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Burna Boyz

by Jonnel Mendiola

For this spotlight I shall focus on my favorite Ork unit, that which my opponent has learned to hate the most......The BURNAS

I know that most people don't bother so much with flamer type weapons. The fact that it gives a save to Space Marines makes it a last choice compared to melta and plasma weapons. However, the BURNA is different. It is a combination of a Melta gun, power weapon and Flamer all rolled into one.

The sheer flexibility of such a weapon is what truly endears it to my army. Let us take a look at each of its aspects.

As a Flamer:

The Burna can be used against lightly armored infantry to the same effect as flamers. In this manner I have incinerated great mobs of Orks and swarms of Termagants in one turn. Also since it is a flamer, you are able to ignore the Orks' BS 2 and is a perfect counter balance to this weakness.

As a Power Weapon:

The Burna can be used as a power weapon if you don't shoot with it in the shooting phase. While the idea of using it as a power weapon sounds wonderful, in practice I have found that this is the hardest to pull off given the Str 3 of the average Ork. (As a way of getting around this, you can give the burnas to the skarboys.) Also, there are always things that you can shoot at, most often another squad or a tank nearby. I therefore don't use the burna as a power weapon unless the mob is already in close combat. Prior to this I always burn a different target before getting the mob into close combat.

As a Melta Gun:

The Burna gets a 2D6 penetration against armored vehicles. With a Str of 4, this means you can penetrate a standard rhino with a roll of an 8 or more. I feel that this is the role that the burna truly excels in. In fact I have even destroyed 3 Land Raider's this way.

Burna Tactics:

1) Get as Many Burna boys in a Mob as you can. If you only have one per mob, then get two mobs and have them concentrate your fire into one squad. This is important if you want to insure your enemy's destruction.

2) Remember that when using the flamer template, you may be able to hit more than one squad or tank. Use this to your advantage and see where you can deal the most damage. You may even get a squad and a tank in one shot.

3) Mount your burnas in trukks to get them close to the enemy fast. My Ork army has three trukks and the Warboss trukk all with burnas to get as close as possible to the enemy on the first turn.

My army has a total of 7 burna's in it and only has 4 Rokkits. The burnas are more up close and personal which is what an Ork is supposed to be no?

In closing let me quote a friend of mine (who plays Sisters of Battle):

" We really got to get them burna technology somehow."