What do you do when a giant Ork is forcibly trying to remove your head from your shoulders with his favourite choppa? We suggest asking nicely to hold on a moment while you read our handy tips for taking on the greenskins. After all, their new codex is up for pre-order from tomorrow, so you don’t have long to prepare. Let’s start with the obvious.
1. Bring Guns. Lots of Guns.
Seriously. Check underneath the bed, behind the sofa, or anywhere else you can think of. Squeeze as much firepower as you can into your army, and give those greenskins what for in the Shooting phase.
Even the humble lasgun shouldn’t be underestimated – Orks are about to become Toughness 5 thanks to the rules in the new codex, but that won’t affect the wound rolls for your salvoes of lasfire in the slightest.
Of course, this increase in Toughness means that multi-shot, Strength 6 (or higher) weapons are the new order of the day. And if they have a pip of AP to cut through the 6+ saving throw that’s commonplace among Ork units, so much the better.
Assault cannons and heavy onslaught gatling cannons, if you can get them, are exemplary wargear options to this end.
2. Tool Up Properly for Melee
Orks are famously aggressive, and they love nothing more than a good scrap. However, that doesn’t mean that they can’t be beaten in melee – you just need to ensure that your troops are packing the right wargear.
As with shooting, Toughness 5 does present a problem – especially for models with Strength 4 or 5 who will now only cause wounds on a 5+ or 4+ respectively.
Counter this by fielding units armed with weaponry that augments their strength. Hard-hitting and/or well-equipped units such as Custodian Guard, Bladeguard Veterans, Wraithblades, Possessed, and Celestian Sacresants are examples of units that can slice a bloody path through the Ork hordes – and even their Vehicles – in short order.
It’s worth noting that increasing the Strength of your attacks is more important than the AP of the weapons you’re using, as Orks are among the most lightly armoured factions. In fact, any dedicated melee units will often pierce straight through Ork armour anyway, so it’s all about finding ways to wound them more easily.
Similarly, weapons or aura buffs that allow you to re-roll failed wound rolls (lightning claws and Primaris Lieutenants, we’re looking at you) are incredibly beneficial.
3. Watch Out for Ramshackle Vehicles
Most Ork war machines come with a wonderfully characterful ability that makes destroying them a little more difficult than you might first imagine.
The trick here is also to pick the right weapons for the job.
If you bring autocannons and the like to bear, save them for Nobz and Warbikers, as Damage 2 is wasted against Ork Vehicles. Leave these to krak missiles and other guns with Strength 8 or higher. If you only need to strip a few wounds off your target to finish the job, consider small-arms fire instead, as most are Damage 1 and will be unaffected by Ramshackle.
4. Show Them the True Meaning of Armour
Orks may love to krump squishy stuff, but they can struggle when their would-be victims are sufficiently squish-proof.
That’s right – you need heavy armour and lots of it. Whether it’s super-tough infantry like Terminator-armoured (Chaos) Space Marines, battle tanks, or even a bunch of super-tough Tyranid beasties, the Orks will be forced to rely on their weight of numbers (and attacks) to bring them down.
Use this to your advantage by reinforcing your line with some heavy armour or even employ them as a speed bump to slow down the Ork advance while you reform and reposition key units.
When faced with a green tide of Orks, it’s sink or swim. Bring lots of tanks, big guns, and hard-hitting melee weapons, and you should do fine. Of course, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em – the new Codex: Orks and Combat Patrol: Orks are both available to pre-order tomorrow.