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So, I have recently been inspired to look at Orks in a new light, and I am contemplating making a possible investment in a nice fluffy army. So, for those who happen to have the knowledge on hand, please chime in.

The plan is for a grot heavy army. Now, just how many units in the codex do they have? I know they have the troop entry, but don't they also have Killa Kans, and maybe a couple vehicles?

Now, onto the fluff side of things, just how viable does this sound?

Clan Fixxa
The clan is young and brash, and counts most of its members among Runtherds and uncounted Gretchin. Its nominal leader is an eccentric mekboy, Orkon and his twisted (and secretly far more intelligent) grot assistant, Cackle. Unlike other clans, Orkon and the rest of the mekboys under his command pride themselves on their work, seeing the perfection of their craft amongst the greatest praises to Gork and Mork. The Runtherds and their charges have bounded around this zealous Oddboy on the promise of good fighting, great gear, and an even share of the loot.

Probably the best piece of advice you're going to hear is to get the battleforce. You can do practically anything with it. The trukk can be a trukk or upgrade to a battlewagon with some plasticard, the boyz can be any ork unit with the proper bitz, and bikes are always good.

Not that you can make anything in the entire codex with just the battleforce, but the ork battleforce is probably the best in the game right now.

Do it!

It'll be fun.

Grots have the troops lot, killa kans, and the big guns batteries. On the forgeworld website, there is a free downloadable mek army list. This uses grot tanks as well as grot mega tanks. Using the allies rules, you should be able to come up with a pretty solid, fun list.

Grots only have Killa Kans and Big Gunz. If you stick to the codex, that is. If you're willing to look into Forgeworld stuff, you can have Grot tanks and mega-tanks. Grot tanks in particular are too good to let go. Besides, they look mighty cute.

For other ork stuff, Alairos is right. The battleforce is one of the best GW has to offer. 20 boys, three nob bikers (each boyz sprue has a nob torso that's compatible with the bikers' legs) and a trukk that can be converted into something else, kept as is, or cannibalized for bits.

But I only need Grots and a Big Mek or two... The only thing that could be used maybe, is the Trukk.

The army concept sounds nice and fluffy for a custom clan though I don't think it really fits with any of the existing ones. Snakebites are the clan known for having a ton of grots and runtherds but they sort of shun technology. Maybe a Deff Skulls off-shoot with an abnormal amount of gretchin who gather loot for Orkon and his mekboyz to experiment with.

Anyways, it's going to be tough to win with a grot-heavy list especially considering 2/3 of the units that feature grots share the heavy support slot (Killa Kanz & Big Gunz) and the Gretchin troops are usually just cannon fodder to screen for the Orks. You might have to play up the Mekboy technology aspect to fill out the elite/fast attack slots.

HQ: Big Mek(s)
Troops: Big blobs of Gretchin with Runtherds.
Elite: Lootas?
Fast Attack: Deff Koptas?
Heavy Support: Killa Kanz and/or BIg Gunz.

If you have some skill with kitbashing, and your opponents don't care, you could always convert some models to feature grots . Like you couple replace a Deff Kopta Ork pilot with a couple of grots fighting over the controls or for Lootas you could have two or three grots on one base struggling to hold up a big deff gun.

Well, from what I can tell, here seems to be my options for the entire army;

HQs:
Mekboy

Elite:
Burna Boyz for more Mekboyz.
Lootas for more Mekboyz.
Grot Tanks

Troops:
Runtherds and Gretchin

Fast Attack:
Warbuggies
Grot Bomb Launcha
Grot Mega Tank

Heavy Support:
Big Gunz
Killa Kans
Looted Wagon
Big Trakks
Gun Trukks
Lifta Wagon

Dedicated Transport:
Trukks
Batlewagons

Does that seem like a reasonable list could come out of it?

Every unit I can think of that specifically use grots would be Grot mobs, killa kanz, and big gunz.

You could also use vehicles like buggies too, and just crew them with grotz. Big Mekz would be good HQ choices, maybe even go nutz and make a Killa Kan knockoff thing and make a Mega armored warboss. I know I've seen a few conversions that have that.

Also, look into Kromlech, they make some cool Grot bits.

 Ailaros wrote:
Probably the best piece of advice you're going to hear is to get the battleforce. You can do practically anything with it. The trukk can be a trukk or upgrade to a battlewagon with some plasticard, the boyz can be any ork unit with the proper bitz, and bikes are always good.

Not that you can make anything in the entire codex with just the battleforce, but the ork battleforce is probably the best in the game right now.

I kind of disagree. The battleforce is a great deal, but not a good point to start your army from unless you plan on getting a really big army. If you get two, you can build the bikers into nobz using the nob torsos from the boyz sprues, but you still can't fit all your boyz in your trukks, so you need two more trukks for a homogeneous army. At that point starting an army has gotten pretty expensive, considering that you need two battleforces, two trukks and some HQ.

Personally I think hunting down an AOBR set on ebay is a much better place to start.

 Jidmah wrote:

 Ailaros wrote:
Probably the best piece of advice you're going to hear is to get the battleforce. You can do practically anything with it. The trukk can be a trukk or upgrade to a battlewagon with some plasticard, the boyz can be any ork unit with the proper bitz, and bikes are always good.

Not that you can make anything in the entire codex with just the battleforce, but the ork battleforce is probably the best in the game right now.

I kind of disagree. The battleforce is a great deal, but not a good point to start your army from unless you plan on getting a really big army. If you get two, you an build the bikers into nobz using the nob torsos from the boyz sprues, but you still can't fit all your boyz in your trukks, so you need two more trukks for a homogeneous army. At that point starting an army has gotten pretty expensive, considering that you need two battleforces, two trukks and some HQ.

Personally I think hunting down an AOBR set on ebay is a much better place to start.

I second that. I hunted down parts of the AOBR set for the Ork parts and that worked out pretty well for me. Although the mass of Slugga boyz isn't great wen you need shoota boyz!

The battle force is still nice though for when you want to expand your army.

If you're looking to do grots the best standard (non forgeworld) grot units are big gun lobbas.

If you really really want to do grots... Grotsnik making them fearless or cybork might be an angle to look into.

I don't honestly know if Killa kans are as good as lobbas or Kannons...but something in my gut says they're not.

I used quite a fun 600 pt grot list, which was surprisingly good

It was something like:
Big Mek with KFF
15 grots + runtherd (x2)
3 kans w/ BS's
3 kans w/ rokkits
3 kans w/ grotzookas

Good times

 captsabre wrote:

I second that. I hunted down parts of the AOBR set for the Ork parts and that worked out pretty well for me. Although the mass of Slugga boyz isn't great wen you need shoota boyz!

The battle force is still nice though for when you want to expand your army.

Yeah I agree there for sure.

I got 3 sets of AoBR Orks to go with two Battleforces, logic being that the Battleforce boys handle the shootas, and the AoBRs handle Trukk/Slugga mob duties. Plus you have Nobz, Bikers & Koptas well and truly covered. Fair to say it's going to make up the core of my army that.

Back to the topic though, as if you're doing Grots, that's probably not much help. Going Mek heavy is definitely a good shout for fluff, as it wouldn't seem as to me right to have a Warboss without a stack of Boyz & Nobz around (though the mechanised Mega-Armoured Warboss equivalent suggestion is a great shout so long as there's a Big Mek). Would definitely agree on Dread Mob allies, just so you have a greater selection of units through Grot Tanks/Mega Tanks & Grot Scavengers.

Oh, and if you have some spare cash can I recommend getting the Gorkamorka Red Gobbo model off eBay? Could be a nice little character in there for you.

Good luck!

You could convert other choices from the Codex to be Grot units with the Orks statline. Like MANz are just battlesuits piloted by drunk grotz. Lootas are a couple of grotz holding a deffgun while a third fires/ cranks the cranking gubbinz .etc. This would make sense considering your leader is a Mek with mainly grot followers, that he'd embellish them with obscenely powerful kit (someone's got to use his creations).

If you use the ia8 rules, killa kans are fast attack and not heavy support so you could spam more of them

Well when I started my army I waited until Aobr came out and bought 2 box sets and traded the marine bits for orks with other players.
So pretty much I started off with 4 box sets of Aobr, a bit excessive but then I added a spearhead and meagforce to the list, haven't looked back since.

So your inot Grots? Have you ever read Gorkamorka rule book digganob, Its has someinteresting stuff in it like a grot list.
As for using grots streight out of the codex I think your options are going to be some what limited.
Have you ever thought of running a proxy army? For instance playinga grot army using the imperial guard codex. I have seen such thinks done over in Da Waaagh forum.
If done correctly it looks pretty sweet. Also the stat line for guards men would be a good representative of some Ard as nails grots.

My question is, why bother with half these battle forces and AoBR packs, when more than 75% of the box is useless to me? The Burnaz and Lootas are the only thing in there I might want besides the Trukks, and even then, I am a little fuzzy on that until I can take a quick glance at the codex and find out what the best way is to carry the troops.

Well, if you look at it that way, you shouldn't buy gak before the ork codex hits, whenever that may be.

Also, the battleforce doesn't have lootaz. You're thinking of the megaforce.

Orks are absurdly fun to play for me, i field shootas en masse because i love dakka (and the sounds they make in DOWII) and whenever it's my shooting phase, i have the urge to scream DAKKADAKKADAKKA....i am odd eh?

Or just makeup a FA unit like Stormgrots with rockets strapped to some grots;

6points each. Grot statline and gun. 1 Stormboy Runtherd per 10.

Who would say no? They are fighting Grots

 ThunderFury 2575 wrote:
Orks are absurdly fun to play for me, i field shootas en masse because i love dakka (and the sounds they make in DOWII) and whenever it's my shooting phase, i have the urge to scream DAKKADAKKADAKKA....i am odd eh?

I catch myself singing the orks-orks-orks song when moving my boyz often enough

 Jidmah wrote:

 ThunderFury 2575 wrote:
Orks are absurdly fun to play for me, i field shootas en masse because i love dakka (and the sounds they make in DOWII) and whenever it's my shooting phase, i have the urge to scream DAKKADAKKADAKKA....i am odd eh?

I catch myself singing the orks-orks-orks song when moving my boyz often enough

The what song?

I'd second using the IA: Dread Mob List, but I'd go so far as to recommend taking regular orks as an Allied force (which, surprisingly, you can actually do!).

You have to take some orks (1+ Spanna Boys), but you can take Grot Scavenger Mobs as troops (with Firebombs), Killa Kans as Fast Attack (1-5 too, rather than 1-3 in each squadron), well as Grot Tank Mobs and Grot Mega- Tanks as Fast Attack. You could take a Meka-Dread as your HQ if you wanted to minimize your orks.

Then you could take a Mek and some Grots as your required HQ and Troops from the Ork list, and add some Big Guns as the Heavy Support from the Allies.

Alternatively, you could swap that around and take a Big Mek and Grots from the Ork List, giving you the option of multiple Big Gunz units (and 3 squadrons of 3 Killa Kans), then ally in the Dread Mob with a Meka-Dread, Spanna Boys, more grots scavengers if you want, and the option for a unit of Grot Tanks or a single Grot Mega-Tank.

Just depends on how many Big Guns you want, or how many Killa Kans.

Either option does force you to take at least 1 unit of Orks, so it won't be an All-Grots army, but it would be close!

 Unyielding Hunger wrote:

 Jidmah wrote:

 ThunderFury 2575 wrote:
Orks are absurdly fun to play for me, i field shootas en masse because i love dakka (and the sounds they make in DOWII) and whenever it's my shooting phase, i have the urge to scream DAKKADAKKADAKKA....i am odd eh?

I catch myself singing the orks-orks-orks song when moving my boyz often enough

The what song?

When you clicked the barracks building in DoW I, you would hear a bunch of orks singing "Orks orks orks orks!"