The Orks' long-awaited new codex will be with us very soon, and you can get your hands on it early – and with exclusive cover art – as part of the Beast Snagga Army Set that's up for pre-order in just a few days. Given that the codex comes with a whole heap of ded killy new rules, we thought we'd dive into dakka today.
The Orks, it is safe to say, are not noted marksmen. But what they lack in accuracy they’ve always made up for in rate of fire and raw enthusiasm – a tactical approach the Orks themselves have dubbed ‘dakka’. In battle this typically means that if you roll a 6 to hit, you get to shoot again, granting you a fair few extra shots when the boyz have their eye in.
It’s a system we all love, but what if it was even better?
That’s right. Dakka is no longer an ability, it’s an entirely new weapon type! And that weapon type has two separate attack values, giving you many more shots when firing at up to half your maximum range.
Dakka weapons generate solid damage output overall, but particularly reward Orks that gamble and get in real close before pulling the trigger – even Orks with guns want to get as close to a good scrap as they possibly can. Dakka gets even scarier when you look at really big guns.
For instance, Ghazghkull’s already-spectacular Mork’s Roar goes from Assault 12 to Dakka 16/12 – a significant uptick. Likewise, the Gorkanaut’s deffstorm mega-shoota moves from a Heavy 18 to a frankly alarming Dakka 30/20. Yes, that’s 30 Strength-6 shots within 18” – considerably more than most Orks can be bothered to count.
Even the humble Boyz get a considerable boost, with big shootaz moving from a perfectly decent Assault 3 to Dakka 5/3, and regular shootaz switching from Assault 2 to Dakka 3/2, making them significantly more lethal at close range.
The weapon upgrades don’t end there – Ork ranged weaponry has improved almost across the board, but new-style rokkits really shine. Rokkit launchas, rokkit kannons and kustom mega-blastas get more shots and that all-important Blast keyword.
There’s plenty more like that in the Orks’ levelled-up arsenal which we’ll leave you to discover for yourselves when the new codex drops at the end of the month, but we’ve got one more honourable mention – the glorious Bubblechukka.
So now instead of rolling a D6 for shots, Strength, AP, and damage and hoping for the best, you simply roll a D3 to get one of three intensely painful weapon profiles. Our tactical recommendation is this: do everything in your power to stay out of the way of the dense bubble.
The all-new Codex: Orks will be available at first in the Beast Snagga Orks Army Set, coming with exclusive cover artwork – and 26 brand new Ork miniatures! It’ll then become available on its own a little later this year. In the meantime, keep checking back with us here on the Warhammer Community website this week for more Orky sneak peeks.