Warhammer 40K: This Week’s Meta Hotness – Mek Gunz
Let’s take a look at a unit that’s been smashing the opposition as one of Warhammer 40K’s top units, Ork Mek Gunz.
In the ever-shifting meta of 40K, armies rise and fall. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about armies that are hot or not, but a lot less time looking at units that are running the show. Today let’s start by taking a look at one of the hottest units currently running around the tabletop.
The Unit
Mek Gunz are a classic Ork unit. This heavy artillery platform is crewed by meager Grots, but thanks to the variety of deadly weapons they can take, remain very deadly. Once the souped up version of the now legendary Big Gunz, Mek Gunz provide heavy fire support in a variety of forms.
Why They Are Good
Mek Gunz come in four varieties, however the one normally used, and the one we will be focusing on is the Smasha Gun. The Smashs provide Orks, not always the best shooting army, with some very deadly and long ranged firepower. This gun has good range and great AP at -4. With D3 shots and D6 damage it’s random, but has the potential to swing very high. Its odd wounding rules, rolling two dice and trying to equal or beat the enemy T makes it outstanding at taking down infantry, often with a better percent chance to wound that something wounding on a 2+. It’s also very solid verse light and medium vehicles. Though it starts to struggle at the higher end of the spectrum, it can still get in big hits. This gun is exceptionally well suited for removing MEQ and light Drukhari infantry vehicles, but can be used against any target with solid effect.
Now one of these guns on it’s own isn’t that much trouble, but one of the strong points of Mek Gunz is that you can take up to 6 in a slot. Thanks to their rules (which have been simplified from the past) once deployed each of these acts as its own unit. With T5 and 6 wounds they aren’t that easy to kill, and have up to 18 to chew through can be hard. As individual units, they can be hard to tie down in combat and you will often waste shots on killing them. Since they are Grots they hit a 4+, but still get access to exploding 6s. Slap on the Grot Mobs Specialist Mob free upgrade and they get a 6++ save and get to re-roll 1s. A large block of Mek Gunz can put out a ton of shots (1-6 per model) that can devastate enemy armies, while at the same time being very hard to remove and great at holding backfield objectives. With their very reasonable price, 40 pts currently, these guys can be taken en mass without breaking the bank.
A Sample List
Saying a unit is hot is all well and good, but let’s take a look at how players are using it. Mek Gunz have been a staple of competitive Ork lists for a while, and continue to be featured in most lists that do well. One list that highlights them is the list that Likas Troller ran to take 2nd place at the recent Weekend at Horus GT (via 40kstats.com)
++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Orks) [71 PL, 12CP, 1,380pts] ++
Clan Kultur / Specialist Mobs: Evil Sunz
+ HQ +
Big Mek W/ Kustom Force Field [4 PL, 1CP, 60pts]: Choppa, Follow Me, Ladz!, Kustom Force Field (PA), Slugga, Stikkbombs, Warlord
Weirdboy [4 PL, -1CP, 75pts]: 2. Warpath, 3. Da Jump, Warphead, Weirdboy Staff
+ Troops +
Boyz [12 PL, 255pts]: 3x Tankbusta Bombs
. Boss Nob: Killsaw, Killsaw, Stikkbombs
. 10x Ork Boy W/ Shoota: 10x Shoota, 10x Stikkbombs
. 19x Ork Boy W/ Slugga & Choppa: 19x Choppa, 19x Slugga, 19x Stikkbombs
Boyz [12 PL, 239pts]: 2x Tankbusta Bombs
. Boss Nob: Killsaw, Killsaw, Stikkbombs
. 10x Ork Boy W/ Shoota: 10x Shoota, 10x Stikkbombs
. 17x Ork Boy W/ Slugga & Choppa: 17x Choppa, 17x Slugga, 17x Stikkbombs
Boyz [12 PL, 239pts]: 2x Tankbusta Bombs
. Boss Nob: Killsaw, Killsaw, Stikkbombs
. 10x Ork Boy W/ Shoota: 10x Shoota, 10x Stikkbombs
. 17x Ork Boy W/ Slugga & Choppa: 17x Choppa, 17x Slugga, 17x Stikkbombs
Boyz [12 PL, 234pts]: 2x Tankbusta Bombs
. Boss Nob: Choppa, Killsaw, Stikkbombs
. 10x Ork Boy W/ Shoota: 10x Shoota, 10x Stikkbombs
. 17x Ork Boy W/ Slugga & Choppa: 17x Choppa, 17x Slugga, 17x Stikkbombs
Boyz [4 PL, 80pts]: Tankbusta Bombs
. Boss Nob: Choppa, Choppa, Stikkbombs
. 9x Ork Boy W/ Shoota: 9x Shoota, 9x Stikkbombs
+ Elites +
Kommandos [3 PL, 45pts]: Tankbusta Bombs
. 5x Kommando: 5x Choppa, 5x Slugga, 5x Stikkbombs
Nob with Waaagh! Banner [5 PL, 88pts]: Choppa, Kustom Shoota, Stikkbombs, Waaagh! Banner
Painboy [3 PL, 65pts]: ‘Urty Syringe, Da Killa Klaw, Power Klaw
++ Spearhead Detachment -3CP (Orks) [46 PL, -3CP, 620pts] ++
+ Configuration +
Clan Kultur / Specialist Mobs
. Grot Mobs: Specialist Mob
Detachment Command Cost [-3CP]
+ HQ +
Big Mek W/ Kustom Force Field [4 PL, 60pts]: Choppa, Kustom Force Field (PA), Slugga, Stikkbombs
+ Heavy Support +
Mek Gunz [18 PL, 240pts]
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
Mek Gunz [18 PL, 240pts]
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
Mek Gunz [6 PL, 80pts]
. Gun: Smasha Gun
. Gun: Smasha Gun
Using the Unit
This list makes almost maximum use of the Mek Gunz, taking a total of 14. Combined they put out just a massive amount of firepower, with an average of around 24 shots a turn, but up to 84. Focusing fire, they can tear through heavy Marine infantry with ease or smash enemy vehicles. Plopped in blocks on back field objective they are hard to move. Thanks to taking the Grot Mob Kulture option they only get even better. The bulk of the rest of the list is 100+ Boyz, which will barrel and Jump towards the enemy, tying them up. Enemy armies at left between focusing on clearing out the Boyz or devoting a large amount of shooting to slowly chew through the Gunz. It’s an effective combo that tries to allow the Gunz to shoot as much as possible.
Let us know what units you think are hot right now, down in the comments!
