Heresy & Heroes

Well, we all knew I’d have to try and tackle this one eventually, and while I’m relishing the challenge, the idea of doing a Lazy Painter’s Army List for the Orks is, well, daunting shall we say. This isn’t going to be an easy one, but I’m going to give myself a goal here. I am going to create an Ork Army list for 9th Edition Warhammer 40,000 with no more than 30 miniatures. I’m sweating just saying that.

I’m going to give myself another caveat with this one – I don’t have to try and use the new hotness. Normally, I try and work in at least some of the miniatures if a range has had a big revamp or addition, and while the beastly boys are now bolstering the codex (and they look awesome), having had a quick look at them, there aren’t many that cost too many points and so that will make my job next to impossible. So, using the brand new book that Games Workshop have kindly sent me, I’m going to make a Lazy Painter’s Army list for the Orks. Wish me luck.

HQs

We are of course taking big Ghaz. He’s a monster on the battlefield and he clocks in at 300 points which is very handy. And because Ghazghkull is in here, we can take the cheap Makari, who is an HQ choice in his own right, without taking up an additional HQ slot. That’s handy as we’re not going to be running a Battalion here and there are some other good HQ options here, though I can’t take anything else with the “Warboss” keyword because the big fella would smash him up proper. So instead, I’m going for a Big Mek with a Shokk Attack Gun, assisted ably by a Grot Oiler. I love that gun because it holds a true measure of Orky bonkers-ness and the current model is pleanty nice too.

Elites

We’re skipping troops choices because they’re just too cheap and I’ve already used up 4 on my minis with my HQ choices. As much as I love a good mob of boyz or grotz, I’m instead going to be taking two units of 5 Mega-armoured Nobz. Chonky as you like, all equipped with Kombi-Skorchas and killsawz, these units will look like a real threat and they might even be able to soak up some firepower from my enemies. 

Flyer

In order to keep the attention away from my big Nobz (don’t) I’m going to take a fully-kitted out Wazbom Blastajet. This’ll be rocking a couple of Supa-shootas, a pair of Tellyporta Mega-blastas, and a force field too. What’s more, I’m likely to make this a “Specialist Mob” which means he’ll gain the Flyboyz rule and this gives him a bonus when being shot at by always giving him the benefits of light cover if the person shooting at him is more than 6” away. Nice.

Fast Attack

A nice big mob of six Warbikers will do for me, with the Nob rocking a Power Klaw. Along with the flyer, this gives me some fast moving things that will distract my enemies and cause havoc where needed. Bikers are great miniatures and so much fun to paint that I certainly don’t mind having a mob of six of them in here.

Heavy Support

Yep, we’re taking advantage of the Orks’ great choices in the heavy area by making this a Spearhead Detachment. First off, we’re taking a Bonebreaka with all the fixins – so many that I’m not going to bother listing them here but this tank is packing some serious firepower and even a wreckin’ ball for good measure. Next up, a group of 3 Deff Dreads, each taking a Kustom Mega Blasta and some Rokkits to add to their firepower. And lastly, a group of 5 Lootas, with their boss rocking Rokkit Launcha. The lootas were pretty much the only thing I could sandwich in with the points I had left and I just like ‘em. I like them as much as my spellcheck hates everything I just wrote. 

The List:

HQ: Ghazghull Thraka & Makari

HQ: Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun & Grot Oiler

Elites: 5x Meganobz with Kombi-Skorchas and Killsaws

Elites: 5x Meganobz with Kombi-Skorchas and Killsaws

Flyers: Wazbom Blastajet with 2 Supa-Shootas, 2 Tellyport Mega-Blastas and a Force Field

Fast Attack: 6x Warbikers with a Power Klaw

Heavy Support: Bonebreaker with a Killkannon, 4 Big Shootas, a Lobba and a Wreckin’ Ball

Heavy Support: 3x Deff Dreads, each with a Kustom Mega Blasta and a Rokkit Launcha

Heavy Support: 5x Lootas with a Rokkit Launcha

Points: 1980 but you can use the 20 points on a Kustom Job (I like da Red Rolla for the Bonebreaker but you have options)

Model Count: 29! I did it! A 2k Ork army with less than 30 minis! 29!! 

Army Name: Big Ghaz Comes To Town

Additional Stuff: So Ghaz has to be the warboss, and that means you want to take this army as Goffs. This means you add 1 to the Warord’s attacks, and each time Ghaz goes into melee, you can improve his ap by 1. 

How it plays: To be honest, I don’t see this army win too much. Orks work great with big hordes of boyz and at least one of their Lords of War. That being said, an experienced player may well be able to get something out of this. The jet, bikes and Bonebreaker surge foreward and worry the enemy, while the Shokk Attack gun, Lootas and Deff Dreads unleash a lot of firepower. By the time your enemies deal with that lot, Ghaz, Makari and all those Meganobz will have had time to get up close and in melee, that lot will cause havoc, especially with Ere We Go helping to ensure they get into combat. 

But like I said, it’s not a conventional ork army, so whether or not it works, is very situational. But if you want an ork army that doesn’t mean painting 60 boyz, this might be a good bet. And hey, if you want to work in some Beast Snaggas, it won’t be too hard, but it will mean more minis. 

Do you think this ork list can work well? Is it possible to run a low mini-count ork list? Let me know in the comments below. And until next time, Onwards!