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So I generally love the aesthetic of Orks. With the exception of randomness. Therefore, I propose making orks less random and more gamble-y. (its still fairly random, but it FEELS better) for example:

Zzap Kannon
36", S*, AP2, Heavy 1, Zzap!
Zzap!: To determine the strength of the Zzap kannon, roll a D6. You may roll additional D6 one at a time and add those numbers to the strength of the weapon for this turn. If the total reaches 11 or more, the weapon does not fire this turn and the unit with the Zzap kannon immediately takes a wound with no saves allowed, or a glancing hit if it is a vehicle. Whenever a model suffers a wound or glancing or penetrating hit from a Zzap kannon, its initiative is reduced to 1 until the end of the following assault phase. Vehicles automatically suffer a crew shaken result (in addition to any other damage rolls from penetrating hits)

Example: Irontoof fires his dred's Zzap kannon at an enemy rhino. To determine the strength he rolls a dice and gets a 6. Irontoof feels that he can do better and throttles down the power a bit more. He rolls another dice and this time gets a 5. UH OH! The total of the two rolls is 11. This means that he overcharged the Zzapkannon and caused a malfunction. His dred takes a glancing hit and his initiative is reduced to 1 through the end of the assault phase.

Feels good, doesn't it? Now, you could strap a couple of these on a dred and actually feel confident fighting other dreadnoughts or MCs instead of waiting for the invariable explosion from getting penned before you get to swing. Lets try Snazzguns now:

Snazzgun
24", S5, AP5, Assault 2, Rending, Gets REALLY hot!
Gets REALLY hot!: After rolling to hit, but before rolling to wound, pick a number (X) between 0 and 5. Reroll all to hit dice that are X and below. Your unit suffers an wound for each dice still showing X or below after the reroll (saves and Feel No Pain rolls may be taken normally). You may also reroll any wound rolls of X and below (use the same number). Your unit does not suffer additional wounds for rerolling the to wound rolls.

Example: Glitzgob'z Gitz are firing at a squad of Space Marines. They roll a few hits, but a fair number of 1's and 2's (misses), the gitz set their guns for "2" and reroll all dice that show 2 or below. After the reroll, they score several more hits. However they also have 3 dice that are still showing 1 or 2. The Gitz take wounds from their guns overheating. When rolling to wound, they encounter a similar situation: a number of dice have come up 1's and 2's. The Gitz reroll the to wound rolls of 1 and 2 and find they still have two 1's showing. These 1's do not cause additional wounds.

You get the idea: instead of just getting what you get from a random roll, you get to "place a bet" and roll against that. You can play it safe, and your army will be significantly weaker for it, or you can raise the stakes and destroy someone (quite possibly yourself). Personally, I think this fits Orks personality better, too. Both going totally nuts, and being somewhat cowardly. Comments and criticism appreciated.

I like it

I definitely think that this "gambling" strategy could work well for several Ork units. The only negative is that the rules for firing your weapons become more complex and harder to remember.

Murrdox wrote:
I definitely think that this "gambling" strategy could work well for several Ork units. The only negative is that the rules for firing your weapons become more complex and harder to remember.

I actually agree. I think the Zzap kannon is fine because it's akin to blackjack, but with dice. The snazzguns are probably a bit too complicated to remember easily. Maybe I can think up something a little simpler. Alternative ideas appreciated.

Whats this? Meaningful randomness that adds to the game rather than for its own sake?

Heresy!

Gambling orkses. Awesome idea! Actually, makes zzaps more reliable - i assume you can roll unlimited ammount of times so that if you get 1-1, than you roll another d6 and another if you're lucky and get a ton of 1-s and 2-s.
And what about SAG?