Ork Codex Review - Pt. I - Special Rules

Oi! Lissen up, gitz!!! We gotz a noo Codex hurr and it iz full 'o WAAAGH!!!

Easy there, Snazzletoof. Welcome to the Keumpin' Time! Ork Codex review. Over the course of the next 6 posts, I will be breaking down the codex unit by unit in detail. I will make strong comparisons from the past and potentials for the future. I truly feel as if we have a gem here that just needs some love in order to work. Regardless, it's not going anywhere and it's not changing. We might as well get use to it! 

Here is how we will break it down. I will talk about the rule, model, unit, etc. and then give my initial impressions. I will then state positives, negatives, potential, and a rating of Teef; 1-5, five teef being da best, 1 toof being for smelly gitz!!!

Okay, let's start with the Ork Codex Special Rules!

'Ere We Go! - If every model in a unit has this special rule, the unit can re-roll a single dice when determining it's charge range.

Holy moly! This is one of the greatest Gifts Gork (or possibly Mork) has ever bestowed upon the greenskins. Being a dumbed down version of Fleet, models with 'Ere We Go (all orks on foot or bike/JB) can re-roll a die on a charge? HELL YES! 

This is a fantstic rule that the Orks desperately needed in 6th & 7th edition. The transition from 5th to 6th was a big kick in the nuts for Orks players everywhere as it focused so heavily on the shooting aspects of the game that our assault army just sort of bit the dust before getting anywhere. Literally. What makes this rule even better is that even Warbikes and Deffkoptas have access to it which makes up for the fact that bikes & jetbikes cannot use the Fleet special rule. All in all, the Slugga Boyz have a place again and this makes me smile.

Positives: This rule alone drastically pushes the army back into the assault force everyone once feared, bikes and deffkoptas have access to the rule, and can drastically help mitigate the effects of being overwatched to an increased charge range.

Negatives: The Deff Dread didn't make the cut. I understand why ALL of our walkers don't have the rule, however, it would have been really nice to see the Deff Dread get some charging love. More on him later in another post...

Potential:  Long charges unforeseen by your opponent. Higher chance for formation rules to proc.

4 TEEF!!!!

Mob Rule - If the unit fails a Morale or Pinning test, roll immediately on the following table.

1 - Born to Fight - if the unit is locked in combat, it is treated as if it had passed the Morale or Pinning test. If not locked in combat, it fails the test. 

2-3 - Breaking Heads - If the unit includes one or more Ork characters, it suffers D6 Strength 4 Ap- hits, and is treated as if it had passed the Morale or Pinning test. Hits are Randomly Allocated, but cannot be allocated to Ork characters (excess hits are lost). If the unit does not include any Ork characters, it fails the test.

4-6 - Squabble -  If the unit has 10 more models it suffers D6 Strength 4 Ap- hits, and is treated as if it had passed the morale or pinning test. Hits are Randomly Allocated. If it has less than 10 models, it fails the test.

Okay...here is where things start to go south...fast. Let me start off by saying that the rule itself is MUCH worse on paper than it is in the game. The bottom line is that if we were any other non-SPESS MAREEEEN army, we would be failing a check and running or dropping to the ground. With that being said, we should thank our lucky stars we are not them. So I don't feel that the rule is as bad as everyone says. It is however....pretty rough.

The biggest change for Ork players from the 4th edition book to this one is the loss of Fearless. The old Mob Rule was, in my opinion, near perfect. I really don't think it needed to be changed so drastically. Tweaked a bit? Sure. I think it's pretty clear that GW is starting to move how the game works into a complete new direction. The difficulty to gain Fearless across most armies (unless your a bug) is proving to be one of drastic changes. Fair enough.

In all honesty, I don't think I would have minded the loss of Fearless if they would have allowed the stacking leadership from the previous Mob Rule. Hell, you could even make it only stack to whatever the Highest Ld value in the force was (*ahem* 9) instead of topping off at 10. EVEN MORE, you could have added this new mob rule into stacking Ld, EXACTLY AS WRITTEN, and it would have been golden.  The problem with the old Mob Rule is that there were no negatives to the rule, per say. As long as you had more than 7 models, you were at a better Ld. value and Fearless was insanely easy to get.  y the time you lost fearless, your mob was usually done krumpin' or was about to die out anyway. Stacking Ld and busting skulls if you fail? Sign me up. 

However, this is not the case. It is an army of Ld 7, T-shirt wearing green dudes who cannot shoot to save their lives.  So what does this mean? We need to get in combat...FAST. Trukk boyz are easily the biggest targets for this meat grinder of a rule. This edition is all about objective scoring, getting places quickly and withstanding whatever is coming your way should chose to hold that objective. A trukk is no more than a vehicle made of note-book paper. It's open-topped and WILL die (no matter what kind of riggers you bring). 

Trukks do 2 things very very well. They go places fast and they blow up on cue. There is nothing more depressing than losing 5 or 6 Ork from a Trukk explosion and then failing your pinning/morale test and losing 4 or 5 more. My very first experience with mob rule was this exact scenario. A unit of Wolf Guard lit up my truck and ALL 11 boyz died in combination of the Explosion and Mob rule. My lonely Nob and his PK were all that was left. He did not survive the shooting phase...

So I understand adding this Orcs & Goblins Fantasy-esque Animosity into play, but no stacking Ld. value? D6 S4 hits? D6 can be a bit rough. Rolling Mob Rule hits is very similar to the curse of the Lascannon. Where the Lascannon almost always hits and always rolls a 1 to pen, it seems a 5 or a 6 is always rolled for Mob Rule. go figure, huh?

All in all, GW is telling us to take more boyz to mange all the skull cracking, but it doesn't change the fact 30 boyz at Ld 7 will still run. Not very Orky if you ask me... /endrant

Positives: Orks rarely run away! Da smaller 'Umies and Xenos scum will turn tale while we stick and fight! WAAAGH!!!

Negatives: No stacking Ld and army genocide from a few bad dice rolls. Ugh...

Potential: 'Eavy armour will help, but at an unfortunate high cost. 

2 TEEF!!

And finally, the USR that no Ork will ever leave home without....

Furious Charge

+1 Strength on the turn that you charge. 'Nuff said. Ded Killy. Love it.

5 TEEF!!!

This concludes part I of the codex review. Up next, HQ's and Troop choices!!!