News: No news is good news...

Login  |  Register

Author Topic: Orks: Masters of the Hit and Die, A tactica  (Read 1636 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Jack_Merridew

  • Kommando Nob
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 590
  • Country: us
  • Shhh....be warry warry quiet, I'm huntn' umies...
Orks: Masters of the Hit and Die, A tactica
« on: January 20, 2011, 02:45:48 PM »
I would like to preface this by saying this tactica isn't for everyone.  In fact Most of you will math hammer this until it makes zero sense and only a madboy would ever try.  Well let me tell you that its the intangibles that make up the math and that just because he's a crazy madboy doesn't mean he's dumb.

This tactica will include 3 options I have used in the past to handle the bane of orks, the template.  More over, tanks at a range.  One that is more familiar to everyone will be the Green Baron.  The next will be a little less common, and that is the use of Snikrot and his kommando elite.  Finally we have an even more obscure and wildly crazier option of attacking with Boss Zags.

Option 1 is a staple of most ork armies as it is cheap, very effective, and uses a organization slot that doesn't get a lot of use in the ork lists.  Ironic that fast attack plays little in a Kult of speed list but I digress.  The green baron for those that do not know is not an IC, but rather a squad of one single defkopta rigged with rokkits and a buzzsaw.  The rokkits are a twin linked high strength assualt weapon, and the with multiple attacks at an above average strength on the assault it makes the Green Baron relatively effective as a unit to take on light armored vehicles.

The green baron is also extremely versitle in it's deployment.  It has scout, so it may make a move after deployment.  It can turbo boost during it's scout move for a nice save and if you are lucky enough to go first, can normally reach a vehicle on turn one after boosting during the the scout move.  Since you get rear armor in assault, it makes vindicator tanks and dakka predators much easier to handle. 

The other option for the Green Baron is his ability to come in from reserves from the side of the board.  Hopefully getting the side his tank is on, and destroying it the turn it comes into play.

Normally I would start him in play and send him on turn one as I don't have to worry about rolling for reserve, or rolling to come in on the wrong side.  But something to think about and depending on your oponent he "should" think about is that your green baron "could" wreck his tank at the onset of any of your turns.  Therefore he will keep it mobile so that your baron doesn't autohit in CC.  This helps you by preventing him from being stationionary gun platform.  Dakka preds can shred a boyz unit in a turn or two, but if he can only fire one weapon option from moving, all those boyz saved is worth the price of one Green Baron even if he doesn't destroy the tank.

The next option for ranged tank removal is Snikrot.  Kommandos are sneaky viscious totally orky vandals.  Just mentioning Boss Snikrot brings sighs and moans of utter disgust from almost every opponent who has faced him before.  When he comes in from reserve, his unit of Kommandos picks which side the will be coming in from. 

After letting that last sentence sink in, I will say that I am not going over the glorious tactic of having two burnas in a kommando squad show up and the chaos they can cause to infantry.  But, Snikrot himself is where it is at.  I run him in miniature suicide squads. 

His medium high strength on the charge with his large amount of attacks that reroll to hit are definately a threat to any vehicle that likes to sit back and pound the ork lines.  Having him in reserve almost garrantees that your opponent will move his units at least 12" forward to stay out of his assault range from the table edges.  If he doesn't then Old Snikky can go to work on whatever he has neglected to bring forward with extreme prejudice.  If he does move them all forward which will happen more often than not, it means that all his units are closer to the rest of your boyz that are running towards them from the other edge.  It's win win.

The third and in my oppinion most devastating option is the Death from above option.  Boss Zagstruck is a nob upgrade for a storm boy unit that lets them assault after the deepstrike.  All at the cost of a few of his own storm boyz.  WARNING: The following sentence is opinion!  Boss Zagstruck is my favorite unit in the ork codex. 

Space Marines use drop pods to get there vets right behind vehicles to melta thier rear armor.  It's expensive and at 2 kill points total for a squad and a drop pod not really worth it.  But, If you use Zags, it's one unit.  One unit that can drop in, hit with a very high str attack and  go out with a blaze of glory. 

Just like Snikky, I run zags in a minimal squad of storm boyz.  He's almost always assaulting vehicles and storm boyz just aren't cost effective enough for me to try and glance them to death. 

Now therre are several drawbacks to Suicide Zags units.  Deepstrike can place you out of assault range.  If it does, try to get into cover or assault whatever you can.  He still gets his powerklaw at a higher initiative so he'll go down swinging.  Zags only gets his pk on the charge.  Well, Lets face it, at minimal squads, if at first you don't succeed it's there fault at that point you are still alive.

When comparing the three options I have above, it's important to look at your overall army theme and construction before deciding that a suicide unit is in order.  Although Snikrot can alter how another player plays his army, his kommandos take up an important Elite spot in your force organization that you might need for burnas, nobz, ect.  Both Zags and the Green Baron are Fast Attack, but if you are a kult of speed player you may have several rokkit buggies already selected, or biker boyz. 

Do you play with a lot of terrain on the board?  If so deep strike mishaps may be more of a threat to Boss Zags.  No single option above is a must have or an "I win" button, but they are options for ranged anti tank removal that your opponents might not be accustomed to seeing from ork players. 

Remember it's the intangibles that make up the points.  You may lose a 150+ points and a kill point, but if you can force your opponent to play to your strengths as Snikrot does, or force them to stay mobile like the barons do you are limiting the functionality of thier tanks and for every turn you limit them you are saving countless boyz on the other end.  I know it's bad math to count "possible boyz saved" as points to consider, but if you have had one round where a dakka pred's heavy bolters and autocannon have sundered a boyz squad or a killa kan mob to death then you know that keeping it to firing one weapon or better yet only firing one turn is your best bet.

Offline SKEETERGOD

  • Infinity Circuit | Boss Orkountant | I used Flash Gitz and didn't lose! | KoN Warlord
  • Lazerous Penguin
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3310
  • Country: us
  • The best upgrade for an ork, is more orks!
  • Armies: Hmmmm.... Orks?
Re: Orks: Masters of the Hit and Die, A tactica
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2011, 11:01:50 AM »
I am a great fan of the Green Baron, for what he does it is a great investment in points.

The baron either dies quick, or is devastating to the enemy. As a few war stories can demonstrate:
Against an IG player the GB killed all 3 of his earth shakers and then got a leman russ tank in the 4th turn. He had made the mistake of lining up all his stuff on the back of the board and had nothing that could shoot the baron once I was behind him. The baron has destroyed many an IG template throwing vehicle and is the most dreaded member of the ork army when playing against IG. On the occasions where he does not do well is when IG players who have suffered the ravages of the baron target him relentlessly on the first turn until he is dead. This is also good as a lot of fire has gone into the baron and not into my trucks allowing me to speed across the board and get stuck in unscathed.

Against necrons he is a great destroyer destroyer. In the standard squad of 3-5 destroyers the GB will kill one with shooting, and assault. His T is high enough and his save good enough that he will survive the 2-4 attacks and then his buzz saw will kill 1-2 of the destroyers and win the combat. He can glance the monolith to death and is great for harassing and wounding those pesky c-tans that they always seem to have hanging around. A c-tan cannot join a squad and so can be shot at all day long by the GB.

Against marines is the main time I start him in reserve, as usually they have more than enough AP4 stuff to kill the baron outright. In one game the GB killed two vindicators and a shooty dread more than earning him another glory mark. Against most marines the rockit is insta-death so when an IC ends up standing out in the open the baron can shoot and kill it. To have a devastator or long fang squad turn around to take on the baron will save a lot of boys and their trucks, allowing for them to get in close like we are prone to do.

Against eldar the GB can easily take down any falcon or prism that may be out there shooting you, once you are behind them they are easy pickings. In a few games the GB killed every serpent and falcon on the table giving the orks the higher mobility and the win. Most of the time the eldar players will shoot everything they have at the GB making it vitally important to turbo boost during the scout move. Twice now I have had the eldar shoot everthing in their army at the baron only to have the baron survive because of his 3+ cover save, and this meant that the rest of my army took no damage at all.

Against the tau the baron is a good broadside killer, shoot one and then assault killing another and sweeping the survivor. I have done that to the tau so many times I have lost count. He is also great against their other vehicles too. Just stay away from their hammerheads as the flechets will usually cause a wound on the baron, but if you get within 6" then the rockits can fly unmolested against the rear armor of their tanks. It is to the point now that unless it is a new tau player they usually shoot at the baron ignoring all other ork targets until the baron is dead. Again this allows the majority of my force to get in too close where tau do not like it.

Against DE, he is a great killer of transports, having those witches and soldiers walk is a good thing for orks. The DE players are arrogant and will ignore the baron with their drive to get in close to the enemy so they often times zoom right past him getting him behind them without having to do anything but turbo during the scout move. Then the baron will lazily turn around and shoot down a raider, leaving a bunch of dismounted warriors in front of a truck load of boys. Great fun. So far the DE players have continued to ignore the baron even though he kills three or 4 of their raiders every game. Soon they too will start to target the baron first turn and again this will allow the rest of my army to catch the tricksy DE before they can assault.

Now I hardly ever play against another ork player, but when I do the green baron is good at killing those pesky kans and dreads that are so prevalent where I play. The baron will usually only last one kill, so the trade off is important. If I can kill a dread then my baron has earned his points as usually right after that the kans turn and shoot the baron down. Since I have only played but a few games against other orks I cannot define a strategy for using the baron against other orks, except to say that he does what he does.

With most things orks, more is better. The Green Baron is the sole exception to that, as it is the only thing ork that does well all by itself. He never runs away, he is either on the board or dead. Twin link rockits makes him almost a crack shot and the saw makes anything with rear armor 10 a nice juicy target. The one thing you want to avoid is charging the baron into combat with infantry. He is not a CC expert, or even good at it, charging into infantry will only get the baron killed.

On occasion I have sacrificed him by charging a devastator squad so that they couldn't shoot at my too close BW, and of course he died but it moved the devastators (with their required pile in move) to the other side of the building so they did not have line of sight to my BW. Of course this situation does not come up often but it was worth a mention.

So, it is my (not so) humble opinion that the Green Baron is the best anti tank unit the orks have. You had better enjoy him while you can, as you know the mean designers at GW will somehow write him out of our codex on the next edition as he is just too good and there are many "whiners" who will complain about him when the next request for feedback comes along.

I know this is only a reply, but it may seem like a green baron tactica on its own. If you wish you may copy and paste any of the above into your tactica so that you have a bit more on the Green Baron.

Also, since you are comparing units, have a little discussion on the points of each unit and see which one has the best "bang for the buck" points wise. I know that there will always be favorites of each individual, you like the storm boys and I like the green baron, but for a person who has never used any of the above they might get confused as to which one to try first. So make a suggested order of acquisition, like since the AoBR coptas are starting to get fairly common, have them try the green baron first, then the storm boys, then the kommandoes. Or any order you see fit to recommend based on what works the best points wise and performance wise.
"It needs but one foe to breed a war. And even those who have not swords can still die upon them" (Lady Eowyn)
     We orks are not about being the hero; We orks are about being the mob.
                         
Quote from: angel of death 007
Skeetergod: (adj) A crazy fascination for all things combustible mixed with an unhealty lust for red paint. see also Speed Freak

Offline Jack_Merridew

  • Kommando Nob
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 590
  • Country: us
  • Shhh....be warry warry quiet, I'm huntn' umies...
Re: Orks: Masters of the Hit and Die, A tactica
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2011, 02:03:20 PM »
Lots and lots of good advice there skeet!

I wanted to go deeper into the points cost and such, but I didn't want to go against forum rules about posting codex stats.  But yeah, I'll add it.  I know there is a lot more strategy out there for the baron as well, I mostly wanted to give other options to the baron.  I'll add some more to it and post it up. 

Offline NewHeretic

  • Same Heretic, New God | Ork Boy
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4402
  • Country: us
Re: Orks: Masters of the Hit and Die, A tactica
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2011, 02:55:44 PM »
Very nice tactica and advice gentlemen.  I'm looking forward to putting it into practice with my new Waaagh!  :)

NewHeretic
Good advice from Joshua:

Choose you this day
Whom you will serve...
As for me and my house,
We will serve the Lord.

NewHeretic, forum policeman.

Offline OD from TV

  • Ork Warlord | Title of Doom status: pending | KoN Veteran
  • Lazerous Penguin
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1903
  • Country: us
    • OD's Project Blog
Re: Orks: Masters of the Hit and Die, A tactica
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2011, 03:11:45 PM »
Great first run Jack!  I think you can actually go a bit deeper into the point values though, as long as you aren't saying something like 'Snikrot costs xx points' rather you can get away with saying 'a Snikrot suicide squad costs 130 points'  (although do check my math there as I am working off of memory).

As a side note, we really need more tacticas, and this is exactly the kind of gold we are looking for.  And by 'we' I don't just mean the WotW, I mean the Article board (people do know that there is an article board right?).  Personally I think the best way to put together an article is to open a thread on the main board (ie here) get input, then take that input and improve the article for a posting in the Ork Article board (which I believe as a minimum post count as to access it).  Once on the Article board editors and other Article workers work with you to improve the article before you submit it to the Article Board itself, where it will shine in the halls of 40konline, and possibly get on the front page of the Forum.

Back to the article...  I dig it!  And I want to see more!

Peace
~OD
Truly beautiful work. That's the kind of stuff that makes a true mekanik cry tears of joy.
OD, you once again prove that your are still the freakin Da Vinci of plasticard

 


Powered by EzPortal