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So i've decided i wanna start Orks as my second army (I play Necrons). They look like tons of fun!! The only problem is that i have never faced Orks so i'm not that familiar with them. Pretty much all i know is the few things i've read about them on here. So i'm looking for some help!

What are some good things to acquire first to start out?

I can't decide if i want as my warlord a Warboss, Big Mek w/Shokk Attack Gun, or a Wierdboy (although kinda leaning towards the Big Mek because that gun seems really entertaining haha)

Also preference of Shootas or Choppa/Slugga on the boyz?

 CaptainHonkey wrote:
So i've decided i wanna start Orks as my second army (I play Necrons). They look like tons of fun!! The only problem is that i have never faced Orks so i'm not that familiar with them. Pretty much all i know is the few things i've read about them on here. So i'm looking for some help!

What are some good things to acquire first to start out?

I can't decide if i want as my warlord a Warboss, Big Mek w/Shokk Attack Gun, or a Wierdboy (although kinda leaning towards the Big Mek because that gun seems really entertaining haha)

Also preference of Shootas or Choppa/Slugga on the boyz?

Big Mek with a SAG is great fun, just remember though that having your warlord have a 1/36 chance of dying, or a 1/36 chance of sucking him through a wormhole and spitting him out into CC with whatever he was shooting can be....damaging

as far as choosing between Choppa or Slugga, thats your play style preference. Do you want to get up into CC as soon as possible then go Choppa, or do you want to shoot them with 60 S4 AP- shots that 20 will hit 10 will wound then go Slugga,

Shoota Boyz kill more MEQ in shooting, but less in Assault and Slugga Boyz kill less in shooting, but kill more in assault.

Shoota Boyz, statistically, kill more MEQ overall in both phases. I personally run a Mob of 12 (Trukk max capacity); 1 being the Nob, who I keep stock most often - I'll sometimes give him a Big Choppa, but I don't think a 25 point Power Klaw is worth it - and I'll sometimes take a Big Shoota on one of the Boyz too. This way you can have eleven Shootas and two Big Shootas firing from a Trukk, which, when you look at it, is excellent for it's cost considering it's firepower and speed.

 CaptainHonkey wrote:
So i've decided i wanna start Orks as my second army (I play Necrons). They look like tons of fun!! The only problem is that i have never faced Orks so i'm not that familiar with them. Pretty much all i know is the few things i've read about them on here. So i'm looking for some help!

What are some good things to acquire first to start out?

Second hand orks would be the bet way to start, they are currently not in favor at all so you can get an army for the price of of a few units.

I can't decide if i want as my warlord a Warboss, Big Mek w/Shokk Attack Gun, or a Wierdboy (although kinda leaning towards the Big Mek because that gun seems really entertaining haha)

I have them all, ehm warbozz on bike of mega warbozz is not that bad. ( if you want to waaaagh you need a warboss ) -> Also they are dirt cheap second hands since they are in multiple starter sets
Shock attack gun is fun could be great form time to time but but tends to miss a lot and random str isn't really htat good. If you field him think about using him with mek gunz or tank bustas for free tank hunter rule
Wierdboy if fun used to be my HQ for years now with the psy debuf I don't like them that much but they can still be fun.

Also preference of Shootas or Choppa/Slugga on the boyz?

I have 100+ of them both. I used to field large squads of slugga boys for offense and shoota boyz for objective grabbing. Currently I hate them all they just suck.

I suggest just getting a lot of boys, a few trucks and a warboss, and seeing where that takes you. Play some games with massed infantry then start thinking about what's next.

You don't really need the official models to do trucks. The best Ork armies I have ever seen used other modelling kits to make their vehicles.

I'd advise you to pick a theme early and work towards it. Make your goal to do one of three things:

1) try to collect 100 choppa slugga boyz for a green tide

2) try to get 5 Battlewagons or suitable looted alternatives for a blitz brigade, as well as what you want in them

3) go all trukks/ mobile units for a MSU army

There's no reason you can't play small point games with some part of one of those, but it guarantees you'll have a decent list at the time you finish collecting.

suggest just getting a lot of boys,

try to collect 100 choppa slugga boyz for a green tide
.

Whatever you do DON'T do this it is the worse idea possible.

1. Painting 100+ boys sucks its like having to piant 3 space marine armies with only 1 kind of model :S
2. The formation is really incredibly overrated. It only works vs opponents who don't know that you can just assault it with a half decent squad to neutralize it.
3. Big blobs of Boyz suck in this edition. They just do. Every ork player who used to play 100+ orks shelfed his or her army or switched to an other play style.

NEVER go full boyz unless they come with a great deal to buy an other players army.
Believe me I have fielded this formation for years now before it was in the codex it was an appoc formation (same formation but slightly better rules). It is just a silly trick, don't buy into it or you will be forced to make pile in moves for entire games.

 oldzoggy wrote:
Second hand orks would be the bet way to start, they are currently not in favor at all so you can get an army for the price of of a few units.

Good advice right there, plenty of used orks to buy. People also bought so many of those starter sets for the small rulebook that ebay etc was flooded with orks for a long time. And vehicles can be almost anything as long as they're properly orkified. A few cheap trashed Rhinos or Land Raiders painted red and decorated with orky stuff work as Trukks, Looted Wagons or Battlewagons. Or almost any vehicle - my mate has a Looted Falcon (with an added engine block, platforms for gunners and a pissed-looking ork trying to fit in the space reserved for the Eldar pilot).

Use ww2 gunz as ork big gunz. One of our best units as is. But GW asks insane ammount of money for so few pts.

Anywayz, orks are much fun. But not really all that easy to play and pretty unforgiving in current enviroment. Timing and smart movement are crucial.

You first need to decide on the playstyle as mishmashing doesn't work.

Buy plastic defkopta's.
Buy them now if you ever want to use the model or even want to convert the model in something else. The strange thing is that they produced them in Assault of black reach but when that went oop the plastic deffkopta's also went oop.
The plastic ones are great but the alternative is horrible.

Take looted wagons and FW seriously.
Looted wagons are just better trucks in every way ( at the downside of eating heavy slots )
FW has a lot of other great options IA:8 & imperial armour apocalypse are the books you should take a look at.

Thank you all for all the replies!

Yeah i've noticed there quite a few Ork armies on ebay for pretty good deals. I think the way i'd like to play mine is boyz in trucks (maybe with Slugga/Choppa). I mean i think green tide looks cool but i would never be able to paint everything, and i've just never been a fan of the big tough vehicles because 1 lucky shot and boom it goes.

I would like to run a Warboss on a bike but it would take me time because i'm just terrible at conversions, i saw the FW one but there's no way i can afford that model. Does anyone know of anything like giving pointers or showing how someone made their Warboss on a bike? I mean i like the look of the normal Warboss on foot but it just seems like he dies just super fast without Mega Armour and i can't find a Mega Armour Warboss.

Now are Big Meks usually pretty good in Mega Armour or is that just usually better left to the Warboss and let Big Mek stick with the Shokk Attack gun?

Good parts for a warboss on a bike.

- Plastic deffkopta.
- 2 - 4 Trukk or Mek gun wheels
- 2 Bike dakkaguns
- Power klaw or a assault on black reach warboss
- Boss pole or plasticard.

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Decorative bits: biker bits,flash git bits, wfb orgre bits, wfb orc bits, wfb lizardmen bits.

Search for deffkopta bike conversion there are lots of good builds

You're going to want all those HQs eventually. But starting with a warboss is always good. You can find people selling the AOBR boss and boys for pretty good prices. That's your core right there. Then start adding other slots, some transports would be helpful. Maybe bikers if you want to go that route. Also get the codex if you don't have it yet, that'll really help you decide where you want to go.

Well if you hate your vehicles blowing up trukks isn't really the way to go. But they are fun to put reinforced rams and wrecking balls on them and just go to town after you unload all your boyz.

Best units for Trukk spam are:

-min squads of Meganobz
-Min squads of tankbustas
-Choppa Slugga boyz with Klaw nob
-min squads of Burna boyz
-Warbike big Mek with KFF with Warbikers
-Deffbughies or Deffcoptas with rokkits

The Warboss is less essential to Trukk boyz because they don't need the waagh to get into combat. The KFF Mek will be your MVP every game the enemy goes first. Megarmor Mek is basically for sticking to units of big Gunz to allow them to move and shoot, leave the punching to the boss. Sag Mek is best paired with a unit of Kannons for their toughness.

Your best matchup is another cheap transport spam army like space marines in rhinos. Your worst matchup is Death Stars. The best counter Death Star units orks have are the Shokk Attack Gun, Blitza Bommer and Kustom Mega Kannonz. Those might be a good thing to consider adding.


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In order of HQs you want in a trukkspam list (you might as well consider yourself as having 4 Hq slots because you'll definitely have 4 troop choices):

SAG Mek: good counter to death blobs and other high AV nasties. MUST have an escort unit usually Lootas or Mek Gunz of some flavor. I find the best Mek Gunz to stick him with are Mega Kannons or Kannons. Maybe Lobbas.

Bike and KFF: Closest thing to mandatory Hq for Trukk spam. That KFF 6" bubble is a lifesaver for trukks bikes Kopters and buggies alike.

Mega Armor Boss: good in trukks as he has no problem with Slow and Purposeful. Interesting when you take him with a unit of Lootas as you can then Trukk them around. Otherwise he's a standard whackamole character. Always take Da Lukky stick with mega armor for extreme wound tanking.

Weirdboy: not awful, not great. He's cheap but with Trukk spam you'll never have a unit of 20 for the free warp charge. I take them in wagon lists but not Trukk lists.

Painboy: the all star of green tide is just OK in Trukk lists. Good hunk of durability for your boyz but it find he's consistently outshined as a power multiplier by KFF bike Meks.

The best counter Death Star units orks have are the Shokk Attack Gun, Blitza Bommer and Kustom Mega Kannonz. Those might be a good thing to consider adding.

Ignore this ^. Playing orks is hard. True death stars completely are outside the ork power lv league. The idea that you could stop a screamer star with a shokk attack gun or any other option mentioned is ludicrous. The only way to deal with them is by counting your losses and to feed them tarpits while hoping to score some points with the rest of your amry.




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our best matchup is another cheap transport spam army like space marines in rhinos. Your worst matchup is Death Stars

Also ignore that . The ork codex does not stand a chance vs free transport space marines. The best thing you can hope for is a casual / not so optimal army list, or grav gun spam / heavy anti tank weapon spamm if you are not playing mechanised.
Most armies have lots of high volume high str ap not great today ruining your day av10 open topped dies as soon as they look at it, and boys die just as fast. Don't expect trukk boys to work against dedicated close combat squads and don't expect them to be in a fighting condition after their second fight. They only have 11 boyz + a nob. Don't be surprised if even tactical marines kill a few a turn making each combat after the first one harder and harder to win. Any decent army even if it is a gun line will just be really challenging to play against. Every movement counts and you will generally have to plan multiple turns ahead including what battles you want to win on what player turn just to make a fighting chance.

 oldzoggy wrote:

The best counter Death Star units orks have are the Shokk Attack Gun, Blitza Bommer and Kustom Mega Kannonz. Those might be a good thing to consider adding.

Ignore this ^. Playing orks is hard. True death stars completely are outside the ork power lv league. The idea that you could stop a screamer star with a shokk attack gun or any other option mentioned is ludicrous. The only way to deal with them is by counting your losses and to feed them tarpits while hoping to score some points with the rest of your amry.

"Death Star" just refers to a large 500+ point melee threat. There are more and less potent Death Stars. The fact that the Blitza Bommer is a high strength ap2 large blast that scatters very little and bypasses invisibility by not being a shooting attack does make it a solid counter to many Death Star style units.

Saying "because this army is not on the same power level as this one particular competitive level Death Star that relies entirely on invulnerable saves, don't bother including any counter to those" is asinine.

"I've got a big scary melee unit" is a strategy you'll see at every level of competitiveness. There's no harm in including something that will be able to harm say a Smashfether bikestar even if it's less effective against a Screamerstar.

Look at companies like Kromlech, Spellcrow, ect.. to add some cool bits to your ork army. Breaths some life into your army

http://www.spellcrow.com/?currency=USD&cPath=9_32&sort=

http://bitsofwar.com

Not every dude who plays Marines in transports is gonna be doing some metagamey formation with free razorbacks. If you're taking Orks to tournament tables you'll likely have to deal with that, but if you're just playing with your friends or a local club or whatever you probably won't have that issue.

Trukkboyz/Battlewagons seem to be the name of the game for Orks right now, since Mob Rule screwed over large mobs pretty handily. I haven't heard much talk about bikes, but Ork bikers seem pretty dang good, and their bonus to jink saves combined with their low BS and twin linked weapons make jinking every turn a no-brainer. Focus on mobility since the hardest part for Orks is getting into close combat, and stray away from the top tournament tables. You should have fun with them!

If your starting Orks and you don't know what you want to do and you don't want to Proxy heavily.

Buy a

Warboss
20-40 Ork Boyz
1-2 Trukks
1 Battlewagon
10 Lootas


Thats a good start to any ork army. Check out what you like to do and then make your major purchases. Boyz can be bought on ebay for less then .75 each. I have seen deals as good as 30 boyz for $18 but really anything around $1 a model is good.

After you figure out what you like to do then you can go crazy, you like walkers? go Dredd Mob, if you like boyz, you can either go Green tide (sucks against anyone with common sense) or 3 blobs of 30 boyz which are always annoying to opponent (usually more so then the green tide). Like speed Freaks? Get some bikes, deffkoptas and some more trukks and have at it.

The one thing I can tell you about Orks though, If you aren't prepared to lose or if you aren't a good sport, Don't even bother picking up orks.

Start with a Warboss and 2 units of Boyz. Borrow an 7th ed Ork Codex from someone if possible.
Expand from there.
Trukks and more Boyz would be solid choices, as they can find a home in most Ork armies. Tankbustas, Deffkoptas, Warbikers, MANZ (Mega Armoured Nobz), and Mek Gunz are some of the best units in the Ork Codex. Convert/scratch build as necessary.

Have fun WAAAGH-ing!

A looted wagon is a good unit thats only problem is competing for HS slots. This will not be a problem in lower point games and that extra one point of armour can make the MANs/ burna boyz/whatever a lot more survivable.

It is also a great investment because you can convert them from anything vehicleish. My first one is a re-purposed Tau Devilfish that had a heavy weight set on it, smashing one side. Now it carries my troops into the fight with some crude repairs and a new paint job (but with enough of the original paint showing that it is clear which army that I looted it from, I like to play it against the original owner).

Bikes are a solid unit that can put out a surprising amount of firepower while keeping pace with the rest of your army.

So just to start off i ordered a Warboss and some boyz i found off ebay (i think about 24 of them).

It's not that i don't want my vehicles blowing up i know Trukks will pop left and right, i just don't like inventing alot of points into a single big vehicle, idk why i just never have. I'll probably just start making some Trukks or if i find any cool looking unique ones on ebay i'll be all over that haha.

I meaning winning is cool and all but it's not really important to me. I mainly just play to have some laughs and unwind from working all week, if i win cool and if i don't ehh whatever just so long as the game was fun. Especially that i play Necrons sometimes people just won't even wanna play because they see them but i don't even play Decurion, so i figure Orks will be perfect for me! They seem tons of fun, i'm not all about winning, and i'll get to see tons of stuff blowup, on both sides of the table
I feel like i'm gonna wanna run a few units of Tankbustas, like the idea of Ork models toting around a ton of grenades and a Rokkit!

Also i was wondering, are they any good jobs for Gretchin? I mean i love the models for some reason i just wanna know if they are useful.

They're ace objective sitters, cheap as hell but not reliable. They're optional basically.

Mek Gunz are awesome though.

There are better vehicles then trukks that cheaper then battle wagons. Just take a look in IA:8

We have Av 10,11,12,13,14 and even an av 10 fast skimmer transport ( all open topped and filled with explosives of course )

Grots have the worse stats in the game but they do have their purpose aside from filling troop slots. Mainly just being there. They are cheap and small -> easy to get really good cover saves. Agis line hides them from line of sight completely . They are perfect for back field objectives, no point in wasting good expensive units with them if you could also use grots. An other use is deepstrike denyers. Non orks might not be that familiar with this tactic. But foot slogging orks might actually screen their unit so good that you can't deepstrike next to them without the risk of a mishap. They are a good unit to have and cheap to. Putting them in a truck might also be worth it since no opponent will shoot at them and they can stil steal objectives with objective secured.

Why bother putting gretchins in a Trukk when DT trukks for your boyz have Obsec anyway?

I buy them as dedicated transports for my boys but I never use them to transport boyz or any other valuable unit. I use better transports for them like Looted wagons or gun wagons. But I do feel that a unit of grots a trukk is just weak enough to get completely ignored while they are still able to be quick and pick important objectives.

To put it in other words: trukks are no real transports trukks are for grotz.

But what does the Gretchin add there? The Trukk is already an Obsec unit.

Grots add as much to the army as SM Captains add to SM detachments.

 Scion of the Emperor wrote:
Grots add as much to the army as SM Captains add to SM detachments.

something interesting to paint/showcase?

 Scion of the Emperor wrote:
Grots add as much to the army as SM Captains add to SM detachments.

Cheap Objective Secured is not what SM Captains do