Recently we had a 750pt league at the Battle Bunker. Ty, one of the regulars at my local club, built an awesomely themed new army for the league - Feral Orks! Ty has a reputation for being highly fluff driven as you will see from the list he took (which was something like this):
Feral Orks 750 points
Wierdboy (85)
warphead
19 Ork Boyz, 1 Nob (155)
Nob with power klaw
2 x Gretchin (80)
6 Nobz (160)
1 power fist, 3 big choppas
5 Warbikers (125)
3 Killa Kanz (135)
rokkit launcha
Let me take you through the conversions he is using for these models: The Warphead is a Savage Orc Shaman, with an arm swap I think. The Killa Kans are built from the new River Troll models, with a rokkit launcha replacing one of the Troll's arms. These new Troll models are beautiful, and along with the conversions it looks awesome. Finally Ty is using the new Boar Boy model for his Warbikes, with big shootas strapped to them.
I also know that Ty is pretty excited at the rumour that the upcoming release of the Fantasy Orcs & Goblins Army Book is going to focus on Savage Orcs. He would love to get his hands on new Savage Orc plastics and get converting with 40k bits.
Now we need to expand this list up to 1500 points. I also want to give it a bit more backbone - increase the number of threats and provide some synergy between some of the different units in the army.
Lets start with the Wierdboy leading the force. This guy is so much fun to play with or against, and the Warphead upgrade is mandatory in order to make the most of his random but strong powers. There is no better option for the Wierdboy that a Shoota boy retinue. With the Zzap power you have 3 additional rokkits to shoot. When they teleport into the opponents backline they should get 20 S4 hits against a unit - quite effective. And if the Wierdboy uses a shooty power then you can't run anyway, so you may as well have a nice gun to shoot with instead.
Wierdboy (85)
warphead
29 Shoota Boyz, 1 Nob (250)
3 rokkit launchas; Nob with power klaw, boss pole
Next up is the Killa Kanz squad. Its a decent unit as is, and whilst the Grotzooka is a good weapon, rokkits are necessary in Ork lists for much needed light AT, and I'm guessing Feral Orks don't come with squadrons of Buggies or Deathkopters. So I'm keeping the unit as is.
3 Killa Kanz (135)
rokkit launcha
The Gretchin are an effective unit at a couple of jobs - making a vehicle scoring, and holding an objective in the backfield. As I know that Ty was borrowing some of the Gretchin he fielded, I reckon we should drop this down to a single unit of 10. This is still good enough to hold that home objective and will usually avoid any fire in the early game as the rest of the Orks charge forward menacingly.
9 Gretchin, 1 Runtherd (40)
Now the Warbikes are such a crappy unit, they have to go. Expensive in points and they die quickly to shooting, or collapse in close combat. Lets give him something fun to play with and build a squad of Nob Bikers that has some toys but is not too abusive. I know that Ty would not enjoy playing with an optimized Nob Biker squad, which is why I have gone easy on the options. I'm trying to build him a list he can win with, not one that he is embarrassed to play!
And who plays Nob Bikers without the scoring upgrade? The Warboss on Bike is really there because Ty wants to use the sweet Gorbag model in a conversion. But this option is also an effective unit on the tabletop. Firstly he makes the Nob bikers scoring, which is very powerful - in scoring missions that huge points sink can no longer just be avoided. T5(6) is like Eternal Warrior against everyone except Tau and Vindicators. And don't forget that on the charge he is S10, which can do vicious things to Land Raiders. In role he is similar to a winged daemon prince, taking out a tank or small unit all on his own. Except that he can hide in the Nob Biker squad and simultaneously protect it from wounds that would instant-kill Toughness 4.
Warboss (130)
power klaw, 'eavy armor, warbike
10 Nobz (545)
warbikes, stikkbombs; 2 power klaws, 4 big choppas, Waaargh! banner
Well the Nobs are a big deathstar. This army needs a smaller unit that can still threaten - and Ty had the idea to convert a Lizardman Stegadon to carry his Orks into the battle. Well a counts-as Battlewagon would fit the list nicely - it could keep up with the bikers and teleporting Shoota Boyz. This is turning out to be a very "in your face" list and I think that the playing style will be perfect fit for him. I'll equip the wagon with the mandatory Death Rolla and big shoota.
I'll man the Battlewagon with Slugga Boyz to continue the feeling of variety in the army, and because they work great assaulting from the open-topped wagon. Each Boyz squad has a power klaw to provide anti-tank, and a boss pole to keep the unit around when things get rough.
19 Slugga Boyz, 1 Nob (160)
Nob with power klaw, boss pole
Battlewagon (110)
big shoota, deffrolla
That leaves 45 points. It would be nice to include some ranged AT in this army, so I think we should include some kind of Terradon riding unit as a counts-as Deffkopta. These are a great unit for the Ork codex as they can fill a number of roles, and are great at disruption. Lets drop a couple of Nob Bikers to free up another 90 points, then take three of these guys each as a single unit to maximise the disruption they can cause. (The other nice way of taking these is as a unit of two, with one buzz-saw. It lets you wound allocate to keep the unit alive as long as possible.)
3 x 1 Deffkopta (135)
twin-linked rokkit launcha
Well thats it. Hope you enjoy the list Ty. Here it is all together...
Feral Orks 1500 points
Wierdboy (85)
warphead
Warboss (130)
power klaw, 'eavy armor, warbike
8 Nobz (455)
warbikes, stikkbombs; 2 power klaws, 4 big choppas, Waaargh! banner
29 Shoota Boyz, 1 Nob (250)
3 rokkit launchas; Nob with power klaw, boss pole
19 Slugga Boyz, 1 Nob (160)
Nob with power klaw, boss pole
9 Gretchin, 1 Runtherd (40)
3 x 1 Deffkopta (135)
twin-linked rokkit launcha
Battlewagon (110)
big shoota, deffrolla
3 Killa Kanz (135)
rokkit launchas
I instantly thought that kanz were out of place in a feral list, but the idea of river trolls with weapon-arms could be cool. Fluff-wise, would you consider them as mutated giant orks, or some sort of squig construct made by a mad-doc somewhere?
ReplyDeleteThanks Marcus, some good advice.
ReplyDeleteI need to take some pic's of my stuff.
I'm a bit hesitant to use the nob bikers, as there is such a stigma attached to them, but they would fit well with the theme. Shame they have become such an infamous unit.
Haven't really worked out too much fluff, but the idea is they are a wasteland tribe, and the trolls and things I am going to use as vehicles (on second thought, the stegadon is too small for a battle wagon, maybe just a lotted wagon. Have been eyeing off the LotRs mamuk for a battle wagon conversion though :) ) Are the creatures that live in the harsh desert-y environment with them and they have managed to domesticate some to fight with.
That works too.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, have you seen the conversions around for "looted carnifexes?" Conceptually, they're hilarious, but I think they'd work well in your theme. Effectively, it seems like that's kind of what you're after.
Ty, without a pain boy giving them feel no pain, and without giving every model different options to fully wound allocate, this unit is not the cheesy Nob Bikers squad of internet fame. People will recognise this. Really you need the ten models to get this across the table safely!
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the Looted Wagon, it's going to be a better counts as for a Stegadon (with a head as tough as a Land Raider!). And the random movement certainly makes fluffy sense. Just be aware that it sucks!
I haven't seen them no...
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting.
Not really what I have in mind visually, I like more reptile/herd animal type creatures for what I'm going for.
Deffkoptas would be cool, have been trying to think of some sort of interesting "leaping" creature to use for them.
Am thinking of kommandos to fill a slightly similar sot of role. Thematically, I think they are more suiting (and want to do a bunch of feral hunter guys with bloody warpaint sneaking through terrain)
I'm still tossing ideas around re: the vehicles, was just a thought due to size comparison, seemed the most suitable option.