This week’s Hammer of Math looks at the lethality of the Spyrer Orrus as the suit steadily gets more and more effective.
When people think of dystopian futures, sooner or later you end up with people being hunted for sport. The Warhammer 40k universe has this all over the place, from pivotal scenes in Black Library novels to a regular Tuesday afternoon in Commorragh. The Necromunda universe takes this concept and adds in a bit of coming of age, where fledgling members of the Great Houses prove their worth by donning impossibly sophisticated suits of incredible technology so they can descend into the lower levels and murder people. When they were released back in the 90s, the Spyrers were an absolute nightmare to deal with. The previous version of Necromunda featured an Underhive that was significantly less sophisticated than the modern game, and the elite equipment and high end stats of the scions of the Great Houses were a nasty surprise for gangs that were lucky to have more than one boltgun. It should be interesting to see how things have changed.
Orrus Weaponry
The Orrus Spyrer was a battering ram in the previous game, featuring power fists covered with bolt launchers and slabs of nearly impenetrable armour. The modern version continues this trend with a combination of highly lethal melee and ranged weaponry that, over time, will only get more unpleasant. Orrus hunting rigs are equipped with two melee weapon options (talons or power fists) and three ranged options (bolt launchers, volkite dischargers, and a disintegration matrix). Both the melee and ranged weapons come in pairs, and the guns all have the Sidearm trait so you can get two shots off each Activation. Everything is free except the power fists (50 credits) and the disintegration matrix (60) credits. Each weapon has three tiers of augmentation which steadily make them more and more absurd.
To calculate their effectiveness I looked at the probability of putting a T3/5+ single wound model out of action. For melee weapons this was based on the probability that the attack would either directly result in an OOA result, that at least 3 flesh wounds were dealt, or that the target was Seriously Injured. For ranged weapons the SI result was taken out since you can’t Coup de Grace from a distance.
Melee Weapons
The player has the choice of either using power talons (S+1, AP -3, D1) or spending 50 credits for power fists (S+2, AP -1, D2 with the Power trait). Both weapons have the Paired trait which will allow the model to count as being equipped with two melee weapons and gain additional attacks on the charge. The Orrus gets 2 attacks base plus a bonus attack for having two melee weapons, and strikes as WS 3+.
- With no augmentation the talons have a 65% chance of taking a ganger OOA while the power fists have a 73% chance.
- At Tier 1 the talons gain Rending while the fists gain Pulverise, boosting the talons to a 67% chance while the fists sit at 76%.
- At Tier 2 the talons gain a second point of damage while the fists become AP -2, putting the talons at 78% and the fists at 81% for taking a T3/5+ single wound model out of action.
- At Tier 3 the talons become S+2 while the fists gain a point of damage, which keeps the talons at 78% while the fists become slightly better at 82%.
Are the power fists worth the 50 credits? Certainly not against the common ganger. But even against foes with more wounds and a higher Toughness characteristic the power talons seem to do well thanks to the high AP and the fact that melee in general is pretty deadly.
Ranged Weapons
The classic bolt launchers are still here, and with S4, AP -1, D1 profile with Rapid Fire 1 these are a very nasty threat especially given their 20” range. Players clutching on to their old metal minis don’t need to ready any further, but there are two other options. The volkite dischargers are S5, AP 0, D1, and have the Deflagrate trait which imposes a second hit if the first one wounds. The really nasty option is the disintegration matrix, which hits at S5 and AP -2 with 2 points of damage but has both the Unstable and the Sever traits. Sever is extremely nasty; if an Injury Roll is made the result is automatically Out of Action. For this analysis I assume that the BS of 3+ has a -1 penalty for firing two Sidearms, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see an Underhells full of Gunslinger Spyrers.
- With no augmentations the bolt launchers have a 62% chance while the volkite dischargers are 9% and the disintegration matrix is 55%.
- At Tier 1 the bolt launchers gain a second point of damage (63% chance of OOA), as do the volkite dischargers (16% chance), while the disintegration matrix loses the Scarce trait and therefore the 55% chance of success is unchanged.
- At Tier 2 the bolt launchers gain AP -2 (64% chance of OOA) along with the volkite dischargers (21% chance). The disintegration matrix becomes AP -3 but the armor of the T3/5+ target is already burned through so the probability remains at 55%.
- At Tier 3 the bolt launchers become Rapid Fire 2 (87% chance of OOA), the volkite dischargers go from a 10” range to 12” (which doesn’t change the 21% chance) and the disintegration matrix becomes D3 (which is overkill against the T3/5+ target thanks to Sever).
The reason the volkite dischargers perform so poorly is because they simply don’t get the massive volume of shots that the bolt launchers have, nor do they get the massive bonus from the Sever trait. Against the T3/5+ targets the bolt launchers are a fantastic choice, especially since they have more range. The disintegration matrix is an interesting choice given that its really designed to take on bigger threats where Sever and the high damage could really shine. It’s certainly worth a consideration.
Wrapping Up
At first glance it looks like the legacy Orrus is a very good build for the Underhells, especially as it gains in power and it has the option to unload massive quantities of bolter fire into anyone dumb enough to stay within range. The power fists seem like a miss as far as upgrades go, and the volkite dischargers don’t have a compelling reason to be fielded compared to the bolt launchers. Players might be interested in fielding the disintegration matrix, but the presence of the Unstable trait makes this a highly risky option for such an expensive model.
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