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Da Art of Waaagh! 2022 Part II: Chapter Approved and the Balance Dataslate

May 10th, 2022

Welcome back to the second installment in "Da Art of Waaagh! 2022". Today we are discussing Games Workshop's newfound commitment to semi-regular rules and points updates, which have been (mostly) kind to Da Orks.

This is part two of a four-part series where I am consolidating some thoughts on where Orks stand in the 40k metagame about ~halfway through 2022. For more background, be sure to check out Da Art of Waaagh! 2022 Part I wherein I outline the goals and scope of this review.

Chapter Approved 2022, Balance Dataslates, and their implications within Codex: Orks

Games Workshop has clearly been listening to player feedback, because this year they have finally started issuing official rules and points updates on a semi-regular basis.

These updates have appeared in three forms for Orks over the last ~eight months, which we'll tackle one at a time from the perspective of the aspiring Warboss:

1. Chapter Approved points updates, which are issued roughly once per year,
2. The Balance Dataslate, which is updated roughly once per quarter, and
3. Warzone Octarius: Critical Mass.

Let's dive in!

1. Points updates from Chapter Approved 2022

The 2022 edition of Chapter Approved brought about more points changes for many factions than in previous iterations. The Orks are no exception, with a total of 14 datasheets changing in points, which I've summarized below:

*Every Mek Gun aside from Kustom Mega-Kannons, that is.

Breaking down these changes from best to worst:

• Meganobz are the biggest winners from these points updates and it's not even close. Not only were they one of the better non-VEHICLE datasheets in the Codex at 35 points when it was released, but a 14% decrease makes them laughably more efficient than any other INFANTRY unit in the Codex. For a mere 30 points, you can now buy a Meganob (three wounds @ T5 & 2+ save) with a Power Klaw and Kustom Shoota for three attacks at a mighty S10 AP-3 D2 (or D3 with a 2CP strat). For around the same points you can take one regular Nob with a Power Klaw and Slugga (only 2W & 4+ save for 26 points) or three Beast Snagga Boyz with Choppas and Sluggas (collectively 3W & 6+/6++ with 6 much weaker attacks for 33 points). Meganobz hit harder and are more durable than both options. Frankly, I don't think Meganobz needed this points cut as much as several other units (looking at you, regular Nobz). At 220 points, it will be hard to turn down five Meganob Trukk Boyz in a Trukk in most Ork lists (and especially in Deffskullz where they become ObSec!). Even max-sized bricks of 10 Meganobz are now somewhat affordable, clocking in at just 300 points before upgrades.
• Battlewagons and their variants, Bonebreakas and Gunwagons, all dropped by 15 points. That's great news, but has only served to widen the relative efficiency gap between the stock Battlewagon and either of the specialized variants. Battlewagons with no upgrades now are just 35 more points than a Trukk for an extra point of toughness, six more wounds, +1 armor save, and expanded carrying capacity for an extra eight models. Trukks still have their role as the only transport eligible to carry Trukk Boyz specialists, but I'm now thinking that Battlewagons with Deff Rollas are a very tempting transport option at 120 points in most lists unless you're tight on points. The non-Forgeworld Battlewagon variants aren't bad by any means but are still outclassed by more efficient options. A Battlewagon with a Deff Rolla and 'Ard Case is identical to a Bonebreaka but costs 25 points less in exchange for D6 fewer attacks on the charge (which may or may not be worth 25 points, depending on the role). A Gunwagon has a nice +1 to hit buff for its main gun, but I would be more tempted by a Kannonwagon, four Mek Gunz, three Deffkoptas, a Meka-Dread, or a Grot Mega Tank, all of which cost roughly the same points and are at least comparable (if not better) shooting platforms than the Gunwagon but with added perks.
• Killa Kanz dropped in points by 13%, which is a nice boost to their viability in the Codex as they were slightly harder to justify when they were ~half the cost of a Deff Dread. Now priced at just seven points per wound with T5, a 3+ save, and Ramshackle to shrug off light anti-armor weaponry, Kanz feel like an absolute bargain if you're looking for a unit with dirt-cheap durability. Granted, they still have a few glaring weaknesses, including (1) not benefitting from Clan Kulturs, (2) low leadership leaving them susceptible to Combat Attrition tests, and (3) not much shooting output despite their BS4+, although their offensive output in melee is sneakily strong (3-4 attacks per model at WS4+ S8 AP-3 D3). I like keeping Kanz cheap with one of the free ranged weapon options (Grotzookas or Big Shootas) instead of the pricier upgrades (Skorchas or Rokkit Launchas) and using them as an anvil to tie up your enemy on a point while your more elite hammer units get into position. Kanz' comparatively solid BS4+ is wasted on auto-hitting Skorchas, which cost the same to equip on Kanz (5 points) as it does for a BS5+ Meganob where the auto-hits would be more appreciated. Likewise, the steep price of 15 points per Rokkit Launcha is tough to stomach when you can get two Rokkit Launchas on a (BS5+) Deffkopta for the same cost. Three Kanz versus ~one regular Deff Dread now becomes a real decision for Ork generals to make when building their lists, with the Kanz being stronger from a defensive perspective but the Dread concentrating more threat onto a single chassis.
• There isn't too much to be said about Mek Gunz becoming five points cheaper. Prior to this change, all four gun options cost the same points but the Kustom Mega-Kannon (36" Heavy D6 S8 AP-3 D[D6] Blast) was clearly the best of them all. Mek Gunz now cost 40 points for the three suboptimal guns versus 45 for the Kustom Mega-Kannon, which is simply an attempt by Games Workshop to make the other three guns more attractive. This change alone won't make Mek Gunz worth spamming like they were in previous editions due to Grots' low leadership presenting a significant risk of Combat Attrition casualties (just like for Killa Kanz), but single Mek Gunz are a great use of 40 points to fill an extra Heavy Support slot, tag a home objective, and toss some BS4+ fire support downrange as the rest of your Boyz charge headlong at the enemy. I was gladly paying 45 points for a solo Mek Gun in many of my lists before this points decrease and will continue to do so now at 40 points.
• Lootaz and Flash Gitz received modest discounts, which both units certainly needed. I tried running Flash Gitz back in our October tournament and while I appreciated the versatility of the unit, they did feel a bit overcosted. Their new cost of 25 points is still more than I would like to pay for a Nob with +1BS and a 24" Heavy 3 S6 AP-2 D2 shooting profile, but they begin to feel maybe worth the cost when taken as a max-sized unit with hit reroll support from Badrukk and shooting twice with their 2CP Gun Crazy Show Offs stratagem. Throwing five in the back of a Battlewagon or Squiggoth if you have the capacity isn't the worst decision, either, as Flash Gitz' main weakness is their fragility for their price. On the other hand, I have no personal experience using Lootaz in the 9^th edition Codex. On paper, Lootaz are Ork Boyz who pay six points for the Ork equivalent of an autocannon (48" Dakka 3/2 S7 AP-1 D2). Between Orks' substandard BS5+ and the autocannon having a strikingly inefficient profile versus many common targets these days, Lootaz were aggressively overcosted at 17 points and still don't feel like good value at 15 points. Lootaz do have some upside as being CORE provides access to a few nice stratagems. If you are dead-set on trying to make Lootaz work, your best options would be to try for +1 to hit with the Freebootaz Clan Kultur, exploding 6's to hit with the Bad Moons 1CP Showin' Off strat, or rerolling hit rolls versus VEHICLEs with the Blood Axes' Trigga Discipline strat. All in all, infantry gunline Ork lists weren't working before these points updates, and I don't think the small discounts for Lootaz and Flash Gitz are enough to tip those scales.
• I won't deny that Kommandoz going up 10 points for a minimum squad of 5 Orks is unwelcome news. However, I've seen people posting the-sky-is-falling takes about Kommandoz after this change, and honestly I don't think this points hike is a huge deal. Paying an extra 10 points for an essential utility unit is an annoying tax, to be sure, but it doesn't change the fact that at least one unit of 5-6 Kommandoz will be in virtually every Orks list trying to tackle many popular secondary objectives and some of the Nachmund mission-specific primaries we reviewed in the last post. Kommandoz are our only access to infiltrating infantry, and that type of unit is worth paying a premium for access to pre-game area denial and early-game objectives like Retrieve Nachmund Data or Deploy Teleport Homers. Going from 10 to 12 points per model might rule out the borderline use-cases for large mobs of 10-15 Kommandoz to unlock their special weapons outside of perhaps Blood Axes, where they maaaaaaybe still have enough stratagem support to work, especially in conjunction with Snikrot's +1 to hit aura. Either way, make no mistake: Kommandoz are still one of the most useful datasheets in Codex: Orks if you're trying to win games of 40k in the Nachmund era and are absolutely worth the 12 points per model.
• At last we arrive at some the bigger (but mostly deserved) nerfs. Freebootaz Speedwaaagh buggy spam reigned supreme among all Ork lists at the top of the competitive 40k metagame for the better part of 4-5 months after the codex dropped, and Megatrakk Scrapjets and Rukkatrukk Squigbuggies were among the most infamous damage dealers in those lists. Both of these popular buggy choices have seen significant points increases, with the Rukkatrukk further catching a richochet shot from the game-wide change to the indirect fire mechanics (more on this below), which now renders it horrifically inefficient. Games Workshop instituted a couple non-points-based restrictions in the Balance Dataslate that further nerf buggy spam Speedwaaagh lists (again, more on this below), but it seems likely that these targeted points increases to the Scrapjet and the Squigbuggy were aimed at leveling the playing field among the five buggy datasheets and to encourage players to take more variety in their Fast Attack slots. Scrapjets still seem like a reasonable choice at 100 points, but unfortunately Rukkatrukks have been nerfed into oblivion with the changes from the most recent Balance Dataslate.
• Surprise! After cranking up the profiles for some of the shiny new Ork kits in their 2021 release to gin up sales, Games Workshop has decided it's time to shut down the party and rein in the Kill Rig and Beast Boss on Squigasaur. Both of those units were absolute stand-outs in the entire codex for their points efficiency, with the Kill Rig effectively engaging in every phase of the game and the Beast Boss on Squigasaur being an over-the-top combination of durability and melee threat for the cost. Both of these units were staples in most competitive non-Speedwaagh Ork lists and soundly deserved points increases. They were criminally undercosted when the Codex released. Mozrog Skragbad, who also rides a Squigasaur, catches a little bit of a nerf due to being guilty by association, but my impression was he wasn't all that common a choice in most Orks lists because Snakebites are not a very popular faction. All in all, Ork players should welcome these nerfs simply because they improve the internal balance of our Codex.

2. Rules updates from the Balance Dataslate

Games Workshop introduced the concept of the Balance Dataslate in the latter half of 2021 as an official mechanism for them to periodically rebalance the 40k metagame and corral some of the runaway powerhouse factions with small rules tweaks.

Overall, I love this shift towards a more living set of rules and applaud GW for their genuine attention to player feedback. So far we have seen three iterations of the Balance Dataslate. While the first two Balance Dataslates had a reasonably light touch, the third shifted gears entirely and dropped some absolutely massive changes that completely upended the balance of power in 40k.

We'll cover these sweeping changes outside of Codex: Orks in the third installment of this series, but today we're focusing exclusively on the impact of the Balance Dataslate within Codex: Orks.

So far, the Balance Dataslate has only introduced three direct impacts on the inner workings of our Codex:

1. Fliers are now limited to one per 1,000 points of game size (e.g., up to one flier for Incursion, two for Strike force, and three for Onslaught). This new restriction was motivated largely by AdMech and Ork fliers, who were able to be spammed for apocalyptic alpha-strike potential that skewed the game balance a bit too far. This does hurt Freebootaz Speedwaagh lists as they can no longer spam fliers, but all in all I think this is a completely reasonable restriction given how notoriously difficult it is to balance fliers as a unit type in 40k. Besides, two Dakkajets or Wazbom Blastajets is still a terrifying prospect for your opponent to stare down across the table!
2. Orks are now explicitly limited to one unit of each type of buggy in their list at all game sizes. This means you can no longer take 3x1 Rukkatrukk Squigbuggies or Megatrakk Scrapjets and are now forced to consolidate all of them into a single squad. This is a slightly annoying and heavy-handed restriction that is simultaneously one of the few ways to quickly and specifically nerf Freebootaz buggy spam lists given how dominant they were compared to all other Ork builds. The Ork Fast Attack section has a generous helping of decent-to-good unit choices, too, so it's not like this restriction has any real impact on your ability to fill out your slots. Warbikers, Deffkoptas, and Stormboyz will gladly inherit those slots in lists that used to be filled by units of solo Scrapjets or Squigbuggies.
3. The Tau and Eldar codexes came out back-to-back earlier this year and surged straight to the top of the 40k metagame driven (in part) by their devastating indirect fire. Clearly, Games Workshop felt compelled to step in quickly and get a handle on those mechanics making games against Tau and Eldar so oppressively uninteractive. In short, Indirect fire got hit with the nerf bat. Hard. Whereas previously there was no penalty for firing out of line-of-sight (for the rare weapons that allowed indirect fire), your models now suffer -1BS (note: not the same as -1 to hit, and will stack with -1 to hit modifiers from dense cover etc.) and your target now gains +1 to their armor save. This means that indirect fire weapons with AP0 will now be giving your target an armor save even if they didn't have one previously! Pure craziness. Fortunately, Orks didn't have many indirect fire weapons, as they only showed up on Kill/Hunta Rigs, Rukkatrukk Squigbuggies, and (rarely) Battlewagons. Unfortunately, the -1BS penalty results in a clean 50% decrease to their expected damage output by moving from BS5+ to BS6+. Lobbas (S5 AP0 D1) in particular are now barely worth firing indirect as they will average much less than one hit per activation and any hits will actually boost your opponents armor save! The Kill Rig will still do just fine even with this nerf to indirect fire and its increased points cost given how effective it is in every other phase of the game. Sadly, I don't think the same can be said for the Rukkatrukk Squigbuggy. It might have barely held onto relevance with just this nerf and no points increase or vice versa, but the 22% increase in points on top of this massive nerf to indirect fire has curbstomped the once-ubiquitous Squigbuggy into ignominy... or at least until 10^th edition, that is!

3. Supplementary material from Warzone Octarius: Critical Mass

Last (and perhaps least), we come to the one supplementary campaign book that provided new rules for Orks: Warzone Octarius: Critical Mass.

The widespread consensus on these supplementary 40k campaign books is that they provide paltry in-game value for their exorbitant monetary cost (as much as a full Codex!). That said, the second installment in the Warzone Octarius narrative was generous to the Orks as far as these supplemental books go.

Critical Mass introduced two new sets of rules for Orks:

1. A Codex supplement for Blood Axes, and
2. A Speed Freeks Speed Mob Army of Renown

Neither of these have seemed to shake up Orks' standing in the 40k metagame all that much, but let's take a look at each of them in turn:

1. Codex Supplement: Blood Axes

Perhaps motivated by their release of the amazing all-plastic Kommandoz kit, Games Workshop decreed that Blood Axes were the lucky Clan who will receive the first dedicated Codex Supplement for Orks.

As with other 9^th edition Codex Supplements, the Blood Axe supplement doesn't do much to disrupt the core mechanics of Blood Axes from the main Codex but provides an extra handful of warlord traits, relics, and stratagems for the sneakiest of Ork Clans.

In general, most of these extra Blood Axe perks are fluffy but not all that useful in game terms. I've highlighted some of the standouts here:

• The Straight Shoota relic has the same profile as Da Dead Shiny Shoota from the main codex (18" Dakka 14/10 S5 AP-1 D2), except that the Straight Shoota exchanges one damage (to D1) for +6" range (to 24"), a chance to cause one mortal wound per wound roll of a 6, and the ability to ignore Look Out, Sir! to snipe characters. In principle no shooting relic is an immediate top-choice for Orks given their poor ballistic skill, but this relic is the only way in the entire Orks codex to ignore Look Out, Sir! beyond 12" range (with the only other option being the Deffskullz Opportunist Warlord Trait, which is limited to 12"). This relic is probably best strapped onto a Big Mek with Mega Armor who comes with a Kustom Shoota for free and has native BS4+ for some interesting sniper options. I have tried running this in the back of an outflanking Trukk with some Burna Boyz and was decently impressed with the utility of that package. I'm sure there are other interesting combos here to be found, too.
• Not surprisingly, Kommandoz benefitted from the Blood Axes supplement, gaining a few supporting stratagems. First and foremost, Surprise! for 1CP allows a Kommandoz unit wholly within area terrain to disable their enemy's fight first abilities, never count as having been charged, and give their enemy -1 to hit in melee. This will make Kommandoz even more difficult to dig out of terrain, as they're already hard to shoot with their 3+ save in cover vs. ranged attacks. Kommandoz also picked up two minor support stratagems in Taktical Awareness and Spotted 'Em!, which allow them to be a bit more flexible in their roles by advancing and performing actions and disabling an opponent's benefits of cover in the shooting phase for all friendly Orks. None of these strats are amazing on their own, but having them in the Kommandoz' toolbox never hurts.
• Stormboyz are the second headline unit from the Blood Axe supplement, gaining two Stormboyz-specific strats in Youngbloodz and Gloryboyz. Youngbloodz grants a unit of Stormboyz +1S in combat for 1CP (or 2CP if >10 models), which is situationally useful vs. T4, T5, and T8 opponents but probably not enough to turn them into a serious melee threat absent other support (like from the Warpath psychic power or a Warboss' +1 to hit aura). Still, this strat is a nice option to flex into extra damage from a unit of Stormboyz if you need to pivot them from an action/objective-oriented role to a shock assault role mid-game. Gloryboyz combos nicely with Youngbloodz, as it gives +2" to charge rolls for all Stormboyz who are trying to charge a unit that has already been successfully charged by another Blood Axes unit in that phase. If you're feeling really feisty, you could throw Got'Em Trapped into the mix, which is a third strat from the Blood Axes supplement that grants exploding 6's to hit in melee for two or more Blood Axes units that are in combat with the same enemy unit. That entire combo clocks in at 4-5 CP, which is a lot to be spending on a gimmick with marginal damage output from Slugga Boyz with jet engines strapped to their backs, but it's fun to consider on paper.

In summary, I don't think anything in the Blood Axe supplement is strong enough to merit building an entire list around. However, as I mentioned in the first part of this series, I think Blood Axes are one of the Clans looking the most robust in the Nachmund GT mission pack, and the perks from this supplement add some nice tools to their overall Clan package when writing lists and playing games.

2. Army of Renown: Speed Freeks Speed Mob

Do you gravitate towards crazed Orks obsessed with speed, but don't want to jump on the Freebootaz bandwagon and aren't impressed with Evil Sunz? Then the Speed Freeks Speed Mob is the army (of renown) for you!

Joking aside, this Army of Renown is a welcome addition to Codex: Orks, as it presents a viable alternative to the oppressive Freebootaz buggy spam Speedwaaagh list for players who want to take the iconic vehicle-heavy Cult of Speed-style Ork list.

As with all Armies of Renown, there are a couple of sacrifices that you must be willing to accept:

• Limiting yourself to just SPEED FREEKS, WAGON, and AIRCRAFT units. This restriction excludes every Ork datasheet except for Warbosses on Warbikes, Deffkilla Wartrikes, all five types of buggies, Deffkoptas, Warbikers, the three Battlewagon variants from the main Codex (and not the Forgeworld ones, sadly), and the Orky fliers.
• Giving up the benefits of Clan Kulturs for all units except for Battlewagons and fliers.

If you can stomach those two (considerable) restrictions, you will be well rewarded. Here are some highlights:

• Bikers, Biker Nobz, and Warbosses on Warbikes become ObSec;
• All of your non-Battlewagon, non-flier units get +1 attack on the charge, don't suffer the penalties of shooting after they advanced, and get a 6++ save that improves to a 5++ if they advanced;
• Free refund of 3 CP on your first Outrider detachment if it contains your Warlord;
• Access to a nice warlord trait that provides a 6" aura of rerolling 1's to wound for all SPEED FREEKS units;
• Access to six unique stratagems, a few of which are pretty enticing. The two standouts from my perspective include Attack Out O' Da Sun, which costs 2CP to put a unit of Deffkoptas into Strategic Reseve at the end of your turn, and Crashin' Through, which costs 1CP for a SPEED FREEKS unit to deal mortal wounds on the charge and gets seriously potent if used on a max-sized unit of Megatrakk Scrapjets or Kustom Boosta-Blastas.

Overall, this package seems pretty intriguing for niche Speed Freeks builds.

Notably, the restrictions don't require your units to give up their <CLAN> keyword on their datasheet, meaning you still would pick a Clan as usual but those units just wouldn't benefit from their Clan Kultur. However, Battlewagons and fliers would still benefit from Kulturs. This little loophole opens the door to still exploiting the Freebootaz +1 to hit buff to juice up the damage output from Dakkajets or Wazbom Blastajets provided you are able to kill an enemy unit in shooting with another unit first. Another reasonable option here would be to choose Evil Sunz, as their strat and warlord trait would both apply to all units as normal even though the models wouldn't benefit from the Clan Kultur. The Evil Sunz warlord trait Fasta Than Yooz to allow one unit of bikers to advance & charge is a big perk here, as most of your army will want to be advancing whenever possible to get that sweet 5++ save.

Warbikes becoming ObSec is a solid perk that is especially useful in Nachmund where BIKER units can now count towards several of the more common secondary objectives. It's clear that this Army of Renown is encouraging players to spam fewer buggies in favor of more Bikers, which weren't overwhelmingly abundant in the most competitive Freebootaz Speedwaagh lists. The Warbiker-specific strat, Chaaaaaarge!, is a bit costly at 2CP to give a charging unit of Warbikers +1A and -1AP. If you were running a large unit of 9 Warbikers it might be borderline worthwhile to improve their 28 attacks at WS3+ to S5 AP-2 D1, but I'm not convinced that melee is where the value of Warbikers really lies. A 9-strong Warbiker unit costs 225 points but hits only as hard as nine regular Boyz before their fairly expensive 2CP strat.

This Army of Renown introduces the option for a couple cute combos. Probably most obvious of these is their access to a new Kustom Job, Drag Chains, which allows a single vehicle to cause up to 3 mortal wounds to an enemy unit when it falls back and combos well with the More Gitz Over 'Ere! strat, which costs 1CP to permit a unit to fall back and shoot. As an added bonus, if the strat is used on a unit of Boomdakka Snazzwagons, they gain exploding 6's to hit when shooting. This combo is unfortunately limited by the restriction of only giving each Kustom Job to a single vehicle (and not a unit of vehicles), meaning that perhaps the best approach here would be to put the Kustom Job on a solo Boomdakka Snazzwagon and use it as a harassment/flanker to repeatedly charge, fall back, and shoot light or medium enemies.

The Deffkopta-specific strat is a big standout to me overall. Deffkoptas aren't cheap at 50 points per model, but pack a punch in both shooting and melee. At 300 points for a max-sized unit, Deffkoptas are a great selection for the To The Last secondary objective, and their 2CP strat to fly into Strategic Reserves at the end of your turn basically renders them immune to all damage for your opponent's next turn. Taking two max-sized squads of Deffkoptas would almost guarantee at least 10 VPs from To The Last in this list, because you could always relocate the squad to your back table corner as soon as they are down to 1-2 models.

To be completely honest, I don't have a good feel for how strong this Army of Renown would be in comparison to all other Ork lists in Nachmund. My gut feeling is that it's probably one of the best ways to run a Speed Freeks-style list and is worth considering if that's the type of Ork list you wanted to take. Giving up so many datasheets is a big downside, though, and especially when those datasheets are so valuable for playing many Nachmund missions, like Kommandoz, Stormboyz, psykers, and the like. On balance this isn't a list I would run but I could see the upside if you were already trying to make a Speed Freeks list work outside of Freebootaz buggy spam.

And that's a wrap for part two of Da Art of Waaagh! 2022. Next time we'll be looking at the game-wide changes to 40k since Codex: Orks was released and the impact those changes have had on building Ork army lists. Stay tuned!