Post by Atreju on Jul 3, 2015 16:23:58 GMT
This is from the en-forum, written by paint me.
Orcs of Bran-O-Kor
General Overview:
Strengths: Game-changing magic, above-average STR, excellent HTH stats
Weaknesses: Poor shooting, average/below average INI and RES, vulnerable to shooting
Faction ability: Brutal- allows the player to roll up 5’s on the ATT test. Also, the fighter’s Force is increased by 1 when he charges. Therefore, they can inflict charge penalties on most models.
Instinctive Magic: Orcs master Instinctive Magic, which cannot be countered or absorbed. Nor can they counter or absorb other magic. The Orcs do not consider a 1 on Mana Recovery rolls to be a failure.
I think that most people’s initial impression of Orcs is that they are a hard-hitting, in-your-face army. Quite the opposite is true, however. Orcs require quite a bit of finesse and practice in order to become successful with them. Hopefully this write-up will give both the new and veteran Orc player insights into the intricacies of all that is Orcish. First, we’ll review the troops:
Regular Troops:
Orc Warrior (15 AP): Here’s the cheapest regular unit the Orcs have. This guy was the predecessor to the newer Brute. He’s basically a brute, but without the modular weapons upgrades. A nice, solid fighter for 15 AP.
Orc Brute (17 AP): Take the Orc Warrior, add weapon profiles, and you have the Brute. The Machete profile gives +2 STR. The Axe gives +1 DEF. The Scimitar gives +1 INI. Most players play the Machete version, because you get a STR 9 fighter for a measley 17 AP. In fact, most tournament Orc armies ran 6 Brutes with Machetes in 2006. With the 2007 restrictions, you’ll be limited to only 3. However, you can still play 3 of one the other profiles.
Orc with Crossbow (18 AP): These guys have an AIM of 2, with a pretty short range of 10-20-40. The upside of this shooter is that he won’t fold easily in HTH combat. Now with the Assault Fire ability and Bullseye, you may see more players including these units in their army builds.
Orc Tracker (19 AP): This is a higher RES version of a basic Orc Warrior. He gets +2 RES for an additional 4 AP. A nice, solid troop. The downside is that he cannot be bound to themes, since he is bound to the Tracker Clan.
Auroch Horn Blower (18 AP): This is the basic Orc Musician. Not much to write about.
Orc Totem Bearer (18 AP): And the Orc Standard. For some reason, I have a hard time keeping this guy from breaking, It’s a cool sculpt, but the vultures on the totem are too heavy for that thin staff.
Veteran Troops:
Orc Bruisers (21AP): Like the Orc Warriors, these are old-school models. These models were configured for C2, and did not translate that well into C3.X. They have a whopping 10 STR, but with only an ATT of 3. Additionally, they have a lower than average RES of 5. Once they’re wounded, even the lowliest fighter can defend against their poor ATT. They have the War Cry/6 ability, which was nice in C2, but pretty insignificant now.
Tribal Bruisers (19AP): Rackham tried to fix the Orc Bruiser with this guy, who comes in the Warriors of Ragnarok card pack. He’s -2 STR, +1 ATT, and replaces War Cry/6 with Bravery…all for 2 AP less than the original Bruiser.
Brute Veteran (21 AP): Take an Orc Brute, give him +1 RES and Survival Instinct, and you get the Brute Vet. Like the regular Brute, these guys are usually seen armed with Machetes to give them STR 9.
Jackal Warriors (23-25 AP): These guys got me interested in Orcs way back when, because I thought those skin tattoos were just incredible. There are 3 different profiles. See, back before Rackham came up with the idea of modular weapons, they would actually bring out different sculpts for each weapon profile. So, for 23 AP we have a Jackal w/ Club. For 24 AP, we have Jackals w/ Swords, and for 25 AP there is the Jackal w/ Axe. All 3 Jackal profiles are excellent. All have a nice 5 ATT, and either a 9 or 10 STR. They have Fanatacism as well, so can pack quite the punch when going all attack. Don’t discount their defensive abilites, though. Both the Club and Axe version have a DEF of 5, while the Sword version has a slightly lower DEF 4. I always include at least 2 of these units in my Orc armies. Usually 3-4.
Jackal Tracker (28 AP): This guy is one of the best 28 AP models available. ATT/STR =5/10. DEF/RES= 5/8. He also has Fanatacism, so can land STR 11 blows. Once again, like the Orc Tracker, the downside here is that he is bound to the Tracker clan and can’t join other Hordes. But, for vanilla Orc armies, you can’t go wrong with 2-3 of these guys.
Incendiary Orc (25 AP): This is an Orc Crossbowman, with a better AIM of 3 and a Naphtha crossbow (STR 5 +1D6). Unfortunately, he’s zone artillery so he doesn’t get the benefits of the new 3.5 perforating artillery rules. He does have Assault Fire printed on his card, though. This guy is bound to the Gerikan Horde, so can only be played in vanilla lists, or with the Gerikan theme.
Brute Musician and Brute Standard (21AP): These are the updated War Staff members. Slightly better than the original War Staff, but also slightly more expensive. You get what you pay for.
Special Troops:
Orc Raptor (24AP): This is the only Scout the Orcs have. He’s got the HTH stats of a basic Orc Warrior, but gets Scout and War Cry/6. They also come with a dose of Combat Drugs, which they can use once per game. You roll a D6. On a 2-5 you get 2 points to spend, like mutagenic points. On a 6, you get 3 points, but on a 1 you get -2 STR and RES for the rest of the turn. The Raptor is bound to the Tracker Clan, so cannot join other Hordes.
Elites:
Amok Slayer (37 AP): There are 2 profiles, one has Bravery and the other Masterstrike/0. I’ll let you decide which one is better. They both have War Fury, and a better than average RES 9. They also have a MOV of 12.5, which comes in handy. They are armed with the Amok Flail, which essentially gives them +1 ATT and STR when they charge or engage an opponent. These guys rank up there with the other top-level elites of the game, like Dai-Bakemonos, Praetorians, Royal Guards, and Formor Fiends. Don’t leave home without them.
Guardian Jackal (40AP): This Jackal Elite profile comes in the Orcish Hordes card pack. Another exceptional profile, he has ATT/STR= 6/10 and DEF/RES=5/8. On top of that, he gets Sequence/1, Fanatacism, and Resolution/1. I liked this guy in 3.0, but with the changes to Sequence in 3.5 he just became pretty phenomenal. Factor in the new GDR limitations on Elites, and this guy becomes the perfect alternative to an Amok Slayer. The only downside is that he is bound to the Jackal’s Lair Horde, so cannot join other themed armies.
Brontops Rider (54AP): Picture a Jackal Warrior with a MOV of 15 and STR 12 on the charge, and you get the Brontops Rider. Oh yeah, and he has Brutish Charge and Implacable/2 to keep him from getting bogged down in those first few frays. A fantastic shock troop.
Mystic Warriors:
Jackal Master of Rites (32AP): This is the Warrior Monk devout for the Orcs. Take away his Faithful abilities and you still have a nice HTH profile. And now that Miracles are free, this guy became quite the bargain. His aura is 10 cm. You have to decide which version of him you are going to take, the Master of Battles or Master of Rituals. This determines where his aspects are placed. He also gets this nifty ability to hand out 2 amulets to any fighter he wants. If the carrier of this amulet is the target of a miracle of the Jackal Cult, then the difficulty of that miracle is reduced by 1. I’ve saved the best for last, though. Whenever the Jackal Master of Rites successfully calls a miracle onto a friendly fighter in his camp, that fighter’s INI is increased by an amount equal to the fervor of the miracle (up to a max of 3). This is a perfect way to boost the Orc’s low INI.
Mystic Warrior (25 AP): There are two profiles of Warrior-Mages. The first has POW 1, the second POW 2. The POW 1 version is pretty limited in his spell selection, so most people field the POW 2 version. The Mystic Warriors also come with the Blood of Bran-O-Kor ability, which was revised in the 3.0 rulebook (pg 186). Basically, it gives them the Masterstrike/1 ability, and they get +1 ATT when they use Masterstrike. If they place all dice in Attack, then they get +2 ATT instead. He has to be touching dry land in order to use this ability (remember that on the Three Bridges scenario).
Animistic Shaman on Brontops (80 AP): A Mystic Warrior mounted on a Brontops. Unfortunately, he’s only POW 2. He’s as expensive as many characters, and could be a nice addition to an army that does not have a character. Otherwise, I think he is much too expensive to field in your typical 400AP build.
The Warrior Characters:
Vorak the Infallible (59AP): He’s your basic old school Warrior character. Average HTH stats with Leadership/10.
Vorak, 2nd Inc. (79AP): For an extra 20 AP, Vorak’s 2nd Incarnation gets +1 STR, +1 DEF, +1 RES, +1 COU, and most importantly, the Authority ability.
Rantakh (62AP): So, Rackham brings out the War Staff box set, and inside you get another character that looks suspiciously like Vorak, with very similar stats. The only difference is that Rantakh gets +1 RES over Vorak. Now to the good stuff: Rantakh has an artifact, reserved to himself, called the Skin of Mirages. It’s 12 AP, and gives Rantakh a neat little trick. At the beginning of the HTH phase, Rantakh can switch places with any Brute that is within 10cm of him. This is an excellent ability, especially if you’re running several Brutes or Brute Vets in your army. Fun stuff!
Dayak of a Hundred Lives (83 AP): Dayak is a nice solid character from the Tracker Clan. He’s got the HTH stats you would expect for the AP: ATT/STR= 6/9, DEF/RES= 6/9. He also gets Hard-Boiled and Bravery. You can equip him with the Armor of Assurnam for 13 AP. This gives him the Regeneration/5 ability. Additionally, if he suffers a KILLED OUTRIGHT, you roll a D6, and on a 6 Dayak lives on with a Critical Wound. Dayak can also equip himself with the Vulture Totem for 10 AP, which grants the Leadership/10 ability. Unfortunately, since Dayak is a Regular, he can only take one of these artifacts.
Kal Shadar (99 AP): Kal is the Amok Slayer character, and thus benefits from the Amok Flail ability. He’s got very nice HTH stats, but misses the Leadership ability. He also has an artifact called Gorok’s Horn (16AP), which gives various bonuses depending on whether there are other Amok Slayers within 15cm of him. His other artifact is Hakem’s Scimitar (21 AP). Basically it gives him an additional ATT dice for every KILLED OUTRIGHT he gets on the Wound table.
Kal Shadar, 2nd Inc. (124AP): Kal’s second Incarnation can be found in the Orcish Hordes card pack. They gave Kal +1 DEF and +1 DIS, but most importantly, they gave him the Leadership/10 that Kal’s 1st incarnation was sorely missing.
Holok, Jackal Warrior (88 AP): Holok’s card comes with Cry Havoc 7. He’s a champion of the Black Rock Tribe. Holok has excellent HTH stats, and can pull off a STR 20 Masterstrike and not fail thanks to the Fine Blade ability. Unfortunately, he does not have Leadership.
Avangorok, the Elusive (119AP): Ah, another one of Rackhams old-school Orc characters. He’s an excellent character, with Leadership/10 War Cry/7, Scout, and Bane/Dirz. So, if you know you’re playing Dirz, then Avangorok is your guy. His “Elusive” ability let’s you always keep his card in Reserve, and doesn’t count towards the maximum cards you can have in reserve (pg 185). Avangorok can be equipped with an unlimited supply of combat drugs at a cost of 4 AP for each dose. They give him various Mutagenic abilities, depending on your dice roll (Pg. 185).
Tarrun, Son of Umran Kal (125 AP): Another profile released with the Orcish Hordes pack, Tarrun is a character mounted on a Brontops. He’s a perfect character for Brontops-themed armies. In fact, he’s bound to the Thunder Riders Horde.
Ghorak, the Wild Beast (129 AP): This guy really is a Wild Beast. ATT 8/ STR 11 with a Naphtha Gauntlet for STR. Oh yes…and War Fury, too. Oh yes#2…he has an Amok Flail. The only thing that has prohibited me from fielding him is his relatively high AP cost, and only an 8 RES. Ghorak is a character from the Tracker Clan box.
Umran Kal (159 AP): Here’s the big guy on Brontops. He’s quite the offensive juggernaught. And he comes with an artifact that makes his charging STR 14, gives him War Horse, and Implacable/3. He’s got Leadership/15 to boot. But, way too expensive for your typical Confrontation game.
Umran Kal, 2nd Inc. (179 AP): For some reason, there’s a 2nd incarnation of this guy. I guess his first incarnation was not up to snuff?
Mystic-Warrior Characters:
Tork the Animal (72 AP): Tork is a POW 3 Initiate Warrior-Mage. Most people can picture his sculpt: He’s getting ready to throw this enormous rock, or Menhir. Tork’s 1st Incarnation was geared towards C1 and C2. So, he was updated to…
Tork, 2nd Inc. (80 AP): For only 8 AP more, you get a much better profile and he becomes POW 4. He does lose his Menhir throwing ability, though.
Shaka-Morkhai: This guys is the Orc Living Legend, who has the ability to be both a Warrior-Monk and a Warrior-Mage simultaneously. You’ll only see this guy in Ragnarok or Living Legend battles.
Mystic Characters:
Shaka-Umruk (39 AP): Shaka-Umruk is a Devout, with aspects totaling 3. To be honest, I’ve never played the guy because Orcish Divination is not that strong. I suppose you could field him to summon Sylvan Animae.
Tamaor the Vulture (54 AP): Tamaor is a POW 5 Adept. He’s a character from the Tracker Clan. He, along with Dayak, can take the Vulture Totem to gain Leadership/10. Tamaor is an excellent mage, casting most of the best Instinctive spells on a 2+. I like this guy a lot.
The Son of Thunder (78 AP): The SoT is the quintessential Orc character. He is a POW 5 Adept, and has Leadership/10 with a 7 COU and 5 DIS. Surround him with a War Staff, and you’ll fail few Fear checks and win a lot of Tactical rolls. He’s also got the Rally Cry ability, which just became a little more important with the 3.5 changes. He has a reserved spell, Thunder’s Wrath, which is a Zone Artillery damage spell. The Intensity is 0, so he gets it no matter what. Another reserved spell, Favor of the Long Sun, also has an intensity of 0. When successfully cast, he replaces his Brutal ability with Focus. His reserved artifact, the Pendulum of Mesmerism (18 AP) can really mess with your opponents activations if used properly (pg. 186). The SoT can also cast Elemental spells. He must choose 2 Elements during army construction. He can then cast Elemental spells from those two elements. However, the spells become Instinctive and are cast with neutral gems.
Special Character:
Carbone (46 AP): This is another character from the Tracker box. He’s actually a Goblin who became disgruntled with the Goblin ways and joined the Tracker Clan. Carbone’s token weapon is the Froof, a Naphtha powered gun. It can be used as light artillery, or as a flamethrower (pg. 185).
The Orcish Hordes:
The Orcish Horde pack was probably the first really balanced theme pack to be released. All of the Hordes are good, but not over-powering. Rather than go into tremendous detail, I’ll give a brief overview of each one.
Army of the Two Suns: The Horde ability, for 2 AP, gives the fighters the Bravery ability. The Solo/Raik ability can give a character Leadership, or increase its range. It also grants Authority. Another Solo can give a unit Implacable/1.
The Long Sun: The Horde ability, for 2 AP, gives fighters of the Long Sun +1 INI, ATT, and DEF if they’re within 15cm if an Orc magician. The Solo/Spiritual Leader ability gives the player +1 on his Tactical rolls. The Solo/Elemental Bond lets an Orc magician acquire an Elemental spell.
The Jackal’s Lair: Only fighters with an AP value of 20+ can join this Horde. The Horde ability, for 1 AP, gives the horde’s fighters +1 RES if they are within 15 cm of an Orc Character. Solo/Avenger of the Sanctuary (2AP) makes the fighter Possessed. The other Solo, Tattoos, is given to a Faithful. All friendly fighters within his aura benefit from Resolution/1.
Sarkai Nomads: The Horde ability (1 AP) lets you sacrifice Reserve possibilities. In exchange, a designated model gets the Luck ability. The Solo/Nomad ability can increase a model’s MOV. The Solo/ Talisman of Protection can grant the Insensitive/5 ability. And finally, Sarkai fighters can enlist Griffin fighters, up to 15% of the army. They are not considered allies.
Thunder Riders: The Horde ability, for 2 AP, grants War Cry/6. Brontops turn their COU into Fear. Solo/Beast of the Canyons gives the model Reorientation. Solo/Rancorous grants Fierce, but only 30% of the army can have this Solo.
Torches of Gerikan: The Horde ability, for 2 AP, gives the fighters Toxic/0. The Solo/Torch capacity turns Orc range weapons into Naphta weapons. The Solo/Torch Sorcerer capacity gives an Orc magician +1 POW, but he loses Instinctive Magic and acquires the elemental path of Fire. The Gerikan Horde also allows the player to enlist the Goblin Mafia. Up to 15% of the army can consist of Goblin Regulars and Vets, and they are not considered to be allies.
Vulture Claws: The Horde ability, for 1 AP, gives the fighters Bane against Wounded models. The Solo/Marauder capacity can turn an Orc with RES 6 or less into a Scout. The Solo/Bag of Tricks grants the Disengage/5 ability.
The Black Rock Tribe (from Cry Havoc 7): The Horde ability, for 2 AP, grants Survival Instinct. There are two Solos, one granting Sequence and the other granting Masterstrike/0.
The Tracker Clan: There really aren’t any particular rules regarding the Tracker Clan. This was an antiquated Clan that has never been updated by Rackham. Whether it ever will be modified for the current rules is yet to be seen.
General Tactics:
As I stated way at the top of this post, Orcs require a fair amount of finesse and practice to master. They are definitely not “Confrontation for beginners”. When I first started Orcs, I lost a lot. Now, I rarely lose with them. Here’s what I’ve learned:
1.)Orc Magic is paramount. It’s what makes Orcs good. Without it, you’re just another low RES HTH army with few tactical options.
2.)Orcs do better with moderately high numbers. Orcs have below average INI, so depend somewhat on swarming to help counteract this negative. Also, when facing armies that have natural dice advantage, via Born Killer or War Fury, it is important to outnumber the opponent. Orcs will not win in a slug-fest with Wolfen, Devourers, Kelts, or Drunes if there are a lot of 1-1 match-ups.
3.)Orcs are extremely vulnerable to shooting. The average Orc RES is 6. They have only average scouts, the Raptor, and poor shooting. Quite frankly, the best way for Orcs to avoid becoming pin cushions is to get them into HTH as soon as possible. Formations with meat-shields can help.
Key Spells:
Rejection: This spell levitates the target to Level 1, effectively neutralizing him. Alternatively, the mage can cast it on himself or a friend to get them out of a sticky situation. Possibly the best spell available to Orcs.
Kiss of the Earth: This spell doubles a model’s MOV rating. You can use this spell to get off very long charges, or to reach far objectives. The nice thing about this spell is that it has a Frequency of 2.
Cunning of the Jackal: The ultimate tactical advantage spell, CoJ gives you Authority AND lets you have an additional Reserve.
There are other good situational Instinctive magic spells, but the three above are what you’ll see the most.
Sample Lists:
Demo Orc Army without Magic or Divination:
Rantakh
w/ Skin of Mirages
Brute Vet Standard
Brute Vet Musician
2 Brutes w/ Machetes
2 Jackal Warriors w/ Axes
200 AP, 7 models, 3 cards.
This list lets you play games with Rantakh and his Skin of Mirages. Keep your models bunched in formation, get into HTH quick, and then have fun making your opponent guess where Rantakh will be.
My Origins winning Orc list. I happened to play Mort in the NACORD Finals, who was also playing a very similar Orc list, only his was led by Tamaor and had more numbers.
Son of Thunder
w/ Rejection
w/ Kiss of the Earth
w/ Ball of Flames
6 Brutes w/ Machetes
2 Amok Slayers w/ Masterstrike
2 Jackal Warriors with Clubs
2 Jackal Warriors w/ Axes
Obviously this list was for 3.0 and 2006 GDR restrictions. My current incarnation has morphed into the following for 3.5 and 2007 restrictions:
Son of Thunder
w/ Rejection
w/ Cunning of the Jackal
w/ Kiss of the Earth
w/ Thunder’s Wrath
w/ Ball of Flames
3 Brutes w/ Machetes
2 Amok Slayers w/ Masterstrike
3 Orc Warriors
2 Jackal Guardians
2 Jackals w/ Clubs
1 Mystic Warrior (POW 2)
w/ Vortex of the Quartz
w/ Elemental Chains
14 models, 399 AP
The idea is to use Cunning of the Jackal to gain the Tactical advantage. Then hold the SoT and Amok Slayer cards so that you activate last. Cast Kiss of the Earth on the Amoks, and have them charge the juciest target within 50 cm. Very few models can stand alone against two Masterstriking Amoks. Kill, pursue, kill again. You’ve likely crippled your opponent already. An alternative is to cast Kiss on the Mystic Warrior, who can charge into the enemy and cast Vortex of the Quartz to damage multiple models. Later in the game, use Rejection to neutralize the opponent’s heavy hitters, and cast Ball of Flames/Thunder’s Wrath to wreak havoc.
Orcs of Bran-O-Kor
General Overview:
Strengths: Game-changing magic, above-average STR, excellent HTH stats
Weaknesses: Poor shooting, average/below average INI and RES, vulnerable to shooting
Faction ability: Brutal- allows the player to roll up 5’s on the ATT test. Also, the fighter’s Force is increased by 1 when he charges. Therefore, they can inflict charge penalties on most models.
Instinctive Magic: Orcs master Instinctive Magic, which cannot be countered or absorbed. Nor can they counter or absorb other magic. The Orcs do not consider a 1 on Mana Recovery rolls to be a failure.
I think that most people’s initial impression of Orcs is that they are a hard-hitting, in-your-face army. Quite the opposite is true, however. Orcs require quite a bit of finesse and practice in order to become successful with them. Hopefully this write-up will give both the new and veteran Orc player insights into the intricacies of all that is Orcish. First, we’ll review the troops:
Regular Troops:
Orc Warrior (15 AP): Here’s the cheapest regular unit the Orcs have. This guy was the predecessor to the newer Brute. He’s basically a brute, but without the modular weapons upgrades. A nice, solid fighter for 15 AP.
Orc Brute (17 AP): Take the Orc Warrior, add weapon profiles, and you have the Brute. The Machete profile gives +2 STR. The Axe gives +1 DEF. The Scimitar gives +1 INI. Most players play the Machete version, because you get a STR 9 fighter for a measley 17 AP. In fact, most tournament Orc armies ran 6 Brutes with Machetes in 2006. With the 2007 restrictions, you’ll be limited to only 3. However, you can still play 3 of one the other profiles.
Orc with Crossbow (18 AP): These guys have an AIM of 2, with a pretty short range of 10-20-40. The upside of this shooter is that he won’t fold easily in HTH combat. Now with the Assault Fire ability and Bullseye, you may see more players including these units in their army builds.
Orc Tracker (19 AP): This is a higher RES version of a basic Orc Warrior. He gets +2 RES for an additional 4 AP. A nice, solid troop. The downside is that he cannot be bound to themes, since he is bound to the Tracker Clan.
Auroch Horn Blower (18 AP): This is the basic Orc Musician. Not much to write about.
Orc Totem Bearer (18 AP): And the Orc Standard. For some reason, I have a hard time keeping this guy from breaking, It’s a cool sculpt, but the vultures on the totem are too heavy for that thin staff.
Veteran Troops:
Orc Bruisers (21AP): Like the Orc Warriors, these are old-school models. These models were configured for C2, and did not translate that well into C3.X. They have a whopping 10 STR, but with only an ATT of 3. Additionally, they have a lower than average RES of 5. Once they’re wounded, even the lowliest fighter can defend against their poor ATT. They have the War Cry/6 ability, which was nice in C2, but pretty insignificant now.
Tribal Bruisers (19AP): Rackham tried to fix the Orc Bruiser with this guy, who comes in the Warriors of Ragnarok card pack. He’s -2 STR, +1 ATT, and replaces War Cry/6 with Bravery…all for 2 AP less than the original Bruiser.
Brute Veteran (21 AP): Take an Orc Brute, give him +1 RES and Survival Instinct, and you get the Brute Vet. Like the regular Brute, these guys are usually seen armed with Machetes to give them STR 9.
Jackal Warriors (23-25 AP): These guys got me interested in Orcs way back when, because I thought those skin tattoos were just incredible. There are 3 different profiles. See, back before Rackham came up with the idea of modular weapons, they would actually bring out different sculpts for each weapon profile. So, for 23 AP we have a Jackal w/ Club. For 24 AP, we have Jackals w/ Swords, and for 25 AP there is the Jackal w/ Axe. All 3 Jackal profiles are excellent. All have a nice 5 ATT, and either a 9 or 10 STR. They have Fanatacism as well, so can pack quite the punch when going all attack. Don’t discount their defensive abilites, though. Both the Club and Axe version have a DEF of 5, while the Sword version has a slightly lower DEF 4. I always include at least 2 of these units in my Orc armies. Usually 3-4.
Jackal Tracker (28 AP): This guy is one of the best 28 AP models available. ATT/STR =5/10. DEF/RES= 5/8. He also has Fanatacism, so can land STR 11 blows. Once again, like the Orc Tracker, the downside here is that he is bound to the Tracker clan and can’t join other Hordes. But, for vanilla Orc armies, you can’t go wrong with 2-3 of these guys.
Incendiary Orc (25 AP): This is an Orc Crossbowman, with a better AIM of 3 and a Naphtha crossbow (STR 5 +1D6). Unfortunately, he’s zone artillery so he doesn’t get the benefits of the new 3.5 perforating artillery rules. He does have Assault Fire printed on his card, though. This guy is bound to the Gerikan Horde, so can only be played in vanilla lists, or with the Gerikan theme.
Brute Musician and Brute Standard (21AP): These are the updated War Staff members. Slightly better than the original War Staff, but also slightly more expensive. You get what you pay for.
Special Troops:
Orc Raptor (24AP): This is the only Scout the Orcs have. He’s got the HTH stats of a basic Orc Warrior, but gets Scout and War Cry/6. They also come with a dose of Combat Drugs, which they can use once per game. You roll a D6. On a 2-5 you get 2 points to spend, like mutagenic points. On a 6, you get 3 points, but on a 1 you get -2 STR and RES for the rest of the turn. The Raptor is bound to the Tracker Clan, so cannot join other Hordes.
Elites:
Amok Slayer (37 AP): There are 2 profiles, one has Bravery and the other Masterstrike/0. I’ll let you decide which one is better. They both have War Fury, and a better than average RES 9. They also have a MOV of 12.5, which comes in handy. They are armed with the Amok Flail, which essentially gives them +1 ATT and STR when they charge or engage an opponent. These guys rank up there with the other top-level elites of the game, like Dai-Bakemonos, Praetorians, Royal Guards, and Formor Fiends. Don’t leave home without them.
Guardian Jackal (40AP): This Jackal Elite profile comes in the Orcish Hordes card pack. Another exceptional profile, he has ATT/STR= 6/10 and DEF/RES=5/8. On top of that, he gets Sequence/1, Fanatacism, and Resolution/1. I liked this guy in 3.0, but with the changes to Sequence in 3.5 he just became pretty phenomenal. Factor in the new GDR limitations on Elites, and this guy becomes the perfect alternative to an Amok Slayer. The only downside is that he is bound to the Jackal’s Lair Horde, so cannot join other themed armies.
Brontops Rider (54AP): Picture a Jackal Warrior with a MOV of 15 and STR 12 on the charge, and you get the Brontops Rider. Oh yeah, and he has Brutish Charge and Implacable/2 to keep him from getting bogged down in those first few frays. A fantastic shock troop.
Mystic Warriors:
Jackal Master of Rites (32AP): This is the Warrior Monk devout for the Orcs. Take away his Faithful abilities and you still have a nice HTH profile. And now that Miracles are free, this guy became quite the bargain. His aura is 10 cm. You have to decide which version of him you are going to take, the Master of Battles or Master of Rituals. This determines where his aspects are placed. He also gets this nifty ability to hand out 2 amulets to any fighter he wants. If the carrier of this amulet is the target of a miracle of the Jackal Cult, then the difficulty of that miracle is reduced by 1. I’ve saved the best for last, though. Whenever the Jackal Master of Rites successfully calls a miracle onto a friendly fighter in his camp, that fighter’s INI is increased by an amount equal to the fervor of the miracle (up to a max of 3). This is a perfect way to boost the Orc’s low INI.
Mystic Warrior (25 AP): There are two profiles of Warrior-Mages. The first has POW 1, the second POW 2. The POW 1 version is pretty limited in his spell selection, so most people field the POW 2 version. The Mystic Warriors also come with the Blood of Bran-O-Kor ability, which was revised in the 3.0 rulebook (pg 186). Basically, it gives them the Masterstrike/1 ability, and they get +1 ATT when they use Masterstrike. If they place all dice in Attack, then they get +2 ATT instead. He has to be touching dry land in order to use this ability (remember that on the Three Bridges scenario).
Animistic Shaman on Brontops (80 AP): A Mystic Warrior mounted on a Brontops. Unfortunately, he’s only POW 2. He’s as expensive as many characters, and could be a nice addition to an army that does not have a character. Otherwise, I think he is much too expensive to field in your typical 400AP build.
The Warrior Characters:
Vorak the Infallible (59AP): He’s your basic old school Warrior character. Average HTH stats with Leadership/10.
Vorak, 2nd Inc. (79AP): For an extra 20 AP, Vorak’s 2nd Incarnation gets +1 STR, +1 DEF, +1 RES, +1 COU, and most importantly, the Authority ability.
Rantakh (62AP): So, Rackham brings out the War Staff box set, and inside you get another character that looks suspiciously like Vorak, with very similar stats. The only difference is that Rantakh gets +1 RES over Vorak. Now to the good stuff: Rantakh has an artifact, reserved to himself, called the Skin of Mirages. It’s 12 AP, and gives Rantakh a neat little trick. At the beginning of the HTH phase, Rantakh can switch places with any Brute that is within 10cm of him. This is an excellent ability, especially if you’re running several Brutes or Brute Vets in your army. Fun stuff!
Dayak of a Hundred Lives (83 AP): Dayak is a nice solid character from the Tracker Clan. He’s got the HTH stats you would expect for the AP: ATT/STR= 6/9, DEF/RES= 6/9. He also gets Hard-Boiled and Bravery. You can equip him with the Armor of Assurnam for 13 AP. This gives him the Regeneration/5 ability. Additionally, if he suffers a KILLED OUTRIGHT, you roll a D6, and on a 6 Dayak lives on with a Critical Wound. Dayak can also equip himself with the Vulture Totem for 10 AP, which grants the Leadership/10 ability. Unfortunately, since Dayak is a Regular, he can only take one of these artifacts.
Kal Shadar (99 AP): Kal is the Amok Slayer character, and thus benefits from the Amok Flail ability. He’s got very nice HTH stats, but misses the Leadership ability. He also has an artifact called Gorok’s Horn (16AP), which gives various bonuses depending on whether there are other Amok Slayers within 15cm of him. His other artifact is Hakem’s Scimitar (21 AP). Basically it gives him an additional ATT dice for every KILLED OUTRIGHT he gets on the Wound table.
Kal Shadar, 2nd Inc. (124AP): Kal’s second Incarnation can be found in the Orcish Hordes card pack. They gave Kal +1 DEF and +1 DIS, but most importantly, they gave him the Leadership/10 that Kal’s 1st incarnation was sorely missing.
Holok, Jackal Warrior (88 AP): Holok’s card comes with Cry Havoc 7. He’s a champion of the Black Rock Tribe. Holok has excellent HTH stats, and can pull off a STR 20 Masterstrike and not fail thanks to the Fine Blade ability. Unfortunately, he does not have Leadership.
Avangorok, the Elusive (119AP): Ah, another one of Rackhams old-school Orc characters. He’s an excellent character, with Leadership/10 War Cry/7, Scout, and Bane/Dirz. So, if you know you’re playing Dirz, then Avangorok is your guy. His “Elusive” ability let’s you always keep his card in Reserve, and doesn’t count towards the maximum cards you can have in reserve (pg 185). Avangorok can be equipped with an unlimited supply of combat drugs at a cost of 4 AP for each dose. They give him various Mutagenic abilities, depending on your dice roll (Pg. 185).
Tarrun, Son of Umran Kal (125 AP): Another profile released with the Orcish Hordes pack, Tarrun is a character mounted on a Brontops. He’s a perfect character for Brontops-themed armies. In fact, he’s bound to the Thunder Riders Horde.
Ghorak, the Wild Beast (129 AP): This guy really is a Wild Beast. ATT 8/ STR 11 with a Naphtha Gauntlet for STR. Oh yes…and War Fury, too. Oh yes#2…he has an Amok Flail. The only thing that has prohibited me from fielding him is his relatively high AP cost, and only an 8 RES. Ghorak is a character from the Tracker Clan box.
Umran Kal (159 AP): Here’s the big guy on Brontops. He’s quite the offensive juggernaught. And he comes with an artifact that makes his charging STR 14, gives him War Horse, and Implacable/3. He’s got Leadership/15 to boot. But, way too expensive for your typical Confrontation game.
Umran Kal, 2nd Inc. (179 AP): For some reason, there’s a 2nd incarnation of this guy. I guess his first incarnation was not up to snuff?
Mystic-Warrior Characters:
Tork the Animal (72 AP): Tork is a POW 3 Initiate Warrior-Mage. Most people can picture his sculpt: He’s getting ready to throw this enormous rock, or Menhir. Tork’s 1st Incarnation was geared towards C1 and C2. So, he was updated to…
Tork, 2nd Inc. (80 AP): For only 8 AP more, you get a much better profile and he becomes POW 4. He does lose his Menhir throwing ability, though.
Shaka-Morkhai: This guys is the Orc Living Legend, who has the ability to be both a Warrior-Monk and a Warrior-Mage simultaneously. You’ll only see this guy in Ragnarok or Living Legend battles.
Mystic Characters:
Shaka-Umruk (39 AP): Shaka-Umruk is a Devout, with aspects totaling 3. To be honest, I’ve never played the guy because Orcish Divination is not that strong. I suppose you could field him to summon Sylvan Animae.
Tamaor the Vulture (54 AP): Tamaor is a POW 5 Adept. He’s a character from the Tracker Clan. He, along with Dayak, can take the Vulture Totem to gain Leadership/10. Tamaor is an excellent mage, casting most of the best Instinctive spells on a 2+. I like this guy a lot.
The Son of Thunder (78 AP): The SoT is the quintessential Orc character. He is a POW 5 Adept, and has Leadership/10 with a 7 COU and 5 DIS. Surround him with a War Staff, and you’ll fail few Fear checks and win a lot of Tactical rolls. He’s also got the Rally Cry ability, which just became a little more important with the 3.5 changes. He has a reserved spell, Thunder’s Wrath, which is a Zone Artillery damage spell. The Intensity is 0, so he gets it no matter what. Another reserved spell, Favor of the Long Sun, also has an intensity of 0. When successfully cast, he replaces his Brutal ability with Focus. His reserved artifact, the Pendulum of Mesmerism (18 AP) can really mess with your opponents activations if used properly (pg. 186). The SoT can also cast Elemental spells. He must choose 2 Elements during army construction. He can then cast Elemental spells from those two elements. However, the spells become Instinctive and are cast with neutral gems.
Special Character:
Carbone (46 AP): This is another character from the Tracker box. He’s actually a Goblin who became disgruntled with the Goblin ways and joined the Tracker Clan. Carbone’s token weapon is the Froof, a Naphtha powered gun. It can be used as light artillery, or as a flamethrower (pg. 185).
The Orcish Hordes:
The Orcish Horde pack was probably the first really balanced theme pack to be released. All of the Hordes are good, but not over-powering. Rather than go into tremendous detail, I’ll give a brief overview of each one.
Army of the Two Suns: The Horde ability, for 2 AP, gives the fighters the Bravery ability. The Solo/Raik ability can give a character Leadership, or increase its range. It also grants Authority. Another Solo can give a unit Implacable/1.
The Long Sun: The Horde ability, for 2 AP, gives fighters of the Long Sun +1 INI, ATT, and DEF if they’re within 15cm if an Orc magician. The Solo/Spiritual Leader ability gives the player +1 on his Tactical rolls. The Solo/Elemental Bond lets an Orc magician acquire an Elemental spell.
The Jackal’s Lair: Only fighters with an AP value of 20+ can join this Horde. The Horde ability, for 1 AP, gives the horde’s fighters +1 RES if they are within 15 cm of an Orc Character. Solo/Avenger of the Sanctuary (2AP) makes the fighter Possessed. The other Solo, Tattoos, is given to a Faithful. All friendly fighters within his aura benefit from Resolution/1.
Sarkai Nomads: The Horde ability (1 AP) lets you sacrifice Reserve possibilities. In exchange, a designated model gets the Luck ability. The Solo/Nomad ability can increase a model’s MOV. The Solo/ Talisman of Protection can grant the Insensitive/5 ability. And finally, Sarkai fighters can enlist Griffin fighters, up to 15% of the army. They are not considered allies.
Thunder Riders: The Horde ability, for 2 AP, grants War Cry/6. Brontops turn their COU into Fear. Solo/Beast of the Canyons gives the model Reorientation. Solo/Rancorous grants Fierce, but only 30% of the army can have this Solo.
Torches of Gerikan: The Horde ability, for 2 AP, gives the fighters Toxic/0. The Solo/Torch capacity turns Orc range weapons into Naphta weapons. The Solo/Torch Sorcerer capacity gives an Orc magician +1 POW, but he loses Instinctive Magic and acquires the elemental path of Fire. The Gerikan Horde also allows the player to enlist the Goblin Mafia. Up to 15% of the army can consist of Goblin Regulars and Vets, and they are not considered to be allies.
Vulture Claws: The Horde ability, for 1 AP, gives the fighters Bane against Wounded models. The Solo/Marauder capacity can turn an Orc with RES 6 or less into a Scout. The Solo/Bag of Tricks grants the Disengage/5 ability.
The Black Rock Tribe (from Cry Havoc 7): The Horde ability, for 2 AP, grants Survival Instinct. There are two Solos, one granting Sequence and the other granting Masterstrike/0.
The Tracker Clan: There really aren’t any particular rules regarding the Tracker Clan. This was an antiquated Clan that has never been updated by Rackham. Whether it ever will be modified for the current rules is yet to be seen.
General Tactics:
As I stated way at the top of this post, Orcs require a fair amount of finesse and practice to master. They are definitely not “Confrontation for beginners”. When I first started Orcs, I lost a lot. Now, I rarely lose with them. Here’s what I’ve learned:
1.)Orc Magic is paramount. It’s what makes Orcs good. Without it, you’re just another low RES HTH army with few tactical options.
2.)Orcs do better with moderately high numbers. Orcs have below average INI, so depend somewhat on swarming to help counteract this negative. Also, when facing armies that have natural dice advantage, via Born Killer or War Fury, it is important to outnumber the opponent. Orcs will not win in a slug-fest with Wolfen, Devourers, Kelts, or Drunes if there are a lot of 1-1 match-ups.
3.)Orcs are extremely vulnerable to shooting. The average Orc RES is 6. They have only average scouts, the Raptor, and poor shooting. Quite frankly, the best way for Orcs to avoid becoming pin cushions is to get them into HTH as soon as possible. Formations with meat-shields can help.
Key Spells:
Rejection: This spell levitates the target to Level 1, effectively neutralizing him. Alternatively, the mage can cast it on himself or a friend to get them out of a sticky situation. Possibly the best spell available to Orcs.
Kiss of the Earth: This spell doubles a model’s MOV rating. You can use this spell to get off very long charges, or to reach far objectives. The nice thing about this spell is that it has a Frequency of 2.
Cunning of the Jackal: The ultimate tactical advantage spell, CoJ gives you Authority AND lets you have an additional Reserve.
There are other good situational Instinctive magic spells, but the three above are what you’ll see the most.
Sample Lists:
Demo Orc Army without Magic or Divination:
Rantakh
w/ Skin of Mirages
Brute Vet Standard
Brute Vet Musician
2 Brutes w/ Machetes
2 Jackal Warriors w/ Axes
200 AP, 7 models, 3 cards.
This list lets you play games with Rantakh and his Skin of Mirages. Keep your models bunched in formation, get into HTH quick, and then have fun making your opponent guess where Rantakh will be.
My Origins winning Orc list. I happened to play Mort in the NACORD Finals, who was also playing a very similar Orc list, only his was led by Tamaor and had more numbers.
Son of Thunder
w/ Rejection
w/ Kiss of the Earth
w/ Ball of Flames
6 Brutes w/ Machetes
2 Amok Slayers w/ Masterstrike
2 Jackal Warriors with Clubs
2 Jackal Warriors w/ Axes
Obviously this list was for 3.0 and 2006 GDR restrictions. My current incarnation has morphed into the following for 3.5 and 2007 restrictions:
Son of Thunder
w/ Rejection
w/ Cunning of the Jackal
w/ Kiss of the Earth
w/ Thunder’s Wrath
w/ Ball of Flames
3 Brutes w/ Machetes
2 Amok Slayers w/ Masterstrike
3 Orc Warriors
2 Jackal Guardians
2 Jackals w/ Clubs
1 Mystic Warrior (POW 2)
w/ Vortex of the Quartz
w/ Elemental Chains
14 models, 399 AP
The idea is to use Cunning of the Jackal to gain the Tactical advantage. Then hold the SoT and Amok Slayer cards so that you activate last. Cast Kiss of the Earth on the Amoks, and have them charge the juciest target within 50 cm. Very few models can stand alone against two Masterstriking Amoks. Kill, pursue, kill again. You’ve likely crippled your opponent already. An alternative is to cast Kiss on the Mystic Warrior, who can charge into the enemy and cast Vortex of the Quartz to damage multiple models. Later in the game, use Rejection to neutralize the opponent’s heavy hitters, and cast Ball of Flames/Thunder’s Wrath to wreak havoc.