Picking up 'da Boyz

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**boj0**

What's up Dakka?

So after 2 years of playing around as Space Marines/Wolves, I decided I wanted to switch things up a bit and start playing with an Ork army after I managed to get my hands on a friend's old codex.
What would be a good place to start? Any trap units I should avoid? Solid units that I would be a git not to use?
I would like to keep it around 1-1.5k points to start.

Thanks in advance!

**Jidmah**

Welcome to the Waagh! side

Everyone starting out should get assault on black reach orks, all of the models are useful and you can't get them any cheaper. After that you should follow my usual buying order advice for people starting out orks:

1. Nobz box. Lots of klaws, big choppas and combi weapons. Don't be affraid to cut of the AOBR nobz arms to fit the better weapons on. Bonus: Nobz work quite well in low-point games, which you are playing at this point.
2. Boxes of Boyz. You can't make Shootaboyz out of AOBR boyz easily(stupid arms), so get the regular boxes. Each one allows you to build an additional boy /w rokkit and a nob /w PK and bosspole. You can add the rokkits and one nob to your other boyz, put the AOBR big shootas with your shoota boyz.
3. Kanz OR Battleweagons. Actually fully up to you which one. If you like huge amounts of boyz, go kanz. Magnetize the kanz arms, so you can switch weapons later. If you like tanks and ramming them into everything, go battleweagons. Do not glue any turrents onto the hull, so you can switch them. Last, but most important: Do not buy both kanz and battlewagons, as they don't work well together.
3. Yeah, two thirds. Get Lootaz&Burna boxes. Each box is missing three bodys to build all lotaz and burnaz, do not build the meks. You can use boyz boxes to compensate. If you keep the burna heads and use regular ones, you can use them and all the spare bagpacks you will have by now(meks, boyz) to build quite good looking kommandoz. You need more bodies for that though, but AOBR boyz work fine.
4. BigMek with KFF. One of our best HQs, save boyzs, kanz and battlewagons.
5. Do not buy the battleforce, you do not want one trukk, three warbikes and twenty boyz. No ork army wants them in that combination, too many boyz for a trukk, too few trukks for the boyz, too few warbikers for anything.

As you are aiming for low point games you should rather go for Kanz than Battlewagons, as the bw list just works for games of 1500 points and higher.

An additional advice for you as marine player: Forget everything you know about tactics. Playing orks like you would play your marines will only set you up for failure.

**Warboss Gutrip**

Jidmah's advice is excellent. The only thing I have to add is, if your converting skills are good, it's probably an intelligent idea to give some of the deffkoptas from AoBR buzzsaws, as this really helps you AT.

**zman111**

I myself avoid flash gits, and burnas like the plauge. Deffkoptas from AOBR can be a real major asset to you if used proporly and a huge pain for your enimy.

**Jidmah**

Actually, I just finished adding kanz' extra DCCWs to some of my koptaz, by using the gun barrels of zzap gunz as hydraulic looking "arms" attached to them. Looks quite good

**Warboss Gutrip**

zman111 wrote:I myself avoid flash gits, and burnas like the plauge. Deffkoptas from AOBR can be a real major asset to you if used proporly and a huge pain for your enimy.

Flashgitz I can understand, but burnas? Probably one of the best units in the codex atm. Try 14 in a battlewagon, roll up next to anything and it dies a flamey death!

**MFletch**

Flash gitz, skorchas and a few of the special characters are not playable. Everything else can find a place.

Then the only unit that fits into all lists is boyz. Well I suppose you could go all grot with a kan wall.

The general idea you should have is ork units can not be relied upon ergo you need spam units you have. So plenty of trukks, or plenty of battlewagons, or plenty of foot slogging boyz or plenty of kanz. Orks are the one army that should ignore balance.

**boj0**

First thanks for all the quick replies everyone!

So it looks like I'll start off with Boyz, Nobz, and a Big Mek with that big Kustom Force Field!
Should I bother with upgrading them to 'ard Boyz? The 4+ save would make me feel a lot better, or am I just muckin' about and should stick with regular Boyz?
What are good options for the Mek? Kustom Mega-blastas and Powerklaws? Leave him as is?
And it looks like Battle Wagons are my best bet for transports, I've seen these things rush in with Deff Rollas and crush enemy units. I'll get them for that level of hilarity alone

And finally for the Nobz, should I go for Big Choppas to save points? Or just say hell with it and go with Klaws?

Anything else I should know?
(I've asked more questions in the last two posts than I did in my first year playing marines, believe it or not)

**Warboss Gutrip**

"Should I bother with upgrading them to 'ard Boyz? The 4+ save would make me feel a lot better, or am I just muckin' about and should stick with regular Boyz?"
As a rule of thumb, muckin about. The 4pts is not generally worth it, though a combination of 'ard boyz and Mad Dok Grotsnik (for FNP) can be very viable. The fact that every boyz squad must have a Nob with a powerklaw and a bosspole really cannot be stressed enough; it really is a vital upgrade.

"What are good options for the Mek? Kustom Mega-blastas and Powerklaws? Leave him as is?"
Generally, just the KFF. I personally run a powerklaw for extra killy, though most people prefer just to hide him.

"And it looks like Battle Wagons are my best bet for transports, I've seen these things rush in with Deff Rollas and crush enemy units. I'll get them for that level of hilarity alone."
Truest thing I ever heard.

"And finally for the Nobz, should I go for Big Choppas to save points? Or just say hell with it and go with Klaws?"
Presuming 5-strong, go with 1-2 big choppas and a powerklaw. Always run an absolute minimum of one PK though, they really are vital.

**Jidmah**

Agree, just some minor additions:

Warboss Gutrip wrote:"Should I bother with upgrading them to 'ard Boyz? The 4+ save would make me feel a lot better, or am I just muckin' about and should stick with regular Boyz?"
As a rule of thumb, muckin about. The 4pts is not generally worth it, though a combination of 'ard boyz and Mad Dok Grotsnik (for FNP) can be very viable. The fact that every boyz squad must have a Nob with a powerklaw and a bosspole really cannot be stressed enough; it really is a vital upgrade.

Mad Doc Grotznik + 'ard boyz is expesive as hell though. Should really only show up in apoc or similar-sized games.

"What are good options for the Mek? Kustom Mega-blastas and Powerklaws? Leave him as is?"
Generally, just the KFF. I personally run a powerklaw for extra killy, though most people prefer just to hide him.

Usually if the Meks gets into close combat, he's dead. Some people give him a PK to alow him to use the battlewagon's boarding plank, or disembark and smash some vehicle he got close to. I prefer to give him a burna, as he doesn't have any other shooting weapon when picking up a KFF and a flamer is useful sometime. In addition, if does get into CC, at least his four S5 attacks will ignore armor and potentially kill something before dying. Unless you borrow my mek, of course, he'd rather hurt himself than anything else in CC.
Note that a bigmek with KFF can only replace his choppa, not his slugga.

"And finally for the Nobz, should I go for Big Choppas to save points? Or just say hell with it and go with Klaws?"
Presuming 5-strong, go with 1-2 big choppas and a powerklaw. Always run an absolute minimum of one PK though, they really are vital.

The most recent post on that topic can be found here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/395687.page