Makari
Once upon a time (read: 2nd edition) Ghazghkull had a personal standard bearer, Makari the Gretchin. He was quite fond of Makari. Makari had no battle application, he had no guns and poorer fighting ability than a Guardsman. But he had a banner, a BIG banner, that he waved about eagerly. In fact, so eagerly he often got shot at, but Makari was a special Gretchin. He was ridiculously lucky, so lucky in fact, he had an unmodifiable 2+ save (equivalent of a 2+ invul save) and lived to the age of nine standard years (which, when one considers the pitifully short life-span of most Grots, makes him an old man). So walking into the most dangerous battlezones in the whole of the grimdark Universe was one plucky little Gretchin with a banner, standing side-by-side with the most powerful Ork in existence.
Then Games Workshop decided that big bad Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka having a personal Gretchin wasn't grimdark enough. So big G sat on Makari by accident and fed him to a squig.
Fuck. That.
After several years of regret, GW decided that they had been mean to Makari and paid tribute to him in the 7th edition ork codex. Now Makari's banner pole is a relic, and the most useful one in the codex.
They have now decided, with Ghazghkull's new model coming out, to go ahead and bring Makari back, banner and all. Additionally, they created a narrative where in a “hilarious” inverse of the truth, it’s Makari whose more famous and well known as opposed to the big mystery Ork who follows him around. They also retconned his previous fate by saying his “death-by-ass” was merely propaganda from the Imperium.
The Truth about Makari
Orks are creatures of war and death. Deprived of it they waste away as other species would deprived a vital part of their diet. It is the slowest and most agonizing death an Ork can face. But that is not to say that Orks do not have a kind side, a decent side. A side that allows them to feel fondness of others.
"Oi, Boss, where ya goin'?" asked Graknob, before a sharp smack to the back of the head from one of his fellow Nobs silenced him. Ghazghkull Thraka, greatest Ork Warlord the Orkoid race has ever seen, did not even stop in his plodding steps as he walked away from his main tent in the camp. Some of the boyz had objected to moving the Waaagh off course to visit this small, unknown, out of the way planet. 'Itz already been smashed, why we'z goin' here?' some had asked, but never loud enough for the boss to hear. The Nobz waited for their mega-armored warboss to be out of earshot before answering the new member of Ghazghkull's retinue.
"'E's off rememberin'" said one, an old Ork named Griksnak who had served their boss for many many years.
"'E can remember jus' fine round 'ere. What's 'e rememberin'?" asked the curious Nob, uncaring of the death-stares he was receiving from his fellow Nobz.
"Think 'bout it dis way, ya git. Us Orks love ta fight, yeah?"
"Yeah, even a snotling knows dat!"
"But da boss keeps sendin' us 'gainst da 'umies. Dis is cuz 'e hates dem. Now, why'd da boss hate 'umies?"
Graknob remained silent for a few seconds, pondering the question he was asked. "Cuz dey got ugly faces?"
The other Nobz just shook their heads. "'E lost someone ta 'em." Graknob looked around, confused. Everyone knew it didn't matter if an Ork died, he just got belched back into another body. He couldn't understand the feeling of loss.
Ghazghkull had shed most of his mega armor by the time he got to the top of the hill. Being an Ork, the act of removing armor seemed... unusual, to say the least, but it seemed appropriate to approach this site somewhat vulnerable. After all, he was meeting with the one being he knew would never harm him.
"'Ey. Uhh... not sure what's I suppose'ta say 'ere. Jus' wanted tah, y'know, say 'ello. See how ya's was. Dose 'umies who got dat lucky shot off on ya? Yeah, dey dead. 'Dere planet is dead. Got lotsa da bastards. 'Ope dat helps out somehow. Wells... I's be goin', den. I... I misses ya, boy." Ghazghkull Mag Thraka turned and began walking down the hill again, leaving the grave he had been speaking to behind. A grave that simply said:
Makari
Banna Wava
Everyone knew Orks were belched back into another body after they died. Not Gretchin though. No Gretchin could ever replace Makari.
But, if you'd like to read a short story by some anonymous Writefag about Makari and his relationship with Ghazghkull against a certain Son of the Emperor then might I suggest to you the following: The Lucky Blue Rock.
GeeDubs hates our fun
The May 30th, 2014 White Dwarf issue had a short question-and-answer column with Ghazghkull. The first question everyone pounced on was "what happened to Makari?" to which Ghazghkull got all defensive. "I aint got time to talk about no good-fer-nuffin grots!" he bellowed.
Canonically, GeeDubs is standing by their "Makari got sat on" story. Indeed, that's the script they had Ghazghkull read from. But they way he answered it is just begging to have more fanfics written about it. "Everyone knows an ork sits where dey wants..." the big ork said with a gruff, a small choking feeling forming in the bottom of his throat. "...so it was 'is fault... not mine!" GeeDubs barely had time to shut the microphones off before the feed was drowned out with the sounds of sobbing.
Well, It's something
Just as we thought that GeeDubs was trying to get us to forget everything about Makari, the 7th Edition Ork Codex brings us the Relic "Da Lucky Stikk". It functions just like a WAAAGH Banner, with the addition of letting the bearer reroll ALL failed saving throws - But, if you fail three saving throws with that model in a single turn, the bearer instantly dies. That isn't the best part of this pretty great wargear: The description says that Da Lucky Stikk is the banner of the late Makari, and that it is constantly fought over and collected from dead Warbosses, as it is believed to have magical abilities that protects the wearer and allows them to gain a bit of the power wielded by ol' Ghazzy himself.
The Legacy of Makari lives.
WAIT WHAT!
OR NOT HOLY SHIT HE'S ALIVE! (Obviously his spore grew out of Ghaz's arse hole. Or maybe it's a different Grot and they all look alike to him, we don't know and don't care.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9Q8ghkIHVU
WITH HIS OWN MINI! Oh, and some big guy is standing next to him. YEAH I MAKARI IZ ALWAYZ BEEN ALIVE DEM JEALUS GITZ SED ODAR WIZE!!!!
From what we are shown so far, Makari is impressive (for a grot). With a 4+ WS, he has a good chance to stab, which is fine for Makari because unlike any other grot, he not only has a Stabba, but it also inflicts D3 mortal wounds on a 6+ to wound (Not hit) instead of his 1 AP0 damage on normal wounds with his decent S3. That's right, he can one shot a Custodian Guard. The rules are clearly a nod to how he's the luckiest gretchin ever, so if that scenario somehow happens, its up to the players to imagine what sort of odd unlikely (and hopefully hilarious) chain of events led to a Custodian dying while in combat with a grot. He's also got 4 wounds which aren't likely to shift too hard due to his returning 2+ Invulnerable save. His leadership of 6 can be used for GOFF Grots within 12" of him, for whatever good that does. Unfortunately, it's important to note that he only has 2 attacks. That leaves...a 1/6 chance of him actually getting the attack per round.
| So how effective is Makari in 8th edition? |
|---|
| Ok, the full list of rules for Makari have not been revealed yet, this is done with the info from the preview. |
| The nature of Makari's abilities and gear makes him a rather powerful, if unpredictable, HQ. While its point cost has yet to be revealed, we can measure its capabilities on the battlefield. |
| First off, Makari is WS4+ which is better than the norm for gretchins, but that means it will only hit 1/2 times. With only two attacks (again, above average for gretchins but mediocre overall), you shouldn't hope for much, but statistically we could assume that at least one attack will enter. After that, gretching strenght 3 is once again rather weak. It will hurt at 4+ against GEQ, 5+ against MEQ and 6+ against tougher objectives. But considering there's no AP on his attack, you don't hope to just wound your target. You want that 6+ role. Makari's stabba turns every wound rol of 6+ into automatic D3 mortal wounds. You could try to wound with a regular attack, but what's the point in Makari then? So, accounting for the WS and the 6+ needed for the mortal effect, and you will activate the effect around 2/24 times, or 1/12 times. Rather unreliable, but you can always try to improve your odds through re-rolls and stratagems. Considering a D3 attack can kill a Custodes at full health at its best, it is still an interesting proposition. You could always buff Makari through either psychic powers (Fists of Gork spell add 2 Strenght and 2 Attacks) or through relics (Da Lucky Stick gives an extra attack to units around the bearer. We still need to know if he can hold them, though). |
| Defensively, Makari's 2+++ is pretty much the best save of the entire game. Most HQs are outclassed by this magnificent gretchin. Marine Captains and Chapter Masters are only half as good as him. Guilliman and Abaddon cry everytime they think a single gretching has a better save than them. The fact that only 1/6 wounds hurt him means you're going to have to spam a lot against it, no matter how much strenght you have. The only other characters that come close to that invulnerable save is FW's Liuteneant Commander Anton Narvaez from the Marines Errant (and let's face it, how many SM players use Marines Errant rules?) and the Dark Eldar Archons, both of which will lose its invulnerable once they are hit. And they can't re-roll the failed dice, something Makari can do with no problem. Granted, Makari is still a T3 W4, which is below average for HQs, but he is an HQ nonetheless. This means he is probably one of the best objective holders out there, or a great way to block enemy units in melee. |
| Makari vs Guilliman Because why not: The Primarch of the XIIIth legion will have a decent chance of killing Makari. 6 attacks of re-rollable WS2+, 6+ strenght (either the sword or the gauntlets, one single successful wound will do enough to oneshot Makari). So for WS, it would hit 11/12 times and wound on 5/6, and after that it would have to go through the 2+ invul save. So each attack has 55/432 chances of killing him. And considering Guilliman has 6 attacks, the chances of Guilliman oneshotting Makari during the first round is 330/432, or around 55/72. The fact that there's a considerable chance Makari will survive a fight with Bobby G tells you how good the fucking 2++ really is.
On the offensive, Makari is... lacking here. Hitting 1/2 times, and wounding 1/6. Luckily that 6+ is the one with the mortal wounds, but even so. With two attacks, the chances of successfully wounding Guilliman are 2/12, or 1/6. Even if Makari does the maximum damage, it can't hope to one shot him, so Makari would need to survive two whole rounds to have a shot of defeating Guilliman, which is quite difficult. Killing Guilliman would take, at best, three successful attacks, and at worst, nine. All while surviving Guilliman's own attacks. You win this time, Guilliman! |
| Makari vs Abaddon Because why not as well: The Warmaster of Chaos is an interesting challenge for Makari. Not only he is T5, giving Makari more options to wound him, but Drach'nien's ability means Abaddon can hurt himself, making Makari's job easier. On the other hand, Drach'nien can make so many attacks if it doesn't roll a 1, he can oneshot Makari with ease. 6 attacks plus whatever he gets from the roll (between 2-6 extra attacks), so around 8-12 attacks against Makari. So hitting on re-rollable 2+ (11/12), S4+1 (4/6)and having to go through 2++ (1/6), and we get 44/432 chances of successfully wounding for each attack. Multiplied by the sheer amount of daemonic attacks Drach'nien does, and at worst you'd get 352/432 (22/27), and at best 528/432 (11/9). Still, if only an attack goes in, or even multiple attacks with the lowest wound amount, Makari can actually survive being wounded by the lord of the Black Legion.
In the offensive, Makari is... actually better than against Guilliman. Hitting 1/2 times, and wounding 2/5. That means Makari can actually wound the regular way on a 5+ rol, but it would have to go through 2+ save due to no AP. Still, the chance of a regular wound is just 2/60, or 1/30 (with two attacks, 2/30 or 1/15). So let's concentrate on the mortal wounds. Two attacks, 1/2 to hit, 1/6 to mortally wound, so around 2/12 or 1/6. Considering Abaddon has only W7, Makari has the chance of killing the Warmaster on the spot if everything goes right (that is, Makari gets two rolls of 6+ to wound, getting 3 wounds per dice, and Abaddon rolls a 1+ on the Drach'nien skill, and the daemon kills him out of pure fear of the chosen of Gork and Mork). The chances of that happening are 1/216, true, but it can happen! |
| Makari vs The Red Gobbo: What's this? An actual fair fight? The two most well known gretchings in 40k duking it out makes a rather interesting scenario. The revolutionary leader is more of a support unit, buffing gretching with stikkbombs, but that doesn't mean his melee is useless. His weapon, the "Icon of da Revolushun" has AP-1 and any wound roll of 6+ adds an a mortal wound in adition to the regular damage. This is a good way to bypass Makari's 2++, though that AP is going to be lost. With a WS of 4+ and three attacks, the Gobbo will hit 1/2 of the time and wound 1/2 of the time (Strenght User, which is 3, against Makari's T3), and then it will have to go through the 2++ (1/6). So an attack will have 1/24 chances of hitting Makari, and with 3 attacks, each battle round will have 3/24 or 1/6 chances of successfully wounding the banna wava. The mortal wound effect will come into play with a 1/24 chances per attack, and 1/6 chances per battle round. .
On the offensive, Makari doesn't have that many attacks, only 2 against the Gobbo's 3. So Makari will hit around 1/2 times, wound 1/2 times and successfully wound 4/6 times. This means each attack will have 4/24 chances of successfully wounding the Gobbo, or around 1/6. Thus, on each battle round, Makari will have 1/3 chances of damaging the revolutionary leader. The lack of a higher save really hurts the Red Gobbo here. Keep in mind that the Gobbo is a shooty character, not a choppy one, so it should not be harshly judged. The Kustom Blasta is a rather powerful gun for a gretchin, D3 Attacks, S5 AP-1 D2. So to hurt Makari, it has a 4/6 chances of hitting per attack, 4/6 chances of wounding per attack and 1/6 chances of actually getting the damage in. So each attack will have around 16/216 or 2/27 chances of successfully damaging Makari. So in the shooting round, the Gobbo has between 2-6/27 chances of doing damage. Keep in mind that it's D2, so it only need to hit twice to take him out of the fight. |
| Ork Gitz and Bosses | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From da canon: | The Beast - Boss Snikrot - Boss Zagstruk - Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka Grukk Face-Rippa - Mad Dok Grotsnik - Makari - Mek Boss Buzgob Mozgrod Skragbad - Nazdreg Ug Urdgrub - Old Zogwort - Orkimedes Tuska Daemon-Killa - Wazdakka Gutsmek - Zhadsnark da Rippa - Zodgrod Wortsnagga Kaptin Badrukk - Herman von Strab - Ufthak Blackhawk | |||||||
| From da gamez: | Brikkfist - Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter - Kaptin Bluddflagg - Grimskull Mister Nailbrain - Orkamungus - Spookums - Stupid | |||||||