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I just got my first set of boyz recently and I'm not quite sure how I want to put them together. The fellows after at 4chan's /tg/ tell me that shootas are the only way to go but I'm not buying it. Are boltguns really the best way to arm (physically put together) my boyz or is it also viable to have pistol/melee? Also about the melee weapons, the kit comes with 8 close combat weapons and 2 chainswords. If I were to use all of my 9 other bases for sluggas how should I distribute that? Should I ignore or use the dakka gun and rokket boyz?

I would greatly appreciate any help.

My friend plays Orks and he has found Shoota boys to be superior this edition. The volume of fire they can put out and still assault far outweighs the single extra attack Slugga boyz get. Plus, overwatch isnt much worse than standard shooting!
A full mob is putting out 60 shots at either 18 or 24 inches (i forget which).

Well, a rule I generally go by is 'the rule of cool' to begin with. It'll be more fun for you

Boyz are great in melee, but they can pump out a fearsome amount of shots for relatively low cost, and still handle themselves well in melee, whereas regular boyz have more attacks in close combat.

As for putting them together, make a nob to lead em (prob with a claw if you are going CC) and then build them however you like

And welcome to the game!

Von Chogg

Thanks for the information. I take it i should use the dakka gun + 8 boltguns and ignore the rokket? This is the first time that someone has given me solid numbers on why shootas are better and i greatly appreciate it, my codex hasnt come in the mail yet.

EDIT: My nob does has a power claw and boss pole.

Shoota boyz are better in this edition. I have been playing orks for going on 10 years+ now so I have 4 slugga squads, 2 shoota squads and an ard slugga squad. In sixth edition the 2 shoota squads have made everysingle list, but sluggas usually make the lists but not like they used to. Hope this helps. Both are still good. Typically I will run 2 30 man shoota squads and 1-2 slugga squads at 1500 points to get my troops.

-1 attack, for the ability to put out some monstrous shooting, and monstrous overwatch? Ill take the monstrous shooting ^^

Nothing is gonna survive a boy'z mob well off, even with shoota's

For every 10 boys you can give one of them a big shoota (the "dakka gun") or a rokkit launcha, so yes - stick to one of them only for now. I'd say the big shoota has better synergy with the shootas.

I mostly use my slugga boys in a trukk now, so I can get them up close and personal as fast as possible. Shoota boys are good for slightly less aggressive purposes, such as capturing and holding objectives.

tgjensen wrote:
For every 10 boys you can give one of them a big shoota (the "dakka gun") or a rokkit launcha, so yes - stick to one of them only for now. I'd say the big shoota has better synergy with the shootas.

Thanks a bunch for this bit of information. I didn't know that I HAD to do one or the other, and that the big shoota was better in general.

You don't HAVE to, it's a voluntary upgrade. I would generally use them in shoota boys mobs, but not in slugga boys mobs, since slugga boys are supposed to get into assault anyway, where two close combat weapons are preferable (or running to get there, in which case they won't be shooting either).
The big shoota has more shots and slightly higher strength than a regular shoota, so it's generally good for the same things, namely killing infantry - hence the remark about good synergy. Rokkit launchas are a single high strength, low AP shot - good for killing space marines and vehicles. But since shootas are bad against vehicles you'd lose a lot of gunfire if you aimed the entire mob at a vehicle with AV higher than 10. Hence less synergy, and vehicle killing is better left to dedicated units such as Lootas or Tankbustas.

I recommend your first big shoota go on the nob so he can do called shots. Start sniping the opponents flamers turn 1.

I always use the big shoota. range 36 with 3 shots!

Because of BS 2, you will want 3 shots instead of just one that the rokkit provides.

If you can get in to range of a vehicle, that PK will annihilate it, so you can worry about that when you get there.

And yea, Shoota boyz are probably better.

Imo it really depends on how you want to play it. if you want to footslog big groups i'd say shootas are better, but I always play trukkboyz and i found choppa/slugga boyz to be the better choice in that situation.

I use shoota boyz in big mobs of 30 with triple big shootas. I use slugga boyz in mobs of 12 in trukks or twenty in battlewagons.

The general loadout for boyz squads these days (and arguable for 5th as well) is all shoota boyz and a nob with pk/bp. Sluggas just plain arnt worth it given how shooty this edition is. Dont use rokkit boyz and use big shootas if you have points left over.

 Vincentz0r wrote:
Imo it really depends on how you want to play it. if you want to footslog big groups i'd say shootas are better, but I always play trukkboyz and i found choppa/slugga boyz to be the better choice in that situation.

This ^
There are sort of two main ways that people take their Orks, and it effects the slugga or shoota variety.

Horde / Gunline - This list type relies on lots of boyz, walking/running into shooting range and then hosing down the enemy with so many shots that they can't possibly save them all. In addition, strength is in numbers, as the boyz will die in droves. Luckily you will have around 90+ of them And alteration of this list is what I call the DakkaWagon list. Generally it is a lot of battle wagons, filled with shoota boyz, big shootas, and a deffrolla. Zooms up and then acts like a giant armored wall of guns. I personally use this type of shooty list.

My list is 3 units of 20 (isn) shoota boyz in open topped battle wagons with big shootas and KFF meks with a burna to provide some repairs / protection if need be. It is a fearsome amount of shooting in a relatively strong armored platform. So what if I am snap firing when I move? They are only hitting on 5+ already. Plus, they have a ton of overwatch shots too (which you can shoot if they charge the wagon). It's literally a rolling bunker of guns that shoots you when you charge it, then shoots you again and then charges you For pure saturation of shots against anything on foot, shootas are the way to go. They also seem to be the most flexible in my opinions, as thy can shoot well due to mass firepower, and can hold their own in assault if need be.

Speed Freaks - This list relies on large amounts of 12 man squads with sluggas and choppas. It is multiple small units with low cost but high damage and speed. It is probably less effective nowadays due to vehicles generally being less sturdy, but it will be darn fun to play. Essentially you take ~6 trukks with 11 boyz and a Nob (or just 12 boyz) and roll them forward at full speed, hop out, and charge everything you can. Sluggas have a monstrous amount of attacks on the charge, and rely on that to wipe whole squads. For support add some bikers of any flavor. It's fast, it's mean, it hits hard, and it's wacky crazy fun times haha.

When starting an army, especially for Orks, try and think what "type" of army you think will be fun and then mold your decisions around that. Do you want hordes of boys shooting a wall of lead, or do you want fast, hard, and wacky? Also, remember that redundancy is key to victory with Orks. One battlewagon is eh. Two is pretty good. Three is scary. Also, remember boyz before toyz. AKA more boyz is always a good choice, and usually they best one. Hope that helps you out!

- WAAGH!!

The only time you should take Sluggas is if you're putting your boyz in trucks. Otherwise, the extra shooting is just too good to give up for +1 attack

Shoota Boyz are the way to go. I would say unfortunately, if for no other reason than I don't like being forced into using a certain mode or unit by codex decay.

But the fact is that in 6th, you're very unlikely to get enough of your boyz in close combat to make a difference. The only way for Sluggas to be even viable is in a Trukk, but even then, 20 Shootas in a Battlewagon is way more deadly and efficient on the table top.

 Iiswin wrote:
I just got my first set of boyz recently and I'm not quite sure how I want to put them together. The fellows after at 4chan's /tg/ tell me that shootas are the only way to go but I'm not buying it. Are boltguns really the best way to arm (physically put together) my boyz or is it also viable to have pistol/melee? Also about the melee weapons, the kit comes with 8 close combat weapons and 2 chainswords. If I were to use all of my 9 other bases for sluggas how should I distribute that? Should I ignore or use the dakka gun and rokket boyz?

Personally, I'd put them together however you think looks coolest. Unless you're going to be playing in lots of tournaments or against players who insist that your models be WYSIWYG (incredibly douchey in this particular instance since the upgrade from sluggas to shootas is free) you can at the very least come up with a fluff reason why your boyz models have choppas.

I bought most of my Orks on ebay in relatively cheap lots, which means they invariably come as choppa/sluggaz. So when I want to use them as shootas, I just use counts-as and ignore the extra CC attack. If my opponents really need a reason I tell them the Big Mek figured out a way to give sluggas extra range, but they tend to jam and don't work as well as CC weapons, so the choppa compensates for it. We're playing a game of pretend with little figurines, it's okay to use your imagination once in a while.

In closing: