So Ghazghkull is a beast now… Literally. Check out four ways to deal with him before he gets within krumpin range of your whole 40k Army!
Depending on your army’s faction, most of your damage might be in the psychic phase, the shooting phase, or the melee phase. But to get rid of this green bully you may have to be effective in every single phase of the game.
Here are some things to watch out for and think about when you have to deal with this big boi.
Ghazghkull’s New Stats & What to Watch For
So Ghazghkull is going to be a monster, as you’d expect. Getting five attacks base with a four-damage Klaw he’s got enough to just about level a Knight by himself He’s gone up in toughness, wounds, and overall usefulness for Ork players across the board. Don’t forget he gives his Great Waaagh! bonus to all Orks now too.
But for all the non-Ork players trying to deal with him, there are some things to think about. While he got scarier, he’s definitely slower. Ghaz doesn’t have the Infantry keyword so he can’t be hit with Da Jump by a Weirdboy and a Painboy can’t just follow him around and make him nearly-immortal.
He only moves 7″ base and being that he’s 12 wounds means that he can start getting shot at from the very beginning of the game. That is unless he uses the Teleporta stratagem to deep strike in (if it is even allowed when the rules are finally revealed, and post FAQ).
What really saves his hide is the fact that he can’t take more than four damage in a given phase.
So how do we deal with him?
You’ll Have to Spread Your Damage Effectively Over Every Phase
Following the usual answer for Space Marine players, just applying a Smash Captain isn’t going to cut it with this guy. Plus, 7-8 times out of 10, Ghazghkull won’t be dying in a single turn (from 12 wounds to 0) unless conditions are perfect and you can possibly do wounds in the movement/charge phase.
With that being said, you can still fairly easily kill him in two turns. As we said before, the fact that he’s extremely immobile means that we should pretty comfortably be able to pop him before he does too much damage. Also, keep in mind if he drops in front of your line turn 2, while he’s closer for things like smite and other psychic powers, he’s still CLOSER, so you are going to have to make some clutch targeting choices to not get “green-tided” on turn 3.
Here are some ideas to consider if you’re wanting to kill him as fast as possible regardless of turn.
Get a Psyker Close
If you’re not using a faction with mobile Psykers, this is going to be hard. But a solid option to use would be a Phobos Librarian with a mortal wound power that can pick a target. There are a few of these spread around different Chapters. But the reason why smite will almost never work is because it has to target the closest enemy unit within 18″. You’ll be infiltrating up the board and while you’ll be closer to Ghaz than anyone else, you’ll still have ranks of Boyz to get past.
So on that note, if you can use a Psychic power that specifically targets something, you’re better off. You might be able to shave a wound or two off (and if you’re lucky a full three).
Have Firepower Ready
Another hot option (especially for Raven Guard) are the Primaris Eliminators. They’re a cheap firing platform that can cause mortal wounds on a roll of a 6. And if you’re playing Raven Guard, you’ll be hitting Ghaz on a 2+, Wounding him on a 4+ and having your mortal wounds proc on a 5+ when your Tactical Doctrine is active. However, you can also just go balls to the wall with firepower like some Repulsor Executioners and light him up thanks to his 12 wounds.
For Chaos players, the current meta is using very strong psychic/melee lists with hardly any shooting. But a tried and true classic for Chaos players is Contemptors with C-Beams and Deredeos with autocannons. These might be popping up again soon IF Ghaz is a really nasty threat.
The Smash Captain is the Cherry on Top
The Smash Captain is going to be the Coup De Grace to dealing with Ghaz. Especially if you bring a Captain with Artisan of War for BA’s, bringing his damage up to a flat 4. He’ll just need one hammer swing to go through, which will be a little tricky with a 4++ invuln anyway. Just make sure you don’t send him in until Ghazghkull is on his last four wounds and you haven’t dealt any wounds to him in the fight phase yet! If you pull the trigger too early, you’ll be feeding him a powerhouse unit for no reward.
Overall, Ghazghkull’s new stats are pretty spooky, but definitely manageable in some cases with smart tactical planning. If we don’t see more tricks to make him untargettable/heal (currently Mad Dok, and Painboys can only heal INFANTRY), he could end up being a strong turn-one start for Orks and then quickly turn into a bullet sponge if you deploy him.
There is, however, always the Goff Teleporta Strat, and Ghaz doesn’t break Kulture’s either…
What do you think about the new Ghazghkull model? Will you be running him in every Ork list?
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