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I am interested in running a unit of 9 kommandos 1 kommando nob w/PK and snikrot.

Has anyone had success with using kommandos? What are your personal experiences with them and are they worth it?

They're not a terrible unit but at least in nowadays meta its hard to say that they're viable without having Snikrot in their unit or taking them through Snikrot's Red Skull Kommandos Formation from WAAAGH! Ghazghkull.

The problem is that you can't assault when you're infiltrating and their expense in comparison to normal boyz (yet effectively having the same damage output) makes them a hard sell. They're okay for infiltrating to mid-range objectives and camping on them but I find that in this respect they're outdone by deffkoptas who have the mobility and survivability (and expendability) that Kommandos lack.

So at best I think their role is backfield disruption via Snikrot's ability to come onto any table edge and gain shrouded on the turn they arrive. Personally, although burnas look good initially, I would resist taking them since there simply isn't enough ablative bodies to make them worth taking given their expense. Furthermore, to use them means to put them in the front of the unit which means they're almost definitely going to die from return fire. This is especially true regarding the Red Skulls Kommando formation since you get to re-roll failed cover saves if you don't shoot on the turn you arrive. So for the Kommando formation I would go for MSU (except maybe snikrot's unit).

If you're just using Snikrot and the commandos by themselves I would definitely try to combo this in with a speedy mechanized Ork or Biker list since that way you have threats right in front of his face as well as his back.

Thanks for response grimskull. So you have found them ineffective in regular games eh. I thought a nice 200 point unit with pks would mess up backfield objectivers but i guess they need to survive the turn they arrive.

Anyone else have any experiences they can share using them?

My experience is that its completely unfair a fluffy unit like this gets shot off the board the turn they arrive because they cant assault, while ravenguard now aparently can do it all day long.

In other words, the codex suffers from being the first 7th ed codex, and shows it more every new release. Dont expect it to change soon.

I have used it, even the ghazkull formation. Its extremely easy to remove from the board before it can do anything.

Shortly after the Ork codex was released, Kommandos were okay. They suffered from being easily shot off the board is focused, being essentially boys with a gimmick, and being a tad over-costed for that. However they weren't bad, and with the Red Skull Kommandos formation could actually be decently strong. Essentially they were your typical Ork unit.


Now we've got Decurians and 300 point gargantuan jump creatures.

Suffice it to say that they're not that good anymore. While they're still the same power relative to the ork codex (alright off the bat, good if used intelligently, surprisingly effective if the list is tailored for them / they have the formation in their favor) they suffer from the insane power creep that the rest of the game has gone through.

In essence they're not MANZ, warbikers, solo deffkoptas, warbosses or painboys. So they're not really worth taking in most ork lists; assuming you're facing something fairly competitive.

Not bad for non-competitive games or as min-squad point holders with infiltrate. They can even threaten to wreck something with av10 cause they still have 19-20 attacks on the charge.

I like commandos as an objective holder. If there is a spot in cover and the enemy doesn't have ignores cover they can dig in pretty good. I just use a min squad for that.

They are most effective when combined with a high target saturation, rush list. Specifically, lots of trucks and bikers, since they are often targeted by the same type of weapon. You need to make sure that they are deployed or enter at a point in the battle field where the enemy has to choose between targets - does he shoot at the trukks with boyz that can assault next turn or the kommandos who can assault next turn.

Also, they can be used to disrupt or otherwise control your opponent's movement. If you can threaten long-range artillery, tank, etc. and force the opponent to pull back a unit or halt from advancing with a unit, then consider their job accomplished. As such, it is usually best to keep upgrades to a minimum.

I have used them a few times now. I think twice alone and three times with the formation. I personally bring them at the max squad size if I can. They have only been shot off the board when they arrived once and that was against tau with ignores cover. They went against space Marines and one of the four squads got shot and assaulted off but then with the waaagh they were all able to get where they needed to go and they wrecked the enemy team. They definitely work best with a fast army running up the other side of the board. Also if you want them to objective camp infiltrate onto an objective that is in cover and just go to ground everytime. That will give you a 2-3 ip cover save to work with. They are fragile though. So if your taking the formation i wouldn't shoot the turn you come kn unless you brought burn as and your fighting something like the IG where you'll ignore their saves, cover, and they are bunched up for a good amount of devastation. If you are taking just a single squad and you want special weapons I'd go for either the burn as or the big shootas since they are more likely to hit. For a single unit you might as well cause as much damage as you can before they get shot up.

Thanks for all responses guys! Helpful!

Kommandos are one of the many units in the game that really should have been given specific exceptions to the "No Charge From Reserves" crap in 6th/7th. They can still do something, theyre not Burnas level of useless, but they never were given anything to make up for the loss of their only real reason to exist - immediate charge without transport or bike help. Not even a price cut worth mentioning.