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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Hello,

Long time player, but lapsed the Last decade due to life. But looking to slowly come back in. Over the years I've played a variety of armies, but looking to stay away from marines or chaos. So given I havent played in a couple of editions, what's the pros and cons of orks and tyranids?

Mind you, I'm not looking for tournment play, and the reasons for these two have alot also to do with modeling conversion fun as well.

Thanks

Hope more old fools come to their senses and start giving you their money instead of those Union Jack Blood suckers...  
   
Made in gb
Mekboy Hammerin' Somethin'





Dorset, England

Ork conversions are pretty nice, rough and ready looks like it was built by an ork!

You gotta really love the boys to paint 120 of them though.
Tyranids have some nice creature variety, although spinegaunts are pretty soulless to paint lots of and you you cant make satisfied Waaagh noises when you finish painting them

   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

With contrast paints Nids paint crazy fast. Not sure how quick the boys are to paint; more details to pick out on them.

If you are not looking to be competitive, both are probably viable. While the winners/losers become more distinct at top-level play, on the friendly level there is a ton more flex. If you are playing an army that’s a little below the curve, you can tighten it up a bit to boost performance while the other guys can take more “fun” units.

I’ve been keeping half an eye on the nids while I paint up my swarm. I think the general consensus is that codex creep has left them a little behind, but they have a lot of tools to play the missions very well. If/when they get a new codex, I expect good things from them. Assuming they don’t change the balance level.

   
Made in au
Owns Whole Set of Skullz Techpriests






Versteckt in den Schatten deines Geistes.

Hey look it's carmachu. Blast from the past. Your last post was... nearly 5 years ago? Wow.

Anyway, with Orks and Tyranids you are faced with a weird problem:

1. Orks are about to get a new Codex, possibly filled with all sorts of Squig-related units. So you are in a situation where anything you get now may be invalidated in 3-6 months time.

2. Tyranids have been in limbo hell for a while now, are just as likely to receive a Codex in the next 3-6 months as they aren't, and no one really knows what's going on with them.

My personal bias is towards Tyranids, as they have lots of lovely creatures. But if painting big clanky machines is more your style, then go with Orks. You can work up a reasonable list with both, but just be aware that Orks could change at any moment, and Tyranids have been in the dark for a while.

If you are getting back into the game after a while away, the one piece of advice I'll give you is: Don't buy any of the cards GW produce. They're not worth the paper they're printed on. You could say the same thing about their Codices as well, but the cards especially should be avoided.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/14 00:47:52


Industrial Insanity - My Terrain Blog
"GW really needs to understand 'Less is more' when it comes to AoS." - Wha-Mu-077

 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Hey look it's carmachu. Blast from the past. Your last post was... nearly 5 years ago? Wow.

Anyway, with Orks and Tyranids you are faced with a weird problem:

1. Orks are about to get a new Codex, possibly filled with all sorts of Squig-related units. So you are in a situation where anything you get now may be invalidated in 3-6 months time.

2. Tyranids have been in limbo hell for a while now, are just as likely to receive a Codex in the next 3-6 months as they aren't, and no one really knows what's going on with them.

My personal bias is towards Tyranids, as they have lots of lovely creatures. But if painting big clanky machines is more your style, then go with Orks. You can work up a reasonable list with both, but just be aware that Orks could change at any moment, and Tyranids have been in the dark for a while.

If you are getting back into the game after a while away, the one piece of advice I'll give you is: Don't buy any of the cards GW produce. They're not worth the paper they're printed on. You could say the same thing about their Codices as well, but the cards especially should be avoided.


Hello back. It's probably closer to 8 actually. Dropped out of the scene around 2012. Life happened sold a bunch off. But now I want to try again, slower though. I see alot changed.

My bias has been leaning towards tyranids. But orks have better conversation opportunity.

Hope more old fools come to their senses and start giving you their money instead of those Union Jack Blood suckers...  
   
Made in ca
Grumpy Longbeard





Canada

It's really a matter of taste.
Does the lore or look of either appeal to you?
"Conversion fun" is probably a point for orks.

You will probably have the army for longer than the current meta, so which is better at the moment will change soon enough that I wouldn't worry about it.

If I got back into 40k I would get orks.
The trick to enjoying GW games is not to take them too seriously and play an army that you can love even when it loses.
Orks are prefect for this IMO, cut loose and shout WAAAAAAGH!!! Have fun making the models your own and be more concerned with 'avin a good scrap than who ends up winin' wiff objectives.

Issue is; I can do that with Gaslands for less than the cost of one of the books you'll need for 40k.
No shouting WAAAAAGH, but lots of cutting loose and CARnage to the same end.
Just as much, if not more coversion too.

Nightstalkers Dwarfs
GASLANDS!
Holy Roman Empire  
   
Made in us
Terrifying Doombull




 Kroem wrote:
Ork conversions are pretty nice, rough and ready looks like it was built by an ork!

You gotta really love the boys to paint 120 of them though.
Tyranids have some nice creature variety, although spinegaunts are pretty soulless to paint lots of and you you cant make satisfied Waaagh noises when you finish painting them

Spinegaunts have been amazingly terrible for multiple editions now. And unlike a lot of tyranid weapons, consistently so.
Which is one of the big problems with tyranids- they pretty much require an overhaul and its a coin flip as to which bioweapons will come out good or bad.
(I say this out of experience. Spinefists were passable once upon a time, to the point that they were my go-to. Then they became unreasonable bad, to the point that I'm not sure why they're even an option anymore- their special rule doesn't nothing for termagants, they're just a S3 fleshborer for the same base point cost).


Coupled with that, their big and medium stuff is amazingly vulnerable to the weapon upgrades going on for other factions right now, and the smaller stuff is casually obliterated by pretty much anything.

They just aren't playing the same game right now, even in non-tournament settings, and an army made under the current rules may well need a major overhaul just to be fun when they finally do get updated.


HBMC wrote:2. Tyranids have been in limbo hell for a while now, are just as likely to receive a Codex in the next 3-6 months as they aren't, and no one really knows what's going on with them.

They are popping in rumor engine pics, so they're probably closer than further (though obviously after orks/sisters)

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/04/15 02:59:16


Efficiency is the highest virtue. 
   
Made in gb
Walking Dead Wraithlord






Which models do you like more?
Which lore/ fluff do you like more ?

I think both are pretty good in that you can do all sorts of conversions and get creative.

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/772746.page#10378083 - My progress/failblog painting blog thingy

Eldar- 4436 pts


AngryAngel80 wrote:
I don't know, when I see awesome rules, I'm like " Baby, your rules looking so fine. Maybe I gotta add you to my first strike battalion eh ? "


 Eonfuzz wrote:


I would much rather everyone have a half ass than no ass.


"A warrior does not seek fame and honour. They come to him as he humbly follows his path"  
   
Made in us
Powerful Ushbati





United States

carmachu wrote:
Hello,

Long time player, but lapsed the Last decade due to life. But looking to slowly come back in. Over the years I've played a variety of armies, but looking to stay away from marines or chaos. So given I havent played in a couple of editions, what's the pros and cons of orks and tyranids?

Mind you, I'm not looking for tournment play, and the reasons for these two have alot also to do with modeling conversion fun as well.

Thanks


40K Orks have the neatest lore, with the downright most awful looking models. "Pot-Belly" Boys, grots look like something from 2005. They need a total line reset in line with the recent cars and Gaz.

Tyranids have Okay lore, with the downright most awful looking models....wait, I said this before...

Poor Xenos. No love.
   
Made in gb
Mekboy Hammerin' Somethin'





Dorset, England

We'll have to disagree on the model ranges, the current Ork range is one of the best GW has ever produced imo. I hope they never touch it!

You'll hear some Xenos players complain about not getting any 'love', but really it's a blessing.

Think about poor Space Marines, the attention they got from GW over the years has resulted in misguided lore rewrites, units for unit sake, invalidation of entire model ranges and endless supplements and rules bloat.
I'd much rather have a settled model range and a single codex to buy
   
Made in it
Waaagh! Ork Warboss




Italy

No love for us ork players is mostly rules related. Those who want a new updated line of models for orks aren't ork players .

 
   
Made in de
Contagious Dreadnought of Nurgle





 Togusa wrote:
carmachu wrote:
Hello,

Long time player, but lapsed the Last decade due to life. But looking to slowly come back in. Over the years I've played a variety of armies, but looking to stay away from marines or chaos. So given I havent played in a couple of editions, what's the pros and cons of orks and tyranids?

Mind you, I'm not looking for tournment play, and the reasons for these two have alot also to do with modeling conversion fun as well.

Thanks


40K Orks have the neatest lore, with the downright most awful looking models. "Pot-Belly" Boys, grots look like something from 2005. They need a total line reset in line with the recent cars and Gaz.
Poor Xenos. No love.


This is wrong. I'm starting Orks right now and when I'm looking into Ork kits I'm like: Wow, why can't GW produce outstanding kits like these anymore? The Boyz and Nobz kit are outright perfect. CSM players have waited for years to get a terminator set with the quality of the nobz and they got a replacement that is just as aweful as its predecessor.
   
Made in de
Hardened Veteran Guardsman




As someone who started Tyranids in December, I have to say they are an absolute blast to paint (especially working with contrast). I started and boought a box of gaunts and tried different schemes and that was fun already.

I loove the big Bugs so I think it comes down to the choice of big monsters or rugged machines.


   
Made in us
Powerful Ushbati





United States

Sgt. Cortez wrote:
 Togusa wrote:
carmachu wrote:
Hello,

Long time player, but lapsed the Last decade due to life. But looking to slowly come back in. Over the years I've played a variety of armies, but looking to stay away from marines or chaos. So given I havent played in a couple of editions, what's the pros and cons of orks and tyranids?

Mind you, I'm not looking for tournment play, and the reasons for these two have alot also to do with modeling conversion fun as well.

Thanks


40K Orks have the neatest lore, with the downright most awful looking models. "Pot-Belly" Boys, grots look like something from 2005. They need a total line reset in line with the recent cars and Gaz.
Poor Xenos. No love.


This is wrong. I'm starting Orks right now and when I'm looking into Ork kits I'm like: Wow, why can't GW produce outstanding kits like these anymore? The Boyz and Nobz kit are outright perfect. CSM players have waited for years to get a terminator set with the quality of the nobz and they got a replacement that is just as aweful as its predecessor.


Uh. Okay. My new Chaos termies are amazing, but I guess all I can say is that our tastes do not match up because I think they're [Ork Boyz] the ugliest models in all of 40K right now, with the possible exception of Termagaunts.
   
Made in it
Waaagh! Ork Warboss




Italy

 Togusa wrote:


Uh. Okay. My new Chaos termies are amazing, but I guess all I can say is that our tastes do not match up because I think they're [Ork Boyz] the ugliest models in all of 40K right now, with the possible exception of Termagaunts.


Even uglier than Deathguard and primaris?

 
   
Made in de
Contagious Dreadnought of Nurgle





 Togusa wrote:
Sgt. Cortez wrote:
 Togusa wrote:
carmachu wrote:
Hello,

Long time player, but lapsed the Last decade due to life. But looking to slowly come back in. Over the years I've played a variety of armies, but looking to stay away from marines or chaos. So given I havent played in a couple of editions, what's the pros and cons of orks and tyranids?

Mind you, I'm not looking for tournment play, and the reasons for these two have alot also to do with modeling conversion fun as well.

Thanks


40K Orks have the neatest lore, with the downright most awful looking models. "Pot-Belly" Boys, grots look like something from 2005. They need a total line reset in line with the recent cars and Gaz.
Poor Xenos. No love.


This is wrong. I'm starting Orks right now and when I'm looking into Ork kits I'm like: Wow, why can't GW produce outstanding kits like these anymore? The Boyz and Nobz kit are outright perfect. CSM players have waited for years to get a terminator set with the quality of the nobz and they got a replacement that is just as aweful as its predecessor.


Uh. Okay. My new Chaos termies are amazing, but I guess all I can say is that our tastes do not match up because I think they're [Ork Boyz] the ugliest models in all of 40K right now, with the possible exception of Termagaunts.


Agreed on Termagaunts as I'm not a fan of the tyranid look at all. To me most of the things are just like Giger Aliens, but when painted ugly by a 5year old. Boyz though? Awesome.

My original comment wasn't directed at looks alone though, the amount of options and the possibility to pose them as you like is what really sets those sets apart from what we've seen during the last about 4 years. And it's also what makes CSM Terminators or Deathshroud terrible.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Annandale, VA

carmachu wrote:
Hello,

Long time player, but lapsed the Last decade due to life. But looking to slowly come back in. Over the years I've played a variety of armies, but looking to stay away from marines or chaos. So given I havent played in a couple of editions, what's the pros and cons of orks and tyranids?

Mind you, I'm not looking for tournment play, and the reasons for these two have alot also to do with modeling conversion fun as well.

Thanks


Right now both factions are waiting on a codex, so I wouldn't put too much stock in how they currently shape up competitively.

As for hobbying, my two cents.:
-Orks are centered on the Boyz and it's hard to make a list without them. How much you like Boyz- and painting large numbers of them- should factor into your decision.
-Tyranids have more options for Troops and don't need to take Gaunts at all; so you have some more flexibility in army composition.
-Orks are the perfect outlet for all your Mad Max impulses. One-off conversions are more appropriate, and the models have a lot of personality and character.
-Ork Kulturs in turn provide more fodder for conversion and theming, as they're all stylistically different.
-Basically Orks are more conducive to Your Dudes.
-Tyranids have more flexibility in painting as there are basically no rules, and they look good in everything from Alien-black to drab natural tones to bright aposematic patterns.
-Orks are a bit more locked into green skin and lots of leather and metallics, but this is where your Kultur choice and conversions make the difference.
-Tyranids I find are significantly easier to paint, having fewer textures and minor details, and the sculpts are very conducive to heavy use of washing.

Ultimately the only person whose opinion matters is yours. Trust your gut.

   
Made in dk
Longtime Dakkanaut




Danmark

Aight lets look at the pros and cons.

Personally, i think that the tyranids have the most amazing models. So id say thats a point for those.

BUT! you can make conversions for orks, much more than anyone else can. You cant really kitbash tyranids. But you can kitbash some bs and still call it an ork vehicle and it'll look believable. Essentially if you want creative freedom, go for Orks. You can paint ork models slower though, than Tyranid models i believe.


I dont play tyranids, but im assuming that they have a rather varied army in terms of what they can bring. Both monster heavy, and infantry heavy. The same goes for orks (which i do play). Orks have a very varied gameplay style that can support both mek based but also infantry based. Both factions can be horde factions, both can be eliteish focused.


And yes the Ork Codex comes soon. So i guess if you start collecting the basics, like Boyz and such, then id say go for Orks

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/16 09:13:28


Hope, is the first step on the road to disappointment.

- About Dawn of War 3 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




carmachu wrote:
Hello,

Long time player, but lapsed the Last decade due to life. But looking to slowly come back in. Over the years I've played a variety of armies, but looking to stay away from marines or chaos. So given I havent played in a couple of editions, what's the pros and cons of orks and tyranids?

Mind you, I'm not looking for tournment play, and the reasons for these two have alot also to do with modeling conversion fun as well.

Thanks


From the start, I am biased as a veteran Ork player of decades but with that said I really want to focus in on 1 portion of your comment.
the reasons for these two have alot also to do with modeling conversion fun


If that is your end goal than the answer is always Orkz. Orkz have without a shadow of a doubt the most options available for conversions. And if you really want to mix and match you can actually LOOT tyranids and use them as Ork vehicles. Below is one of my favorite conversions regarding orkz/nidz. The guy who did that did his whole ork army themed along these lines, think Ork Cowboy riding a carnifex complete with cowboy hat. The best part? you could play it as both armies since they do have the models so to speak, people might get a bit uppity at tournaments but you said you didn't want to play competitively...and with that said, if I was the TO and you came in with this kind of beautiful army? Id tell your opponents to stfu and enjoy the fun


 Tomsug wrote:
Semper krumps under the radar

 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




UK

Go with the one you’ll play, even when they lose :-)
   
Made in gb
Crazed Spirit of the Defiler




Newcastle

I'll add to the painting difficulty point. Tyranids are very simple to paint compared to orks. In most cases there is the skin and the carapace, and they have very little overlap. It's a design I love for that reason. Their bioweapons can be painted in the same way as the skin and carapace and the eyes, teeth and tongues are large enough even on gaunts that they're easy to pick out with a smallish brush

Orks are more tricky. Metals, cloths, leathers and skin are distinct areas to paint with plenty of awkward overlap (the skin around the neck, leather bracers on their wrists, heads wearing helmets etc.). Teeth are always easy to pick out but the eyes are tiny, I don't bother painting them. Tongues usually don't protrude from their mouths like nids which make them harder to paint. These things don't sound significant until you consider the number of models to paint. Painting gaunts, stealers and warriors is a dream by comparison

Hydra Dominatus 
   
 
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