Orks faction focus and 8th edition - HOLY CRAP!!!!

Now that the faction focus has landed, and we know how morale is going to work, we can get a good feel on how Orks will be in 8^th.

I will call it the “conga line” edition. 

First, the highlight from faction focus is by far the Mob Rule.  I could not have written it better myself!  Just like in 4^th you can substitute the units LD for the number of models. However, unlike 4^th, there is no cap at 10. Which means a unit of 30 suffering 10 losses still has LD20 and can’t lose any more to morale!!  An opponent would have to kill half a unit of 30 in a single turn just to have a chance to do any more damage.

I’m in total shock about just how freaking awesome that is. Plus, there is more too it, you can use a unit’s nearby LD which means even the small elite units will be sticking around a lot more.   And on top of it nobs and warbosses can mitigate any losses from morale!  My biggest fear was suffering from battleshock/morale and while it’s not quite fearless it’s exactly what it should be.

Nobs only have 3 wounds, which is a bit disappointing. I was hoping for 4.  I was also hoping choppas would be ap -1.

Let’s talk about the conga line.  It was a typical trick in the 4^th ed codex because the cover save from the KFF was by unit, not models like the current book.  Now, it will be both unit and a 5++!!!  Absolute best possible world.  Add in the 6+fnp from a painboy effecting all nearby units, and no longer having to remove closest models from shooting means you’ll be able to run a horde of Orks with a 5++/6+ all the way across the table!  This is EXACTLY the kind of survivability I’ve been saying all along the Orks needed more than anything.  Add in ‘eavy armor upgrades? 

Giving all the nobs kombi-skorchas might not be a no-brainer, but pretty close. Since combi- weapons are no longer 1 shot having a heavy flamer in every unit sounds like a good idea, and again, since model removal won’t be closest, you can put the nob out front right and propa’!

The waggh! is changed to units within 6” of the warboss, but it also implies it’s not just once per game, which I think is a great tradeoff – because of the conga line.   It’s like the Decurion all over again, only better. 

Reece said to dust off the killa kans, which to me means they were fixed.  I sure hope so. They are currently so overpriced and nearly useless. I mean S7? Sigh.   I hope there are a lot of things fixed.  I am surprised there was nothing about Trukks, which are as iconic as a Rhino, in the faction focus. I’m still putting in for a decent version of Ramshackle…my dream is you only take 1 wound from multi-wound hits.

I said before lone SAG meks hiding in the back will be a thing. I’m sticking to that, but it will depend on how they work.  Assuming strength is 2d6 with d6 (or even 2d6) shots and ap -3 it could be a quite nice..and on a roll of 12 they are moral wounds! 

It sounds like characters still won’t have access to 5++, but hopefully something will give them survivability in close combat. 

With the transport rules you can put multiple small units is a single transport – say 4 units of 5 lootas in a battlewagon – and give them much more protection than they have now.

With the change to twin linked, will warbikes really get 6 shots?  I think I prefer the old TL, especially with overwatch but that is A LOT of dice. 

Let’s talk about Da Jump, as spoiled in the article.  It allows you to pick up a unit and place them 9” away from any enemy units. No scatter, and they can still charge.  Combined with ‘ere we go re-rolling, that’s a pretty good chance (about 1/3) of making that charge.  I can see literally building an entire list around that power, with first turn transporting 90 boys just 9” away from the enemy.  And with the changes to blasts and flamers, you no longer have to fear having the boys all bunched up if you do fail the charge.

Of course it’s not all sunshine and roses…but to be honest it’s pretty darn close.  The change to heavy weapons getting a -1 to hit instead of snapshots is a big boost to other armies but it’s the same for Orks either way.    And as with all the 8^th ed spoilers so far – points! 

There are far more questions than answers.  Will there be instant death? Will there be limits on Megarmor?  Will characters have different dataslates for MA option?  How will exhaust cloud work? Will bikes be as good as they are now?  How will Snikrot work? 

We have 3 weeks to wait. It’s going to be a LONG 3 weeks…