I’ve been immersed in the Warhammer 40,000 Universe for a long time. First Space Crusade, then Epic, then Warhammer 40,000 itself. And although I’ve always been a staunch and loyal defender of the Imperium my eye has always wandered towards the Orks, the way teenager’s strays towards the part of the news stand that has all the boobies in it. Even when the Orks were square jawed green apes who couldn’t figure out how a trigger worked, I was oddly fascinated.
Never enough to collect them though. I didn’t own any Orks until Gorkamorka made its brief appearance and I bought what is, to this day, one of my favourite models ever – a metal Ork Nob.
I did enjoy this brief foray into Orkishness and if I had more people to play than my brother, I probably would have properly got into Gorkamorka and eventually got an Ork army. But it wasn’t to be.
And so time wore on and with each iteration of 40k, so too were the Orks tweaked and improved. And whilst it’s the current Codex Orks that has swayed into collecting them (1,000 points and counting), it’s the models from 1998 that really began to fire my imagination.
And so I find myself in possession of some along with the Ork Trukk, the kit that hailed a huge design shift for Orks, away from the truly woeful Trukks and general square, blocky and characterless constructs of old.
It was the release of the Trukk that almost swayed me last time. Especially when Neil got one for his – then – fledging Ork army. Compared to the its older brother it was a real coup. Aside from being bigger, it actually felt like an Ork vehicle.
The Trukk is a superb kit. It’s a huge amount of fun to build – for the most part. And manages to feel Orky without being comical or like it’d never actually work in the ‘real world’. I love the fact that engine has a fan and belts (albeit they’ll be a sod to paint). There are drive shafts and a transfer box and everything which is way cool. And the dirty exhausts are probably my favourite but of the who engine. Can’t tell you why, they just look perfect on the model.
In some ways it reminds me of the Airfix kits I used to build before I plunged into fantasy and sci-fi realms and was never seen again. Just the way the kit builds up and gradually takes shape over time. My only gripe with the Trukk is that the cab is too small to fit the Orks in easily. It’s a huge pain to fit the driver in, even though it’s a nice touch that you can decide to make the Trukk a left or right hand drive. But I had to cut bits down and leave the awesome gear stick out to fit everything in. Now I’m a pretty bright guy, but even I couldn’t figure out how to make it all fit in with out brute force and prying pegs into position. And the gunner sits higher than the weapons mount that you’re supposed to glue him to. Which is pretty damn annoying. It forces you to have the gunner at a daft angle much like the image above.
Aside from that, the kit goes together beautifully and, excluding clipping and cleaning, went together in a bout half an hour. And I was actually a little bummed when I finished it because it was so much fun. It’s kinda nice to be starting a new army – especially one that needs as many models as Orks – and to enjoy building the basic transport as much as I did.
In game terms it’s just awesome. For 30 points you get a hefty weapon included with the option of upgrading to an even heftier weapon – a rokkit launcher – for free. And being open-topped, the Trukk makes for a very cheap Ork delivery system. With the speed vehicles can now move at it makes up for just being able to cram 12 Boyz in. And now that insufferable damage table has been removed I can take them guilt free. The new rule of being able to roll to offset penetrating damage is pretty handy and whilst does nothing to keep the vehicle alive for longer, it does prevent it from being immobilized or destroyed. Because those are the only two results that matter to an Ork player.
As I say, I’ve always liked the Ork Boyz models. And considering their age they look pretty sweet. And whilst the poses are a little stale compared to the newer models, considering you need bloody tonnes of them that’s not the end of the world. And the better news is that they go together quick. Forty-five minutes from clipping to built isn’t to be sniffed at. Again because you need tonnes of them that’s a huge labour savour.
The nice thing is that the decisions are limited to: Shoota Boyz or Slugga. Big Shoota or Rokkit Launcher. Power Klaw or Big Choppa. And that’s pretty much it. Poses are all but irrelevant as they’ll be one of two hundred on the Boyz by the time your army reaches the manly heights of 3,000 points. Space Marines it’s all about cool poses and injecting subtle but important nuisances of personality into the build. With Orks it’s all about conveying the level of krump someone will experience when the horde makes contact.
And they just go together so easily. Very little cleaning or trimming. You’ve got enough variety of heads and torsos that you can build 10 without them look too samey, but on the board they all look the same anyway, so don’t sweat. it.
Sixty points earn you a butt tonne of rampaging unpleasantness. As a life long Space Marine player I’ve always been pretty dismissive of Ork Boyz. Mainly because I know my army well and always try to be disciplined with fire patterns so when Orks do make contact they’ve been so badly whittled down that a Tactical Squad can break the back of the assault and send them packing. However, having played a game with the Orks – quite rare for me in early unit reviews – I can say that if you use Ork Boyz wisely, much like the Tactical Marine, you’ll never need go any place else for your stable source of misery.
The armour upgrade is pretty much essential which does make them a lot more expensive but the trade-off is survival. Marines will have to pour twice as many shots into the Orks to kill the same number they would normally and that just isn’t enough if the whole army is kitted out that way. It guarantees a healthy percentage of your Orks will make it into combat and krump things. And when you consider the Marines will be outnumbered 4:1 that’s pretty grim. There’s a case for just doubling up on the number of boyz you’ve got but that isn’t tenable in larger games and there’s also a financial element that can’t be ignored. The Boyz are a lot more expensive now than they were on release. Twice as expensive to be exact.
Whilst I was originally distracted by the oh-so-awesome Flash Gitz, Dakka Jet (review coming very soon) and the Gorka/Morkanaut in the Codex, I’ve found myself really surprised at the fighting effectiveness of these incredibly cheap basic troops. Four attacks each for Slugga Boyz is not to be sniffed at, for 6 points. Should a mob of 20 make contact that’s fist fulls of dice, which, let’s be honest, is one of the biggest appeals about fielding horde armies in the first place.
Whilst I accept they were only squishy Guard in the game I played, a unit of 10 Shoota boyz (so 1 less attack remember) tore a squad to pieces with attacks to spare. The squad then got hammered by shooting from a unit of Stormtroopers, a command HQ, and a Guard squad until only the Nob remained. Who then went about tearing apart the Guard squad on his own. Using an army gives you whole new respect for their potential as a fighting force over just playing against them. And whilst Orks and Ork Boyz have clear weaknesses – shonky BS and Initiative to name just two – it’s made up for in other ways. The cheapness and brute force being the obvious ones. Plus it’s quite liberating taking an army where you can be a bit more cavalier with casualties, but I found it made me play more aggressively which was to my benefit.
As a jumping off point into the weird and whacky world of Orks, the Trukk Boyz box is pretty much a must buy if for no other reason than you save a fiver. It gives the army some badly needed manoeuvrability either for the Boyz or another element of the force, and gives you the beginnings of that all important – and very potent – fighting core to your army. And whilst the two kits that make up the box aren’t the newest models in the range they are still as wonderfully Orky as anything else and no one should feel bad that the Ork Boyz weren’t updated in the latest round of releases.
The Trukk Boyz box is available from Firestorm Games priced £31.50
Ork Boyz are available from Firestorm Games priced £16.20 and the Trukk £20.25
