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The ork codex is jam packed with lots of fun-to-play, hilarious, & sometimes IMHO surprisingly effective units. These unsung heroes are often not a viable option owing to more standard-competitive units talking up their force organization slots (as they probably should). Here are, I think, some of those units and a one-liner why.

Agree / disagree? Cool stories / experiences? Other units worth a mention? Post away!

So in 'codex order':

1. Old Zogwort:

As a warphead he has re-rollable psychic attacks including a free waaagh and one of the best melta-guns in the game, but what makes him really cool is his special rules and wargear: 'Nest of Vipers' unleashing up to 9x strength 4, initiative 5 poisoned attackes on the charge which always wound on a 2+ makes him a CC nightmare; and 'Zogwort's Curse' has the ability to turn ANY independent character into a squig with 'relative' ease - AMAZING and HILARIOUS when it works!

2. Big Mek w/SAG

A 60pt Ordinance weapon on a shoulder of an infantry unit that shoots grots through the warp... I mean, whats not to like? Large blast averaging medium-high strength, 60" range AP2 is not to be sneered at. It can pen land raiders and instant kill squads of terminators. And if you do roll doubles, then its still only a 1or2 in 7 chance that anything truly horrible will happen to you, and even if it does, hey he's an ork - its great dinner theater.

3. Mega Nobz

Ok - maybe not 'that' forgotten... or maybe they are for good reason (no painboy, SAP etc.) but comeon... who doesn't want a 40pt PK unit with a 2+ save that can move and shoot as if stationary, not to mention can pop out and assault from a battle-wagon?.... just food for thought

4. Skorcha Wartrakk

A 55 pt, av10, fast heavy flamer that can make use of squadron rules. What a beauty!

5. Battlewagon firing station.

A decked out battlewagon with multiple rockets, ard case, kannon, kill-kannon, and other goodies.... maybe with 11 lootaz and a KFF inside. If well placed and with good target saturation elsewhere it could be a wee bit of a beastie... high in points though.

6. Looted Wagon... as a transport!

Ok, so it's not as fast as a trukk, and it has that silly 'don't press dat!' rule but, it does have better AV, can take ard case, and can tank shop without upgrades its not totally out of the question. hmmmm....

hamlet wrote:
1. Old Zogwort:
2. Big Mek w/SAG
3. Mega Nobz
4. Skorcha Wartrakk
5. Battlewagon firing station.
6. Looted Wagon... as a transport!

1&2: both fun just not enough slots.
3: I never forget these bad boyz, awesome in trukk.
4: Love these but always underwhelm me over 6 turns.
5&6: Just swap them around and use them properly, Gunwagons are poor with BS2 and Looted transports are just no battlewagon.

You forgot 7: Flash Gitz, who are awesome if you can convince your opponent to let you have a few more points (to make up for the silly cost)

yea I though about adding flash gits - but I just don't see them earning their points back.

On looted wagon & gunwagon - of course your right, but that would be the standard wouldn't it? I'm pointing at some 'odd' but possible ideas.

1) If you're GOING to take a Warphead, there's a good case to be made for taking Zogwort. That being said... are you ever going to take a Warphead? I recently ran a list with TWO Warpheads just to see how they would do. They didn't earn their points by any means. If you got to choose which psykic abilities you could use, they'd possibly be worth it... but the fact that you roll for them randomly just ruins them.

2) The SAG Mek is a forgotten unit? I use him all the time! He's a great unit! Yes, he doesn't have synergy with some popular Ork formations such as a Battlewagon Bash, or a Kan Wall where you need your two KFF Meks. But there are several lists you can work him into with great effectiveness.

3) Still haven't ever used MegaNobz, but personally for me that's simply because they cost so damn much, I don't like the existing minis anyways, and I've been too lazy to try and convert some.

4) I use Skorcha Buggies fairly often. They're cheap and really effective. Great for contesting objectives and toasting some troops sitting in cover.

5) The problem with the Battlewagon as a firing point is that a) The KillKannon is Ordinance which sucks, and b) all your weapons are firing at BS2, which suck. If the Battlewagon is stunned or shaken, the Lootas inside can't fire, which is double-bad. I've used Battlewagons loaded with Rokkits before, and it was never very effective. The Rokkits are too short range (24"). So you can't just sit back and fire. You have to get within range... and then you have to remain stationary. Well, if you're 24" away, you're likely to be assaulted next turn, and if you're STATIONARY when you get assaulted, your Battlewagon is as good as junk! So you get 1 turn, maybe 2 turns firing with your Battlewagon. Not a good choice.

6) It's really hard to argue ever using that Heavy Support slot for a Looted Wagon Transport when a Battlewagon can do the same job even better. Maybe if you were REALLY low on points and simply couldn't afford the extra points.

I agree that Flash Gitz need to be included here. I've recently *GASP* considered actually using them for a few games. I've been ignoring them for many years, never actually used them in a game. I think maybe I'll try sometime soon.

hamlet wrote:yea I though about adding flash gits - but I just don't see them earning their points back.

You better hope KingCracker doesn't hear that. He'll have your head!

Steak wrote:

hamlet wrote:yea I though about adding flash gits - but I just don't see them earning their points back.

You better hope KingCracker doesn't hear that. He'll have your head!

bless

SAG Mek's are actually fairly common - but less so in the competitive scene.

The issue with the battlewagon firing station that has lootas inside, is mostly due to the fact that a single stunned/shaken result will result in the entire vehicle, including those inside, being prevented from firing their weapons.

If you just use the battlewagon itself as a firing station, toss 'ard case onto it, and you've got a potentially good option. Just beware of sinking too many points into it, since you'd want it to stay stationary to fire at full effect.

As a warphead he has re-rollable psychic attacks including a free waaagh and one of the best melta-guns in the game, but what makes him really cool is his special rules and wargear: 'Nest of Vipers' unleashing up to 9x strength 4, initiative 5 poisoned attackes on the charge which always wound on a 2+ makes him a CC nightmare; and 'Zogwort's Curse' has the ability to turn ANY independent character into a squig with 'relative' ease - AMAZING and HILARIOUS when it works!

You forgot to mention that if Zogwort rolls 1/2 on the chart, all those 2+ wounding attacks count as a Power Weapon, no armour saves.