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I've been trying to get my head around playing Orks, since I mainly play against friends (whom for some reason all play Space Marines or Space Wolves) And I haven't had much luck.. I wouldn't say I'm getting steam-rolled, it's been more or less close games. I just need that little push for getting me into the win. The guy I usually play against rolls with Space Wolves with Kriegs as allies.. What are some tactics/lists I could use to get a bit of an edge on him? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

I smashed Space Wolves just the other day man.

What units do you run, and what do they generally take?

What gametype do you most often play? Some people insist on killpoints, which not only is pure gak but also unfairly penalizes certain factions (ie ours)

I'd say vs Marines is is one of the better matchups for us. My least favourite is vs IG. With a little help you'll be krumpin beakies with the best of them

I've been rolling mainly with a Killa Kan Wall setup
- Big Meks
- Kanz
- Lootas
- Boyz
The usual business really, I've been playing round with my list trying to find out what I like. All the games we play are random too so I can't really tailor to one type.. He's going couple squads of marines, long fangs, termies and thunderwolf lord with a buttload of wolves. Krieg has a simple squad and Hq nd a heap of the heavy weapon squads.. Maybe it's cause I'm new to it and I haven't gotten the hang of it yet, but some tips would be nice.

Kanz? Theyre more comical these days than viable. If you arent running wagon lists you should be getting Kannons for heavy because theyre dirt cheap and the only reliable AP3 orks have. Against any MEQ, id always use the S8 AP3 option because every wound i cause is a dead marine, and odds are the blast would only cause 1 more wound anyway and allow armor saves.

Pretty much any race loathe Bikernobz, though im not sure how well they handle JOTWW since i never face space wolves specifically (usually CSM or BA) since theyre only I3.

Trust me when i say orks are hard to use. I lost my first like ~30 games before i started getting anywhere. I still dont consider myself a good player, more like average. Orks dont have that "i win" button that most races seem to have, so it takes a lot more practice and tactic (and a bit of luck) to win with them.

Hell, feeling frisky and your opponents tend to avoid deepstriking? bring a SAG and plaster his marine deathball. Yea, has a risk behind it, but you are more likely to cause pretty nasty damage than you are to go "Oops" - that thing has single-handedly made me win games with a good roll.

Moar SAGs, I love the sag for MEQ, Large template, ap2 high Str (most of the time) and seems to put a frown on my opponents. If you do play kill points you’re going to have a bad time. I play with lots of foot sloggin boyz and if you’re playing against armor, you get blasted :( Are you using a KFF with your kan wall? If not add it!

Also remember, Orks never loose, they just comeback to fight another day!

Dreadnaughts in general have become rubbish due to the prevalence of autocannon equivs (ie, S7 rapid fire) in the game. Kans are just a more fragile Dread. As cool as a Kan wall is, its not even close to competitive anymore.

As mentioned above, Kannons are fantastic. Any army that doesn't need its heavy slots should max on these. Just proxy them in, three batteries of three with maximum ammo runts. I personally use the frag round against Marines if you can get five with one shot because the new "always 2+ to wound at best" rule is actually pretty brutal to high strength weapons.

Grot Bomms are a fantastic FW option against artillery and marines. PM me if you'd like a copy of GW's free, legal document with details about this amazing weapon.

And of course, the SAG ~ since the forcefield is pretty lame in most cases, and the Warboss is now going up against OP as hell named characters every other game, I'd say this is our best HQ. Take two, or hell, ally in Dread Mob and get three, which helps mitigate a single unlucky mishap wrecking your face. On the upside, should you get wrecked by a mishap, thats probably the best way to lose a game that I can think of.

The last really good unit we get is Lootas. The problem with Lootas is that they turn Orks into a Gunline, which is straight up the worst possible way to play this game. Swear to god I'd sell my boyz if this was the only way to win with them. That said, a few mobs of these guys are a fantastic way to smash light/mid vehicles and 4+ troops

Yeah you should always have atleast 1 group of 10 lootas. Its 150pts for near-table high strength coverage and its decent against air because of all the dakka.
Avoid maxing out on them, both individual units and in total. Going fearless with them prevents going to ground, and you want that 2+/3+ cover (depending on where you are) if youre suffering wounds. Better fire snaps with 10 than normal with 7.
Also avoid getting 3 groups of them. You are now a gunline if you do this. 2 is fine for higher point games. Another gunline will crush you if you do this.

Sooo.. I'm gathering to bail on the Killa Kanz, invest in some Kannons? What about 2 squads of 10 - 12 Loota's and 3 batteries of Kannon's? Seems like a lot of shooting.. What about the Troops and HQ now? A Warboss Biker seems pretty beefy from what I've seen on the table, I've been using the KFF to surprisingly good effect (although my lucks gotta run out sooner or later)

KFF is mandatory if youre mainly a wheeled or green tide army. Its crappy but better than nothing.

Never go more than 10 lootas because now theyre Fearless. About 90% of the time my lootas are fired at i goto ground. I'd rather fire snaps with 10 than fire BS2 with 5-6. Just remember to verify before a game starts what terrain is what cover. Going to ground adds +1 cover for ruins and open space, and +2 for Aegis walls and area terrain (yes, area terrain. Pg97 or somewhere bout there it mentioned in BOLD its a +2 not a +1 for area terrain). Several people i play with dont understand why im such a stickler for cover saves, they like to say theres not much difference between 3+ and 4+. Every time they argue this i throw dice and go "Look, 3+ means i lost 3 out of 15 dice instead of 6 out of 15. It makes a difference, so quit trying to screw me over"

And i LOVE my bikernobz + boss missile. The way i run them it costs 515pts (can shave 25-40pts if you need it) and it rarely ever doesnt decimate half my opponents army. Ive had games where that missile single handedly wiped out a gunline because i got Outflank warlord trait so he couldnt shoot me down as i rode across to get him.
Its so powerful and versatile it doesnt need to be in a speedfreak list. I usually have them sneak around the border of the table to avoid being shot at for as long as possible while the rest of my green tide/kannons/lootas/whatever i got distracts and takes out what they can.

Incidentally, this is my bikernob list:
Warboss on Bike w/ PK/BP/Cybork/Attack Squig/Kombi Scorcha (160)

5 Bikernobz 355
1 PK
3 Bigchoppa
WAAAGH! Banner
Painboy
Cyborks
4 Kombi Scorchas

You can shave the kombis and bigchoppas if you need points, but theyre very useful. Bigchoppas are S7 on the charge which is nasty, and the KS is the ultimate anti-charge weapon. Believe it or not bikernobz weakness is someone charging them first - this toy helps remedy that lol

Hmm.. You guys have given me a lot to think about. Maybe I'll try and make a Biker list, they seem like lot's of fun and just look awesome. Is Wazdakka Gutsmek any good?

looted wagons with boomguns throw aroud some serious fire power ive been tabled more than once, its risky though especialy when using carpets of orks. they dont work on their own though, like vidicators spam them, + lootas and youve got a backline that wil mangle your opponent leaving orks to tie up the scraps

 Blackskull wrote:
looted wagons with boomguns throw aroud some serious fire power ive been tabled more than once, its risky though especialy when using carpets of orks. they dont work on their own though, like vidicators spam them, + lootas and youve got a backline that wil mangle your opponent leaving orks to tie up the scraps

Yes looted wagons chew up MEQ since its ap3 but they are a BIG target since MEQ players really dont like pie plate ap3 weapons

I dislike looted wagons in even a remote competitive scene. Too fragile for where they need to be, which is mid-range so any gun with any decent amount of strength can shoot it. It really needs a longer range or better armor. Ive never gotten more than 1 shot with it before that random Lascannon or Autocannon pops it. And its a dangerous target, so it WILL get shot at.

Wazdakka is a legitimate tactic. Ive never tried it because i lack the bike numbers, but when i look at it i see it being complete luck. If i face a heavy ground force with only moderate shooting and no heavy flamers, i'll wreck their faces. Go against heavy flier or the ultimate gunline? im scared...
Never take wazdakka if you arent going whole hearted biker list though, as in you are fielding 25-30 bikes in a 1500ish point game. He costs more than a bikerboss and is slightly weaker (lack of invul being the big one) but he makes Warbikers in the FA slot into Troops.

That aside i still want to try it lol...i just lack THAT many bikes (im around 18 including my bikerboss and wazdakka kitbashes)