Tactica Flash Gitz – by Stormfizzle, Bad Moon Warboss

How awesome are Flash Gitz? Flash Gitz are expensive, come without extra close combat upgrades, lack leadership options other than a special character upgrade, suffer from weak ork ballistic skill and have a variable armour piercing value. Most players compare them to Lootas or Shoota boyz and conclude that their points are better spent elsewhere. But wait, this is where the real comparison begins.

• Mobility. Much like Eldar Wraithguard, it is often better to think of Flash Gitz as a squadron of mini-vehicles rather than infantry. Like a battle tank, they are a heavy support choice with a comparable points cost. Since the Snazzgun is an assault weapon, the Gitz can move 6” and fire like a tank, but a full Flash Gitz unit can pump out enough to firepower to land an average six hits per turn. Few tanks can match that output on the move. With an effective 30” range while moving, the Flash Gitz can keep pace with the main ork assault line while pouring fire into an enemy unit of choice. In contrast, Lootas with their heavy weapons are a static unit. Once deployed, Lootas are limited to targets in their field of fire and they are unable to redeploy effectively. Meanwhile the rest of the ork army will be moving towards the enemy, leaving the Loota unit alone and vulnerable. Flash Gitz mobility and range gives them greater opportunity to cause damage.
• Killing Power. Flash Gitz’s More Dakka and Shootier upgrades are mandatory. Considering overheating casualties, Blastas will only earn their points if you know you will be facing an enemy with above average armour – and you will require the ammo runts to reduce the damage you take, making it an even more expensive upgrade. On average, a full Flash Gitz mob will land six S6 hits per turn. Even with their variable penetrating power, they can kill more models per turn than other ork unit choices. To match their killing power, other units like Shoota Boyz and Lootas require twice as many models at a comparable points cost. Where Flash Gitz hold an extra advantage is that they are better able to concentrate their firepower than an unwieldy horde or a static unit with heavy weapons. In short, excepting Deffkoptas the Flash Gitz are more mobile and better able to concentrate fire than any other unit in the Codex.
• Anti-Elite Specialists. If used as anti-infantry firepower, Flash Gitz will never earn their points value in the average match. But a Space Marine player wouldn’t use his Landraider’s lascannons to kill Termagaunts either. Flash Gitz are anti-elite specialists. To be most efficient, they must deploy with care and focus fire on high value targets such as elite troops, monstrous creatures, light squadrons or medium armour. This is why the Shootier upgrade is mandatory since it provides that added chance of taking down a high-toughness opponent or the ability to glance an armour value of 12. It also gives the ability to inflict ‘Instant Death’ on expensive T3 targets like Eldar HQ models. When you consider that Flash Gitz can bring down a 250-point Trygon in two rounds, or potentially deal multiple penetrating hits to a 200-point squadron of war walkers or land speeders in a single round, they start earning their points very quickly.

As an even more poignant example, compare the Flash Gitz to Space Marine Sternguard Veterans with vengeance rounds. On average, Flash Gitz will kill the same number of Chaos Marines per turn as the Sternguard. Only when they get into rapid fire range do the Space Marines outperform them. With the advantage of an additional 6” range, however, Flash Gitz are likely getting an extra round of shooting in. This high rate of fire makes all the difference since odds are that in a tit-for-tat firefight, there won’t be anything left of the Space Marines when they get into rapid fire range for one reason: ork resilience.

• Resilience. While one may argue with their shooting ability, you cannot argue against Flash Gitz resilience. With the mandatory addition of a Painboy, Flash Gitz can absorb a tremendous amount of firepower – almost as well as Terminator armour. Tanks can be taken out with a single shot, whereas the Gitz require concentrated anti-tank firepower to even cause a panic test. Of course, anti-armour capacity can punch holes through your Gitz just like it can Terminators, but odds are that if your enemy is wasting his missiles on your Gitz, than your close combat specialists in transports are advancing unopposed. Depending on the content of your army, the threat of anti-armour weapons can be further reduced by adding cybork upgrades. Consider that your Gitz can earn their points value without killing the enemy simply by absorbing fire that other orks cannot survive. It takes approximately sixteen S4 hits to kill a single Flash Git. Those who ignore math beware; that means a dozen Space Marines rapid firing into the Gitz might kill one model. With the same attack, those same dozen Space Marines would kill 8 Lootas worth 120 points and have an even chance to panic the unit. Flash Gitz resilience decreases the likelihood that you will take panic tests, and decreases the rate which your army is being killed off. These are crucial advantages that win games.
• Nob Muscle. Orks are a close combat army and Flash Gitz are no exception. With their Snazzguns, a full mob can shoot 18 S6 shots and then hammer a target unit with forty S5 attacks in an assault. Even without Power Klaws, nob muscle will eventually wear down most units and light vehicles. Flash Gitz will not survive against a dedicated close combat unit with anti-armour weapons, but it will take an average of sixteen S4 hits or twenty-four S3 hits to kill a single model in close combat. Depending on the content of the rest of your army, the addition of cybork upgrades can increase the unit’s resilience against close-combat opponents, but to be viable the unit will need a power-klaw armed character to boost your close combat damage. In the early game to mid-game, you will want to avoid having your Flash Gitz bogged down too early in combat, but in the late game a timely assault can wipe out enemy units weakened by other orks or turn the tide in a prolonged melee. That said, do remember that Flash Gitz are not Meganobz. They are a heavy support unit and should be used as such.
• Field Tactics. Given their cost, one should take care not to over invest in other expensive heavy support choices if you take a full Flash Gitz unit. Think of them as a tank and you won’t go far wrong. In support of a horde force, using the Flash Gitz in the centre of your battle line maximizes their field of fire, but using the unit to anchor one of your flanks is often the best option. Since they are support troops, try to ensure that you have boyz or walkers close by to interdict dedicated close combat troops attempting to close with your Gitz. In a mechanized force, Battlewagon-riding Flash Gitz with killkannons and supported by trukk boyz or a heavy mob of Nobz can make for a compact, but hard-hitting force worthy of any Bad Moon Warboss. In any army, having a Mek with a kustom force field nearby will provide your Gitz with 30% invulnerability to anti-tank weaponry, and is often a better investment than paying 50 points for cybork upgrades.

In short, Flash Gitz are by no means the best unit in the ork codex. If their weapons were twin-linked, they would be much more dangerous. When used appropriately, however, they can be a powerful addition to an ork army. Applying these tactics on the battlefield will convince any ork player of Flash Gitz uses. Your opponent will also often be surprised to see them, and even more surprised when they tear through his army.