Morning folks, it's time to return to the world of Waaagh! Nobrot in my un-frequent series of articles. Last article, I ran through with you guys about the troop choices in an Ork army, what their uses are and how I use them in my games.
In this article, I'll discuss with you the other core choice in your army - the HQ slot, but I'll look at it on a HQ by HQ basis. This week we're looking at....
The Warboss!
Overview:
The Warboss is generally the Go-To HQ choice of the Ork army, focusing on the primary Ork fighting style of up close and personal. He'll generally be the most popular choice on the tabletop.
His benefits are a higher than standard Toughness value - meaning he's not going to be insta-killed by a stray Lascannon or Melta Gun, if for whatever reason you decide to run him on his own.
He's also got an increased S value, which when equipped with a Power Klaw means he's more than capable of crushing any Tin can vehicle that's in his way.
Most importantly to your army, is the Warboss allows you to take a Nob or Meganobz unit as a Troop choice. Meaning you're getting one of the hardest assault units in the game as a scoring unit.
In my lists, there's generally 3 builds I see as useful and each depends on a bodyguard of Nobz to assist him in his battlefield antics.
Build 1: Footslogger
Warboss Nobrot: Power Klaw, Eavy Armour, Cybork Body, Bosspole.
This guy is cheap and nasty, coming in just below 100pts which frees up more points for his Nob bodyguard.
The downside to him hitting hard though, firstly is that he's got a 4+ save, which means he's a sucker for Heavy Bolters and rapid fire weapons. And also is that he's painfully slow so he NEEDS a transport vehicle to taxi him which your options are:
1. Trukk - Fast, cheap but made of paper when people realise what the Trukk is carrying. They'll make it a priority to blow it up and cripple your Warboss.
2. Looted Wagon - Just no. Waste of a heavy support slot and also a 1 in 6 chance of losing control of it for the turn, which will probably be just when you need it.
3. Battle Wagon - Not as fast as the Trukk but a LOT more secure and you can bolt on a shedload of weapons. If you have the points, go for this and make sure they get there safely.
Build 2: Mega-Warboss
Mega-Warboss Nobrot:Mega Armour (Power Klaw, Twin Linked Shoota), Bosspole, Cybork, Attack Squig.
The Mega Warboss is similar to the foot slogger warboss in suffering from slow movement. Even more so that he is subject to Slow and Purposeful, so your next task is mitigating this.
He weighs in at over 100pts, but for that you get a pretty durable 2+ save, meaning small arms fire isn't as much a worry
For a Mega Warboss I'd say that a Battlewagon is the only worthwhile transport. You've already invested the points in the Mega Armour and want him to get there safely, avoiding the chance he's walking on foot.
Also, I personally think it's a bad idea to be putting him in a Mob of Boyz. 1 bad Slow and Purposeful roll is going to stop a full mob of Boyz thundering forward.
I rarely use a Mega Warboss, as I find he needs to be used with a squad of Meganobz to be fluffy and effective, which I'll look into in a Meganobz article at a later date. But this is a TON of points to spend on 2 units and the taxi to get them there - you're talking 400 - 500pts.
Build 3: Warbiker Boss
Bikerboss Nobrot:Warbike, Power Klaw, Cybork Body, Attack Squig, Bosspole
This guy is the staple of my list nowadays... fast moving, able to Tankhunt on his own and backed up by a unit of Nob bikers, he scares the absolute crap out of most people.
The increase in toughness means it's even harder to wound him in close combat. Against shooting he's got a 4+ armour save and a constant 4+ cover save from the exhaust clouds - combine this with a Nob bodyguard giving him Feel No Pain and you are absolutely laughing, all for a measly 130ish points.
He's definitely my favourite Warboss build, especially since I rarely use 2 Warbosses, so he is my weapon of choice.
Conclusion
Everyone has their own play-style and your Warboss choice depends entirely on that army and play-style, but personally I find the Bike Boss suits me more as his mobility and benefits from being on the bike are awesome.
Do you guys have any other Warboss tactics or loadouts you fancy sharing?
So let me know what you think guys and if you have any questions concerning the models, I'll be happy to answer them :)
SB.
very good article,
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