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I see a lot of 500 point Ork army lists in the army list forum with Lootas (An elite) in the list.
What force organization are these guys playing?
I read (somewhere) that 500 point games should be ran with only the compulsory FoC of 1HQ and 2 Troops.
If that's not the case, what is a good, balanced, place to start with 500 pt armies?
Does anyone have a page reference to rules for this?
I'm very new to 40K and am still getting my head around all the rules.
Could you guys help?
Thanks!

That isnt the case. There is no "special" 500 point game, only 400point for combat patrol (see 4th ed BRB or Battle missions, from memory) but that uses greatly different rules.

A good place to start is 1 troop 1 HQ, as that allows "elite" armies somethign other than just troops in their list!

There is no such rule regarding a smaller FOC for 500 point games in the BGB.
There may have been something in kill teams/combat patrol, but i'm sure it wasn't limiting like that (it was in other ways however) and only 400 points.
Maybe thats simply a house rule used in your store/club?
Or perhaps it is because several armies use up 500 points when buying the HQ and 2 troops?

Hallo mate hope you will have as much fun with Orks as i do

Well to your questions. You should always use the FoC 1 HQ and 2 Troop choices. Especially in these low point games. You can always build it futher as you upgrade your games to bigger point levels. But the idea of FoC is also to help people get a balanced game against each other.

If you have some truble creating a 500pt fighting force you can always visit the 'Army List' section for ideas but i have a list in my mind you can use. But it is more fun to make your own

This is a good combination of both CC and some Dakka so you are very much covered in most ways. Don't take nobs at these low point of games btw. They are too expensive!

HQ - Warboss;PK, BP


Troops - 19 Sluggas,
Troops - 19 Sluggas, Nob w/PK, BP


Heavy Support - Killa Kans x3 w/Rokkit launcha, skorcha, grotzooka

Total 499pt

Or you can just don't use the Killa Kans and instead take 7-8 Lootas and use the rest 15-30 pt's to some upgrades to your warboss? You still got your Dakka as Orks are so found of!
You can if you want make it more shooty by taking your Troop Sluggas and instead making them take shootas instead. It's all up to you mate. Hope this has helped a bit and again welcome to the game!

Thanks all for the replies.

ZanZag, what you just said is exactly what I was talking about.

If I take the 1HQ and 2 troops FoC, then how are you building a list with Kans and Lootas? Those would require a FoC of 1HQ, 2 Troops, and either 1 Elite or 1 Heavy.

If I am running a simple compulsory FoC (1HQ, 2 Troops) then I don't have either of those choices, that I can see.

So, what is a good 500pt FoC? 1HQ, 2 Troops, 1 Elite (or 1 Heavy)?

matphat wrote:Thanks all for the replies.

ZanZag, what you just said is exactly what I was talking about.

If I take the 1HQ and 2 troops FoC, then how are you building a list with Kans and Lootas? Those would require a FoC of 1HQ, 2 Troops, and either 1 Elite or 1 Heavy.

If I am running a simple compulsory FoC (1HQ, 2 Troops) then I don't have either of those choices, that I can see.

So, what is a good 500pt FoC? 1HQ, 2 Troops, 1 Elite (or 1 Heavy)?

The standard FoC is fine for 500pt games for most armies. You must take 1HQ and 2Troops. However, you are not limited to taking only those. Once you have filled those compulsory slots you can go on to choose things from the other slots (one more HQ, 4 more troops, 3 fast attack, 3 heavy support) with your remaining points.

FoC states that you DEFINETLEY NEED to have 1 HQ and 2 troops but if you have points left over you can get an elites choice or heavy choice its up to you what units you want go to army lists section for help on choosing

This if i did i right? Is the FoC. (First time posting a picture)..

The more dark boxes show you what you must take in your army before it's legal! 1 HQ and 2 Troop Choices. the grey boxes indicates optional choices of warriors you can take. As long as you still have the legal army list right the 1 HQ and 2 Troops you can take any other kind of Warrior in your list aswell. Elites, Fast, and Heavy. As long as it is still in range of your point value

Technically, Orks are one of the best armies for playing low point games, as you can fill out the compulsory chart with 115 points (2 10 man squads of Grots and a bare-bones Big Mek), leaving plenty for fun stuff.

Of course, at 500 points, 2 30 man boyz squads are pretty tough anyway.

Would you guys say that the balance is achieved in the point limits? And that the FoC is just to balance the minimum and maximums so you don't just spam your best units, ignoring everything else?