Detachment Focus: Green Tide (Updated August 2nd, 2024)

In this series of articles we take a deep dive into a specific detachment for a faction, covering the faction’s rules and upgrades and talking about how to build around that faction for competitive play. In this article, we’re covering the Green Tide Detachment from Codex: Orks.

The Tenth Edition release of Codex: Orks gave the faction six Detachments to work with and while Bully Boyz may have been a stronger army out the gate, few were as feared conceptually as the Green Tide. Modeled after the classic idea of Orks as a never-ending tide of bloodthirsty hooligans, the Green Tide presents orks at their most fearsome, crashing in like a tidal wave of bodies from which there is no escape. As with Bully Boyz, we’d like to thank Ben Jurek for providing feedback and edits on this article.

Changelog

• Update: 2024-08-02 for the Q2 Balance updates and a new list
• Published: 2024-05-11

Detachment Overview

The Green Tide Detachment is all about taking lots and lots of Boyz, in large units, and buffing them with characters to make them nearly impossible to kill. This lends itself very well to jail-style lists, and there are few units in the game which can reliably tear through a unit of 20 boyz with a painboy attached.

Fairly or not, the Green Tide detachment saw the harshest nerfs in the Q2 2024 balance updates, eating multiple nerfs on top of some unit point increases. Their detachment roll lost the ability to re-roll saving throws of 1 and the rule explicitly only affects units of Boyz, giving the unit a 6+ invulnerable save or a 5+ if there are 10+ models in the unit. This killed a few combos and severely narrowed the list’s options. On top of that the Tide of Muscle and Go Get Em! Stratagems were substantially nerfed, making near-automatic late-game charges with Da Jump a thing of the past.

The other major nerf wasn’t direct: The Pariah Nexus secondary missions added a new fixed option, Cull the Horde, which allows players to score 5 VP for destroying a unit with 20+ models as its starting size. Before the nerfs we’d laugh this off and tell opponents to “go ahead and try, ‘oomie” but now? Now the threat is much more real.

These all basically combined to drop the Green Tide Detachment out of competitive viability, although Orks still have options for players looking to competitive events. And while the Green Tide is worse, there are still worse ways to play Warhammer.

Detachment Rule: Mob Mentality

Each time an attack targets a Boyz unit from your army, models in that unit have a 6+ invulnerable save against that attack. Each time an attack targets an Boyz unit from your army, if it contains 10 or more models, models in that unit have a 5+ invulnerable save against that attack.

This is a simple rule but has big implications. The bread and butter of this list is Boyz and if you’re running a competitive list you’re going to go big on them, likely taking six units. In Pariah Nexus the prospect of running 120 boyz is much less palatable, even if you can increase their durability with a Pain boy, and in this newer meta we’re likely running three maximum size units to avoid making ourselves attractive for Cull the Horde. But even with the nerfs this is an incredibly durable, nasty unit with some great OC and damage output.

Enhancements

The Green Tide Enhancements are pretty solid. Two are must-takes, and Raucous Warcaller lets you get away with some incredibly mean combos. They all either combo off or check for being in a unit of 10+ models.

• Ferocious Show Off (10 points) – Goes on an INFANTRY model. Each time the bearer fights, they get +1 to the Strength of their melee weapons. If the bearer’s unit has 10+ models, get +3 Strength instead. At 10 points, this is a great deal – taking a Warboss’ Power Klaw to S13 lets him wound on a 3+ against pretty much any MONSTER or VEHICLE target in the game, allowing your Boyz unit to punch up much more effectively against big targets.
• Brutal But Kunnin’ (25 points) – INFANTRY model only. IN your Command phase, if the bearer is on the battlefield (or in a TRANSPORT on the battlefield), roll a D6, adding 2 to the result if the bearer’s unit is 10+ models. On a 5+, you gain 1 CP. This is OK, but at 25 points it’s a bit pricey, which is a shame because the Green Tide Stratagems are pretty great.
• Bloodthirsty Belligerence (15 points) – Goes on an INFANTRY model. While the bearer is leading a unit, you can re-roll Advance rolls for that unit, and while they have 10+ models, you can re-roll charges. This is a great deal at 15 points, and at that price it’s pretty much a must-take – reducing the variance in your army’s first wave of charges is huge, and this goes great on a Weirdboy where you want to get free re-rolls for a unit arriving from Da Jump and up your odds of making a charge out of Deep Strike, particularly when you combine it with the Tide of Muscle Stratagem.
• Raucous Warcaller (20 points) – Goes on an INFANTRY model. While the bearer leads a unit, that unit always counts as being 10+ models for the purposes of your Detachment rule and Stratagems. This used to be a way to cheat the Detachment rule onto Meganobz but that’s sadly not going to work with the new wording, so it’s more useful as insurance against casualties. At 20 points it’s overcosted for that purpose.

Generally you’re going to want to take Bloodthirsty Belligerence on a character, but the rest are much more optional now. If you’ve got the points left over, Ferocious Show Off is an easy add to a Warboss as well. Brutal but Kunnin’ is pricey but may be worth its weight in points anyways just due to how many great Stratagems the Green Tide have access to. And in a post-nerf world Raucous Warcarller is only really going to have value on your 10-model Boyz units you need to stay durable longer.

Stratagems

The Green Tide Stratagems all affect units of BOYZ and about half of them key off having 10+ models in your unit to get an additional effect. They’re all priced at 1 CP and they’re all pretty great, even after the nerfs in mid-2024.

• Competitive Streak (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Use on a BOYZ unit in the Fight phase to let them re-roll wound rolls of 1. If you’re 10+ models, re-roll all wounds instead. This is great, and re-rolling wound rolls is always a good time.
• Bulldozer Brutality (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Used on a BOYZ unit in the Fight phase within Engagement range of an enemy unit. Models in the unit within 3″ of one or more enemy models are eligible to Fight, and can fight units within 3″ of them and within Engagement Range of their unit. This won’t let you suddenly hit faraway units you weren’t touching, but will let you fight 3-4 rows deep with your Boyz, letting you get full efficiency against a smaller target you might otherwise lose attacks against. It can also help you make up for a bad charge roll which would otherwise leave models out of range after a Pile-in move.
• Braggin’ Rights (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in your Command phase. Pick two BOYZ units within 6″ of each other and until the start of your next Command phase while they are within 6″ of each other, they each count as having 10 models. Great that this works on two units at once, though having to keep them close can be a challenge, but at the very least it’s good for protecting them with the save re-rolls and invulnerable save.
• Come on Ladz! (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in your Command phase to return up to D3+2 destroyed non-CHARACTER models to your BOYZ unit. Getting back 3-5 Boyz can be absolutely demoralizing when an opponent is trying to chew through a brick of 20, and if you’re still on full power with a Painboy, that’s going to stack with the D3 you get from the Grot Orderly. With the Painboy’s 5+ Feel No Pain that’s like getting back 10+ wounds on average. Worth using this just to watch the look on your opponent’s face when you make it happen.
• Tide of Muscle (Epic Deed, 1 CP) – Used in your Charge phase to give a unit of Boyz +1 to their Charge roll and, if the unit has 10+ models, you can re-roll the Charge roll. Not as insane as it used to be but still very good, this gives you very solid odds (66%) of making a charge out of Deep Strike if you’re getting the re-roll and it’s just handy for ensuring you make some of those longer, not-so-guaranteed charges early in the game, when you need to make a 7 or 8.
• Go Get ‘Em (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in your opponent’s Shooting phase after they pick a unit of BOYZ as one of their targets. After that unit shoots, your unit can make a Go Get Em! move, which is D6″ and must end up as close as possible to the closest enemy unit (including ending up in Engagement Range). If your unit is 10+ models, you can re-roll the result. This is great for punishing an opponent who wants to shoot your unit of Boyz, but can’t kill them in one go – so basically every unit that would shoot you – and means that shooting a unit of Boyz has to be done from outside 7″ away or you’re risking ending up in combat with said Boyz, and they’ll be fighting before you on your turn. This is one of those Stratagems which you tell an opponent about before the game, but may never use – it forces them to play cagey to avoid making a bad play, and give your units a wide berth. This one also got hit with a nerf, no longer giving you an auto 6″ if you’re 10+ models, so plan more around hitting someone from 4-5″ away rather than 7″.

There are a lot of great Stratagems here, which means that you’re going to have to think carefully about when and how you use your CP to get the most out of what’s on offer. Saving CP for Tide of Muscle out of Da Jump is a must, and being able to threaten Go Get Em! moves is huge. You also need to save CP to bring back models with Come on Ladz! It’s a CP-thirsty army. Spending 2 CP to combine Bulldozer Brutality and Competitive Streak is a hell of a drug.

Playing This Detachment

The Green Tide may have played second fiddle to Bully Boyz on release but they’re still a very powerful option in the Ork codex. A unit of 20 boyz with Warboss and Painboy is still one of the game’s most durable and fearsome units, bragging an impressive amount of melee power (particularly when in Waaagh!), plus the ability to bring back as many as 8 dead models in a single Command phase. Any Green Tide army starts with three units of 20 Boyz, at least two of which are accompanied by a Warboss and Painboy. In Pariah Nexus, building effective Green Tide lists which aren’t susceptible to Fixed Cull the Horde starts with three of these super-durable units, then adds another three units of 10, potentially in Trukks, though you may still pair one with a Weirdboy – they aren’t the auto-charge from Da Jump they used to be, but they can still be nasty threats and move around the table for scoring late game. Because of the change to Tide of Muscle, Bloodthirsty Belligerence isn’t the must-take it used to be.

Getting your 20-model boyz units across the table is going to be your biggest challenge, and while Trukks can hold 10-model units with a character, you may want to look at a Battlewagon. Between the Wagon and Trukks you can set up and stage for a turn 2 charge with most of your army, hopefully getting your disembarking boyz plus a unit with Da Jump and another going with an Advance and Charge. Against unprepared armies you can pin them in their deployment zone for 2-3 turns as they try and fight their way through 50-60 boyz while your support units – a mix of Gretchin, more Boyz, Kommandos, and Stormboyz – hold other objectives and complete actions for scoring. And if your opponent gets first turn and tries to come to you well, they’re going to find out that Boyz are one of the best units in the game at scrapping over the middle of the table and stealing objectives. The kicker is that your Boyz units really only want the Waaagh! offensively and typically don’t need the 5++ as they have it from their Detachment rule. If your opponent refuses to interact with your Boyz that’s fine too – you can just score primary and hold onto your Waaagh!.

On that note, don’t forget that Boyz sticky objectives – in addition to having 40 OC worth of models, you can also sticky anything you touch and then just move off it freely, trapping your opponent in sight of an objective they’ll never claim. Against an opponent who can break out via Deep Strike the plan becomes more one of spreading out, and you can make someone regret thinking they’ll find a space to deep strike a model on a table holding 100+ boyz models.

All of that said, Boyz still have limits to what they can do, and even with a massive number of models, and you might find yourself running out of gas if you have to take on a unit of something like Terminators. That’s where it can be handy to have a unit of Meganobz or Squighog Boyz can come in handy, and if you’re taking Meganobz you might want them in a Trukk too.

Finally, it’s worth noting that with Green Tide your biggest enemy is going to be time. You’re going to spend a ton of time moving models, rolling attacks, rolling saves, and getting your positioning right and that means you’re going to eat through your clock at competitive events pretty fast. It’s worth practicing with the army and being mindful of how long it takes to do certain things with multiple 20+ model units so you aren’t getting clocked or accused of slow play. You want to demoralize your opponent and win games early, not win because your game ran so long the opponent never got a turn 3.

A Sample List

While there haven’t yet been any winning Green Tide lists in 40k since the update, there are still some solid lists you can build with the Detachment. Your biggest problem with list construction is avoiding the trap of giving an opponent the option to take both Assassination and Cull the Horde as Fixed secondaries, essentially handing them 40 VP for killing your army’s main units. Instead, it’s likely better to avoid that problem by maxing out at three units of 20 boyz to keep your exposure low.

”The

We’ve pared down heavily from the lists of May here, fielding “only” 80 Boyz instead of 120, and diversifying with some of the faction’s other stand-out units. Specifically, Stormboyz and Flash Gitz, who give the army some more mobile and ranged threats, respectively. The Gitz can use the Trukks for Transport, while the Battlewagon hauls one of the big units of Boyz. The core here is still three very-difficult-to-kill blobs of boyz with a painboy for support and healing, with two extra units to drop in out of transports or Da Jump to cause problems. Is this the soul-crushing tar pit it used to be? No, but that’s good for your sanity as well as your opponent’s, and this list won’t leave you nearly as open to double fixed kill secondaries. Assassination is still a challenge with eight characters, but with six of those embedded in big units, it can be a bit of a trap for an opponent.

Final Thoughts

The Green Tide Detachment offers Ork players who want to show off their massive horde of Boyz a fun and competitive way to play. And while it’s not still nearly as powerful as Bully Boyz, Dread Mob, or War Horde, in the right hands and meta Green Tide can still be a force to be reckoned with. It’s an army that takes practice and skill to use well, so if you’re going this route be sure to get some reps in and watch your clock.

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