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Shootas and kannons are decent guns-- they fire a decent distance and have at least a marginal chance of hurting whatever you're firing at. Six-shootas are a lot of fun, especially if you give a warrior a brace of them so that he can fire every turn instead of every other turn. Sluggas are very versatile and make an excellent off-hand weapon for a hand to hand fighter armed with a choppa. These guns are the bread and butter of any ork mob.

...so how do Blunderbusses fit into the mix? They can only fire a measly 6" and in my experience your warriors tend to be better off charging on in to hand to hand combat if they're anywhere within 8" of the enemy.

It seems like such a weapon would be ideal for use in drive-by shootings as you're almost guaranteed a hit, but I generally only get one or two such shots in a game when a model armed with any other gun can make many more.
An alternative strategy would be to go into overwatch and fire as an enemy is charging at you or running by you, but I have my doubts that a yoof with a blunderbuss is going to scare a tough ork away from charging.
One final thought would be for a Rebel Grot mob to use them en masse and simply liquify whatever comes close enough for you to shoot at. Supporting this theory is the fact that you can hire a snot with a blunderbuss for a measly two teef!

So please, share your blunderbuss experiences and strategies. I have some nicely painted models with blunderbusses that just don't seem to spend much time on the battlefield!

I think the major thing they have in their favour is the +3 to hit. As a starting out weapon it could be quite handy for a yoof. Within six inches they're normally hitting on a 2+. Not bad!

I thought you use the small flamer template with a blunderbuss.

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
I thought you use the small flamer template with a blunderbuss.

Gorkamorka only has a scorcha template, nothing bigger or smaller.

Well it would be waaaay cooler if you could use them to shoot while charging, with a -1 modifier, just like stand&shoot. Their cost would go up a little, but it would fit the design of this weapon.

Sounds like something that would make more sense for single-handed weapons. Might make a fun skill!