Ork Codex Review - Pt. III - Troops

BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ! BOYZ!  WAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!  ....err...and grots...


Snazzletoof isn't wrong. Boyz and Grots are as simple as it gets. Gone are the days of turning Nobz and Warbikers into troops. With every model becoming a scoring unit and the option of going unbound, I understand why the change was made, but it stilll hurts. 

Let's break it down!



ORK BOYZ

Ahhhh yes, the meat of any solid Ork army. Ork Boyz are the quintessential troop and in many ways considered the best troop choice in the game. A rookie player or tunnel-visioned WAAC player will often look ye olde Ork Boy as a garbage unit who dies on command. A veteran player knows how ridiculously dangerous these gitz are. 

The Ork Boy has one major underlying flaw. He's Ld7. You might be thinking, "Uhhh...he is only BS2 and has a 6+ t-shirt save", to which I say, "YOU FOOL! Armour saves are for the weak! Shooting is for the scared!"

Where they fall in Ld and shooting, the Ork Boyz excel in krumpin' faces, rarely running (thanks new Mob Rule!), clogging objectives and/or pathways and supplying copious amounts of more boyz.

There are two main types of Ork Boyz. The Slugga/Choppa Boyz and the Shoota Boyz. Previously this was interchangeable at no cost. A 6 teef boy was a 6 teef boy. However, with the structure of 6th and 7th edition favoring the shooting phase and neutering the assault phase in the process, people so how good a large Shoota Mob could be if played properly. Many an Ork player shelved their Slugga boyz in favor of the overwatching Shoota Mobs. Thus, we have a the 7 toof Shoota Boy. One extra toof may not seem that much but ultimately it adds up quite a bit.

ERR...SO WUT DO I PUT ON DA FEELD? DA SHOOTY WUNZ OR DA KRUMPY WUNZ?! TIMEZ TICKIN', BLOG BOY!!!

Calm your tits, Snazzletoof! The Ork Boy IS the workhorse of any good Ork army! As the old saying goes, BOYZ BEFORE TOYZ!!!

Slugga Boyz

The Slugga boy is one of the most feared units to be in close combat with. With a massive FOUR S4 attacks PER BOY on the charge, there is nothing outside of T7 that these Boyz can't kill. Coming in at 6 teef, the Slugga Boy is the used for one thing and one thing alone. Krumpin'. Yes, they can hold objectives (even moreso in thirty-man mobs) but they are not fulfilling their role unless they are in combat. Ork Boyz just don't hold up well outside of combat. They are generally easy pickins' when it comes to enemy shooting. The best way for Orks to secure objectives is to kill everything else so there is nobody left to contest. The Slugga Boy excels in this role. Slugga Boyz should be moving and running towards the enemy every single turn.  Even if the Slugga Boyz are charged and don't benefit from Furious Charge and the charge attack bonus, they still have 3 attacks each for 2 base and a pistol/cc combo. They can still do their job, even ineffeciently. Another great use for Slugga Boyz is tying up mobs you don't want running amuck. My favorite mob to tie down is the dreaded Wraith Guard D-Scythe unit. As long as they are tied up, I feel much better about the game! Everyone has that unit that really puts a damper on your day, which one is yours? Regardless, Ork Boyz can tie anything for more than 2 turns shy of an Imperial Knight.

The one thing that makes the Slugga Boy so gravy is the new 'Ere We Go rule. Rerolling 1's on the charge is HUGE in the assault phase. More likely than not, you're going to get these gitz into combat. In addition, putting a painboy into a 30 man Mob of Boyz is the sexiest thing since sexy bread. 

Slugga Boyz in Trukks. The Trukk is a bit of a misnomer at the moment. With the reowrking of ramshackle (some would say nerf), the Trukk is a high speed death trap for anything that isn't a 4+ armour or better. Not only will you kill 1/3 of your Boyz when it blows up, you will most likely fail your pinning check and will kill a few more from mob rule. Unless you're running the 'Ard Boyz upgrade, be wary.

Positives: They hit like a Mack truck in combat. Excel at killing enemy troops and tying up nasty units. Cheap!

Negatives: Target practice when they aren't in combat. If unable to get in combat, they can be whittled down very quickly. 

Potential: Throwing a Painboy into the mix ups their survivability tremendously. It will also troll the heresy out of your opponent. Watch out for S8 blast! Eeek!

5/5 TEEF!!!!


Shoota Boyz 

Like the slugga boy, only one additional toof in cost. They have a base of 2 krumps which gives them 3 krumps on the charge and have a range 18" weapon that can dakka and krump in the same turn! Unlike Slugga Boyz, Shoota Mobs are better at objective camping. Their Shootas provide enough utility to pepper anyone who goes by or comes too close. In addition, Shoota Mobs are much more efficient during overwatch. Each Shoota can shoot twice. 58 S4 shots hitting on 6's as opposed to 5's? Not bad at all! Shoot Boyz are also candidates for a pimped out ride, whether it be a Trukk (be wary!!!) or a Battlewagon. The Battlewagon isn't a dedicated transport so it's going to have to come from the heavy slot or another unit who decides not to roll in it. 20 Man Battlewagon Shoota Mobs were a nasty unit in 6th and haven't changed much in viability in 7th, everything else around them has therefore stealing some spotlight.

I prefer my Shoota Boyz in mobs of 30 to boot. Again, a painboy goes a looooong way! Especially if you're just sitting on an objecti-*THUMP*

Oi! Orks dunt sit on anything! We fight and krump! WAAAAAGH!

Geeze! I'm sorry! Take it easy! While a little primordial, Snazzletoof is correct. Orks are most often than not better off being in a fight. While Shoota Boyz are effective, I feel that they are heavily outweighed by their choppier kinfolk.


Ork Boyz Nob
The Ork Nob! The auto-take upgrade for every boyz unit! Every boyz unit should have a Nob. No other way about it. Fearless is a thing of the pass and without the Nob character in the unit, you're going to fail 50% of the mob rule checks you take when not in combat. 

Nob upgrades overall have been boosted. In the previous codex, you were able to upgrade your Nob's slugga to a Big Shoota or Rokkit Launcha through clever word play. Not anymore! This kind of sucks because I have 4 or 5 Nobz rocking a Big Shoota that I have to mangle and re-arm.  The good news is that we can now take a Slugga, Shoota, TL Shoota, or a Kombi-Weapon! That's right! A 30 man Boyz squad with a kombi-skorcha?! Sign me up!!!

As for melee weapons, your options are Power Klaws and not-Power Klaws. I mean, you can bring a choppa or a big choppa, but chances are you're still going last. Initiative 3 is not that great and there isn't much out there that's going to swing after you outside of enemy models with unwieldy. Even so, the Big Choppa is only Ap5, so chances are that you might not even get a wound through. There is something to be said about keeping your mobs as cheap as possible. If you're looking to tie everything up and lock elite units down, cheaper non-PK mobs could be viable. However, I would rather take the I1 and kill 3 or 4 SPESS MUHREENZ in the way. I'll gladly take the chance of death before I swing. 

Positives: Lots O' Dakka! Great at holding objectives (perferrably in cover)! More efficient overwatch through statistics.

Negatives: Not as krumpy. Cost 7 teef. 

Potential: 3-4 mobs of 30, each with a Painboy, could be quite devastating.

3/5 TEEF!!!

Gretchin

Where the Ork Boy is considered one of the best troop choices in the game, the Grots are highly considered one of the worst units in the game. Grots are notorious in 40k games for doing one thing and one thing only. Sitting still in cover, preferably on an objective. Long gone are the days of using grots as cover screens for your far superior units. Grots just can't seem to do anything right.

So why take them? Well, to be honest we take them because sometimes we have to. Sometimes you need an extra troop choice in that second Ork Horde Detachment and can't afford another unit of Boyz. Sometimes you want to go against the philosophy of Boyz Before Toyz and run an elite army. Sometimes, your Shokk Attack Gun just needs extra wounds for those moments when your opponent is about to throw a Hausperex at your face because you keep doing wonky things and ruining his game plan.

On the brightside, my grots have been known on more than one occasion to kill a Warlord with S3 Ap- Grot blasters... IT CAN HAPPEN AND HAS HAPPENED, OKAY?!

Positives: Cheaper than a bag of bones from Armageddon. Are great at holding objectives (IN COVER). Can fill that last needed troop spot at a reasonable price. 

Negatives: They are bad at shooting (BS3 is bad. BS2 is terrible...). They suck in combat. They have no armour saves. 

Potential: Need to bring an Aegis Defense Line with a Quad-Gun? Bring some grots and take advantage of BS3.

1/5 TEEF!!!

Well, that does it for the Troops section! I think the troops section is simple and effective! As the Brits will often say, "It does what it says on the tin!". Though I think they can do a little more with the right amount of strategy and TLC.

Overall Troop Score: 3/5 Teef!!!!


Up next....Elites!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!