By Mark Dewis

Images copyright of Games Workshop, used without permission.

fter an interminable time in the warp, the waiting time for greenskin players is finally over!

The previous Ork codex was one of the first released for 3rd edition - way back in 1999, and has never been updated. Back then, Dark Eldar were new, Tau did not even exist, and most armies were still using the army lists provided in the rulebook.

As a consequence, while the Ork codex compares fairly well against the 3rd edition Marine codex, it suffers against many of the others released since, especially the 4th edition codices. The new book brings all this up to date at last.

The physical book is 104 pages, with the standard division into background, unit descriptions, hobby section and army list. Nice and meaty, though the current fashion of splitting up special rules between unit descriptions and wargear can get annoying (and is not always done consistently).

First 30 pages discuss the background of the Orks, their Kultur and history. Big rehash of Ghazghkul and the Armageddon wars, but good stuff for new players. Nice rundown on various other Waaaghs! That are current around the galaxy. Some of the quotes are priceless, as always.

32 pages describing all the Ork units and special characters. Each entry has a good bit of text describing how the unit fits in with Orky armies, the usual statlines, and any special rules that are unique to the unit (including any wargear that is only or is primarily only used by that unit).

25 page colour section with several example armies and with each unit and Klan shown. However, no actual hobby section - you aren’t shown the stages of painting orks or anything about kit bashing vehicles. This is fine for veteran players, but beginners may miss this omission. There is one page devoted to using different parts from different kits to vary the look of your models (i.e. Head swaps). Given the long and glorious tradition of Ork players converting, and the fact that a few of the units in the list still don’t have models (i.e. Battlewagons, Flash Gitz), this is a conspicuous omission - although to be fair there are articles on the web sites that do address this aspect of the hobby.

5 pages of wargear, 10 pages of army list and a back page statline and weapon summary round out the volume.

The times they are a changin’. As you might expect after 8 years and a new edition, there have been some pretty sweeping changes. Some are universally welcome, some will be good for some existing armies and bad for others. A few models have been made obsolete, or will have to be fielded in different ways or used as “counts as”. Here is a summary of the major changes:

-- Mob Rule and Power of the Waaagh! have been overhauled. Instead of getting a reroll to failed morale tests based on mob size, mob size is substituted for Leadership if desired, with 11+ orks making the unit Fearless. The new version of Waaagh! gives all ork (not gretchin) infantry the Fleet ability for one turn during the game (not turn 1). Most ork units have Furious Charge as an ability, which combines with the new Waaagh! Rule nicely. In effect, we’ve lost the double initiative on the charge for +1S, +1I on the charge with a far better chance of getting a footslogger unit charging. Mobbing up is gone.

-- Choppa rule is gone. This is in line with Khorne berserkers losing it in the Chaos Codex.

-- Shootas are now 18” assault 2. This is generally seen as a proppa thing.

-- Shopping list wargear is now gone, as per the last few codices. You get the options allowed in the unit entry at the price listed and that’s it. Big changes for Orks are that there is no +1 Ld gear anymore - Bosspoles now allow a failed Morale test to be rerolled if you choose to inflict a wound on the unit. This does make small Ork units a bit vulnerable to morale effects.

-- Price for a basic boy (slugga or choppa) has dropped to 6pts. In general, prices for big shootas have dropped to +5pts and price for rokkits have increased to +10pts. Burners are no longer an option for Boyz mobs. Squad weapons are limited to 1 per 10 boyz, instead of 0-3 for the unit.

-- Slugga Boyz, Shoota Boyz, ‘Ard Boyz (0-1), Stickbommaz and Trukk Boyz have been combined into a single Troops choice (Boyz). This simplifies the army list quite a bit, and should give a big grin to any Evil Sunz/Kult of Speed player. New codex is geared for speed, if you want it. Also, since trukks and stikkbombz are just a squad upgrade, you can have ‘Ard Boyz on wheelz, or Shoota Boyz with stikkbombz.

-- Gretchin have lost their cover save rule, but picked up BS3. This is more important for the Gretchin crewed HS choices (Big Gunz and Killa Kans), but it does make swarms of the little beggars a lot more dangerous if they get into range.

-- Trukks have a special rule if destroyed - basically there’s a much better chance of the passengers surviving and no chance of entanglement (pinning tests might be required of the mob is size 10 or less). Trukks now can carry 12 models, with mega-armoured models counting as 2 models.

-- Elites have changed a bit. Tankbustas, Lootas and Burna Boyz are now elites, with addition of Nob Mobs and Meganobs (Characters no longer have retinues). Kommandos are still Elites, but Flash Gitz have moved to Heavy Support and Stormboyz to Fast Attack. The big change for most of these is that ALL models in the mob are armed with the unit’s specialty weapon: All Tankbustas have Rokkits, all Lootas have Deffguns (which have autocannon stats and D3 shots), all Burna Boyz have Burnas. Kommandos remain much the same, but are now 5-15 and can take a second squad weapon (and they can still take Burnas!). Skarboyz are gone. In effect they have been combined with Nobs, but this may be cold comfort for players with several large units of them.

-- Nob Mobs are effectively the same as the Warboss retinue version, but can take Battlewagons as transport (as well as Trukks) or be mounted on bikes. One nob can be upgraded to a painboy, which gives the unit Feel No Pain (FAR better than the old rule). Painboy-equipped Nobs can be given Cybork bodies, which is where the Cyborks are now.


-- Looted vehicles have been replaced with a single in-codex entry that can be customised a bit to mimic Rhinos, Chimeras, Basilisks, etc. Be warned that you won’t get a Leman Russ out of this, and the gunwagon version’s ordnance is not as good as Guard ones.

-- Battlewagons got AV14 added, which should cause a few big grins, plus Deff Rollas are an option (and a damn good one). You can also add an ordnance gun at the cost of carrying capacity. The three twin-linked weapons have been replaced with 4 single big shootas or rokkits (no skorchas, sorry) plus a big gun. Bolt-on big shootas are gone, though.

-- Flash Gitz have had a total overhaul. They now have Nob statlines and ‘eavy armour, and are all armed with Snazzguns (S5, assault 1 24”, AP D6). The mob can upgrade these for more points and have the same access to Painboyz as Nob Mobs, though they don’t get a vehicle option. These will take a little getting used to.

-- Big Guns got cheaper, with a BS increase to 3. Zzap Guns, however, have been changed a lot - they now have 36” range and treat Strength rolls of 11 and 12 as S10 (yay!) but lost 2D6 penetration and auto-hit (boo!).

-- Killa Kans get BS3 and a new weapon option in the Grotzooka (S6, AP5, H2, Blast, 18”)

-- Dreadnaughts are now Deff Dreads. They’ve lost the option for all-gun versions, but have regained from 2nd edition the option for 4 dreadnaught close combat arms.


-- Warbikes lost fearless and Psycho-blasters, but have dropped to 25pts, picked up slugga and choppas (i.e. An extra attack in close combat) and a 4+ save, with the cover save increased to 4+ as well. No longer give cover to units behind them, however.

-- Stormboyz now get a bonus D6” added to their regular move (but one gets skragged if you roll a ‘1’), and have also gotten cheaper to the tune of 12 points. Some players will be happy to see them in Fast Attack, since they no longer compete with Elites, others will not be so happy, as they now compete with bikes and buggies.

-- Deffkoptas are a new Fast Attack option, previously seen in the Kult of Speed list. Basically jetbikes with the Scout and Hit and Run rules, plus options to upgun them.Very sweet in my opinion.

-- Buggies remain much the same, but have had the points adjusted a little to reflect Rokkits being priced more.


-- Warboss got a toughness upgrade to 5! Waaagh! Also allows one unit of Nobz to be taken as Troops. Has the option of Mega-armour or Bike. No longer restricted to one - you can have two (allied bosses, or one real boss and his second-in-kommand, perhaps).

-- Big Mek is where things get innerestin’. May take the new (for this edition) Shokk Attack Gun OR a Kustom Force Field OR have a bike OR Mega-armour (or none of the above, but that’s a bit boring). Allows one Deff Dread to be taken as a Troops choice. The Shokk Attack Gun is a very juicy piece of kit (S2D6, AP2, 60”, Ordnance, Large Blast) which has special effect on any double or roll of 11 for its strength (usually bad). Note that unit meks don’t get these options, though they do get Kustom Mega Blastas, Rokkits or Big Shootas.

-- Weirdboy is the new HQ choice. A nice array of random psychic powers (roll each turn). Can be upgraded to allow a reroll on the power rolled; best kept in a nice big mob to boost his Leadership for those psychic tests...



-- Ghazghull Thraka. The Prophet of the Waaagh! is back, killier than ever. Similar to the last codex, he’s an uprated Warboss, taking a HQ slot. His main special ability is that when he calls the Waaagh!, all non-fleeing units become fearless and count as rolling a 6 for their fleet rolls. Yup, that’s right.

-- Mad Dok Grotsnik. Close to a Warboss statline, and makes any unit he joins Fearless (though he and they have to close with the nearest enemy unit). Allows ANY unit in the army to take Cybork bodies. Plus normal Dok stuff and a power klaw. HQ slot.

-- Wazdakka Gutsmek. Upgraded in much the same way Ghazghull was. Allows bikers to be taken as troops, can fire his weapons after a turbo-boost (which given their dakka, is pretty damn frightening!). HQ slot.

-- Old Zogwort. Special character Weirdboy; has a special power he can use instead of rolling that can turn any Independent Character in his line of sight within 18” into a squig with a D6 roll-off. Erk! HQ slot.

These three don’t use up HQ slots - they are added to one of your mobs:

-- Kaptin Badrukk. Can be recruited to lead a mob of Flash Gitz. Gives them a handy Ld9 boost and come with three ammo grots. Is useful in combat, but has an insanely powerful and dangerous (to himself as well) gun (24”, S7, AP2, A4, Gets Hot). With his 3+ save and if there is a dok in the unit plus lots of ammo grots, he should be able to survive a game...

-- Boss Snikrot. Can be recruited to lead a mob of Kommandos. Is very rippy in combat, and allows his unit to be deployed in Reserve and enter on any board edge. Snik-snik.

-- Boss Zagstruk. Can be recruited to lead a mob of Stormboyz. They must enter by Deep Strike (which Stormboyz don’t usually get) and can assault that turn - though you have to remove D3 boyz as crash landing casualties. Zagstruck himself has power klaw legs that attack at normal initiative on the turn he charges.

Rules are great, but a miniatures game is going to stand or fall by its models. Fortunately, this is one of the BEST releases we have seen from Games Workshop for a very long time. The new Ork sculptor, Seb Perbet, is to be congratulated.

In particular, the new warbikes are fantastic, and the new trukk is a real brute, dripping with optional kit just waiting to be kustomised. The Boyz sprue includes parts for a Nob (in addition to the 10 boyz on the sprue frame - there are 11 legs and 12 torsos) plus a rokkit launcher and big shoota and a lot of fancy gubbins that will be very handy for sprucing up other units. The sprues for Lootas and Burna Boyz are a combined one (they can both be led by a mek) and have some cute kit. Some of the stock poses look a bit blocky, but that’s nothing a bit of handy knifework can’t fix, and I’m fussy that way anyhow.

I’m less over the moon about the metals... One problem I do have with Seb’s work is an apparent inability to do chains well. The rigid block of chains really detracts from the Weirdboy in particular. The Shokk Attack Gun and Kustom Force Field meks are nice, though. The Tankbustas aren’t totally to my taste, but they are very inventive and characterful - I’ll probably build mine up from boyz, but the idea of Rokkit pistols is a good ‘un.

Unfortunately, there are still holes in the range. There are rumours of a second wave of models later in 2008, but we still lack any model for Battlewagons and Flash Gitz, and are relying on old stock for Buggies and Deffkoptas. In the case of buggies... VERY old stock. Grots are still only available as metal blisters, and there is no sign yet of plastic warbosses or walkers. Technically you can scavenge spare nobs from the Boyz and Biker sprues to make plastic Nob mobs and biker Nob mobs, but there is a bit of a need for kit here as well. At least the existing metal support for Warboss, Nobs, Meganobs and walkers are good models. Looted wagons don’t really need any specific model, of course, and spare bits from the Trukk kit should pretty much do the trick. It would be nice to have a looted wagon conversion sprue with the vehicle upgrades though (THIS I can see getting done next year even if nothing else is). One other point is that the Loota sprue would very easily converted to Flash Gitz - just cut the guns down a bit and up-armour them.

However, these are minor gripes. This is a pretty big model release and fills a LOT of previously needed holes.

There you have it! I think it’s going to be a fine codex, and Orks really are back. Infantry horde armies are a definite goer, but the variety possible is really great. You can even take two Big Meks and take Deff Dreads to fill your troop requirements and have not a single infantry unit should you so desire. Or field as many as eight Battlewagons!

I think the best indication of how good this codex is, is that when I sat down to sort my army out and included all the units I thought would be good to use, it came to over 3000pts!

WAAAAGH!!!