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I'm just ending a three year hiatus from the hobby, and (joined by my girlfriend) have decided to start anew in WHFB (despite the whole End Times fiasco) -- she's opted to take the Dark Elves route, I have more or less settled on playing Orcs. Preliminarily I will say that this list most definitely does have a few kinks in it (hence my sharing it here) which I'd honestly love to get hammered out before I commit to actually purchasing the army. That having been said, this army isn't going to be an overly competitive one- just for fun, so in any advice please bear in mind it isn't my intention to min/max an Orcy horde to bash on my significant other's pointy-eared gits.
And with that outta the way, here's what I've got for a 1000 point list.

Heroes-
Black Orc Big Boss 95pts
-Enchanted Shield
(In regards to this guy, I'm a lil worried that he's too bare bones? & also that I might need to just drop the points for a Warboss? I dunno.)

Core-
5x Goblin Wolf Riders 55pts
-Shortbows
5x Goblin Wolf Riders 55pts
-Shortbows
20 Orc Big 'Uns 215pts
-Additional Hand Weapons
-Full Command
30 Orc Boyz 245pts
-Additional Hand Weapons
-Full Command
30 Orc Boyz 245pts
-Additional Hand Weapons
-Full Command

Special-
Goblin Spear Chucka 45pts
-Ork Bully
Goblin Spear Chucka 45pts
-Ork Bully

& that's all she wrote. My intention is to use a more or less Green Tide tactic while still using some fun units (Wolf Riders and Spear Chuckas) without being overly cheesy. My 1500 point list will almost certainly involve a unit of Black Orcs and bumping the Big Boss up to Warboss, but for the time being any critiques and advice are more than welcome!

Hi! Welcome to Orcs and Gobs. I'm a bit new myself, having only played two games so far.
But! I have some suggestions, based on watching people play, other lists, my experience, etc.!
- Your character section is lacking. He'll die really quickly - some things to consider are a ward save on him or a higher armour save.
- Riffing off that, I know greenskins don't necessarily stand out in the magic department (and may actually be bottom tier), there's a whole phase of the game you'll not be participating in. Consider a level 2 goblin/NG shaman just for participation. Plus, magic phase can be really fun - especially with the unpredictability of the mushroom-eating NG shamans. I'm assuming you like unpredictability; after all, you've chosen O&G.
- Riffing off THAT, BSBs are really helpful for O&G. I would suggest a goblin/NG again, but you don't have a unit to stick him in, and an Orc might be getting too expensive.

You've got a large amount of models for 1000 points - which is cool! If you're not willing to drop the howevermuch-it-will-cost to field a shaman and BSB, I'd say BSB (min 80 points) because you don't want your 25+ Orcs getting overrun just because those crazy witch elves luckily slew a bunch of them on the first round of combat. Plus, not having magic but having 80 Orcs is super wicked and fluffy - den boyz don't need nuffin' but der choppas.
So, I would personally drop 10 regular boyz - five from each, and maybe the unit champions (definitely from the Big Uns, one extra attack isn't worth 10 points). Also, definitely drop the bullies. They cost more than a normal Orc, and in the rare occasion that your bolt throwers see close combat, it's unlikely one orc will make a difference. However, good call on adding some war machines. In my little amount of experience, Orcs thrive when supported by shooty war machines.
Other than that, I love the idea of putting as many regular Orcs on the table as possible. That would be pretty scary to see. And don't forget, this is just as much a hobby as it is a tabletop game. Since you're just starting, get stuff you want to paint, first and foremost, because there's nothing worse than having to paint a bunch of models you're not too fond of.

I think the chukkas are a waste of points here, between the two you only have a 50% chance of a hit. For the 90pts I would take a lvl2 Mage barebones and then some magic items for your boss, he has a good stat line and just needs the toys.

 Arbiter wrote:
I think the chukkas are a waste of points here, between the two you only have a 50% chance of a hit. For the 90pts I would take a lvl2 Mage barebones and then some magic items for your boss, he has a good stat line and just needs the toys.

Agreed on the chukkas, however if you do want some artillery, pick up a doom diver in place of both chukkas. An amazing warmachine that no other army has, that works very well in the 8E meta of 1/2+ armor saves ... and makes Elves cry

On the rest of the list, I'd recommend buffing the big'uns up to 30 and dropping one of the regular orc blocks, so you have points to buy proper heroes with. I think you can do it pretty cheaply, even with orc characters: black orc warboss, (black) orc BSB, level 2 shaman of some persuasion. The magic really is to be able to play in all phases of the game, though there are some solid Big Waaagh! spells in there (with Foot obviously topping the list), and Little Waaagh! has its place as well. Also, buy your wolf riders musicians! In fact, buy anything that can get a musician, a musician!

EDIT - If points get too tight for 3 characters, definitely take the (black) orc BSB first, then see who your general will be. You could totally use an orc shaman as your general, he's not a total pushover, and can be juiced up by his spells ... but definitely invest in a heavy ward at that point.

- Salvage

I'll incorporate your guys' advice and come back when I've got suitable improvements-- but while I'm still here, how viable is an army exclusively made up of Night Goblins? I had just realized that Fanatics are, indeed, a unit that exists and seem to remember a guy at the FLGS that I used to frequent playing such an army.

Regardless, thanks a ton!

An army of night goblins isn't bad, the rule of thumb is block of 100 with fc netters and spider banner, getting hand of gork is nice too. Then take some busses and max out of war machines. Your biggest enemy is something like a doom bull with Ram horn or dwellers ect.

Actually, at 1000-1250 pts, blocks of 40-ish NG work very well. Most armies struggle to match those kind of numbers in a small game. After 1500 pts, though, you sort of need the mobs of 80+ if you want to survive.