40k: Ork Clans im Fokus

Die Orks in Warhammer 40.000 bestehen aus unterschiedlichen Clans und Games Workshop geben einen Ausblick auf ihre Besonderheiten im kommenden Codex: Orks.

Clan Fokus: Goffs

Welcome to Clan Fokus – a new series on Warhammer Community where we’ll be taking a closer look at all the new Clan Kulturs in the new Codex: Orks. These powerful special rules let you tailor your play style and offer huge benefits to nearly every unit in your army. We’ll be previewing a new Clan Kultur every day this week, starting today with the Goffs…

Bigger, meaner and ’arder than any other Orks in the galaxy, the Goffs are violent, direct and constantly spoiling for a fight. Battling anything and everyone they encounter (including each other in the absence of suitably fighty opponents) the Goff’s are the Orkiest Orks that ever Orked. Though they are happy to pursue any means to victory – be it kunnin’, speedin’ or shootin’ – they love nothing more than krumpin’ the enemy “up-close an’ personal”. Being the most warlike of a warlike race, it is no surprise that the deadliest Ork of them all, Ghazghkull Thraka, is a Goff.

The Clan Kultur

Goffs love fightin’. So much, in fact, that they’re always trying to outfight the other clans to show just how Orky they are. They’re pretty good at it too:

This simple but effective Clan Kultur makes your army that little bit better when it’s getting stuck in with brutal melee combat, and complements Dakka! Dakka! Dakka! superbly – whether you’re shootin’ or choppin’ up your enemies, you’ll be generating free attacks on hit rolls of 6.

Top Units

Maganobz

There are few units with the close-combat punch of a pack of killsaw-armed Meganobz, and they’d be a great choice for an army of Goffs even without the generous points reduction they’ve received. However, there’s one Stratagem that makes them invaluable – Tellyporta:

You can combine this Stratagem with any Orks unit you wish, as long it has a Power Rating of 20 or under, but that’s potentially a full unit of 10 Meganobz! With their ’Ere We Go ability enabling you to re-roll either one or both of the dice when making your charge roll, you stand a great chance of getting this deadly unit stuck in as soon as they arrive.

Boyz

Boyz! Can an Ork army ever have enough of them? Goff Boyz (especially ones equipped with choppas for an extra attack) are some of the best close-combat units in the entirety of Codex: Orks, laying down a ferocious amount of attacks in melee. They also have access to a nifty Stratagem of their own representing the biggest and toughest Goffs Boyz, known as Skarboyz:

In game terms, the difference between Strength 4 and 5 is a huge. It will enable you mince Toughness 4 units and threaten tanks (even Imperial Knights!) with your sheer volume of attacks. To make the most of the Stratagem, be sure to take a full unit of 30 Boyz to upgrade in this manner. That way, Skarboyz you’ll be dishing out the better part of 100 Strength 5 attacks!

On a separate note, a number of you have been asking if there will be a set of Ork datacards available with the codex. We can happily confirm that there is indeed. We have proof and everything!

If you want to smash your enemies up in close combat, you really can’t go wrong with the Goffs. If you’re after something a bit more subtle (well, by Ork standards), stay tuned – we’ll be previewing the Snakebites and their mastery of “da old ways” tomorrow. If you’re looking to kickstart your Goff horde, the Start Collecting! Orks set will see you right. It’s got Boyz, Nobz and a Deff Dread – it couldn’t be any more suited to Goffs!

Clan Fokus: Snakebites

Welcome to Clan Fokus – a new series on Warhammer Community where we’ll be taking a closer look at all the new Clan Kulturs in the new Codex: Orks. These powerful special rules let you tailor your play style and offer huge benefits to nearly every unit in your army. We’ll be previewing a new Clan Kultur every day this week, continuing with the Snakebites…

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Orks these days, eh? Runnin’ around, blasting each other with dakka, too fancy and high-falutin’ to use exploding squigs. “Da old ways” favoured by the Snakebite Clans date back to a simpler time, when an enterprising Ork only needed his wits, a choppa and an unbridled will to do violence unto other living creatures.

In those days, the Ork race had yet to encounter (and subsequently be inspired by) the ‘beaky’ Space Marines and the mighty Imperial Knightsand Battle Titans of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Though many of the other clans embraced the towering war engines and wazzy new technology the Meks created in answer to the Imperium’s fightiest machines, the Snakebites preferred to keep things simple as much as possible – after all, why build a Stompa when you’ve got a perfectly good Squiggoth to stomp the enemy flat?

The Snakebites are the most traditionalist of the Ork clans. In practice, their rugged lifestyle makes them better survivors, determined to show the other clans that “da old ways iz da best”. In-game, this is represented by a Clan Kultur that makes your Orks a little bit hardier than anyone else…

The Clan Kultur

The Snakebites Clan Kultur represents their hard-bitten resilience and stubborn refusal to die. Working on everything from your Boyz to your Vehicles (after all, when Snakebites decide to muck about with technology, they build it to last), it’s a little like having a Painboy to hand at all times…

Being the most ‘old school’ of the Ork clans, the Snakebites have become highly accustomed at bringing down big prey without the aid of specialist gubbinz or technology to do it (though it can certainly help!). As a result, they have a Stratagem that is specific to their clan, the timely use of which can all but guarantee the destruction of a choice target:

Top Units

Rukkatrukk Squigbuggy

With their squig launchas and sturdy construction, Rukkatrukk Squigbuggies are every bit the iconic Snakebite vehicles. The Rukkatrukk’s speed, combined with the long range of its squig-launching weaponry, means that it can threaten almost anywhere on the battlefield with a salvo of bile, bitey or boom squigs. And in the case of its nasty heavy squig launcha, the Grot Gunner ensures it hits on a 4+ – deadly accuracy for an Ork weapon!

Another trick up the Rukkatrukk’s sleeve (or crammed in its squig cargo bay, to be precise) is its squig mine. By fielding two or even three of these vehicles, you’ll be able to effectively block off an area of the battlefield by laying a bunch of squig mines. Even an Imperial Knight will have to think twice about moving through an area if it has the potential to suffer 9 mortal wounds by doing so!

Weirdboyz

The 41st Millennium’s least predictable psykers are better than ever in the new Codex: Orks – and perfect for any Snakebite Warboss looking to melt their enemies without muckin’ about with any new-fangled technology. For one, your Clan Kultur gives you a 6+ save against any self-inflicted mortal wounds from Perils of the Warp (of which there will be many). For another, you’ve got some awesome new powers to play with – like Fists of Gork:

As if Warbosses weren’t scary enough! Da Krunch, on the other hand, can blend hordes with a few lucky rolls:

For an Ork army that’s as tough as old boots – and just as good at kicking people in the face – choose Snakebites for your clan. If you like the idea of speeding around lobbing a variety of squigs onto your foes, you can pre-order the Rukkatrukk Squigbuggy from this weekend. Or, if you can’t wait that long to get painting, some ‘hardy’ Snakebites Gretchin will do your clan proud (as everyone knows that the best Runtherdz are Snakebites), as will a monstrous Squiggoth from Forge World. Meanwhile, if all you want from your Orks is to unleash MAXIMUM DAKKA, then you won’t want to miss tomorrow’s preview of the Bad Moons…  

Clan Fokus: Bad Moons

Welcome to Clan Fokus – a new series on Warhammer Community where we’ll be taking a closer look at all the new Clan Kulturs in the new Codex: Orks. These powerful special rules let you tailor your play-style and offer huge benefits to nearly every unit in your army. We’ll be previewing a new Clan Kultur every day this week, carrying on today with the Bad Moons…

No Ork clan is richer than the Bad Moons – and the Bad Moons never tire of reminding everyone else of that fact. This is due to the simple fact that Bad Moons grow teef (which is what passes for Ork currency) much faster than the Orks of other clans. Of course, what this means is that every other Ork knows that if you’re short of a few teef, you just need to smash a Bad Moon in his gob to be rewarded with a shower of currency! This leads every sensible Bad Moon to spend their teef on the biggest, shootiest gunzto deter any would-be attackers.

Ostentatious even by the normal standards of the Orks, Bad Moons augment their dakka with all manner of upgrades and enjoy demonstrating the shootiness their weapons in devastating fusillades. With the new Codex: Orks, you’ll even be able to represent this on the tabletop with a new Clan Kultur…

The Clan Kultur

The Bad Moons are the shootiest Ork clans you can choose, giving you a welcome re-roll of 1s to hit in the Shooting phase. Combined with Dakka! Dakka! Dakka!, you’ll be able to make the most of your shootin’ and blow the enemy away in murderous salvoes of bullitz, wazzy lazerz and bomms.

Top Units

The Stompa

This walking idol of destruction is nothing short of terrifying in the new Codex: Orks, with a host of improvements to its close-combat abilities, shooting and durability. Take the Stompa Rigger Crew – your enemy won’t just have to chew through 40 Wounds to take it down, but an extra D3 almost every turn:

Or the close-combat attacks – a couple extra go a long way when you’re hitting at Strength 20 (yes, really!) with its mega-choppa:

Or, most importantly, the Dakka – your three biggest guns have all been given a huge increase in their shot count:

With re-rolls of 1s to hit from choosing the Bad Moons, the Stompa is going to make mincemeat of anything it points its guns at…

The Morkanaut

It may not be as big as a Stompa, but the Morkanaut is covered in shiny gubbinz and gizmos – it couldn’t be more appropriate for the Bad Moons! It’s also received some significant improvements. First and foremost, the kustom mega-kannon is now a kustom mega-zappa, and boasts a much better attack profile, with 3D3 shots instead of D6:

With its kustom force field giving nearby units a 5+ invulnerable save, it will also serve to protect your shootiest units (Boyz with shootas, Meganobz, Shokkjump Dragstas, etc.) if you keep them close. Speaking of which…

Shokjump Dragstas

It would almost be rude to talk about Bad Moons and not give this awesome vehicle a quick look at. It’s not only ridiculously shooty, but is also one of the most accurate units in the army thanks to its Grot Gunner and Targetin’ Squig ability, which add 2 to your hit rolls when firing its deadly kustom shokk rifle.

Rolled a 1 to hit? Don’t worry, you can re-roll that – you’re a Bad Moon, remember?

If you want nothing more than to annihilate your foes with epic levels of dakka, you’ll want to choose the Bad Moons for your Clan Kultur. If you haven’t already picked up a copy of Speed Freeks and got your hands on a Shokkjump Dragsta, you can pre-order yours now.

However, if it’s sheer speed you’re after, every Ork player knows that the red ones go faster, and in the new Codex: Orks that’s literally true! To learn more about it, come back tomorrow for a closer look at the Evil Sunz…