Merry Grotmas! Games Workshop is releasing a new series of detachments - one per army, every day until Christmas. In this series we’re looking at these new detachments, covering what’s in them, how they play, and how they’ll fit into the broader meta and your games.
Orks have had a roller coaster of a time in 10th edition, going from a weaker index release into a strong codex release followed by some immediate nerfs to put the faction back into the dumpster. Recently they have been taking a break from the top of the meta, but I have great news: It has been a very Merry Grotmas as the Orks are coming into this reveal freshly buffed by both the dataslate and a very good, brand new datasheet in the Breaka Boyz. We haven’t had time to see how this has affected the meta as a whole but things are sure looking up for the boyz in Green, and today we're introduced to what looks like a sweet new Detachment. If you missed Blood Axes, then today is your day.
Changelog
2025-12-30 (Current): Updated to reflect dataslate changes and new lists
2024-12-14: Initial Publication
Detachment Overview
The Taktikal Brigade has arrived and in proud Ork tradition, these rules have been Looted from some stinkin’ humies. Orks now have Orders Taktiks they can issue to their units in the Command Phase, making those units better at doing various things. Taktiks can be issued by each Mek, Warboss, and Boss Snikrot in your army, with only a bit of risk should they fail a Leadership test. The result is a very Blood Axe-themed army with a host of new options that brings an old index favorite back to the Orks' growing arsenal.
This detachment originally held a lot of power, giving Orks a very solid alternative to Bully Boyz and War Horde, but was nerfed pretty substantially early in 2025, losing the ability to issue two Taktiks to a unit. As a result, while this detachment still has some power, it's no longer the preferred way to play the faction competitively.
Da Video Version
If you’d rather watch this all than read, you can find the video version of our review here:
Detachment Rule: LISSEN ‘ERE
Once per battle round, in your Command phase or after being set up on the battlefield in your Movement phase, each BOSS SNIKROT, MEK, and WARBOSS model in your army can issue Taktiks abilities.
To do so, select one of the Taktiks abilities below and select one friendly ORKS unit within 6” of that model to issue them to. If you selected two Taktiks, the model must take a leadership test: if failed, the selected unit suffers 1 mortal wound. Until the start of your next Command phase, the selected unit is affected by the selected Taktik. A unit cannot have Taktiks issued to it in this way more than once per battle round.
Taktiks abilities cannot be issued to Battle-shocked units, and if a unit affected by Taktiks becomes Battle-shocked, all Taktiks cease to affect that unit while it is Battle-shocked.
Get Stuck In: You Can re-roll charge rolls made for this unit
Get On Wiv It: Add 1 to the Strength characteristic of melee weapons equipped by models in this unit
Sneaky Stalkin: Infantry and Mounted models (excluding MEGANOBZ) in this unit have the [STEALTH] ability and each time a ranged attack targets this unit, those models have the Benefit of Cover against the attack.
Shoota Drills: Each time an Infantry or Mounted model in this unit makes a ranged attack, add 1 to the Hit Roll
Keywords
STORMBOYZ units in your army gain the BATTLELINE keyword.
The Lissen 'Ere rule initially let you issue two Taktiks to a unit, doing D3 mortal wounds if you failed the Leadership test. While taking fewer wounds is an OK consolation, it's fundamentally just way worse since being able to give a unit re-rolls to Charge and +1 Strength is a huge combination of factors. Despite this, these are still powerful effects; the problem is that War Horde gives you Sustained Hits 1 all the time without having to have nearby characters or jump through any hoops, and that's just as good as +1 to Hit. It's a Detachment that's more outclassed than necessarily underpowered.
As far as the orders go, +1 to your Strength in melee helps you get past some key breakpoints both in and outside of your Waaagh! and isn't limited to Infantry/Mounted units, nor is Get Stuck In. Meanwhile Shoota Drills gives you some solid output boosts on the likes of Lootas and Tankbustas.
Stormboyz being Battleline is cute but it doesn't improve their OC and you weren't going to take 4+ units of them, and not having a Zagstruk-like character to attach to them makes them hard to build around.
Credit: Keewa
Enhancements
All of these are decent enough to take, and at least two are must-takes for armies building around this Detachment.
SKWAD LEADER – WARBOSS INFANTRY model only. During the Declare Battle Formations step, the bearer can be attached to a KOMMANDOS unit. While leading a KOMMANDOS unit, it has the infiltrators and Stealth abilities.
MEK KAPTIN– BIG MEK, BIG MEK IN MEGA ARMOUR or BIG MEK WITH SHOKK ATTACK GUN model only. During the Declare Battle Formations step, the bearer can be attached to a FLASH GITZ unit. Each time a model in the bearer’s unit makes a ranged attack, you can re-roll the Hit roll. This is quite the powerful enhancement and makes Flash Gitz even more of a shooting threat. Goes great with Shoot Drills.
MORKS KUNNIN’ – ORKS model only. After both players have deployed their armies, select up to three ORKS units from your army and redeploy them. When doing so, you can set those units up in Strategic Reserves, regardless of how many units are already in Strategic Reserves. It’s a redeploy, nothing to see here (though it does allow you to block other Infiltrators units with Kommandos and then redeploy back to safer positions).
GOB BOOMER –WARBOSS or MEK model only. Each time the bearer issues Taktiks, it can do so to a friendly ORKS INFANTRY or ORKS MOUNTED unit within 18”, instead of 6”. Aw, the Orks have figured out how to use da oomies’ vox casters. Not sure if you’d build around this, but a very useful enhancement nonetheless.
Stormboyz. Credit: Rockfish
Stratagems
The six Stratagems here all cost one CP, and many of them are written for - or at least intended for use by - Stormboyz, though you can get plenty of use out of them on other units.
DAT’S OURS (STRATEGIC PLOY, 1 CP) – Used in the Command phase on an Orks unit that’s within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units. Until the start of your next Command phase, they get +1 OC. This is a nifty way to flip an objective when you have models on it, but they’re going up against something with higher OC. Great for your Stormboyz and attacking home objectives protected by weak, OC 2 Battleline units.
FIGHT PROPPA (BATTLE TACTIC, 1 CP) – Used in the Fight phase on an Infantry or Mounted unit to give them either the [SUSTAINED HITS 1] or [LETHAL HITS] ability for the rest of the phase. Not a ton to say about this, it’s just a solid increase on your damage output. Good for helping units that may be low on their attacks count get over the hump against tougher units.
TAKTIKAL RETREAT (STRATEGIC PLOY, 1 CP) – Used in your Movement phase after an Orks unit Falls Back. Until the end of the turn, that unit can shoot and charge. This is always good to have, and useful for disengaging from screens or tarpit combats and reaching the targets you want to be stuck in with.
KRUNCHIN DESCENT (BATTLE TACTIC, 1 CP) – Used in your charge phase, after a Stormboyz unit ends a Charge. Pick an enemy unit within Engagement Range of them, then roll a D6 for every Stormboy that’s within Engagement Range of that enemy unit. For each 4+ they take a mortal wound (to a max of 6). The infantry version of Tank Shock is OK, and has situational uses - such as when you charge a vehicle or elite infantry unit and need to push some damage through.
ON TO DA NEXT (STRATEGIC PLOY, 1 CP) – Used in your Opponent’s Movement phase, after they fall back with a unit. Pick an Orks unit that was within Engagement Range of that enemy unit at the start of the phase. They can make a Normal Move of up to 6”. Reactive moves are universally good. Though this one’s trigger is probably the most restrictive. It combines nicely with the other strats here and the army encourages always tagging your opponent, but it won't let you move into Engagement Range again so ideally you can use it to get back into a transport.
DED SNEAKY (STRATEGIC PLOY, 1 CP) – Used at the end of your Opponent’s Fight phase on a Kommandos or Stormboyz unit that isn’t within Engagement Range of an enemy unit. Pick them up off the battlefield and put them into Strategic Reserves. Orks get a proppa’ uppy-downy of their own. This Stratagem is always useful, particularly when you can combine it with Deep Strike units.
This is a solid set of Stratagems, and there are a lot of good tools here with zero duds. Dat’s Ours is probably the most novel of the set, and just wild as a tool to flip objectives without warning - the ability to throw that out in your opponent’s Command phase can lead to some wild plays.
Sirrus Bizniz, Goff ork warlord in mega armour. Credit: Charlie Brassley.
Playing This Detachment
Ben: If you are looking to get the most bang for your buck in this detachment, you build around the models giving Taktiks. The good news is that most Ork lists are already doing this - Warbosses have been a staple for a while and Meks get a lot of value out of being able to repair a trukk, give it +1 to hit, and deliver a taktik.
Having a Strength boost available to your army at all times is a bit like having a partial Waaagh! And having +2 during the Waaagh is great as it’ll usually mean hitting a breakpoint for getting +1 to wound against most targets. That said, we don’t expect this Detachment to play too differently from a War Horde List, bringing a mixed pile of Boyz or Nobz and Flash Gitz in Trukks that move up the board and set up for a Devastating Waaagh! Turn. This Detachment adds more kunning options and is a bit more robust in the Shooting department, and really wants to take a unit of ten Flash Gitz with an attached Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun.
The Stratagems in this Detachment are pretty strong but everything here is a bit more restrictive than you’d expect. The star here is the Ded Sneaky Stratagem, which gives your army the ability to put Stormboyz back into reserves. It really helps transform your Stormboyz into a fantastic scoring unit.
Strengths
Orders. Taktiks are pretty strong effects and offer a lot of versatility. You can tailor your buff to the situation and the unit.
Kommandos. An Enhancement that lets you attach a leader to a unit of Kommandos and Infiltrate with them is pretty solid and you won't find it anywhere else.
Mobility. You have a lot of movement options here, with Ded Sneaky to pull models off the table, a redeploy enhancement, fall back and shoot/charge, and a reactive move.
Weaknesses
Stormboyz. Stormboyz don’t have any leader options and so can’t issue Taktiks to themselves when arriving from Deep Strike
Stratagem Restrictions. The stratagems can be a bit restrictive.
Vehicles. There's very little support for Vehicle units here.
Kommandos. Credit: Rockfish
A Sample List
While Taktikal Brigade is not nearly the competitive darling it was early in 2025, there's still a lot to like about it and it benefit from the same buffs the army received in the Q3 dataslate, with a number of point drops to key units you'd want to run. Ben took this list to a 4-2 finish at the LDXP GT in Tacoma in early November, starting 4-0 and earning a TiWP before losing to Astra Militarum and Necrons.
Exported with App Version: v1.43.0 (102), Data Version: v705
The key hits are all here - there's a pair of 80-point Beastbosses with Beast Snagga Boyz, two Stormboy units to threaten backfield objectives throughout the game, a large unit of Kommandos, a Bik Mek attached to a unit of Flash Gitz, and a trio of Tankbustas in Trukks. This list goes way harder on the shooting side of things than the fighting, but counts on Beast Snagga Boyz to handle many of the melee threats you'd have to deal with.
Final Thoughts
Seeing Orks and Astra Militarum mixed together is pretty fun. We're a bit saddened by the early nerfs to this one, as we didn't feel like the Detachment was broken on release, merely powerful. What we're left with is an interesting but outclassed Detachment which can provide skilled players with some interesting options for playing missions and taking a more shoot-and-scoot approach to playing Orks on the tabletop. It's definitely a different vibe. The flavor here is exquisite; the only miss is that there’s no leader unit for Stormboyz.
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Credit: Keewa
Stormboyz. Credit: Rockfish
Sirrus Bizniz, Goff ork warlord in mega armour. Credit: Charlie Brassley.
Kommandos. Credit: Rockfish
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