Last week I played my first game of Warhammer 40k in about 30 years. I started way back in the day, then life happened… you know, the luxury hobbies like living indoors and eating food. But now that LithGeek runs Warhammer games every Thursday night, I figured it was time to stop making excuses and start rolling dice again.
At the time of writing this, I’m painting my Ork Boyz (slowly… because Thursday is basically my hobby night). I mentioned I was keen to play, and a few of the Thursday crew were legends and brought in spare Orks so I could jump straight into a game. That’s the vibe we’ve built at 85 Main Street Lithgow: whether you’re new, returning, or a veteran who can recite unit names like poetry, you’ll get real help—not just polite nodding.
Orks play… very differently to “strategy brain”
Normally, I’m the cautious, chess-like player. I hold back, plan angles, and try to squeeze maximum value from every unit. Orks are the opposite. Their whole theme is basically:
Attack first. Plan later. If you live.
It’s so counter to my natural playstyle that it felt like learning to write with my non-dominant hand. Fun… but chaotic.
The battle: Orks vs Tyranids
My opponent ran Tyranids, and you could tell he loves them—every model looked like it had been lovingly grown in a terrifying bio-lab. I went in expecting to lose and to have a blast doing it.
I don’t have the official points list (I’m working off memory—so yes, if you tally it all up, something is probably missing), but my borrowed Ork mob was roughly:
- Ork Kommandos
- Two units of Boyz
- Lootas
- A Trukk
- Three Bikes
- Deffkoptas
- A Deff Dread
- Two Nobz (in power armour)
- A Weirdboy
If you’re new to Warhammer 40,000, the basics are simple: each unit has a role (shooting, melee, speed, toughness), and each turn you move, shoot, charge, and fight. The trick is learning when to commit… and with Orks, “when” is usually “NOW”.
Kommandos: sneaky… for Orks
Ork Kommandos are hilarious because they’re slightly sneaky Orks, which is like saying “this crocodile is wearing a tie, so it’s basically an accountant”. They had a distraction grot and a bomb squig (which I really wanted to use).
Sadly, a Tyranid Screamer-Killer arrived and turned my Kommandos into a single-round buffet. The bomb squig didn’t explode heroically… it became a spicy meatball.
The Trukk: a vintage ute of doom
I need a Trukk for my personal Ork army. It looks like a vintage ute held together with mismatched panels, hope, and questionable welding. If that thing existed in real life, there’s no way you’d make it to the grocery store without being pulled over for safety violations.
This was also my first true Ork moment. I loaded a Nob into the back, charged headlong into a pile of Genestealers, and then asked, “So… what are the ramming rules?” True Ork fashion.
It went delightfully bad.
Two unfortunate dice rolls later, the Trukk got swarmed and exploded… taking only one Genestealer with it. Not ideal. Extremely Orky.
The Screamer-Killer: too angry to die
For anyone new: the Screamer-Killer is basically a huge Tyranid monster built for close combat—four nasty arms, brutal melee, and annoyingly tough. My Kommandos and Lootas tried to focus fire early, but between my “welcome back to the hobby” rolls and its toughness, it shrugged off almost everything. It felt like the kind of beast the Imperium of Man would write three angry reports about and then pretend didn’t exist.
But then—by turn three—it wandered within reach of my Deff Dread.
Calling the WAAAGH!!
Once per game, Orks can call a WAAAGH!! It’s the big green “go faster and hit harder” moment, and I’d been saving it… but we were running short on time and I wanted to experience it properly.
So I called it.
My Deff Dread got into melee with the Screamer-Killer and—honestly—it was nearly anti-climactic. The big Tyranid terror that had been bullying my army got ripped apart in a glorious clanking blur of Ork engineering.
Learning by playing (and why Thursdays rule)
With ADHD, I can read rules and still have them bounce right off my brain. But playing games—especially with people who explain not only what the rule is, but why it matters—makes it stick. That’s what I love about our Thursday night group: we’re friendly to brand new players, returning players, and experienced generals who just want a great game.
If you’re around Lithgow, Bathurst, Katoomba, Leura, Oberon, Portland, Dubbo, Zigzag, Bilpin, Blackheath, or even the mythical lands of Mellow Bath, come in and say hi. We’ve got Warhammer 40k items in stock, we can help you pick a starter force, and we’ll never judge your first paint job (because everyone’s first paint job is a crime scene).
And yes—while you’re here, we’re also a computer shop (custom gaming computers and repairs), so you can sort your hobby and your rig in one trip.
your rig in one trip.
your rig in one trip.