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But the point is, unless your opponent is pretty terrible, he's never going to let Tankbustas get anywhere near his Land Raider, and that is the whole point.

If an opponent was crazy enough to move within Assault range of Tankbustas you can be damn sure he's going to move more than 12" to make sure you're hitting on sixes (perhaps he's going for a last second table quarter grab, for example).

The reality is, the only way Tankbustas are going to get to charge a vehicle is if it somehow gets immobilized really near them, they're able to hop out of a Battlewagon/looted wagon and assault or your opponent is a little 'slow'.

None of those scenarios are the kind of thing you'd want to build a battle plan around. Certainly keeping them in a Battlewagon is the most likely choice, but if you're moving the Wagon forward to get near enemy vehicles its likely going to open your BW up for side shots which is likely going to ruin your plans anyway.

 

Posted By yakface on 11/07/2007 7:56 PM

 S10 Zzap powers on a wierdboy? You only have a 1 in 6 chance of even getting that power each turn and you'd still need to roll a 5+ to hit.

Weirdboy powers automatically hit...

To make matters worse we don't know if you roll for the strength of a Zzap gun before or after you choose your target. As you need to roll 8+ to have any chance at all you are below evenodds before you start rolling to hit.

"Each time the Zzap gun battery is fired roll 2d6 to determine its strength" note that while its fired not before choosing your target, we can be sure of this because you can lose a grot but the shot astill counts as being fired, so you determine strength when the trrigger is pulled.

I cannot see a way to interpret this as allowing you to roll S then choose a target.

This makes Zzap guns highly unreliable vehicle killers.

?Glory Hogs?

While I can se how it reads I cant imagine why GW would want to include such a rule. It is leading me towards one of two possibilities:

1. Either the entire leak is a hoax/testing the waters with some rules inclusions that they have no intention of making to print. After all even GW cannot be that stupid, can't they...

2. Or the rules was intended to mean that Tankbustas must fire on a vehicle in range if they can see it regardless of closer targets. 'Regardless of range' means regardless of distance to closer targets and priority tests. This would make sense (as a rule, not as RAW), as the squad are Ld 7 and likely too small to get a good Mob check a Tankbusta squad would be forced to fire on the closest unit (likely an infantry screen) now you can only screen with a sacrificial vehicle. Allowing for how badly written GW rules can be I have a strong feeling this is what they intended, maybe as before GW will consider us the stupid ones for not recognising how the rules were intended to be read.

I was arguing this with Therion in my latest army list post: http://www.dakkadakka.com/CommunityForums/tabid/56/view/topic/postid/204299/forumid/14/tpage/1/Default.aspx#204400

Basically, I'm betting on a Boss with Bike to do my AV14 lifting for me.  Against Land Raiders or Leman Russes, i figure he can do his duty.  The downside is that against Liths you need that 6 to get your hits.  Now my boss variant has 7 attacks on the charge, so I should get at least one 6, but then you need a 4+ to pen.  Things aren't fun here, but like Yak and others are pointing out, I just don't see any other way to deal with AV14 other than using PK's in Close Combat.  Nobs are 5 attacks each on the charge, so if you manage to charge a couple into some tanks they should go down, even 'liths.  Given that Monoliths like to get real close and flux you, getting charges off will be easy.  That's until the Necron player realizes that Ork shooting relies on making you fail saves, and then keeps the Monolith nice and far away just for re-rolling WBB's.

As far as Russes and the like go, it's going to be hard without the Boss on bike to charge in, maybe even get swipes at side armor.

Posted By yakface on 11/07/2007 7:56 PM

 

The one thing that's really troubling me about the Orks is their ability to take out AV14 vehicles. With AV13 enough Rokkits or even Lootas in a pinch should be able to reliably take 'em out, but AV14 is a different story.

Obviously Lootas can't help against AV14 and Considering Rokkits only have a 24" range it is kind of hard to get too many shots against a particular vehicle in any given turn without getting way too close. I'm also not a fan of relying on CC attacks to take down enemy vehicles because:

• A) Vehicles can usually move far enough to make it difficult for infantry to even reach them, and
• B) Even if you can reach them (like with DethKoptas or Stormboyz Nobs) if you need a '6' to hit something and another '6' to glance it, your chances are really, really slim of taking that vehicle out and if you fail your squad is usually left hanging out to dry in the opponent's next shooting phase.

 

But there really are no good options here.

• The Boomgun and Shokk Attack guns are both Ordnance, which as anyone who has played with or against IG knows, Ordnance is very, very iffy against vehicles in 4th edition (since you scatter 2/3 of the time and if the hole scatters off the vehicle your shot is not going to do anything).
• Kannons in Big Gunz batteries are only S8 (and you still need to roll 'to hit' on a 5+).
• Zzap guns are a big mystery the way the rules are written.
• Do you roll for one Strength for the whole battery? If so, and you roll and '11' or '12' do you only lose one Gretchin crew, or one for each weapon? When do you roll for the Strength of the battery, before or after selecting a target?
• And actually, no matter what the answer those Zzap questions the fact that Big Gunz batteries are only 36" range, move or shoot, with a BS of 2 and are extremely suceptible to morale checks makes them an iffy choice at best.

 

So what else does that leave us with?

• S10 Zzap powers on a wierdboy? You only have a 1 in 6 chance of even getting that power each turn and you'd still need to roll a 5+ to hit.
• Kustom Mega Blastas on Meks or Kans/Dreds? Still only S8 and needing a 5+ to hit.
• Zzap guns and Rokkits on a Battlewagon? still very, very unreliable (all need 5+ to hit, Rokkits need a '6' to glance and the Zzap gun is still completely random).

 

Am I missing anything here? I don't think so. It seems that GW has decided to make Orks' achilles heel AV14 vehicles. Because of the Tankbustas +1 Penetration in the old codex AV14 besides the Monolith was do-able, but now?

It seems the best viable option is just to swamp the thing with tons of Rokkits or charge with multiple powerklaws and hope to get lucky.

I fear any marine player crazy enough to bring mutiple Crusaders in their army is just going to work over any Ork players they run into.

 

 

 

The zap and frazzle ability for warpheads and weird boys are auto hitting. it says it right there in the codex. the warp heads are a great anit tank measure. they can reroll psy dice and teleport units around the map. stick them with a unit of tanke busters. teleport behind a tank and let lose a salvo of rokkits.

Oh and zap is 36 range auto hit MELTA. so it will have a decent chance to knock out a land raider. Monitlith is hard to deal with for every army, not just orks.

Where are you seeing that the Zaap still autohits? There isn't anything in the book about that anymore at all from what I can see.

Likewise, the Warphead's powers are random, even with the re-roll.  I wouldn't count on things like that working well for AT power.

And Monoliths aren't hard for Marines, Chaos, IG, Nids, or Tau to deal with.  All you need is massed Lascannons or better, which all of those lists can do and down she goes.

zzap power, not zap cannon.

Like I said before, yes the psychic Zzap auto-hits...

Oh yeah, the power hits, the gun doesn't.

Sorry about taking so long for the troops section. School and work have both been bleeding me dry. Hopefully I'll have the troops section done by tomorrow.

No worries...School is more important...And it's not like you're the only one who can post about them

Well, I may as well head you off at the pass and ask that you include something about mobz of boyz in battlewagons. Does this seem like a viable unit?

Like the other units (Burnas) I'll mention Boyz in a Battlewagon and differences in viability between them - though a lot of that will go in the actual BW entry.

If I don't get anything up today, expect it by Sunday. I'm being sent out on business again and finishing up the tactica on the flight may be just the thing to eventually get me to sleep!

Some things...

Weirdboy Zzap is essentially a slightly worse BS2 weapon if you really want it and have a warphead who's prepared to risk a case of explody 'ead to get it.. 1 in every ten turns (I mean 10% chance or w/e, formalised statistics is not my forte) you could score a pen hit on a Monolith, so it's not 'reliable'. Improves against other vehicles like Land Raiders with Melta, but then psy hoods come into play perhaps.

However, Zogwort is downright scary to Necron Lords, and god forbid, C'tan (no pun intended).

Wreckin' balls aren't bad, and cheap as chips on battlewagons. Decent too, as by my reading can be used while crew shaken/stunned. Vehicles aren't really ever optimal vs Necrons, but take-all-comers lists could often find room for a Battlewagon or two, with say, Ard Top, Wreckin' Ball, Grabbin' klaw, and perhaps any of Grot riggers, Boardin' Plank, armour plates and Red Paint Job. Parking one of these in front of a lith portal would be annoying, and denying a teleport move at a crucial moment could swing a win. Zaap guns are priced okay but go to BS2 on Battlewagons

Even though they hit on 6's, a forward vehicle like a lith is probably still not going to want to go near multiple Str 10 things like Kanz without a good reason for doing so. The Heavy support is there and that section hasn't been done yet, but I think these guys are 'competitive' and sitting in the top half of the 6 units from that FOC entry, the other's being Battlewagons and Big Gunz (BS3!)

good point, a big gun on a battlewagon is BS2, as opposed to BS3 when in a grot Big Gunz crew - which seems inconsistent and a bit unfluffy (is it crewed by orks when on a wagon?), although i can see why GW would want to avoid having different BS for different weapons on the same vehicle, and it does perhaps explain the relative cheapness of the battlewagon versions...

and I disagree re Wrecking Balls - as they're operated by the crew, shouldn't they be affected by crew stunned/shaken like any other weapon?

They're not weapons, more like a hth attack. Remember, vehicles can still tank shock when shaken, and walkers can still fight in hth when shaken.

Why can't the zzap gun auto hit like it used to, was that so wronge? I've also noticed that according to the entry on pg 51.  The zzap gun has lost its melta ability.  Sucks to be it.

As for battlewagons It has also occured to me that battlewagons need to spend the points on at least one weapon, as they no longer come with them. The reason being that without a single gun, a roll of weapon destroyed will now immobilize the battlewagon. That could get annoying really quickly.

And I'm still no convinced with big gunz batteries.  They didn't go well in the last codex, and I don't see them working that well now.  A slight change in BS isn't going to help.   And its still debatable if they can move and shoot.  They also changed how hits against them work.  I guess now its just evenly spread around.  That could be a little abusive as all high strength hits will be alloted to the crew and all low strength hits will be given to the guns.  Also now it appears that guns are no longer destroyed on any pen or glance result.  You have to go through the normal vehicle charts.

This unit is just messed up.

Posted By Jayden63 on 11/10/2007 7:24 AM
Why can't the zzap gun auto hit like it used to, was that so wronge? I've also noticed that according to the entry on pg 51.  The zzap gun has lost its melta ability.  Sucks to be it.

As for battlewagons It has also occured to me that battlewagons need to spend the points on at least one weapon, as they no longer come with them. The reason being that without a single gun, a roll of weapon destroyed will now immobilize the battlewagon. That could get annoying really quickly.

And I'm still no convinced with big gunz batteries.  They didn't go well in the last codex, and I don't see them working that well now.  A slight change in BS isn't going to help.   And its still debatable if they can move and shoot.  They also changed how hits against them work.  I guess now its just evenly spread around.  That could be a little abusive as all high strength hits will be alloted to the crew and all low strength hits will be given to the guns.  Also now it appears that guns are no longer destroyed on any pen or glance result.  You have to go through the normal vehicle charts.

This unit is just messed up.

Big Gun batteries are 'artillery' so they follow the artillery rules in the rulebook, which are similar in most ways to the old rules from the Ork codex (with a few more clarifiers).

We've had the argument several times about whether artillery in artillery units can move and fire and although it isn't clear, the RAW do indicate that Artillery units cannot move and fire unless specified otherwise (which the Ork Guns don't). Following the Artillery rules you don't get to choose which hit strikes which model,  you randomly roll like before, and yes guns are essentially destroyed on a glance or pen. You need to check out page 56 of the rulebook.

yakface wrote:

Posted By Jayden63 on 11/10/2007 7:24 AM
Why can't the zzap gun auto hit like it used to, was that so wronge? I've also noticed that according to the entry on pg 51.  The zzap gun has lost its melta ability.  Sucks to be it.

As for battlewagons It has also occured to me that battlewagons need to spend the points on at least one weapon, as they no longer come with them. The reason being that without a single gun, a roll of weapon destroyed will now immobilize the battlewagon. That could get annoying really quickly.

And I'm still no convinced with big gunz batteries.  They didn't go well in the last codex, and I don't see them working that well now.  A slight change in BS isn't going to help.   And its still debatable if they can move and shoot.  They also changed how hits against them work.  I guess now its just evenly spread around.  That could be a little abusive as all high strength hits will be alloted to the crew and all low strength hits will be given to the guns.  Also now it appears that guns are no longer destroyed on any pen or glance result.  You have to go through the normal vehicle charts.

This unit is just messed up.

Big Gun batteries are 'artillery' so they follow the artillery rules in the rulebook, which are similar in most ways to the old rules from the Ork codex (with a few more clarifiers).

We've had the argument several times about whether artillery in artillery units can move and fire and although it isn't clear, the RAW do indicate that Artillery units cannot move and fire unless specified otherwise (which the Ork Guns don't). Following the Artillery rules you don't get to choose which hit strikes which model,  you randomly roll like before, and yes guns are essentially destroyed on a glance or pen. You need to check out page 56 of the rulebook.

D'oh, I completely missed that. Man, I've been a little off my game a lately.

I'm also not a fan of relying on CC attacks to take down enemy vehicles because:

A) Vehicles can usually move far enough to make it difficult for infantry to even reach them, and
B) Even if you can reach them (like with DethKoptas or Stormboyz Nobs) if you need a '6' to hit something and another '6' to glance it, your chances are really, really slim of taking that vehicle out and if you fail your squad is usually left hanging out to dry in the opponent's next shooting phase.

Just noting a couple of things. Deffkoptas don't have S8 even with the buzzsaw, and nobs have S9 on the charge due to FC. Not that it means CC is a good way to attack vehicles, but it's not quite so bad...

I've played a few games with the new rules now.

Ld is the pits. I see no reason to take anything except large mobs of troops and stormboyz. Embrace the horde mentality, because trying to work around it appears to be an exercize in futility.

Bikes are completely unreliable. Even with a large starting mob of 8, lose two to shooting and you're testing on Ld7. And, eight is a lot of points to just lose. Forget about nob bikers, as they have the same morale issues and are even more expensive.

Lootas are ok, but the 48" range is not as easy to utilize as people are making it out to be. If you set them up so as to be useful on the first turn, you risk return fire. In one game I played, I lost 9 lootas off the bat to heavy bolter (and bad cover saves) fire. The survivors didn't break (!) but were rendered combat ineffective for the rest of the game. In another game, Dark Reapers accomplished the same thing.

If you're a trukk squad and you lose a combat, you will probably lose the whole mob to a sweeping advance. And, without the ability to swing simultaneously with Marines, losing combat is easier than you think, especially if you narrowly made the charge and didn't have many boyz engaged. This is also true of footsloggers who take a few hits on the way in.

The lack of a long-range pounder unit (looted russ/basilisk) allows opponents to hang back and pick their fights.

Hey Voodo,

I think you need to reformat what you've typed already for the new text editor.

Sorry about that, but its part of the growing pains of having a better site!

Wow, I never noticed bikes aren't fearless anymore! That makes them EXTREMELY fragile as far as LD goes. Didn't imagine T5 4+ inv save orks being fragile, but they really are :(

yakface wrote:
Hey Voodo,

I think you need to reformat what you've typed already for the new text editor.

Sorry about that, but its part of the growing pains of having a better site!

Oye!

I love the new site and text editor, but this will require some work on reformatting. I'll see if I can get to it soon when I get some down time out here. I've been so bloody busy with work stuff on this trip that I haven't even had free time on the plane to write up new parts of the tactica!

Arrrgh!

I don't know why I'm so impatient. I've only managed to collect, like, three Orks so far. At this rate, I won't need your tactica until 8th edition comes out.

Tactica Organization

Unit Evaluation

What I’m going to attempt to do is go through each unit in the new Ork Codex and evaluate its overall level of Utility (Bad, Semi-Competitive, and Competitive). Then we will go into various configuration options (if any) and identify optimal ones, fun alternatives, and what to avoid.

General Advice

I would like to come up with some general advice that will be useful to Ork players. One of the biggest topics here will be proper application of the “Waaaggh” move. Other areas can include identifying proper Ork arch types (shooty horde, Kult of Speed, etc) and the unit composition that makes up those choices. Anything else useful that should be communicated to wanna-be Warbosses can go here.

If you’re going to post something, please preface it with which section you’re writing for.




I’m going to move right on to evaluating the units, starting at the top with HQ.

Unit Evaluation: HQ

The special character HQ choices are all decent enough, but none of them stand out as obvious “take me over the standard choice!” like Eldrad, Lemartes, or Mephiston, I’m going to leave off discussing them for a while and focus on the main choices.

Warboss
Utility: Competitive

The Warboss has seen a significant upgrade in his stats with getting T5. He no longer fears instant death from S8 attacks, which includes 99% of all Power Fist attacks. His points have stayed modest, however he is lacking in a few crucial areas:

He can not take a power weapon.
He can not get a good armor save while staying mobile.

These two crucial options leave him somewhat limited in effective builds. Because the Warboss is no longer a mandatory character for an Ork army, there is no point to minimizing him out. If you want a minimal cheap HQ, there are better choices. So in order to make him effective you really have to make him a close combat unit. The only effective option he’s got here is the Power Klaw, either through the Klaw itself or Mega Armor. This leads to two eventual paths, one of which is readily more optimal: The Biker Boss.

Close Combat IC’s that can’t move quickly are near useless. The Warboss can be kitted out on a Warbike that gives him a 4+ armor save and a 4+ Cover save from shooting. It makes him T5(6) so he’s harder to wound for non-rending or no-power fist units. It also lets him be extremely mobile which can allow the Ork player to get into combat unmolested, since he is still an Independent Character and thus can not be shot at if he’s not the closest model to an enemy unit.

By abusing his IC status in this method, it should be very easy for Ork players to get the Boss into combat almost wherever they want him to be, which can include taking out units like Shooty Carnifex’s, non-powerfist squads, or almost anything that doesn’t have rending. He will need luck to charge headlong into a Demon Prince and come out living, but he’s decent enough vs. most HQ’s. He’s even got a good chance at taking down Hive Tyrants, especially if they’re carrying around some guns and didn’t take implant attack.

The key is understanding what he can and can not kill. Many times it’s better off playing conservatively, and some games you just have to sacrifice him to make him worthwhile. It’s not always a good idea to go up against enemy HQ’s, and some squads should be avoided at all costs. But if you use him right, I think he can be a great addition to any Ork army.

Building your Boss
When kitting the biker boss, there are some simple choices to take, below I’m going to summarize the best biker boss I think that can be built:

Warbike, Power Klaw, Cybork Body (5+ Inv), Attack Squig (+1 Attack).

The boss comes with a second CCW already, so this bumps him up to 6 Attacks, 7 on the Charge with a S10 power klaw. He will have to swing simultaneously with Power Fists, but he’s got the attacks and WS to do the damage.

The alternative is Mega Armor, which has its own host of problems with regards to movement. This nearly necessitates that your Warboss be mounted in a Trukk, joined to a unit in order to see combat. There isn’t much reason to take a Mega Armored Warboss, over the biker boss, but if I had to I’d kit him out as such:

Mega Armor, Cybork Body, Attack Squig

He’s got less attacks but is moderately more survivable from normal attacks than the Biker Boss. I say moderately because the Mega Armored Boss is T5, where the Biker Boss is T5(6), which makes it much harder for most things to put wounds on the boss (including Demon Princes, Hive Tyrants, and S6 Power Fists). Against the attacks that actually threaten the Warboss, they have the same invulnerable save.

After these two configurations I can’t see any other configurations for a Warboss to take. If you want something cheap, take a Mek or Weirdboy. If you’re taking a Warboss it should be because he’s effective and in terms of outright killyness, and it’s hard to get a better all rounder than the Biker Boss described above. And you certainly won’t get a decent warboss by taking options like the Combi shot weapons (which remove your ability to have 2CCW’s) or a Big Choppa, which is as useless in the new dex as it was in the old one.

Special Considerations
One thing about the Warboss is that taking him allows you to take a unit of Nobz or Meganobz as a troops choice. While this is not the most efficient thing that you could do in the new Dex, it is something very fun. Not every game is at a tournament, and sometimes sub-optimal units are very fun to use. If you’re looking to make an Ork army that is more for fun than for winning a GT, this is something to consider.

Big Mek
Utility: Competitive

The Big Mek is an interesting choice for an Ork army. He is more of a support unit than anything else. Because of his profile he’s not going to be a CC monster like the Warboss, more like a Nob on steroids. You can give him a power weapon, but it won’t get extra attacks for multiple CCW’s, and he’s only I4 on the charge. Suffice it to say, if you want a close combat character, the Mek is not for you. He can be made “decent” in close combat, but nothing as good as the Boss.

Building your Big Mek

The Big Mek brings two big support options to an army: The Kustom Force Field (KFF) or the Shokk Attack Gun (SAG). Sadly, the two can not be combined onto one Big Mek. You also can not combine either weapon with Mega Armor or a Warbike, which would have made either option much better for different reasons.

The KFF is defensive in nature and can be useful to support a horde of Boyz by giving them cover saves even out in the open. It is somewhat expensive and it’s only for units within 6”, although it no longer says that the whole unit must be within 6” to claim the cover save, which can extend the range over the old version. In fact, this is one of the most compelling reasons to take the new Big Mek. Because if the unit must be within 6”, but it doesn’t specify that the whole unit must be within 6” as the old version, then you are looking at the potential coverage area for a single Big Mek with KFF to be an absolutely huge area as it balloons up to cover an entire mob of 30, where only a few Boyz string along to be within 6” of the Big Mek. This is an interpretation, based on RAW for the Kustom Force Field. I just wanted to point this out as this potentially huge advantage for the Big Mek may be FAQ’ed away in the future or at the very least contested by opponents or judges in a tournament.

The SAG is offensive, and luckily it does not roll to hit but fires like an ordinance weapon. The problem is that while it’s potentially destructive, you end up with a 22% chance of a misfire. Not all the results are terrible for the misfire though, some are even better, so it’s actually still pretty good, even if a bit risky! I would be remiss if I did not mention the fact that you have a 1/36 chance to roll a double six for the SAG result, which basically means that wherever the template touches is automatically removed from play. Yes, on the basic reading of the rules this is not instant death and can remove monstrous creatures wholesale. Granted this is not something you can plan on happening, but it shows the potential of the SAG. Additionally, this is one of the rare sources of AP2 that you can reliably get in an Ork list, which is something to be pointed out.

The benefits to either loadout is that you can abuse the Mek’s IC status to prevent him from being shot and in many cases, assaulted. With the KFF, by not joining him to any units keeps your cover save active where you want it, and with the SAG you can get a weapon that will be able to fire almost all game without worry about getting shot back.

The only question remains on how to finish kitting out the Big Mek. A lot of this depends on your choice of SAG or KFF. If the Mek has a KFF, it’s likely that he will eventually see CC, so giving him a burna or PK is not a bad option. Since the best use for a KFF Mek is in between big mobs of Boyz to distribute the cover save, many times he’ll be charging, which is when the Burna becomes an I4 S5 power weapon, NICE!

For the SAG Mek, I wouldn’t recommend giving him anything else. If he’s getting shot, he’s likely dead no matter what other options you give him, and if he’s in assault, it’s also probably something bad as well.

The Mek can be given other guns, but the best option is the Kustom Mega Blasta (KMB), which has almost as good a chance of wounding the Big Mek as it does actually hitting it’s target, so it should be avoided.

Special Considerations
One thing about the Big Mek is that taking him allows you to take a DeffDread as a troops choice. While this is not the most efficient thing that you could do in the new Dex, it is something very fun. Not every game is at a tournament, and sometimes sub-optimal units are very fun to use. If you’re looking to make an Ork army that is more for fun than for winning a GT, this is something to consider.

Weirdboy
Utility: Semi-Competitive

Believe it or not I feel that the Weirdboy makes almost as good of a second HQ choice as a SAG Big Mek. He has very little options, but he has the ability to significantly enhance your army.

First things first, you should always upgrade the Weirdboy to a Warphead. Rolling a 1 for your psychic power is not fun, and the re-roll is pretty essential to using the weird boy.

The main Utility that I see in a Weirdboy is the fact that you can get a “Waaagh” move off with him. The trick is sticking him in a giant unit (20 or more Boyz) to give him LD10, and then just pray for that 6 roll for your power. Don’t get the 6? Re-roll.

What I see with the Weirdboy is a way to make footslogging slugga boyz (an old favorite of previous Codex Orks players) at least somewhat viable. By even using two Weirdboyz, you have a little better than 50/50 to get a Waaagh power off each turn, not accounting for things like Pyschic Hoods or Runes of Warding.

After this kind of application, there really aren’t any other ways to use him. He’s not much good in a KoS or speedy kind of list, mainly because you can’t really rely on getting the Waaagh power. Still, I can see him being a fun choice, and if you’re looking for the dirt cheapest HQ you can get for an army that maxes out on units or troops, then a Weirdboy is a pretty good choice.

HQ Summary

Who knew that they could write a codex where each HQ choice is actually good enough to warrant taking? And a new dex where the special characters don’t completely overshadow their unit entries they are meant to replicate? I think it’s a pretty good sign for the section overall, because any time you actually have to think about what to take it’s a good thing.

This isn’t to say that there isn’t a “Winner” of the HQ selection. In terms of direct damage and reliability, I don’t think you can do much better than the Biker Boss outlined above. S10 Power Klaws come in handy against things like Monoliths or any AV14 Tank that can’t reliably be dealt with at range. Plus it’s always nice to have that extra fast close combat unit lying around.

Each HQ choice does bring about its own risks, and the Biker Boss is no exception. The thing that puts him over the others, in my opinion, is that you have the most control over his risk. By using him carefully, and abusing the hell out of his IC status, you can make sure he gets into a favorable close combat where he will certainly earn more than his points back. He can be used as a throw-away unit to cause disruption and still earn his keep in an army, or he can be played conservatively and thrown against targets he’s sure to wipe out with little risk of being killed (Las/Plas or Devastator squads really are not going to like the Biker Boss).

Still, the Biker Boss is not a clear-cut winner, like say a Hive Tyrant is for a Tyranid army. As stated by Yakface, “the type of army you are fielding will really determine what the 'winner' is going to be for your army.

If you are playing an KoS or Stormboy heavy army, then taking a Biker Boss is pretty much mandatory. If you are taking a shooty horde army then 2 Meks with SAGs can be a great idea because they fit in with the style of rest of the army and give you some much needed AP2 devestation (something you don't get too many other places in the list). If you're playing a horde assault army then a couple of Warpheads or a couple of Meks with KFFs (or one of each) would definitely help get your Boyz into combat more safely.”

Additionally, the Biker Boss costs as much as a budget Leman Russ Battle Tank. Two KFF Meks or two Warpheads would cost only marginally more points.


Unit Evaluation: Elites

The Elite section is pretty crowded in the new Dex, and sadly it’s also the beginning of the pattern for the rest of the codex: Lots of options, only a few really good choices.

This isn’t to say that there are units here that can be taken for fun and still be decent, but in terms of being competitive there are only one or two choices from this section that stand out as something to include in Ork tournament lists.

Nobz
Utility: Poor

Sadly the unit of Regular Nobz is pretty poor in terms of performance. Even in their “best” configurations

These are one of the sadder units in the codex, especially in light of similar units like Mega Nobz or Flash Gitz. They’re very expensive and don’t have any good options. They do have some fun configurations that aren’t half bad, but as you’ll find out they are the epitome of a mediocre unit that you can sink a ton of points into with little return. What’s worse is that they end up simply replicating what is already available in similar mobz for far less points.

Equipping the Nobz

Lets start with the obvious things not to take: Big Choppas or any of the shooty options. They all suck. This mob is made for CC, not shooting. If you want shooty Nobz take Flash Gitz.

There are a few things that can be done to make these guys decent:

-Painboss. This is an expensive upgrade, but it gives the unit Feel No Pain which is necessary for a unit with T4, 2W and a 6+ Save. Additionally he lets you give each model a 5+ Inv save; with an additional cost per model.

-Bike Upgrades for the unit make them even more expensive, but at least useful. Combined with the Painboss you can get a T4(5), 2W, 4+ Armor, 4+ Cover (always), and Feel No Pain unit. And if you want you can throw the Inv Save on there too. It’ll be as expensive as all get out, but it’ll be survivable.

As far as CC weapons, every Nob can take a Power Klaw, but it will be expensive. You’re likely better off only taking one in the mob, maybe two.

One upgrade that is pretty essential is taking a Waaagh Banner. This is the only unit that can take this, and it gives the unit +1WS, which when you think about it, on the charge the regular Nobz will hit with 5 Attacks each at WS5, S5, I4, and they have twin linked Big Shootas that run at half range.

Off the Bikes, they can take a Trukk or Battlewagon transport to help get to CC. Both have their plusses and minuses to their use. The Wagon is expensive but has the Armor of a Leman Russ and is open topped so you can assault. The Trukk is cheaper and faster, but more fragile. The only downside to the Battlewagon, besides the cost, is that it’s both expensive and non-scoring, unlike a Heavy Support Battlewagon. Because of this, if you’re going to stay on foot, I’m going to recommend the Trukk over the wagon, but it’s not completely a clear cut choice.

That all said, this mob will never be cheap, and their minimum costs will still be very expensive. At the high end you can get some expensive models that are pretty survivable. But this brings another problem: Leadership. Without numbers, these Boyz will run at the first sign of trouble. Get hit with an opposing power fist and lose combat? You very likely can run away. This is the problem for any Elite Ork unit which is saddled with poor LD and doesn’t have the Numbers to use the Mob Rule to keep fighting.

This unit can be used in friendly games as a heck of a points sink, but still a fun unit that can be effective. Much like how a Land Raider with Assault Terminators and a Chaplain isn’t exactly tournament worthy, but it is a fun unit to use in friendly games that can do wonderful things. So are kitted out Power Klaw Nobz.

Meganobz
Utility: Poor

This is one of those units that really aren’t all that good, but it’s not as bad as regular Nobz. For the points, they’re probably not worth it, but taken in a Trukk and used as a “super” styled Trukk mob, they can be pretty fun.

There isn’t any real choice to how to equip them, it’s just about the squad size. Your basic question is “Trukk or Battlewagon”, which has all the problems mentioned before. The Trukk is probably better, but a case can be made for the Battlewagon in fun games.

The crunch on these guys is that they’re Slow & Purposeful (so no +1 Attack for charging), and the fact that they have no Inv save. And again they have the problem that there will never be a lot of models in this unit, and if they get smacked by a Power Fist and you really start losing models fast (because of instant death), your expensive Meganobz are going to run away faster than a mob of grots.

They really epitomize the kind of unit that is fun to use and can be decent in fun games, but at a tournament they’re going to struggle to earn their keep.

Tankbustas
Utility: Poor

These guys are really one of the worst things to happen to a previously great unit. No more tank hunters, but they all get Rokkits! Wow sounds great right? Wrong. Due to their Glory Hogs special rule, they will always have to fire at a tank if it is in LOS, regardless of range. So if you have an empty Rhino sitting out in the field and the Tank Bustas are 6” away from a squad of Marines, they have to fire at the tank, despite the fact that you’d much rather fire at the Marines.

To top it all off, they’re expensive. In fact they’re the same points cost as the Burna Boyz and Lootas. The problem here is that they’re still T4 6+ save models, and they have to get close to fire their Rokkits. This is a recipe for failure, especially because they can not take a transport.

This is not to say that they do not have their uses. One area as pointed out by Yakface is area denial. “Bomb squigs (apparently) do not require line of sight to use (nor do they appear to be slowed by difficult or impassable terrain) you can take a minimum sized unit of Tankbustas, give them 3 bomb squigs and keep them hidden behind cover.

This can give you a scoring unit that has an 18" bubble that vehicles will be afraid to enter. Plus if you get really desperate you can always move the unit into the cover and get one round of desperation shooting off before your opponent obliterates them.

Overall they certainly aren't competitive but the squigg bombs deserve a little attention considering how few points they are.”


Equipping the Tankbustas:
Their upgrades are likewise cool, but pretty damn well useless. The issue being that Bomb Squigs have to get close, and the Tankhammer has to get even closer. There is no way a competent opponent is going to let them get anywhere near where they have to go to be worthwhile. Even upgrading the Nob is pointless, exchanging his Rokkit for a PK just isn’t good sense.

And it’s not like they really present a threat to AV14 tanks in the first place. Even if you buy 15 of them (which is a ridiculous amount of points), you will average a little less than one glance on AV14. They’re just not that good.

For fun, I can see putting 12 of them in an Open Topped Battlewagon (with a Killkannon) to just shoot at stuff like crazy, if you can get a target in range. They are a pretty bad choice no less, but if you can get close enough, it’ll be hilarious to set off Bomb Squigs!

Another Perspective

Not everyone agrees whole heartedly with my assessment of the Tankbustas, and 40kenthusiast presented a pretty well versed argument in favor of the Tankbustas being something worth considering.

“I really don't agree with you about the competitiveness of the Tankbusta boys. I feel that they are an excellent unit.

Every Ork has a rokkit. They are shooty orks. They are going to outshoot marines at 24, marines kill 2/3 * 1/2 vs. 1/3 * 5/6...cover doesn't change this as both sides are currently APing. They cost less than marines, and outshoot them.

Some other things:

1. Escalation. No Glory Hogs to worry about for 2 rounds as they wipe the opponents infantry off the field with a barrage of rokkits. When the vehicles do come in, the bustas are safely ensconced in good cover, ready and waiting to surge forth and return fire.

2. Kill 2 vehicles. With their bomb squigs the Glory Hogs are actually able to kill more than one vehicle in a turn. Shoot at a far away vehicle and release the squigs to get the closer one.

3. Fire magnet. A bunch of boys who each got rokkits may seem like an appetizing target, but remember that this is Codex: Orks we are talking about here. Da Boys are getting closer and closer, in trukks and fortresses, on jetbikes or jetpacks. If they take the time out to fire on your tankbustas and as a consequence get charged by a full boys mob, I think you'll be satisfied. Tankbustas in cover will require 2 or 3 squads fire to wipe out (at long range, rapid fire will cut em down, but if they are that close you'll crump em wif yer fists anyway).

I see the Glory Boys rule as being like the "Don't Touch That" rule on the looted basilisk last time around, its a small check on the power of a very nice unit, and orky in the extreme.

Here are the conditions that must be fulfilled before you lose your shots.

At the beginning of your turn
1. Vehicle in LOS
2. No vehicles within 30".
3. No friendly vehicle can be moved into a position to block LOS to the vehicle.
4. Tankbustas can't move in such a way as to lose their LOS to the vehicle.
5. Nobody else can pop the vehicle first

This may not be enough to change someone’s mind on Tankbustas, but maybe its cool that two reasonable people can read the same codex and come off with different ideas about a unit's viability.”

Burna Boyz
Utility: Poor

These poor Boyz shall be remembered as “The Little Mob that Could Have”. They could have been so good, they could have been a staple choice to take in many lists, if only they could take a Trukk.

Equipping the Burnas:

Do not upgrade any of them to Meks, it would be a crime against all Ork kind to commit such a travesty. You give up the burna for a Kustom Mega Blasta that has a good chance of frying the Mek shooting it instead of the enemy.

Using them is going to be rough and like Tank Bustas, they won’t work in escalation. As they are now, your only good bet is putting them in a Battlewagon to get them where they need to be (up close and then in CC). On foot, they’re an expensive mob that’s T4 6+ Save, and any opponent worth playing against is going to shoot them before they hit your lines.

In fact, their only Utility in fun games is in a Battle Wagon, Zooming to get into CC via Waaagh Move + Assault.

Kommandos
Utility: Semi-Competitive*

These Boyz just barely earn the rank of Semi-Competitive, especially in light of what they compete against in the Elites section. On their own however they can be a pretty good unit, and more importantly they can really provide you with a number of interesting tactical options.

It is also worth pointing out up front, that these guys are the cheapest Elites choice available, on a model by model basis.

Equipping the Kommandos

The way you equip them will depend largely on their intended use. They can take two of any special weapon (burna, rokkit, big shoota), regardless of mob size (max 15). The only upgrade I feel is useless is the Big Shoota, since if you want dakka you can get it elsewhere in the list. Rokkits and Burnas on the other hand absolutely shine in completely different areas.

First are Rokkits. One tactic that can be used is that for a cheap-as-chips squad, you can take 5 Kommandos and 2 Rokkits and use them as a throw-away unit that can infiltrate and with luck (and first turn), can take turn 1 shots at side armor or at skimmers that haven’t moved yet. This is a pretty useful unit that will die the moment something sneezes at them, but they are going to require immediate attention or there will be problems for the other player.

The only thing I don’t like here is that even vs. normal Tanks, you’re still relying on 2 Rokkits to do their job, that’s hitting on 5’s. That and the fact that their main Utility is really first turn dependent, which I don’t like. It’ll be awesome when it works, and they’re cheap enough to risk it many times, but there are always other units that those points could be spent on elsewhere. Still, if you like this sneaky git idea, then go for it.

The second method to equipping the Kommandos is to throw two burnas in the unit and then probably max out the squad and put in the obligatory Power Klaw Nob. Between infiltrate and Waaagh, they can do some damage. If you combo this with a Weirdboy or two and get a first turn Waaagh power, you can do some serious damage. Even without that, they’re a turn 2 hit and area denial unit. Not friggin bad.

As a side note, if you do go this route, add the Bosspole to the unit. With their small squad size it’s going to be rough getting them to stick around. Part of their Utility is the fact that they can tie units up nicely, they can’t do that if they run when they lose combat.

*Speshul Konsiderations:

One unit of Kommandos per army may forgo upgrading to a Nob and take Boss Snikrot instead. He carries a heaftier price tag than a PK Nob, and he can’t ignore armor saves, but he is something that pushes this unit from “Semi-Competitive” to “Competitive”.

His ambush rule allows the Ork player, if they so chose, to allow the unit to go into reserves and when available, they may enter play from any table edge.

This is a pretty big deal because of the possibilities it allows, this nearly guarantees them the charge on many units if your opponent isn’t careful and something is within 12” of a table edge, and if they are careful, it could be useful to declare the Waaagh and use Fleet to catch your target. And while Snikrot doesn’t ignore armor saves, he can be counted on to put a few wounds on almost anything, especially on the charge. It should be noted that if you do need anti-armor punch, two Burnas in the unit CAN ignore armor saves, making this the ideal unit to take down MEQ squads.

Hopefully it should go without saying, but if you’re going to run Snikrots mob, take Burnas and the max squad size. This unit will be expensive in almost any configuration you want to use for close assaults, which is a downside, but with Snikrot – you really stand a chance to make your points back. This is more so vs. certain armies (like Marines), but in general if they don’t make their points back they will certainly tie key units up at the right moment, which may not make back it’s points, but it can win you games in its own right and should not be ignored.

Lootas
Utility: Competitive

In true GW fashion, what used to be one of the worst units in the old Codex is back with absolutely amazing set of rules.

In every list, almost always in the Elite section, you find that one unit that just screams out “TAKE ME!” above all the other choices. This is one of those units for the Orks. It’s not because they’re much more survivable than the other Boyz, or because their damage output is amazing for their points (though it can be at times), but because you simply need them.

Lootas are the only unit in the Ork army that can reliably deal with tanks up to and including AV13 at long range. They are quite possibly the best anti-skimmer unit in the entire game. You will pay points for this ability, but it is available to you. And remember folks, any time you can put the screws to a Mech Eldar player with Orks – a Nob somewhere out there gets his Power Klaw.

Equipping the Lootas

They’re already equipped as well as any Ork. Upgrading any of them to a Mek will immediately relegate your rank from “Warboss” to “Grot” by any Ork players in a 2 mile radius who gets word that you actually exchanged the Deffgun for a Kustom Mega Blasta or something worse.

On to actually using the Lootas, their application is very specific. These Boys are expensive, and they’re still just T4 with a 6+ save. What they do have compared to other Elites that fit this criteria is a 48” range with a S7 AP4 gun that does D3 shots. To use Lootas effectively you will have to deploy them in cover where they will have a good line of fire to a good portion of the board.

That’s really all there is to using them. Their application once deployed is to sit still and just keep firing at anything that’s a target. They can put wounds on Dakka Fex’s, present a credible threat to any skimmer, even ones with Holofields+Spirit Stones, and can put glances on Predators.

Some people may disagree on the methods of statistics used for Lootas, but if there is one thing that everyone can agree on is that a unit of Lootas is one of the few credible threats to a Holofields + Spirit Stones Grav Tank in 40k. Fact is that if a Mech Eldar player has to spend a turn in LOS and range of a unit of Lootas they will not like it.

Likewise one unit of 12 can open fire on a Dakka Fex, at 48”, and depending on the number of shots for the unit can put anywhere from 2 to 8 wounds on it reliably, and once you get a Dakka Fex rolling that many saves on a 3+, he will start to go down. Now imagine firing this on a unit of Marines or equivalent and you see why they can be so devastating.

Because of these things, this is a unit that screams to be taken in multiples.

I recommend going with Mob sizes over 10. I’m finding that 12 to 14 is about the max I want to use, mostly on the lower side. One of their main problems is that they will never have a lot of models and they can’t get a Bosspole. So if they really start taking casualties, they will run. And if they’re low on models their LD will be poor to take target priority tests. So keeping the mob at a healthy size and in a place that will make engaging them difficult is crucial to using them well.

The thing to remember about Lootas is that unlike the other “really good” stuff in the Ork list, or in any list, is that while they are extremely potent, you have to use them well or you will see them die. These guys are not Terminators, they are not Harlies or Dragons delivered via Falcons, but I think they’re going to be used just as much as those units, despite not being as survivable. They leave very little room for error and will take skill to use, but when used correctly they can be devastating. And most importantly they do things that nothing else in the Ork list can replicate.

On the other hand

I feel that it should be pointed out that after some experience with the Lootas, they are indeed as killy as they seem to be. However, while they are something that should be taken in multiples I feel that maxing out on them would be a bad idea for two very important reasons:

1.) They are expensive and fragile
2.) You may not always get enough terrain to deploy them in safely with good LOS. This is especially true if you take three large squads of them.

So while this does not take away from Lootas being the premier Ork Elite choice, it does give pause to any player who thinks that they should therefore max out on them in any competitive list.

Elites Summary

With GW, and even with Phil Kelly, not everything in a codex can be useful, and Elites is a section that is crowded with a lot of bad choices and a few very good ones.

Competitively speaking, Lootas stand out above the rest of the choices like a Nob in a Grot Mob. Kommandos make a good showing, but ultimately in the context of the rest of the army, the Lootas are what really win out in a number of competitive builds – simply because they can reliably put down skimmers at very long range. It’s a fact of the Meta-game that you need to be able to glance at least 3 Falcons/Hammerheads per turn reliably. These Boyz give you that option and nothing else in the list can replicate that.

This is not to say the other units aren’t fun. In terms of character and fun, the choices in the Elites section is one of the best in the dex! When playing friendly games, there is no reason to ignore Meganobz in a Trukk or maybe even go nuts and put down a mob of Bike Nobz with a Painboy. And either unit can be Troops if you take a Warboss!

That is what makes the Ork dex so successful. If you want to be competitive at a tournament, you can. But if you want a crazy fun choice with a lot of Character, there is a wealth of options you can take. Just don’t expect them to do well in a very competitive environment.

I have to speak up having been an ork player.. having access to feel no pain may end up making nobs and flash gits actually useful.

since they can't save worth well anything having a 4+ to ignore that wound would save your mobbage from dying by the handfuls.

also Big choppas aren't exactly terrible now that they strike at initiative speed. the extra strength is helpful but not enough to cause instant death on most units

NaZ

Eh, I don't know about that. All it means is that FNP Nobz and FGs will be competing for AT fire instead of AP fire. Good if you're fielding lots of BWagons/Dreads/etc., not so useful if you're running a foot horde.

you would have to combine the nobz with the painboss AND cybork bodies for any decent success. invul 5+ then FNP if it really comes to that. cheaper than a mek with KFF and the idea of getting double saves against mass incoming fire seems like a good idea

NaZ

Something I have been looking at recently has been the Grabbin' Klaw. because of its enormous potetnial, against Falcons (the only thing that has) I would like to draw your attention to the wording. The klaw has a range of 2". Now as drawing range from the weapon is normal for vehicles this shouldnt normally be an issue. However 2" is rather short, put the Klaw on top of a battlewagon and it wont even reach the sides.

So I see arguement arising from players claiming that its 2" reach from the vehicle itself (quite reasonable) or equally reasonably mounting the klaw on a pivoting arm. Then how long can a pivotiong arm be before it is unfair. I can envisage a six inch long girder with the claw attached, on a casemate on the rear of a battlewagon. It wouldnt look odd. It will only give small clearance at the frunt, but by rotating around the sides and rear you could cover quite a ways.

As this is unregulated, I can see people using much longer booms to make 2" go a very long way, car aerials for instance. And if they dont then the plain fixed 2" klaw will reach little or nothing.