Warboss

The very concept of a warm and loving fatherfigure.

ALRIGHT YA MANGY GROTZ! LISTEN UP, CUZ I'Z DA BOSS NOW!

A Warboss is the biggest, baddest, meanest ork in a tribe, and the second-biggest possible type of ork within the species - the biggest being the Warlord. These guys have been through a hell of a lot of fights, and the respect and submission that their tribe shows for their prowess has caused them to reach gargantuan size. While your average ork boy is pretty shooty and/or choppy, the Warboss (or "da boss" to one of da boyz) is the biggest and baddest without a doubt.

A Warboss is what you get when a Nob rises through the ranks of the tribe through either cunning brutality or brutal cunning (or a mixture of both), eventually making a power play against the reigning Warboss and nabbing his spot (and all the shiny gubbinz that come with it.) Sometimes this turns out differently, with the Warboss dying in a genuine scrap with the enemy while his Nobz all fight amongst themselves for the right to take his place.

A Warboss leads from the front, eager to have the chance to add some heads to his pole. Don't think they do this lightly, though - Warbosses are always keen to slap about the Meks of the tribe to make them give them the shiniest bitz. Despite their pretty much single-minded focus on warfare, they often end up gearing up completely differently than one another based on preference and clan. This just as often results in the already ridiculously huge bastards having Mega Armour or something welded to them as it does having a bitchin' bike to chop heads off from at high speeds.

Warlords are the biggest of the big - so big that they can command many tribes under their flag into one big Waaagh! These are the most exceptional individuals of the orkoid race, as one would expect from an ork so big he can boss other Warbosses around.

The Warboss of a Freebooter group is called a Kaptin.

On the Tabletop

The Warboss has always been, and will properly remain one of the most iconic and generally useful HQs to the Orks, and maybe in the entire game. While they haven't got the resilience of armour that Marines have, the sheer killyness of a Chaos Lord or the supportive abilities of a Farseer or a Tau Commander, but makes up for it by being resilient, killy and supportive at the same time, while being pretty damn cheap for what he does. Lets dive in, shall we?

In terms of stats, the Warboss is in a good spot, having WS 5 T 5 S 5 A 3 and three Wounds, making him quite a powerful git off the bat, and has a Ld of 8, alongside Scrap Armour, giving him a paltry 6+ Save. This might seem a bit lousy for such a prominent and powerful character in a WAAAGH, but that doesn't account for his upgrades, which severely boost him and make him into a true force to be reckoned with.

You start out with a Choppa and Slugga, and frankly, that isn't all that bad a choice. Sure, it doesn't do much that other units in the Codex can't, but that's not the point - It allows you to put a cheap Warboss in a large Mob of Boyz and boost their melee output, while helping with Ld and being able to fully utilize his most important supportive ability, which we'll touch upon later. You can, however, switch it for a Big Choppa, which will make ham S 8 in the first round of combat. Unfortunately, it is also Unweildy, so some units, like most Necrons, might have a better chance against you, unless you properly give him defence. Same thing goes with the Power Klaw, which is right 'ard and a great choice always, simply for doing plasma-to-Railgun-like damage with the same AP properties in melee combat.

Only Ork leaders would think of wearing vehicles as personal body armour.

For shootin', you get a Slugga of the bat, which is pretty alright for the most part - Warbosses aren't really ranged models. If you pick a Specialist Weapon or a Two-handed one, however, feel free to grab a Shoota for a bit more shootin', if you so desire, or maybe a Kombi-weapon, the Kombi-Skorcha being one of this author's favourites.

Defensively, there's not much of a choice for a Warboss - He tends to use Boyz or Nobs to defend him through LoS checks. It's still pretty mandatory to pick a cheap 'Ard Armour for a 4+, so you'll get a save against Bolters at the very least. You can also really pay up and get a Mega Armour, which is like a Terminator Armour, but without 5++ and with Slow and Purposeful. This is generally a great choice no matter what, though expensive.

On top of this, Warbosses have a multitude of gear to choose from, one of the most notable being a Warbike, which'll make a right 'ard and fast model to put in a right 'ard squad of fast models (the infamous Nob Biker Star includes this). You can also go with a Bosspole, which is great if sitting in a large Mob, or the ever-so-awesome WAAAGH-banner, which boosts your unit's WS by one point, which will be felt when charging other WS 4 units (if you are in a Nob unit, pick another Nob to have it, since it'll make the Warboss less of a target). There's also the Squig Hound, which is a free re-roll on one attack for almost nothing, Cybork Body for 6+ FNP, Gitfinda for BS +1 when standing still (Which Warbosses shouldn't really do) and Ammo Runts, for one free re-roll of a shooting attack for each runt.

And after all that, there's the Gifts of Gork and Mork, which, for the most part, are pretty nice. Standing out is Da Lucky Stikk, the late Makari's banner, which will allow the Warboss to re-roll any and all failed Armour, Invulnerability and to Wound, but if you ever roll three 1's with these re-rolls, your Warboss goes, no questions asked. Other great choices are Da Finkin' Cap, which boosts your Warboss' tactical support immensely, though sporadically, and Da Ded Shiny Shoota, which hits your own units when it misses.

The Squiggoth in the room is, of course, the WAAAGH Ability. Once per game, the Warboss can call a WAAAGH, which allows all units in your army with the 'Ere We Go rule (which is pretty much every fucking units in the entire Codex) to run AND charge in the same turn. This is what make melee Ork lists possible, as it can make your mobs touch enemy units at Turn 2, at which point a good chunk of your army will be doing bisections in an expedient and efficient way. It will also make your enemy react and play to your actions, which is funny as hell, when people assume they can just blow away the horde for lulz. This is also what makes Warbosses your supportive HQ, as, alongside some defensive options, Da Finkin' Cap and proper use of the WAAAGH, the Warboss, costing round about 100 points, boosts your army to extreme levels that no other HQ can help you with.

Big Meks do defense, shooting and weird gadgets, the Painboy tarpits and the Weirdboy psyking up the enemy, but the Warboss is the duct tape, gum and liberal kicking that makes this sporadic and rowdy band of lunatics into an efficient and scary monster for any enemy to face. Unless it's Eldar or Tau. Then nothing can help you.

See Also

• WAAAGH
• Warboss Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka
• Warboss Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter
• Warboss Grimskull
• Orks