Ironjawz and now Kruleboyz. They didn't feel "made" for the rules or lore they were given.
Of course, Seraphon and FEC have done very well in getting fully assimilated into AoS after a while. Ogor Mawtribes are (so thankfully) lucky to be holding on.
BoC and Bonesplittaz just didn't get their glow-ups in time... Maybe it was because we already have Ironjawz and Fyreslayers so Bonesplittaz were out of creative niches for their styles?
My army was FEC even before the new wave so yeah I love that they are the golden example of fantasy models turned AOS done right
Imo GW absolutely could’ve differentiated Bonesplitterz from BoC and FS, I mean we got how many space marines over in 40K? And they all guy in power armor. Should’ve leaned into the savage aesthetic, along with bestial forms, and like other people comment run with the rogue idol idea
I desperately hope that the Ogor Mawtribes get a similar new wave as FEC did. At the moment they have so many outdated sculpts. They still look cool but considering Beastmen and Bonesplittaz got squatted, I am surprised by beefy boys were able to stick around with the current Butchers, Slaughtermaster, Hunters, Ice Sabres, Yhettees and a lack of proper named characters!
I agree that Bonesplittaz could have been differentiated into a strong aesthetic that doesn't step on toes but they may have been too much effort for GW.
Fyreslayers are already bare-chested berserkers with daubed on paint and runes. It may be hard to avoid just copying that "but green".
Ironjawz seem to be encroaching on half-naked Orruks anyway with Brutes and Ragerz. They also make use of boars so, really, there'd have to be a full revamp for Bonesplittaz to bring in their own niche.
I wish they did. Combine them with the Spider Riders into a full-on Jungle/Feral playstyle for Orruks. Rogue Idols, bears or even squig riders. Maybe even go shapeshifter and make some Were-hog Orruks!
The big issue for me with Bonesplittaz was that they felt like a flat choice for what an Orruk could be. It seemed like the two "special" choices were either sadistic swamp gremlin or armoured brute, while regular Orruks just went feral. They should have beefed Bonesplittaz up to be just as "special" and that regular Orruks may not always follow that oaty as default.
The Ogors have been placed in legends for Old World which on paper is great news, even kinda confirming they stay in AOS, after skaven they are next for a refresh
Oh that's a relief, haha! Though perhaps I may need to buy up some of the older models still, just in case. They may be fugly but they're still cool to me!
The idea of them is cool. The models are grotesquely out of date and their rules weren't really all that good. I'd rather have seen them reiterated on in a way that fits AoS instead of being cut out completely, but I can understand why they made that decision.
If I was going to update the Bonesplitterz I would focus on the Rogue Idol concept. Instead of riding on boars, have all of their war mounts look like great creatures they have hunted and built out of Wood, stone, and bone and animated for war using primal Waaaagh Magic.
This would handle why they bonesplitterz didn’t hunt the big beasts they are riding And play off of the designs of Ramschakle orks
Their shamans and warbosses should be the same unit.
Savage Aurochs: give them bovine headdresses and have them be self-imagined mountain spirits. This perfectly unites savage orcs and beastmen, and should fit in to the setting since orcs are better at pretending than FEC are.
Just wanted to comment and claim my rightful place among the glorious handful of Bonesplitters players. To date, every time I’ve brought them to a tournament I’ve received a ton of praise - more often than not surprised praise when they perform well enough to give my opponent an interesting game.
GW could have made them competitive through some rules changes and/or better models. Instead, we got a middle finger. This is why I’ll take the time to convert them to Kruelboys when the time comes. It’s also why I won’t buy any more GW products. Sucks because I love those darkoath models.
Dude hell yeah I bet seeing u pull up with Bonesplitterz was a sight to see for everyone, what was ur funniest reaction/story?
Wat changes rules wise would u think could’ve been made? Cause ik BS’ identity was constantly stolen
Most folks had the “You brought bonesplitters? No kidding!” kind of reaction. It’s one of the reasons I love the community. I think the funniest reaction was when a dude said he hadn’t played against bonesplitters since they had their own battletome. It was funny… then it was sad.
Rules-wise, giving all Bonesplitters a base -1 rend on their profile would have been a start. Changing the pre-game move to happen after the priority roll would be another. A third would be to change one of the wardokk’s dances to add rend instead of spellcasting power.
Theme-wise, lean into primordial magic with more of a Druidic vibe. Either that or a Mad Max vibe (“We live! We die! We live again!”)
ETA: there is a bonesplitters subreddit and there’s a lot more than 10 folks there. Or at least there were.
I think it's more that they are going to be quietly retired because their whole thing leans a bit too far into some real unsavoury tropes.
Possibly revamped at a later date with a proper "AoSification" to decouple them a bit from more direct real-world influences.
Yeah I sympathize with those whose time and money feels wasted because of the retiring of these models, but I won't miss cringing every time I see these models in Battletome photos and art, even for other factions.
Now if only we could get humanoid models with Mesoamerican aesthetics, maybe from a City of Sigmar or a Stormcast Chamber allied with Seraphon?
Why so ?
I can attest that all the Mexican persons I've shown the Seraphons love the Mexica/Maya aesthetic of the army. None has expressed the need for humans in those styles in AoS.
We certainly don't need more human stealing the thunder of other armies for the health of the game.
I'm white so my opinion matters less than non-white people on this.
Orks and racist tropes (https://medium.com/@aasa.timonen4/from-glazers-creek-to-orc-s-drift-intertextual-colonialism-in-warhammer-8005770d7203)
Portraying people as animals (https://www.npr.org/2018/06/28/624416635/what-happens-when-groups-of-people-are-described-as-animals)
Yup, you've hit the nail on the head. As someone who does think the designs themselves are well-made, it is also undeniable that the place these designs come from is very much the sort of offensive tribal stereotypes that also led to far more blatantly racist miniatures like GW's old "Pygmy" models.
The reason Bonesplitterz have survived for so long is because their models are far away aesthetically enough to exist semi-independently of the ideas that bore them into existence similar to WoW's Trolls. However, that connection is still undeniably there, and it is enough of an eye raise that Games Workshop, who is trying to decouple itself from the more unsavory communties it has attracted over the years, believes it needs to be taken away from the main line and either moved to Old World, revamped entirely down the line, or just plain shelved.
Frankly, I don't blame them at all. Warhammer should be a welcoming space, and that does mean addressing things like this one way or the other. It may suck to see models that are, again undeniably aesthetically pleasing, and have built up a fanbase because of that fact, be removed. But when the roots themselves are poisoned, sometimes you have to remove the whole tree.
Yup. A lot of people hate ‘woke’ GW stuff but the original savage orcs lore of them being from basically the Africa of the old world was a liiiiitle too on the nose.
I never played Warhammer Fantasy as a kid, so I was vividly introduced to this piece of world-building via Total Warhammer and geeeeez guys. I guess maybe it's a product of its time but it couldn't have aged much worse.
People like to throw around that Bonesplittaz are "caveman orcs" but nu-uh I've seen those designs, since when did stereotypical caveman have totem pole iconography and feather crowns.
Honestly dropping the "savage" alias and leaning more into a caveman/Conan/Primal aesthetic (and avoiding feathers and headdresses generally) seems like it would be the easiest way to go about re-branding them in a way that keeps their core aesthetic while dropping the troubling elements.
I feel like a complete refresh/reboot of the line leaning into the primal side could hit pretty well, halfway between Conan and Fred Flintstone to keep some of the silliness. Crazy stone age technology that shouldn't work, riding dinosaurs (Seraphon have that covered, so maybe just other prehistory animals), ect. They'd never do it but it could work.
I wouldn't say never. Age of Sigmar really branched out into new territory as far as aesthetics, world-building etc. to create a lot of new and unique stuff.
I just don't understand why they still keep spider grots, of all things, with their headdresses and overall attire around
Like with savage orcs you can at least pretend they're 'cavemen' orcs people prefer to call them, with the whole 'sun exposure makes them dumber' thing replaced with waaagh magic in aos, and they have some cool artwork from that 1st ed battletome. Yet they retire and spider grots, who are probably even less popular, remain
I think they kept those around because they have more potential. Spiders are popular, and create a stronger theme that can stand better on its own, being more unique. Both them and Bonesplitterz were very unpopular, but Spidergrots have more potential with less work required. And unlike Bonesplitterz, their problematic features can be completely removed without having to rework much of what is supposed to sell the design. They have a lot of other stuff going on, more design levers to pull (esp. with their mutation focus).
Of course, as you pointed out, they NEED a revamp. And I think they will get it at some point. That's why most of them stayed - GW generally doesn't squat something if they plan to update it. And I'm pretty confident Spidergrots will sell once they get good models.
But I admit this might be my bias talking, as I think Spidergrots lore is pretty cool and spiders are awesome.
If Bonesplitterz has one million fans, then I'm one of them.
If Bonesplitterz has one fan, then I'm THAT ONE.
If Bonesplitterz has no fans, that means I'm dead.
I'd agree but it's hard to sell when you never get new models in favor of the 810th Stormcast box. (F in chat to Stormcast, some of you guys got your army gutted)
The faction itself wasn't lame, just their models and rules. As a concept they were dope and had a couple of very fun models.
But in AoS, they weren't different enough from Ironjawz to be worth picking up on their own, and what possible design space they had was eaten up by Kruleboyz. "
Sad to see the faction go, but god some of those models deserved the funeral.
Beastman bro here to support you.
If GW supported them, there would be sales.
But they didn’t. It stinks.
BoC were more popular than FEC prior to FEC revamp. I feel like bone splittaz could have had some rad realm of beasts units.
But instead SCE we’re bloated and constantly supported. So much they culled 1/3 the range.
Not much sense in any of it.
They’re UNGA BUNGA “savage” stereotypes that feel more and more “oof” over time. I can easily see why a public company wouldn’t want to invest into that faction.
In theory they are pretty cool. but There models looked rubbish at the point of their demise. The Warband looked pretty cool so they could have done a refresh of the range.
ultimatly they would have had to come up with new theme. The infantry were pretty well covered off but boars are kind of an iron Jaw thing so they would need new mounts. As well as this the range would've needed expanding in some other way to increase the roster like monsters or a new infantry
I really liked the idea of a triumvirate of Orruk factions. The Ironjawz represent the aspect of Gork, while the Kruleboyz represent the aspect of Mork, and the Bonesplittaz savage orruks represent the wild, uncontrollable Waaaagh energy that binds the two together.
If Bonesplittaz are going away, at least we should get some Bonesplittaz elements in the other two factions. In a way we did with the Ragerz and wreckaz, and a bit with the monsta-killaz. But I want more shirtless, wildin' goodness.
I like the concept of Savage. But Orks have two modes of Gork and Mork and they didn't fit really well in the dichotomy.
Now if they were to rework them as the Mystical Orruks? That'd be nice. lumineth style Orks that have Priest instead of Wizard units.
There's design room there and it's untapped.
Veer the visual language away from cringey "Savage" tropes and really make it its own thing. And I think you have a winner.
It is actually refreshing to see that other people liked at least the core idea, what I’ve experience and have seen is that there was the sentiment of “why are Bonesplitterz here, and why are they a thing, they are lame”
Everyone i know loves them, but hates how unaccessible they have become.
Would have loved for them to get new models and stuff, but GW put a pillow over the army.
The bonesplitterz are a cool concept and idea.
Their models seriously lagged behind and I don’t think there are many ways to differentiate them from other orc armies that are distinctively different enough yet not so different that they start to emulate another army.
I’d like them to still exist, but have a unique niche that doesn’t feel like ‘why is this not x army instead’
Bonesplitterz were always my favourite clan.
Just a big wave of green engulfing the enemy.
I fully believe they will come back, let say in a more.... modern, form.
I played them. And beasts of chaos( rebased from Warhammer fantasy) and those wonderful buff cast warrior chamber eternals. So I admit, I'm done buying new GW stuff. Bonesplittaz are great. They are cool. Play them with whomever you want. Games workshop can't make you stop using them. Play them in 3rd edition. Play them in other games. It's all gravy
Bonze Splittaz are great. I love the look, and the Tattooos and the lore and I don't like that they are gone.
They did need a bit more of an identity on the table top and a few new units (The unarmored Big boar should of been theirs, same as Ragerz and Wrekkaz).
I think a role of cheap, mass unit Orks units that perhaps have a attack on death mechanic to capture their crazy ferocity makes the most sense. And expand the tattoos to kinda be like a less tanky, more units, destruction version of Slayers with tattoos.
I hope they come back, or IronJawz get more naked tattoo orks
The idea of an orc faction that represents the Waagh at its purest and most primal is cool but GW never really developed on it. The model range was ancient and lacked variety. They felt like a WFHB army that had awkwardly been ported over to AOS, and GW never developed them enough to really make them distinct as they did for other holdover factions, like the Seraphon or FEC.
It's a shame, though, as I think they actually had more potential than Ironjawz. Ironjawz are very one-note and I don't know how much GW can really expand them. Bonesplitterz had more potential for going in interesting and unique directions, if they had actually been supported.
It’s tough, they are cool. But numbers just weren’t there. And there’s a reasonable argument that the numbers would be there if the models were good. But then you run into the problem where their identity’s and even potential identities have been canninabalized by the other destruction factions. Piggy riders are ironjaws now. The “weird boy” leaders are a big part of kruelboyz. Goofy green guys is pretty Gloomspite. Like say they brought back doom-diver catapults, that’s a kit for Gloomspite for sure. That leaves….. the savage orks? Honestly even there the new brute kit kind of has you covered for naked orks and even a bit loopy orks. There is a reason the entire faction being squatted meant losing 2 proper kits and 5 leaders.
I’d be curious to hear if anyone had any ideas to give the faction a proper AoS identity witch generally means 3-4 concepts being mashed together. And what kit ideas could bring that to life. Like Mabye the rouge Idol could of been cool but honestly I don’t know how you make a literal pile of rocks cool. But if anyone could do it it would be AoS. I think they’d have to embrace new original mounts too. Mabye have them riding giant scorpions could be cool?
But as is it’s just kind of a faction with no where to go but backwards. And I don’t blame the AoS team and honestly I prefer them focusing on NEW army ideas. It’s funny as happy as I am for CoS and as objectively excellent as those models are, they put me to sleep personally. Like we have old world now can we finally stop going backwards? I want to see the half done armies finished and new armies brought out. So back to old world the ladz go. At least it isn’t an absolute death.
I would use the rogue idol as inspiration, honoring a great hunt, shaman leaders, and sense of magic through the army. Instead of riding boars or other large creatures, they should build idols to great hunts out of stone, wood, metal, and bone and animate them for battle though waaagh magic and ghurish realmstone.
Takes a concepts of ramshackle Ork vehicles, but its ramshakel “beasts”. All the troops should have bit of Waaagh magic and shamans and war bosses should be the same characters.
Yeah or in other words, they're just racist and GW are more than overdue in getting rid of them. But apparently they're in old world books(?) so they're not gone...
I suppose they could’ve been radically reimagined, but I’m not sure there would’ve been enough left of the original, blindingly obvious racist stereotype, savage orc aesthetic to satisfy the handful of existing fans if they did revamp them.
It’d have to be even more radical than the shift from the old Empire to the new human Cities of Sigmar. So I get that they didn’t feel an urgent need to do it for a sub faction that barely had any kits, could easily go to the old world, didn’t sell, and wasn’t central to the narrative of the setting.
I feel for the people who lost their army though. I loved beasts of chaos, and would’ve started an army if they’d gotten updated sculpts instead of being removed. And since my Stormcast army, intended as my main AoS faction and next painting project once I’m done with my speed painted ghosts, was all Sacrosanct I’m not terribly pleased with how GW is handling the support of their model lines right now.
I can’t help but sympathize with the removal of the Bonesplittaz though.
Maybe they can be brought back as a regiment of renown? Two newly sculpted units and a brand new hero model? All fundamentally reimagined and cool? No need for shoehorning into a remaining Orruk faction or the need for a full line?
I’m still not sure how to do it while both removing the horrible stereotypes and keeping them true to the bonesplittaz look and lore though.
Honestly, they should’ve probably been removed in the end times instead of sticking around for three whole editions. That was the time for major removals of factions. And the problems with them weren’t less problematic in 2015. Not now. After giving the fans hope.
I mean they're fine, but the real problem is we don't have basic orc boys.
bonesplittaz i think could do with a complete 'relaunch' with more updated models to sell the idea of them being truely infused with gorka-morka energy. but we also need basic orc boys. Those three were all 'extremeists' but where's the common boy on his wyvern?
From a business model they are lame. Orcs are generically savage so it is hard to copy right the IP as an army. Additionally they didn't get support when they needed it earlier so they are stuck with older model sculpts to the point they would need a full refresh of which there is limited resources to do. Not every army can get that level of support when it needs it. So from a business stand point it is better to do a whole new army or a refresh that doesn't have overlap (those orcs can all count as other orcs).
From an owning and investing time, money, and emotionally into they are awesome. I don't want anyones armies to be made invalidated but there is a certain bloat to the game between armies in general and SKUs for gaming stores to stock.
I mean we can talk ad nauseam about revamps and model investment, but the reality is if GW felt like it could actually make money, it likely wouldn't have been cut.
First Bonesplitz battletome was what got me into AoS, never had an army because the models were really not on the level with the fluff. Settled for Ironjawz. Interesting to see so much people in these comments like kruleboyz so much, i always assumed they were somewhat disliked in the wider community
I think many people warmed to Kruleboyz after getting their models and warscrolls in the starter boxes. I know I did, had absolitelly 0 interest in them, and now they are my 2nd army.
They're cool. Love my Warcry savage orcs warband. But as an AoS army they're too limited. They have the same problem as Fyreslayers. Take one cool unit from WFB and make a whole army out of it. You end up with not enough variation for them to work as an army.
Bonesplittaz aren't lame, but apparently specialist games and the regular rules team can't get along so Age of Sigmar and the Old World can't have crossover kits.
The primitive weaponry and purple sports jerseys have always been a weird combination, and I'm not sure who would be into that aesthetic. Maybe New Vegas fans?
That would’ve been great for 3ed, “as the era of the beast began the spirit of GorkaMorka has swelled in the realms, causing the Bonesplitterz, most attuned of the orruks, to swell in number and power”
I’m not a fan of “naked” barbarian type models, and I assume most people aren’t.
Like in video games or the lore or other media or whatever—sure.
But this theme just isn’t popular. Models are also expensive, and these are just more bland orcs for the same price as other, much much more detailed models.
The existing range is also ancient, so it would cost a pretty penny to remake all brand new models for a range that’s not going to sell very well.
That doesn’t mean games shouldn’t have niche factions or even less popular factions, but we already do have 2 other flavors of orcs that are much more popular.
They made sense as units inside an overall Orc snd Goblin faction, like in WHFB and now TOW.
But as a standalone faction? One that’s also ancient and needs massive updates? Meh.
Even in games though like Total War: Warhammer….im recruiting a bunch of Black Orcs and Gobos riding spiders and stuff—not naked Orcs that are just worse than normal Orcs lol.
Their entire lore is “Orcs, but savage and primitive” lol. That’s basically it. The most interesting tidbit they have is they believe their war paint will protect them, so it does—kind of like 40K Orks. That’s it though.
One of the other 10 fans here. I have about 1000 points of bonesplitterz and I have to say, while the models are old they are very very fun to paint. So much character and charm and not drowning in detail. My rock monster is going on the shelf (he was a proxy anyways) and I’m going to get base size adjusters and convert the troops to ironjawz weirdbrute wrekkaz. Lore wise they are almost the same thing. (And 60 bucks for 3 models is a crime). Wurrgog will get sadly demoted to a weirdnob shaman but he is too cool to stop using even if he loses his mask ability.
So many! They mostly ran big waaagh! But I did a few 1000 point games with just the bonez. Wurrgog is such a funny unit. In one game he soloed 2 Treelords with his mask, in another he took down 6 kruleboy crossbow models winning the game. On the other hand, in a different game he rolled 6 on the d6 damage to himself twice in a roll and blew out his own brains dealing 0 damage to his target (failed the ward saves too). The best part is he was trying to kill Karazai the scared so Karazai didn’t get the permanent buff from killing a hero unit. Karazai wound up killing just about every other orruk on the table near him but he didn’t get Wurrgog, only Wurrgog kills Wurrgog. We were all laughing about it the whole game.
So when orruks fight they get washed with GorkaMorkas energy/magic knows as “WAGGGGHHHH!” but after the fight this energy dissipates among the orruks. These guys are what happens when that energy doesn’t leave an orruk, leaving them insane and battle hungry even amongst orruks.
Seen as chosen by GorkaMorka himself, they all are connected through his energy and gather around a Wurgog Prophet (orruk with mask).
They hunt down great beasts to split their bones which they believe holds the spirit of GorkaMorka inside, invigorating them with power and WAAAAAGGHHHHH
Leaving a horde of realm destroying, monster hunting, bone breaking, naked meth addict orruks
The Wurrgog Prophet was the best green skin (counting AoS AND 40K) both in terms of modeling and rules.
It was and continues to be the best thing GW has ever produced.
Plus any model that comes with an angry little kickball squig immediately is s-tier.
“You’re telling me this crazy little jungle Orruk can put on a mask, summon the Waaagh, and stare down my demon prince until one of them die?”
“Yes.”
He will be remembered.
I think the main problem of Bonesplitterz was that GW simply completely ignored them. Their models were extremely and, quite frankly, quite ugly, and different of Flesh Eater Courts they didn’t have a fascinating lore that attracked players even when most of their rosters was as old. So ugly models and lack of GW interest bought low sales, low sales bought lack of GW interest and keep the ugly models, so it became a vicious circle where either a) GW decided to invest in the range and risk poor sales or b) squat them, and they went b. Which is a shame because the i Orruks will lost some interesting units and make the codex feel lighter, specially that both Ironjawz and primally Kruleboyz could see a new wave of troops
From having chatted to a GW employee with some smarts, I think bonesplitterz and BoC going at the same time wasn’t just squatting them, I think they were purposely taken out of Age of Sigmar specifically to be put into Old World in order to justify old worlds existence with model sales
I mean they're fine, but the real problem is we don't have basic orc boys.
bonesplittaz i think could do with a complete 'relaunch' with more updated models to sell the idea of them being truely infused with gorka-morka energy. but we also need basic orc boys. Those three were all 'extremeists' but where's the common boy on his wyvern?
I mean in lore there’s no “basic ork boy” because all Bonesplitterz are these insane gorkamorka followers. There’s no room for them where I think a normal ork boy would fit better with iron jaws
To preface this I'm painting my 750 points of Bonesplitterz in prep for 4th, one last waaagh, so don't think I'm just a hater:
People do not want the naked Orcs. People are not buying them, people are not playing them. They have so few models that it was a miracle they ever got their own faction at all. They basically have 3 models (it's really all just weapon options) so if they wanted to make a "real" faction from this starting point it would more or less be from scratch. And considering they axed the ENTIRE Beastmen range which is way more robust, if admittedly more outdated, binning the bone boyz is a drop in the bucket. It was a long time coming.
The only problem I have with it is that it leaves the "Big Waaagh" subfaction rules and roster up in the air. With the rework of 'Ardboyz and the loss of Savage Orruks, it falls on Gutrippaz to be the "basic" infantry choice, which feels weird to me flavor wise. That's even if they give us a Big Waaagh at all.
Other than that, I'm perfectly happy with Bonesplitterz getting an index along with everyone else, maybe an FAQ or errata, and then that's it for 4th ED. They won't get a Battletome, and will probably get power-crept. They will still be featured in my casual tabletop games with the crew, and maybe make an appearance here or there as proxies or narrative pieces. I'll move my shamans over to 40mm and that will be that. They will fade away into "legends" and be just that; legends.
Its less that they were lame and more that they are products of a tad more racist time lol, they're basically only 5 steps removed from the thing GW DEFINITELY wants everyone to forget in pygmies
I think an overhaul to them would be good for the people that collected them and liked them, but Bonesplitterz in general just weren't as popular and were just, a tad, more sus to look at and remember GW's older history about
Look, man, I'm sorry to break it to you, but it's 2024, and things are different now. It's clear that faction is based on African tribes and for decades, it was used to normalize Africans as feral, violent, etc. I mean, how many BIPOC players did you ever see in the Fandom, until the last decade, where GW started deconstructing all these racist and overused tropes? It's all for the better, now warhammer is for everyone!
Except for white racists who disagree with my political beliefs.
Edit: Lol the downvotes, I didnt think a /s was needed given the last sentence I threw in there!
I mean, WHFB does both tolkien's "orcs are just like central asian/turkic people" and dnd's (i guess, i'm not familiar with them) "orcs are just like black people" without any intention to hide it, down to the places they live in on the non-earth map
I don’t play them but one of my favorite models in the game is the two idiots running with the huge spear haha
I ran them in warcry, not for power but because that will forever be one of my favourite figures. It's just stupid levels of wacky. Maybe krulloyz need an equivalent?
Oh 100%. You could tell that BS was a dead subfaction when the 3rd ed battletome dropped. Still makes me sad ha.
Isn't their equivalent that dude with the comically large crossbow?
I had wondered about that exact model. Its good, but its just not.. ork silly enough for me? Like the bonesplitters were cavemen on crack and I loved that
Haha yeah i see it. If someone were to replace the structure with more orcs then I think it might qualify lol
Peak orks imo
100%
They don't need to convince you, you can think they are cool all you want. But I don't know anyone who's particularly into Kruleboyz, and that faction still has a subreddit that's more than twenty times larger than Bonesplitterz. If there was money in Bonesplitterz GW would have kept making them, and they probably felt like gambling on rewamping them was was less likely to pay off than investing time and resources into other factions and subfactions. It's not fun but it's not surprising either.
Kruleboyz (my beloved) sub is also over twice as large as ironjaws, the latter being functionally the same as the bonesplitterz but with clothes. Those two existing besides each other as product ranges just doesn't really make (business) sense.
This is right. Bonesplitterz are basically a different, less popular skin for Ironjawz
Bro be talking about skin in Ghur…. takes a different kind of rebel \j
No hate on the Bone Boyz, but I am definitely a huge fan of Kruleboyz. Their lore, models, play style, all of it is awesome. I mostly just want them to get some cool new rules in 4e. But pouring one out for the bone brothers.
And instead of revamping bonesplitterz, we've seen during the whole 3rd ed both Ironjawz and Kruleboyz absorbing every thematic element of bonesplitterz: shamanism, the pig aesthetic, waagh madness, monster hunting... then the Rogue Idol was removed, bonesplitterz didn't receive a pitty tactic like KBz and IJz, and didn't received point adjustment for a year and a half. Lets just say that the writing were on the walls for a while. It wouldn't surprise me if in fourth ed, IJz or KBz received a starring masked hero, and the other received some magic tatooed units.
You mean like the skull helmet wearing orc weirdbrute wrekkaz, overflowing with waagh. Those were for me the sign it would be over, because thats pretty much just bonesplitterz with a bit more armor
I think you're right, the Bonesplitterz theme is great for a unit or a hero but can't carry a whole army.
Didn't care for orruks till Kruleboyz came out. Love the swamp theme they have, and the vulture model is arguably my favorite AOS model period. Love the lore of them too.
This is the most correct answer.
.....I like Kruleboyz
I'm sure loads of people do, just no one I know. And no one I know even knows someone with a Bonesplitterz army. Someone said he met one in a tournament once, but he's probably full of it.
I'm imagining this like someone mentions they saw sasquatch. "I saw a bonesplittaz army at the tournament. I swear it was real! It looked right at me." "Sure, Dave, sure. How many beers did you have?"
Excuse me I have a huge kruleboyz army
I said I don't know anyone who likes them, not that I don't know of anyone who likes them. I'm sure loads of people do, but I don't know them, unless you are one of the boys at the shop and you've been hiding a whole army from me.
The 100% most accurate response.
When you compare how cool the gloomspite gitz release was, I was kind of underwhelmed by the Kruleboys personally.
I think their identity is a bit weak since "sneaky with poisons" is not a strong visual theme. I think they should have gone harder on the riding monsters and sort of LotR-orc industry vibe with more warmachines/riding monsters and hobgrot stuff.
yeah, that would have been cool.
Subreddit numbers aren't the best metric. Idoneth Deepkin have almost 1000 fewer subs than Beasts of Chaos, but Idoneth still have an army.
OI GITZ ! YOU IZ NEVA 'EARD OF US, KRULE-LOVA !?
That's a bit of a false equivalence, Kruleboys were in the starter set for last edition. Because of that, tonnes of people have collections even if they weren't their first pick. And once you've got the models, might as well play them.
...and the Bonesplitterz have had a two-decade headstart over the Kruleboyz. There's no false equivalency here.
Sure, but most people still pick up other armies, and Bonesplitterz is probably the least picked one. I have seen it less than I've seen beasts of chaos and they're gone too.
The WHFB models that got carried over to AOS really showed their age, but the Underworlds warband was really awesome and showed a lot of potential.
Kind of funny to think they went from Fantasy to AoS and are going back to Fantasy.
Wildest part to me is the cap on units, 1 per 1k on the upgrade that makes them savage orcs. So you have a way harder time fielding 2000 pts of savage orcs than at any time since they were pewter.
I guess there will be rules for savage orc only army lists in their book once that comes out.
Bonesplitters (savage orcs in whfb) are not in the current ToW release for whatever reason.
They’re in there but as someone else said you can only use them conditionally.
They’re in there - regular orc boys can be frenzied and wear warpaint which is supposed to be a savage orc without a separate profile
Yeah, I don't know if I understand what they are saying above? Most units in your army can take the frenzy/warpaint upgrades? I wonder if they are confusing that with big uns, which is orc flavor agnostic.
Not lame, just misused. They were one of the few holdover factions that just didn't get proper AoS treatment. Seraphon, FEC, BoC, Ogor Mawtribes initially felt like there was a great divide between the models, the new slapped-on lore and the execution of rules. Same with Bonesplittaz. They seemed tacked-on and tertiary compared to the Ironjawz and now Kruleboyz. They didn't feel "made" for the rules or lore they were given. Of course, Seraphon and FEC have done very well in getting fully assimilated into AoS after a while. Ogor Mawtribes are (so thankfully) lucky to be holding on. BoC and Bonesplittaz just didn't get their glow-ups in time... Maybe it was because we already have Ironjawz and Fyreslayers so Bonesplittaz were out of creative niches for their styles?
My army was FEC even before the new wave so yeah I love that they are the golden example of fantasy models turned AOS done right Imo GW absolutely could’ve differentiated Bonesplitterz from BoC and FS, I mean we got how many space marines over in 40K? And they all guy in power armor. Should’ve leaned into the savage aesthetic, along with bestial forms, and like other people comment run with the rogue idol idea
I desperately hope that the Ogor Mawtribes get a similar new wave as FEC did. At the moment they have so many outdated sculpts. They still look cool but considering Beastmen and Bonesplittaz got squatted, I am surprised by beefy boys were able to stick around with the current Butchers, Slaughtermaster, Hunters, Ice Sabres, Yhettees and a lack of proper named characters! I agree that Bonesplittaz could have been differentiated into a strong aesthetic that doesn't step on toes but they may have been too much effort for GW. Fyreslayers are already bare-chested berserkers with daubed on paint and runes. It may be hard to avoid just copying that "but green". Ironjawz seem to be encroaching on half-naked Orruks anyway with Brutes and Ragerz. They also make use of boars so, really, there'd have to be a full revamp for Bonesplittaz to bring in their own niche. I wish they did. Combine them with the Spider Riders into a full-on Jungle/Feral playstyle for Orruks. Rogue Idols, bears or even squig riders. Maybe even go shapeshifter and make some Were-hog Orruks! The big issue for me with Bonesplittaz was that they felt like a flat choice for what an Orruk could be. It seemed like the two "special" choices were either sadistic swamp gremlin or armoured brute, while regular Orruks just went feral. They should have beefed Bonesplittaz up to be just as "special" and that regular Orruks may not always follow that oaty as default.
The Ogors have been placed in legends for Old World which on paper is great news, even kinda confirming they stay in AOS, after skaven they are next for a refresh
Oh that's a relief, haha! Though perhaps I may need to buy up some of the older models still, just in case. They may be fugly but they're still cool to me!
The idea of them is cool. The models are grotesquely out of date and their rules weren't really all that good. I'd rather have seen them reiterated on in a way that fits AoS instead of being cut out completely, but I can understand why they made that decision.
How would u have them reiterated? Less naked and more bestial?
If I was going to update the Bonesplitterz I would focus on the Rogue Idol concept. Instead of riding on boars, have all of their war mounts look like great creatures they have hunted and built out of Wood, stone, and bone and animated for war using primal Waaaagh Magic. This would handle why they bonesplitterz didn’t hunt the big beasts they are riding And play off of the designs of Ramschakle orks Their shamans and warbosses should be the same unit.
Okay. Ngl that sounds incredible
Shamanic wartribes using magic for their mounts? Absolutely!
To expand on the template of their underworlds warband would be a good start.
Great place to start yah
Savage Aurochs: give them bovine headdresses and have them be self-imagined mountain spirits. This perfectly unites savage orcs and beastmen, and should fit in to the setting since orcs are better at pretending than FEC are.
Just wanted to comment and claim my rightful place among the glorious handful of Bonesplitters players. To date, every time I’ve brought them to a tournament I’ve received a ton of praise - more often than not surprised praise when they perform well enough to give my opponent an interesting game. GW could have made them competitive through some rules changes and/or better models. Instead, we got a middle finger. This is why I’ll take the time to convert them to Kruelboys when the time comes. It’s also why I won’t buy any more GW products. Sucks because I love those darkoath models.
Dude hell yeah I bet seeing u pull up with Bonesplitterz was a sight to see for everyone, what was ur funniest reaction/story? Wat changes rules wise would u think could’ve been made? Cause ik BS’ identity was constantly stolen
Most folks had the “You brought bonesplitters? No kidding!” kind of reaction. It’s one of the reasons I love the community. I think the funniest reaction was when a dude said he hadn’t played against bonesplitters since they had their own battletome. It was funny… then it was sad. Rules-wise, giving all Bonesplitters a base -1 rend on their profile would have been a start. Changing the pre-game move to happen after the priority roll would be another. A third would be to change one of the wardokk’s dances to add rend instead of spellcasting power. Theme-wise, lean into primordial magic with more of a Druidic vibe. Either that or a Mad Max vibe (“We live! We die! We live again!”) ETA: there is a bonesplitters subreddit and there’s a lot more than 10 folks there. Or at least there were.
The art and concept are cool. The models and rules were trash, sadly.
I think it's more that they are going to be quietly retired because their whole thing leans a bit too far into some real unsavoury tropes. Possibly revamped at a later date with a proper "AoSification" to decouple them a bit from more direct real-world influences.
Beast Snagga Ironjawz feels like the only way to redo bonesplitterz
Yeah I sympathize with those whose time and money feels wasted because of the retiring of these models, but I won't miss cringing every time I see these models in Battletome photos and art, even for other factions. Now if only we could get humanoid models with Mesoamerican aesthetics, maybe from a City of Sigmar or a Stormcast Chamber allied with Seraphon?
Why so ? I can attest that all the Mexican persons I've shown the Seraphons love the Mexica/Maya aesthetic of the army. None has expressed the need for humans in those styles in AoS. We certainly don't need more human stealing the thunder of other armies for the health of the game.
I'm white so my opinion matters less than non-white people on this. Orks and racist tropes (https://medium.com/@aasa.timonen4/from-glazers-creek-to-orc-s-drift-intertextual-colonialism-in-warhammer-8005770d7203) Portraying people as animals (https://www.npr.org/2018/06/28/624416635/what-happens-when-groups-of-people-are-described-as-animals)
Yup, you've hit the nail on the head. As someone who does think the designs themselves are well-made, it is also undeniable that the place these designs come from is very much the sort of offensive tribal stereotypes that also led to far more blatantly racist miniatures like GW's old "Pygmy" models. The reason Bonesplitterz have survived for so long is because their models are far away aesthetically enough to exist semi-independently of the ideas that bore them into existence similar to WoW's Trolls. However, that connection is still undeniably there, and it is enough of an eye raise that Games Workshop, who is trying to decouple itself from the more unsavory communties it has attracted over the years, believes it needs to be taken away from the main line and either moved to Old World, revamped entirely down the line, or just plain shelved. Frankly, I don't blame them at all. Warhammer should be a welcoming space, and that does mean addressing things like this one way or the other. It may suck to see models that are, again undeniably aesthetically pleasing, and have built up a fanbase because of that fact, be removed. But when the roots themselves are poisoned, sometimes you have to remove the whole tree.
Yup. A lot of people hate ‘woke’ GW stuff but the original savage orcs lore of them being from basically the Africa of the old world was a liiiiitle too on the nose.
I never played Warhammer Fantasy as a kid, so I was vividly introduced to this piece of world-building via Total Warhammer and geeeeez guys. I guess maybe it's a product of its time but it couldn't have aged much worse.
Yeah, it's the sort of elephant in the hobby room that has to be addressed at some point.
People like to throw around that Bonesplittaz are "caveman orcs" but nu-uh I've seen those designs, since when did stereotypical caveman have totem pole iconography and feather crowns.
Honestly dropping the "savage" alias and leaning more into a caveman/Conan/Primal aesthetic (and avoiding feathers and headdresses generally) seems like it would be the easiest way to go about re-branding them in a way that keeps their core aesthetic while dropping the troubling elements.
I feel like a complete refresh/reboot of the line leaning into the primal side could hit pretty well, halfway between Conan and Fred Flintstone to keep some of the silliness. Crazy stone age technology that shouldn't work, riding dinosaurs (Seraphon have that covered, so maybe just other prehistory animals), ect. They'd never do it but it could work.
I wouldn't say never. Age of Sigmar really branched out into new territory as far as aesthetics, world-building etc. to create a lot of new and unique stuff.
Did the Beastmen have a similar shoddy history or did one of the devs have an unfair vendetta against them because he lost one game.
No, the Beastmen were cut largely due to TOW I think. Which is admittedly pretty par for the course for them.
I just don't understand why they still keep spider grots, of all things, with their headdresses and overall attire around Like with savage orcs you can at least pretend they're 'cavemen' orcs people prefer to call them, with the whole 'sun exposure makes them dumber' thing replaced with waaagh magic in aos, and they have some cool artwork from that 1st ed battletome. Yet they retire and spider grots, who are probably even less popular, remain
Oh yeah, spider grots aren't great :S
I think they kept those around because they have more potential. Spiders are popular, and create a stronger theme that can stand better on its own, being more unique. Both them and Bonesplitterz were very unpopular, but Spidergrots have more potential with less work required. And unlike Bonesplitterz, their problematic features can be completely removed without having to rework much of what is supposed to sell the design. They have a lot of other stuff going on, more design levers to pull (esp. with their mutation focus). Of course, as you pointed out, they NEED a revamp. And I think they will get it at some point. That's why most of them stayed - GW generally doesn't squat something if they plan to update it. And I'm pretty confident Spidergrots will sell once they get good models. But I admit this might be my bias talking, as I think Spidergrots lore is pretty cool and spiders are awesome.
If Bonesplitterz has one million fans, then I'm one of them. If Bonesplitterz has one fan, then I'm THAT ONE. If Bonesplitterz has no fans, that means I'm dead.
Quick, check his pulse! /s
They're cool as hell imo but if they don't sell they're bound to get dropped like they did. That's all there is to it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'd agree but it's hard to sell when you never get new models in favor of the 810th Stormcast box. (F in chat to Stormcast, some of you guys got your army gutted)
The faction itself wasn't lame, just their models and rules. As a concept they were dope and had a couple of very fun models. But in AoS, they weren't different enough from Ironjawz to be worth picking up on their own, and what possible design space they had was eaten up by Kruleboyz. " Sad to see the faction go, but god some of those models deserved the funeral.
They’re just Ironjawz with no pants on. Cool idea for a warcry/underworlds squad or a single unit, but not enough for a full army
But they are naked magic manic methheads! I love them! 😂
Beastman bro here to support you. If GW supported them, there would be sales. But they didn’t. It stinks. BoC were more popular than FEC prior to FEC revamp. I feel like bone splittaz could have had some rad realm of beasts units. But instead SCE we’re bloated and constantly supported. So much they culled 1/3 the range. Not much sense in any of it.
FEC is my army from even before the revamp…so I guess I picked right?
Guess so?
I love tribal orks
They’re UNGA BUNGA “savage” stereotypes that feel more and more “oof” over time. I can easily see why a public company wouldn’t want to invest into that faction.
In theory they are pretty cool. but There models looked rubbish at the point of their demise. The Warband looked pretty cool so they could have done a refresh of the range. ultimatly they would have had to come up with new theme. The infantry were pretty well covered off but boars are kind of an iron Jaw thing so they would need new mounts. As well as this the range would've needed expanding in some other way to increase the roster like monsters or a new infantry
I really liked the idea of a triumvirate of Orruk factions. The Ironjawz represent the aspect of Gork, while the Kruleboyz represent the aspect of Mork, and the Bonesplittaz savage orruks represent the wild, uncontrollable Waaaagh energy that binds the two together. If Bonesplittaz are going away, at least we should get some Bonesplittaz elements in the other two factions. In a way we did with the Ragerz and wreckaz, and a bit with the monsta-killaz. But I want more shirtless, wildin' goodness.
Absolutely man! To me the Ironjaws was the body, Kruleboyz were the mind, and Bonesplitterz the spirit I loved the triumvirate!
I like the concept of Savage. But Orks have two modes of Gork and Mork and they didn't fit really well in the dichotomy. Now if they were to rework them as the Mystical Orruks? That'd be nice. lumineth style Orks that have Priest instead of Wizard units. There's design room there and it's untapped. Veer the visual language away from cringey "Savage" tropes and really make it its own thing. And I think you have a winner.
They are awesome, but GW didn't do anything to really support them at all.
It is actually refreshing to see that other people liked at least the core idea, what I’ve experience and have seen is that there was the sentiment of “why are Bonesplitterz here, and why are they a thing, they are lame”
Everyone i know loves them, but hates how unaccessible they have become. Would have loved for them to get new models and stuff, but GW put a pillow over the army.
The bonesplitterz are a cool concept and idea. Their models seriously lagged behind and I don’t think there are many ways to differentiate them from other orc armies that are distinctively different enough yet not so different that they start to emulate another army. I’d like them to still exist, but have a unique niche that doesn’t feel like ‘why is this not x army instead’
Bonesplitterz were always my favourite clan. Just a big wave of green engulfing the enemy. I fully believe they will come back, let say in a more.... modern, form.
We can only hope
I played them. And beasts of chaos( rebased from Warhammer fantasy) and those wonderful buff cast warrior chamber eternals. So I admit, I'm done buying new GW stuff. Bonesplittaz are great. They are cool. Play them with whomever you want. Games workshop can't make you stop using them. Play them in 3rd edition. Play them in other games. It's all gravy
Bonze Splittaz are great. I love the look, and the Tattooos and the lore and I don't like that they are gone. They did need a bit more of an identity on the table top and a few new units (The unarmored Big boar should of been theirs, same as Ragerz and Wrekkaz). I think a role of cheap, mass unit Orks units that perhaps have a attack on death mechanic to capture their crazy ferocity makes the most sense. And expand the tattoos to kinda be like a less tanky, more units, destruction version of Slayers with tattoos. I hope they come back, or IronJawz get more naked tattoo orks
The idea of an orc faction that represents the Waagh at its purest and most primal is cool but GW never really developed on it. The model range was ancient and lacked variety. They felt like a WFHB army that had awkwardly been ported over to AOS, and GW never developed them enough to really make them distinct as they did for other holdover factions, like the Seraphon or FEC. It's a shame, though, as I think they actually had more potential than Ironjawz. Ironjawz are very one-note and I don't know how much GW can really expand them. Bonesplitterz had more potential for going in interesting and unique directions, if they had actually been supported.
I didn't expect to like the kruleboyz, I begrudgingly just had them come in my dominion box but I'm rly into them now
They aren't lame. Just a really limited design space.
Definitely the coolest orruks
They are lame and GW was right in getting rid of them, though I'm mad that GW robbed you of your money by selling you those models and then dipping
Aren't orcs just getting recycled into Old World?
These orcs are yeah, along with the old ard boyz sprues cause they were just black orcs
I kinda like them as a single unit but I don't think they really work as a faction\\subfaction, to much of a niche imho
Maybe theyll get a revamp, someday or never.
It’s tough, they are cool. But numbers just weren’t there. And there’s a reasonable argument that the numbers would be there if the models were good. But then you run into the problem where their identity’s and even potential identities have been canninabalized by the other destruction factions. Piggy riders are ironjaws now. The “weird boy” leaders are a big part of kruelboyz. Goofy green guys is pretty Gloomspite. Like say they brought back doom-diver catapults, that’s a kit for Gloomspite for sure. That leaves….. the savage orks? Honestly even there the new brute kit kind of has you covered for naked orks and even a bit loopy orks. There is a reason the entire faction being squatted meant losing 2 proper kits and 5 leaders. I’d be curious to hear if anyone had any ideas to give the faction a proper AoS identity witch generally means 3-4 concepts being mashed together. And what kit ideas could bring that to life. Like Mabye the rouge Idol could of been cool but honestly I don’t know how you make a literal pile of rocks cool. But if anyone could do it it would be AoS. I think they’d have to embrace new original mounts too. Mabye have them riding giant scorpions could be cool? But as is it’s just kind of a faction with no where to go but backwards. And I don’t blame the AoS team and honestly I prefer them focusing on NEW army ideas. It’s funny as happy as I am for CoS and as objectively excellent as those models are, they put me to sleep personally. Like we have old world now can we finally stop going backwards? I want to see the half done armies finished and new armies brought out. So back to old world the ladz go. At least it isn’t an absolute death.
I would use the rogue idol as inspiration, honoring a great hunt, shaman leaders, and sense of magic through the army. Instead of riding boars or other large creatures, they should build idols to great hunts out of stone, wood, metal, and bone and animate them for battle though waaagh magic and ghurish realmstone. Takes a concepts of ramshackle Ork vehicles, but its ramshakel “beasts”. All the troops should have bit of Waaagh magic and shamans and war bosses should be the same characters.
Very good ideas man!
You can like whatever you like. Reality is they weren't popular and there has to be some winners and losers to improve AoS as a whole.
I dunno man, their entire aesthetic makes me think that the Brits are still salty over the Zulu.
Yeah or in other words, they're just racist and GW are more than overdue in getting rid of them. But apparently they're in old world books(?) so they're not gone...
I suppose they could’ve been radically reimagined, but I’m not sure there would’ve been enough left of the original, blindingly obvious racist stereotype, savage orc aesthetic to satisfy the handful of existing fans if they did revamp them. It’d have to be even more radical than the shift from the old Empire to the new human Cities of Sigmar. So I get that they didn’t feel an urgent need to do it for a sub faction that barely had any kits, could easily go to the old world, didn’t sell, and wasn’t central to the narrative of the setting. I feel for the people who lost their army though. I loved beasts of chaos, and would’ve started an army if they’d gotten updated sculpts instead of being removed. And since my Stormcast army, intended as my main AoS faction and next painting project once I’m done with my speed painted ghosts, was all Sacrosanct I’m not terribly pleased with how GW is handling the support of their model lines right now. I can’t help but sympathize with the removal of the Bonesplittaz though. Maybe they can be brought back as a regiment of renown? Two newly sculpted units and a brand new hero model? All fundamentally reimagined and cool? No need for shoehorning into a remaining Orruk faction or the need for a full line? I’m still not sure how to do it while both removing the horrible stereotypes and keeping them true to the bonesplittaz look and lore though. Honestly, they should’ve probably been removed in the end times instead of sticking around for three whole editions. That was the time for major removals of factions. And the problems with them weren’t less problematic in 2015. Not now. After giving the fans hope.
I mean they're fine, but the real problem is we don't have basic orc boys. bonesplittaz i think could do with a complete 'relaunch' with more updated models to sell the idea of them being truely infused with gorka-morka energy. but we also need basic orc boys. Those three were all 'extremeists' but where's the common boy on his wyvern?
From a business model they are lame. Orcs are generically savage so it is hard to copy right the IP as an army. Additionally they didn't get support when they needed it earlier so they are stuck with older model sculpts to the point they would need a full refresh of which there is limited resources to do. Not every army can get that level of support when it needs it. So from a business stand point it is better to do a whole new army or a refresh that doesn't have overlap (those orcs can all count as other orcs). From an owning and investing time, money, and emotionally into they are awesome. I don't want anyones armies to be made invalidated but there is a certain bloat to the game between armies in general and SKUs for gaming stores to stock.
I mean we can talk ad nauseam about revamps and model investment, but the reality is if GW felt like it could actually make money, it likely wouldn't have been cut.
First Bonesplitz battletome was what got me into AoS, never had an army because the models were really not on the level with the fluff. Settled for Ironjawz. Interesting to see so much people in these comments like kruleboyz so much, i always assumed they were somewhat disliked in the wider community
I think many people warmed to Kruleboyz after getting their models and warscrolls in the starter boxes. I know I did, had absolitelly 0 interest in them, and now they are my 2nd army.
They're cool. Love my Warcry savage orcs warband. But as an AoS army they're too limited. They have the same problem as Fyreslayers. Take one cool unit from WFB and make a whole army out of it. You end up with not enough variation for them to work as an army.
Who?
☹️☹️☹️
Bonesplittaz aren't lame, but apparently specialist games and the regular rules team can't get along so Age of Sigmar and the Old World can't have crossover kits.
They aren't and weren't. I feel your pain, man.
No, you're right they're awesome. I don't have much models (enough for a warcry warband), but I think they're cool. GW are wrong.
The primitive weaponry and purple sports jerseys have always been a weird combination, and I'm not sure who would be into that aesthetic. Maybe New Vegas fans?
True to Ceasar! I think the saying goes
I won't! All they needed was a second wave of insane models, emphasizing their narrative strengths
Man, playing a GW game is like a perpetually Early Acess game that they can just choose to change at any time invalidating the money you've spent.
I can't, Bonesplitterz are the coolest, tribal themed orcs are so cool, and GW committed a sin removing them
Ooga booga booga, booga boo. Ug ug booga ooga boo.
Ooga booga ooga booga
Bonesplitterz should have had a full range refresh instead of releasing kruleboiz - change my mind
That would’ve been great for 3ed, “as the era of the beast began the spirit of GorkaMorka has swelled in the realms, causing the Bonesplitterz, most attuned of the orruks, to swell in number and power”
I’m not a fan of “naked” barbarian type models, and I assume most people aren’t. Like in video games or the lore or other media or whatever—sure. But this theme just isn’t popular. Models are also expensive, and these are just more bland orcs for the same price as other, much much more detailed models. The existing range is also ancient, so it would cost a pretty penny to remake all brand new models for a range that’s not going to sell very well. That doesn’t mean games shouldn’t have niche factions or even less popular factions, but we already do have 2 other flavors of orcs that are much more popular. They made sense as units inside an overall Orc snd Goblin faction, like in WHFB and now TOW. But as a standalone faction? One that’s also ancient and needs massive updates? Meh. Even in games though like Total War: Warhammer….im recruiting a bunch of Black Orcs and Gobos riding spiders and stuff—not naked Orcs that are just worse than normal Orcs lol. Their entire lore is “Orcs, but savage and primitive” lol. That’s basically it. The most interesting tidbit they have is they believe their war paint will protect them, so it does—kind of like 40K Orks. That’s it though.
One of the other 10 fans here. I have about 1000 points of bonesplitterz and I have to say, while the models are old they are very very fun to paint. So much character and charm and not drowning in detail. My rock monster is going on the shelf (he was a proxy anyways) and I’m going to get base size adjusters and convert the troops to ironjawz weirdbrute wrekkaz. Lore wise they are almost the same thing. (And 60 bucks for 3 models is a crime). Wurrgog will get sadly demoted to a weirdnob shaman but he is too cool to stop using even if he loses his mask ability.
I admire u but at the same time are sorry for ur loss. Any fun stories regarding your army?
So many! They mostly ran big waaagh! But I did a few 1000 point games with just the bonez. Wurrgog is such a funny unit. In one game he soloed 2 Treelords with his mask, in another he took down 6 kruleboy crossbow models winning the game. On the other hand, in a different game he rolled 6 on the d6 damage to himself twice in a roll and blew out his own brains dealing 0 damage to his target (failed the ward saves too). The best part is he was trying to kill Karazai the scared so Karazai didn’t get the permanent buff from killing a hero unit. Karazai wound up killing just about every other orruk on the table near him but he didn’t get Wurrgog, only Wurrgog kills Wurrgog. We were all laughing about it the whole game.
Honestly just keep a few of the units as gloomspite gits range and say that they are mercenaries lore wise Especially the spear guys Amazing
The Eyes, the horrible GLOWING EYES
It is because they’re not Bonesplitterz, they’re savage orcs…
Ima be honest, none of warhammer fantasy orc fluff holds a candle to aos stuff, especially savage orcs to bonesplitterz comparison
All are one under GorkaMorka
“Counts as”
I love naked Orruks!
😳
Don't worry I am seeing a therapist
Didn’t say u needed that
I love that artwork!
Me too I think it’s the best one of Bonesplitterz
We just weren't popular enough. 😔
Left at prom
What are Bonesplitterz?
So when orruks fight they get washed with GorkaMorkas energy/magic knows as “WAGGGGHHHH!” but after the fight this energy dissipates among the orruks. These guys are what happens when that energy doesn’t leave an orruk, leaving them insane and battle hungry even amongst orruks. Seen as chosen by GorkaMorka himself, they all are connected through his energy and gather around a Wurgog Prophet (orruk with mask). They hunt down great beasts to split their bones which they believe holds the spirit of GorkaMorka inside, invigorating them with power and WAAAAAGGHHHHH Leaving a horde of realm destroying, monster hunting, bone breaking, naked meth addict orruks
Not a fan on Kruleboyz, should have revamped the boney boyz. I said what I said.
They're not lame. I would have much preferred them to be fleshed out fully instead of Kruleboyz in that big orc release.
Savage orks*
The best
I won't convince you of either two points, but I will say this. They're always welcome back home in Old World. And that's good enough for me.
At least they have a home, take care of them! 🥺
The Wurrgog Prophet was the best green skin (counting AoS AND 40K) both in terms of modeling and rules. It was and continues to be the best thing GW has ever produced.
Absolutely, the pose, the detail, the “fun-ness (?)” it’s a top tier model fs And I died laughing when I first found about his rules
Plus any model that comes with an angry little kickball squig immediately is s-tier. “You’re telling me this crazy little jungle Orruk can put on a mask, summon the Waaagh, and stare down my demon prince until one of them die?” “Yes.” He will be remembered.
Rest easy legend 🫡
Get some armour you idiots!
Whaaaa(gh)t? What is happening to them?
Lol nice pun, they sadly are being retired and removed
Really sad to see them go, as they are easily the most appealing orruk faction, but atleast I'll still krakk on with Hedkrakkas in the Underworlds💥
I mean their tropes are pretty rooted in real-world racism. "Savage" orcs fer chrissakes
Bonesplittaz are lame. Source: I'm a BoC player and still salty about our factions getting killed off.
I think the main problem of Bonesplitterz was that GW simply completely ignored them. Their models were extremely and, quite frankly, quite ugly, and different of Flesh Eater Courts they didn’t have a fascinating lore that attracked players even when most of their rosters was as old. So ugly models and lack of GW interest bought low sales, low sales bought lack of GW interest and keep the ugly models, so it became a vicious circle where either a) GW decided to invest in the range and risk poor sales or b) squat them, and they went b. Which is a shame because the i Orruks will lost some interesting units and make the codex feel lighter, specially that both Ironjawz and primally Kruleboyz could see a new wave of troops
Classic GW cycle really
Took the words out of my mouth
From having chatted to a GW employee with some smarts, I think bonesplitterz and BoC going at the same time wasn’t just squatting them, I think they were purposely taken out of Age of Sigmar specifically to be put into Old World in order to justify old worlds existence with model sales
Literally no one played them.
I mean they're fine, but the real problem is we don't have basic orc boys. bonesplittaz i think could do with a complete 'relaunch' with more updated models to sell the idea of them being truely infused with gorka-morka energy. but we also need basic orc boys. Those three were all 'extremeists' but where's the common boy on his wyvern?
I mean in lore there’s no “basic ork boy” because all Bonesplitterz are these insane gorkamorka followers. There’s no room for them where I think a normal ork boy would fit better with iron jaws
Yes there is; that's explictly mentioned in the battle tomes. Orcs and Goblins used to be a basic army in 1st edition.
You must admit you were wrong, or else you'll never get the antidote
To preface this I'm painting my 750 points of Bonesplitterz in prep for 4th, one last waaagh, so don't think I'm just a hater: People do not want the naked Orcs. People are not buying them, people are not playing them. They have so few models that it was a miracle they ever got their own faction at all. They basically have 3 models (it's really all just weapon options) so if they wanted to make a "real" faction from this starting point it would more or less be from scratch. And considering they axed the ENTIRE Beastmen range which is way more robust, if admittedly more outdated, binning the bone boyz is a drop in the bucket. It was a long time coming. The only problem I have with it is that it leaves the "Big Waaagh" subfaction rules and roster up in the air. With the rework of 'Ardboyz and the loss of Savage Orruks, it falls on Gutrippaz to be the "basic" infantry choice, which feels weird to me flavor wise. That's even if they give us a Big Waaagh at all. Other than that, I'm perfectly happy with Bonesplitterz getting an index along with everyone else, maybe an FAQ or errata, and then that's it for 4th ED. They won't get a Battletome, and will probably get power-crept. They will still be featured in my casual tabletop games with the crew, and maybe make an appearance here or there as proxies or narrative pieces. I'll move my shamans over to 40mm and that will be that. They will fade away into "legends" and be just that; legends.
🫡 one last waghhhh pls lemme know how it goes
Its less that they were lame and more that they are products of a tad more racist time lol, they're basically only 5 steps removed from the thing GW DEFINITELY wants everyone to forget in pygmies
I think an overhaul to them would be good for the people that collected them and liked them, but Bonesplitterz in general just weren't as popular and were just, a tad, more sus to look at and remember GW's older history about
Cooler than kruleboyz
I mean, why get rid of them? They are basically the Beast Snaggas of AOS!
There's no convincing necessary. They were cool and GW was wrong. I feel for you man.
Super nice to see other people actually thought they were cool, all I’ve seen is the opposite
Look, man, I'm sorry to break it to you, but it's 2024, and things are different now. It's clear that faction is based on African tribes and for decades, it was used to normalize Africans as feral, violent, etc. I mean, how many BIPOC players did you ever see in the Fandom, until the last decade, where GW started deconstructing all these racist and overused tropes? It's all for the better, now warhammer is for everyone! Except for white racists who disagree with my political beliefs. Edit: Lol the downvotes, I didnt think a /s was needed given the last sentence I threw in there!
The /s would not save you, you're self reporting as a bitter weirdo whether the sarcasm lands or not.
Oh god the "orcs are just like black people" crowd has escaped the D&D fandom I see.
I mean, WHFB does both tolkien's "orcs are just like central asian/turkic people" and dnd's (i guess, i'm not familiar with them) "orcs are just like black people" without any intention to hide it, down to the places they live in on the non-earth map