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Thanks to IVEATCH for this.
Okay folks, off the top, this will not be a broad overview of all Ork units. This post is being made in two parts. Part One is geared to aid the opponents of Orks!
Why, as an Ork Player, do I want to wise up possible opponents? All one has to do is go to some of the Ork fluff which states "good enemies are hard to find!". The better and smarter you all play, the better I'll have to get.
Part One of this post will be geared to the Non-Ork player. But I reserve the right to give advise to my fellow Orks as well. I do not claim to be an Ork Shaman and know everything. Feel free to bust me on mistakes.
Part Two is geared towards Orks players. Kind of a "Famous pain in the a** 40K units I have known" section. It will be things that Ork players should be on the look out for. One can always "reverse engineer" the pointers given in both sections. Ork units that should be priority targets by Non Ork players are probably an effective unit for Ork players to have (or it wouldn't be a target)! Vice versa on Part Two, these may be units a Non Ork player might want to take.
A lot of what is written here is fairly common knowlegde to anyone that has faced Orks. No miracles here, hopefully just common sense.
This is the one mob (unit) of Orks that I am almost guarantied to make back at least the points I spent on them. It is not unusual for me to get back two and even three times the 179 points I spend on this 10 Ork mob. It is the most expensive point mob (based on number of Orks) that I have (I don't run a Warboss Retinue). What makes the Tankbustas so effective? Part of the answer lies in the fact that the primary targets of this unit are (as the name implies) tanks and vehicles. When these go, they add up quick. Best score in a single game came from taking down a Fully loaded LandRaider, Predator and a Dread in a City Fight campaign. I did not loose a single Tankbusta that game. This is, of course, the exception, not the rule. It does show just how deadly they can be and how much they can screw up a carefully designed plan of action for your game.
Strengths - Rokkits and lots of them. This mob of ten can take 3 Rokkits (yes I know, Orks don't win spelling bees). In addition almost every Tankbusta Mob I've ever seen takes a Nob that allows a fourth Rokkit to be carried. Now if this isn't bad enough the Orks have a wonderfully weird little piece of Wargear called an "Ammo Runt". No, this is not a name for ones younger brother or son. This is a small Grot (Goblin) that in 40K fluff is a slave/worker that the far larger Orks use (and abuse) at their pleasure.
One of the assigned tasks for the luckier Grots is that of being an Ammo Runt. This sure beats being used for mine clearance by running accross the mine field or (even worse) becoming emergency MREs (Meals - Ready to Eat) by the Orks! This Ammo Runt takes extra ammo and allows any Ork model (in base to base) to reroll a single missed shot! Since the Tankbusta Nob can take up to three of these little blithers, It can typically give at least one (if not two) turns of the Tankbustas getting at least three Rokkit hits on the target.
Add to this the special rule that states that Ork Tankbustas add +1 to all armour penetration rolls and not only do Hammerhead players start to worry but even Land Raider players look on with dread. One last kicker in the special rule for Tankbustas, the mob automatically passes all tank shock tests. Don't attempt a tank shock on this mob. You'll probably get at least two or more "tankbusta bombz" pinned to your vehicle. I won't go into the exact math but these little terrors can hit with an Amour Penetration of up to 18! Funny thing is I rarely if ever get to use these tankbusta bombz. Most players stay well away.
Weaknesses - What weakness could such a unit possibly have? Numbers, at a maximum mob size of ten, it is fragile by Ork standards. Orks automatically pass pinning/morale checks if they number 12 or greater (Ork Mob Rule). When they number 11 in the mob, then they can fail on a roll of two boxcars (6s). 10 Orks can fail on a roll of 11 or 12. You get the picture. Knock off a few tankbustas and the unit can quickly become in danger of breaking.
One of the changes of version 4 is the new ability to target units with shooting that are not the closet unit. Pass a leadership test and shoot through my Skarboyz mob to get to the Tankbusta unit behind the Skarboyz. Miss your leadership roll however and you end up shooting at nothing! This makes us Ork players realize that we are going to have to use terrain a lot more effectively if our expensive and useful Tankbustas are going to survive on the table top.
Use Frag missles, Submunitions, target and shoot through closer units. Do whatever it takes to bring these Tankbustas down!
Don't forget about the 20 strong mob of Skarboyz, or that Wartruk full of Trukboyz racing towards you however.
Zzap guns are ultra uber cool to an Ork player because they always hit! Very important when most Orks have a BS of 2. They can miss by "overheating" on rolls that, shall we say, are rather high when the strength of the hit is determined. Just to give an idea of just how nasty these are, they can potentially hit a vehicle (monoliths excepted) with a strength of up to 22 if the dice gods favor! They have a range typical of many Ork weapons at 24.0". I usually run the same take on all comers list. But in Bunker or objective missions I sometimes take the faithful Zzap.
When used in defense, there is little the Orks have that is worse to charge (by vehicles) then an entrenched Zzap Gun.
Strengths - Dead hard against vehicles and Dreadnoughts/Wraithlords etc. Can have a mek boy with the unit to repair "destroyed" guns and extra Grot gun Krew to give ablative armour to the gun by their presence. Hits on gun are split between the gun and gun krew.
Weaknesses - Can be attacked by swarms or lots of common troops. Since the Zzap is not a template that makes a big differance! Go ahead and Zzap a single Guardsman or Kroot each turn! See if you care!
Wartruks can be seen and used in many ways. Being used to transport a Warboss and his Retinue, Being used to transport a mob of ten Truckboyz and last, but not least, being used as a transport in a Kult of Speed (KOS) army. For some reason I appear to have misplaced my Armageddon Codex and I am a bit hazzy on the KOS details on Wartruk use in them. I do remember that Orks (unlike any other 40K army) can simply load back up into the nearest Wartruk and take off. They no not have to return to their original transports. The principle for all three Wartruk delivery systems is in essence the same. Get some big and nasty Ork things into your face right quick. With a range of 24.0 inches per turn (25.0" if painted some shade of red) they are wickedly fast. The entire idea behind the Wartruk is basically the same used in the "Rhino Rush" school of thought. Tie up units (preferably shooty ones) in combat straight away.
Strengths - Fast, very fast. Usually have something nasty inside. Favored method to get a 2+ armour save Mega Armoured Warboss into H2H real quick without the downside of potential slow movement from the Mega Armour (always moves like its in difficult terrain).
Weaknesses - New rumored rule about units that have their transport destroyed are considered "pinned" for a turn has some Ork KOS players feeling doomed. I don't think its that bad. They (Ork Kult of Speed players) will just have to use terrain more effectively and take and extra turn to get where they want.
Armour on a Wartruk is 10 all the way around. Use whatever ever you can to stop the Wartruk and make the Orks inside walk. This should give you a couple of turns to shoot up the truks occupants. Wartruks are not to be underestimated. 10 Ork models in the right place at the right time can be murder!
Stormboyz are one of the more expensive off the shelf Ork Mobz one can use. They cost about two thirds more then a regular Ork Slugga Boy. One does not get extra armour protection, still a 6 armour save. The armament is also still the same as a normal Slugga Boy, a Choppa and Slugga (both close combat weapons). They cannot take any heavy support weapons (unless you take a Nob, then you can take one two handed weapon and a single handed weapon). So what do you get for the extra points on this Elite unit? Jump packs. With a 12.0" jump and a six inch Assaultrange they can get accross a board fast. There is an Ork player named Steve C. at the LA Battlebunker, who is the master at timing when it comes to using his 12 Ork Stormboyz mob. He throws off my own attack timing everytime. So instead of me getting the one extra attack charge bonus, his own Orks get it because the unit I was just about to assault with has been "jumped" by his Stormboyz. Timing is the key in using stormboyz. Jump em out to soon and to far without any support and you'll loose them quicker then 1,2,3. Used properly and they can be a complication for ones Ork opponent at just the wrong (or right) time.
Strengths - Like any Jump pack troops, they are fast and can fly over terrain in unexpected directions. They have Choppas so ones maximum armour save against these Choppas is reduced to 4+. Choppas are rough on Terminators.
Weaknesses - Can be lost very quickly if sent in unsupported. When you see them you need to get something on them first turn. Most Stormboyz mobs are small due to the high points cost (high cost as is relative to Orks). Taking out even four/five of them can greatly reduce the effectiveness of the mob.
For those of you that happen to have a copy of Imperial Armour II, look on pages 32 and 33. Isn't it a beauty? Many dismiss the Grot Bomb Launcha (GBL) the minute they read "single shot only". I know I did. Even an Ork, I thought to myself, won't be stupid enough to go for that. I bought one of the Forgeworld models of the GBL, because it looked -- well -- cool. And since it was a shame to not actually use the model I had just bought, built and painted, I tried it. Genestealers, and lots of them were coming up the flank. They were just at the minimum range of the GBL (24.0").
I targeted the Genestealers. The small template hit and landed on two of the Genestealers! Now this is where it gets good, because with GBLs one can get greedy. This is because you are allowed one reroll of the scatter dice. You must accept the second result however. This represents the fact that the rokkit, which looks vaguely like a WW II V-1 Doodlebug, is piloted by a Grot. No machine spirit, no Spirit Stones, a Grot pure and simple. In the fluff it states that Imperial investigators have not yet determined if this one way mission duty is a reward or punishment for the Grot pilot. Probably a little of both no doubt. In any event I got greedy and rerolled and missed the whole lot! Blast! Of course the Genstealers wasted no time in roaring up to the now empty GBL. Rending claws and BOOOM, they blew it on a dice roll of five (open topped).
The resulting explosion took out eight Genestealers. I almost felt sorry for poor Dan (my opponent that game). At that point I was hooked. How Orky can one get?! I have used the Grot Bomb Launcha against Basilisks and Wirlwinds and it is deadly against both of these Ork Footslogger banes. With just one GBL I usually have roughy a 50/50 shot at either taking them out or damaging them in some way that renders them useless.
At 35 points apiece they are a bargain. I actually have four models of them now, but I only rarely run them all at once. To much beardy cheese in my humble opinion.
With a high strength rating and an AP of 3 they are Marine killers. Great on Devastator squads! They can knock some wind out of Scorpion squads as well. Last game I played I used them on the against my brother Orks (yes we fight amoungst ourselves often) and blew up the Mega Armoured Warboss's Wartruk and made him and his Mega Armoured Retinue walk. They never did make it into combat in that game.
Even after it has shot its one Rokkit, GBLs are far from useless. They can block line of sight, take table quarters, you can move them to within 6.0" of a unit that might break and not allow them to regroup (opposing unit within 6.0") and of course (my favorite) blow up in somebodies face. This last trick is only good once on each opponent (typically).
All in all, not bad for a one shot wonder. If your an Ork player, always take at least one (convert a wartrak if you must). If you are opposing Orks and get first shot, do not ignore these little Kamikazes!
Many Ork armies take what are refered to as "Looted " vehicles. In most cases the maximum number of looted vehicles that can be taken is one per force organization chart. The Leman Russ or Basilisk may have once been an Imperial tank or artillary piece. But after the Orks have completed "fixin" up the vehicle, it looks more like something out of the "Junkyard Wars" television program. A looted vehicle maintains all the stats from whatever army (Space Marines or Imperial Guard) it was looted from. The vehicle's BS is now 2 however (it is crewed by Orks after all). They also must roll a D6 at the beginning of each turn and see if anything wacky happens. On a roll of one, go to the Wacky chart and see the consequences of Ork maintenance and driving skill...
Even though it just may be dumb ol Orks in the vehicle, still treat that Demolisher, Hellhound, Predator with the same respect you would afford its Imperial counterpart. Its still just as dangerous!
A squad of up to ten Ork Lootas can also be taken for crew served heavy hand held weapons. They can take the weapons of a Davastator squad, Scout Squad, Imperial Anti-Tank Squad etc. These weapons are also just as deadly, even with the Ork BS of 2. Sniper Rifles with BS2 doesn't sound like a bit of a stretch however.
Strengths - All the strengths our their Imperial counterparts.
Weaknesses - Ditto.
Grot Mobz, this must be the funny and humorous portion of this report, No? No it isn't! How can that be? Grots are Strength 2, Toughness 2, etc. - etc.. Could it be any worse? Yes, if one was only allowed to have TWO grots in a Mob, you wouldn't be reading this right now. What makes them special is one can take 30 of them in a Mob. One of the main functions of a Grot Mob is to screen the Orks from fire. A "Grot Save" allows some hits that would normally hit the larger Orks behind the Grot Mob to be taken by the Grots instead. Better to loose a Grot then an Ork model.
There is another tactic that they can do. I call it the "Bucket O Grots". A perfect example is a Bloodthirster Daemon Vs. Grot Mob. Individually its no contest. Weapon Skill 9 Vs. 2, Strength 8 Vs. 2, 5 attacks Vs. 1. I won't even go on, it just gets worse. But all one has to do is a little math. How many Grots can a Bloodthirster kill in a single turn? Don't forget you can add an Ork Slaver and three Squigs (usually two Squighounds and an Attack Squig). This brings the total number in the mob to 34 models. All for around 133 points. How many points was that Bloodthirster again? And if left unaided, how many turns is it going to take to eliminate the Grot Mob? The Squighound models will help since they allow for a reroll of missed leadership (there is only one reroll allowed regardless of the number of Squighounds taken - I take two because one is a spare). Tough Mob to break with the reroll. If I can tie up that Bloodthirster for 4/5 turns I have more then likely effectively eliminated it as a factor in the game.
Strengths - Numbers numbers numbers.
Weakness - Take down the Ork Slaver somehow (template weapon?) and the entire Grot Mob goes to ground and vanishes! Gone, Kaput! Since the Slaver cannot be independantly targeted, this is tricky. The other option are large Ord templates. These can put a crimp in Grot Mobz real quick!
That which is listed above it not all the nasties in an Ork army. Little mention of Skarboyz, Burna Boyz, Slugga Boyz, Mega Armoured Warbosses, Warbikes, Wartraks, Fighta Bommas, Battle Wagons, etc. etc. etc.. Please refer to an excellent report by our Ork forum Mod, Kangaroo Joe for some details on many of these in his excellent report in this section! You can fine this here. A good read and highly recommended.
Banes of Orks that should immediately be hit with great loads of Dakka
Top of the list in my humble opinion is an easy one to make. The Eldar War Walker! One may ask how a high hatted Elf on stilts can get this rating as top bane of Orks. Its simple actually, give this little monster a pair of Scatter Lasers and have a Farsser cast a Runesight spell on a group of three such creations and suddenly one has to face a lot of dice from the wrong side! The Eldar scatter lasers number of hits are determined by rolling a D6. The math follows a deadly progression. Three War Walkers have six Scatter lasers. Six Scatter Lasers = 6 X D6 number of shots.
The average roll of to hit (18) will have about nine (half) that actually wound. With Runesight misses can be rerolled! So even an average roll from such a unit should get 13 to 14 wounds with a strength 6 weapon. This is just on an average roll. I have been on the receiving end of 32 Hits. My opponent rolled for 32 total hits and between the initial roll and the Runesight reroll, he got ALL 32 as wounds. The 6+ armour save on a 20 strong mob of Skarboyz didn't even slow the Eldar War Walkers down. The Mob was destroyed in one massive shot with wounds to spare. I imagine it would have looked like the final battle scene in the movie "Last Samurai" with the Old style Gattling Guns mowing down the Samurai Horsemen. Even actor Tom Cruise was only barely able to withstand such an attack due to his Hollywood good looks, connections and the fact that every women over 30 thinks he's "cute".
What do those of us without the good looks of Tom Cruise have to rely on to beat these degenerated sophisticates? Dakka! Grot Bombz, Kannon, Zzaps and Ork Rokkits can all take a War Walker on even from the heavily protected front. Lobbas and even Big Shootas are deadly from the sides and rear. Just Dakka da pants off of these Eldar and let everyone see that the rumor that they all wear thongs is true!
Oh Boy. Had a game that the folks at our local Games Workshop (GW) Battlebunker dreamt up. An HQ pick along with whatever Retinue we wanted to take. A 140 point Ork Warboss (with everything except Mega Armour) and Five decked out Nobs. Had a total of three Power Klaws in the group. There were four of us on the table. This game was to break a four way tie in League play. One player took only a single Daemon Prince armed with a Dread Axe. I moved towards the Daemon, planning to assault next turn. I soon realized the sheer magnitude of my error.
12.0" movement (wings), 6.0" assault and POW, six attacks. No armour saves, no invulnerable saves, no get out of jail free cards at all. All six models I had tabled gone in one fell swoop. Talk about a stupid Ork player. Fourtunately the owner of the Daemon Prince was gracious. How does one stop something like this I asked? Shooting he replied. He was afraid I was going to pop up around an intervening building and shoot first. I dumbly used it as cover against a third player and blocked my own line of sight to the Daemon Prince in the shooting phase.
I have taken Ryan's advice ever since for the Daemon Prince. When they finally appear I target every gun, rokkit etc. that I can spare on them. Whatever one shoots at a War Walker(s) double that for a Daemon Princ/Chaos Lord! While you don't want to loose sight of your objective in the game its important to keep this beastie at arms length!
Another tactic that you might want to use is the "Bucket O Grots" attack (see Grot Mobz above) and attempt to tie up the Daemon and eliminate it as a factor in the game that way. Save your Dakka for other things.
*Recent update. Courtsey Grot is right. A full 20 strong mob of my Skarboyz jumped an Iron Warriors Daemon Prince in a game tonight (8-26-04) and wiped it out!. Only lost six Skarboyz in the process. Too many choppas, to many 4+ max armour saves.
Our Mod here at the "Orks" section of the board (Kangaroo Joe) highly recommended adding Devastator Squads to the list of potential Ork woes. I wholeheartedly concure. Devastator Squads (and their Chaos counterparts, Havocs) are definately a good enemy due to all the darned heavy weapons they can take. Plasma Cannons, Auto cannons, Lascannons, Missile Launchers, Multi Meltas and Heavy Bolters can by taken by Space Marines in quantities up to four (total). The list for Chaos Havoc squads is similiar, no full sized Plasma Cannons or Multi-meltas however, they get smaller versions of these weapons. The long range high strength doom these things can drop on our Boyz receding brows is not to be dismissed. Especially the Frag Missile and Plasma Cannons blast templates. Four Plasma Cannon blast templates can do a number on an Ork Mob real quick.
The Davastator squad is a prime candidate for a rush by a Ork Wartruk or Warbikes. It is important to get the Devasator Squad into H2H as soon as possible. This changes them from highly effective shooters to just a run of the mill Space Marine unit in Hand to Hand. A Wartruk and/or Warbikes unit probably won't last more then a turn or two. But this is a critical one or two rounds of shooting that this potentailly expensive unit won't get.
There is another tactic that has a chance of working as well. The logic is simple, blast template thy enemy before he blast templates thee. The Grot Bomb Launcha (GBL for short), is the Ork answer. Its a Non-Looted Ork weapon that doesn't have the potential for suddenly lurching off in a random direction like the heavy hitting Looted Leman Russ or Looted Basilisk. Since many players minimalize the number of Space Marines in a Davastator squad to save points, one or two GBLs should do nicely. There is justice in the world when one can place a blast template square on four plasma cannon wielding models!
The Devastator/Havoc Squad does share one weakness that Ork Tankbustas have. At 10 Space/Chaos Marines max, the unit can be cut down to size in short order if the right weapons are used. They are still Space Marines however!
Ordnance blasts can be devastating. They HAVE caught me with my Ork pants flapping in the breeze and wiped out a slug of Orks. I will do something I normally don't do. Claim that these examples of "Pie Plates of Doom" as we affectionately call the 5.0" diameter template, are over-rated! Ork Kustom Force Fields (KFF) can negate one third of all the hits taken by a "Pie plate". By the time one adds in the scatter dice factor they really don't do as much damage as one would think in my humble opinion. The only reason I include it here is because there are those that disagree with my low opinion of Ordnance templates.
One amazingly good counter to the Basilisk/Wirlwind threat is the Grot Bomb Launcha (GBL). Do I like GBLs or what? While not a universal answer to every Ork Bane, they actually come close!
Epilog: I will be shown a print out off this part by one of my scumgrod* friends as I'm pulling 10 Ork models from the board after being Autocannoned by a Leman Russ!
*good gaming buddy
Courtesy Grot raises a very good point in his own reports (written on this board about the threat of "defeat by the common" hand held weapons that are often used in large numbers. These are tough on Orks. One key move is to minimize interlocking fields of fire by attacking a flank whenever possible. The "Wartrak Rumble" is a perfect example of this tactic and is illustrated on page 20 of the current Ork Codex. It is a simple and thus very Orky tactic! Flank on one side, use cover to go up the middle.
Orks hate no see ums! It is sooooo- unOrky. The Ork logic is simple. "How can anybodyz gets credit fer clobberin' sumfing if nobody sees ya doing it?" Tau Stealth Suits rate high on the Ork "No See ums" hate list. They are nasty units when used by bouncing them back and forth into cover. Big assault 3 weapons with a strength and AP (Armour Penetration) that match our own Big Shootas! Not bad at all. I make it a point to shoot the Stealths with my own Big Shootas even though the Stealths have slipped back into cover. They are tough units to crack. I have no advise other then the usual, take one Grot Bomb Launcha and call me in the morning.
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| Comment made by SkullzD on 14:19:34, 23 November 2007 |
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| I\'m Sending this message from behalf of Ethereal Audin\'ko and he\'s asking you, the great tactician who wrote this, to join the greater good. Such brain shouldn\'t be spoiled at Orks, but used for the unifying purpose of the greater good. Join us! |
| Comment made by luminorne on 10:47:13, 28 August 2007 |
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| haha thanks! well now i think ill finally be able to stand up to and ork horde !!! great article very detialed |
| Comment made by BobTD on 10:27:20, 7 May 2007 |
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| Thats a lot of very interesting reading.Thanks. |
| Comment made by Mitch: the noob on 22:06:38, 11 November 2006 |
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| wow, very very nice job. lol dont you feel better after giving all that info to the greather good? i swear that still sounds like a really bad charity to me... |
