Re: [Epic] Thoughts on Ork Tribes-Late

From: Bart Koehler <bkoehler_at_...>
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 10:05:07 -0400

I'm sorry I missed most of this discussion, I've been in Detroit the last
few days and have not had a chance to participate. I have entered my
comments below

Erik K. Rutins wrote:

> In the absence of an article in WD similar to that detailing certain
> Space Marine chapters, I got to thinking about Ork Tribes. I will soon
> be engaging a foul ork horde (run by Bart Koehler) in an extended
> campaign.

Foul? Foul how? I make you gag foul? I'm hear to offend your sense of
smell, foul? Foul how? No, you said I was foul, I'm just trying
understand what you meant. What the $#_at_% do you mean foul? ;-) (My
apologies to Joe Pesci)

> Evil Sunz Kult of Speed:
> Evil Sunz Speed Freaks are accustomed to traveling very, very fast and
> shooting off their weapons at small targets (like snotlings).
> Therefore, when on Assault orders the Evil Sunz Kult of Speed uses 3/4
> of their firepower (instead of 1/2). Super Heavy Weapons still need a
> 4+ to lock on (i.e. Death Rays and Lifta-Droppas). The Kult of Speed
> must be painted entirely in Evil Sunz colors to take advantage of this
> ability, as no one else 'practices' nearly as much.

I like the fact that they are not affected by the speed as much, I'll just
need my calculator. I'm lucky that I just painted 6 Evil Sunz
Battlewagons. The problem is going to be that in order to take abvantage
of these rules, someone will neeed a lot of miniatures with the diverse
painting schemes.

> Blood Axe Tribe:
> The Blood Axe tribe uses a lot of formerly Imperial equipment. They
> may buy Imperial vehicles as Support (1 per slot) in a Warband at the
> same price as Imperial or Space Marine detachments. However, because
> of the damage and re-engineering usually involved in capturing and
> 'orkifying' such vehicles, the armor value on the vehicle is reduced by
> one. Because of the same loving orky attention, though, the speed of
> the vehicle is increased by 5cm (up to a maximum of 30cm). A single
> Warband may contain no more than two identical 'orkified' vehicles, as
> they almost always have a varied and haphazard collection. Blood Axe
> Warbands may contain up to 5 mobs of Blood Axe Kommandos.
> Example: Blood Axe Land Raider would be:
> Speed: 25cm (vs. 20cm) Range: 45cm 2x AT Shots Assault: 2 Armour: 5+
> (vs. 6+)
> Note: In order for a warband to be considered Blood Axe, it must be
> painted entirely in Blood Axe colors and must include at least two mobs
> of Blood Axe Kommandos and no Boarboyz.

Yeah, now I can paint the captured Leman Russ I took from you. I didn't
know that that regular orcs could be painted with Blood Axe colors? Again,
this is going to be a miniature problem. I like the rules, but maybe we
could limit it to only warbands with the Maximum four Blood Axe stands can
take advantage of this rule.

> Snakebite Tribe:
> The Snakebite tribe is a tribe of traditionalists. They shun the
> modern ways and feel more comfortable without them. A Snakebite
> Warband gets a +1 bonus to all assault and leadership rolls (in
> addition to the normal +1 for 15 or more units) if the Warband meets
> the following criteria:
> No Vehicles (except Squiggoths)
> No Stormboyz
> No Nobz
> No Kommandos
> No Shooty Boyz
> At least two mobs of Boarboyz
> Note: The +1 assault bonus is lost if the Snakebites are in an assault
> where units that are excluded above are included in the assault along
> with the Snakebites. Too Much Technology bothers 'em..

As you know from my fantasy army, I love Boars!!! I didn't think they got
enough attention in the new Epic game, but I think these rules make them
much more desirable. I like it.

> Goff Tribe:
> Goffs have such a huge attitude about their own hardness that each Goff
> detachment may, once per battle, re-roll its blast marker removal dice.
> In order to be considered a Goff detachment, a Warband must be painted
> entirely in Goff colors and contain:
> No Boarboyz
> No Kommandos
> At least two Nobz mobs.

Very reasonable. I think it is just a subtle enough change to make them
very Goffic without unbalancing the game.

> Bad Moons Tribe:
> These guys love throwing money around. As a result, they do have some
> of the neatest and biggest technology. A Gargant painted in Bad Moons
> colors gets +1 to its starting Power Fields roll (you must have at
> least one Bad Moons Warband per Gargant).
> Due to their wealth and shootiness, Bad Moons Warbands may buy Shooty
> Boyz at 15 points instead of 17. Bad Moons Warbands must include at
> least two mobs of Shooty Boyz. Bad Moons Warbands may not include
> Kommandos or Boarboyz.

You're just saying that because my Great Gargant is Goff. ;-). I thought
Shooty Boyz were more of a Deathskull type unit? There should definitely
be a Nobz requirement of at least two mobz of Nobz as well.

> Deathskulls Tribe:
> Deathskulls have a remarkable collection of 'stuff' they have stolen
> from other tribes and other races. They also have a remarkable ability
> to tinker and fix the broken stuff they find. There are no limits on
> their detachments, though they must be painted in a Deathskulls scheme.
> Deathskulls detachments remove d6 Blast Markers per rally phase
> (instead of d6-1) because of their tinker-like ability to repair damage
> through innovative methods and their available supply of borrowed spare
> parts.

OK. I don't know much about Deathskulls and I haven't painted any yet.

We will have to do a lot of playtesting. Perhaps we could come up with so
other type of Orc. I have been tinkering with the idea of a mountain type
clan that ignores movement penalties etc. The only problem I see is for
painting. I don't know of many people that have enough miniatures to paint
entire warbands in seperate color schemes. I'll start working on it
myself, but I'm just thinking of others.

Bart
Received on Wed Sep 10 1997 - 14:05:07 UTC