Thursday, July 10, 2014

The Ladz are back

The Ork Codex has been set loose into the wild. It is up to the current standard of 40K codices, hardcover, glossy, full color. However, the format inside has changed. The unit descriptions are now with the point costs in the back half of the book. With the wargear & weapons section is after it. All the gaming info in the same section, I do like it. There is a lot more photos of models and less artwork, which is a minor gripe.

Lots of changes in the rules, as could be expected. One trend I don't like is the simplifying of unit choices. The Ork Boys lost their burnas last codex and they didn't get them back this time either. Why not? It's not like they have a strict tactical doctrine. The orks need more choices in options for their staple unit, not less.

The same goes for the Big Mek, and the welcome addition,  Mekboy. They have fewer weapon and gear choices than last codex. I have a kustomized big Mek with a burna I built years back. Which is now not an option in the new book. Good thing Orks don't give a toss about the Man's rules.

On the plus side, Tankbustas, Burnaboys, Lootas, and Flash Gitz can all now take a Trukk as a transport. Bikerz, Killa Kans, and  Warbuggies all got their squad sized increased. The killsaw is a great weapon for Mega-Nobs and Big-Meks for chopping up tanks.

The new Ork Horde FOC is kinda cool. They have one more HQ slot and three more troop slots, and a chance to get Hammer of Wrath. The Warlord traits are mostly good and you can re-roll for them if you are using a Ork Horde detachment FOC.

The Mob Rule has been changed to a table which has some nice Orkiness to it, Most Orks get 'Ere We Go which allows you to re-roll one die when charging. The Warboss still can call the Waaagh once a game, allowing the Orks to run and charge.

Orks are one of those armies the Unbound army list was made for. It was very hard or impossible to fully field a true Kult of Speed or Dread Mob before. No longer.  We have only had one game with the new book so far, I took a Kult of Speed that had 1 HQ, 1 Elite, 4 troop, 3 heavy, and 5 fast attack choices. Nothing totally cheesy or out of character but a lot of fun. I'm putting the finishing touches on a Gorkanaut and then it is Dread Mob time!

 Stomp some 'ummies!
And 'ery one else

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad to see the Mek, but it was kind of depressing to see the complete lack of unlocking units (Ghazghkull making Nobs count as troops, the Big Mek making a Deff Dread count as troops). I see a *lot* of unbound Ork armies in the future...

    Also wish the Tyranids could've had a cool new horde FOC, but... ahh, well. More unbound armies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I s'pose after seven editions, the Space Orks finally learned that playing with fire is dangerous. Sorta. That's my only explanation as to why the boyz lost their burnas. That, or the burnas ended up in the same parallel dimension as my missing socks.

    Y'know - it's funny. I seem to remember when they changed the format of the codices to separate the stats/options from the unit descriptions. I grumbled ('cause that's what I do) that the stats, description & points cost should all be on the same page. Now that I've seen it, I think I liked the other way (i.e. the 6th edition codices) better. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get used to it.

    Finally, I think it's a nice touch that the Orks fit into the Unbound list so well. Orks have never been much for following the rules (or more likely they're used to making up their own), and Unbound lists seem to represent that pretty effectively. Whether or not that was intentional or a happy coincidence is a debate left for... well... someone else, I guess.

    ReplyDelete