Codex Orks Review: Part 4a. Choppy-Elites



Stolen from bigshoota.com



Well, the time has come that everyone was waiting for... the Elites. In fact, I put it to a vote today and 100% of respondants wanted me to do Elites. So I told them, "FA it is!" and left.

Talk about pressure guys.

Well, the following are our Elites Choices:

1. Nobz

2. Meganobz

3. Burnaboys

4. Tankbustas

5. Lootas

6. Kommandos.

We will have to split this into 2 sections so as not to completely over-size the blog entry.

So... Choppy Elite Choices.

Nobz

Rating: Take 2. No 3!Fun Factor: KRUMPY IS FUN

Fail Factor: Only as much as any death star

Well, the only super-customizable unit in the Codex. Nobs are the big guys. They do the heavy lifting. They are your deathstar. In the codex, they are listed BEFORE Big Meks. That's how good they are.

Sound good? Read closer.

3 Attacks base, WS/S/T 4, 2 wounds each. 20 points.

Good, no? So what's the catch.

Well, nothing really. They die well to Anti-Tank shots, as everything else does, and get expensize in big squads. They also have bad breath, and are happy "doin' sum krumpin".

Ork nobility is determined not by some accident of birth or sparkly heirloom but by the sheer size and belligerence of the Ork claimant. P33

Lets go through the upgrades.

Warbikes. Now your deathstar is +1T and quick. Really quick. Oh, and has twin-linked dakkaguns

Stikkbombs. You dont need these. Offensive grenades suck on Orks as you really dont have the I to bother. Sure, its 4 on the charge with Nobs, but meh. Buy another boy.

CC Weapons. PowerKlaw. Big Choppa.
Oddly enough, the Big Choppa on a Nobs squad is the only thing I buy regularly. This is also the only time I buy the upgrade.
Dakka. These guys are CC monsters. The only reason to buy a gun is would-allocation. Combi-skorcha being the only real choice here.
Other.
Bosspole. Requirement. the small squad size means that your Ld is never usually higher than 7.

Ammo Runt. Re-roll a shot. Next

Waaagh Banner. +1 WS for the squad. Yup. WS5 Nobs now (S5 on the charge!) Good for torrenting, and 15 points to always spend.
'eavy armor, 4+ save. Good, but superceded by the following...

Painboy +30pts.
This gives us FNP, and everyone gets a 5++ for 5pts. Excellent.
Also, he has a poisoned weapon for funsies.

So lets look at a standard fester squad. This will not be liked by the assembled pink minions.

6 Nobs inc Painboy

Nob, Big Choppa, 5++, Bosspole

Nob, Big Choppa, 5++, Waaagh Banner

3x Nob, Big Choppa, 5++

Painboy, 5++

Ooh, not scary you say. So I have... 20 WS5 S7 attacks on the charge at I4 and 4 WS5 S5 Poison attacks

Think about it. Even with you still getting armour saves, thats a lot of shots. That kind of torrent really hurts most Armies. Will it work toe-to-toe with a THSS Squad? Hell no. Thats not our goal though. See how much your Devastators like that :)

How much? 225 points. Expensive. Ouchies. However, takes a LOT of killing, let me tell you.

A more traditional and widely used layout would have 2 PKs, 3 Big Choppas, and a splattering of combi-weapons to make the squad hard to kill.

Want to lose friends? double the squad cost and put them on Bikes. The ever-nasty Nob Bikers, now completely written off by the gaming community still have a place in the army. Fast. They perform the same job as a Biker Command Squad in a marine army. They need to be killed or they will pwnt your face.
Saying that, 3 Nob Bikers, 2PK Painboy is 250ish points. Ouch. T5 means they are less prone to anti-infantry fire too.

Oh, and if you don't take bikers, you can bring a battlewagon as a dedicated transport! oh and a trukk too

MegaNobz
Rating: Scary As, but SLOOOWFun Factor: KRUMPY IS FUN

Fail Factor: Only as much as any death star

Take Nobz. Remove basically all upgrade options except kombi-weapons. Give them all 2+ saves for double the cost.

Many commenters noted I glossed over a small issue so far in this series. Mega-armor gives a 2+ Save, Twin linked Shoota, and PowerKlaw for its points. This actually makes a MegaNob 5 pts cheaper than a regular Nob with PK. However, we do lose LOTS of upgrade options to do this

Sounds terrible right?

Wrong.

In Ork society mega armour is the ultimate personal status symbol, and Meganobz see themselves as the shock elite of the Ork tribe. P39

You know how flimsy your Shooty Terminators are having only need to fail 1 save?

Nobs have 2 Wounds. One 1 on a dice doesn't remove a model. It just takes a wound.

These guys are the 2nd Deathstar you have, and to be honest, should have just been an upgrade option for Nobz. Obviously a Painboy upgrade would have been broken.
Nobody could ever want to do FNP Termies, hey Dante.

We can also hook these bad boys up with either a Battlewagon or a fail trukk. They sure need it, as they have Slow and Purposeful.

Actually, these guys are the only unit I would ever give a Trukk. Why? Well, if I fling my trukk into your lines and it pops, they will survive. They are then a threat you have to deal with, even a min squad of 3 is 10ish marine shots away from dieing. You do that many plasma shots (from, presumably your plasmabacks, where else do you see plasma?), you arent shooting at the Kans, Wagons, Boyz, Grots, etc.

Kommandos
Rating: Scary As, but dependant on your opponent being dumbass.Fun Factor: Sneaky :)

Fail Factor: Snikrot means you don't fail

Dem Sneaky Gitz.

Kommandos prize intelligence and initiative, and some of them are even able to read. P44.

Basically, Infiltrators, with a slight kick.

Max squad size of 15, and a standard boy statline means that these fellas will never really dent your opponents lines ...

Upgrade options include a Nob with standard kit, Big shoota, Burna, Rokkit Launcha, and some guy called Snikrot.

Snikrot.

If you take a squad of Kommandos, this is the reason to do it.

I repeat.
If you take a squad of Kommandos, this is the reason to do it.
If you ever see a guy/gal/VT taking a squad of Kommandos without Snikrot, slap them and tell them to find the 85 points.
He replaces the Nob with:
WS5, S5, T4, 4A and a crappy save like normal.
So why are we taking him.
In CC we re-roll all attacks to hit. Any squad we beat in combat take an extra -1 to their leadership for combat resolution, and when held in reserve you can bring the squad on any table edge.

All over seems like a ... hold on. What?
Any table edge? You serious? What, I suppose its on a roll-for-chart, where you choose on a 5+ and on a 1-4 they turn up in the front grill of a Landraider?
Nup.
You have a S5 4A rerolling wounds squad of 15 with a flamer turning up in the backfield, anywhere you want. Awesome! Bout time we found something broken in the codex. This does a good number on Leman Russ Squadrons hiding away. Remember that, Mr Hydra Battery.

Overview.
Moreso than any other codex, the Elites in C:Orks are full of quality.
How do you fit it all in?
Mainly through modifying the FOC through HQ Choice. Bringing 9 MegaNobs + Warboss in a Wagon is a good way to make friends... especially when they are A) Scoring and B) deployed on the 24" line in a Dawn-of-War scenario as your HQ + 2 Troops :)

Anyways, that about covers the CC Elites, next up, Shooty Elites.