Battlefortress

They see me rollin'... They hatin'...

BATTLE FORTRESS ON THE ALERT Whoops, wrong giant tank-loving game series. The Battlefortress is what you'd expect a Battlewagon to be on steroids. They are used by richer and more powerful Ork Warbosses as super-heavy assault vehicles and mobile command centers. These enormous heavily-armed vehicles bristle with heavy cannons, energy weapons, and explosive launchers. As a rule, any Ork vehicle of sufficient size will be called a Battlefortress by the Orks themselves, and like most Ork vehicles there is very little standardization and they are highly customized, although several variants exist such as the "Deathrolla" and "Skullhamma". Nonetheless, these vehicles are a match for any enemy counterpart on the battlefield short of a Titan. Ork Mek Boyz consider the construction of a Battlefortress to be one of their greatest achievements.

Variants

There are multiple variants of the Battlefortress and, like the Baneblade, each one of them has a role in which they specialize.

Deathrolla

The Deathrolla is a variant of the Battlefortress. Armed with a massive Deathrolla, it is intended to plow through enemy infantry and crush them into paste. They are by far one of the most common variants of the Battlefortress and the one you see in Dawn of War 2 as the Ork's ultimate unit. If there is one thing to be considered as the 'standard' design for a Battlefortress, then the Deathrolla would be the Ork's equivelent of a Baneblade.

The vanilla Deathrolla Battlefortress has 3 (!) Big Gunz, a crapton of bolt-on Rokkits and Big Shootas, a large transport capacity (30), and an impressive (not just by Orky standards) 14/13/11 AV and 9 Hull Points. Load one up with Burna Boyz, Nobz, or any such CC unit, charge this thing into the middle of the enemy's gun line and watch the rape commence.

Skullhamma

An Orkified Baneblade. Are you fucked? Yes, you are.

The "Skullhamma" is a popular Mekboy variant of the Battlefortress, made from the remains of a looted Baneblade. Typically twice as big as a Battlewagon, it is often used by Speed Freeks. It has a supercharged triple-over-pressure turbo engine that takes up a good deal of its hull, but allows it to move at a speed deceptive for a vehicle its size. Its primary weapon is the massive Skullhamma Kannon.

This Orky Baneblade has a transport of 30 and counts as dedicated transport only, like the assault ramp on the Land Raider, despite appearances suggesting otherwise. Essentially, use it exactly like you would a regular Battlewagon, just on roids. Unlike conventional Battlefortresses, the Skullhamma is a ludicrously fast fucker and it has all the weapon loadouts of a Baneblade to boot! Don't let the Skullhamma Kannon fool you. Despite having a larger barrel, its performances and characteristics are similar. It also isn't open topped, so it does not have the same weakness to Artillery fire like the other cousins. This is one of the few Ork vehicles in which we can safely say it is actually superior to its Imperial counterparts.

A fan model of a Rokkitspitta. For when you can't have enough Rokkits.

Rokkitspitta

The "Rokkitspitta" (a platform that mounts an insane array of Rokkits Chinese-style), is a variant of the Battlefortress. It is little more than an oversized tractor platform armed with an obscenely huge array of Rokkit warheads crammed dangerously close together, like an orky fireworks display off of an orky parade float. The Rokkitspitta's role on the battlefield can be labeled as more inclined toward the 'anti-tank' artillery category, due to the amount of Rokkits it can spew out.

Because of the amount of differing Rokkits it carries, the Rokkitspitta sacrifice troop transport capability for balls-to-the-walls Macross Missile Spam. Seriously, the amount of Rokkits it can fire is fucking frightening, as it can just bombard and waste an entire battalion of tanks half a mile away. Unfortunately, due to the close proximity of the Rokkits, there is a likelihood in the weapons malfunctioning, ranging from a useless dud, to a Rokkit flying all the way back to the Rokkitspitta, to a Rokkit suffering a premature explosion which not only takes out the Battlefortress, but turns it into a fireworks show in the process. Unfortunately, it does not have rules nor official models yet.

Flakk Battlefortress

Flakk Battlefortress. The Flakkatrakks big brother.

The "Flakk Battlefortress" is an Ork Battlefortress geared towards air defense and shooting down incoming enemy aircraft. As such, it is armed with an array of anti-aircraft weaponry, such as a Flakka-Kannon, Big Shootas, and quad Flakka-Dakka Gunz. Although it does not share the same Baneblade profile as the Skullhamma, its rules are overall similar to the rest of the 'Kustom Battlefortress' lineage, just with a different weapon loadout.

Like the Deathrolla, the Flakk Battlefortress has the potential to transport 30 Ork Boyz on the battlefield, and it is open topped, meaning that it is vulnerable to Artillery fire like those Basilisk Gun Batteries that are firing from over several kilometers away. Plus, you become a big target for every enemy to aim their guns at you, and unlike the Skullhamma and Deathrolla, you don't really have the luxury of having 3 big gunz or the unrivaled rape of a Baneblade's armament. The only big gun you have is a Supacannon, which is not a bad thing. Its just that if you use a Flakk Battlefortress as a front line tank, then you're an idiot. Flakk Battlefortresses truly shine in their namesake, which is ripping apart enemy air support like pinatas. Seriously, that Flakkagun is not to be trifled with.

Gunfortress

Dakka Dakka Dakka!

There is also another flavor of Battlefortress called the Gunfortress. Unlike a traditional Battlefortress and its ilk, a Gunfortress, as its name implies, relies on sheer Dakka to overcome any obstacle. Whilst regular Battlefortresses have a modest amount of close range weapons, these huge versions of Gunwagons sport massive artillery guns and heavier armored plating, meant for shooting people from a much further distance. A Deathrolla is still equipped, because what kind of self-prideful Ork doesn't want a giant rolling pin to squash their enemies flat? Gunfortresses have been spotted in the wars for Armageddon, and during the assault on Hive Infernus, no fewer than thirty Gunfortresses were encountered by the Imperial defenders.

The only real drawback to stuffing a wagon so full of ammunition and power cells is that – should the foe manage to inflict sufficient damage – it will detonate with jaw-dropping violence. Not as if the Orks care anyway.

Still, despite their name, Gunfortresses aren't a souped-up Battlewagon and as previously mentioned, they are instead a souped-up version of the Gunwagon. So, they should not be conflated. Unfortunately, they have not been seen since the times of Epic, making the Orks severely undergunned in terms of long-range heavy fire support. Fortunately, they have been given a shout-out in 8th Edition.

Gallery

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  Rokkitspitta in Epic...or what looks like it.