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I won't get into specifics--as it is still on the drawing board--of my list, but here are a few things I am certain of: lots of trukkbound ork mobs, a good handful of skorcha buggies, a biker boss (or two), and few other things I'm not so sure about, such as lootas or a SAG mek.

I was considering running 2 battlewagons that transport nothing, but would be equipped with upgrades such as armor plates, grot riggers, 'ard case, a deff rolla and 4 big shootas. They ring in at 160 points, and would have a few uses, such as a LOS blocker for trukks, a big distraction, and a vehicle crushing monstrosity belching out a decent amount of shots per turn. Do you think it is a competitive choice for orks? Would they even accomplish anything realistically? Would good opponents easily slay these beasts by hitting their glaring av12 side armor, or perhaps just ignore it and outrun it? They seem like they would be good modeling opportunities, but I'm not convinced on their usefulness.

Perhaps you could suggest something else that would suit my army better and make it more competitive?

Bad idea.

Four big shootas means an average of four S5 AP5 hits a turn. The only thing that will reliably kill is lightly armoured troops. That's a role that your buggies, bikes, and orks mobs already excel at.

The Deffrolla has high strength, but no AP, so anything with any kind of armour save will laugh at it. It will put some huge dents into any armour 13 or less vehicle it can chase down, but chasing those vehicles down is the problem. Battlewagons aren't particularly fast, and running them out forward exposes their weak side armour.

Yes they can block lines of sight. But in order to do so, your trukks and trakks have to slow down and stay behind them. Instead, use speed to get behind cover, or use more mobile cover like cheap trukks. 160 points for a wall is a poor deal.

A Battlewagon is one of two things: a tank with an enormous transport capacity, or alternately, a tank a decent transport capacity and an excellent troop-killing ordinance weapon. If you're not using Battlewagons as a transport or as something to mount a killcannon on, then they are probably a waste of points.

Triggerbaby wrote: A Battlewagon is one of two things: a tank with an enormous transport capacity, or alternately, a tank a decent transport capacity and an excellent troop-killing ordinance weapon. If you're not using Battlewagons as a transport or as something to mount a killcannon on, then they are probably a waste of points.

Agreed. You want a fast ork list, and BWs aren't fast. Depending on the opponents killkannons can be worthwhile. Alternatively a BW can transport a squad of (mega)nobs, shruging off most incoming fire, and get stuck in after your trukk boys do, beefing up any combat that isn't going the way you want. While the deff rolla seems like a cool bit of wargear, and absolutely necessary modeling wise, in games I have rarely seen it do much.

So are you saying that killkannons are effective in game? A kk bw seems to cost more than a leman russ but suck a lot more. You make a lot of valid points, many of which I already kind of knew but didn't want to accept... as BWs are such a sick modeling opportunity.. :(.

If kk bws are just an "acceptable" alternative to a plain deff rolla wagon, then I'm not going to take it, and in that case, what else could you recommend to me?

If you take the deffrolla wagons stick a load of boys in them, then you get their worth. It's a good way to make burnas not be complete pap too.

Think deffrollas only works when you tankshock.. wich you cant do to other vehicles whom you will ram instead. (at least in 5th ed)

I have been fielding two rollawagons in a 1000pt doubles army, and they're actually pretty good. 13", reroll failed terrain checks, and if you can touch a vehicle you'll almost certainly mash it. Excellent at skimmers too.

Last game (with chaos vs arbites/marines/DH) I deathrolled to death two rhinos (one full of plasma troopers), a chimera, a space marine dreadnaught, about 20 infantry, and killed another 10 or so with exploding vehicles (including the first deathroller attempt on the dreadnaught).

People also need to remember that dethrollas also allow you to reroll difficult terrain test (doesn't matter how far you move). Thats hugely important for my normal way of gaming. Being able to blast through some terrain is hugely important for the cargo.

I personally would never take a battlewagon without one.

I'd agree with that. You can get the same reroll effect with a reinforced ram but the ability to inflict s10 hits is something that alot of people forget the wagon can do until it's too late. Currently I run mine with a roller, kannon and 4x big shootas. This gives me the option of 6" move and shooting the kannon and shootas or the 12" and rolling over something. I also usually fill it with burna boyz, which makes getting this thing close to infantry even more fun.

Yeah, the reroll works perfectly wih the ram - you command a huge chunk of the table when you're a 10" x 6" tank with a 13" bubble of antivehicle doom.

Also don't forget:

* tankshocking is a free break test, potentially on multiple enemy squads
* if you break them they're likely to keep a model within 6" of you, and keep running
* you can force countercharge units to waste a turn assaulting your tank or moving around while you finish off squishies
* if you can psych people into death or glorying with a lascannon or whatever, you get an extra d6 S10 hits
* independent characters standing behind squads are great targets if they don't have meltabombs

Oh yeah, extra armor is extremely useful on the deathroller now that it's marine-style.