Wotz dat? Dere's a new Orky Codex dat's been released? Da boyz are bigga' and badda' den ever? An' we got sum new shooty and smashy bitz fer krumpin' wit? Oi lads, let's get 'em! Waaaaaagh!!!!
That's right: Orks have a brand new codex for 9th edition, and it has brought the Orks up to speed across the board (pun intended).
I have a lot of thoughts about the new Orks Codex, but am not going to write them up here; I'm intending to save those thoughts for a future tactics-focused blog post.
Instead, I am returning after a whirlwind of a summer with not much time for hobbying to share an exciting update: our local gaming group has decided to run another weekend-long tournament at the end of October!
This time, we're tentatively going to have eight players each bringing 1,500 points to the tabletop.
I'm springboarding from this new goal--our October tournament--to kick-start some new hobby activity on this blog.
Specifically, I'm going to spend the next ~7.5 weeks between now and our tournament focusing on building and painting the 1,500 points I'll be bringing to the tournament.
After considerable iteration, here is the list I plan on bringing:
++=========================================================++
|| Total: 1,500 Points / 97 Power Level / 7 Command Points ||
++=========================================================++
+----------------------------+
| Patrol Detachment: Orks |
| 485 Points; 34 Power Level |
| Deffskullz Clan Kultur |
+----------------------------+
HQ: Warboss [Warlord] - 90 points
Wargear: Headwoppa's Killchoppa (relic), Kombi-Skorcha, 2x Slugga
Upgrades: Brutal But Kunnin' (warlord trait)
Troops: Gretchin - 50 points
10x Gretchin
Elites: Meganobz - 145 points
Boss Meganob with Power Klaw & Kustom Shoota
Meganob with Power Klaw & Kombi-Rokkit
2x Meganob with Power Klaws & Kustom Shootas
Elites: Meganobz - 145 points
Boss Meganob with Power Klaw & Kustom Shoota
Meganob with Power Klaw & Kombi-Rokkit
2x Meganob with Power Klaws & Kustom Shootas
Fast Attack: Stormboyz - 55 points
Stormboyz Boss Nob with Choppa & Slugga
4x Stormboyz with Choppa & Slugga
+------------------------------+
| Patrol Detachment: Orks |
| 1,015 Points; 63 Power Level |
| Freebootaz Clan Kultur |
+------------------------------+
HQ: Kaptin Badrukk - 95 points
Wargear: Choppa, Da Rippa, Slugga
HQ: Big Mek in Mega Armor - 85 points
Wargear: Da Dead Shiny Shoota (relic), Power Klaw
Troops: Shoota Boyz - 90 points
Boss Nob with Choppa & Slugga
9x Boyz with Shootas
Elites: Kommandoz - 55 points
Kommandoz Boss Nob with Power Klaw & Slugga
4x Kommandoz with Choppas & Sluggas
Elites: Painboy - 70 points
Wargear: Da Killa Klaw (relic), 'Urty Syringe
Upgrades: Kunnin But Brutal (warlord trait)
Fast Attack: Deffkoptas - 150 points
3x Deffkopta with Kopta Rokkits & Spinnin' Blades
Fast Attack: Warbikers - 75 points
Warbiker Boss Nob with Choppa
2x Warbikers with Choppas
Heavy Support: Flash Gitz - 135 points
Kaptin
4x Flash Gitz
Heavy Support: Killa Kanz - 160 points
2x Killa Kan with Kan Klaw & Grotzooka
2x Killa Kan with Kan Klaws & Big Shootas
Flyer: Dakkajet - 100 points
Dakkajet with 4 Supa Shootas
The strategy for this list is inspired by two of my favorite new changes to the new 9th edition Orks book:
Motivated by these two new rules, I've aimed for a list that has a hard core of ramshackle Killa Kanz and ObSec Meganobz backed up by support characters (Painboy for healing & Big Mek for 6++ save / repairing the Killa Kanz). To that core, I've tried to pack in as much shooting threats as I could along with a few fast units for harassment and scoring secondaries.
Readers of this blog will notice that this list is a major departure from the 1k Orks list I ran at our mini-tournament back in May, with a full pivot from an emphasis on speed & melee to shooting & resilience. While I do think Orks still excel in speed & melee in their new codex (and will absolutely be playing such lists in the future), I am intentionally bringing a different list to our October tournament for some variety. I am sure Warboss Rikburgiz' bodyguard of Nobz and their transports will be back on the tabletop soon enough!
Finally, while I have a ton of other models and conversions in various stages of completion from the last 4-5 months, I learned a valuable lesson from the hobbying sprint leading up to our May tournament: too much list iteration can cause massive wasted hobbying effort!
In practical terms, this means I won't be making any major changes to the list above and will be focusing exclusively on cleaning up the models necessary to run this 1.5k list for the next 7 weeks.
After that, though, I have *big plans* for some new projects starting in November... Keep your eyes peeled here for more soon!