It’s Like Tactics: Warbuggies Review

Warning

It’s Like Tactics is rated theory hammer because these are general observations and assumptions based on only few tested games.

Bugging Out…

The Warbuggies are another staple of Ork canon bringing all the things we love about Orks speed, dakka, and DIY construction. Sadly, Games Workshop still doesn’t see fit to make proper model for these units, instead we are still stuck with late 90s models with an ultra small scale to boot. As for how they play on the tabletop Warbuggies provide a cheap way to bring some missing elements to many Ork armies.

Before we start dissecting, lets take a quick look at the past and present Warbuggie rules.

(Click to Enlarge)

Warbuggies Rules 2007

Fast Attack: Warbuggies – 30

	BS			Front	Side	Rear		HP
	2			10	10	10		2

Warbuggies Rules 2014

Fast Attack: Warbuggies – 25

	BS			Front	Side	Rear		HP
	2			10	10	10		2

UNIT TYPE: Vehicle (Fast, Open-topped). UNIT COMPOSITION: 1 Warbuggy WARGEAR: Warbuggy: • Twin-linked big shoota Skorcha: • Skorcha Wartrakk: • Twin-linked big shoota SPECIAL RULES: • Outflank Trakked (Skorcha and Wartrakk only): The vehicle re-rolls failed Dangerous Terrain tests. OPTIONS: • May include up to four additional Warbuggies…25 pts/model • Any Warbuggy may be upgraded to a Wartrakk…5 pts/model • Any Warbuggy may be upgraded to a Skorcha…10 pts/model • Any Warbuggy or Wartrakk may replace its twin-linked big shoota with a twin-linked rokkit launcha…free • Any model take any of the following: – Red paint job…5 pts/model – Extra armour…10 pts/model – Grot riggers…10 pts/model

[show-rjqc id=”21″] Readers of my previous tactics will notice a few changes to how these reviews are presented. Now you will find is a break down each unit into five broad categories.

Utility

Warbuggies are in essence gunboats. They are cheap and efficient at what they do, but so many other Ork units do what they do more effectively. The good thing is depending on what type of shooting you army has missing Warbuggies can bring whatever tool you think you need, just don’t make this unit a focal point to your list construction.

Speed

Warbuggies are fast and with help of Outflank can also be anywhere on the board. Their speed really gives them a great threat range even for Skorchas. Being Fast also means taking objectives when need be or jumping from one piece of cover to the next.

Assaulty

Warbuggies don’t get any Assault ability, but being just a normal vehicle they won’t get tied down in a combat and can quickly excape if cornered.

Shooty

The strength of Warbuggies comes with their shooting. You can either take Big Shootas, Rokkits, or Skorchas the variety is great. You can also mix and match the weapons as you want, this can be good if you want to combo flaming with mass shooting. The biggest benefit is the non-flamer weapons are also twin-linked.

The Warbuggies are another staple of Ork canon bringing all the things we love about Orks, speed, dakka, and DIY construction.

Weapons of Choice

Big Shoota Buggies

Warbuggies with Big Shootas got one serious boost, only because the squadron size increased from 3 to 5. You can bring 15 S5 Twin-linked shots to bare on any target. This is a great role for light vehicle and Flying Monstrous Creature hunting. You can also mix it up with Skorchas, at worse it is cheap sacrifice to protect the flamers and good at mixing up wound pools.

Rokkit Buggies

Rokkit Buggies benefit from no cost adjustment for taking missiles. Rokkits though have taken a bit hit overall because you being AP3 means no lucky explosions against most vehicles, instead Rokkit buggies are a decent tool to get units like Space Marine Bikers to Jink or else take casualties. Just like Big Shootas Buggies having large unit size makes a big difference as well.

Skorcha Buggies

The best of the bunch. The reason for this is simple, not only are they cheaper than before, but you can mix and match your squad to protect them from being destroyed. More than that, Skorchas get the most advantage from being able to Outflank; either forcing your opponent to stay away from table edges or feel the pain that comes with heavy flaming.

Putting it all Together…

Warbuggies are an odd little unit in the grand scheme of Ork armies. GW on one hand did a good job reducing their cost and giving them Outflank, otherwise they wouldn’t stand out from the better Fast Attack choices available. On the other hand though, Warbuggies have no defenses, beyond large unit size. It means even a unit of Tactical Marines can take out a few Buggies. As vehicles you have to hide them in enough terrain to get obscured, unlike Monstrous Creatures. Warbuggies also fail from not having Jink or some sort of equivalent. I would gladly take some save even if it meant they ended up Snap-firing.

Since terrain and cover are the only hope for survival I recommend taking Wartrakks or Skorchas, the re-roll terrain tests is critical. You cannot afford to lose any Hull Points especially ones that immobilize you too. Luckily, taking these upgrades is cheap, a full squadron of Wartrakks is only 150 pts! This is a great cost especially if you need some extra shooting and points to spend. With Outflank they really give your opponent pause, and if things don’t pan out you won’t feel like you lost a lot.

Warbuggies are great at being a distraction, often opponents will think they are more dangerous than they really are and overreact. Warbuggies especially in large units can take up a lot of space, so if you need to block off a part of the board from opposing units they can do that. At two Hull Points you can risk getting rammed if it means keeping a transport from getting on an objective. If you have experience playing Deffcopters you will have a good idea on how to use Warbuggies, and without any pesky LD tests.

— Warbuggies Army Templates–

Warbuggy Ork Horde Detachment List

Warbuggy Great Waaagh! Detachment List

Warbuggy Combined Arms Detachment List

Warbuggy Allied Detachment List

Formations Sadly, Warbuggies have no dedicated Formation.

Detachments

Ork Horde Detachment: Warbuggies fit nicely with this Detachment. The cheap cost of Warbuggies means you can invest the points without worrying about if you will have enough points for the Death Stars the rest of your list will be. Outflanking also helps out as you can get your sneaky git on, as your opponent should be focuses on the actually really important parts of your army.

Great Waaagh! Detachment: Taking Skorchas and having a chance to Deep Strike sounds pretty entertaining, but don’t count on it. Instead, try spamming single Skorchas with these guys as I sure your opponent will have bigger fish to fry than a lone heavy flamer running around.

Final Thoughts…

Overall, Warbuggies are not going to win you games outright, but they do provide some tactical nuance most Ork armies don’t possess. Warbuggies can harass and annoying and if left unchecked can claim a critical objective or cause that last wound you need. They are fragile so if left unsupported don’t expect them to last very long. The biggest shame is GW still not having new models for these guys, but we can always hope for the future!

For tactical articles feel free to email me to continue the discussion or if you discover an inaccurate interpretations of the rules– edits will be made accordingly. Also check out other articles in this series…