8th Edition Warhammer 40k Ork Codex Review: Part 4- HQ Units

The next part of my Ork Codex review will take a look at the HQ units in the codex. 

HQ Units

Warboss

The Warboss is one of the main HQ units in the codex, and the one that I imagine most players will select to lead their army. 

He is a bit of a combat monster, with WS2+, S6 and 4 attacks. He comes with a Power Klaw, allowing him to hit on a 3+, at S12, AP-3 and D3 damage per wound. He has T5 and 6 wounds, as well as a 4+ armour save. He is fairly durable in combat, but suffers from lack of a good armour save and little way to get an invulnerable save (barring the Bad Moons warlord trait). 

He hits hard in combat, but can fall quite easily to an enemy unit that has high strength, high damage attacks. 

He provides some very strong buffs to the army. He allows Infantry units within 6" to advance and charge. This is a very powerful ability for the Orks, who mostly want to be in combat. This can help you get into combat a turn or two early, which makes a big difference against the enemy firepower. 

He also provides some morale benefits, allowing you to pass a morale test for D3 mortal wounds for nearby units. May not be of much use to Orks, with their Mob Rule, but could come up useful every once in a while. 

For only 85 pts, the Warboss is a bargain, and a great HQ unit to lead your army. 

Ghazghkull Thraka

The Big Boss of the Orks is back to lead the great Waaagh! against the rest of the universe. 

He ups the durability of a regular warboss, going up to T6, 8 wounds, a 2+ armour save and 4+ invulnerable save. This makes him very strong to enemy attacks. He also remains at movement 5, unlike other Mega armour models that generally move at 4". 

He gets 6 attacks in combat, hitting on a 2+ with his power klaw, so a nice bonus for doing more damage in combat. 

He also gets the same abilities as the Warboss, allowing you to advance and charge, as well as giving morale boosts to nearby units. 

He is pretty expensive at 235 pts, so not sure if he is worth it. You can get a bunch of characters much cheaper to buff your army more. 

8th Edition 40k Ork Codex Review: Part 3- Relics and Psychic Powers

Part 3 of my 8th Edition Ork Codex review will take a look at the Relics and Psychic Powers available to the army. 

Shiny Gubbinz (Relics)

The Orks have access to a number of useful Relics to add to the characters in the force to help them demolish the enemy even further. 

Da Dead Shiny Shoota

A Kustom Shoota that is 18", Assault 12, S4, AP-1 and 1 damage. 

This gets an extra 8 shots and AP-1 over a regular Kustom Shoota. This is actually pretty good, and you should be able to get a decent number of hits if hitting on a 5+ (along with the extra shots). This is a solid choice, but I don't know how often you will see it, as there are simply better Relics available. 

Headwoppa's Killchoppa

A big Choppa that is +2S, AP-2 and 2 damage. In addition, to wound rolls of 6+ inflicts 2 mortal wounds instead of normal damage. 

Again, a very solid relic to take. The chance of doing multiple mortal wounds on a 6+ is a great bonus. This is strong when added to the Monster Hunters stratagem, allowing you to do 2 mortal wounds on a 5+. 

Supa-Cybork Body

Gives the bearer a 5+ Feel no Pain type save against wounds. Cannot make a Doc's Tools roll for this model if you do so. 

This is a great upgrade for your warlord, as most Ork characters struggle to get an invulnerable save. Gives them a chance of staying alive for longer. I think this is a useful Relic to take in the army. 

Hobby Update 07/11/18- 40k Genestealer Cult Neophyte Hybrids

Today's Warhammer 40k hobby update features some reinforcements for my Genestealer Cults army. 

I wanted to add some Heavy Weapons Teams to my army for the Neophyte Hybrids squad. I wanted a couple of Mortar teams and a Lascannon team. The Mortars would allow me to hide the Neophyte squad and still have some firepower to contribute. The Lascannon is also useful for some strong anti-tank firepower for the army. 

I also added a couple of Flamers to the Neophyte squad. I figured these could go in the Shotgun squad to allow me to get close to the enemy army and roast them. 

I painted up the Heavy Weapons in a yellow scheme to match my Scout Sentinels. I figured that the stolen "Guard" equipment would have a similar colour scheme. 

8th Edition 40k Ork Codex Review: Part 2- Stratagems

Welcome to part 2 of my 8th edition 40k Ork codex review. This part will take a look at the stratagems available to the army. 

Stratagems

The Orks get access to a great number of useful stratagems in the new codex. Some of these are generic stratagems available to other armies, while they also get some unique ones to help too.

Mob Up (1CP)- Used at the end of the movement phase. Two infantry units with the same datasheet within 2" of each other may join up if one has less than 10 models and one has more than 10 models.

This was the stratagem introduced in Chapter Approved last year. It is quite situational, but useful for denying your opponent kill points if the mission has them and you can meet the criteria. It is also a way to perhaps increase squad sizes of certain units to gain more benefit from stratagems. For example, you could mob up a couple of units of Lootas and get both units affected by the same stratagem.

Medi-Squig (1CP)- At the end of the movement phase, select a Character within 3" of a Painboy. The model regains D3 lost wounds

This is a solid stratagem to help keep your characters alive for longer. Used in conjunction with the Painboy's abilities, you can potentially heal 2D3 wounds on a single character in one turn. A good roll will put most characters back to full strength. Very useful.

Snagga Grapple (1CP)- Use on a Deffkilla Wartrike that Falls Back. Select a unit within 1" before they fall back. On a 2+, they suffer D3 mortal wounds.

The Deffkilla Wartrike is a vehicle that has some great close range firepower and combat ability, so getting into combat is a good deal for it. The ability to fall back and deal mortal wounds is pretty strong. This gets better when combined with the Blood Axes Kultur, allowing it to still shoot or assault.

8th Edition Ork Codex Review: Part 1- Special Rules, Clan Kulturs and Warlord Traits

Welcome to the first part of my 8th edition 40k Ork Codex review. This will take a look at the special rules, Clan Kulturs and Warlord Traits. 

I have been eager to see what the new codex has to offer for the Orks. They were a pretty strong index army, even as other codexes came out, so was keen to see how they would boost the army in the new book. 

Special Rules

Dakka! Dakka! Dakka!

Each time you roll an unmodified 6 to hit with a ranged weapon, the hit roll succeeds, regardless of modifiers. In addition, you get to make an additional hit roll with the same weapon (which cannot generate further hits). 

This new special rule was previewed a while back. Overall, I like it. With Orks, it was very easy for some armies to stack up the modifiers to hit against them, making it literally impossible for your ranged weapons to even hit certain units. This ensures that you will also be able to count on your firepower to some degree in the army, rather than making it a waste of points. The bonus shots for rolling a 6 to hit are also a great bonus, both for large volume units such as Shoota Boyz, where you might get lots of hits, or for smaller units, like Tankbustas or Lootas, where every extra shot and hit with their powerful weapons are a great boost. 

'Ere We Go

You can re-roll charge rolls for this unit, and can choose whether to re-roll any or all of the dice. 

This got even better from the index version and is a huge boost for the combat effectiveness of the Orks. Getting to re-roll one or both dice is a big boost to the army. Imagine the situation where you need a 7" charge and roll a 5 and a 1. Under the new system, you can choose to re-roll the 1, giving you great odds of making the charge. Under the old system, you had to re-roll both, giving you roughly the same odds of making the charge or forcing you to use a command point re-roll on the 1 to give you better odds of making the charge. 

The other big bonus is that it allows you to re-roll charge rolls, not only "failed" charge rolls. For example, say you were multi-charging two units that were 3" away and 7" away. If you were to roll a 4" charge, you could contact the first unit, but not the second. You could not re-roll for free as you have not failed a charge. In the new rules, you have the option to re-roll one of the dice to allow you to have the chance of catching both units without the risk of failing the charge overall in many cases. This is also great for giving you the option to roll further on charge and opens up more tactical options, such as consolidating into other enemy units to tie them up in combat or getting further to surround a unit and stop them from falling back in the following turn. 

St Andrews Wargaming- Blog Update

Hi everyone, today I have an update on what is happening with me and the blog in the coming weeks. 

I just wanted to put some thoughts down on what has been happening and what is coming up for St Andrews Wargaming. 

First up, written battle reports have been a bit sparse recently. Don't worry, this is not a waning interest from me on the side of written reports. My games for the battle reports get played at the Spiky Club in Reading on a Friday night. This means that from time to time I don't get a game each week if I am away for the weekend or have plans on the Friday (a rarity, I assure you!). The last few weeks have been a bit sparse through illness and visits home, etc. I'm also going to be busy and away at tournaments for the next few weeks, so reports may be a little light for the coming weeks. 

Don't worry though, I'll be attending the Warfare tournament in Reading and another tournament up in Stockport in November. This means I'll have 10 tournament battle reports to write up come the end of November and December, so plenty of great content to come there. 

Warhammer 40k Video Battle Report- Genestealer Cult vs Ynarri

A new video battle report is now up on Youtube. In this maelstrom of war game, my Genestealer Cults take on Doug's Ynnari/Drukhari force.

This was a really tough and fun game, it was nice to get the Cult back on the table in the post FAQ world! 

Better Know A Blogger: Part 53- Another Wargaming Blog

This week's Better Know a Blogger features Merijn from Another Wargaming Blog. 

I first came across Merijn's blog a few months ago, drawn in by some of the awesome terrain work that he showcases on the blog. It was his Veerhuis construction and WIP shots that drew me in. I love a good piece of scratch built terrain, and this looked to be an awesome project that was shaping up. 

Looking at the finished photos, I think you'll agree that he has done a fantastic job, creating a piece that would fit into any fantast-type or medieval game. 

Not only will you find fantastic terrain, you will also find some fantastic painted models, most recently focusing on Age of Sigmar Orcs. 

Merijn, in all his glory!

You will also find some really cool comic book style battle reports from his narrative campaign. I love a good battle report, and it is nice to see a different style of reporting to my own. These are really easy to digest and a quick and fun read. 

Here are Merijn's answers to my questions:

1. What age did you get into gaming and what started it off? 

I started way back in 1985 when I was 10 years old. My older brother convinced me to drop some pocket money in a shared buy of a new-fangled game called ‘Oog des Meesters’ (translated from Dutch: ‘Eye of the Master’). It was a roleplaying game which required us to gather more friends to actually play. We did. I never stopped roleplaying after that. The Warhammer Fantasy Battles 3rd edition launch two years later started my wargaming hobby. 

Warhammer 40k Battle Report 167- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Space Wolves

This week's Warhammer 40k battle report sees my combined force of Dark Angels and Deathwatch take on Chris' Space Wolves in a special maelstrom of war mission.

This game was a practice for an upcoming tournament. In November, I will be attending Warfare in Reading. This features 5 games of custom missions, which I want to try out before the event. The mission we were playing was called All Out War.

In this game, players draw three cards per turn, up to a maximum of 6 cards. At the end of each turn, you must discard your maelstrom cards until you have only 3 in your hand. The twist is that each maelstrom objective you discard, your opponent scores the points. For example, if you discard Defend Objective 3, your opponent scores 2 points for it. This makes trying to score cards each turn important, as anything you don't achieve could potentially help your opponent to win. I was intrigued to see how this mission played out, as it suits the way that I normally play maelstrom missions.

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)

Azrael (Az)

Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Eye of the Unseen (Relic) (L)

Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle (An)

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles (I)

5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)

5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters (S2)

5 Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub (D)

10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators (H)

Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter (DS)

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)

Watch Master- Guardian Spear (W)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol (WC)

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (DI)

10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords (DV1)

6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters (DV2)

Auxiliary Detachment

Culexus Assassin (CA)

I had previously talked about my thoughts behind the army when I was building the list. This basically boils down to having the Dark Angels as a solid firebase, while the Deathwatch can act as a mobile reserves force for board control and targeting the enemy army. 

Another feature of the Warfare missions pack is a limit on 10 command points. This means that with my three Deathwatch units using the Teleportarium stratagem, I will only start the game on 7 command points. I'm normally used to a lot more to play with! (Note- the Auxiliary detachment doesn't count, as I can use "excess" command points to pay for this, I can only start the game with 10 CP). 

Hobby Update 23/10/18- Genestealer Cult Magus and Primus

Another Warhammer 40k hobby update for you today, this time another Magus and Primus for my Genestealer Cult army. 

I painted these two up with blue robes and a coat, rather than the orange as is usual in the army. This is to allow me to distinguish them from the others in my army.