Tactica: New Look Orks

Stelek has put together an interesting list over at his Yes the Truth Hurts. I thought it was a good list to further investigate. Since I probably know Orks better than any other codex I really wanted to weigh in.

I thought his list was interesting in that it tried a couple of things that aren't typical in any of my Orks lists.

1) It uses both Nob Bikers and Battlewagons
2) It relies primarily on grots as the basic troop choice.
3) It runs Kanz but isn't a Kan Wall.

I thought I'd run down these three items and offer feedback on his strategy.

Nobz:

For the first item, running both bikers and wagons I think is a sound choice. However I don't like his execution. My issue with mid-sized Nobz units thorough experience is that they either tend to struggle against the true power units or are overkill against the lesser units. In short they either don't do what they are designed to do or are over-costed and we'd rather spend points on something cheaper. With this in mind my current strategy with Nobz is to either run them as a minimum size to unlock wagons or as a maxed out death-star that can challenge anything. In this list Stelek runs two mid-range nobz, one in a wagon and the other on bikes. I think he's better off running one massive bike unit and have no apologies for it. I've changed the list with this consideration.

Grotz:

Stelek doesn't like Ork Boyz. His logic is that troops are fail if they don't have a dedicated transport. Since the trukk forces boyz into a unit size that makes them suck along with the fact that trukks are terribly flimsy he doesn't like trukk boyz either. Barring that option the last remaining choice is to put the boyz in a wagon. I happen to like this idea. He does not because he believes you're investing too many points into a unit combo that screams target priority. That's a 130 + point wagon with a standard 20 man boy unit with upgrades to the nob up to 160 we're looking at a 290 point troop. I don't agree with this but for purposes of this article I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. The revised list shall have zero Ork boyz. Grot spam it is.

Kanz:

I tend to like Killa Kanz. But only in a list with a significant number. His list doesn't really offer them a consistent 4+ save and I consider that a problem. They double as fire support / anti tank and I don't hate the idea but my experience with them in that role is they tend to get dealt with when they are going to be a threat to the opponent and it's generally an easy task. All that said, the biggest problem with Kanz is they are sitting in the heavy slot. That means I have to use less wagons. I don't like that so I'm not going to run them. In their stead I'll try something different: I'll use a deff dread and declare it a troop with my KFF ability.

In addition to the above Stelek's list also features a deffkopta unit. I don't hate them at all but I find buggies to generally be a better value if they can ensure themselves cover saves for the majority of the game. This list enables that easily. I prefer a cheaper buggy unit over the koptas with the understanding that I'm losing scout potential.

So considering Stelek's list I'm going to revise it as such.

Orks - 2000

HQ

Big Mek (KFF, Burna, Cybork)
Warboss (Warbike, Squig, Powerklaw, Cybork)

Troops

Nobz x10 (Cybork, Stikkbombs, Warbikes, Powerklaw x3, Diverse Wounds) w Painboy
Gretchin x10 w Runtherd
Gretchin x10 w Runtherd
Gretchin x10 w Runtherd
Gretchin x10 w Runtherd
Deff Dread (CCW x2, Big Shoota x2)

Heavy Support

Battlewagon (Deffrolla, Red Paint, Armor Plates, Big Shoota)
Battlewagon (Deffrolla, Red Paint, Armor Plates, Big Shoota)
Battlewagon (Deffrolla, Red Paint, Armor Plates, Big Shoota)

Elite

Loota x5
Loota x5
Loota x5

Fast Attack

Warbuggy x2 (TL Rockitt x2)
Warbuggy x2 (TL Rockitt x2)
Warbuggy x2 (TL Rockitt x2)


I'll go along with most of what he's getting at here. We both agree fire support is key. I even ratchet it up further with a third loota unit and another squadron of buggies. Stelek likes Kanz for counter-assault purposes. I go with a shooty Deff Dread to save our precious heavy support slot and then use a whopping three wagons with deffrollas on the cheap carrying our grots. The wagons are relatively svelt at 170 points (130+40) instead of the standard 290 carrying a boyz unit. Mobile troops are crucial and this strategy allows for that. Our 4th grot unit will sit in reserve and only show up to camp out the local objective.

So that's the list. Good fire support. An incredibly powerful death-star unit. Wagon spam that must be respected carrying cheap troops to boot. A counter-assault unit to keep our opponent honest.

Do you like an Ork list without Boyz? Is this counterassault good enough? What about combining Nob Bikerz with Wagonz? Lot's of tactics to consider here. Maybe I'll try this list out in the near future!