The Mob Rule table

Ok so first off I don't really like criticising about rules and armies in public discussion as I don't really like getting too much mixed up in the politics of the game however I do feel as this is needed to be pointed out, and to get this off my chest..

Ok so what is the Mob Rule now?

Basically if you fail a moral or pinning test (so you can take a possible both tests in a turn) you consult a chart, on a 1 you run away, on a 2-4 you take D6 strength 4 hits at AP- and pass the test on a 5-6 you take the D6 hits as you would for the 2-4 result except its randomly allocated and if your boys are less than 10 in the squad they fail the test.

Ok so you take some hits but pass test, seems fair?

No, the fact is, is that it heavily penalises small mobz of boys, plus it can take a lot out of a big mob, such as if your opponent kills 8 guys out of a  30 boy mob you fail a moral test and now you kill off 3 guys (seeing as its average) that's over a quarter of your guys gone in one phase, let along turn and while yes you pass your moral/pinning how long will it get before you make it in combat? how and how many of your guys will actually make it in combat? too many variables just to say "you passed moral therefore all is good" so to say..

The other thing that annoys me about this rule is their shoddy reason behind it, the Game devs basically said that Orks like to fight eachother.. Yes this is correct Orks do like to fight eachother.. however they will only fight eachother only if there is no one else around

Put it this way:

Your an Ork boy in a large mob and your mate Zog it right next to you and you quite clearly see and horde of Hormagaunts charge towards you and your Mob is beginning momentum for a charge towards the horde, now do you:

A) Bonk your mate Zog over the head repeatedly with your Choppa

Or

B) Follow the rest of your mob and charge the Hormaguants..

If you chose A) even an Ork Boy would classify you as a simpleton..

This is what annoys me about the Game Devs reasoning behind the rule, they knew what they were doing and so do we, us, their audience, however they put up a shoddy reason behind it instead of the saying the real reason behind the rule... to make Space Marines look good.

The other thing that annoys me about this rule is more form a game designing perspective, your playing a horde army meaning that you will have a shed ton of models to move, shoot, etc, etc, this of course takes time and a lot of it because of the amount of models you have.. This rule of random rolling followed by even more random rolling just bulks out the game even more unnecessarily I mean yeah this will take a few mins to resolve, yet those few mins take time out still and even more so builds up for every time you roll the chart.

Ok so how about minimising results for the Mob Rule table?

Yes there are ways fortunately, and it does help to minimise results so its not all doom and gloom.. However these results are either expensive or very controversial..

The first thing that jumped to me was the Stompa.. that beast has a special rule called effigy which means that units within 6" of it gain fearless, which stops mob rule in its tracks..

However..

The Stompa is a very controversial unit, and this is because not many people like playing against super-heavy's and will refuse games as soon as they hear the word "super" without batting an eye.. So we have to assume that The Stompa for this time is out of bounds..

The other option includes giving your mobz 'Eavy armour which confers a 4+ save, seems good right? well its is.. however it is 4pts meaning that your average boy becomes 10pts.. 10pts... for 4 points more you can a CSM.. in turn this means your average horde will cost around 350pts which as you can see, is very expensive..

You can also place in a Painboy in the unit giving the unit Feel No Pain.. However (I love the word however hehe ;) ) he does take up a HQ slot meaning your going to be taking multiple detachments this way or your going with the new Ork detachment which reinforces Green Tide, and also to that its only FNP.. many weapons can still attack and basically ignore your points you paid to make your mobz FNP, plus is still bulks the game unnecessarily...

There is also The Kustom Force Field, however its gives a 5+ invulnerable save against shooting attacks to models within 6" of it.. yeah with such a small range, your not going to have all your mobz covered..

So there are ways to minimise however you are paying points to fix something internally instead of paying points to focus on your enemy, which I disagree with.. a lot.

My apologies for a negative rant but I did feel as if I had to address this point and get it off my chest, but as I resume I have a lot of nice things to say and review in the future for the Ork codex :)

This is The Warp Forge, signing out and remember.. Keep on forging!