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Hey all, I'm PRETTY sure this is the right place to be asking this.

I'm getting paid by someone to put together an entire IG army (I like putting together pieces, so sue me) and being paid in Ork pieces.

I'm a full-time CSM player, and know Orks are a very different strategy.

Can anyone give me advice / point me to advice threads on what direction I should be going with them?

I was thinking Flashgits + Lootas + Kan Rokkit spam, but that's the extent of my Ork knowledge. I know nothing about HQ or special units, or even troop choices.

OK, no flash gits. Maybe, just maybe, in a very fluffy/non competitive environment, but they just don't work on the tabletop.

Kans and lootas are a good idea. If you run them, you want a mek with a Kustom Force field (maybe 2 meks), to protect them. Then you want to use the kans as a wall (the infamous Kan wall), to screen a horde of boys behind them. You then want lots of boys. Every mob should have a nob with a PK in it, they're what gives orks real close combat punch.

The rest is really fairly free. I like deffkoptas to alpha strike any light armour.

I agree forget the Flash Gitz. Lootas are your best ranged boyz. Buddy of mine playz CSM so I'm familiar. This is a totally different way to play. First off this is a CC army. Any way you slice it this army revolves around getting in close and chewing things up. Just forget anything ranged. Your whole army minus the Kans has a BS of 2 so don't count on ranging anything down. I run a green tide. which means lots and lots and lots of boyz. Think of them as bullet sponges so your Nob can get in close with your PK. Check the forum I see three major strats.
1. Kan Wall. Run as many kans infront of your army to give them +4 sv by firing through a unit. Great strat, not my fav.
2. Speed kult. Put everybody in or on fast moving objects. Like nobs on bikes. Truks and Battlewagons. Get close fast with armor, pile out and crush
3. Green tide. Out number your opponant....by a lot.

I've seen good posts on all and posts on pros and cons for each unit type.
Big Mek with KFF good. Flash Gitz bad

Basicly orks are really squishy like eldar, but hit really hard in CC. So having more is best and giving them anything that gives them cover is a must. Meks or Battlewagons

Don't be mad when you have to take a crap ton of guys of the board. Get really good at speedy movement phases (your opponents will appreciate that). Buy lots of dice, no really buy ALOT of dice. And remember - power in numbers!

Otherwise the past two guys kinda have it covered.

Couldn't recommend Flash Gitz for a beginning Ork player. Besides, they are in the same FoC area as Kans.

If you want to spam the Kanz, then you're tending towards the Kan-wall strategy. The foundation of this strategy is lots of Lootas, lots of Shoota Boyz, lots of Kanz and a Big Mek with KFF.

KFF gives 4+ cover save to Kanz, Kanz spread out to give mobile/shooting 4+ cover save to rest of army.

This can be a very competitive list but I'd always want to make such a list a bit more interesting or original, so I'd look to add something from Fast Attack (probably warbikers) or Nobz made into troops (a Warboss unlocks this) or a Deff Dread as a troop choice (Big Mek unlocks this) or another Big Mek with a Shokk Attack Gun.

Orks armies are generally able to build what they want - unless you're set on pure competitiveness.

Let's see... If you're getting some footsloggers, 20 units in the squad, minimum. In general, I run Shoota boyz on foot (thus at least 20 per), and sluggas in trukks, which seems to be the better formula.

As for HQ's, Big Meks with Kustom Force Fields are very popular, and very effective - I personally find it hard not to include one. Note, that putting the mek in a vehicle increases the radius of the Field - so it's most common to see the Mek riding in Battlewagons, or Trukks. Warbosses generally gel well with any of the melee options Orks have, and Ghazzkull sees quite a lot of use (though I don't use him personally).

As for elites.... Lootas are fantastic (though that's not to say they are essential)- though people differ in how many they field. They are susceptible to moral failures due to ranged fire, so many people either field them in 5's, so they lose less when they run, or 15's, so they can make use of the Mob Rule.

Oh, yeah, Mob Rule. Check that rule out in the Ork Codex.

Kanz are great, walkers low cost, and you can get rokkits with the best BS, and Grotzookas which are great in their own way. Their low WS just means that it's easy for enemies to place hits - most of the time they will still be hitting on 4's.

Battlewagons are also great, but primarilly for their Deffrollas, which many may declare the best AV in the game. Those hits described in the rulebook, work against vehicles when you tank shock them.

Orks are all about quantity - mostly to make up for low quality. Orks are designed so that you play them to take cassualties, but survive enough so you can hit back. In melee, Orks will always hit last. It's about soaking up the hits, then hitting back. At very least, your boyz are there to take wounds, so that your nob can survive and deal his Powerklaw hits.

What else... ah, yes. Something I realized when starting another army, after playing Orks.
In terms of ranged firepower... it's a huge contrast to other races. In other races, you get a high chance to hit, but a low amount of shots, which often results in frustration when most of them miss inspite of high BS. With Orks... it's quite different. They provide either large amounts of fire power, or cheap amounts of powerful firepower, but with very low ballistic skill. This seems to placate players (or at least me), when you don't manage to hit anything, because "well, I can only hit on 5's) - you don't get nearly as frustrated/depressed when nothing hits. THAT SAID, Orks have an uncanny ability to hit things quite a damned lot in spited of their low BS. Lootas in particular in infamous for having half their shots hit, only on 5's.

Ultimately, Orks are mostly about risk vs reward vs fun. A lot of their units/arsenal has large potential to backlash, but they are very fun to use (assuming you're not stuck in a competitive mindset). Their tendency to miss most of their fire, as well as things to potentially go disastrously wrong with some units/equipment, encourages a perception of having fun over cold, calculating, desire to only win. That doesn't mean they aren't competative - many people I've played against have been disgusted at how capable Orks are (and thats with me not using Deathstar ork squads).

Ultimately, experiment. The majority of the codex sees quite a lot of use.

Kharrak wrote:Ultimately, Orks are mostly about risk vs reward vs fun. A lot of their units/arsenal has large potential to backlash, but they are very fun to use (assuming you're not stuck in a competitive mindset). Their tendency to miss most of their fire, as well as things to potentially go disastrously wrong with some units/equipment, encourages a perception of having fun over cold, calculating, desire to only win. That doesn't mean they aren't competative - many people I've played against have been disgusted at how capable Orks are (and thats with me not using Deathstar ork squads).

This explains why every Ork player I see is having fun while he plays. My brother tends to be a sore loser, so I think that's why he's trying to talk me in to buying his Orks. People usually laugh at me when I'm willing to lose a few CSM in a good tactic, and don't care when my Defilers blow up as long as its a spectacular explosion. I should fit right in with Orks.

This is a lot of good advice. I haven't gotten to really read the codex yet, and since I'm normally a CSM player it's been pretty terrifying so far. I can also understand why my brother didn't do so well. He experiments a lot, and I believe he was trying for a green tide strategy, but never quite pulled it off because he goes in too many directions.

I now have the urge to make Kans out of pop cans and plasticard though, and that's just fun all around.

Really, go with what you think is your kinda army. There's quite a few suggested in the Codex and you could always make up your own so, go nuts

Honestly the two funnest sound Kan Line and Green Tide. Green Tide sounds the funnest, but oh my god do I not want to move that many units a turn!

I would not recommend Green Tide for a number of reasons:
1) Painting will take ages.
2) Moving and rolling dice take ages.
3) It would get old quick. I.e. not as fun as it sounds. Because it is not very reactive, you'd play each game almost exactly the same way, and it would often feel like playing scissors-paper-rock.

Shoot the Choppy ones, Choppy the shooty ones

Also shootas are much better than a slugga choppa combo.
Can wall could be lots of fun, and very kill.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Shoot the Choppy ones, Choppy the shooty ones

Also shootas are much better than a slugga choppa combo.
Can wall could be lots of fun, and very kill.

Little short story about how I started. I read the forums. Got really excited about Kan wall and tons of Battle wagons. Thinkin I'd be this huge mek army just krushing stuff. Then I realized i was broke. So I started buying up stuff on ebay. All the AoBr stuff. Next thing you know I had a ton of boyz. So ended up with a Green Tide army by default. Wanted to get into the game, started playing with what i had and BAM! ended up loving green tide. Thing is once you have a ton of boyz, the back bone of your army, you can go any direction hence.

Painting is a pain in the butt. But some tips. 1. Assembly line. Find your flow. 2. Detail. All my boyz are painted the same. Slap on brown, Slap on green, Dry brush, dry brush. But then each of my mobs has there own markings and little details that set them apart. Now that I mention it this is really important. When you have 80 boyz on the board and your buddy goes. "Ok so which mob is this guy in?"

Moving is a pain in the butt. Just one of the down sides. you'll learn.

Deploying is a pain in the butt. This really is a pain in the butt. Every game and I mean every. I say, "Damn i dont have any room left on the table to fit my looted wagon." but again you learn. it does look really impressive when you have 100+ well painted models on the table.

Oh yeah, some extra things those additional posts reminded me off.

As an Ork player, your turns will take longer than other races - mostly due to you having to move/place larger-than-average bodies of units. This means that games will take a little longer than usual - and muuuuch longer if you're fighting against another Ork player

As stated above (and doubly so!), with your boyz, use ranged units to fire upon melee targets, and melee units to attack ranged units.

Orks in generall are very close-combat capable, a good sized squad of Sluggas is truly terrifying on the charge, and Shootas are capable in their own right - but enemy close combat specialists are still a very real danger. Orks only have strength 3, so rely on that charge to get that extra attack and Strength 4 due to Furious Charge. Orks never, ever like being charged.

Larger squads of Orks can take the hits and still strike back nicely enough, but they are better at taking wounds (and hitting back) when they are charging, then when they have been charged.

Also remember that Ork units over 10 are Fearless - which has it's good and bad results. In close combat, if they lose combat, they take wounds for each wound they lost combat by.

The low Ork initiative means they will hit last, outside of some very rare occasions (getting the charge without cover against Firewarriors, for example). It also means though, that Orks are very susceptible to Sweeping Advances when their squads are low. Luckilly, boss poles help negate that somewhat, though at the likely cost of an additional boy. One of the reasons Boss Polls are essential

This is a very good guide thanks guys, I'm just setting up an Ork army myself, good few points and tips in there much appreciated ;D

Yeah, Kharraks advice is worth it's weight in teef

Rusted wrote:

Kharrak wrote:Ultimately, Orks are mostly about risk vs reward vs fun. A lot of their units/arsenal has large potential to backlash, but they are very fun to use (assuming you're not stuck in a competitive mindset). Their tendency to miss most of their fire, as well as things to potentially go disastrously wrong with some units/equipment, encourages a perception of having fun over cold, calculating, desire to only win. That doesn't mean they aren't competative - many people I've played against have been disgusted at how capable Orks are (and thats with me not using Deathstar ork squads).

This explains why every Ork player I see is having fun while he plays. My brother tends to be a sore loser, so I think that's why he's trying to talk me in to buying his Orks. People usually laugh at me when I'm willing to lose a few CSM in a good tactic, and don't care when my Defilers blow up as long as its a spectacular explosion. I should fit right in with Orks.

This is a lot of good advice. I haven't gotten to really read the codex yet, and since I'm normally a CSM player it's been pretty terrifying so far. I can also understand why my brother didn't do so well. He experiments a lot, and I believe he was trying for a green tide strategy, but never quite pulled it off because he goes in too many directions.

I now have the urge to make Kans out of pop cans and plasticard though, and that's just fun all around.

Yes. Do this, really. Do it. You'z an Orky Boy now, Yooz gotz ta fink 'bout how ta Loot fings proppa!

If you want Flash Gitz, try Flash Gitz. Maybe use a 2 squad Kan Wall, and have a mob of slogging Gitz along with them. In fact, now that I think about it, that might be the one place Gitz would be somewhat competitive, other than taking up a HS slot.

And it is certainly possible to have a low-model elite, supa 'ard Orky army, and still win a lot of games. I generally run 6 Kanz, 1-2 Battlewagons, Meganobz, Nobz, 2 Deffdredds, KFF mek and a single 20 Boyz strong 'ard Shoota mob. I've been eksperimentin' wif Tankbustas lately too, and want to try some Gitz as well.

I kinda run my Orks like Marines. It's hilarious.