What’s that? A challenger approaches? The March Dataslate brings with it a quartet of new detachments, and in this article we’re unpacking the More Dakka! detachment for Orks.
Orks are masters of all forms of violence, the less precise the better. Swinging choppas wildly is the conventional way that they get their fix, but they also enjoy filling the air, terrain and (sometimes) the foe with bullets. Since Grotmas unleashed the Taktikal Brigade we’ve seen shooty Orks start to make a splash in the metagame, and now it’s time to double down on that with the More Dakka! detachment. If you still pine for the shooty Orks of 8th Edition, or just want to unleash some of the wackier shooting platforms the Orks get access to, this could be the detachment for you.
We’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of these rules for Review purposes.
Detachment Overview
This detachment does what it says on the tin – it cranks shooting for Ork Infantry and Walker units up to 11, with the Detachment Rule and some of the Enhancements massively amping up the threat these shooty units present. Stratagems provide a bit more depth – there are some more nuanced dakka tricks, and also a couple of Stratagems that provide a healthy bit of melee capability as a fallback. That latter bit is important – some of the best Detachments in the game are those that mostly focus on one thing, but give you a few very potent tools for other angles of attack, and this delivers on that front.
If you want to use lots of footslogging shooting threats, or unleash dreads of any size there’s a lot to love here. Morkanaut and Stompa lovers in particular are eating good here – you can massively improve their deadliness in way that just hasn’t been possible anywhere else.
Detachment Rule: Dakka! Dakka! Dakka!
In your own Shooting Phase (so importantly not Overwatch), your INFANTRY and WALKER units have Sustained Hits 2 on their guns. In addition, during a WAAAGH! INFANTRY and WALKER units get Assault on all their guns.
This is a truly spectacular boost to the damage output of a faction where most units hit on 5s. For stuff on that baseline, this outright doubles their ranged damage output, and it’s still a massive improvement for units that have ways of hitting on 4s. Orks are fairly unique in having access to high volume damage 3 shooting from rokkit launchers, whether on Tankbustas or Killa Kanz, which are normally held in check by their mediocre accuracy, but not so much in this detachment. Lootas also become spectacularly threatening with this active thanks to their re-rolls, especially as the Detachment has access to Ignore Cover.
There is a catch, of course – Infantry have to be walking around to benefit from this, so you can’t do ultra-powered drive-bys from Trukks. Your units are fairly killable once they’re out, so you really need to make a go turn count. Happily, that’s extremely achievable when your guns hit this hard!
Enhancements
The Enhancements here are all based around Ranged attacks, making your ranged firepower even better for the bearer and their unit. Which is just what you want in this Detachment. Most of these go on Shokk Attack guns because those are the best character shooting you can get and those Meks can join units of Lootas and Tankbustas.
- Da Gobshot Thunderbuss (15pts): Gives an Ork model Devastating Wounds and Hazardous on their ranged weapons. Obviously the place you put this is on a Shokk Attack Gun to try and reclaim some of the glory of the Psychic Awakening superweapon. Obviously especially strong if you put them with Lootas for re-rolls. High variance, but boy your opponent is going to fear for their existence when this is about.
- Dead Shiny Shootas (35pts): The model’s unit get Rapid Fire 1 on all their guns. Reasonably sure you put this on a Shokk Attack Gun Mek with Tankbustas almost every time, especially because if you max out the guns in the squad and manage to get within 6”, you’re actually getting +8 rokkit shots rather than just +6.
- Targetin’ Squigs (15pts): The bearer’s unit gets +1 to hit with Ranged Attacks. Feels like this depends on how many Leader-backed units you can afford to take, especially as (paradoxically) +1 to hit matters less for a Detachment where you’re playing with Sustained Hits 2 all the time, but still good on one of your Loota bricks.
- Zog Off and Eat Dakka! (10pts): The bearer’s unit can Fall Back and Shoot. Not really needed, but it’s cheap!
Stratagems
Every one of the Stratagems here will cost you 1 CP, and that’s good since it reduces the strain of wanting to use them all the time. Most of these are offensive buffs.
- Orks is Still Orks (Battle Tactic, 1 CP): Before we get to the shooty stuff, we have a couple of boosts for melee. This one is crucial for the Detachment: In the Fight Phase, this Stratagem can be used to give a unit re-roll 1s to Wound, or full Wound re-rolls against a target on an Objective. This is exceptionally good, particularly in combination with the next option, and ensures that the army can still smash stuff in melee when it really matters.
- Get Stuck In, Ladz! (Epic Deed, 1 CP): In your Command Phase, you can use this Stratagem to put a unit into Waaagh! Until your next Command Phase. This rules, because in this detachment it’s a combination Advance/Charge/Shoot/Durability buff, really everything you could possible want. Combines super well with the above, because it means that if you’ve got a unit of Nobz or Breaka Boyz waiting in the wings, your opponent is never safe from a lethal melee push. TwoHorse also adds that it’s extremely good with Zodgrod’s super grots, as it can allow them to get out and do things ahead of your main Waaagh turn. The only challenge is that you can’t use this on a unit in a Transport, so you need to plan ahead a little for some of your threats, but it’s still fantastic.
- Huge Show-Offs (Epic Deed, 1 CP): Use in your Command Phase to turbo boost one of your Walkers (excluding Killa Kanz). The unit gets +1 to Move, Ld and OC, and +1 to hit on all their attacks. This is the kind of Stratagem that makes you look at units like the Stompa and Morkanaut and say “fuck, maybe?” How much of the opponent’s army can one Stompa pick up with this (and Sustained Hits 2) active? Quite a bit! Or just take a Gorkanaut and Morkanaut, stick the Morkanaut in Waaagh!, and push for a massive go turn. This feels like this is going to cause some Ork players to Act Unwise, and I look forward to seeing a few of them break through in Competitive Innovations.
- Long, Uncontrolled Bursts (Battle Tactic, 1 CP): Hell yeah, the best Stratagem name that GW have ever come up with returns. This lets a CHARACTER point at an enemy unit at the Start of your Shooting Phase, and gives your whole army IGNORES COVER when shooting them. This is great – you’re working with high volumes of AP-1 and AP-2 firepower, and this helps you turn things like Custodes into soup.
- Speshul Shells (Wargear, 1 CP): Speaking of AP, this is used in your Shooting phase and gives a unit +1AP when shooting the closest eligible target within 18”. This Helps your Lootas and Tankbustas tangle with crunchier Marine stuff.
- Call Dat Dakka? (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP): If an enemy unit shoots one of your units and kills a model, you can shoot them straight back! Reasonably good, as it forces opponents to be very careful about trying to chip damage you, but do remember that your Sustained Hits 2 only works in your own Shooting Phase, so the damage output isn’t going to be as high as you might expect.
Playing This Detachment
This detachment is very, very good at what it sets out to do, and looks set to make a big splash in the metagame. If you’ve been running the versions of Taktikal Brigade that sport lots of Tankbustas and Lootas then great news, you can pretty much just pivot to this and continue as you were, maybe adding in a few tools to take advantage of the Waaagh! Stratagem. Or, you know, you could just put giant clanking robots in. Is it as good? Almost certainly not. Is it funny? Yes.
Strengths
- Extreme Dakka! You can put out a lot of firepower with this Detachment, and your Lootas and Tankbustas are going to put in work.
- Flexible. You get some great flexibility from having a Waaagh!-on-demand Stratagem.
- Boosts big Walkers. There are some legitimately tantalizing buffs here for Morka/Gorkanaughts, dreads, and stompas.
Weaknesses
- Defense. You have very few defensive tricks here, so expect to get hit back hard when your opponent retaliates.
- Not Transport-Friendly. You’ll need to do some careful planning needed around disembarking from Transports to get the most out of this Detachment.
- Extremely CP hungry. Those are some great Stratagems, and you’ll want to be firing them off every turn.
A Sample List
OK look. Important note here. Pay attention. I know you could build a better list by just jamming more Lootas. OK? If you want to do that, go to Competitive innovations, find the last Taktikal Brigade build that had loads of Tankbustas and Lootas, and swap out the Mek Kaptin brick for Zodgrod and 20 Grots, then go forth and win some tournaments.
If, however, you are a warboss of kultur’, or have desperately pined for big dreads despite them never really being that good, read on.
Acting Unwise - click to expand Dakka (2000 Points) Orks More Dakka! Strike Force (2000 Points) CHARACTERS Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun (110 Points) Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun (90 Points) Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun (90 Points) Warboss (75 Points) Warboss (75 Points) DEDICATED TRANSPORTS Trukk (65 Points) Trukk (65 Points) Trukk (65 Points) OTHER DATASHEETS Breaka Boyz (140 Points) ◦ 1x Choppa ◦ 1x Rokkit pistol ◦ 1x Smash hammer ◦ 4x Smash hammer ◦ 1x Tankhammer Breaka Boyz (140 Points) ◦ 1x Choppa ◦ 1x Rokkit pistol ◦ 1x Smash hammer ◦ 4x Smash hammer ◦ 1x Tankhammer Gorkanaut (265 Points) Gretchin (40 Points) ◦ 10x Close combat weapon ◦ 10x Grot blasta ◦ 1x Runtherd tools ◦ 1x Slugga Lootas (100 Points) ◦ 2x Close combat weapon ◦ 2x Kustom mega-blasta ◦ 8x Close combat weapon ◦ 8x Deffgun Morkanaut (280 Points) Stormboyz (65 Points) ◦ 4x Choppa ◦ 4x Slugga ◦ 1x Power klaw ◦ 1x Slugga Stormboyz (65 Points) ◦ 4x Choppa ◦ 4x Slugga ◦ 1x Power klaw ◦ 1x Slugga Tankbustas (135 Points) ◦ 1x Choppa ◦ 2x Rokkit pistol ◦ 5x Close combat weapon ◦ 6x Rokkit launcha Tankbustas (135 Points) ◦ 1x Choppa ◦ 2x Rokkit pistol ◦ 5x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Pulsa Rokkit ◦ 5x Rokkit launcha Exported with App Version: v1.28.0 (1), Data Version: v574
Controversially, shoot them with guns. The big Dreads conveniently give you some transport capacity to hide Breaka Boyz in, all the other big threats use Trukks to get into position (or mix up that recipe if the matchup demands it, go wild), and then you start blasting. Simple.
Final Thoughts
This detachment is super strong, and should introduce a whole new generation of players to the sheer terror that a Shokk Attack Gun can inflict in the wrong hands. Somehow, shooty Orks have returned.
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