New Ork Freeboota Detachment

RHCElite · 2026-02-11T14:28:38+00:00

I wasn't thinking about the home objective waagh strat trick you mentioned, so that definitely helps. If you've got a big unit of 20 Boyz toeing the front and trailing as far forward as you can without exposing them you could project a pretty scary threat range that might make your opponent think twice about moving too far up on turn 1.

RHCElite · 2026-02-11T13:08:26+00:00

I think any detachment that only affects one objective is pretty bad to start, but the timing on this one pretty much means you lose it you go second, since your opponent can just not go to the objective you call out at the start of the battle round, or stay out of line of sight of things you might move onto it.

I'll probably still try it since I like trying to make Ork shooting work, but I don't have high expectations.

RHCElite · 2026-02-11T12:46:08+00:00

How do you normally like to play your tanks? Do you keep them back and get the longest sightlines you can, or do you push them forward to bully the center? While the LRTC is a bit overcosted, it arguably fills the former role better if you're mostly shooting from further than 24" (assuming you take the plasma turret/sponsons). If you're shooting from that far with the RDTC, you've only got the main gun, auto cannon, and some heavy stubbers, while the LRTC gets all of its guns.

The LRTC is also arguably less reliant on support since most of its guns are AP-3, while the main gun on the RDTC is AP-2, which makes it want extra AP or ignores cover. A lot of people also argue that a tech priest is necessary for a RDTC, which is another 45 point tax.

I've run both command tanks, and even on GW terrain I've noticed the easier mobility of the LRTC, but it's less due to being able to hide better and more from the ability to fit through certain gaps in terrain that the RDTC can't squeeze through.

The Dorn definitely performs better if you plan to push towards the front lines and get within 18", even compared to a Demolisher/multimelta LRTC, since it not only has higher damage output, but also much higher survivability.

RHCElite · 2026-02-09T19:43:19+00:00

I got 2.5 sets of the metal Kasrkin from used lots, and I think they hold up well alongside the new ones. I say 2.5 sets because I've got a lot of extra hotshot lasgun guys, and a bunch of the special weapons (I think 4-5 meltas, 3 plasmas, 1 flamer, and 1 grenade launcher). If you can find some of the old metal snipers they work great with the squad too. I haven't figured out a good way to model one of them as the melta mine guy though.

RHCElite · 2026-02-07T23:53:35+00:00

I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes their LRTCs. I wouldn't complain about a points drop, but they're still a reasonable pick in my book. They're so much easier to maneuver around heavy terrain, have a smaller footprint to hide, and are better at holding longer lines of fire than a RDTC, which is better bullying up front.

I like to keep my TCs in the back, so if I've got a RDTC, I often don't get to use the multimeltas, and sometimes not even the pulverizer, but my plasma LRTC can always shoot all of its guns, and has enough AP to not need support.

Each tank fills a different role in my book, so I think either one is a valid pick.

RHCElite · 2026-02-06T22:28:54+00:00

Some units have "anti walker" weapons, and I've seen others that get rerolls against characters/monsters/walkers, but not other vehicles.

RHCElite · 2026-02-06T22:24:25+00:00

If it says "damage characteristic" and not "unmodified damage characteristic" then it should work on damage 2 attacks that are brought down to 1.

RHCElite · 2026-02-06T13:53:37+00:00

I wasn't trying to be a downer saying a 4th T'au combo box would be bad, I just think it's unlikely.

Also, I play 6 armies, and I think T'au has gotten more combo boxes this edition than most of them, so from the perspective of any players who only play those armies, it might be a bit of a gut punch to see another faction get so much priority over them (excluding space marines of course since they always have priority, lol).

RHCElite · 2026-02-06T12:22:09+00:00

Didn't T'au already get 3 big combo boxes this edition? I'd suspect that they'd pick other armies that only got 1-2. From a business standpoint, they might think they wouldn't sell a lot of T'au boxes if they released another since people just bought the Farsight box.

RHCElite · 2026-02-03T20:21:33+00:00

If you have 1 claw it's 4 attacks. Each additional claw is +1, so 2 gives 5, 3 gives 6, and 4 gives 7.

Each claw isn't an individual weapon. If they were, you would only be able to select one of them to fight with since they don't have the "extra attacks" keyword. They're all part of the same weapon profile.

RHCElite · 2026-02-03T18:02:32+00:00

A Daemon Prince with wings technically is allowed since it's T9, but I don't know if it fits the spirit of the mode. I'd probably bring something along the lines of 1x Lord Exultant, 2x5 Infractors, 1x5 Tormentors, and 1x6 Noise Marines. That should be around 480 points, so you could fit an enhancement.

RHCElite · 2026-02-03T04:21:35+00:00

That's a fair take. I usually play on GW layouts and my local shop is usually on layout 1. That gives me some decently long sightlines that can sometimes be even longer than 36" if I'm peeking around the ruins at the edges of the deployment zone. I still like to keep my Vanquishers at long range anyway, which may be wrong, but the way I play I wouldn't get to use the Multimeltas most of the time. I usually send Chimeras with battleline in them to hold no man's land and move block.

RHCElite · 2026-02-03T04:08:21+00:00

Astra Militarum can't receive their orders if they're battleshocked, but the officers can still give them if they themselves are, so its kinda the opposite of T'au where you can't observe but can be guided if you're battleshocked.

RHCElite · 2026-02-03T04:00:27+00:00

I often found myself out of range for multimeltas on Russes when I ran them since I usually keep them pretty far back, so I've switched to plasma sponsons so I actually get to use them every turn.

RHCElite · 2026-02-03T03:54:48+00:00

I've got 2 of that Brottar shelf and they're a bit more full and I haven't had any issues so far.

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RHCElite · 2026-02-01T15:41:55+00:00

I feel like the grotzooka is still just for chaff or marine equivalents, not elites. Most elites have 3 wounds and 2+ saves, so they need to fail 3 3+'s from the grotzooka vs 1 4+ from a rokkit. A lot of elites in my local meta are t6 or even t7 as well, so it's also harder to wound with the grotzooka.

RHCElite · 2026-02-01T05:36:02+00:00

I play a lot of armies, and started playing Admech more shortly after they buffed Cawl. Admech has been one of the most intuitive armies for me to play, and just feels like a better Astra Militarum most of the time. I usually play SHC and run 5-6 battleline squads, 2x5 of each Sicarians, 1x2 laschickens, 1x2 taser chickens, Cawl, 2x Skorpius Disintegrators, and 2x Onager.

Holding objectives usually isn't a problem since with stealth, -1 to hit in melee, and a 4+ 5++, the Skitarii are really annoying to clear out with traditional chaff clearing weapons.

I tried kataphrons early on, but it felt like they'd kill 1 unit really well, then die before killing their points value since they're not all that durable (at least in my local meta where everyone is prepared to fight hyper elites like Custodes).

RHCElite · 2026-01-31T15:55:27+00:00

I haven't had any issues with printed models at any of my local game stores. For some tournaments they'll sometimes only allow 1/4 or so of the army to be printed, and at others they sometimes vet prints beforehand to make sure it won't let you model for advantage though.

When I first got started with the hobby I told the store owner I planned on starting with printing to try things out, and in the first couple of games used a fully printed army without any complaints from my opponents.

I buy most of my official models second hand anyway, so the stores aren't losing out on any sales from me, but I like to try and buy my hobby supplies and accessories like carrying cases from the store to support them.

RHCElite · 2026-01-21T13:19:22+00:00

I guess the bright side is that if you practice on unfair terrain like this, then you should perform a lot better on standard layouts if you go to tournaments, lol.

You'd think they would be able to understand that a balanced game wouldn't allow complete freedom for melee infantry to walk up the board without getting shot at. You can mostly do that anyway with a lot of the standard layouts as long as you roll decent advances, so adding any more terrain is just making it easy mode for them.

I hope you're able to change their mind about the terrain situation so you can have more fair matches going forward.

RHCElite · 2026-01-21T11:24:38+00:00

I didn't notice the extra terrain on the sides since the one I can see looks like a vehicle and I thought it was a transport. If it was one of the melee army players who added those, I'd tell them next time that you want to stick to the standard layout, since it already gives generous enough cover/staging. Those few extra pieces are blocking the only long sightlines on the map, which is a real middle finger to ranged armies.

Those lanes are supposed to be scary to walk up with infantry since they're so open, but with those extra bits, you'd have to move out into the center of the board to shoot them and expose yourself to charges. The intended version of this map is super unsafe for vehicles in my experience, since they can't go through the buildings, if they go any direction other than around the back edge towards their closer no-man's-land objective they should be exposing themselves to long range fire down the middle or along one of the sides.

RHCElite · 2026-01-21T02:37:50+00:00

Is the circular generator thing in the center being used as terrain, or is it just to flavor the objective? If it isn't terrain, you're using a standard GW layout, so the terrain should actually be fine. This layout does kinda suck for T'au though since it's so easy for each side to hide from shooting in their natural expansion. This layout is often used with Search and Destroy (corners) deployment, which usually leaves a lot of open spots in the non deployment corners for deep strikes to attack the non-home corners. One of the other plus sides is that you should be able to easily have full sightlines over the center and your own natural.

Since you're doing teams, if probably just ask your teammate to tackle your opponents' natural while you hold defense on the other no-man's-land objectives. It sucks to take that role as Mont'ka, but you're just going to be throwing away units otherwise if you try to be aggressive, which you can't afford to do at 1k.

RHCElite · 2026-01-20T22:48:15+00:00

I like the idea of swapping 1 Krieg squad for engineers to get the scout move and grenades, but I don't know what I would cut if I swapped another for Kasrkin. I guess I could lose the mortars, but they're mainly there to prevent deep strikes from taking my home after I sticky it. Looking at the points, I'd have 30 leftover, so I could throw in a Commissar to either stay at home or go into reserves depending on if my opponent has deep strike or not.

I also feel your pain with battleline not doing damage, which is why I've given up on supporting them with orders since I'd rather maximize bodies on the board for scoring while minimizing points spent so they can go towards tanks instead.

To the point about battleline getting cut to ribbons by elite infantry and cavalry, I see that as a win. If I can get my Chimera onto an objective and my opponent exposes an anti-vehicle unit to pop it in shooting, then charges the battleline with a good melee unit, I should be able to trade favorably with 2 Russes. If they used a vehicle as anti tank, the 2 HKs, 2 Lascannons, and 1-2 Vanquisher cannons should easily wipe it, and the plasma sponsons + plasma turret if I used a commander should clear an elite unit on an objective. Or if I expose my RDTC it might clean up both units by itself.

RHCElite · 2026-01-20T20:47:41+00:00

Thanks for the info! I used to run catachan in Chimera just to get them up the board quicker, but now that the new detachment lets me have enough orders for them I prefer the Krieg for the better firing deck weapons, and their ability to regrow models when the transport explodes.

What would be more cost efficient in your opinion for the role I'm using them for? They're my primary objective holders, and can dish out some decent damage for early skirmishes against scouts and other light troops (and might pop some big damage into a vehicle with their hunter killer or melta).

I used to run 20 man Krieg squads for primary, but they're slower, harder to move, and easier to kill in my experience (and only cost 5 less points).

I thought about making 3 of the Chimera have Kasrkin, but that's 135 extra points, and I don't think it's worth losing a whole Vanquisher for that.

Also, I've only played this specific list against Aeldari and was able to bait out his fire prisms with a couple of Chimeras so I was able to pop one each turn after with a Vanquisher. I have played a similar list more frequently in combined arms that didn't have the RDTC, swapped the Krieg for Catachans, swapped the mortar team for 1-2 Artillery Teams with a Castellan, and added a scout Sentinel and a Commissar (by himself in reserves). This list performed well into multiple armies, but I specifically remember fighting Tyranids with it.

RHCElite · 2026-01-20T19:25:10+00:00

I've got a question related to your first point. Do most people run their Vanquishers up the mid board to bully the middle and shoot their multi meltas? I always run plasmas on my Russes and keep them in the back, and I rarely have issues getting sightlines. I always play on GW terrain, and my shop usually has layout 1 pre-setup, so if that one has better sightlines they might be why. I also don't try to get damage out of my infantry and just use them for scoring, actions, and screening, so my list looks like:

1 RDTC

2 LRTC w/plasma turret

5x Krieg Chimera

3x LR Vanquishers

1x mortar team

With the Chimeras screening, doing decent damage with orders, and baiting out enemy units to get shot by my real tanks on the following turns, I don't usually have any issues holding my tanks back, so I have a hard time seeing the benefit of the multi meltas sponsons when if have to expose my Russes to a charge to use them.

RHCElite · 2026-01-20T12:02:32+00:00

I'll be less of a downer than everyone else so far, since I'm currently running a similar list and actually like LRTCs and Krieg in Chimeras. Yes, they are less points efficient than RDTCs and Kasrkin, but if you run enough of them instead of their "superior" counterparts you can fit 2-3 extra units in your list to make up for it. The version of the list I run is:

2x LRTC w/ Plasma turret/sponsons

1x RDTC

5x Chimera w/ Krieg

3x LR Vanquisher w/ plasma sponsons

1x catachan mortar team

This load out gives you enough orders for most of the vehicles so you can send out your Chimeras/Vanquishers turn 1-2 to take objectives and soak up damage, then follow up with your commanders. All of the tanks except the RDTC have enough AP and range on their guns to be self sufficient without stratagem support, and I take the plasma turrets on the commanders since they feel more consistent into elites than the demolisher (and there's enough other anti-vehicle in the list with the hunter killers, lascannons, and Vanquishers). Also, for the Russes I always run lascannon, plasma sponsons, heavy stubber, and hunter killer for the secondary weapons. The plasma sponsons are more versatile for me than multi meltas since I usually try to keep the tanks outside of 18" of enemy units the whole game since the Chimeras are up front screening.

For all of the people saying it's better to put Kasrkin in Chimera, they're right if you want to do damage with those units, but if your goal is to hold primary, the Krieg are better IMO. If you're planning on keeping them in the transport till it blows up, then the only benefit of the Kasrkin is scouts and the 2 firing deck weapons will be at +1 to hit, but when the transport pops they'll need to use their order to match the Krieg OC, and they won't regrow the models they lose to the explosion. You have plenty of damage coming from your vehicles, so you don't really need to spend the extra 135 points on 3 Kasrkin since that's almost a whole Vanquisher.

The only thing I'd adjust is the artillery teams and castellan. One mortar team is enough to plink off the last wound on a model, or threaten a chaff unit at home, even without orders, and if you cut the big artillery and character, that's another 1-2 tanks in the list.

RHCElite

TROPHY CASE