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Last month a bought a Morkanaut, not because it was powerful but because it fit the theme of my Mork worshipping clan. I'm happy with it and glad I bought it but I can't help but feel GW paid no attention to their points and kinda just threw it together.
Things than concern me or confuse me/ things that I would like an open discussion on this thread. (this thread I think is more showing why PL are kinda flawed rather than hating on any unit or faction)

1. Points cost/ power level
The Mork is worth a total of 354 points (with KFF 374 because why wouldn't you take it?) yet the Gork costs 364.
This kind of makes no sense to me and feels like GW screwed up a little because their Power Levels the mork costs more (mork is 18 gork is 19) So even without the KFF, it feels like there should be a bigger difference than 10 points. (but with PL the ad dons are free so it would actually cost more points to field it... again confuses me).

2. Attacks
For an extra 10 points or -10 points with KFF the Gork also gets an extra 2 attacks (an extra 6 with smash). Again, an extra 6 for only 10pts feels weird to me. And it could cost you more (and if you play Mork like it should be played will cost you more) to lose attacks for a 5++. So basically, if you play by points you are paying for the invuln save but if you are playing PL you are paying for extra attacks becuase the Invuln saves cost less? (let me make this clear... for PL it costs more to have the 6 attacks but you get the 5++ Yet, for points it costs less to have the 6 attacks but you get the 5++). And then at that point you might as well play by PTS and get a Big Mek as your HQ (which you probably will) and just put him in for the 5++ and repairs.
I wouldn't be complaining (paying for more attacks to get no 5++ is fine) if it wasn't for the flip flop between PTS and PL!

3. Knight alternative.
I could be wrong here but the cheapest knight "Knight Gallant" is a total of 389 pts (at basic equipment) but 21PL. now this also confuses me. Because at the basic morks and gorks the model is only really 20-10pts in difference (yet it makes sense why the PL would be so different because of upgrades). Now it gets less attacks than a gork but the same as a mork, and also gets a 5++ save against range (so now it's only about 10pts difference with KFF). Yet for 15pts in CC (which I though was the whole point of orks in this edition) gets 6 more wounds and a flat 6 damage (while Mork gets D6 damage with basically the same stats). There are a few more bonuses more I won't go into. So now we are talking a fair balance when we use PL but an unfair advantage for only 15pts more.
Now we could argue that the points difference is fair in ranged attacks because the Mork has a heavy D6 S8.. ect... but a D6 is not reliable, it has BS 5+ and on a 1 (for two of its own weapons) you take a mortal wound. So at this point I'd be happy to just have 3 reliable shots I know are likely to hit and not do damage to myself.
Finally, if we did use PL we would equip the knight with better weapons that would equal the amount of output the Mork had yet at a 3+ BS.

I hope my arguments made sense to someone and wasn't just a ramble. I'm not saying the Knight is OP or the Mork/Gork are unbalanced (although for their points I do think the Mork is a bit weak) but what I can say is the PL and Pts differences and how they laid it all out really does confuse me. They are so different and can actually change a game if you use either one. Again, I do love my Mork for the look of it and the funny randomness it can bring to the battle. But I (and others from other factions) can't help but feel GW rushed some parts or skimmed over others.

If your talking about how competitive a unit is, never ever consider it's PL. PL games are not competitive games and you shouldn't be trying to make competitive lists for PL games. PL games are for people who don't have time to make points lists or are too new to the game to be thinking about points so instead you just take what you have at the given PL and play WYSIWYG with whatever you have on you, with no consideration as to whether what you have with you is competitive.

Now when we are talking about the Knight vs the two Naughts, the Knight is far more expensive: a properly kitted out knight is 400+pts, which I think is fair. You pay another 100pts for better ranged capabilities and 6 more wounds.

On Mork vs Gork --

It's +2A, deffstorm, and skorcha versus KMB, KMK, and KFF.

Gorkanaut is better at killing weaker numberous units. Morkanaut is better at killing tougher ones and staying alive from anti-tank fire.

I'd say it's a pretty reasonable wash.

I could be wrong here but the cheapest knight "Knight Gallant" is a total of 389 pts (at basic equipment) but 21PL

PL is the *average* of all upgrades, so basic equipment in no way represents PL.

What I'm trying to say throughout is how the PL is broken... to say GW has shoved it down our faces it has so many flaws! We, as customers, shouldn't stand for this.

 lolman1c wrote:
What I'm trying to say throughout is how the PL is broken... to say GW has shoved it down our faces it has so many flaws! We, as customers, shouldn't stand for this.

But to say PLs are broken is to, once again, talk about PL games in a competitive manner. PL games are not competitive! They are not games where who wins matters, they are only there for new players and people who need to very quickly put a list together to play a friendly game. If you want to play competitive games where it does matter that the IK is balanced against the Morkanaught, go play matched play with points! That's what they're there for!

PL is also for people who don't care enough about balance or whop throw in whacky scenario rules so balance is out the window anyway.

Seriously, you're all underestimating it. Pl has already taken over in my gaming club and nobody has played pts games since. Maybe this is why I'm taking this issue more seriously. We cannot just say "meh, pl isn't competitive" and then move on. We need to sort out issues to make the game fair and fun.

 lolman1c wrote:
Seriously, you're all underestimating it. Pl has already taken over in my gaming club and nobody has played pts games since. Maybe this is why I'm taking this issue more seriously. We cannot just say "meh, pl isn't competitive" and then move on. We need to sort out issues to make the game fair and fun.

The problem here is not PL, it's that people (like your club) are playing with power in their regular games rather than points. There is no reason to play with power if you don't have to because points games are the ones that are balanced for gaming between players that have played the game before.

Tell your club that you aren't meant to play PL games because they lack as much balance as points games. I don't understand why people are seeing power as the new way to play, in our gaming group we immediately saw the reasoning behind power and said that we'd only ever play points games unless we had a very good reason for playing power, i.e. someone who had never played before wanted a game.

(In short, stop complaining that power isn't balanced enough in your games when points are still here. Tell your local gamers this and then request that they only play points games with you)

Morkanauts are trash, unfortunately I own one for the same reason you do. I have a giant Walker army that is basically useless. 1 Morkanaut, 2 Dreadz and 12 Kanz. I really want to get a MekaDread as well.

In any competitive game you should avoid Walkers entirely but if you want to take one I would recommend the gorkanaut because its dakka is actually BETTER then the Morkanaut.

 lolman1c wrote:
Seriously, you're all underestimating it. Pl has already taken over in my gaming club and nobody has played pts games since. Maybe this is why I'm taking this issue more seriously. We cannot just say "meh, pl isn't competitive" and then move on. We need to sort out issues to make the game fair and fun.

To reiterate the point, yeah, it's an issue of your game store instead of an issue of the exsistence of PL. If it can even be called an issue. The people at your store seem to prefer playing that way.
I haven't played with Power Level at all in 8th edition. And as far as I know at the FLGS I go to, there's only one or two matches using Power Level rather than points. And that was to try out Narrative Scenarios and missions... What the actual, intended use of Power Level in 'real games' was for. Are the people in your store playing Power Level with the Maelstrom and other non-narrative Mission types?

SemperMortis wrote:
Morkanauts are trash, unfortunately I own one for the same reason you do. I have a giant Walker army that is basically useless. 1 Morkanaut, 2 Dreadz and 12 Kanz. I really want to get a MekaDread as well.

In any competitive game you should avoid Walkers entirely but if you want to take one I would recommend the gorkanaut because its dakka is actually BETTER then the Morkanaut.

Yeah faced a mix of dreadz and kans Tuesday I slaughtered them with my wolves pretty easily.

Big guns were also less than impressive.

I've found the meka-dread to be straight superior to the Morkanaut as a KFF-giver, my gorkanaut has been better for me primarily because as you said the extra attacks are nice. Of course, the BM with KFF is also our bread and butter because A, he's fast, B, character rule, and C, gets us a Command Point for each one we buy basically (assuming you just bring more Spearhead detachments).

As for a walker army being crap - I have not been seeing it. I've always loved my ork machines, and this edition my walker army has been pretty dang sweet so far. The secret is waaagh banners, and smart strategic placement of KFFs. Waaagh banners make everything better. Also if you want to run a big blob of Kanz, which is definitely advisable as they are awesome properly suppported and armed with rokkits, you need a warboss for the Keepin' Order rule.