Orks are here!

Huzzah!

I started playing 40k right when orks were released (a few months before 5th edition released), and I have come to love everything about this army, good and bad.  The play style of hyper aggressive space monsters appeals to me, and the converting, oh, the converting!  So glad this was my first foray into wargaming.  Over the years, as other codexes have come out, it has become clear that orks were beginning to lag behind, and a new book was needed.  So about five years ago I predicted they would get a new book around spring of 2014.  Considering I was really damn close, I'm chalking this up as a win.  Nostrajakeus FTW.

 I am by no means the definitive expert on orks.  I do love the army, and more importantly, I play them to have fun.  I'm not one to build the cheese ork lists, but rather I'd throw down 11 walkers and see what happens.  Considering that GW is going in the direction of friendly play over competitive, things that are "grossly underpowered" or "will never see the table" but look cool and are fun to build or play with are going to become more common.  While I'm not thrilled about the current rule set, I think the atmosphere that orks are getting a book in is rather perfect for them.

So let's dive right into this book.  Another prediction I made, based on rules/models/point costs, I predicted that Zagstrukk, Badrukk, and Snikrot would all become HQ's.  2 out of 3 ain't bad, and Snikrot basically functions like an HQ, so I'm giving myself some more bonus points there.  *pats self on back*  To evaluate this book, I've decided to grade everything on a simple scale.  + means a good change, - means a bad change, and * means a neutral change.  I'll add 'em all up at the end and see what the overall score is.

Overall Thoughts
'Ere we go! - With how assaults work in 7th, this is a really good rule for Orks.  I like this a lot. (+++)

Mob Rule - The change to mob rule is big.  And not in a good way.  Knowing that there is a really good chance to lose a pretty hefty sum of boys to one pinning test is not a good thing.  I can see some random sniper shots wiping out half of a 30 man mob very easily, especially since the loss of fearless apparently wasn't worth a change to leadership.  Seriously, at least make Nob's 8, that at least would give them a fighting chance.  I feel this change among all others is the most game breaking (-----)

Because of the mob rule change, Bosspoles are also lame.  They added more units that can take them now, but I don't see it being the end all be all piece of wargear it was before (--)

Everything has stikkbombs now!  Huzzah!  (+)

Everything can take a dedicated transport now!  Double Huzzah!  (++)

Cybork bodies SUCK!  Only HQ's have the option of taking them, and there isn't much of a point.  Paying for a 6+ FNP upgrade just feels stupid.  (--)

Attack Squigs, initally, I hated the change.  But after some thought, I need to sit down and math out whether or not it's mathmatically a good change or not.  Something tells me it will average out to about the same.  (*)

Big Choppas finally got AP  (+)

Killsaws are a nice addition (+)

Grot Riggers give a vehicle It Will Not Die now.  They were already great when they fixed immoblized results, now they're amazing (++)

Apparently Wreckin' Ballz are now shooting weapons.  They are now weird.  (*)

Deff Rollas suck now.  I probably will never take one again.  Just not worth it.  (---)

And the biggest thing - NO LOOTED WAGONS.  Seriosuly?  What the hell guys?  I know, it was a "White Dwarf exclusive," but shit, that's bread and butter for orks.  Why not make Warbosses and ork boyz exclusives?  Very stupid that they did that.  (-----)

Warbosses
Cheaper!  And the Waagh change.  This is pretty big, as the ability to run and assault is now unique to orks in 40k, but the fact that only the Warboss has this rule, and only if he is your warlord is a detriment.  I love it from a fluff perspective, but not from a gamdeplay perspective.  The utility ability of being able to use the Waagh to pump up your jets will probably go away.  So good and bad here.  (+-)

Weirdboy
Better in everyway.  Actually a viable HQ choice for orks now.  And it was very simple changes too.  (++)

Mek
A new HQ-ish choice, I like the idea, hate that a mek with a KMB now costs 20.  Adding killsaws and random KMB's to units of boyz does sound fun though, and it's a great way to spend some extra points if you have them.  My only real qualm with this guy is that it's 1 per other HQ you take.  I feel like it should be more like techpriests, which I believe are 0-3.  All in all, looks fun (+)

Big Mek
All around good changes, but I can no longer field Burny Mek, as the Burna is no longer an upgrade option.  Love the changes to Mek's in Mega Armor, no other major changes, so all in all I'll call this a win (+)

Painboy
Really happy he's an HQ choice, a little over pointed but that's ok, still a solid option.  Him becoming an HQ did make it so no unit can upgrade to one, and that is a big deal, which unfortunately splits hairs with this option.  Glad they did it, not too sure how really useful he will be, especially given the other HQ options for orks (*)

Mad Doc Grotsnik
Gained a Warlord trait, lost the ability to cybork your army, still a bad HQ choice.  Since not a lot changed with him, he's meh (*)

Kaptin Badrukk
A good model before as a Flash Git upgrade, he was just too damn expensive.  Now we have a slightly cheaper version (with no losses) as an HQ.  He really was built as an HQ choice before, now he's a really solid choice for an Ork HQ, and he has the only invulnerable save in the entire army.  Becoming an IC gives him more uses, all in all a really solid model.  (+)

Boss Zagstrukk
Decent HQ choice based on points, not the biggest fan of the Vulcha Klaw change, he can no longer straight up wreck a dreadnaught on the charge.  He also lost his swoop attack thingy where he could charge when he deepstriked.  Glad he's an HQ, but a little too much got taken away from him (-)

Boyz
Yes, Yes, YES!  Really only two changes, and both are good.  The cap on 'ard boyz has been lifted from 1, so you can armor up your trukk boyz now and make them really scary.  Seriously, 12 orks with 6+ saves don't last too long, this will help out a lot.  Second, the extra point now for shootas.  Why is this a good change?  Because shoota boyz are THAT GOOD.  I have no problem with this, paying an extra point for a shoota boy makes sense.  (++)

Grots
Next.  (*)

Burna Boyz
Cost one point more with no changes.  With how wound allocation works now, the BBQ wagon idea is substantially less effective, and they still have to choose how to use the burnas each turn, either as template weapon or CCW.  With no rule changes, they should not have cost more.  (-)

Tankbustas
From a fluff perspective, I hate the Glory Hogs change, now it's just a random stupid rule that will come into play in .0001% of your games.  Neat.  Tankhammers lost some oomph as well, falling from strength 10 to 8, but gaining AP 2.  Considering I didn't use tankhammers to hit terminators, this feels silly, they're supposed to be anti-armor weapons.  Bomb squigs have more streamlined rules now, so they are simpler to use.  Each model is cheaper too, all in all, just enough to get (+)

Nobz
Cheaper (Noticing a trend here?), lost the painboy upgrade.  Everything else is basically the same, but now you save 20 points on a full squad of foot sloggers.  Raised the cost of the bike upgrade so that they cost the same as before when on bikes.  ...Ok, sure.  (*)

Meganobz
Double killsaw upgrade is good for them, as is the ability to take (albeit nerfed) bosspoles.  I've always liked them, no real changes otherwise, enough to get a (+)

Kommandos
Rokkit Launcha Upgrade is cheaper.  Plus stealth.  The stealth change is worth a (+)

Boss Snikrot
Kinda weird how he's added to this book, but he' still a beast.  No changes to him that I can tell though, so even though I love him, he's only a (*)

Trukk
Cheaper, rokkit upgrade is a free switch now, and Ramshackle is the dumbest rule in the codex.  It used to be fun and random and silly, now it's just... lame.  Really removes some of the fun random flavor of orks, which is what I love about them.  While these changes should totally be good things in gameplay, for me, this gets the trukk a (-)

Stormboyz
25% cheaper, and now in mobs of 30.  They no longer randomly kill themselves, which I liked, but have become a very good, VERY FAST unit.  (++)

Deffkoptas
Cheaper.  No other changes  (+)

Dakkajet
A little more expensive, and waagh fighter was changed to be less effective.  Given the overall change to the waagh rule, I don't see this being an issue as a waagh is now going to be called less often.  This is still a really solid flyer, and even with no good changes, I can't give it a - at all. (*)

Burna-Bommer
No changes, which is a damn shame.  With all the cover shenanigans people can pull now, bathing units in skorcha fire is a glorious thing.  Problem was, those skorcha rokkits made this guy way too expensive for his limited survivability.  Really needed the skorcha rokkits to be cheaper to make this plane more viable, and that didn't happen, which, once again, is a damn shame (-)

Blitza Bommer
No changes, glad they kept the silly dive bombing rules. (*)

Warbikers
Money!  A LOT cheaper, one major change.  Exhaust cloud is gone, and that is big.  I loved warbikes before, and now that they're even cheaper, I love them more.  Max unit size is also up to 15 now, so you're looking at mobs costing the same but with more models in them.  Considering how effective these guys are in mid range fire fights and combat, I love this.  More killy!  The unit size and point cost changes are in doubt reaction to the loss of exhaust cloud, and heavy infantry removers will feast on warbikes now.  They are still good - very good - but lost a lot of survivability. (+)

Warbuggies
Slightly cheaper all around, larger mob size again, and it took me about three reads to notice, but they got outflank.  This makes them fieldable!  Whoohoo!  (+)

Mek Gunz
The replacement for the Big Gunz entry, you're looking at larger units and bigger gunz.  Really added some neat weapons, so if you love artillery, you are a happy camper.  Heavy support got a lot of love in this book, and the only issue is that these guys are heavy support, which does slightly limit your other army options.  All in all, lots of fun, good changes here (+)

Battlewagon
Naked wagon costs more, but all the upgrades are cheaper.  Fun fact - a killkannon can be on a dedicated transport battlewagon now, which is a lot of fun.  (+)

Deff Dread
Slightly cheaper, no other changes (*)

Killa Kanz
Bring out the nerf bat!  These guys got hit hard.  The new "Kan Klaw" CCW for them sucks, they're more expensive base, and they have to take morale tests or get shaken.  On the brightside, you can now take them in mobs of 6, so... yeah...  Very dissapointed here.  (--)

Gorkanaut
Half of the new big kit, lots of fun, dead killy, dakka galore.  Fairly hardy, a tad over pointed.  (+)

Morkanaut
Other half of the new big kit, lots of mega blasta good times, the KFF option is a fun toy too.  (+)

Lootas
In heavy support where they belong, but once again, lots of heavy choices for orks now, and you are never leaving home without your lootas again.  No rule changes, but they are 1 point cheaper, so arguably the best unit in the codex got cheaper.  Oof.   (++)

Flash Gitz
I got super excited about these changes, even if I wasn't for the models (Yay, 5 orks in the exact same pose, fun times)  Got cheaper, snazzguns overall are better.  The post 6th edition errated gitfinda was amazing, now it's just a random piece of wargear you might use every other game.  That change was bad, but the overall changes to the snazzguns were a definite plus, and I was really excited about flash gitz unti the third or fourth read through.  I noticed their save dropped from 4+ to 6+.  That's huge.  It changes how and where you use them.  4+ gave them the ability to shrug off small arms fire, and now with their ork t-shirts, they can't do that.  Now you have to play hide the flash git to use them properly, and with the change to the gitfinda, it's not a good combo.  All in all though, they are simply meh, which is an upgrade from before, where they were too god damn expensive.  So I'll give them a (*)

Ghazghkull Thraka
Am I missing something here?  No rule changes, yet somehow he becomes a lord of war?  This is f**king stupid!  No sense, you are making.  (-)

Stompa
Fun to see it in the book, anyone who has ever fielded a stompa or played against one knows how dead killy they are.  The supa gatler got nerfed, and the upgrade options are severely limited now, but still, fun to see in the book (+)

So after the whole breakdown there, the verdict?  33 +, 25-, 11*.  I read that as more bad then good, so I'm happy there.  I feel most of the bad was on overall things, while the good was in individual units.  While I am in no way the end all be all expert on orks, I do know what to expect when I throw them on the table, and with everything that is in this book, I think I'm ok with the changes.  We'll see how it is when I finally get my army back from the movers and I can play a game.  Only two more weeks...