Games Workshop has some “tips” on how to deal with Orks. But do they work? Let’s take a closer look and find out.
Orks are here and they are ready to shake things up. We ranked GW’s themed lists yesterday and today we’re taking a look at some Ork-counters direct from GW. Will they work and how effective are they? We’re going to dissect each one to find out.
Suggestion 1: “Bring Guns. Lots of Guns.”
” Squeeze as much firepower as you can into your army, and give those greenskins what for in the Shooting phase. “
This is actually some good advice – if you’re army can do it. Most armies can pack a lot of shooting in their lists now and it’s not like orks are known for their ranged accuracy. If you can get into a gunline vs gunline firefight, you might be able to pull out ahead provided you’ve got the shots to do it. One thing to remember when packing those guns in you list is that Orks are now Toughness 5. So strength 6 weapons are where you want to live.
Strength 6, lots of shots, an a pinch of AP are going to do wonders vs orks.
Suggestion 2: “Tool Up Properly for Melee”
“It’s worth noting that increasing the Strength of your attacks is more important than the AP of the weapons you’re using, as Orks are among the most lightly armoured factions. In fact, any dedicated melee units will often pierce straight through Ork armour anyway, so it’s all about finding ways to wound them more easily. “
It’s a good call out that Strength of attacks is more important than AP of attacks – at least vs ork boyz. You might want more AP for some of those Mega-armored fellows, however. That said, it’s rare to get high strength attacks without some sort of AP. But this is something to consider for Melee.
The real tip here is something most players are already taking into account anyhow and that is bringing buffs that assist with wounding. Either a re-roll to wound or something that adds +1 (or more) to your wound rolls. Toughness 5 is no joke and anything that tips your attacks over that threshold are going to be very important.
Having said that, unless you’re playing a Melee heavy army (as in that’s what you do better than anyone) maybe try to avoid getting locked into melee with Orks. It doesn’t end well.
Suggestion 3: “Watch Out for Ramshackle Vehicles”
Ramshackle got a tweak in the new Ork book. It makes them a bit tougher to deal with than in the previous incarnation. Autocannons are going to be wasted for the most part on them. Krak, Melta, and specific Plasma options are better to deal with them (you know, things with Strength 8 or more).
“If you only need to strip a few wounds off your target to finish the job, consider small-arms fire instead, as most are Damage 1 and will be unaffected by Ramshackle.”
It’s not a bad tip overall. The real trick here is just knowing which targets are the right targets for your guns. Turns out your bigger-hitting anti-tank weapons are still good vs Ramshackle. It’s the stuff in the 5-7 Strength range that you need to reconsider.
Suggestion 4: “Show Them the True Meaning of Armour”
“That’s right – you need heavy armour and lots of it. Whether it’s super-tough infantry like Terminator-armoured (Chaos) Space Marines, battle tanks, or even a bunch of super-tough Tyranid beasties, the Orks will be forced to rely on their weight of numbers (and attacks) to bring them down. “
This is the last tip and uh…well, it’s fine…I guess? Okay, it’s not fine. It’s maybe not the best advice for the last bit of that sentence: “the Orks will be forced to rely on their weight of numbers (and attacks) to bring them down. “
Uh…yeah. That’s how orks roll. Specifically, they roll LOTS of dice. There’s a reason it’s “MOAR DAKKA” folks. And close combat attacks? Yeah, Orks bring those in droves.
Orks start at 2 attacks. That’s before we start factoring in weapons and WAAAGH!!! stuff. Not to mention Mob sizes and other aura buffs. Plus, their armory got a huge rework, too:
This is just ONE example.
Weight of numbers (aka rolling more dice) is kinda what Orks do. So, yeah…bring the armor (and the Armour, too). The 2+ variety is even better. At the end of the day, the Orks are going to make you roll saves and lots of them. So how many “anything but a 1” can you roll?
These tips are helpful but nothing will teach you how to deal with them better than getting some games in against them!
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
