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Hey dakka!

I am really looking into starting an Ironjawz, those guys and the vampire/spirit death guys also really appeal to me.

I've looked over their rules and it looks like the Ard'boyz are really good, but I have only played a single game, with daemons nonetheless!

So I was wondering, what are the strong units to pick for the Ironjawz? I like all the other grand alliances, so if I shouldn't play the Ironjawz due to balancing issues or other issues that I would experience down the road, let me know.

How should I be playing them? What are the strong units to take for them? Do they stand a chance against Sigmarines (as that is the faction my brother is choosing, and I can't let him win )

Thank you!
~Mikey

Ironjawz is currently one of the stronger armies in AoS. You should be able to do pretty well with them and not worry about being overwhelmed. All of their units are quite strong so you can pick whatever you like. Instead, I think your choice of heroes is what will make a difference in your army. I think their only weakness is the lack of ranged attacks, but that is balanced out by several abilities that let them move across the board really fast.

I play Ironjawz and they are pretty brutal. They hit like a truck and with everything having multiple wounds and a 4+ save they are fairly durable. Like aquietfrog said, all of the units are viable, and the buffs you get from the characters are what make them shine. My units of Brutes are feared by the group I play with as they can pretty much go toe-to-toe with anything in the game. Against Stormcast you'll put up a good fight and he will be no means steamroll you every game. Their battletome is quite nice as well. Lots of good fluff and artwork in it, and the battalion warscrolls are all good and easy to collect.

Their weaknesses are the lack of non-magical ranged attacks, lack of non-magical mortal wound sources, slow movement, and generally lower bravery.

From what I have seen the trick with Ironjawz is managing where the buffs from air-traffic-control-orcs and/or shamans go. Also, Ironfist is a pretty much an auto-take battalion unless you are going for a very specific strategy.

I too have recently started playing Ironjaws and returned from a tournament last weekend (only 1000 points...).

Pros: So...many...attacks! Unbelievable the amount of attacks these guys can dish out, and mostly hitting on 3+, wounding on 3+ with a Rend -1. These guys are the Bees Knees in close combat! Multiple wounds give them a lot of staying power, and 4+ save is great. All the units are this tough, which some a little better in close combat then others. The Megaboss on foot is a terror to behold in close combat, and his WAAAAAGH! Command Ability is frightening in how good it is (+1 or +2 attacks with all melee weapons? UGH!). Not to mention he gets BETTER after slaying a Hero (gains +1 wound and +1 attack with each weapon...). They are a very small model count army. I had 25 models in my 1000 point list? I was always out numbered by around 2-1, but ya know what? I never felt like it was a negative thing, if that matters. All the Warscrolls for them are pretty good, and even the Shaman spell "Foot of Gork" is devastating when you can cast is. Beware the doubles with him though! Bravery seems about the standard 5 or 6, and you can always toss out the "No Break Tests for this Unit" Command ability. A Drummer and Standard Bearer are a must for the 'Ardboys though. And keep your Warboss close to the Brutes!

Cons: Slow. 4" move is the standard speed across the entire army except for the Gore-Gruntas. They are Cavalry with a 9" move and 5 wounds each. No shooting- as in, the Ironjaws have ZERO shooting attacks unless you take a Warboss on a Mawcrusher or ally in another unit of Destruction from another army. If you face a shooty army, you will take a lot of casualties on your way in to close combat, but the army has enough wounds and the save is good enough that you will make it, and once in close combat, the army excels. You have no "special rules" like reroll saves, or deal X Mortal Wounds when this happens, etc. like a lot of other armies, but you really don't need it. The one thing that bothered me about close combat: I used the Starter Set and an extra box of Brutes for my 1000 point list, and trying to see that a model had Brute Choppa's and Smashas, that model had a Jagged Gore Hacka, that model had a Boss Choppa... was a headache. I could tell more than once that my opponent had a dubious look on his face while I was rolling so many attacks with different to hits, wounds, and damage. It would be much easier to try and equip everyone in the unit the same way because yeah, you will be rolling that many dice (my five model Brute unit had 16 attacks with 4 different weapon profiles...). Don't even ask about my 'Ardboy unit!

The Ironjaws are a solid, elite style army with few special rules, and very easy to run. If you play Space Marines in 40K, then Ironjaws will feel familiar to you.