10th Edition Competitive Faction Focus: Orks

With the release of 10th edition now firmly behind us and more than a month of competitive games in the books it’s time to start taking a deeper look at each of the game’s factions. In this series we’ll talk about each faction, what they have to offer, how they play, and talk about a few list concepts to consider.

You can find all the Faction Focuses that we’ve published here.

Today, Wings dehumanises himself and faces to krumpin’ – it’s the Orks.

Changelog

• Update (Latest): 2023-10-12 for Q3 2023 Balance Dataslate.
• Published: 2023-08-30

Why Should You Play This Faction?

Because you want to go fast and krump things. Orks encourage a very aggressive playstyle in 10th Edition, combining fast units, cheap transports and some serious melee power to bowl opponents over. Herohammer also forms a big part of this, so if you want your bosses to run rampant Orks have got you covered, and there’s a decent suite of dakka tools to play support, particularly Flash Gitz. You’re definitely relying on your big Waaagh turn landing to get over the line against tougher armies, but in an edition where melee is mostly mediocre, you’re well set to absolutely dominate almost anyone that isn’t Custodes if you can make it to combat intact.

Five Things You Need to Know

• Waaagh-Powered Melee is Real: All your melee units hit like a truck when Waaagh is up. Bonus attacks, Sustained Hits and extra strength means you’re throwing buckets of wounds into your targets, and will clear out almost anything that isn’t Custodes, Lychguard and some flavours of Terminators. You can still bully many armies on other turns, but against the big targets you need to make sure you’re hitting when the Waaagh has been called. Also, remember that Waaaagh is called at the start of the Battle Round. Don’t get to your turn and realise, too late, that you need it.
• Herohammer (Bosshammer?) Whips: Your characters are extremely strong, and help get a lot of units over the line in terms of killing power, especially against hull-heavy or monster-mash lists. A bunch of the Beast Snagga characters have Anti-Monster/Vehicle 4+ (and you have several ways of activating Devastating Wounds on them), so they help mitigate the increased toughness across the game. Squigosaur bosses (especially Mozrog) are also absurdly tough and potent, while Kaptin’ Badruk turns one unit of Flash Gitz into a serious force. Finally, Ghaz is still pretty great, adding a huge amount of heft to a Meganobz unit.
• Cheap Transports are Great: Trukks cost 50pts60pts. You’d be mad not to take some. Big Trakks are also priced to move.
• Keep an Eye on Your (Kunnin’) Plan B: When you launch your Waaagh turn you need to commit hard enough that you have a shot at clearing the opponent’s key stuff, but if you try and fail there’s a good chance that you’ll still tangle them up for a while, pulling ahead on Primary in the mid game. That means that even when things fall apart gradually, if you’ve planned ahead and have good tools for playing Secondaries, you can still get a kunnin’ win. That means…
• Utility Units are a Must: You want the flexibility to score whatever Tactical Objectives you draw, so make sure to bring cheap Grots to hold home objectives and go in Strategic Reserves, and Stormboyz or Bikers for some adaptable scoring.

The Q3 2023 Dataslate

Orks have come away from the most recent Balance Dataslate as fairly big winners. They weren’t bad before the update, able to put in decent performances with pressure builds, and got a fairly massive boost with the changes. Broadly, the impacts were as follows:

The Good

• Small points drops on a whole bunch of units that were already decent, allowing you to squeeze more units into most lists, and a slightly bigger drop on Nobz, which has made them a key unit.
• Towering changes pretty much pure upside for Orks, as they didn’t have the shooting to reliably drop a Knight from deployment anyway.
• Free stratagem changes hurt everyone else more, because Orks never had them anyway!
• Devastating Wounds changes substantially boost elite infantry like Nobz, Meganobz and Flash Gitz.
• Removal of 10-model Custodes units reduce the extent to which you get hard-countered by them.

The Bad

• Targeted nerf on Beastbosses makes them less efficient.
• Small hike on Trukks makes pure Trukk spam less attractive.
• Newly arrived Tau and Marine builds are pretty good at killing your stuff.

What it Means

Orks are on the rise – it’s not pure upside for them, but overall the dataslate has moved them in a very healthy direction, and we’re starting to see them take some big trophies as a consequence.

The big update we’re seeing to lists thanks to the Dataslate is the inclusion of multiple units of Nobz in Trukks in most builds, usually with a Warboss at the head, sometimes with a Painboy. With the Warboss, the -1 to wound combines with the good toughness to make them tougher than you’d expect to put down, and they hit pretty hard, while with the Painboy they’re even more of a pain to kill, as a 5+ Feel No Pain is great on 2W models. Particularly as the Beastboss/Beast Snagga package went up in price, this is now a staple thing to put into a Trukk. Outside that, a small point cut on Smasha Nobz and the lower ceiling on the power of enemy melee threats has cemented Squighog Boyz as a true staple unit, with a full squad with Headwoppa’s Killchoppa making it into almost all builds.

All in all, it’s an even better time to be green.

What Are the Must-Have Units to Start This Faction?

Orks have a reasonable variety of units seeing play, and there’s a few different ways you can take them, but there are a few things you’re seeing in most lists. First up, Beast Snaggas or Nobz in Trukks. Beast Snaggas are your bread and butter Battleline unit, capable of hitting pretty hard in combat and soaking up at least some counterpunch thanks to T5 and a 6+ Feel No Pain. Trukks help them get where they need to be, and once they’ve been dropped off, can go be annoying and score Secondaries. You can also optionally add a Beastboss to this unit to add some extra heft. Because he gets Devastating Wounds on the charge, the Anti-Monster/Vehicle 4+ on his 6A Beastchoppa means that he’ll take a real chunk out of a large target, especially in a Waaaagh turn, but you do now pay heavily for the privilege.

Alternatively, and more commonly post-Dataslate, you can take Nobz in your Trukks. Regular Nobz are now priced to move, with a full squad with a Warboss now only runs you 70pts more than the Beast Snagga/Beastboss unit. For that premium, you get a unit that’s wildly more deadly and far more durable, with some flex options like taking a Painboy instead of a Warboss available to boot. Some lists out there are running the full 3×10 of these and doing well, and they’re probably now the best melee infantry unit once you consider all factors.

Next up, Grots. Gotta have ‘em. You can’t argue with 45pts for 10 OC2 models (and bonus Runtherd), and the fact that they sometimes give you bonus CP just for existing on an objective is a superb additional upside, and on your Waaagh turn opponents can end up underestimating their durability when the 5+ invulnerable save is up. Get several units.

At the opposite end of the quality spectrum is Mozrog Skragbad. T10, 9W and a 4+ Invulnerable into a 4+ Feel No Pain is an extreme level of durability, and he’s great at killing almost anything – small stuff gets easily chomped, and for bigger targets he has Anti on his main weapons and gets boosted damage. You fully cannot go wrong taking this model, and are leaving value on the table if you don’t. The regular Beastboss on Squigosaur is also pretty good, but pales in comparison to Moz.

Finally for must haves, and after an entire Edition where they pretty much never got there, Flash Gitz are a staple of pretty much every successful Ork list. This is 100% because of the extreme buff that Kaptin’ Badruk provides to their output – full hit re-rolls stacks extremely well with both their innate Sustained HIts and their once-per-game Lethal Hits to unleash catastrophic quantities of damage into anything that isn’t on a 2+ and in cover, and they’re also pleasingly durable against the counterpunch, as their 4+ saves go a lot further in an edition with generally lower AP. Similar to Mozrog, these are strong enough that you’re essentially leaving value on the table if you don’t take them. Delivery via both Trukk and Strategic Reserves is also feasible, and you even got a small discount on Badruk in the Dataslate!

Finally, promoted to a true must-have after the Dataslate, are Squighogg Boyz with a Smasha Nob wielding the Headwoppa’s Killchoppa. These are fast, tough and deadly, especially when you combine their 5+ Feel No Pain with ‘Ard as Nails for -1 to wound. I can tell you from personal experience facing these that sometimes they just will. Not. Die. The Nob on Smasha Squig is also a killing machine. He gets Anti-Vehicle/Monster 3+ on the charge, and sticking Devastating Wounds on that (and maybe using Unbridled Carnage for Sustained on a 5+) can result in your opponent suddenly finding they’re missing a Knight that they could have sworn was there a second ago. This unit is also great with Orks is Never Beaten, as they can extremely take something with them. Without big Custodes bricks being around to just blank their charges, this is now a truly phenomenal unit, and you should take it. More units, either with or without the Nob, are also perfectly viable.

After that? Stormboyz are cheap, fast objective tools, can’t go wrong with adding a squad, Meganobz provide some hefty melee crunch and can be very sticky and hard to shift if you put a Big Mek with them, Battlewagons are still decent if you want a huge transport, and Warbikers provide inexpensive forward objective grabbers with a bit more crunch than Stormboyz. You’re also seeing more lists taking a unit of Boyz with a Weirdboy, as the on-board threat of Da Jump is a great way to spend the leftover points you have after the Dataslate.

How Does This Faction Secure Objectives?

Aggro! Your opponent can’t hold objectives if there are a whole bunch of Nobz on them, and sometimes you might get to hold them too! Orks apply pressure very effectively, which tends to help deny the opponent’s Primary, and the fact that a lot of the units you’re throwing around are OC2 helps a bunch. Grots provide cheap models to hold a home or well-hidden objective, and again OC2 does a lot for you here – it means that a lone op isn’t going to be able to seize it from them.

If you need to stick around on an objective, you’ve got a few ways to try and lock it in. Mozrog is super tough to kill, so can comfortably squat on an objective for a turn when required, and a full squad of Squighog Boyz popping ‘Ard as Nails is also extremely hard to move. Meganobz with a Big Mek for the invulnerable save are another great option here, and if all else fails you’re going to have a bunch of Trukks kicking around, which are absurdly hard to kill for a 60pt model, and can pivot to doing harrassment charges after dropping off their cargo. Don’t forget too that while you get Battle Shocked when you emergency disembark, you un-shock by the time it comes to count your own objectives, so it only stops you denying the enemy’s end-of-turn scoring.

For positional Secondaries, Stormboyz are your main tool, as they’re cheap, fast and Deep Strike. A notable weakness of Orks is that they have no “true” Lone Operatives, so you need to invest in a few extra “glue” units like Stormboyz and Grots to cover your bases.

How Does This Faction Handle Enemy Hordes?

Krumpin’. Pretty much all your must-have units will absolutely flatten enemy hordes, mostly in melee, but in the case of Flash Gitz also at range. If you somehow find yourself really needing even more of this, Burna Boyz out of Strategic Reserves or doing drive-bys are fine, and a full Warbiker unit with a Deffkilla Trike is another flexible tool that’s pretty strong.

How Does This Faction Handle Enemy Tanks and Monsters?

This is where all your Beast Snagga Characters come in – your opponent has to start trying to plan around a bunch of your units having a Devastating Wounds surprise laced among them. Squighog Boyz are also pretty scary for big targets even before you go for the Killchoppa on the Nob, and once that gets involved they’re terrifying. Meganobz are also, as ever, pretty good at ripping stuff apart (another source of Devastating Wounds), and regular Nobz with a Warboss can mess something up in a Waaaagh turn and/or by popping Unbridled Carnage for an absolute avalanche of power claw hits. Finally from the Index, if you want to add some additional anti-tank dakka, the Kustom Mega Cannon on Mek Gunz.

This is also a place you can dip into Forge World – Grot Tanks are surprisingly great, throwing out plenty of Rokkit shots and being hard to pin down thanks to their Scatter! Ability, while the Kill Tank gets to enjoy another edition of being fairly aggressively priced, and the bursta’ cannon here is decent into enemy armour.

What Combos Should You Build Around?

At the core of playing Orks in general is using your Waaagh turn in combination with other buffs to absolutely annihilate the enemy. Giving your units an extra attack means that if you then pop Unbridled Carnage you get spectacular numbers of hits in. Combine that with sources of Devastating Wounds and suddenly it doesn’t matter what you’re in the process of krumpin’ – they’re getting krumped. The Waaagh turn also gives you access to a powerful movement combo via ‘Ere We Go, because +2” to Advance/Charge matters a hell of a lot more when you can, you know, Advance and Charge. This is particularly great for Meganobz, as it overcomes their normal ponderous movement to slam into the opponent at rocket speed.

As well as those core considerations, there are a couple of notable unit setups it’s worth digging into further.

Trukk Nobz

Put Nobz with Power Claws and a Warboss (or Painboy if you want extra durability) in a Trukk. Not complicated, but it’s one of the more efficient pressure melee threats that’s available right now, and priced to move.

Squighog Stack

A full unit of Squighog Boyz with a Smasha Nob wielding Headwoppa’s Killchoppa is an incredible engine of destruction, and very challenging to deal with. Because they’re T7, popping ‘Ard as Nails on them means that a bunch of the weapons that used to mow them down in 9th Edition are suddenly wounding on 6s, and having a 5+ Feel No Pain means that flat damage 3 weaponry (another bane last time around) is fairly mediocre into them – each unsaved wound now only kills one from full health just under a third of the time. This is a premium alpha bully unit, and it doesn’t really need any external support to do its thing.

Crunchy Meganobz

Obviously if you want ultimate killing power from Meganobz you take Ghaz or a Warboss, but they’re pretty killy anyway, so what if you want another unit that’s dead ‘ard? This is where the Big Mek in Mega Armour comes in – taking a Kustom Force Field on him stops the unit getting sniped at a distance, and the ability to revive a dead model in your Command Phase means that unless the opponent really commits to clearing them, they’re not going to stay down. Getting to revive a large-based model also gives you some considerable extra charge reach that the opponent might not see coming, great for this kind of unit. You can double down on that reach with the Follow Me Ladz enhancement, or instead add some Precision protection with the Super Cybork Body.

Bike Block

A full squad of Warbikers lead by a Deffkilla Wartrike has a gigantic footprint, and if you give the leader Follow Me Ladz becomes an excellent tool for early harassment or move blocking. Extra move and auto-advancing 6” means they can rocket 20” across the table, either to get stuck in on a Waaagh turn or to completely lock up the opponent’s early movement plans. As discussed earlier, Orks are the kind of army that wants to deny Primary scoring early so that if they run out of steam later on, the opponent has a hard time catching up. This unit supports that very effectively, and is another mobile, fairly tough threat if the blocking isn’t required in a given game.

Army Lists

As always, time to take a quick tour of what players of this faction have been getting up to on tournament tables.

Brad Chester – 3rd Place (Undefeated) – 2023 Michigan GT 40K Championships

Army List - Click to Expand

This is a great example of a down-the-line Ork Goodstuff list post-Dataslate. It packs in all the best units the faction has access to, giving ita nice mixture of speed, durability and pressure, and providing some powerful emergency shooting via the Badruk Flash Gitz brick.

Sean Nayden – 1st Place – Battle For Salvation GT 2023

Army List - Click to Expand

This is more of a speedy pressure build, cutting out some of the common picks like Flash Gitz in favour of lots of stuff that can get up the board and start krumpin’ quick, and packing Ghaz with a couple of ablative Meganobz as a late-game hammer.

Justin Rosko – 1st Place – Call To Arms 40K

Army List - Click to Expand

Finally, we have a more pure mech build, something that’s still very much viable even after some of the components (Beastbosses and Trukks) took points hits. Even more so than Sean’s list, this build can just blast across the table, and hopefully unleash its melee murder tools pretty much fully intact, flattening the foe. Also of note is the solo Weirdboy, acting just as a pure throwaway objective piece via Da Jump.

Final Thoughts

Orks – biggest and da best. It’s more likely than you think.