Envy. One trait that is shared among all the known races. Of course some of them share it in a lot stronger fashion than others, but perhaps none as much as the admirals and captains of the Orc Naval Fleet. The reason is very simple too. When compared to any other fleet of the Warhammer world, Orc vessels are at the bottom of the heap.

Examine any of the Orc ships and in it you will find a serious detriment that will hamper your battle plans in an obvious way. Don't believe me? Let's take a look then.

I doubt that any Man O' War player out there would argue that the Drillakilla's are way overpriced for a ship that sinks itself over 1/3 of the time. Not only is their movement erratic and unreliable, but if you do roll for high movement, chances are you will leave another Drillakilla behind as a straggler. A squadron of three should realistically cost 75 points maximum. Having no ranged weapons, and being able to initiate a boarding action only when a successful roll is made on the Drillakilla table, (yes that IS the rule), the Drillakilla's are mostly forced to make an attack and hope the enemy fails their save. Otherwise they will get boarded by the enemy on the following turn and usually lose. In the MOW Questions published in White Dwarf # , the question was asked if the Drillakilla could perform a boarding action instead of taking it's chances on the Drillakilla table. The answer was that the Orcs "cannot turn off the drill" and must roll if they come in contact. The rulebook states that "if a save is made, The Drillakilla stops and nothing more happens this turn." Sad, but true unfortunately. With this in mind, you might be surprised to find out that I think the Drillakilla's are also one of the most interesting and enjoyable ships to play as they add uncertainty, excitement and an element of comedy to the game. They still are over point valued regardless.

Next up is the Bigchukka, an even bigger liability than the Drillakilla. Here is an Orc ship that cannot move and shoot in the same turn. Usually the new Orc player says either "What?!" or "Did I hear that right?" when finding out that he has to have a squadron or two of these sitting ducks. A smart enemy player will approach Bigchukka's from their flanks, out of their field of fire and blast them. He knows he's safe if they turn to fire, as they can't do that until the next turn. Don't get me wrong, the Bigchukka's do serve a purpose however. They do make a great defensive screen to advance your Hulks behind and absorb the enemies attacks. Defensively they are worthwhile, offensively they are virtually useless.

Finally, we have the Hulk. Now what's wrong with a Hulk you're probably thinking. They can deliver crushing damage to the enemy with their Smash-Hammers, Iron Claws and Bigchukkas. I'd agree to that. But what will typically happen to a Hulk is that it is either disarmed quickly of it's Iron Claw and then the enemy stays within three inches to avoid the Bigchukka's, or else they simply get out maneuvered, as the slow, plodding Hulks usually have no problem living up to their name.

So what's a good ole Orc Enjuneer ta do? Simple. Get back to dem drawun boards and git ta wurk! There are two absolutes to Orc enjuneerin. One is gunpowder. Orcs don't use it. Ever. Komplex khemical kompounds and your average Orc lad just don't go together too well. The second is this - keep it simple stupid. Why waste a lot of time trying to build some new contraption if what you have works good enough.

Of all the weaponry the Orcs have, the one that seems to be most effective is the bigchukka. Of course we are talking about the bigchukka's on the Hulk now, you know - of the ships that carry the bigchukka's it's the one that can move and fire in the SAME turn. Something's the Orcs CAN do are really amazing aren't they?

So how does an Orc enjuneer improve upon this one ray of light in the otherwise dark world of the Orc navy? Bigchukkas already give a negative modifier to the enemies saving throws, as well as being able to cause damage to multiple areas. The only things that could be improved upon would be to increase the range they can fire, increase the number of shots fired at once, or enable them to fire over enemy ships.

Guess what? The Orc Enjuneers did all three! They discovered that the only way to increase the number of shots that the Bigchukka could fire would be to use smaller rocks as the Bigchukka's already push the limits of what can be thrown through the air. This was, in fact, discovered quite by accident during an Orc invasion into Brettonia. It seems that the Orcs overran a Brettonian catapult emplacement with several squads of Wolf Riders. They then brought a Rock Lobber closer to the front lines of the battle. Unfortunately, they quickly used up their supply of boulders and had to improvise. Not finding any huge rocks to toss about, they decided to use they catapult round shot left behind. Realizing that multiple round shot needed to be used in place of the boulders normally fired, the Orc commander was very pleased with the results. One interesting aspect of the new ammo was also exploited - the multiple shot could be thrown further than the enormous rocks ever could. This idea was brought back to the Orc Enjuneerun Ladz and was quickly modified for Bigchukkas - a few modifications and the Splattapult Barge was born.

Of course the earlier designs needed some refinement, which, I know, is a bit of a contradiction when talking about the Orcs. They discovered that the arcs that the shot took when launched were much higher and steeper than that of the massive boulders normally fired by the Bigchukkas. Many times the thrown shot disappeared from sight as it arced high in the sky. Upon seeing this happen over several weeks of testing, a fairly bright Orc lad (no jokes now), remarked that they could now shoot over the tops of the highest trees or walls. It was decided that if this technique could be perfected and incorporated into the Barge's final design, the Orc admiral would have the equivalent of an Imperial Ironfist at their disposal. Several more weeks of tests and experiments were conducted until the idea for a sighting tower was hit upon. It was quickly built and placed just behind the Bigchukka (or Splattapult now), it allowed the Orcs to sight and aim at targets behind other ships. Further modifications allowed the Splattapult to shoot even farther than a Bigchukka, although not over other ships at this extreme range.

Using a modified dual Bigchukka hull, the ship had the standard treadwheel to propel the barge across the sea. Unfortunately, the treadwheel used the same gearing system as the Bigchukkas - or Splattapults as they would now be called, and they would suffer the same fate as well - no movement and firing in the same turn. Heated discussions were made for adding a sail as a secondary and more reliable means of movement - one additional benefit being that it would not interfere with firing. There were some amongst the designers however, who had been anxious to try out a new - at least for the Orcs, method of propulsion - oars. With oars they argued, the ship could have more speed and mobility as there were very few other races who could row like a properly motivated Orc. Furthermore, oars would allow the Splattapult to turn on the spot. Both sides argued strongly and ultimately both sails and oars were approved and incorporated into the final design. The Orc Naval Kommander was quite pleased with the Splattapult as it would be the ONLY ship in the sea with three methods of propulsion.

Following closely on the highly successful debut of the Colosses, the Splattapult Barge can now proudly take its place in Orc Naval lore. With these two new vessels, the Orc fleet now can now be considered one of the most innovative as well as feared navies on the sea.

CLASSIFICATION

The Splattapult Barge is considered an independent ship and follows all rules that apply to that class. Like other independent ships, it may not receive MOW cards.

FLEET RESTRICTIONS

The Orc fleet may not have more Splattapult Barges than they have Man O' War class ships. If using the Colosses, do not include it in the MOW total (unless it is the ONLY MOW class ship) when figuring the number of Splattapult Barges you may have.

COMBAT

The Splattapult Barge uses a modified Bigchukka (renamed a Splattapult) to throw multiple rocks over long distances. It has a maximum range of 12". Due to the very high trajectory of the rocks, the Splattapult may not fire at ships from 0" - 3" (short range) on the range ruler. It may fire at ships between 3" and 9" - even if behind other ships or terrain, as long as the SIGHTING TOWER location is intact. It may also fire at ships up to 12" away, but only if there is a clear line of sight to the target. If any other target(s) fall under the range ruler in the 3" - 9" range, the Orc player may choose one of them instead of his original intended target past 9". If the SIGHTING TOWER location is destroyed, you may still fire from 3" - 12", but you must have a clear line of sight to hit your target. The first target that falls under the range ruler is hit if the TOWER is destroyed.

To fire the Splattapult, roll on the following table. You may add one to the roll if you did not have to fire over other ships or terrain and have a clear line of sight to the target. A natural 1 is still a miss.

Splattapult shots are resolved exactly like catapult shots and can only be aimed high. Resolve each Splattapult hit separately on the targeting vessel as if they were single catapult shots. Shots fall throw as normal until a save is made or they fall throw completely through the ship. Unlike a Bigchukka, Splattapult shots do not get a -1 bonus to the saving throw (remember that instead of the -1 there are multiple shots). Like other catapult weapons, the Splattapult may not be used to fire grapeshot during boarding actions.

MOVEMENT

The Splattapult Barge may move as follows.

POINT COST

The Splattapult Barge costs 100 points and is worth 4 Battle Honors.

TEMPLATE DESIGN

Until I get the picture of the Splattapult Template posted, I'm including this description of it so you can make one for yourself.

The Splattapult template does not have HIGH and LOW areas. I've made a crude drawing to show the layout below

DESIGNER NOTES

The Splattapult Barge was my "leftover" idea after the Colosses was designed. Originally I had wanted to make a new Orc ship with multiple shots firing in the same direction to add a little muscle to the Orc fleet. Unfortunately, nothing seemed right, as multiple Bigchukkas on a smaller ship didn't fit and I couldn't think of a new weapon for the Orcs. I eventually changed my approach from "something new" to "more of the same". This resulted in the Colosses design, which has been very successful and extremely enjoyable to play.

I could not get the idea of a multiple hit weapon out of my mind however. I liked the idea of having an Orc weapon that could hit a target many times if it got lucky. Since multiple Bigchukkas didn't fit a smaller ship (from a miniature standpoint), I eventually got the idea to alter the ammo used by the Bigchukkas, so only one would still be needed. Changing this simple thing led me to logically change the range and sighting rules. I also added the sighting tower to make the function of firing over ships a feature that could be lost. Ultimately, the Splattapult ended up being the ship I had originally thought of - an artillery support ship.

Let me know what you think of it... Have fun!

Scott Di Bartolo