Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba
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Aporkalypse: Tactica
(Note: I'm still looking at Forgeworld, Superheavy and Flyer options, but I'm posting up what I have for now)
Ork s in apocalypse are fairly similar to what they are in 40k, a mixed shooting/melee army with three distinct categories of units. You've got footslogging low quality footsloggers with high volumes of attacks, medium-durability and low mobility cheap walkers, and high mobility low durability speed freek units. In apocalypse, our biggest strength is volume of attacks and high unit size caps, which enable us to keep big units alive unexpectedly with defensive cards and keep fighting, and easy access to open-topped transports allowing our more glass cannon shooting units a measure of safety and mobility. Our weaknesses are relatively low range, which is a bigger deal in apoc, leading to many of our detachments being "Advancers" rather than "Aimers" and a lot of struggles in generating command points, since our units can be higher leadership than our commanders and for the most part our commanders are low mobility and squishy, definitely making them a weak point of the army.
In the unit-by-unit analysis, I'll be providing the PL cost of the unit, the average damage the unit does (Assuming you DO have Dakkadakka and DON'T have any to-hit modifiers) and I'll evaluate that against Infantry and Tanks, unless a unit has a weapon set that truly obviously wants to target a particular unit type such as Kustom Mega Weaponry with its 9+SAP 5+SAT. I'll also factor in durability, mobility, and any preferred detachment types to group them into (Aimers, Advancers or Assaulters).
Looking at pure numbers, there are relatively few units it seems that are just straight up not optimal for any job, and I have a feeling which units you choose is going to matter less than how synergistically you set your detachments up at the end of the day.
Let's start with the meat and potatoes: Boyz.
4PL for 10, 7PL for 20, 13PL for 30 the boyz pay 1 extra PL for the last 10, but gain an extra attack for their trouble which is more than worth it. It costs a flat 1PL to equip all your boys (whether that's 10 or 30) with Shootas, and you get a free Rokkit or Big Shoota per 10.
Choppa Boyz
Role: Assaulters
Durability: 2PL per 8+ wound, Light
Mobility: takes 3 turns to get to combat on foot
Preferred Partners: Waaagh Banners, Painboyz, Warbosses, Weirdboyz
Damage: 1.155 Inf, .77 Veh (Melee) OR .585 Inf, .454 Veh (shooting)
Note: At 30 Models ork boyz not only get a signiticant discount, but an extra attack for free. If you're running them on foot, they may as well be at 30.
Example Detachment Layout: 3x30 choppa boyz+Painboy+Weirdboy+Waaagh Banner in a Battalion, Warboss+10 Gretchin in a patrol to generate a command point
Shoota Boyz
Role: Advancers
Durability: 2.5PL per 8+ Wound, Light
Mobility: On foot may not be able to shoot turn 1 unless the opponent has units in no man's land or right on the line
Preferred Partners: A trukk, but unfortunately few HQs that can actually command them actually benefit them. Good for filling out extra transport spaces in a Battlewagon without making it a glaringly enormous target.
Damage: .985 Inf, .714 Veh
Gretchins
1PL per 10 up to 30, 1PL for a Runtherd to boost their LD from 4 to 6, at 20 and 30 unit sizes they gain an extra WS and BS
Role: Advancers
Durability: .5PL per 11+ wound, Light
Mobility: Only possible to shoot turn 2, so most likely turn 1 they will use an Assault order if you're fighting with them.
Preferred Partners: Big Meks, Waagh banners, Weirdboyz in Patrols where those LD4 characters can actually generate cards.
Damage: Assuming a 4PL 30 man squad, gretchins do an average of 1.95 Inf, 1.15V, making them roughly twice as good at shooting than an equivalently costed 10-man boyz squad. The only trouble is their short range which can make them impossible to fight with turn 1. Combat Gretchins might actually be a viable thing to do however, considering versus focused fire they're basically the equivalent of boyz (11+ vs 8+ save doesn't matter vs large blasts, and the fact that gretchins are 4x cheaper per wound makes them actually much more durable). They are much, much worse in combat though, so if your opponent responds to your initial Assault order getting them up into range by charging you, you're in trouble.
Part of me really wants to run a Combat Gretchin battalion with 3x30 and a Big Mek KFF just for the sheer surprise value of it, but I think it'd be a pretty predictable and easy to break tactic by just throwing a cheap melee attacker into them and stopping them from shooting turn 2.but if you were to Assault up and turn 2 Advance you'd just deal a hilarious amount of damage with the little suckers.
Now, the HQs, which we'll be evaluating a little differently.
HQs in apocalypse shouldn't really be considered for their combat potential for the most part, and instead should be seen as "Which buffs benefit this detachment the most?" There are two notable exceptions for orks in the SAG mek and Kaptin Badrukk, and Ghazzy does fight kind of like a 10 man boyz squad, but for the most part your HQs are buff machines. Card generation in orks is going to be done mostly by tacking 1 Gretchin+HQ patrols on wherever they're not going to be totally useless, as well as by putting things like Wartrikes and specialist bosses on your specialist detachments. Weirdboyz can generate cards in their own way by just getting tacked onto detachments with 3 10+ model squads, which is fairly neat and a good way to make sure you get your psychic power cards as well as cycle through your deck.
Warboss
3PL
Pros: Cheap, LD6 so he can command anything outside of 30-strong boyz squads and 9+model bike squads. Decent in combat with 2 8+ attacks (for a character at least)
Cons: Fragile especially footslogging, buff is strictly worse than the waagh banner. Also slow unless transported.
Good detachments: Trukkborne melee units like nobz and min boyz, can also be in a supreme command accompanying a footslogging horde but he will be targeted immediately if he's the warmaster since he's so squishy.
Big Mek (SAG)
5PL
Pros: A respectable direct damage HQ. Does about as much damage as a unit of tankbustas to tanks, but from downtoooown. Great to pair with any shooting-based detachment, just be careful not to make the unit sizes so big that they're over LD5. Any kind of unit operating out of a Trukk loves to have a SAG mek as their HQ, since you can't use an Aura from inside a transport anyway.
Cons: Offers no buffs. Very easy to kill if not transported, and if he's in a transport, he can't Aim Fire and isn't nearly as cost effective.
Big Mek (KFF)
6PL
pros: our only defensive HQ, meaning you're inclined to reach for him if you've got footsloggers. Also, fairly durable thanks to a 4+ save, meaning enemies will have to focus fire if they want to be sure about taking him out.
Cons: Since he's an aura giver he REALLY wants to keep up with the detachment he's paired with. Compound with Move 4" and he can be a logistical nightmare. He can command Killa Kanz, Deff Dreads and other units quite successfully just be aware he will slow them down or else he will slowly lose them over the course of their advance. The KFF does have a 9" range meaning it might be OK to have some units slowly outpacing him over the turns it takes them to get to the enemy lines.
Weirdboy
2PL
Pros: Hey man, he's what we got for psykers. Also, can card draw even when he's not a Warlord thanks to Power of the Waagh. Our psychic powers are pretty dang good on the whole, Da Jump lets us turn a unit into a suicide missile with a 2-turn timer until it gets Routed from out of command, Warpath is a nice little combat buff, and the generic powers like Telekine Dome can be super nice as well on our bigger units. You can run him in a battalion with 3x10 gretchin for a surge of ultra-efficient card drawing action if you want, but maybe a better idea would be to just wait in a transport until you get a card you want to use then pop him out on a suicide mission.
Cons: 'ee iz just a wafer thin ork man. One small blast is almost guaranteed to be the end of him. Also he might just...sit there while you don't draw any cards that are psychic powers. It happens.
Waaagh Banner
4PL
Pros: Really good combat buff. A great way to make a battalion of trukk boyz/nobz whatever hit harder when they arrive for the investment it took to get them there.
Cons: Another LD4 chump who can only command the gretchins and runs away at the first blast marker he sees. Also can't run a Patrol since he's Elite.
Deffkilla Wartrike
6PL
Pros: W2 and Heavy make him actually take some effort to remove, and he's our only generic HQ that moves faster than 6". Handy with Advancer units like Warbikes, Boomdakka Snazzwagons, Megatrakk Scrapjets and Kustom Boosta-Blastas because he lets them close range faster while still getting their shots in. Unfortunate that he can only make Speed Freeks faster and not regular transports.
Cons: He will be targeted, and he doesn't have any midrange shooting to let him work with the basic strategy that Warbikers want to use, primarily shooting and only meleeing when they get close. But if you're taking a fast detachment, you may as well.
Ghazghkull Thraka
9PL
Pros: Huge, unique buff that boosts elite ork units. I'd use Ghazghkull in a Battlewagon detachment with nobz, Boyz, MANZ or other multiplicative melee weapon wielders, and definitely bring a Waagh banner and Weirdboy along as well for extra hurt potential. I think it's definitely worth packing them into Battlewagons with "ard cases and deffrollas for extra threat and just screaming them forward turn 1 to create a massive distraction/target.
Cons: can't command LD7 boyz blobs sadly, and on foot his high cost makes him a target despite his decent toughness. Let Ghazzy shine, give him a transport.
Boss Zagstruk
7PL
Pros: one of our two deep striking HQs. Faster than snikrot and has fly, also tougher with ignore damage 6+. Also a nice little unique aura for 10-man stormboyz squads to not die after 1 wound. He can also keep up with Deffcoptas when charging in, something snikrot may struggle with having only 12" move on an assault order and no Fly.
Cons: pricy for what he does. No warboss aura. Stormboyz are decent but appear to be strictly worse Deffcoptas.
Boss Snikrot
6PL
Pros: Deep Striking HQ means he can come along with a deep striking detachment and generate a card. Does decent damage roughly equivalent to another 10-man kommando squad, and gives an aura buff to kommandos, which actually makes a 5-man kommand squad with 2 rokkits slightly more effective than a 5-man Tankbusta squad in a trukk, since the kommando squad can deep strike down into range and immediately Aim, their to-hit rate is nearly the same as the Tankbustas and they get an extra attack from their Sluggas.
Cons: Kommandos also aren't Deffkoptas, our best deep striking unit for the cost. When it comes to a dedicated melee deep strike unit, deffcoptas are better, but what Kommandos represent is a deep striking unit that CAN charge if it has a target that it can tie up, like some backfield artillery your opponent has left out in the open, but can also be a very reliable shooting unit. That's very good IMO.
Kaptin Badrukk
6PL
Pros: One of the few HQs to offer a shooting buff, albeit a super specific one. Makes a neat little Spearhead with 2 flash gits units and a Battlewagon with Killkannon to hold them, as they all operate at 24" and when the transport blows up you've got one guaranteed turn of working with Badrukks aura and Aimed Fire before your opponent kills them.
Cons: Strictly worse at shooting than the SAG mek. You should default to the SAG mek when looking for an HQ to run a mounted shooting detachment.
Painboy
2PL
Pros: Very cheap for a potentially high value ability when in a detachment with Boyz or other big units that can survive focussed fire using defensive asset cards.
Cons: Can't run a Patrol since he is an Elite, but you can just tack him into a Battalion with some boyz and not be too fussed he doesn't offer card draw. You could theoretically bring one more cheap LD4 elite choice like a Mek or second Painboy along with a Waagh banner and make a Vanguard, but having your support units in the same detachment as your boyz horde offers logistical advantages that probably outweigh a single command card. Also dies fast, but any shots going into a painboy are shots not going into your boyz, so...in a way he's "Healing" them with his death!
Boss Snikrot
6PL
Pros: He's um...he's LD6, so he could lead a detachment?
Cons: He doesn't really offer much over a standard painboy for his cost.He's just a bit more durable, but not enough where you'd expect him to survive a blast really. And he's a bit killier, but who fights with a painboy? I guess if you were running some mounted nobz, you could run him over a Warboss to make a Vanguard with one fewer Elite slot, like fit a whole Vanguard into one Trukk with 2x5 nobz.
Mek
2PL
Pros: Imperials pay 5PL for their basic el cheapo repair character who does nothing else! Suck it, imperials! Probably best with a Morkanaut, which brings its own KFF.
Cons: I mean he's never going to run a detachment. If you stick a mek in, you know what you stick the mek in there for. He's there to toddle along behind some walkers or take the sixth transport slot in a 'naut, and pop out during an Advance order to try and heal the naut up if it survives with damage. He's nice because unlike a KFF mek he can actually keep up with dreads and Kanz, and he's 2PL instead of 5, but he dies super fast and doesn't have a KFF.
Now to look at some of our non-troop units! Since Battlefield Role matters a little less in Apoc, I'll be dividing up these sections by "actual battlefield role" - i.e. what the unit wants to be doing and what kinds of detachments it fits into. First, let's look at the Footsloggers!
Deff Dread
4PL
Role: Assaulters
Durability: 2PL per 6+ wound, Heavy
Mobility: takes 3 turns to get to combat on foot
Preferred Partners: Waaagh Banners, KFF Big Meks, Meks, Mek Boss Buzzgob, Warbosses
Damage: 1.55 vs either target (assuming 4-arm version)
Deff Dreads since they do negligible damage with guns should probably be run four-armed and stuck into an Assault detachment. You can give them offensive buffs, but they will most likely die before the dreads arrive. Meks and Big Meks are excellent buddies, as all the dreads are individual units and when they survive with one wound (which they are likely to do) you can heal them. They're pretty dang durable thanks to their cost and do a ton of damage when they do get to combat like most slow melee units. Just DO NOT pair them with killa kanz or 'nauts, since those units absolutely do not want to be Assaulting and giving up all their shooting damage!
Killa Kan
2PL, 7PL for 3, 13PL for 6
Role: Advancers
Durability: 2PL per 6+ wound, Heavy, LD4
Mobility: May not get to shoot turn 1 if enemy deploys back and they have Grotzookas
Preferred Partners: Meks (pure Kan Spearhead can be commanded by a regular Mek for a cheap card), Big Meks, Morkanauts
Damage: .395 vs inf with Big Shoota (Aimed Fire) or .61 vs Inf with Grotzooka (Advance)
Kanz seem primarily useful for ranged fighting thanks to their high ballistic skill. Fit nicely into the Dread defensive profile and pair great with other similar-speed+Battlefield role Advancers like Morkanauts and Gorkanauts. Their damage as an Aimer with Big Shoota isn't actually super terrible considering their durability, as they have comparable damage per PL to something like a Rukkatrukk Squigbuggy while sitting back and aiming, and better durability as single-model squads.
Morkanaut
15PL
Role: Advancers
Durability: 3.75PL per 6+ wound, Heavy, LD5
Mobility: will probably get to shoot turn 1 with an advance order
Preferred Partners: Meks, Big Meks, Killa Kanz, Gorkanauts
Damage: 1.0 Veh + 1.1 Inf (weapons have good range and obvious preferred targets)
Morkanauts' obvious utility is the Kustom Force Field they pack which will definitely draw fire to them if you run them in a big walker detachment. Putting a spare mek inside its belly might be a good idea and another Advancer unit like a min size tankbustas squad might be a good choice.
Gorkanaut
15PL
Role: Advancers
Durability: 3.75PL per 6+ wound, Heavy, LD5
Mobility: will probably get to shoot turn 1 with an advance order
Preferred Partners: Meks, Big Meks, Killa Kanz, Morkanauts
Damage: 2.25 Veh, 3.0 Inf
It does a little more damage and doesn't come with its own KFF. Also the weapons are more flexible you don't have obvious anti-vehicle and anti-infantry weapons. The question is, is it worth having a Big Mek toddle along behind it and provide it a KFF (maybe Mek Boss Buzzgob who is better at repairing and won't fall quite as far behind the 'nauts) or is it better to bring a Morka instead? I think it's kind of preference. The extra boss is easy to snipe out with barrage weaponry, but that's fire that isn't going into your gorkanaut at least.
Gunwagon
8PL
Role: Advancer
Durability: 2.66PL per 8+ wound, Heavy, LD5
Mobility: May not get to fire twice turn 1 if the enemy backs away.
Preferred Partners: Wagons, Squigbuggies, SAG Mek
Damage: 0.9 Veh or Inf (assuming Kilkannon only)
The Gunwagon falls into the same pit it does in 40k, paying for transport capacity it won't really have much of a use for since it wants to advance once like 6" then aim fire for the rest of its existence. Other shooty advancers like the Gorkanaut will just put out more damage than it, and the Wagon is better for the points (you can have 2 gunwagons with Zzap guns and Kilkannons for the price of 1 Gunwagon with Kilkannon)
Stompa
49 PL(51 with extra supa-rokkits)
Role: Advancer
Durability: 6.125PL per 6+ Heavy wound
Mobility: Very long range weapons, meaning you could be tempted to open with Aimed Fire just to get a bit more mileage out of the supa-rokkits, but it does have the ability to shoot and attack with its mega-choppa if it gets in range so maybe Advance is a better idea. I'll evaluate damage with both options.
Preferred Partners: You paid 51PL for a stompa, bring something with a KFF for sure. Its only other preferred partner is defensive cards. Boy oh boy does it want defensive cards.
Damage (Advance): 3.315 Inf with shootas and gatler, 1.55 Veh with deffkannon, 1.46 Veh with 5x supa-rokkits.
Damage (Aim): 5.185 Inf with shootas and Gatler, 2.29 Veh with Supa-rokkits, 2.44 Veh with Deffkannon
Probably worth the Aim action, looking at the numbers. Especially considering those Rokkits are one-use only and you're definitely not going to be willing to give up his shooting turn 2 to get him into combat with an Assault action.
Now, if trundling forward in the battlefield is just too exciting for you, and you prefer a more laid-back approach to war, the dedicated Aimers might be for you! Units primarily composed with guns over 36" range would seem to primarily want to hang out comfy in one spot and get that +1 to hit to make their hit rolls not stink, so keep them in mind when looking at their ranged damage - I'm assuming they're at +1 to hit as well as having Dakkadakka.
Lootas
4PL
Role: Aimer
Durability: 4PL per 10+ LD4 Light wound
Range: 48"
Preferred Partners: A TRUKK, SAG meks.
Damage: 0.78 vs vehicles or infantry
Lootas. Super duper long ranged, super duper unsafe unless you give them at least a transport. You know what lootas do. The added cost of Trukks and the fact they can't Aim while in their transports might make them less attractive vs other stationary gun type options.
Big guns: Purposefully worse mek guns. See below.
Mek Gunz
2PL
Role: Aimer
Durability: 1PL per Sv10+, Ld4 Heavy wound
Range: 48" or 36" (KMK only)
Preferred Partners: SAG Mek, KFF Mek
Damage: 0.921 vs infantry or tanks, assuming Bubblechukka
You can get a little more damage vs tanks with the Smasha or KMK, but the difference is slight so I'm not going to bother doing the math. The Trakktor kannon does not do more damage vs flyers than the other three options, so, disregard it. I would also personally disregard the KMK, since the gun is very likely to just pop if it ever hurts itself with supercharge and you need to be a full foot closer to the enemy lines. Mek Gunz seem like solid little glass cannons.
Battle Fortress
What is going on here Power Level? I'm going to assume 12. and comes stock with a Kilkannon, otherwise it can't swap its guns.
Role: Aimer
Durability: Hilariously, more than a Baneblade. Suck it, Baneblades! Assuming you fully load it up with the sensible weapon options, that's 5PL per 5+ LD5 Heavy wound.
Range: Give it all the long range guns so it's more than 36".
Preferred Partners: Well, it's a superheavy so it doesn't need partners in its detachment, but it doesn't mind a KFF.
Damage: with 4x Zzap guns/5Twin Big Shootas/deffkannon, 2.07 Veh (Zzaps), 2.43 Inf/Veh (Deffkannon), 3.05 Inf (Shootas)
Unfortunately, it doesn't work with the Mekboy workshop, but basically what you've got here is a slightly worse at shooting, slightly more durable, cheaper baneblade. Kind of a neat idea! you can load it with long range guns or you can pack it with Rokkits and Flamers and roll up to the enemy lines to abuse that Superheavy rule.
Our next category is "Units that are about as durable as Boyz but your opponent would just shoot them because they cost more, so make sure they're in a transport and fling them at the enemy!" We'll call them the "mounties!"
First off: Trukk or Kart? The Kart (smallest looted wagon) is a 3PL trukk with no "ignore damage 6+", no "Open Topped" and only 10 rather than 12 capacity. Use it if you have a melee unit, like Nobz, or 3 MANZ, that doesn't care to waste time shooting and would rather Assault turn 1 to make sure they get as close as possible. Otherwise, Trukk seems to be the go-to.
Nobz
PL 6
Role: Assaulter
Durability: 3PL per 8+ Light wound
Mobility: Mounted in trukks will most likely hit second turn
Preferred Partners: Waagh Banners, Warbosses
Damage: 1.38 vs infantry or tanks
The primary reason to go for Nobz over Boyz is their damage to tanks, choppa boyz are slightly more points efficient vs vehicles and defensively identical. Their other perk is they take up only 5 transport slots, vs 10 for Boyz and 9 for 3x Meganobz. I think Nobz, Boyz and Meganobz are all valid options for a mechanized assault, and Nobz are the "Pay a little more, kill a little more" variant.
Meganobz
PL 6
Role: Assaulter
Durability: 3PL per 4+ Light wound
Mobility: Mounted in trukks will most likely hit second turn
Preferred Partners: Waagh Banners, Warbosses
Damage: .912 vs infantry or tanks
Meganobz are nobz, but with a little less dying and a little less punching. Their primary limitation is 4" move, necessitating transport. Adding in a KFF mek can also help make them extra irritating for your opponent if you want to have an anvil detachment - they are our only durable infantry after all. 2x3 meganobz, a Waagh Banner and a KFF mek fill a Battlewagon up quite nicely and form a neat Spearhead detachment.
Tankbustas
PL4
Role: Advancer
Durability: 4PL per 10+ light wound
Mobility: Will fire turn 1 mounted in trukks
Preferred Partners: Buggy/Biker detachments
Damage: .626 Veh, with a once per game bonus .5 Veh from bomb squigs
We've already been over how Kommandos can be slightly more efficient than Tankbustas with Snikrot, so you may lean towards them, but tankbustas are by no means bad.They're just hindered by needing to be mounted or they die instantly. I think in Apoc there are some slightly better platforms for rokkits.
Burna Boyz
Pl3
Durability: 3PL per 10+ light wound
Mobility: might take more than 1 turn to get in range.
Preferred Partners: Battlewagons
Damage: 1.5 Inf or 1 Veh
Here's the beautiful thing about the open-topped rule in Apocalypse: You don't HAVE to have the units inside the transport in the same detachment as the transport, and as such, they don't HAVE to have the same order. Now let's say you took something crazy like 3x15 burnas in a Vanguard, and 3x Battlewagons with deffrollas in a Spearhead. You could theoretically Assault those Battlewagons, and Advance those Burnas, so the Battlewagons move 24" forward and the Burnas fire in the activation right afterward.Sure, your opponent can kind of see it coming, but god damn is it a fun trick to pull.
Flash Gitz
Pl8
Durability: 4PL per 8+ light wound
Mobility: Will most likely be in range to attack turn 1 mounted
Preferred partners: Kaptin Badrukk, SAG meks, Trukks, Kilkannon Battlewagons
Damage: 2.135 Inf, 1.525 Veh
Flash Gitz deal a lot of concentrated damage in a fairly expensive to protect platform. For the 24" range mounted troop role, I like them better than Tankbustas due to flexibility, but you do have to expect they'll be a prioritized target. Slightly more investment can get them a Kilkannon battlewagon, with the same capacity as a trukk but an extra gun in their range band and slightly better defense.
So that's the mounted infantry, but what about when you've got a pesky enemy who's in an entrenched position and you want to include a detachment to drop in and tussle 'em up? Well, you want the Deep Strikers. We've got three choices.
Kommandos
Pl 3
Role: Aimers
Durability: 3PL per 10+ Light wound
Mobility: 12" move off deep strike with an Assault order
Preferred Partners: Snikrot
If you're bringing Kommandos you may as well bring snikrot. What makes Kommandos competitive is their ability to deal 1.2 damage Inf or .985 Veh when given an Aimed Fire order in Snikrot's detachment, thanks to their 2 free rokkits. Their single choppa attack isn't going to make much of a dent, and you should consider that more of an optional attack, for when the enemy has artillery or other shooters it'd be very useful to tie up for a turn rather than doing damage and hunkering in some cover.
Stormboyz
Pl4
Role: Assaulters
Durability: 4PL per 10+ Light wound
Mobility: 28" move with Fly off Deep Strike with Assault
Preferred Partners: Zagstruk
Best when fielded in a 10-model squad, where they get a slight discount, in a detachment where they get Zagstruk's morale immunity aura, which makes them effectively more durable than equivalent points of Deffkoptas. This gives them the comparative role of being better at tying things up, where a Deffkopta is somewhat better at actually putting things in the ground. Without Zagstruk, I doubt I would bother with Stormboyz.
Deffkopta
Pl4
Role: Assaulter
Durability: 4PL per 8+ Heavy wound
Mobility: 28" move with Fly off Deep Strike with Assault
Preferred Partners: Zagstruk (or no Warlord)
Single model squads are better because the LD4 becomes less of a problem. For the same points as 5 stormboyz, you get double the melee attacks, and Heavy status, and a slightly better save. Also two ranged attacks instead of 1, and 36" range instead of 12", if you ever need to make a shooting attack for some reason.But you won't, you'll be flinging yourself into the tiniest little hole in the enemy screen to get B2B with some artillery piece or unit of snipers.
And now, the Speedy Boyz! Which of the massive variety of ork speed freek buggies and bikers should I be using in my fast detachments? Well TL;DR: Boomdakka Snazzwagons. But we'll go in depth anyway.
Kustom Boosta-Blastas
Pl5
Role: Assaulter/Advancer
Durability: 2.5PL per 8+ Ld4 Heavy wound
Mobility: 12" with 36" range on the main gun.
Preferred Partners: Deffkilla Wartrike, Nobz on warbikes, Burna Boyz
Damage: .455 Inf without Burnas, .955 with, .39 Veh without burnas, .72 with.
You might think of the burna on this as a secondary weapon, but it's really pretty important for getting the most out of this buggy. Its damage is actually one of the highest when within range of the exhausts. For this reason he makes a great pair with Deffkilla Wartrikes and Burna Boyz in transports, as well as possibly Nobz on Warbikes who might also prefer to open the game with an Assault order and get stuck right in.
Rukkatrukk Squigbuggies
PL6
Role: Aimer
Durability: 3PL per 8+ Ld4 Heavy wound
Mobility: most likely in range without moving
Preferred Partners: SAG/KFF big Meks, Mekboy Workshop, other Aimer units
Damage: 1.06 Inf, .762 Veh (assuming aimed fire)
The worst buggy in 40k is...fairly passable in apoc. Kind of like a more flexible Mek Gun that pays for a little bit of extra durability and the ability to relocate if needed instead of just dying.
Megatrakk Skrapjets
PL5
Role: Advancer
Durability: 2.5PL per 8+ Ld4 Heavy wound
Mobility: 10" with 24" range on the main guns
Preferred partners: Warbikes, Deffkilla Wartrikes, Boomdakka Snazzwagons
Damage: .75 Inf, .68 Veh
Definitely fits better into the Advancer role, since it does want to be a bully in melee but it doesn't want to give up its first turn to crash right into cheap chaff right away.A deffkilla to get it up to 13" move for the first turn is a good choice.
Boomdakka Snazzwagon
PL5
Role: Advancer
Durability: 2.5PL per 8+ Ld4 Heavy wound, -1 to hit
Mobility: 14" with 24" range on the main guns
Preferred partners: Warbikes, Deffkilla Wartrikes, Skrapjets
Damage: .875 Inf, .55Veh (assuming Advance with no burna bottles)
The most durable buggy in that it is slightly annoying to kill. Fits well into the Advancer role. Doesn't pay for melee equipment or abilities which is a plus. Slightly worse against tanks so you want to make sure it's fighting infantry, which aligns it with the mission of Warbikers nicely.
Warbikers
Pl4
Role: Advancer
Durability: 4PL per 7+ Light wound
Mobility: 14" with 18" range on the main guns
Preferred Partners: Wartrikes, Boomdakka Snazzwagons
Damage: .585 Inf, .39 Veh
At first glance warbikers seem pretty bad, but in practice a large warbiker mob is pretty effective between their mobility and unit footprint. Their LD gets up to 8 and a Deffkilla Wartrike HQ gives them the option of a turn 1 charge if there's units at the front like Fire Warriors or Skitarii rangers who it would be useful to tie up in a large line. Otherwise they can be Advancers and clear out chaff with their dakkaguns.
nobz on warbikes
Pl7
Role: Assaulter
Durability: 3.5PL per 8+ light wound
Mobility: 28" with Assault order
Preferred Partners: Deffkilla Wartrike, Kustom Boosta-Blastas, Burna Boyz, Zhardsnark Da Rippa
Damage: .921 Inf or Veh
Nobz, but they pay 1PL to move 14" and get Dakkagunz. That sounds pretty good to me. Add 3" to their move with a wartrike and move them 34" turn 1.
Shokkjump Dragsta
Pl6
Role: The Slow Child
Durability: 3PL per 8+ Heavy Wound
Mobility: Fast
Preferred Partners: The shelf
Damage: .487 Veh, a very small number inf (Assuming you are taking the 1/6 chance of killing yourself)
Shokkrag Dumpsters are not very good in apocalypse. There doesn't seem to be much of a reason for them to exist, let alone be 1PL more expensive than other buggies that do more damage than it. Don't take it. Or run it as a Wagon with a zzap gun. I dunno.
Wagon
Pl3 (+ more for weapons)
Role: Advancer
Durability: 1.5PL per 6+ Heavy Wound
Mobility: 11" with mostly 24" range guns
Preferred Partners: Other buggies, Warbikers.
Damage (assuming Killkannon/Zzap Gun/Big Shoota) - 0.65 Inf + .29 Veh
Hey, wish buggies had options? Here you go. Bonus points, it's more durable and also doesn't pay for random special rules that hold some of the other buggies back. Give it a kilkannon. Give it some rokkits. It's great!
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60PL 
12PL 
