We’re back for another Ramble!
This time around, lets go over that crazy greenskin… Da Weirdboy.
Weirdboys are the most psychically powerful of all the Orks. Acting as the focal point for all that psychic energy that’s subconsciously created by his fellow greenskins… an energy that binds them together with a common purpose. The Weirdboy revels in the power of sheer Orkiness, for the more Orks that are around him, the more power that generated by them all!
Funny enough, the Weirdboy isn’t able to control this power as it builds. Even a nearby contest between two rowdy boyz will cause his powers to surge… sparks will fly around him, his eyes will glow, he may even salivate the raw power from his mouth… and unless he finds a way to release this pent up energy…. The Weirdboys head will explode, usually taking a few ork boy heads along with him due to the excess power being unleashed. Something that even the Orkz will find as damn inconvenient.
If the Weirdboy actually is fortunate enough to come of age, he’ll have learned to release this power in a “somewhat” controlled energy blast or wave. This will make the Weirdboy feel great, though can cause a messy and unscheduled death to anyone near by. Its this reason that the Weirdboy will live in a special hut well away from the other boyz and are not aloud to roam about unless under guard or wearing some kind of warning bell! the more powerful, known as Warpheads, are known to form an entourage of disturbing individuals, all of which have been described as a traveling freak show. Some have been known to travel the galaxy offering their peculiar brand of “fireworks” in exchange for bags of Teef.
Now when the Ork warband descends upon their next enemy, there is a lot of chanting, hurling of some impressive insults, foot stomping, and the howling of war cries. This surge of energy generated by all the fighting and chanting resonates through the Weirdboy until he his bursting at the seams with psychic power. A Weirdboy in his trance is a disturbing sight and down right terrifying, as his eyes pop and his limbs flail as he hurls himself towards the enemy. With Waaaagh energy crackling from his staff as the chanting increases in potency, driving it to its excruciating peak… the Weirdboy will direct this energy in a display of pyrotechnics that either blasts his enemies to bitz or energies is own boyz with crazy green energy.
Either way… a Waaaagh that includes a Weirdboy is always in for one hell of a show.
The Weirdboy is Psyker and an HQ choice with the same stat line as an ork Nob, though unlike a Nob he does not get access to all the same upgrade options… so you’ll have to accept that he can only rely on that coveted t-shirt save. The only upgrade he gets access to is the Warhead upgrade, which allows him a single re-roll on his psychic powers chart in case he doesn’t like the first power rolled! More on those powers below! He’s naturally an Independent Character which allows him all the shenanigans to come with that roll, along with the furious charge, waaagh, and mob rule that most orkz in the codex enjoy. Along with the normal mob rule benefits of substituting the number of orkz in the mob for their normal leadership value… this rule will also allow the Weirdboy to roll for his psychic powers with a potential leadership of 10! (The FAQ or the ork codex states that his leadership for rolling for his powers cannot go any higher than 10). With this in mind you’ll want to have your Weirdboy joined to and surrounded by a blob of Boyz.
One good set up for the “Weirdboy Unit” is to have your Psyker join up with a 20 strong unit of boyz that includes a trusty PK Nob. This scoring unit will sport some good manoeuvrability and wound saturation to keep your Weirdboy so he can what he does best. Making the unit of boys all “Shoota” boyz makes this unit all the more potent to anything that comes within 18 inches of it… why hello there, here’s (up to) 38 shots for you to deal with… enjoy! You could always make this unit bigger, but then you may have some issues if you happen you roll the “Ere We Go” psychic power (details below).
An additional set up is to take above unit of 20 (incl. the Psyker) and have them embarked into a Battlewagon! This will give the added protection (and shenanigans) that a Battlewagon provides. Your shoota boyz will enjoy blasting away in all directions, while allowing your Weirdboy to safely use his powers… well as safe as an ork can be, but that’s another topic all together.
As a Psyker, the Weirdboy is able to conjure up a bunch of interesting abilities, though keep in mind these powers are random and only have a 1 in 6 chance of any particular one going off. Upgrading to the Warphead will allow you one re-roll of which you must accept that result for the power you use that turn.
The Weirdboy psychic powers are as follows:
1) Eadbanger: This is the result of the Weirdboys powers running out of control causing heads around him to explode like popcorn. He’ll be resolving the “Frazzle” psychic power (below) with its template centered on himself… ouch!
Keep in mind that if this power is used when embarked into a vehicle… that vehicle takes a strength 6 hit to its rear armor, according to the FAQ.
Good job…. I’d rather suffer from a brain freeze!
2) Frazzle: By sending out arcs of energy upon his enemies, the Weirdboy can reduce them to withered husk before their comrades eyes. One enemy unit within range (and line of sight) of 24 inches is automatically hit by a small blast template, which causes Strength 6 wounds upon the target(s) and is strong enough to ignore power armor (AP 3). Survivors will have to take a pinning test on top of it all!
Not too shabby for thinning out those pesky marine units whom like to ruin your fun!
3) Zzap: Like a page out of Superman, the Weirdboy will fire beams of green energy from his eyes that strikes with the force of a thunderbolt, rendering most targets wasted upon the battlefield. Any unit within range (and line of sight) of 36 inches is automatically hit with a powerful Strength 10 / AP 2 Melta shot. Here catch this!
Take note that this is the only thing with Melta that the orkz have in the entire codex… so when it does come up for your Weirdboy… be sure make it count!
Also note that this power was FAQ’d that it cannot be used on a unit in range that is a Zooming Flyer or a Swooping Flying Monstrous Creature.
4) Warpath: Unleashing his energies into the surrounding orkz… all boyz in the Weirdboys unit will receive +1 Attacks, until the beginning of the next Ork turn! Pretty good… this will give those shoota boys tagging along with your Psyker the same combat potential as the slugga & choppa boys, or if ya did take them… make your slugga & choppa boys attack like Khorne Berserkers…. 5 attacks on the charge… per ork…. Hmmmm, let me think about that?! Yes Please!
5) Ere We Go: By closing his eyes tight and in a flash of green, the Weirdboy and his unit teleport to another part of the battlefield. Treat this as using the Deep Strike rules. Even when in base contact, this power will still work though it will leave the enemy’s behind.
This is the main reason I usually keep my Weirdboy joined to a unit no bigger than 20… Deep Strike mishaps are nothing to joke about and the last thing ya need is to transport into a wall or of the table. Its not pretty, though to be honest it’s quite hilarious when it does happen as your boyz beam across the field to contest an objective &/or unload a ton of shots into your foes if they are all shoota boyz!
The look you’ll get from your opponent will be worth it…. Good Luck!
Note, it’s in the FAQ, that if your Weirdboy is in a vehicle when using this power… he’ll still transport himself (along with his unit) to another point on the field… though he will leave the vehicle behind!
6) WAAAAGH: The Weirdboy screams a warcry that makes many a Warboss jealous! The entire Ork force is empowered as a Waaaagh is automatically invoked this turn, granting the appropriate benefits that come along with it! Surprisingly this does not use up the normal Waaaagh that can be called by the ork player. The Weirdboys powers are like no other and are even capable of triggering a Waaaagh on the first turn of the game. Its to bad the a Waaaagh cannot be stacked!
This power is great for all the Orkz, enabling those re-rolls for running and charging are always handy for us greenskins. On a side note this power is awesome for those of us with a Dakka Jet or 3 in play, thanks to them being a “Waaaagh Plane”. Now those Dakka Jets will be firing double the shots in the turn the Waaaagh is summoned! That’s what I call Dakka Dakka Dakka.
As you can see… these powers, though random, do have their place when rolled. It’s up to the ork player to act accordingly when each power goes off to maximize its potential… but that’s half the fun of running the Weirdboy! You never know what you’ll get next.
One final option with the Ork Psyker is to field the named special character “Old Zogwort” himself.
Also an HQ and an Independent Character, this crazy git, though more costly, has his own bag of tricks to bring to the battle! A Warphead in his own right, yet stat bar differs from the traditional Weirdboy and for some crazy reason sports a BS of Zero so the Powers Frazzle and Zzap, even though they state that they auto hit in the Codex… there’s some debate that Zogwort cannot use them as BS 0 makes it so you cant use any sort of shooting attack… psychic or otherwise. Personally I think the is a huge over sight by those at GW, so until a new FAQ comes around or when we get a new Codex, chat with your opponent before the you begin play and make a friendly decision when using Old Zogwort in a game.
One of the coolest pieces of gear that Zoggy has is the Nest of Vipers! This allows him to gain an additional D6 attacks at initiative step 4, and also bestows “All” of his attacks as Poisoned attacks that wound on a 2+, even if he manifests a power weapon while in close combat…. 2+D6 AP 3 attacks that wound on a 2+… I’ll take it!
Probably one of the most fun and random abilities in the game, “Zogworts Curse” which allows ol Zoggy the chance to transform a powerful enemy into a Squig! This is used in place of rolling on the Weirdboy psychic chart and can only target Independent characters that are within 18 inches and line of sight. Now if your target fails his “Deny the Witch” roll, both players roll off with a D6 and if you roll score higher… the enemy model is replaced by an angry Squig under your opponents control. Its own stats can be found in the Codex. Now imagine, Lets say… Mephiston, or Eldrad actually failing this contest!, not only can it be a huge blow to your opponent but probably one of the funniest things that will happen on the game table. Choose your targets wisely with this one and may Gork & Mork guide your dice rolls.
With all this said… the Weirdboy is a solid support character and his role as a competitor can be hit or miss, unless you tweak your list around the Weirdboy itself… which ever since 6th edition came around, we’ve been seeing more Weirdboys pop up due to their synergy with the Dakka Jet. He’s got in interesting array of powers that will cause a good bit of harassment upon your foes (or yourself) and will be a great addition as your secondary HQ choice. Just remember his body guard of boyz to surround him so you can get the most out of this character during the game.
I’ll let you be the judge when you try out the Weirdboy… he may be just what you need for that little extra punch & hilarity in your games. Good luck and have fun with the Ork Psyker.
Until the next Ramble… I’ll catch ya soon.
Keep them dice rolling.
