Underdogs...

Well I need a reason to post around here on a regular basis that doesn't just turn into a rant about how awesome I am or how much painting I need to do.

So, searching for options (damn you and your arena of death awesomeness Gav *shakes fist at the evil over lord*), I came up with this.

The premise is fairly simple. Each week (probably on a Wednesday) I'll pick up a Codex and tell you what I think is an under appreciated unit in said Codex. You may agree with my findings, you may not...but whats important is that I got you thinking about a unit thats under valued/used..oh and also remember I'm always right...in my Blog/mind at least.

So, what better Codex to kick off with than one thats very close to my heart....Codex Orks. Now there are a lot of net lists for Orks...I hate them all. From what I read, if you aren't running 4 Battlewagons with Deff Rollaz, spam/cookie cutter squads or Biker Nobz you're doing it wrong. I've never run any of those and I have around a 90% success rate with my army against very good, top teir players...so all you haters can just keep rollin'...erm...whatever. I'm not sure exactly where that came from.

While I admit that they are very good units, I prefer a challenge when I go to war. Now looking at the Codex there is one unit that I've never seen anyone else run, and it's not surprising really when the slot they occupy have much more reliable units to take. Calm down, I'm not talking about Flash Gitz, not even I'm die hard enough to argue in favour of them...in this post at least! No, I'm talking about the Looted Wagon.


So, for 35pts we get...a well a 35pt Rhino...but open topped...and BS2...and a 1 in 6 chance of doing nothing...and no guns...ahem. Looking at this it's easy to see why its often over looked. For the same points/slot you can get a killa kan (minus a gun)... not a great start. Now it can transport any unit up to 12 Orks strong which means tank busters and burna boyz now have access to some mech. However, its not fast which means these will be in the second wave behind your Trukk Boyz and its only slightly more survivable than a Trukk.


Now personally I've never used it as a transport as I'll admit Wagons are much better at it and if I have a unit that must get to the enemy I either rely on the speed of Trukks or the armour of a Wagon. No what I like the Looted Wagon for is the Boom Gun (no surprise I guess). With its 36" S8 Marine-Kracker shells it makes a great diversion unit that can provide long range fire support which outside of Lootas the Codex is some-what lacking.

Added to this the S8 2D6 pick the highest means its quite reliable at de-meching for the Boyz to get to the soft candy center.


Giving target saturation with a couple of these and a couple of Trukks means the enemy usually has a choice to make. I normally form a fire base in my army consisting of Lootaz, Kannons and a Boom Wagon to shoot down field, while a couple of trukks and a wagon speed up field towards the enemy, while some flanking kommandos/deffkopters harass and funnel. This often ends up with the enemy grouping units together to give support...which is great for a large blast weapon.

Now I know this set up will see you sinking just over a hundred points (I always take the 'ard case) which could buy you a cheap Wagon, or a couple of Kanz etc...but give it a go and see what happens. It may let you down at the worst possible time...but thats what you get for playing Orks, if you want units that always do what they are supposed to, play Marines! Roll the die and have fun. Dont just try one or two games with it though as your opinion will be biased depending on what happens and make sure you have some synergy.

I'll just close with my final "fun tactic" that I like to pull off with the Boomgun...close range fire support for my Mega Nobz. Charging 10 Grey Hunters in cover with all their counter charging goodness will probably not end well for a small squad of Mega Nobz, but sometimes you just have to work with what you have....but wait...I have a Boomgun, that can reach out and touch that unit over the other side. Oh no....my mega Nobz are 3" away...a bad scatter and its bye bye...but wait...they'll get their save. Yes it will be instant death...but so what, they are Orks...and its funny... In any case you have a 33% chance of rolling a hit anyway, and clearing out a few of them can turn a lost combat into a draw...everyone of them that fails that 4+ cover save is 3 less attacks coming your way.

Well, thats been the first of the series, let me know what you all think.

TheBaron

I rolled: 11 (6/5)