40K Unit Smackdown – Ork Warbuggy vs Deffcopta
Here’s a article to possibly end the age old Orky debate of which is better; Warbuggy or Deffkopter! Lets get to it fellow Warbosses!
Warbuggy
Starting with the Warbuggy here, got a Ork Trukk like profile so armour 10 all the way round open-topped and fast. That costs you 30 points base. You can add wargear onto the Buggy such as twin-linked rokkits, skorcha, red paint job, grot riggers, armour plates and upgrade to Wartrakk. For comparsion purposes I’m looking at a single build for the Warbuggy; the Rokkit-Buggy.
Pros
The Warbuggy is fast which means it can move 18″, though this isn’t massively useful and I’ll explain why in a minute. More importantly is can move 12″ throw in that 24″ range rokkit ans you’ve got a 36″ tank busting unit.
It’s very cheap on points costing 35 points in total, which is half the price of a single Deffkopter.
You can upgrade to a Wartrakk which allows you to re-roll terrain tests, this makes the Warbuggy 40 points but is still a bargain buy.
Being a vehicle it can take advantage of a Big Meks kustom force field giving it a 4+ cover save, and who doesn’t use one of those? 😛
Unlike Deffkopters, Warbuggies don’t take morale tests 😉
Cons
The Buggy is fast no doubt about it but moving 18″ is partially wasted as the Buggy cannot fire and will be out of kustom force field range so no cover save, so part of that speed you’re paying for you may not use.
Being armour 10 and having a rokkit strapped to it means this unit is weak like paper and a high priority target. Even S4 weapons can wreck it if they manage to glance it and then roll a 6+ on the vehicle damage chart.
Unless upgraded to a Wartrakk the Warbuggy has the same chances of bogging down in terrain like any vehicle, while rolling two 1’s in a row for terrain is bad, a Wartrakk can still fail and that Buggy is now hung out to dry.
With weak armour the Warbuggy can be easily be assaulted and taken out in assault without any real defense.
Tactics
You could run Warbuggies in squadrons of 2; these gives two rokkit shots per unit and still costing the same price for a single Deffkopter, so 2 Warbuggies for the price of one. However, remember the squadron rules which means any immobilised vehicle wrecked so take damage or even get stuck in terrain then it’s bye-bye Buggy making this weak vehicle even weaker.
When deploying the Buggies always make sure they’re in KFF range; this should be a no brainer. If you’re deploying first put the Buggies up front of the rest of your lines so they can get closer to the targets, because they are in KFF range you’ll get a cover save just in case your opponent does manage to seize the initiative. If you go second hide them behind other units, as the Buggies are low even without a KFF 50% of the front should be covered giving you a nice 4+ cover save too.
First turn zoom them out from behind your units (if you went second) or move them forward in tandem with other units, Battlewagons or even Trukks make great LOS blockers for these so shield them well but remember to change the angle of your Battlewagon so it too can get a 3+ cover save from certain angles of attacks 😉 . If you haven’t got any mobile LOS blockers then use terrain with best effort to make sure the Warbuggies are covered or at least get a cover save 😉 Though, in theory the Warbuggies should be in range by turn 1 anyway, outside of Dawn of War deployments.
With the Buggy being fast and having range you should be able to flank a tank’s side armour, but keep away from it, you don’t need to get close! Blast from afar and use two Warbuggies per tank to make sure the job is done, even with twin-linked Orks still aren’t that good at shooting 😉 Other targets are viable too, Warbuggies are excellent for knocking wounds off monstrous creatures (AP3) but, just as when vehicle-hunting keep your distance as you’ve got 24″ range and a monstrous creature would make a mess of a Warbuggy in assault.
In objective games and providing you have any surviving Warbuggies use them to contest objectives which you haven’t claimed. Use them to do the job required (busting tanks and monstrous creatures), and once done hide them away and use them as a countering unit, sending them forward and get those objectives!
Deffkopter
The Deffkopter is pretty much the same as a Warbike except it has two wounds and is counted as a jetbike, which is pretty cool. As standard it costs 35 points and wargear options are twin-linked rokkits, kustom mega blasta, bigbomm and buzzsaw. There’s only two I’m going to pay interest in; the rokkit and buzzsaw, though buzzsaw isn’t essential, but is ha very nice option to have.
Pros
As a jetbike the Deffkopter can move 12″ and still fire, it can turbo boost 24″ and get a 3+ cover save. With rokkits that gives a nice 36″ range.
Deffkopter has scout rule which means it has the ability to first turn alpha strike and knock out high priority targets before the game starts, or outflank and tackle weak tank side or rear armour.
A Deffkopter can fight in assaults. Take a buzzsaw and you’ve got a S7 power fist on the charge. Excellent for tying up annoying units (i.e Zoanthropes) and increases your chances of taking out a enemy vehicle when doing a alpha strike.
It’s got two wounds and T5 so small arms fire will have some work cut out, throw in it’s 4+ armour save too.
As a jetbike it doesn’t need to take terrain tests when moving over terrain.
It has hit and run so if you do manage to pass that initiative test you could charge back into the fight.
Cons
The T5 is only good against small arms fire, S8 weapons can inflict instant death on a Deffkopter.
It costs double the points of a Warbuggy if the ‘Kopter has twin-linked rokkits and a buzzsaw. Just a rokkit costs 10 points more.
Deffkopters can take morale tests and falling back 3D6″ isn’t cool 🙁
You’ll find even without a buzzsaw it will strike last in combat, so it will take a pounding against the wrong sort of assaulty enemies.
It the Kopter lands in terrain it’s counted as dangerous terrain, roll a 1 and take a wound! 🙁
Tactics
It’s best to run Deffkopters in single units, though for redundancy always take two at least. The reason for single units is this makes you mostly immune to morale tests, as killing 50% of the unit and the ‘Kopter could flee and won’t return at under 50%.
When deploying if you go first put the Kopters are the front of your lines, then use the scout move and turbo boost them towards high priority targets, but remember when scout moving you’ve got to stay 12″ away 😉 . If deploying second either hold them in reserve for some outflanking fun, but remember, Orks don’t have any reserve bonuses so they might not turn up until turn 4 which robs you of valuable anti tank and ranged fire power too. Best bet is hide them out the way using other models to block LOS or terrain, then let the enemy come to you and once in range move 12″ and blast those 24″ range rokkits. If you do feel brave and daring maybe scout and get 3+ cover and weather the storm – maybe. I have been in the situation before when I did this and the enemy concentrated all fire on my Kopters which left the remaining of my force without any damage, but 70 points per Kopter is a lot to throw away.
Depending if you take a buzzsaw or not tactics may differ for how you use a Deffkopter. If you are taking just rokkits then use the same tactics as a Warbuggy, which is stay 24″ away so you don’t get assaulted and flank tanks side armour – you’ve got range and movement so use it. If you’re taking a buzzsaw you want to move up fire rokkits and then assault, assault tanks or as mentioned tie up annoying units. If you are going to send Deffkopters into large-ish infantry say Tactical Squad size make sure you send two Deffkopters for the job as that’s two seperate units the attacks need to be split on, meaning less wounds per Kopter and you’ll get to use those buzzsaws before your Kopters snuff it!
Like a Warbuggy Deffkopters are excellent for contesting objectives late on, but they are a bit better because they can turbo boost 24″ and get a 3+ cover save which makes them more survivable. Once a Kopters job is done hold them back and hide them, then last turn(s) of the game turbo boost and contest objectives.
Summary
Both the Deffkopter and Warbuggy are a awesome piece of kit, both do well for the right role, in this case tank busting for this discussion. Both have one more con than pro for each, though the Kopter has one more of each than the Warbuggy which still balances out. Both of them have weaknesses and strengths.
The main problem for me is the weakness of the Warbuggy, as bolters can pop it. The Warbuggy can get cover if a KFF is range, though a Kopter can get a better cover save but that means no shooting (turbo boost).
While the Warbuggy is cheap and cheerful, the Deffkopter has a few more advantages – it doesn’t take terrain tests (unless it has too) and can alpha strike taking out units before they even start, it has double chances of doing this because it can assault but if a Warbuggy fires and misses then tough luck!
Verdict
The Deffkopter appears to be the better choice of the two. The ‘Kopter can asborb marginally more small arms fire but suffers the same weakness from high strength weapons as a Warbuggy. It’s ability to alpha strike is the main card for the ‘Kopter giving it two chances to wreck something rather than one. Though, the Warbuggy is still pretty cool and is a lot less points than the Deffkopter, just the ‘Kopter has a few extra advantages.
So do you agree with the verdict, and how do you use the units on the tabletop? If you have more pairs of units you’d like see us do smackdown reviews of, let us know.
