Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Orks (section)

===HQ===
*'''Warboss:''' Any respectable Ork army should have one of these bad boys. The Warboss is a monster in close combat and he's also a tough nut to crack with T5 (T6 on a bike) and 3 wounds. He has a huge wargear selection as well and can fulfill a few different roles in any Ork army. Remember that you need a model with the WAAAGH! special rule to actually be able to call one. The boss has two options for weapon upgrades: The Power Klaw and the Big Choppa. Take the Klaw. Attacks at S10 AP2 are just way too good to pass up. Just keep in mind that you will be attacking last, so remember that before you go running into a challenge only to be killed before you can rip him apart. The Big Choppa ''could'' be a decent alternative, as S8 attacks on the charge is nothing to scoff at and it costing only five points, but apparently a gigantic chainsaw axe being swung by a very pissed-off hulking green brute can't go through decent armour unless it's the chaos berzerker version.. The thing's only S +2, AP 5. Compared to Klaw's ded killy S x2 AP 2.
**'Eadwoppa's Killchoppa finds it's home here, as getting to use the full initiative of a warboss with the potentials for rending and instant-death might make it a viable alternative over the standard klaw.  If you know your opponent has lots of Monstrous Creatures, 'eadwoppas truly shines.
**Mega armor grants a 2+ armor save to the boss and gives him a Power Klaw, Twin-Linked Shoota, and Slow and Purposeful, all for 40 points. Definitely worth the cost. He does great with a unit of either Nobz or Meganobz in a Battlewagon, leading a huge mob of Shoota Boyz on foot in a Green Tide army, or letting a squad of 15 Lootas fire at full BS while moving with Slow and Purposeful while tanking any hits. Combined with Da Lucky Stikk (and only using it to re-roll armour saves) the bearer is effectively invincible to non AP2 weaponry - chances of failing a 2+ save with a re-roll are 1 in 36.
  
*'''Big Mek:''' A versatile HQ less suited to direct combat, the Big Mek's role in an army is largely defined by one of two upgrades he's able to take, the Shokk Attack Gun or Kustom Force-Field, described below. While he's no slouch in close combat (he's a Nob with respect to his stat-line), his expensive upgrades usually mean you should keep him away from a direct fight if possible.  Note that he'll have only one Close-Combat Weapon, but can take the Big Choppa for a meager 5 points.
**'''Shokk Attack Gun''' - Hoo boy, this thing is a ''[[skub|doozy.]]'' We have an Ordinance pieplate at AP2 where you have to roll 2d6 for the Strength. However, if you roll a double you'll have to consult a table to see what happens, most of the results being pretty bad. But overall it's not a bad weapon; an AP2 pieplate at any strength is nothing to scoff at, and at even S4 its capable of evaporating Space Marines. Recommened to be paired with either Grots as cheap meatshields or Lootas for a pretty nasty firing line.
::: '''1,1:''' The Big Mek dies instantly i.e remove the model as a casualty. Better luck next time, ya grot.
::: '''2,2:''' Your opponent chooses the target of the blast. Assume LoS and range still count towards this and that your opponent isn't [[That Guy]].
::: '''3,3:''' Resolve the shot on the nearest unit, be it yours or an enemy. Let's hope it just hits a pile of Gretchin instead of your juicy Boyz.
::: '''4,4:''' The blast becomes a small one and is resolved at S6, AP6. ''[[Meme|Pathetic]]''
::: '''5,5:''' No shot is fired, rather your Big Mek zooms to the target in question and is considered locked in combat. While unintentional and very detrimental in the long run, if your Big Mek has a Power Klaw it can be a hilarious way to tie up a unit and whiddle them down, granted he doesn't die in the first Assault phase.
::: '''5,6:''' Only non-double result. The shot is considered S10, but only the model under the template hole is hit.
::: '''6,6:''' ''Awww yeah.'' The shot has the [[Awesome|Vortex]] rule. As long as it doesn't scatter, whatever poor bastards that will be hit cease to exist. The blast remains in play for a while and scatters randomly, so keep in mind that it'll be a huge environmental hazard later on if you wish to charge forward.
**'''Kustom Force Field''' - Now changed to a flat 5++ invulnerable save against shooting for every model within 6" of the Big Mek. What makes this utterly invaluable is that this invulnerable save transfers over to a transport if the Mek is inside it. Keep in mind this is the ONLY invulnerable save (well, except Badrukk's armour plate) in the Ork codex, and of fucking course it only works against shooting attacks. 
**Taking Mega Armor on a Big Mek really depends on personal taste; do you want a Big Mek in the back lobbing artillery or do you want him on the front lines? Keep in mind you can stack saves and make him pretty bulky: with KFF you have a 2+ armor save and 5++ against shooting. As with the Mega Armored Warboss, you can confer Slow and Purposeful onto Lootas or Mek Gunz, making them move and fire at full BS. And with the KFF, they all now have a Daemon save against shooting. 
***'''Tellyport Blasta''' - If your Big Mek does have Mega Armour, he can take one of these, which is a shoulder mounted S8, AP2 Blast weapon that causes instant death or auto penetrating hits on any to-wound rolls of 6.  However the range is the same as a standard pistol- one bad scatter (bear in mind the standard Orky BS2) and you could be blasting your own Orks. Slow and Purposeful justifies this as you can freely move and shoot it. Just remember that if you've already invested in Mega Armour and this thing for a Big Mek, you might as well give him three Ammo Runts to make sure your gambit pays off.

*'''Weirdboy:''' Weirdboyz are your Psyker. Clocking in at 45 points for a Nob with a Force Staff, the Weirdboy is fairly cheap. Furthermore, they have a special rule where if they're within 12" of 10 or more Orks, they generate an additional Warp Charge, yet should they fail to successfully manifest a power that turn, they take an S2 hit...So even before you upgrade, 45 points for 2 Warp Charge seems really good, and yet despite this, the Weirdboy is **Not** a priority HQ choice for many Ork armies, unlike in other Psykers. This is because they don't have access to any of the base rulebook disciplines besides the Daemonology ones (Sanctic and Malefic), they compete slotwise with Painboyz, Meks and the Warboss, and they don't have any actual options available to them other than upgrading to ML 2. Most notably, this means they cannot take a Bike, which severely limits their own mobility and ability to get into ideal positions to use their deadliest powers. If you really want to use Weirdboyz, the simplest option is to just run them as an HQ-filler/"Squad Support" weapon. 2 dice plus whatever you get from the D6 from harnessing warp should be enough to toss a Eadbanger here and there, while not slowing down the Mob from running or doing their own thing. 

*'''Painboy:''' Yup, he's an HQ now, and there was much [[skub|rejoicing.]] Priced 50 points for a Feel No Pain in a squad of your choice. Can take a Warbike to keep up with those faster squads and give him something to shoot, considering he has no ranged weapons. This is the reason why you should take the Ork Horde detachment: to snag a Painboy in that third HQ slot. 

*'''Mekboy'''- Basic Mekboys can still be taken as free upgrades to loota/burna units. They can now also be taken by themselves as a free HQ slot for every other you have filled, and must be attached to a unit.  Still a very, very cheap way to repair vehicles with the added advantage of being more plentiful, especially since they can equip Grot Oilers. You can throw it in a mob of Boyz to keep your Nob out of dangerous challenges. Come standard with a Choppa and Slugga, but can take an absurd amount of weaponry: Kustom Mega-sluggas and Blastas, Rokkits, Kombi-weapons, and a Kill-saw. A Kill-saw can make the Mek a nasty little thorn to suck up challenges and hopefully chew some holes in some vehicles.
**Note: The Mek is still an HQ slot, and thus could be taken as your mandatory HQ for a CAD. Though you would not get the option for another Mek, this can be useful for any "second detachment" where you wish to increase your slots and wish to save points. 

====Special Characters====
*'''Kaptin Badrukk''' - The Flash Git Kaptin that we've had a model for for a VERY long time, but until now had no unit to stick him with. He's basically a Nob with +1 WS and +1 attacks. He doesn't have any other special rules unique to himself other than his wargear, which comes with the standard Slugga/Choppa configuration, along with scavenged Power Armour and force field bitz for the 3+/5++ saves. He also has a Kustom Ogryn Ripper gun that is essentially an Assault 3 Plasma gun. He's not bad, being survivable allowing him to reroll his saves from Gets Hot, and if Gitfinda isn't doing the trick, a few Ammo Runts can help.
**'''Alternate Opinion:''' The jolly Kaptin' is sadly overcosted for what he does. A Warboss with a Eavy Choppa, Gitfinda and Gazbag puts out the same amount of shots at the same but twin-linked, and costs less points to boot! Sure, Badrukk is AP 2 instead of 3, but the Boss is tougher, more mobile, can provide board presence, and there are no real units worth attaching Badrukk to. The only other AP 2 shooting in the codex generally prefers to stay in the Ork player's backfield, while Badrukk costs the same as an entire unit of Flash Gitz alone. Plus, to choose Badrukk as a Warlord means forfeiting the ability to Waaagh, which is just plain un-Orky.

*'''Mad Dok Grotsnik''' - Grotsnik is an interesting character. His profile is -1 Strength away from being a Warboss and his '''One Scalpel Short of a Medpack''' rule got better, so he no longer runs about the battlefield in circles. Instead, he makes a unit Fearless and grants them Rampage, on top of Feel No Pain from the Dok's Tools. Despite that and a nice T5, he's only I3 (Power Klaw is Unwieldy anyway) and 4+ armor, so any schmuck with a power maul could kill him. ''Do not'' try to put him in a challenge with a beefed up captain or chaos lord. He will get smashed, guaranteed. He's mostly meant as a pseudo-[[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]]  and melee anvil with a pack of Nobz.
**While One Scalpel Short of a Medpack all sounds cool on paper, ''Rampage'' only activates when the squad is outnumbered and this is only really going to happen to Orks when fighting against Guardsmen or Nid blobs or if he joins Nobz. If the Orks find themselves outnumbered by other forces it's typically a sign that the combat has not gone very well for them already and they should expect to see more boyz drop, so therefore being Fearless with Rampage guarantees an [[Awesome|Epic]] Last Stand in a small unit with a fair bit of bite. IF you take him, make sure you dedicate that unit to getting stuck in, as he can't leave a unit he's joined to until it's entirely dead.
***Can be devastating if you pair him with a barebones unit of Meganobz. You'll number at four guys, whereas most infantry units have five or more guys. Unless you're running up against MCs, you'll be outnumbered and get Rampage like 75% of the time. And on the charge, you'll have 21-29 S9 AP2 attacks if you're outnumbered. Kit them out with killsaws for maximum damage and to compensate for those times when you're not outnumbered, for a maximum of 24-32(!) attacks on a charge with Rampage. Plus Fearless and FNP keeps those MANz on the table much longer.
*'''Boss Zagstruk''' - Boss Zagstruk is a "cheap" HQ, costing only slightly more than a naked Warboss. With a Rokkit Pack and Eavy Armor, his unique power is that his Hammer of Wrath attacks are S8 AP 2; this mainly exists to punish enemy armies where characters are forced to accept Challenges. In practice, Zagstruk is a backfield vehicle hunter and charge supporter, able to assume a low model profile before using the Waaagh to benefit from a large threat range; six Strength 6 attacks are a reasonable threat vs most vehicles. That said, Zagstruk is generally not seen compared to using the second HQ slot for a Big Mek or Painboy, though he has utility as an "assassin."
*'''Grukk the Face-Rippa (Stormclaw):''' Now the only footslogging Warboss special character since Zagstruk and Badrukk are both just big Nobs ''(pun intended)''. Grukk isn't half bad though. As for a generic character with equivalent gear it'll cost you 119 points, for the extra 11 points Grukk gets ''true'' (5+) FnP and his power klaw has the ''Shred'' USR and his warlord trait is fixed as Bellowing Tyrant which helps his army deal with the now more perilous morale checks. Grukk would be a staple in games of 1000 pts or below, if only he wasn't a rare model... which means make your own, scour EBay, or look for Chinese recastors. GW now has a pack with this guy and pack of Nobz for about $50, not bad.

*'''Zhadsnark 'Da Rippa' (Forge World):'''  People used to call this guy the better Wazdakka, now he's the ONLY biking special character left. He has twin Big Shootas, a power klaw at normal initiative (Space Marine no less!) and he can choose to Turbo Boost ''and then Tank Shock'' a unit (just don't try to figure out how this works vs vehicles). He also gets to take warbikers as troops, no surprise  this is one of the only character that still does this. But, he comes with a catch: No Deff Dreads, Kans, or Big Gunz (Big gunz are no longer in the codex Mek gunz are...) This means he must be used as a close combat shock unit, and needs a warbiker or nob-biker retinue. His lack of an any kind of decent save (he has a T-shirt save) or Eternal Warrior makes, and his high point cost makes him risky for competitive play. His rules are never updated to 7th so he does not have the 'ere we go special rule. Read your rulebook again to know just how sad this is. '''Note that this is the ONLY way to still get bike troops.'''
** Alternative take: though his armour is paper, he has the Jink special rule, which, along with the Skilled Rider USR, offers a nice, 3+ cover save. Not something to rely on against Tau, and Ignore Cover weaponry, but with a unit of scouting warbikes, immune to dangerous terrain test, and rolling in 3+ cover can be a nasty surprise.

*'''Mek Boss Buzgob (Forge World):'''  Hoo boy, its Buzzgob. The poster boy of the entire IA volume, this dude is full of win but has not aged well overall. First off he is more expensive then a warboss. His entire statline is better than a Big Mek. He comes with 'eavy Armor, a Big Choppa, and a Bosspole from the start. He also runs around in an orky Full Tech Harness, the Mek Arms. They give him D3 attacks on the charge ''in addition'' to the +1 he gets normally. Unfortunately this makes him a close combat monster against hordes and unarmored unit. Then he lacks Cybork Body and Eternal Warrior, which means he dies to Railguns/Lascannons very quickly. He has to be the warlord and has a horrible warlord trait that makes nearby dreads scoring only does a thing in the dreadmob list where troop dreads don't score. So who does really want to spend so much points on a mek with buffed stats but no good weapons or good extra abilities such as good repair rols or a foce field. The trick is to put him in his transport with a mek(boy) retinue to ensure his success. The update is using the older codex as a reference so he does have the WAAAGH special, making him the ONLY non-Warboss model that can call a WAAAGH. Buzgob is also famous for smuggling a MEK STOMPA into Appocalypse or similar "larger games" for a bargain. Previously we all had to agree that our regular game size fits in that category, agree on using  dubious source and ignore the fact that FW admitted that it was an oversight. Nowadays we have the ITC ruling who does this for us. 

*'''Skalk Bluetoof (Forge World):''' Missed because he only gets mentioned much later in IA8, but unlike all of the other special campaign characters, he ''does'' have a listing as an HQ choice for a normal Orks army. He's an old wily Death Skull and has -1 Strength compared to a normal Warboss and also misses out on "Ere we go" because it's from an older version of the rules. However, he has Eternal Warrior due his luckiness, a Kustom Mega Blasta that only Meks usually get and his army may take a mob of Lootas as a [[Awesome|Troops]] choice because of the Deathskulls penchant for nicking everything. As a final bonus, he and a squad of Nobs may be mounted on "Bonemuncha" (a Gargantuan Squiggoth) as a unit option '''not''' a Lord of War choice. Bonemucha is a trap, don't use it Gargantuan Squiggoths are hugely overcosted compaired to other gargantuan creatures * cough wraithknights cough, knights*