[Thoughts of a Herb] Speedy Orks - Fast Attack

OK... but what do they use as an axe?

OK guys sorry for the belated continuation of the Ork series, I got a bit absorbed in Malifaux. But that's neither here nor there, the point is I've been told to continue it after Zagblitz 'persuaded' me. Just give me a moment until me head stops spinning...

...

OK, lets go!

STORMBOYZ
These guys are basically normal orks with jump packs. But not just any jump packs... these are ORK jump packs! So, what these specially Orky jump packs do is give you an extra D6" movement! But, in true Orky know-wat fashion, on the role of a 1 one of the Stormboyz packs explodes and the above Stormboy is knocked on the head.

This means a squad of Stormboys is potentially faster than any other jump infanty squad (except maybe Interceptors), and even though the Stormboyz can suffer for it, you'll probably only lose one or two boyz a game, so it's not all bad.

Anyway, options. No dedicated transports, obviously. No options for heavy weapons either, which is a bit of a pain, but it's bearable. What options they DO have is the standard Nob leader, same as the normal Boyz squad.

The mob is 5-20 Stormboyz at 12 points each, so even a basic squad is over 70 points, and you'll want the full 20 for survivability, rocking in at 240 WITHOUT upgrades (what upgrades there are anyway).

However, they have a threat radius of 19"-24" (12" normal move, D6" Rokkit packs, 6" assault) and even though they can't get fleet from a Waaagh, they don't need it. Hide these guys behind cover, and wait fro the enemy unit that slips through the mass of assaulting boyz to get close. Then pounce out and smash them 'til kingdom come.

There is a different strategy, but this requires someone special...

ZAGSTRUK
Yeah, he's badass and you know it.He replaces the Nob in the warband, but he has higher WS and Ld, a 4+ save and one more Attack. He has Stikkbombs, Cybork Body, and Da Vulcha's Klaws. What these do is on the turn he charges, he counts as having a powerfist that strikes in Initiative order. That is huge against something like Terminators. Charge in, 5 hits at the Furious Charge's Initiative 5, Strength 9, they're stuck with the 5+ invulnerable, oh look, three dead Terminators.

Some rules of his, he actually gets the Waaagh! rule, unlike regular Stormboyz.I don't think this would confer onto the Stormboyz, as a squad moves at the pace of the slowest model, but it's useful. The two special rules he gets are Swoop Attack and Violent Temper.

Swoop Attack essentially says that they must enter via Deep Strike, can't shoot on that turn, but can assault. That is also huge. That Long Fang squad at the back of the feild raing frag on your guys? Not any more! Zagstruk Deep-Strikes in, assaults, uses da Vulchas Klaws, suddenly that devastating unit for you is now a devastating unit for him. Of course, in true Orky fashion you lose D3 guys from landing, but that's to be expected. You'll probably lose the rest of them that shooting phase, but that's to be expected as well. It's one less turn of shooting for your main force to endure.

Violent Temper is basically Summary Execution for Orks. Every time they lose a morale test, kill a Stormboy and they automatically pass. Good for keeping a squad in check, but combine with the D3 guys on landing, and the guy killed for the D6 extra movement... it'll add up.

Zagblitz Rating: 5/10 - "Yeh, dey'z good when dey get a chance, but moar of'en den not, dem 'oomies shoot dem outta da sky befoar dey akchully do anyfin'. Plus, dat Zagstruk fella's a bit creepy..."
Dakkazag Rating: 3/10 - "Dey can do what de're told... but... but... no big gunz! >=("


WARBIKES

Boyz on bikes. ...That's about it. They get one higher Toughness as per usual biker rules, and they also get twin-linked Dakkagunz. These are basically sawn-off Big Shootas. Only get half the range, bit their also twinlinked, which means their hitting just over half the time now! For an Ork army, that's about as accurate as you're gonna get.

Plus, they have the nifty little rule called Exhaust Cloud, which gives them a 4+ cover save to them and anything behind them. This means A) they can pretty much ignore cover and B) they can act as a smokescreen for the main force behind them.

They do cost, mobs of 12 are 300 points. Although, they only get the options for the Nob, same as Stormboyz. Personally, I think these have greater utility, just turbo-boost a line of 12 in front of your main force, they get a 3+ cover, everything behind them gets a 4+ cover, then next turn, shoot the bejeebus out of a lightly armoured unit nearby.

Zagblitz Rating: 7/10 - "Dey'z shooty, and dey hide da boyz very sneeky like. I think dey'z pretty good..."
Dakkazag: 9/10 - "Warbikes arn't dat big, but dey have MASSIVE GUNS! Well, fer de're size, anyways."

WARBUGGIES
Well well, here we have a unit hit pretty hard with the nerf bat. For 30 points, you get a single AV10-all-round, open-topped vehicle with a twin-linked big shoota. You can replace these with twin-linked rokkits or a Skorcha. They can take red paint jobs, grot riggers, armour plates, or they can upgrade to Wartrakks to re-roll difficult terrain tests, useful if your going fast.

Here's my main problem with them. Let's say you take the full squadron of 3 with rokkits. They get hit with a multimelta. Normally your looking at a 5+ to wreck it. Oh look, it's an AP1 weapon, 4+. Oh look, it's Open-Topped, 3+. Oh look, it's in a squadron, 2+ to wreck it. Either that or it's Weapon Destroyed, which turns it into moving terrain and guarantees a kill next time it gets hit with AP1.

The only way around this is to take a single Warbuggy which WILL die, and it's just not worth it when you've got so many other options you could, like giving 6 Big Shootas to your Boyz, or your Nobs a Painboy.

Zagblitz Rating: 2/10 - "Yeah, deys got guns, bu' dey get's shot at, an dey jus' get krumped."
Dakkazag Rating: 5/10 - "Yeah, deys got guns."

DETHKOPTAS
And lastly, we have the flying Orks. These are a bit more expensive than the bikes, but then they're JET-bikes, so no more awkward terrain problems. They're the same profile as bikes, except they have 2 wounds each, not just 1. That's good, as you can only have 5 in a squad.

Anyway, for options. You can trade your twin-linked big shootas for twin-linked rokkits, or a kustom mega-blasta. Personally, it's rokkits every time, because now you have a fast, mobile tank-hunting platform. You can also give them a buzzsaw (read: powerfist) and/or a bigbomm (essentially a free template ove a place you passed over, S4 AP5.) Now, either is good, but it depends.

Note, they also get Hit-and-Run. They probably won't use it all that much, but it's a nice little bonus to have. They also get Scout, which they CAN Turbo-boost for. You should do this if your not keeping them in reserve ready to outflank.

As far as I can see, there are two ways of running these guys. One: Three squads of lone Dethkoptas, with rokkits and a buzzsaw, outflanking and tearing through transports until the enemy takes them out one by one. Two: A pack of five, all with rokkits, scouting forward, and spending all game shooting at transports.

Zagblitz Rating: 9/10 - "Dey's fast as zog, pretty darn shooty wiv the right gunz, pretty darn smashy wiv da right gear, and dey last a good while. Wot's not ta like?" Dakkazag Rating: 9.10 - "Oi, wait... you stole my rating, you zog!"

Oh for Gork's sake... why do they always have to start a fight? OK, I'm going to break it up, but first, I'm going to mention I'm running a little competition on my own Youtube. Nothing much, but you can have a look at it here.

OK, bye!