So, now we’ve come to the troops section of the Ork codex. Sadly, it only has two options (outside HQ choices) unlike the other sections of the dex that are chock full of choices. But I’m not sweating it; as there is plenty of variety here.
Ork Boyz:
The bread and butter of the Ork army; boyz are first of all, cheap at 6 points a pop. They’re T4 and have 2 base attacks and are WS4. Obviously rugged and good at melee. Their 6+ armor, BS2, and I2 as well as S3 is a bit of a bummer; but we’ll talk about what mitigates those in a second.
Boyz can basically be outfitted in one of two ways; either as slugga boyz for pure HtH joy, or with shootas for some ranged damage dealing. Both of these options are strong; but depend on the rest of the army design to determine the best fit.
In my opinion; the shoota boy is the best troops choice (or potentially any infantry) in 40k right now. Point for point will outshoot almost any troop out there and still has a reasonable ability to do damage in melee, especially on the charge!
The slugga boy is, again, in my opinion, best used in trukks or battlewagons as a rapid assault force instead of being footsloggers. Even with the run rule and with waagh; the slugga boy struggles to get into combat until later rounds and then is much reduced in efficacy. However, having them run in vehicles means you can get to grips sooner and start doing damage earlier rather than later. However, you sacrifice unit size, which is a problem because morale becomes a problem.
Also, its important to remember what makes both these units very effective is the Nob in the unit; who should be equipped with a powerklaw. The Nob with power klaw is ubiquitous to Orks since 3rd edition. Power klaws being one of a very few items in the Ork ‘dex that ignore armor saves; they are vitally important for taking down things like terminators; and their high strength is vital for taking down vehicles and monstrous creatures. Nobz also can take boss poles; which greatly increase the resiliency of orks by letting you re-roll failed morale tests. Nobz are also awesome in that they have 2 wounds; so you can throw a wound on them early on and save a boy from dying. Don’t do this if the wound is from a force weapon though!
Another option that boyz have is one unit in the army can take ‘eavy armor at +4 points a model. This is actually a pretty decent buy as that 10 point Ork is greatly increased in survivability in combat and against a large swathe of the small arms in the game. A friend of mine runs a unit of 19 in a battlewagon with a Warboss and that’s a pretty ferocious unit to deal with.
In regards to the drawbacks of Ork boyz, their poor armor save is only a real issue in melee as you should be getting a cover save from either terrain or a Kustom Force Field. I particularly like using cover against MEQ forces because they get no advantage from me shooting through cover at them (other than getting a cover save from rokkit wounds…), while I save half the wounds coming back at me. The low initiative and strength are aided by furious charge; which also gives them the ability to destroy most vehicles in the game on the charge. The poor BS of Orks is made up for by either being focused on melee or else having weapons that put out a lot of shots.
Lets look at a few builds that are good with boyz.
30 shoota boyz with 3 rokkit launchas and a Nob with power klaw and boss pole. This unit has the capability of dealing with almost any situation it is called to deal with. It can move up and shoot at the enemy; either infantry or tanks; it can move quickly and charge if it can’t win a firefight. It’s got the ability to destroy any unit in the game. All of that for 250 points? Some people like to put big shootas into these units to make their fire more focused, but I think that’s a waste of time. Having the ability to destroy vehicles is vital in this age of Mech; so the more rokkits you can squeeze in, the better.
20 slugga boyz with a nob with a power klaw and bosspole in a battlewagon with stikkbomb chukka and various stuff. A fairly substantial force in a vehicle that can take some punishment. It’s also nice that they can get the benefit of frag grenades for a bargain price. Sure that won’t make a difference against MEQ, but against IG, that’s a huge boon. Only drawback of this is that you use up two FOC slots to make it happen; also, the unit is pretty one-dimensional; meaning your opponent can easily come up with strategies to mitigate it.
In the same vein; 12 slugga boyz with nob with power klaw and bosspole in a trukk with reinforced ram. Probably one of my favorite units out there; but best used in moderation. Trukk boy squads can get up and assault early; but I find them best used when left in reserve to come out to where the action is fiercest. This unit is ace in missions with objectives; but kill point games makes this less beneficial as its two, fairly easy to kill units. However, if you can get the mob inside to charge out unharmed; the 44/4 attacks it throws out will devastate most units out there.
Those are probably the most optimal ways to run boyz without any support; but I’ll say that if you include Mad Dok in your army; a unit of 30 slugga boyz with ‘eavy armor on foot becomes an awesome unit. Unless you’re getting hit by heavy ordnance; the unit should be shrugging off most wounds while being true fearless to the very last model (unless mad dok dies) because of the benefits of Feel no Pain coupled with their higher armor save. Sure you’re raging around all over the place; but if you have mobile units in conjunction and some cheap scoring units to leave behind; then you should be golden!
Overall; Boyz are a great buy; but need as much finesse as any unit in the game. Too many ork generals just mob ’em up in big clumps and just barrel at the enemy. Take the time to space them out to avoid being annihilated by blast markers and plan your lanes of advance well and they will serve you well!
Gretchin:
Ahhh, the lowly grot! At a lofty 4 points a pop for the worst statline in the game (S2, T2, Ld4 being the highlights!) its hard to see why you’d ever use them instead of boyz, which are only 2 points more expensive per model. Basically, the reason to run them is that that 2 point difference becomes more important the larger the mob.
I’ve run a unit of 10 gretchin + runtherd for a long time now; putting them in my battlewagon to essentially make it scoring. It’s not a bad 40 point upgrade that has been instrumental in various wins. Obviously, making the battlewagon a scoring unit makes it much more of a target than previously, and with the KFF and AV14 most of the time; it’s a tough nut to crack. I’ve also used them as an interdiction unit; disembarking them and moving them to block the forward advance of something nasty. But what makes them great is in Capture and Control missions! Being able to put my objective on my table edge and, ideally, in cover; then leave the grots in reserve and then go all out towards my opponent’s objective is a huge edge. And those 10 grots are NOT going to be garnering much attention; and if they are; then you’re going to have more of your troops that are threatening their objective survive.
I’ve also had a few great moments with my gretchin like holding up a Bloodthirster in combat for 3 combat rounds and rolling out of my battlewagon and shooting the last two wounds off of a nurgle daemon prince. Results NOT typical! 🙂
Another way to use grots is in a huge group of 30. At only 120 points, it’s not a huge investment; and frankly, that big group of gretchin is probably just going to sit there for the whole game on an objective and not get touched; unless you’re already getting tabled. Big groups like this can also be used to provide cover saves for your other troops; but I’ve never been a fan of this tactic as you’re spending points to keep more guys alive; when you could just use those points to get more of the good troops. The big mob of gretchin can also work well to screen your boyz from nasty assault units that might blow up your boyz. Considering that Orks are almost twice as effective on the charge than being charged; that buffer can be really helpful. Sure that death company squad blew up the grots; but now you get to charge them!
I’ve heard vague rumors about using the special gear on the runt herds to negate dreadnoughts and stuff and lock them into combat; but that sounds fanciful.
Anyway; those are the basic troops in the Ork dex. They are the backbone and the building blocks of the list; and can be counted on to do their roles well with practice and proper use.
Waagh on!