Goatboy: Orky Clan Know Wotz – Goffs, Bad Moons & Evil Sunz
Let’s begin the deep dive into the Ork army by looking at three Clans and how to use them. Today we’re talking Goffs (Ghaz’s bros), Bad Moons & Evil Suns.
Goatboy here and little did we know the Ork Calendar has 60 day months – so it is actually still Orktober even though its November when the new Codex comes out for us humies. But enough joking around – the book is here, it feels pretty good, and as a long time Ork player I can say I am very excited about the army prospects from this book. In fact that is one of the best things from this book – it feels like you can create a ton of decent builds without one particular thing being the best. There are only a few “Clan” stratagems that you might want to abuse and each of the Clans have their own uses. To me it feels like the Knight book where everything might actually have a use at some point or another.
Let’s begin the deep dive into the army by looking at the Clans and what I think about them. The Clans themselves are split up into the following – Goffs (Ghaz’s bros), Snakebites, Bad Moons, Evil Suns, DeffSkullz, Bloodaxes, and Freebooterz. Each one has its own “Kultur” which is own version of tactics traits you would expect out of any other “big” army. All of these Kulturs will force you in particular directions for your army as it fits a specific play style. A few of the Clans have somewhat similar play styles but with Stratagems and abilities they make for a different army.
Goffs
Clan Goffs – aka the basic Ork Horde army. This is the Greentide army where having tons of boyz, CP to Skar them up, and the normal building blocks sounds like the right type of army. I think a lot of the armies you saw during the Index days would love this Kultur. Any unmodified roll of a 6 with a melee weapon will generate another attack that cannot generate attacks off of it. This means your 4 Attack boyz are coming in hot and heavy with a ton of attacks. Mix his with the Skar Boy CP upgrade (+1 str to the unit for 1 CP) and you got a pretty deadly army of guys. Throw in some Warpheadz (1CP to change a Weirdboy) who can throw some guys forward and it feels just right. The Deffkilla Wartrike will fit right in as a speeding missile of doom. Oh and for fun the Orks got a version of the Space Marine Blood Angel stratagem that lets a character attack again after dying. Mix this up with the Fists of Gork and you got some serious damage potential. Heck throw in Warpath as well and you got whole lot of attacks. Their Warlord trait just adds a single Attack to the Character so it isn’t bad. Just kinda boring.
Stratagem power – 5.5 out of 6 Grots (If you want to play a lot of boyz – turning em all into Skarboyz is a strong thing)
Relic Power – 4 out of 6 Grots
Kultur Power – 4 out of 6 Grots
Warlord Trait – 3 out of 6 Grots
Overall – 4 out of 6 Grots
Bad Moons
Bad Moons look like the Clan you will add as an ally to your main Ork Clan army. They are one of the shootie aspects of the Ork army with the ability to Reroll 1’s for shooting attacks by all the models in the Army. This isn’t bad at all especially when mixed with Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!. I think the other Shootie Clan is probably better – but the Bad Moons Stratagem is extremely powerful. Showin’ Off is 2 CP and lets an infantry unit shoot again. Lootas, Shoota Boyz, and Burna Boyz could be friggin insane with a ton of shooting. This is one of those Clans you will see thrown in as an extra “detachment” to activate this Stratagem. Their Relic is also pretty neat as it can throw out 2d6 auto hitting shots within 12″ of your Warboss. Throw some guys in a Gorkanaut – push forward – and reap the rewards as you pile on the bullets. Warlord trait just gives a flat 4+ inv save to your warlord. It isn’t bad just not nearly as exciting as some of the others. Still a 4+ Inv save Deffkilla Wartrike is pretty snazzy.
Stratagem power – 6 out of 6 Grots
Relic Power – 4 out of 6 Grots
Kultur Power – 4 out of 6 Grots
Warlord Trait – 3 out of 6 Grots
Overall – 4 grots and a random Grot Foot.
Evil Sunz
Evil Sunz – the Clan I played heavily during my Ork days. This is the Clan that is heavily pushed by the GW marketing. Make it red, watch it go fast, and get ready to do some damage. The Kultur power is of course named Red Ones Go Fasta and it is all about pushing your army into your opponents face. You add 1″ to the Move, Advance and Charge rolls for all Units with the Clan Evil Suns. Heck if you have the Speed Freaks keyword you get to go 2 more inches instead of 1 inch. Oh and on top of that you don’t worry about the -1 to shooting with your assault weapons. Holy dog doodies this is an amazing ability and will be army defining. If there is a fast speeding army of doom (there is the points work out) then this is it. Can you imagine a ton of Gorkanauts rushing forward and the Deffkilla Wartrike letting everyone assault after advancing? That is a ton of damage potential. My brain has me looking at 2 Gorks, 1 Mork, maybe some Nobz in the Transports, and finally some bikers and boyz to keep the back end safe. Heck a Stompa shooting up the field seems pretty amazing too. I think a lot of the buggies could work as well with the Flamer buggy being pretty decent as a method for clearing out bubble wrap or heck a few Nob Bikerz with Dakka Guns mowing things down. The Relic is also pretty interesting in that it needs to be on a Model that is riding in a Transport – which could be a giant Red Stompa. The Stratagem is also interesting in that it gives an Evil Suns Speed Freeks unit an extra movement phase (with advance etc) at the end of the shooting phase but you can’t charge. It could be very helpful to go get an objective or just be a pain for some random ITC mission point if needed. Their Warlord trait will be mandatory if you have an Evil Suns Warlord. The warlord and anyone within 6 inches can charge even if they fell back this turn. This can be pretty amazing with the Deffkilla Wartrike and some Stratagems that allow it to hurt people as it leaves combat. Hit and Run nob Bikerz sounds pretty dang annoying.
Stratagem power – 4 out of 6 Grots
Relic Power – 5 out of 6 Grots
Kultur Power – 6 out of 6 Grots
Warlord Trait – 5 out of 6 Grots
Overall – 5 Grots with two feet
This concludes my deep dive into these three Kulturs for the new Ork Codex. I really like it so far and have found a few armies I want to try and build around. Look for a ton of Ork lists in the coming weeks as I deal with my inner Waagh and try to build as many lists as I can. I will do a break down of the other 4 Clans (don’t forget Freebooterz) next time as I really wanted to do a through review of the Kulturs. Heck we waited all month for this – what is a few more days to dig through the horde of green skin jerks.
~What Clan are you painting up and why?
