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How do you like to run your Ork Boyz? Do you like them maxed out or something smaller? I was thinking maybe 20? I am just starting orks as I have been playing Chaos for two years now. I would just like to know how big you like your squads. Thanks, Rod!

First of all, you are going to have to make a choice on your Ork Boyz' weaponry. Do you want them to be geared towards shooting (generally considered the most competitive setup) or towards close combat?

Ork Mobz geared for shooting should generally be 20 or 30 strong (allows for the maximum amount of Special Weapons for every Ork Boy, while still being Fearless at the start of the game).

Ork Mobz geared for close combat can come in two variations:
-Ork Boyz in a Truk. These can obviously never be bigger then 12 Ork Boyz in a unit.
-Footslogging Ork Boyz, which should be taken in units of between 20 and 30 (depending on how many usually get killed while footslogging across the board).

okasy so maybe I should have afull squad of Boyz geared towards shooting, and maybe a squad of 12 in a Trukk? Does that sound good?

rodt777 wrote:okasy so maybe I should have afull squad of Boyz geared towards shooting, and maybe a squad of 12 in a Trukk? Does that sound good?

Personally i'd go with one or the other. Either a few units on foot or a few units in trukks. As it is your truck will get blown up really quickly and your trukk mob will become a 12 strong foot mob.

I like all my boys to be in a trukk, with at least one unit shootas w/big shoota (to hold that far off objective and still stay in the fight).
If your talk'n foot boys, i run them the same with one unit of shootas.
With foot slog'n Orks i like units of 20 boys, this is because i like having as many units and Nobs w/powerclaws as possible.
I would rather have three units of 20 boys than two 30 boy units ( I know their is a point differance), smaller units are more manoverable, provides more targets, and puts more Nobz on the field.

1 Nob with bosspole and power claw
19 Slugga boys

thats the way to go.

Depends on the situtation IMO.

As Darth Balls points out, 1 Nob BS PK with 19 Boyz is good for increasing troop counts and fielding moar PK wielding nobs. It is also a decent number to put in a BW, as BWs can fit 20 models. Downside when footslogging is that you have to protect them, 20 models reaches the end of Mob Rule faster than 30, so could be forced into Morale saves faster.

1 Nob plus 17-18 boyz is used only when a Battlewagon is also going to field ICs such as Big Meks with KFF as a rider. Never go under 20 models unless for this purpose.

30 IMO (1 Nob of course) is good in a pure green tide army that will not rely upon Killa Kans for protection, as that sheer number can be hard to chip away. However, they slow the game down and make it hard to finish in a tourney setting.

Trukk boyz are 1 Nob plus 10 boyz or 11, depending again on space for an IC if needed.

30 IMO (1 Nob of course) is good in a pure green tide army that will not rely upon Killa Kans for protection, as that sheer number can be hard to chip away. However, they slow the game down and make it hard to finish in a tourney setting.

I dunno man, slowness is a given with the Orks...

For 6 points the Ork Boy is by far one of the best models in the game. To not take a load of them is a mistake.

I'm sure there are a few lists that get by with less, but if you don't have at least 60 Boys, I think you're missing out on the strength of the list.

At that point, it's really more a question of 3x20 or 2x30.

If they're walking, I'd strongly recommend 30. People tend to get Klaw focused and try to find ways to field more Klaws per Boy... But that's not good thinking. The Boys aren't there to protect a Klaw, the Klaw is there to protect the Boys.

The Klaw keeps the Boyz safe from big stuff like Dreads, TMCs, etc. It makes assault with the mob a losing proposition. Without it, you can just stick a Dread into the Mob, and know that the Boyz will not do anything of use for the rest of the game.

When it comes to killing stuff, the Boys do fine. A big mob will run over most anything below T6 in CC.

@ Phryxis

It is a matter of interpretation. I did try to justify the different ways you can configure your ork squads. 30 orks is alot, and if you take more than 2 troop options for them, this could lead to a very slow krawl for a game locked down by time kunstraintz.

I'm looking to use 2 squads of trukk boys and a 20 man shoota squad (3rd trukk or trukk to BW conversion will be nobz). I've still got a box of boyz and a few from AOBR.

Should I bump the shootas up to 30 if it is my primary footslog unit? I'm planning on using stormboyz and deffkoptas (as well as a small loota unit) to harass anything that might go after the shootas and could put togther a small burna squad to accompany them.

Depends on what kind of army you want to run. Personally, I think ork troops are the WEAKNESS of the codex, not the strength, but to each their own.

Slugga boyz: are pretty weak overall and useless in small numbers. No shooting ability whatsoever, and their statline and rules don't raise them above mediocre in close combat. They are a S3, I2, 6+ save casualty waiting to happen. They have to charge to do anything useful and even then are trading bodies 2 or 3 for 1, so you're not doing much more than culling the herd. Assault specialists will own you, winning combat handily and then doubling your losses with Fearless wounds. Take these guys in horde mode (20 in a battlewagon, 30 man mobs, or swarms of trukks) or not at all (and preferably not at all unless you want to convince yourself that because it's cheap it's good). They are the best option if you're going for the blitzkrieg attack of fast vehicles, disembark, call your waaagh, and charge.

Shoota Boyz: have the same ability to charge as sluggas (do the math) when they get to shoot going in, and their S4, Assault 2 shootas give you much more flexibility, as well as mitigating their weaknesses. They are decent skirmish fighters, and in horde, they can put out a torrent of dice with less casualties incoming than sluggas. Shoota boyz, to me, are better than sluggas in every conceivable way except a pure, Ghazghkull waaagh assault type list where you want to Fleet + Charge.

Myself, I have no desire to run hordes anymore (had enough of that in 3rd Ed, when it was actually effective), so I run my troops in small numbers to spam rokkits for anti-vehicle. They are objective-takers, that's it, and always just shootas. Everything else does the killing, which suits me fine. My last list, a dread bash list, featured all of 3 10-man shoota mobs with rokkits and finished 2nd in a 15-person tourney without one of them ever really taking any serious fire. If you minimize your troop costs, the good stuff comes in greater numbers and takes fire away from them. Good players will still spot your scoring units and any weaknesses you might have, but it's hard to kill them when they're in battlewagons or in reserves, behind 11 kans and dreads.

I prefer to start fielding them at 30 in each mob, build the rest of the list and then cull the mobz down a bit. Mostly end up running 21-23 boyz w/ PK nob in each unit.

I prefer 24 Boyz + a Nob.

Strangely as it may sound, I find the unit more manoeuvrable than a full 30 one.

"But 5 models doesn't makes that much of a difference!"

I know! But somehow it does to me. Also as 24 Boyz with 2 Big Shootas + a Nob with BP and Klaw is 200 points, it caters to my inner neat-freak.

Maybe a better take on the question is:
Should I use my spare box of boyz to make 10 more shootas or would I be better off using the burnas from my loota box or converting them to lootas. The caveat would be that I would consider eventually buying another battleforce.

With 3 trukks (2 boy, 1 nob) , 15 IC led stormers, 8 lootas (i know.. im working on it), 3 bikes and 6 deffkoptas available, is the difference between 20 and 30 gonna make a difference?

I preference for Boys mobs is 20 Shoota Boyz.

1.They are far more manueverable than 30 boyz.
2.They fit into a BW.
3.They have a 24" threat range (not counting big shootas).
4.It is MUCH easier to get all 20 boyz into assault than it is 30. With 30, you usually end up losing out on some attacks because some of the 30 aren't close enough to fight in assault.

Darth Balls wrote:I like all my boys to be in a trukk, with at least one unit shootas w/big shoota (to hold that far off objective and still stay in the fight).
If your talk'n foot boys, i run them the same with one unit of shootas.
With foot slog'n Orks i like units of 20 boys, this is because i like having as many units and Nobs w/powerclaws as possible.
I would rather have three units of 20 boys than two 30 boy units ( I know their is a point differance), smaller units are more manoverable, provides more targets, and puts more Nobz on the field.

1 Nob with bosspole and power claw
19 Slugga boys

thats the way to go.

Couldn't have said it better myself.