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If you were going to run an Ork shoota unit of 20-30 boyz.
Would you give them Rokkitz or Big Shootas and why??

I love Rokits because the 24" range is still better than the 18" shoota, and 24" can cover a good chunk of the battle field.
The high Str. allows them to take on Dreads, Walkers, and the like with greater ease then a Big Shoota.

On the flip-side, big shootas will give you more hits, longer range.

in an all-comers army, I'd usually take rokkits - despite orks' crappy BS, the _possibility_ of 3 Str8 missiles means even heavy vehicles can't ignore such a mob

always rokkits. the added anti-tank capability and slight anti-meq is to much to ignore. big shootas are good, only when fighing other horde armies.

depends on the rest of your army but I would tend to agree... OTOH, shootas due to their cost are awesome at shooting things into oblivion.

Mathhammer:

27/shootas or nobs with shootas 54 shots/18 hits/ 9 wounds/ 3 dead marines
3/rokkits 3 shots/1 hit/ almost 1 guaranteed marine dead
3/big shootas 9 shots/3 hits/2 wounds/less than 1 dead marine.

If you roll like my friend and consistently get orks to roll like imperial guardsmen, I would go for the big shootas but the rokkits solve more problems.

Go slugga boyz and I would go with rokkits as they are not going to fire at anything except for the marauding tank or dreadnought until you are ready to charge. Or none and just run or waagh in every phase.

Nah, big shootas all the way. Big shootas make the mob better at what it should be doing, pouring out a bucket load of shots. It also gives you 36 inch range. If you take rokkits and shoot a tank, you've got max three str8 shots and waste all the shootas. Use other stuff for killing tanks, and the best way to kill MEQs is to force a lot of saves, which BS do well.

Big shootas are the best.
Don't bother with the buzz saws either.
Bikes are still the best place for them.

Rokkits are better for MEQs, however, if you're taking rokkits for say, vehicles, like Greebynob said, you're wasting all those shoota shots. So I'd take the big shootas and use something else for that, instead of trying to make the shootas all around (the PK nob is there if you must take on a vehicle).

Regwon wrote:always rokkits. the added anti-tank capability and slight anti-meq is to much to ignore. big shootas are good, only when fighing other horde armies.

Yes. Unless you are confident in your anti-tank abilities you should take some rokkits. Your average 1500 pt. ork army will not have a helluvalot of anti-tank; maybe some lootas, maybe some kans with kustom-mega blastas. If you are facing a MEQ force that has 2 tanks and 3 rhinos it is very helpful to be able to hit those rhinos with rokkits from the boyz. I run 3x30 boyz units. Two have big shootas, the other one has rokkits. Having said that, you have to weigh very carefully weather firing off 3 BS2 shots is better than running 30 lads d6".

If your list is seriously lacking AT firepower, I suppose rokkits would be the way to go, but in general, I think the big shootas are better.

While the rokkits do, technically, threaten pretty much anything, the odds that you'll actually hurt something of significance is pretty small. With all the cover saves involved, too, rokkits become less effective compared to big shootas.

The increased range and rate of fire makes the big shootas handy at sniping away at enemy troops as the mob advances, and the reduced cost adds a few extra models.

I agree with the above, too...PKs/assault are the main ork anti-armor, and the nob should have that covered.

For choppa slugga boys I've been running nothing. Frankly I just run them at the enemy unitl we are in close combat.

For shoota boys I was runing rokkits, but frankly after my last game I decided that was not working. Would definitely recommend Big shoota for other CC armies, for MEQ's probably nothing.

I've been doing tank busting with PK, and using WB with Rokkits for wlakers, etc.

I'm definitely in the big shoota camp. I think PKs are easily capable of taking down whatever needs to be taken down. Boss on Bike with PK is death to any tank on the board.

get em both

In my opinion I always take shoota boyz with big shootas and slugga boys with rokkits. In makes sense this way.

In any event it is generally better to equip orks by matching shootas to big shootas as it reinfoced what the ork mob is to do. If you want rokkits you dont need shootas, if you dont needs shootas then you are wasting the extra attack in close combat you could be having. You could argue that rokkits and shootas both are good against MEq, I don't believe so. Sure your rokkit will deny a save, but the marine could still get cover and what you gain in extra stopping opower you lose in rate of fire. You are as likely to hit with three shoota shots overall as per one rokkit on saves alone both will yield one unsaved wound. The 2+ wound of the rokkit must be offset broadly against the possibility of a cover save.

Conversely sluggas are not there to shoot, the fact they have any firepower is an odd bonus to a bucket of S4 charge attacks. Thus if you are not charging, run or shoot. This is where rokkits come in handy, with no shoota shots to waste pattering off a tank your two or three rokkits are free to fire efficiently, or at least as efficient as orky shooting can get.

Actually I alternate the units for no better reason than to differentiate between mobs in a big scrap or massed charge. Shoota-slugga-shoota-slugga mobz in a rough line going forward, or wherever. So I end up with a sprinklying of big shootas and rokiits along the line, all in all I find this useful. Sometimes I do wish I had more rokkits, but I prefer to get rokkit fire from kans (Bs3) buggies or the new deffkoptas (both twin linked).

I too prefer Big Shoota for my Shoota mobs, and Rokkits for my Slugga Mobs. I consider my shoota mobs as anti-infantry units with their massed amounts of fire and big shootas help reinforce that. They always have a Nob with a PK if I need to try and crack some armor. I give the Rokkits to my Sluggas since they will not often want to shoot another target so then I am free to fire a rokkit off at a vehicle. As others have mentioned, I too rely on other mobs (Deff Koptas, Kans, Lootas) to crack armor or my PK nobs.

Always take big shootas with shoota mobs, and run slugga mobs without special weapons. Not like they get much chance to fire em anyways. I use other things for bustin tanks anyways, like deffkoptas

And here i am, sitting by my self with 1 battlewagon with 4 big shootas and 1 battlewagon with 4 rokkits. zipping them down and then next turn unlease all of them, while i run massive mobs to pummel everything before them with no specials what so ever.

i love taking 90 gretchen and watyching as my opponents does the maths and works out that he doesnt have enough ammo

Squig Herder:
i love taking 90 gretchen and watyching as my opponents does the maths and works out that he doesnt have enough ammo

Why dont you just take 60 gretchin? 60 grotz providing cover for 120 boyz with a KFF mek giving everyone the blanket cover save. Now that's running out of ammunition.

why not take 180 grots and 9 killa kans with big shootas and 2 kkf meks? that would be fun

Squig_herder wrote:why not take 180 grots and 9 killa kans with big shootas and 2 kkf meks? that would be fun

explain to me what 180 grots can kill that 30 orks with shootas cant kill better?

TheMotivesOfMan wrote:

Squig_herder wrote:why not take 180 grots and 9 killa kans with big shootas and 2 kkf meks? that would be fun

explain to me what 180 grots can kill that 30 orks with shootas cant kill better?

Time?

Never rokkits! Always Big shootas!

Orks BS of 2 is brutal. More dice you throw the better your chances.

Also, with assaulting rules in 5th, you hit rear armor. So Orks will furious charge into AV 10 with str 5 attacks. Average rolling will kill the tank.

Ponder this. 30 boyz....26 shootas, 3 big shootas, nob with klaw/slugga.

52 shoota shots
9 big shootas shots
1 slugga

That equates to some shat dying in my book. Then you assault whats left and move on.

Besides Rokkits aren't going to kill real tank armor, 13+ anyway.

You need to roll 5+ to hit and follow it up with another 5 or 6. Orks can do it, but never when you want them to.

That's what Tankbustas are for: they have the volume of shots to make that reliable.

Yeah gave up my mobs with rokkits. Now Shootas get Big Shootas and Sluggas get nothing and run.

I normally take WB with twin linked rokkits, that has worked well for me in the past.

Finally tank busting is normally with a WB and nobs with PK's.

I played my orks recently and BS 2 was totally dismaying in terms of rolling buckets of dice for a handful of wounds and kills.

Big shooters because they are cheaper, because they have more range and they are going to boost your anti-infantry power which is what shooter "power" is anyway.

What you use to deal with heavy armour is another question, but the idea that boys rokkits are going to stop that landraider is LAUGHABLE.

At BS 2, you want to make your Power Klaws the can openers of your army.