It’s Like Tactics: Stompa Review

Warning

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

The Biggest and Baddest..

The Stompa was once upon a time one of the first plastic super-heavy units in the game, with many Ork players having it as a showpiece as an otherwise hardy used model. Once reserved for Apocalypse games, the Stompa has made its way over to standard Warhammer 40k as the first 7th edition codex Super-Heavy (if you don’t count Escalation supplement). This new entree brings some much needed punch to the Ork arsenal, but at a cost.

Before we start dissecting though, let’s take a quick look at the current Stompa rules.

(Click below to Enlarge)

Stompa Rules 2014

Lord of War: Stompa – 770 Points

WS	BS	S	Front	Side	Rear	I	A	HP
4	2	10	13	13	12	2	4	12

UNIT TYPE:
Vehicle (Super-heavy Walker, Transport).
UNIT COMPOSITION:
1 Stompa
WARGEAR:
• Three big shootas
• Deff kannon
• Skorcha
• Supa-gatler
• Three supa-rokkits
• Twin-linked big shoota
• Mega-choppa
SPECIAL RULES:
Effigy: All friendly units with the Orks Faction that are within 6″ of a Stompa have the
Fearless special rule.
TRANSPORT:
Transport Capacity: Twenty models.
Fire Points: Four; three in its belly, one in its head.
Access Points: A Stompa has one Access Point at the rear.
OPTIONS:• May take up to two additional supa-rokkits…20 pts each
• May take grot riggers…30 pts

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.

[chart id=”18894″]

Utility

The Stompa has many things to make for a useful unit; survivability, transport capacity, and devastating shooting and assault. What holds the Stompa back is the cost leaving most Ork armies gutted or forced to revolve themselves around the Stompa.

Speed

Since the Stompa is a Super-Heavy Walker it can move 12″ a turn, making it highly mobile, especially with the large footprint it possesses. This makes the Stompa a very deceiving unit and one that can get units inside to any place on the board easily.

Assaulty

The Stompa benefits from all the great bonuses super-heavy walkers have, most notably the ability to Stomp. The Stompa also gets a D Mega-Choppa making it capable of destroying any unit it comes in contact with. What holds it back just like all Ork walkers is the terrible Initiative, making it easy pickins for opposing Super-Heavy Walkers like Imperial Knights to cut it down before swinging.

Shooty

The Stompa has a great arsenal of weapons, the most notable is the Supa-gatler with its massive amount of shots. Regardless of BS the Stompa has a good chance of making mincemeat of any Transport or Space Marine unit. When it does crap out though you still can use the Deff kannon to bring Apocalyptic blast pain. In addition, all the little weapons like Scorka and Big-Shoota make it easy split up between targets and still Assault the unit you want to most.

Once reserved for Apocalypse games, the Stompa has made its way over to standard Warhammer 40k as the first 7th edition codex Super-Heavy

Mek-up Stompa

Most Ork players like putting as many Meks as possible into their Stompas to keep them repaired. Knowing how much to invest is critical to using the Stompa just right. The cheapest way to get Meks in your Stompa is by taking Lootas and upgrading three to Meks, plus a Big Mek for a Kustom Force Field. This puts your Stompa close to 1,000 points. It leaves your opponent with only two options, dedicate enough firepower to take down all the Stompa Hull Points in one turn or bring D weapons/S10 assault units. Both Stompa death situations usually happens when the Stompa is played too aggressively. Making sure you keep your Stompa surrounded is important, and not to mention the Effigy rule is pretty powerful keeping your Ork units from running away. The Stompa isn’t immune to bad Assault situations. If you have enough points it is important you have another Assault unit capable of dealing with the threats to your Stompa. If you don’t have the points throwing Ork unit speed bumps to protect the Stompa isn’t a terrible idea, especially if you can pick off a few models from a threatening unit. Relying too heavily on Mek repairs often leaves the rest of your army neglected and unbalanced, keep that in mind when investing in a Stompa.

Putting it all Together…

If you take the Stompa it will most likely be the focal point of your army. The Stompa has a few important uses, like the role of damage soaker objective protector. My favorite us of the Stompa comes is as a counter assault threat. The reason for this is the Stompa can protect objectives like no other, and if you have an Objective Secured unit inside it trumps most units who get close. As long as the Supa-gatler is working you also don’t have much incentive to go rushing up the field. The Stompa while durable, can’t withstand the might of a entire army dedicated to destroying it, so keeping it a defensive position is valuable.

Now sometimes you are faced with a opposing unit you cannot take out, and you need to send the Stompa in to do the work, in these situations it important you assault with another unit, making sure you can keep as few high strength attacks from hitting the Stompa. This makes the Stompa a great late turn trump card as you can bring it up the mid-field in one turn instantly causing problems.

It shouldn’t be forgotten you can put units inside your Stompa, Burnas and Tankbustas are great choices, but for the most part Meks and Grots will keep things cheap and effective. The Stompa always fails one of two ways, either over-zealous Assaulting or being tarpitted. A few bad Stomp rolls can keep a Stompa in combats longer than you want, allowing your opponent time to pick the rest of your army apart. Always remember though your opponent is usually just as afraid of your Stompa as you are afraid of losing it.

— Stompa Army Templates–

Stompa Combined Arms Detachment List

Stompa Great Waaagh! Formation List

Stompa Ork Horde Detachment List

Formations

No Specific Stompa Formations.

Detachments

Ork Horde Detachment: This is a great Formation if you want to make a super top heavy list, take a Stompa and minimal Grot units and then invest everything into HQs with a delivery system. This will certainly be a low model count Ork army, but one with dual threats most opponents won’t be able to handle.

Great Waaagh! Detachment: If ever wanted a 1 in 6 chance of Deep Striking your Stompa this is the Detachment for you! Otherwise, utilizing the extra Elite slot is a good way of packing a large Burna or Tankbusta squad into the belly of the Stompa. If you spam units with this Detachment you can also get bonus use out of the Effigy Fearless bubble the Stompa provides.

Final Thoughts….

Overall, the Stompa is interesting choice to use in any Ork army, its value is centered on bringing things that Orks just don’t have. The Stompa is only held back by a low Initiative and high point cost when compared to the current batch of Lords of Wars. If GW can fix the point cost issue you will have a unit for every Ork army.

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…