Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Orks in 6th Edition: Da Times they are a' Changin'



Hello Everyone,

General Chaos here with the State of the Waaagh! address. Assaults are dead! Well lets back that up, they are not dead but they took a big kick in the tail end for us Ork players. Multi-Assaults suffer losing that extra attack, getting Bolter shells in the face from overwatch can really hurt in assaults, and without some very specific movement and placement losing that all important Power Klaw Nob can be devastating. Makes me want to take my Choppa and go home. But us Orks are good at one thing besides Krumpin' ead' and that is we can adapt.



So everyone pretty much agrees that 6th edition is all about the movement phase and the shooting phase. The new wound allocation rules, rapid fire, snapfire, and overwatch spells that out. But that's actually good news cause Orks shooting is all about MOAR' DAKKA'! Here are some units that scream Mor' Dakka!

Shoota Boyz - A Mob of 30 Ork boyz with shootas and 3 Big Shootas can dump out 54 strength 4 and 9 strength 5 shots at 18" then charge or just stand there and let someone charge you and overwatch all that Dakka! Then even if they do get into you let them try shoving 30 Orks off an objective with the new fearless rules.

Lootas - These guys just got better in this edition all the way around. They can now move and still snap-fire. While I don't recommend this but, if you put a Mega-Armour Warboss in with them he'll pass his Slow and Purposeful rule onto the squad. Also am not in the MSU 5 man unit of Lootas. I like 15 of these guys. You want an answer to fliers? I give you 15 to 45 strength 7 shots with a 48" range.

Tankbustas - The new FAQ made these guys actually worth taking. You only have to fire at a vehicle if there is one in range and in line of sight otherwise you can fire where you want. 15 strength 8 rokkits are nothing to sneeze at.

Burna Boyz - While I don't really consider them in the Moar' Dakka category. I dare you to charge the Burna-wagon now. With the new overwatch rules your gunna have D3 x 15 hits coming your way.

Dakka-Jet - This things Epic. A flier with 9 twin-linked strength 6 shots at BS 3. That on a Waaagh! gets 18 shots! Yes please. Make sure you take the Fighter Ace upgrade so you can shoot your opponents Fliers at BS 3 also. Go get three now. I've never took a Weirdboy before but having chances for multiple Waaagh! could be very appealing.

Deffkoptas - They got a nerfed and a buffed. The usual role was to get the first turn assault with a Buzzsaw or to outflank and assault some vehicles in the backfield. Well those days are gone. But what did we get? A solid toughness 5 so no more doubling out with strength 8 missiles. Jink gives them a chance to dodge the AP 3 missile launchers. And they can re-group if they fail leadership unless they are under 25% of the unit size. While a bit pricey, a unit of 5 with just the twin-linked Big Shootas can drop out 15 shots.

Looted Wagon with Boom Gun - One of my favorite units and they got much better. Taking them with Boomgun, two big shootas, and 'Ard Case is a steal for 125 points. We maybe not a steal but, man they are fun. Now that blasts are not half strength for anymore they can pound some transports. Remember they are Ordnance 1 so you can roll two dice and pick the highest. Orks throwing around AP 3 large blasts at 36" will make some MEQ's cry. Also with the new weapon destroyed results you have to randomly roll which weapon is destroyed. That gives that Boomgun more survivability.

Flashgitz -  The're Git Findas now give you ingore cover!...wait huh?... sorry they still suck.


Am sure I missing some and I apologize. This is really just my thoughts laid out on the direction my Orks are going in this new edition. I used to play Shooty Orks in 5th edition and did really well with them, so with a few tweaks  my Orks will be just as competitive or even more so in 6th, am thinking. I think the days of the Battlewagon rush are gone. The Kan Wall just isn't cutting it anymore. The new era is now dubbed

The Green Hide.

Your not gunna charge across the field anymore your gunna move to mid-field, set up camp on the objectives, and lay down MOAR' DAKKA!



16 comments:

  1. Man, yes, I was worried that when the edition changed, but WAAAAAAARGH! stayed the same that Orks were done (and I just got a hold of an Ork army last year!), but I think you are right. The guys with tons of shoota boys are going to be just fine and Ork dakka is plentiful.

    I may just have to make my ridiculously over the top looted wagon now.

    -Sorry about having to re-post your article BTW

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  2. Yup, shooty orks are scarier than ever.

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  3. Don't forget allies if you want more dakka, try some IG if you're into Blood Axes, very fluffy! You could get a squadron of Leman Russ :)

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  4. "Your not gunna charge across the field anymore your gunna move to mid-field, set up camp on the objectives, and lay down MOAR' DAKKA!"

    That's how I played my Orks in early 5th. Seemed to work.

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  5. Sorry, but Looted Wagons with a Boom Gun still suck. What, a Battle Cannon with a 36" range, crap BS and AV 11? Woo, good for you. Any real tank will laugh at it. 125 points for a closed-top and 2 big shootas? 35 more points and you get a Leman Russ with a hull Heavy flamer and a heavy stubber. Higher BS, more flexibility, a ton more range, and much, MUCH better armor.

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    1. and 30 Orks will walk over 30 Guardsmen? Apple to Orange comparison. I am an Ork purist so I would never ally to just get Leman Russes.

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    3. Fair enough, but it was an attempt to illustrate a point; a looted wagon boom gun platform is an inefficient way to do that sort of thing. Yes, Orks are the out-and-out best troops on a point-per-point basis, in a vaccuum. But Guard get blob squads, commissar lords, and orders that make them very, very good, well worth both their points and the points of the buffing models. Looted wagons don't have any mechanism to make up for their points inefficiency; a kustom force field helps with its armor, but it still has three other crap factors. As for what is better for Orks, Battlewagons to tote around your Boys are a better use of your Heavy slots. Killa Kans are also an excellent investment; lots of cheap vehicles that are still S:10 in melee, and have ROkkits with passable BS. A boom gun does what, anti-tank to an extent, and anti-infantry? Lootas do that too, and are very efficient at it. If you need something that can kill marines by some other mechanism than torrent, get you some Nobs or Mega Nobs.

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    4. Yes, you are right that looted wagons are point inefficient. Hence the reason I stated they are a fun unit that got a little better. But that aside, kanz just don't cut it anymore due to the reduction of the KFF , all Marines being able to krak grenade in assault and having only two hull points. Also battlewagons took a hit from again the KFF, getting hit on 3's in assaults, mass krak greenade attacks and the AP 1 and 2 bonuses to the damage chart. Like I stated Da times are changing.

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    5. However a reduction to the kustom force field's effects affects all vehicles, not just Kans and Wagons, so looted wagons suffered the same loss in usefulness. Likewise, vehicles being hit on 3+ hits all non-walkers. AP1 and 2 are no more effective than they were last edition; everything else just got worse; they are comparatively better, but will do no more damage than last edition. Vehicles do gain the benefit now, though, of easy-to-obtain cover, even if it is only 5+ now, meaning they can operate outside of a force field much more easily.

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    6. OK I might be off base here, but are you telling me that since all vehicles took a whack from the nerf bat that I should just keep doing what I have always been doing and just accept it? Hmm...

      I say Nuts!

      Yes the Looted Wagons would get the same cover save 5+ from a KFF as all the other vehicles. I won't be taking one because, like you said I can get the same cover saves from 25% cover. Secondly, all vehicles are getting hit on 3's that is correct except my Looted Wagon are not going to be getting hit on 3's. Because they will in the rear with the gear with a wall of angry Greenskins in between. They won't be charging forward well unless I roll 1's on Don't Press Dat! but for the most part they will use that 36" range to stay back.

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    7. Certainly not. High-AV vehicles(14-13) got buffed. They suffer far fewer damage results than your AV10-11 vehicles, so hull points are not that big of a deal. Rather than a hail of bolter fire and other middling strength shots, you'll likely suffer a few penetrating hits, which with a softer damage table will keep them in the game longer.

      36" is not the sort of range I would rely on to keep me out of assault. Fast units can close that distance in 2 turns, easily. It's not the 'park in a corner and pound away all game' sort of range. So, you have to sit directly behind your other units, and pray that something doesn't get around them, as well as pray that your blast doesn't scatter onto your own units, because your range necessitates that you aim at things relatively close to your own models. You're not fast enough to re-position while firing, and if you're not firing, your wasting more of that 125-point price tag.

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  6. If someone wants to skirt around my 120 Ork boyz to Assault my Looted Wagons I say thank you.

    You have to understand I play my Orks with an Ork mentality. When it comes to a tactical decision making I go with the Orky'est answer. Would a Ork not fire a extremely large, extremely loud cannon just because he "might" hit a few of his own boyz??? If you don't know the answer to that then you shouldn't be playing Orks. I have and will continue to take those shots all day long.

    Orks are far from a WAAC army and I play them because I love them. I stated before that the Looted Wagon is a fun model that got better. It's far from the most point efficient unit in the codex or in the game. I don't really care my list has two of them in it.

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    1. If you want to field 120 Ork Boyz, I will thank you for playing an incredibly rock-paper-scizzors army.
      Orks are... dumb. Really dumb. 'Playing with an Ork metality' is a personal attribute you might not want to vocalize.
      I don't mind at all that you're playing a theme list (and you would have to be if you're running 150+ boyz and 2 looted wagons), I simply think you're giving advice from a fluffy standpoint, not necessarily a competitive one. And that's fine, I enjoy playing themed lists (I do try and make them as killy as possible, though), I just didn't understand when reading the article that you weren't offering competitive insight.

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    2. Thanks for your input, I'll definatley consider your advice on list building.

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