Warhammer 40K Orks Morkanaut / Gorkanaut

Product Information

The year, is 2014. Games Workshop has been adding large, focal point models to armies. At one point in time, this could have been considered the DredKnight. But, like most arms races, other armies had to have bigger and badder models. So we saw models like the Riptide, the Imperial Knight, and the Wraithknight debut. A big, durable, powerful model that you invested a huge chunk of points into. Then the spring of 2014 came around and, at long last, Orks were getting their 4th edition book updated, along with several new models. And Keeping with the arms race tradition set before, they’d be getting a big bad, the Gorkanuat and it’s brother the Morkanuat. Kannon • Lobba • Zzap Gun • Kustom Mega-Kannon • Smasha Gun • Bubblechukka • Traktor Kannon • Killkannon • Supa-Kannon • Big Lobba • Soopa Gun • Supa-Zzap-Gun • Squig Katapult • Pulsa Rokkit • Grot Bomb Launcha Da Krunch (WC 6)- Roll D6 for each model in an enemy unit within 18”, doing a Mortal Wound for each 6, or for each 5+ if cast on a 9+. Decent for thinning the ranks of larger squads, though Orks can do that fairly well already. Doesn’t need Line of Sight so can help a bit there, but will not be inflicting massive damage outside of good rolls on large units. A few nasty point increases on mid-tier units. Stormboyz, Flash Gitz, Meganobz, and the Wazboom Blastajet all saw significant points increases they could have done without (though some weapon options on Meganobz got cheaper, so if you run double killsaws their overall cost went down). That’s not great for army/list diversity. While working through the kitbash I used bluetac a lot to assemble bits together and get a good idea of how the piece would look glued together. After each limb or part was finalized with glue I set up pins using plastic tubing or brass rod to provide a good place to hold during airbrushing as well as a way to make the final assembly very easy. All I would need to do is slide a limb in place and glue.

Literally all the Morkanaut has going for it is its the only non- HQ source of a KFF. The guns are pretty crap imo, and they have Gets Hot which have a 50-50 chance to glance himself if he rolls a 1 on the Gets Hot! attempt. The Gorkanaut & Morkanaut suffer from being a new class of Dreadnought without a meaningful role. If they had been given proper tools for better survival you could have something, but as it is the point costs doesn’t justify the return in investment. Their uses very limited. The transport capacity isn’t enough and the amount of shooting is penalized by Ork Ballistic Skill. They really needed an edge, like better Initiative, 14 armour all around, but as it is they are a dead man walking. Base coat the metallic parts of your Morkanaut, such as weapons and machinery, with Leadbelcher. This will be the foundation for achieving a metallic appearance. Ensure even coverage to create a consistent and striking effect. X+++, or ‘shrug’, ‘Feel No Pain’ or ‘Ignore Damage roll’ depending on how you’re feeling, means it is a dice roll to ignore each point of damage, which is taken after any failed saves.Warpcraft isn’t fantastic for Orks, as Weirdboyz are not even slightly the kind of caster you want to try these with. Since the vehicle lists tend to be a bit less capable in the other categories, they should probably avoid taking a Weirdboy to give them a shot at Abhor the Witch in some games. And as always, Frontline Gaming sells Games Workshop product at up to 25% off of retail, every day! The goblins were real fun to paint and based on Brin’s Orruk skin from How to Paint Everything: Orks . I went a bit lazy with it and didn’t include the purple basecoat for the shadows or the flesh color final highlight but they turned out well enough. I particularly love how the lenses came out on the grot pilot! Great Waaagh! Detachment: You thought Killer Kans or Deff Dreds Deep Striking were funny, well what about a Gorkanaut or Morkanaut! A better use for a Gorkanauts & Morkanauts than Deep Strike novelties, is filling them up with Tankbustas from the extra Elite slots you get, hoping to get close enough to pop out and shoot something.

Big Trakks I am forced to briefly talk about to remind you that a.) they exist and b.) their biggest, nastiest gun appears to have accidentally become free without a corresponding cost increase on the body. Make of that what you will – they’re probably not even terrible now, and used to be a niche fave in Indexhammer 8th. Da Ded Shiny Shoota- Makes a Kustom Shoots Dakka 14/10, with +1 in Str AP and Dmg. A pretty potent ranged relic, which if used on a Mega Armoured Big Mek lets him lay down some fairly impressive firepower (for an Ork) thanks to his BS4. Not a bad secondary Relic, or if you only have a Wartrike as well and nothing to give him.

Abilities

If your WARLORD is a WARBOSS, then once per battle, in your Command phase, you can call a Waaagh!. To do so, that WARBOSS must be on the battlefield or embarked on a TRANSPORT that is on the battlefield. If your WARLORD is a SPEEDBOSS, then once per battle, in your Command phase, you can instead call a Speedwaaagh!. To do so, that SPEEDBOSS must be on the battlefield. If your WARLORD is GHAZGHKULL THRAKA, you can instead call a Great Waaagh!. To do so, GHAZGHKULL THRAKA must be on the battlefield or embarked on a TRANSPORT that is on the battlefield. The Morkanaut is the epitome of Orkish innovation and ferocity, a sight that sends shivers down the spines of even the most battle-hardened warriors. Its construction exemplifies the art of brutality and ingenious engineering in equal measure, a testament to the Orks’ mastery of destruction. What’s in the Morkanaut box A Waaagh! and Speedwaaagh! each have two stages. The first stage is active from when the Waaagh! or Speedwaaagh! is called, and lasts until the start of your next Command phase. When the first stage ends, the second stage starts, and lasts until the start of your subsequent Command phase. After this point, the Waaagh! or Speedwaaagh! is no longer active, and has no further effect. Calling a Great Waaagh! is treated as calling both a Waaagh! and a Speedwaaagh! at the same time. Both are active from when a Great Waaagh! is called, and each stage starts and finishes as described above. It’s been put out there that the easiest solution to ‘fix’ the Gork/Morkanaut is to make them Super-Heavy Walkers. This does solve almost every problem, but look at those legs:

Roar of Mork* (WC 6)- The Psyker gets a massive 18” Aura, making enemy units in range -1 Ld and -2” to Advance and Charge rolls. A good defensive power, helping shut down a bit of mobility as well as getting caught off guard by enemy melee. The Ld debuff is neither here nor there, but can be occasionally useful for ranged elements to help cause morale. edition is out in the wild, and with it a whole raft of changes to the factions of Warhammer 40,000. Today, by extremely popular demand it’s finally the turn of the Orks. We decided waiting till November would be too mean. Infantry lists shine at Shadow Operations – With lots of cheap Infantry to work with, Orks can afford to throw small units at Actions without a significant loss of damage output. Raise the Banners High looks especially good for armies with plenty of Kommandos. Deploy Scramblers is probably higher value than normal as well, as you’re planning to try and get a big lead on the primary. Headwoppa’s Killchoppa- A Big, Beast or ‘Uge Choppa becomes Power Klaw without the -1 that does an additional Mortal Wound on 6s to Wound. A good allround offensive relic, albeit not the most exciting. Mek Guns came out of the changes in a pretty good place point wise, and they can move and shoot without incurring a penalty to their hit rolls since they’re vehicles, but that’s a double-edged sword: they’re also going to bleed you points to the Bring It Down Secondary Objective, where their T5, 6-Wound frames do not do enough to protect them. Unless you’re going all-in on vehicles, that probably caps you at maybe 6 of these as a sensible number. With that in mind, there probably isn’t much draw to take a detachment just for running these, and you’re more likely to see a small number stapled onto another detachment. That isn’t the end of the world – the dreaded Smasha Gun is still an extremely nasty piece of kit, and giving up kills isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be. It really only takes one spike turn from a battery of these to waste a big target, so keeping some around is worthwhile. It does seem a bit less likely you’ll see them in Grot Mobz, though that is an option if you end up needing to take a Patrol to squeeze in HQs.More Dakka!- All of an ORKS unit’s Dakka weapons count as being in half range for their number of shots. Will depend on the unit you use this on, as some will benefit far more than others. A unit of 9 Warbikers going from 54 shots to 90 is well worth 2CP. A unit of 10 Boyz going from 20 shots to 30, not so much. As the cost is flat regardless of unit or size, use this on the biggest and most dakka-ry units you have for maximum carnage. At the heart of the Morkanaut’s power lies its primary weapon, the awe-inspiring Kustom Mega-Kannon. This potent firearm brims with worky gubbinz and zappy bits, ready to unleash devastation on the battlefield. With its firepower, enemies are left quivering in fear, knowing that their fate is sealed in the hands of this mechanical monster.