I’m Back to WAAAGH! In 6th Edition

… Maybe. I’m going to try to get back into posting regularly, but no promises.

Anyways, to start everything off I thought I’d give my once-over opinion of Ork models in 6th Edition. (I’m going to go over standard choices first, then mention Special Characters at the end.)

HQ Choices:

Warboss. Ah, the Warboss. Lovely, just as deadly as always, and if you gear him up he’s the badass he’s always been. You can’t stick him at the front of squads anymore or he’ll take a ton of shots and die, though. The Biker Boss got an even better buff though, because at T6 he’s now immune to instant death unless you are facing Force weapons or Bonesabers. (Or Destroyer weapons, in Apocalypse games.)

Big Mek: Another HQ choice that stayed effective. The Kustom Force field is marginally weaker, but about half your games (More, if you roll on Command Traits and roll 2’s,) are going to start on nightfighting… Meaning 3+ cover for your vehicles and 2+ for your boys. The Shokk Attack gun also got buffed marginally, because you don’t need the hole of the blast weapon to be over vehicles to be at full strength anymore. That means one blast weapon is now far better at taking out vehicle squadrons. Nice!

Weirdboy: Still… rather mediocre. Fun, fluffy, but worthless. If the Warphead got to be Mastery Level 2 and use 2 powers, he’d be far more effective, (Maybe even roll 3 dice and pick the two you want? Eh? That’d be awesome,) but right now he’s not a good choice for much of anything… Especially with Deny The Witch giving a 6+ to resist all your shooting attacks with him.

Elites:

Nobs. Well, wound shenanigans are more difficult now (Especially since they were FAQ’ed and no longer count as characters… Oh well.) A standard squad is marginally useful, but I’d never run them. They are only so tough, and decent firepower can take them down even in a vehicle. Besides, they chew up your Elites slots… Slots you will want to use for other things like:

Nob Bikers. These guys are freaking badass. Only vulnerable to S10 instant death, which means they will always at minimum be getting two 5+ saves (5+ invuln and 5+ FNP,) or else they’ll be getting a 4+ 5+ (4+ cover or armor) or even better, a 2+ or 3+ cover if it’s nightfighting. Add their massive durability to their massive killyness, and the fact that A WARBOSS MAKES THEM TROOPS, and you’ve got an incredibly (expensive) powerful unit only killable by the most overpowered and dedicated close combat units. (Cough*GreyKnightsSuck*Cough.)

Meganobz. Another unit buffed by 6th edition. Now only a small number of power weapons make it through their 2+ armor, so they will be saving a lot more wounds. Space marine captains with power swords are no longer a bother. Throw them in a battlewagon and charge forward, nothing can kill you. (Or… Very few things can kill you.)

Kommandos: Screw you, Matt Ward! You can no longer assault when you outflank, turning these guys into tiny squad, expensive boys that will get shot to death before they can do anything.

Tankbustas: Still fairly mediocre, in my opinion. They do get lots of rokkits, but they still have mediocre BS and aren’t any tougher than normal boys. Add that to the fact that they’re going to be running in circles and have to get in the open to get into range, you don’t have the best guys ever. (They do have awesome models, though.)

Lootas: Here we get back to awesome units. Overwatch means they are far less vulnerable to assault, their massive number of shots makes them great AA, and with building emplacements you can always guarantee that they will get a good cover save.

Burnas: I LOVE BURNAS. In an open topped vehicle, there’s literally no squad that seven or eight of them can’t kill. Consistently getting 60+ wounds on any unit they shoot at, they’re equally good in combat. What’s that, you say? You blew up my tank and now you’re assaulting me? Oh, let me just take my twenty or so Overwatch auto hits.

Troops:

Ork Boys: Bread and butter of the Ork Army. Shoota Boys are now awesome with Overwatch, no longer leaving us vulnerable to being assaulted by tough units. Back in 5th, if you got assaulted you lost. In 6th, now, if you get assaulted they take a bunch of wounds and THEN fight you, so you’ve got a higher chance of winning. Slugga boys are still good, but only if you can guarantee first strike. In a trukk or battlewagon, I’d take sluggas, but on foot go shootas all the way.

Grots: I never liked grots, but in 6th that might change a bit. They still suck on their own, but they function as fairly good assault shields… Or you stick them in a Fortress of Redemption with all the guns you can fit, and you’ve suddenly got BS3 efficient firing… Something really rare for orks.

Dedicated Transports:

Trukks. Sucky, as always, but less vulnerable to single heavy shots. (And do you really expect awesomeness for 35 points? For the price they are great.) Massed fire takes them down as consistently as ever, if not more consistently, but a single Lascannon or Multi Melta is now somewhat less effective at getting first turn death.

Fast Attack:

Stormboyz: Dey’z be the shiznitz now. Hammer of Wrath basically gives a free extra attack… Albiet at strength three, but still. You hit before everything with it. Add that with a potential range of 30″ assault, and you’ve got a recipe for first turn assaults.

Warbuggies: Meh. Still fragile, only more so due to hull points… Deffkoptas are better.

Deffkoptas: Fun! You no longer get to make 24″ movement on turn one and get 3+ cover, but getting a 5+ cover is almost guaranteed with them now, even if you fire your rokkits. Less awesome than they used to be… But they also occasionally are really awesome. (Once, someone attempted to assault a single deffkopta with a Hellbrute that was facing the wrong way. I rolled a 6 to hit, due to twin linked and sweet, sweet re-rolls… Penetrated, and immobilized him with his rear armor exposed to my entire army.)

Biker Boyz: Oh, sweet sweet T5 amazingness. Hammer of Wrath benefits them too, and with everything they are really cool. The problem is, it costs a hundred and sixty bucks to get a full sized squad… Not exactly IRL cost effective.

Dakkajets: The Ork Answer to killing flyers. Every time I bring them in, I’ve never failed to blow up at least its point value worth of models in one turn. The only weakness is AV10 all around, but hey. It’s a cheap-as-heck ork flyer. What did you expect?

Other Ork Flyers: I haven’t played with them, but they look… Decent. But considering how amazing everything else in the Fast Attack section is, do you really want to chew up your slots with just decent stuff?

Heavy Support:

Battlewagons: Certainly not improved by 6th Edition, but they weren’t hurt either. Deff Rollas are still the best Anti-Tank in the game, if you can get close enough. When ramming with them, I’ve never failed to blow up my target, or at least wreck it. For me, at least one Battlewagon full of something killy is a must-take no matter my list.

Deff Dreads: Fun. Not super deadly, but fun. They are cheap enough that it’s not a huge investment, but they take up prized Heavy Support slots. I’d take one if I had a mek in my army and a spare Troops slot, but otherwise these guys will stay on the shelf and look cool.

Killa Kans: Somewhat nerfed by Hull Point rules, but not overtly so. At least immobilization no longer outright kills them, though. Personal Opinion rules here on whether or not you want to take it.

Flash Gits: Still suck completely. Seriously, screw these guys. They’re worse than Sisters of Battle.

Artillery: I’ve never seen the point of artillery. Sure, it’s not too expensive and it provides decent supporting fire, but there are better ways to get supporting fire and they cause more damage. Lobbas are okay, what with Barrage, but there are already too many things in Ork armies to take down light troops. Kannons are all purpose, but with only 3 shots and BS3 they aren’t going to be hitting too much. Zzap guns, while cool, are too random to be trusted or used for anything more than looking neat.

Looted Wagons: Depending on the situation, these guys are fun but not required. As a cheap transport for Burnas, for example, it’s a fine choice. It also is a good choice for support fire, though a bit fragile for my tastes.

(Author’s Note: With the First Blood rule active in nearly every mission type, I despise anything fragile that might cost me that victory point. If it’s fragile, it better not be on the board until I get first blood.)

Special Characters:

Ghazkull Thraka: Beast. That’s what he is. With somewhat different Fleet rules, he now guarantees you’ll get a minimum of 7″ assault, or a maximum of 12″. (You roll 2D6 for charging and replace one of the rolls with an automatic 6.) Combine that with his utter awesomeness in combat, and you’ve essentially got a point-and-kill weapon that will destroy anything on the board… Until his 2+ invuln wears off. Still, quite possible The Best close combat monster in 40K. Watch Matt Ward turn him into a snivveling grot in the codex update…

Wazdakka: Only useful if you want to take an all Warbiker army. Admittedly I’d LOVE to take an all biker army. Problem, though, is that I’m not a millionaire and as such can’t afford an all biker army.

Mad Dok Grotsnik: When I first read the new rulebook, I mistakenly remembered Mad Dok Grotsnik as having the Rage special rule and whooped for joy. Then I remembered that he merely had a functional equivalent to Rage and that its rules didn’t change… He’s still good, but with his FNP only 5+ now, he’s not quite as good as he used to be.

Old Zogwort: About as effective as you’d expect a souped up Weirdboy to be… That is, not so much. Very occasionally, your opponent will hilariously turn into a squig, and if he gets his attacks off then he’s pretty deadly, but he’s not all to sturdy and will die pretty easily.

Snikrot: Once the boss of all stealth units, he’s now utterly worthless with the new outflank rules.

Zagstruk: No more or less effective than he used to be, though as a Jump unit received a slight buff due to the slight buff to jump units.

Badrukk: As deadly as a souped up Flash Git. In other words, costly and worthless.