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I am very new to 40K and was wondering if I could get some army advice for the Ork horde I am building.

This is what I currently own:
1x Ork Codex
1x AoBR
1x Gretchin mob
1x Lobba

This barely breaks 500 points, so I have compiled the following list to boost it to over 1200 without spending TOO much money. I hope some of you 'ard boyz will let me know what you think.

1x AoBR (that's right I am going to buy the noob set TWICE!)
Can't beat that many orks, nobz, & deffkoptas for the price + the SMs will give me a second army to mess with.

5x Nobz / 1x Ammo runt
Would rather get 2 boxes, but the extra AoBR Nobz will give me 15 for now.

1x Painboy / 1x Orderly
Haven't played the game yet, but these guys look valuable to a Nob mob. I eventually plan on making a Nob mob w/ painboy and 'eavy armor.

5x Tankbustas / 2x Bomb Squigs
Once again - would rather have 2 boxes, but I have to conserve the cash. Two Rokkit Boyz in my troop mobs should give me the anti-tank I need.

1x Lootas (box o' five)
I don't plan on being too shooty, but one of these mobs with a Mek has GOT to be good for something.


Shortly after this stuff I'd like to get a Trukk and finish off my Lobba and Gretchin mobs by bringing them to full strength.

Also - any ideas for making 'ard boys cheap?

Let me know what you think.

With orks you need boys if your doin a horde army, lotsa boys. At the very least 80 boys.

im not sure becaus ei have never used them but the Heavy Weapon teams ( the lobba) are not very good. i would ditch it.

Nob units w/ eavy armor and pain boy are very good and expensive points wise.

be sure to search around for how to build them for wound allocation abuse if you want to ( not a very "friendly" thing to use in games but it works well)

dont put meks in your loota squads the best ranged weapon in your army is the deff gun, dont throw it away to a scrub mek.

try to get a bigmek with KFF very powerful for a footslogging list

if your going to go with trukks go all the way with trukks
do a kos army.

i would recomend to start off making 2 30 man boy squads.

a 12+ squad of lootas a big mek and some killa kans i dont know how strapped for cash you are but these things are very good for footsloggers.

and as always play with what you have even if at 500 points and see what you like/need and build from there


my $0.02

I also started with 2 AoBR sets (the ork halves) and yes, it is a really good deal. It leaves you a little short on variety though,
but for small point battles you should basically just fill up on boyz anyway.

I would suggest not getting the tankbusta squad. Although you can work with the Glory Hogs with LoS and such, it's not worth the trouble for a 24" range.
The Big Gunz teams aren't too bad, but I'd get a Kannon rather then Lobba. That way you have the option of a 8S 3AP for killing light to medium vehicles or penetrating Space Marine Equivalents.
Or you use the blast for killing bigger numbers of lighter units. The Zzap gun is nice but if you don't have some extra gretchin to stick in the battery you might kill yourself by rolling too high on the strength.

Confirming a few things a KFF mek is definitely nice, keep the meks out of your lootas but definitely get loota squads.
For the Nobs painboy is a must, but it's usually better to have the 5+ invulnerable save from cybork all the time,
then the 4+ armor save only some of the time. The point cost is the same.

If you get a box of 10 ork boyz, it comes with enough parts to make 10 boyz AND 1 nob with options for a power klaw.
Also the box will let you make one guy to have a rokkit and one to have a big shoota.
Getting two of those boxes will get you up to 60 boyz, and then you should definitely put the nob with PK into each so they you can charge virtually any vehicle with them.

Or it also works decent with the 2 boxes of ork boyz to give them all shootas and have 3 mobs of 20. 2 slugga boyz and 1 shoota boyz.
Shootas put enough shots on things to get kills for no extra point cost.

Lastly Zach is right, just play with what you have, as much as you can. The more games you play the more you'll know what you have, what you may need to fill in your gaps,
and how the game plays outside of the rulebook. Play, play, play.

The 2nd AoBr set will definatly benifit you,more boyz,more nobz,etc all a big plus, the Nobz box and painboy are also good (highly encourage painboyz in nobz sqauds).
Now,even though I love my tankbusterz,the Glory hogs rule can be a pain,be ready for that if you decide to take them,I would suggest for now doubling your loota purchase( and as the other poster has stated,don't bother with mekz in your loota sqauds).
A mek with a KFF is imo a must have (if your good with conversions the second AoBr boss will make a good start).
I agree with Zachwho about the trukk,one trukk is going to get blasted to high hell real quick,either take a few or don't bother.
As for lobbas,I've never used 'em so can't help you there,but personaly I prefer kanz in heavy roles,as well as battle wagons.
I will add that 3 -20 boyz sqaudz is a good solid choice,1 shoota boyz/2 slugga,and I wouldnt bother with BS or rokkitz in your slugga mobz,during the shooting phase they need to run,CC is were your going to want 'em,not taking shots at stuff.
oh,lastly ' ard boyz =points sink,not worth taking IMO.
well,hope some of this helps,good luck and welcome to the wondeful world of WAAAGH.

Kommandos are a mixed bag but I have success with them tying up enemy units for a turn or two. They usually die but if they keep concentrated fire power off your foot sloggers for a couple a turns then the odds can swing greatly in your favor. It all depends on how you wanna run it. I agree with the trukk comment. If you're gonna go with trukks, go all the way.

I have also noticed lately that some less skilled players (or players not familiar with the Ork codex) will overreact to a group of Biker Boyz thinking them Nob Bikers thanks to the recent "Army of the moment" Nob biker lists. Biker Boyz can serve the same function as Kommandos depending on terrain but Kommandos are cheaper.

As I said, I haven't actually played yet (maybe getting a game in this weekend), so certain things have been overlooked. For instance: the "Glory Hogs" rule. I read it, but in the excitement of the Ork Codex, totally missed it while piecing together an army. Thanks for the heads up on that one! Does that rule mean that the bustas can't move out of LOS during the movement phase if they can SEE an enemy vehicle? Or is it saying that if I am going to shoot, I NEED to shoot at a vehicle if I can see one? It's worded kinda funky, so I am not sure if it is saying I MUST fire or if I DO fire...

Originally I figured TBs would be a good choice in a poor-man's Waaagh because they're cheaper than a tank ($30.00 vs $50.00) and their rokkitz have STR 8 / AP 3. The AP3 really got my attention, but I was overlooking the Hogs rule. Based off of your responses I am guessing that Killa Kans seem to be the better choice. Maybe Killa Kans x2?

I see what you guys are saying about the mek w/ lootas. I guess the mek is only a good choice in an army with more vehicles? Megablasta no good?

With no rokkitboyz and no bustas, what do I use as anti-tank forces? Deffkoptas w/ TL Rokkit seem good, but I will only have six. Which brings me to my next question. Should I do two squadrons of DKs (3 in ea.) or one of 5? I feel pretty vulnerable having a unit with only 3 dudes in it, but I haven't actually played yet so I have no idea how this will turn out.

I am getting the feeling that anti-tank weps are simply 30x boyz / 1x nob w/ PK? (3 mobs like this)

Nobz with cybork armor: I know the Nobz box comes with options to make these guys borks, but does it come with enough to convert all 5? If not...any ideas on where I can scrounge appropiate bitz?

Nobody said anything about the gretchin mob. Should I fill those guys up to make a giant shield or what?

Thanks so much, guys. You're input has really helped!

EDIT: Forgot to ask. What do you guys do to seperate your mobs? I am guessing that 60-80 boyz will eventually get pretty close, making the units lines difficult to decipher and could cause arguments/frustration/confusion. I was thinking of a different tribe for them, but then that puts a limit on the #of models I have (don't want 20 goffs in a mob with 2 skullboyz do I?) So I was considering putting a single colored dot on the back side of each model's base. Blue, red, green....have different mobs that way, then repaint the dot if I change up my army - as it is still growing!

All ideas are welcome. I am curious to see how people break up their units.

the Meks in Loota squads are never an option. Its not usually efficient to mix ranges in the same squad, especially ones so drastically different as 24 and 48. The KMB isn't necessarilly bad as you have few other options for takin out terminators and such, but don't waste space in your loota squads with meks. I usually go with cybork bodies in my nob squads (5+ invulnerable) but heavy armor works too i suppose. Unless youre running a full 10 nob squad throw them in with your warboss, the nobs will have to use that 7 Ld otherwise, and they will break easily when shot at enough. As for anti-tank, six deffkoptas goes a long way, and lootas themselves can bust most light tanks you see. future anti-tank id go with killa kans, a squad of 3 with rokkits at 3 BS can suprise people.


Gretchin are funny, run them in front as meat shields, or keep them near your lootas to block assaults, lootas will die quickly.

For anti tank, you have klaws... oh and rokkits i guess, but with S8 BS2 you need 5s to hit anything, and 6s to glance AV14, AV12 however its 50/50, even twin linked sometimes its iffy, but your playin orks now AV14 is gonna kill you deal with it. Tankbustas can move however they want, but they must try to assault any vehichle they are in range of which means that they must also shoot at it. Meks are just not as good as lootas can be, yes they have S8 guns, but the range suffers drastically, you are better off with an average 2 S7 shots than 1 S8. Also, the squad color thing, my friend does that with his space marines, he paints the stripe on the head a different color for each tac squad, it works pretty well. Also i tend to keep my boys seperate from each other except in assaults, and even then i don't have that many problems figuring out which mob they are in.

most orks have a "plate" or straps on thier back i paint these diff colors to help keep things simple

Thanks again for the replies, guys! I am getting to work right away.

Here's what I have decided to buy:

AoBR x1
Nobz (5 -pack) x1
Painboy x1
Lootas (5 pack) x2
Killa Kan w/ Rokkit x2

I have decided to drop 'Ard boyz for now, so this list is only $14.00 more expensive than my original. I figure the Kans can serve as anit-tank and maybe draw some fire away from the boyz. I am also working on a scratch-built Battle Wagon. Anyone know approximate size measurements for this thing? I think I have the perfect broken toy to serve the purpose. Just trying to avoid complete and utter cheese!

I tend to paint the sides of the bases in a different color for each squad to be able to tell them apart. Some people don't care for it because it messes with the look and cohesion, but it makes the Boyz easy to pick out when they're in the foam or on the table at a glance. The only problem with differing paint jobs is that Orks have so much flexibility in their numbers, a footsloggin' mob needs 30 boyz, Battlewagon full needs 20 (19 with a character spot), a Trukk only needs 12. So my solution is to dedicate 33 Boyz and 3 Nobz to a specific color of base (Green, for this example). 11 Boyz and a Nob get a colored dash on all four cardinal points (Black), 11 Boyz and a Nob get a different colored dash on the same points (White). Now if I want a squad of 30 Boyz, I leave out any two 2 Boyz and 2 Nobz, and note on my army list and to my opponent that the Green bases are a squad. If I want 20 Boyz, I leave out the White dashed Boyz and Nob (can make a squad of 12 with nob by noting that the white dashes are independent this game), either of the other Nobz, and 2 other Boyz. For 3 squads, the 36 models split perfectly into 3x12. So at most you have 4 extra models, and can easily identify the squad as 3x12, 1x20 & 1x12, or 1x30, without having to repaint anything. (Obviously you'll need a few more models to mix in special weapons in your squads and have their bases match, but that's something I choose not to deal with for multiple reasons)