Summary
Hello, my name is Ben and I’m a mech boi. Or should that be, Mek Boy? I love mechs in all shapes and sizes, especiallyImperial KnightsandBT-7274, and Orks are no different. Much like I always wanted to create an army of Imperial Dreadnoughts – something which was finally realisedthanks to Legions Imperialis– my plans for my Ork army always involved plenty of armour.
I converted hundreds of models for theWarhammer 40,000army, including spellcasting Ork Weirdboyz based on famous wizards like Gandork, Dumbledork, and Jaf-Waaaagh! (the genie in his magic slugga grants him powers). But my favourite conversions were the vehicles. I built Mek Gunz from T’au bits, Trukks from Genestealer Cult Goliaths, and Battlewagons from Necron Ghost Arks.
And then came the mechs. Contemptor Dreadnoughts, T’au Crisis Suits, and countless other models were looted and repurposed into Deff Dreads and Killa Kans. I never got as far as converting some kind of looted Stompa, but I did work on a looted Knight that I never finished painting…
So when I got a chance to check out the new Ork Codex, which goes up for pre-order today with the usual two-week wait for release, I immediately flicked to the Dread Mob. Warhammer Communitygave us a teaserof what stomps were in store, but the details paint a very different picture.
First of all, the points. Deff Dreads have increased from 130 to 155 points, and Killa Kanz now cost 20 points more, at 145 for three. Deff Dreads, at least, have a silver lining in the fact that their Dread Klaws are now Strength 12, but Killa Kanz are more of a mixed bag. The Grotzooka has lost its AP in a slight nerf, but Shooty Power Trip has had a buff.
When you select the unit of Killa Kans to shoot, you may roll a D6.
1-2:this unit suffers D6 mortal wounds.
3-4:until the end of the phase, add 1 to the Strength characteristic of ranged weapons equipped by models in this unit.
5-6:until the end of the phase, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of ranged weapons equipped by models in this unit.
The Stompa remains an 800-point behemoth that is worth about half that. The Big Mek with Kustom Force Field has been removed from the Codex, however a Big Mek in Mega Armour can take a Kustom Force Field. This is a far more expensive model, costing 100 points, and it only confers the invulnerable save to a unit it has joined, so it’s useless for a Dread Mob unless you plan on adding in some Meganobz.
I’m surprised that the Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun wasn’t axed too, but it remains unchanged. However, you’ll mostly want to be running regular Meks, as they are the only characters that buff the vehicles in your Ork army. Big Meks have a place in the backline of the army, attached to units of Mek Gunz, which have been reduced to 40 points per model and have received slight buffs to their weapons. They do also gain the Mek keyword, allowing them utility with shootier squads of Boyz.
This is where you’ll want to take any enhancements, too. Press It Fasta! (35 points) and Gitfinder Gogglez (10 points, and, hilariously, misspelled as Gitfinder Googlez in the points section of the rulebook) are decent enhancements for a Big Mek attached to a squad of Mek Gunz. The former grants two button effects from the Try Dat Button! detachment rule (although two rolls of the same result don’t count twice), and the latter simply confers Ignores Cover.
Arguably the best unit in a Dread Mob army is sadly the Gretchin. The Dread Mob detachment makes them Battleline, and their Theivin’ Scavengers ability still makes them perfect for camping on objectives, scoring secondaries, and farming CP.
That said, there’s not much to spend CP in a Dread Mob detachment. The unique stratagems are all fine, if a little situational. Spending a CP to reroll Advance rolls and grant your weapons the Assault ability (Superfuelled Boiler) or subtracting 1 from the Damage of an incoming attack (Extra Gubbinz) just don’t seem worth the cost. Half of the stratagems also come with a downside: you may ‘push it’ to make the buff more effective, while giving your weapons the negative Hazardous ability as a result. They’re strong, but shooty, and I don’t see my wall of Dreads spending much time with their metal fingers on proverbial triggers before getting into base contact and getting krumping.
You won’t see a Dread Mob anywhere near the competitive scene in 10th edition. Detachment-wise, Games Workshop seems to be pushing players towards green hordes (Boyz arereally good) or the new Beast-Snagga range (I wonder why), rather than embracing the frivolity of the older models. There’s a lot of randomness involved in making a Dread Mob work, which I like, but even if you filled an army list with Gretchin and Mek Gunz and piled a bunch of Ork dreads forwards, I still struggle to see how you’d do much damage. Not that anyone was playing Orks to be competitive.
The biggest takeaway from the Ork Codex is that it looks fun. It understands the Boyz, it lives and breathes fungal warfare, and you’ll likely have a riot with any army you want to take. They might not be on the top tables of tournaments, but they might be a blast to play. When you’re a greenskin slathered in red paint, that’s all that matters.
Games Workshop provided a PDF of the 10th Edition Ork Codex for this article.
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