Ultimate 2500 point Ork Walker army list

So today is the big day. Its 9am and I have already set up the board outside. Weather forecast is for a nice warm day with low wind. Perfect. Just had a text from the opposition to say that he is on the way so I need to get the kettle on. The Dark Templar is planning to Tweet key events during the day, (details on his blog). That will be a first for us and should be interesting.

So what army did I pull together? Your going to like this....

I have taken on board the Ork Walker discussions that have been going on and pulled a list together that I really love the feel of. It should really wipe the floor with anything being faced, he said confidently. It contains the Stompa, Gorkanaut, Deffdredd and 6 x Killa Kans. This is supported by a Battlewagon and Dakkajet. There is a unit of gretchin to make up the Troops numbers so that it is an Ork Horde Detachment granting Boss of Da Waaagh and The Greenskin Hordes special rules.

The plan remains - 'shoot the choppy and chop the shooty'

HQ (min of 1)
Warboss in Mega Armour, Lucky Stick, Bosspole (In the Battlewagon)
Painboy (with the Warboss)
Big Mek with Kustom Force Field (in the Stompa)
Mekboy (with the Warboss)
Mekboy (in the Stompa)

Elites
3 x Meganobs with kombi skorchas (in the Gorkanaut)

Troops (min of 3)
15 Boyz with Nob and Power Klaw, Bosspole (with the Warboss)
18 Boyz with Nob and Power Klaw, Bosspole, 2 x Rokkits (in the Stompa)
10 Gretchin with Runtherd and squig hound

Heavy Support (can take 4 because of the mission rules)
1 x Deffdread with close combat Klaws
6 x Killa Kans with skorchas
1 x Gorkanaut
1 x Battlewagon with 4 x rokkits, killkannon, ram

Fast Attack
1 x Dakkajet with 3 sups shoot as, flyboss

Lord of War
1 x Stompa

Note - the Battlewagon could easily be downgraded to a Trukk. Stick the Warboss in the Stompa and spend the additional points to get another Trukk load of Boyz at which point the Gretchin are not needed. No-one should be shooting at the Trukks anyway as there is too much other stuff that has amazing killing ability and they are Assault vehicles with could be advantageous.

So in theory, the Stompa goes straight up the middle moving and shooting anything that can shoot back. 'Shoot the Shooty'. Move him towards the most dangerous shooting attack so that he can 'Chop the Shooty' as soon as possible. The Boyz rokkits also shoot out of the Stompa. The Kans and the Dread follow behind moving and running to keep up. Move them towards shooty stuff. Again 'chop the shooty' as soon as possible. The Gorkanaut takes one side and again moves and runs. The battlewagon takes the other side and moves as far as possible. The Dakkajet is there to provide some arial support, if needed, and if not to just shoot from distance. The Gretchin can hang back and grab any objective at the back as the rest of the army surges forward.

The Kustom Force Field makes sure that any incoming shots bounce off the Stompa.

After the first turn everything in the Ork army is ready to descend on the enemy with awesome close combat abilities. Declare the Waaagh and give no mercy. The Boyz in the Stompa can hang on for a bit and get out later to mop up the remaining carnage, as can the meganobz.

Now all you Ork players just know that you want to give this a go. Waaagh!!!!!

The question is - what will happen when we start rolling dice? Will the plan survive or need to be altered? And so the fun begins.

Gorkanaut - Da 'Eavy Metal!

Zagdakka had launched the Waaagh with great success. The inter planetary communications array had been taken and this bought time. The Iron Fists were trapped without the means to call for reinforcements so Zagdakka could call down the Heavy Support. The next target would be the Forge. Intelligence reports that it is heavily fortified and defended by the forces of Nurgle. 

In truth the rumours were that Typhus himself would lead the defence and this was a potential blessing. Reports of Typhus in action against the Dark Angels questioned his willingness to get directly involved in the action and begged the question - has he Gone Yellow?

Either way Zagdakka knew that this would be a tougher nut to crack and as he surveyed the many weapons of destruction being assembled his eyes fell to the new heavy walkers. Emmmm......

Well I have bought the kit and assembled a Gorkanaut and whilst I love the kit and assembling / painting was joy I have been less convinced about its use on the battlefield especially at a cost of 245 points.

It does look imposing though. (Now that I have read the rules I note that its not allowed the KFF - I will have to see if I can carefully remove it) The Armour is decent FA13, SA13, RA12. It has four attacks and 5 Hull Points. So it should be survivable enough. It has no fire points! This means that whoever is inside can't shoot out. Not a huge deal but you have to wonder why? It can transport six models. Another very odd number. This limits those that can use it to Elites or HQ as all other mob sizes are 10 and above. Unit options include Burna Boyz, Tankbustas, Nobz and Mega Nobz. There is the option to keep the unit size to 5 and put a Mek Boy in there to repair HP's.

As a Walker it can move 6" and then there is a choice - shoot or run? If the choice is to shoot it will slow the Gorkanaut down making it less likely to be involved in the attack. It becomes a fire platform sitting at the back of the army. If the choice is to run then the focus must be on getting into hand to hand / delivering the contents of the beast. Lets look at these options.

1. Shooting - it is anti infantry. (I do like the Ork sitting at the back of the gun.)

It comes with 2 x twin-linked big shootas, 2 x rokkit launches, skorcha and Deffstorm mega-shoota.

The big deal is the Deffstorm R36", S6, AP4, Heavy 3D6. The Ballistic Skill remains 2 so what does this mean? Average 9 shots with 3 Hits likely. S6 should result in 2 Wounds but then there are saving throws. Not exactly devastating.

The Big Shootas will pump out 3 shots each so that is 6 shots expecting 2 Hits. They are twin linked so that should give another Hit. Therefore potentially 3 Hits at Strength 5 so hopefully 2 Wounds and then there are the saves to consider.

The Rokkit Launchas will be pot luck really.

The Skorcha is a Template weapon so needs to be up close to be effective.

(The Morkanaut takes a Kustom mega blasta & Kustom mega-kannon instead of the Deffstorm & Skorcha. For this there is a 15 point cost reduction. Both weapons Get Hot (I hate that rule) but on the up side one is a Blast weapon. I do like a Skorcha though!)

2. Close Combat.

First off the Rampage special rule is in play. This grants an extra D3 attacks to the Walker if the opponent has more models in the combat. This is highly likely to be in use.

Hammer of Wrath is also in play. This grants an extra attack that always Hits and is resolved at the models Strength, AP -. The Gorkanaut is S8.

Other than that the Gorkanaut is armed with the Klaw of Gork and has 4 Attacks (5 on the charge). The Klaw is S10, AP1 Melee, Concussive and Fights with a WS of 4.

All this makes the Gorkanaut a bit of a beast in Close Combat. A large number of attacks is good against troops and the high Strength and AP1 makes it good against Vehicles.

Walkers can also fire in Overwatch which would be great if being charged.

Summary

The Gorkanaut is a Walker and as such quite slow. It is probably most effective in Close Combat and a lot of consideration needs to be given to the unit that will be transported so that it compliments the chosen tactical deployment.

It is a real threat and could be used defensively to shore up one side of the battle field. Any small unit inside could potentially emerge late in the battle to seize objectives.

It could also lead the assault by throwing itself down the throat of the opposition. Move and Run and Move and Run and Charge. Get into combat in Round 2 and pile on the pain.

Either way I still have my doubts - it is a lot of points and will need to pay for itself! It does look Orky though.

Ork Walkers

I have paid a visit to the garage and started to unpack some of my Orks. Always a pleasure, never a chore. The beauty is that you forget some of the wonderful models that are in storage, you find unfinished projects and it gets the juices flowing.

I wanted to dig out the walkers and have a look at them. They were a joy to assemble and are packed with blades and spikes and all kinds of Orky goodness. I also needed to make sure that the paint scheme for the new Gorkanaut was tying in to the overall theme.

First out were the Killa Kans and Deff Dread. I spent quite a bit of time on them previously going with the Yellow jaw, red shoulder pads and then touches of blue. They were inspired by some fantastic painting in one of the old White Dwarf magazines. The first unit that I really spent time on was my 'Ard Boyz. The colour scheme started with them and has spread. It is loud, it is gaudy and that what makes it Ork'ish.

My Gorkanaut has been coming along nicely and was fitting in well. More red washes I think.

He has a bit more blue to him and I need to work on getting the yellow more 'dirty' and then add more defined horizontal stripes to the should pads but he is looking the part.

The Ork Stompa is still the biz though. I think I need to get some of the Goff black and white squares onto the Gorkanaut somewhere as well and maybe even a yellow panel or two.

They will look great on the battle field though. I have always been somewhat lucky with the walkers. My Deff Dread, 'Da Basha' to his friends has survived some 'hairy' situations and pulled off some amazing feats. This is his third incarnation. I still have the other two somewhere. I must see if I can drag them out and dust them down for old times sake. At the end of a battle it is good to have some bragging rights and 'Da Basha' has been the source of much 'Dark Templar' baiting over the years ;-) Long may this continue!!

Gorkanaut assembly

I have had great fun assembling the new Gorkanaut. It is a great kit with lots to do and there are plenty of options to change the look of the beast.

This is what I went for in the end. A big Klaw on the right hand side with shoot shootas and that amazing looking gun on the left. There is an ork sitting behind the gun which is a nice detail and there is Dakka running out of every orphus.

The Klaw is a great piece of work. It is suitably huge and looks really 'meaty'. I could easily see it ripping hunks out of enemy tanks and transports.

I spent a few days getting some paint on and I am really enjoying the level of detail. I have gone with my usual Red, Yellow & Blue so that it will tie in with the rest of the army.

I went to town with the washes to really dirty the whole thing up and no doubt I will spend another few evening picking out detail here and there. I thought I would include a 'Painboy' in the picture to give a better idea of scale.

A monster addition, a fun build and a treat to paint.

It will be fun to get some of the other Ork pieces out of the garage and see them all together. I feel a Waaaagghh coming on.

Waaagghh!

No no - its not my fault - you see it just kinda happened all on its own. My mouse hovered and I must have clicked and then the postman came and ...... and .........  ;-)

Its Ork time! Bring on the Gorkanaut!

Yes indeed, it has arrived and the kit is really cool. Lots to do and great options.

One will not be enough.