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Week 10 of the 2021 Hobbying Sprint

Mar 15th, 2021

We're increasing the points and number of players for our 40k mini-tournament in May, which means yet more changes are in store for Da Ironbullz.

While I was away over the last week, there were two exciting tournament planning developments:

1. we have added a fifth player, who will be bringing Primaris Black Templars, and
2. there was a general consensus to expand to 1,000 points, which will give everyone more flexibility in their lists

Furthermore, the armies anticipated at the tournament are beginning to solidify, too. As of right now, it looks like the five armies will be:

• Orks (Da Ironbullz): MSU Deffskullz, Nob/Meganob-heavy, mostly mechanized
• Tyrannids: ambushing MSU with a wide range of smaller bugs, including double lictors, Trygon, and lots of Genestealers
• Eldar: fairly balanced wraith-heavy build, including Wraithblades in Wave Serpent, Wraithlord, and Striking Scorpions
• Tau: build unknown
• Black Templars: built around the Primaris models from the Indominus boxed set

What does this mean for Da Ironbullz?

For one, it means I need to add an extra +250 points to my existing 750 point list.

I considered a few options centered around a two key weaknesses in my 750 point list:

1. just one transport (the Big Trakk) for both my Nobz and Meganobz, meaning they would be either tied together in the same transport on the table (not ideal) or one of the units would need to footslog (also not ideal), and
2. five Nobz and three Meganobz felt a little thin to be the main objective-holding ObSec focal units for the army

Based on correcting these two issues, I made a few changes:

• Added an extra Nob (with Power Klaw) and Meganob (with dual Killsaws) to each unit to increase their damage output and staying power.
• Added a Nob with Waaagh! Banner to run with the Meganobz and counteract their -1 penalty to hit in close combat from their Power Klaws & Killsaws. I also reallocated the Shiny Gubbin (Super-Cybork Body) from the Warboss to the Waaagh! Banner Nob to improve his survivability.
• Added a Chinork Warkopta to transport either the Meganobz or Nobz & Warboss (will likely try both configurations during the tournament). This was on the points-heavy side, as I also considered a bare-bones Trukk or a Battlewagon, but I'm hoping that the threat of Deep Striking my Nobz or Meganobz on turn 2 might give my opponents pause and allow me to press on objectives that might otherwise be out of reach.
• To stay under the points limit, I had to drop the Power Klaw from the Kommandoz Nob in favor of an unexpectedly free (?) Big Choppa.

Here's how the modified 1,000 point Ork list looks with these changes in place:

With time rapidly evaporating, I've needed to reset my expectations for what is realistic to have painted before the tournament. Here's how I'm currently staging the remainder of the Hobbying Sprint: