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Hello folks, I've been away from 40K for YEARS and I want to come back and start playing Orks (or Necrons!). So my question is, would a standard 1 HQ and 2-4 troops be adequate to experiment and start a foundation or would it behoove me to go further and purchase a heavy support, fast attack and elite choice?

I've been reading some threads and noticed that Orks basically aren't a top army in tournaments but can do reasonably well with both horde armies and mech armies. It's unfortunate to hear the decline of close combat in 40K, especially since Orks are meant to get stuck in. Sorta why I'm considering Necrons for an alternative, since they hae some of the best shooting in the game. Anything but Space Marines and Tau... ugh... I hate Space Marines and Tau. They're EVERYWHERE!

I feel that if you want to have a good Ork list, you need to really sit down with the codex for a bit ans suss things out. Most other codeces you can wing it and still produce a half-decent casual list. With Orks, I don't think that's the case.

Getting the HQ and Troops for Orks is definitely a good start, but you need something to back them up to make sure the troops get in to combat and/or do serious damage to the enemy.

As for Necrons, the HQ + between 2 and 4 Troops will work because of the Gauss Rule, plus Necrons are pretty tough.

I'm gong to recommend the new start collecting box for either Orks or necrons. First it's a fully contained legal army in a box. They are decent formation rules amd most of all you can't beat the price. Regardless if you rarely use all the models. You are still paying 40% off the msrp beyond any additional 20% online discount.

Now regarding army power Orks are difficult to build competitively. You don't buy Orks to be competitive. You buy thrm to have fun, be silly, kitbash and flood the board with models that die by the handfuls. Necrons are more competitive but ultimately a different style of play. Play which every army you will have the most fun building abd playing.

Do you plan to go to a local store and play? Official Tourneys? Play with friends?



Necrons- People complain about playing these guys. They're up there in power. You don't make friends playing necrons, unless the person you meet plays necrons too.

Orks- Its an uphill battle for Orks in this edition. Ill be honest. How much intestinal fortitude do you have? Overwatch, Close combat attacks go at Initiative...there's a lot of hardships for orks. But you'll have fun, and your opponents have fun too. You won't find the shortage of opponents that necron players see. The orks have tricks though to help them get through 7th. Its not all doom and gloom. If you look at ork tactic stuff you'll see it. The troops you mentioned are a good part of an ork army. They need a lot of boots on the ground. You need boyz theyre still your backbone. A few troops from elite fast and heavy are very important for success: Lootas, Tankbustas, bikers, deffkopta, and MANZ (in bigger lists).

They're all over the place for me. One game I obliterate everything, and the next my orks kill more boyz then my opponent does. But I love my orks and can't see not playing them.

Welcome back to the game. I returned to GW as an adult. It has become a fun pass time and a nice meditative hobby. Plus, I like the gaming. I like the tourneys. I like the big tourneys. I like good games more than winning, but I hate getting steamrolled.

Orks have been my main army for years, and I have 9000 points painted and based. I helped my stepson start Necrons, and have helped my friends wife do the same. Fortunately, these 2 armies can be allied. So you can collect both to be used together if you wish. Orks will be the more expensive army to purchase, and are very very frustrating in the competitive meta. I am going to give you 2 lists of purchases that I personally have used the most, to the best effect. Others will disagree. Such is the nature of nerds. These lists are EXPENSIVE. I am not going to give you the actual list, but the shopping list.

Orks:
5x MegaNob Boxes (all 5 or none at all)
2x Grot Boxes
3x Trukk Boxes
1x BigMek w KFF blister
5x Biker Boy Boxes
3x Loota/Burna Boxes
1x Zhardsnark box (FW) or kit-bash one.
3x Tank busta boxes (intentionally at the bottom of list)

Necrons:
1x Overlord Blister
2x Warrior Boxes
1x Immortal Box
1x Night Scyhe Box
2x Ghost Arc Boxes
1x Deathmark Box
1x Tomb blade box

Now youll note that the orks have a lot more boxes. This is because most orks feel that these units comprise the best core. With the loss of the green tide, i recommend army builds that avoid boys and mitigate mob rule where possible. In the necron list there are less models, but this provides close to minimum needed for the Decurion Detachment (a CAD sort of with real great benefits, but some extra model requirements too).

I love orks. I do. They are my hands down favorite. But to get crushed every game really affects my overall enjoyment of the game. Less kind people might say "Learn To Play", or "no way bro, orks just won my local tourney," or "i do great with orks."

The truth is: Their new codex is an utter disappointment. Plus to get all the formations and patches and BS you need 3 books at least (Red Waaagh!, Waaagh! Ghazghkul, and Codex: Orks.) Necrons require 1 book. They're cheaper. Easier to paint. And more competitive.

So... thats my take. If you doubt my commitment to orks, look at my gallery. Save yourself some money and heartache. Go with Egyptian robot zombies.

Orks all the way if you like custom models. But they're hard to win with now. However, there's nothing like smashing a couple meganobz into fancy shooty stuff and watch it crumble beneath a rusty scrap metal-clad foot.

Well, it depends. If you want to run mech orks it's ok. 2-3 units of boyz in trukks, a warboss on a bike with a unit of warbikers and some tankbustas in a trukk can winn some games. I'd not recomend footsloging orks. The starter box is kind of meh imho.

Welcome back to the hobby!

I'll echo what folks have said here, that Orks are not competitive this ed., but they're still fun to play, and flavourful as ever!

I'd also recommend the Get Started Ork box. You need boyz, a painboy is great to have, and while plain Nobz can get tedius, and walkers aren't great, the Dread model is fun!

That said, while I've been playing Orks for a while, when I was looking to expand, I found that an article on 1d4chan was quite useful in giving a run down of each unit: https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Orks(7E) . That might help you get a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of each unit.

I've decided to pick Orks as my second army, my first is Chaos Space marines, some would say I'm a glutton for punishment!
Unless winning is your be all, end all sort of thing then pick the army you like the most

Huron black heart wrote:
I've decided to pick Orks as my second army, my first is Chaos Space marines, some would say I'm a glutton for punishment!
Unless winning is your be all, end all sort of thing then pick the army you like the most

I think people playing Orks and Chaos is pretty common. I started with orks in 3rd and was steered towards Chaos by someone who said "theyre like armored orks" Since that edition I've played both armies and added Dark Angels for the Eye of Terror Summer Campaign a long time ago too. Im getting old!

My suggestions:

The following will get you a 1850pt army based on 3 detachments/formations.

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Start-Collecting-Orks
Gets you:
Painboy
Eleven Boyz
5 Nobz
Deff Dread
$85

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Meganobz
Gets you:
3 Meganobz
$63 each, get 3 boxes $189 total

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Ork-Trukk
Gets you:
1 Trukk
get 4 of these
$37.25 each, $149 total

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Ork-Gretchin
Gets you:
10 gretchin
1 runtherder
$16.25, get two of these $32.50 total.

Ork list:

Detachment: CAD

Warboss in MA with DLS

Elites: 2 units of 4 MANz in trukks. Place warboss with one.

Troops: 2 squads of grots

Fast attack: 2 trukks

Formation:

Painmob
Boyz unit, nob with PK
Nobz, however you load them out
Deff dread, I suggest 3 PKs and a skorcha, but your decision

Nobz and Boyz go in trukks from CAD

Allies: Necrons

Purchase:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Necron-Destroyer-Squadron
Gets you:
3 Destroyers
$50, buy 4 of these. $200

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Necron-Heavy-Destroyer-Upgrade-Pack
Gets you:
Upgrade for 1 destroyer to Hvy destroyer
$9, buy 2 of these $18

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Necron-Destroyer-Lord-Upgrade-Pack
Gets you:
upgrade 1 destroyer to destroyer lord
$11.50

Take:

Formation: Destroyer cult
Destroyer Lord
3 squads of 3 destroyers
1 squad of 2 heavy destroyers

Total cost:

Total cost: $685 usd + tax. Buy from online shop such as frontline gaming where you can likely get 20% off and free shipping and will cost $548. Which for 40k is fairly low for a whole army that is at tournament points level.

This list is also actually quite good.


Enjoy playing both Necrons and Orks.


Grots have objective secure, so their threat is that they can scoring points.
MANz are scary, painboy with one and DLS warboss with other makes them both relatively tough and your opponent has to deal with them turn 1 or pay the price.

Boyz in trukks are not amazing, but if points are to spare giving them eavy armor and the painmob special rule can make them quite deadly, especially with a hidden powerfist. Same for the Nobz, I would take big choppas on them and eavy armor.

Destroyer cult is possibly the best formation in the necron codex, and compliments this list well as an allied force, it gives you a good firebase to pop open light transports for your boyz to assault the contents, or just shoot stuff apart on its own. With gauss and the destroyer rerolls they can also threaten heavier armor, as well as air units somewhat.

From there you can keep collecting units of both Orks and Necrons to expand your forces for both, or if you like one better than the other just work on expanding that.

gungo wrote:
I'm gong to recommend the new start collecting box for either Orks or necrons. First it's a fully contained legal army in a box. They are decent formation rules amd most of all you can't beat the price. Regardless if you rarely use all the models. You are still paying 40% off the msrp beyond any additional 20% online discount.

Now regarding army power Orks are difficult to build competitively. You don't buy Orks to be competitive. You buy thrm to have fun, be silly, kitbash and flood the board with models that die by the handfuls. Necrons are more competitive but ultimately a different style of play. Play which every army you will have the most fun building abd playing.

I agree that the start collecting box is a good place to start with Necrons or Orks.

One caveat. Outside the Ork start collecting box, 1/2 of those units will never see the table as is. Nobs and Deff Dreads are woefully over costed, and ineffective in game. If you want to start Orks, and aren't interested in the start collecting box, I recommend starting with a 500 point list about like this:
Mek ($25 for the Loota/Burna Box, build the rest as lootas)

Warboss w/ Eavy Armor, Da Lucky Stikk, Powerclaw, Shoota ($10 from Ebay)

10 Boyz w/ Eavy Armor + Nob w/ Power Claw, Bosspole, Shoota ($29 Ork Boy Kit)
In a Trukk w/ Reinforce Ram ($37 Trukk Kit)

10 Boyz w/ Eavy Armor + Nob w/ Power Claw, Bosspole, Shoota ($29 Ork Boy Kit)
In a Trukk w/ Reinforce Ram ($37 Trukk Kit)

That is a total of about $167, but all of those models will be useful to your journey playing Orks forever.

The Ork Boy Kit, and Loota Kit are some of games workshop's best values right now.

Other options:
Find an old Assault on Black Reach kit which will run you about $175, but also gets you a good number of models, and some space marines you might be able to trade for Trukks.
Find a Sanctus Reach Stormclaw starter set (This includes a mini 40K rulebook). It will cost about $190, but you get some space wolves to sell or trade, and you could convert the Terminators into Meganobs.

Thank you all for the advice, so far! I'm really not egotistical so winning is definitely not everything, so long as the lists are fun and flavorful. I remember a time when I was a googly eyed boy watching games when there were NO flying units and it's sorta stuck in my mind that, I just don't want to deal with flying units. That said, I'm not opposed to taking anti-air if I feel like really being competative but again, I'm here to have fun and build a thematic army of Orks and/or Necrons.

What I was looking forward to building with Orks is a mixture of good ole footslogging hordes to clog up the fire lines and mounted specialist units to hopefully get in and beat enemies up before they die too. Orks are kinda cool though in that they have wacky shooting turns which can be random and fun which is why I want to supplement my old fashioned horde army with some shooting.

On the other hand, if I went with Necrons (equally exciting, regardless of their friendless status), I was hoping to play them more objectively using troops just for taking and holding positions and letting Wraiths, Tomb Blades and Deathmarks do the real work in small games. Sneaky and tough. In bigger games I'd resort to using the Necron Cohort thing where it's like an Egyptian block-o-units with fast units on the sides and heavy units in the rear.

Edit: You know, Dark Eldar look really awesome. (they were the first army I ever played actually, WAAAAAAAAAY back when they had the Black Templars vs Dark Eldar box set. Maybe they're worth taking a look at too.