Boyz iz da best

ORK BOYZ

   WS 4  BS 2  S 3  T 4  W 1  I 2  A 2  Ld 7  Sv. 6+    

                   First in my series of Ork tactica/Codex unit review is a look at the humble ork boy. Some would say one of the best troops in the game, the Ork boy is the basic building block and shares a stat line with most units in the codex.


 More after the jump.

 Besides IC's there are 3 basic stat lines for the whole codex 1.Grots 2.Boyz 3.Nobs. If your not a stinking grot (the only other troop choice without needing an IC to unlock them) or one of the Nobs in charge your a boy. Coming in at 6pts a piece for a unit of 10 to 30 they are a steel for what you get. S3 T4 with furious charge and 2 base attacks they aren't close combat monsters but they're no slouch either.

 Shoota vs. Slugga:
 Ork boyz come in two flavors 1.Shoota boyz and 2. Slugga boyz.

 Shoota boyz come with an assault 2 gun but with BS 2 they only hit 1/3 of the time. Usually if you see a mob of orks on foot they will be shoota boyz. shoota boyz are best used to soften up enemies while trudging up field before assault and with 18" range they are pretty versatile troop choice.

Slugga boyz are choppy and come with a cc weapon/pistol to give them an extra attack in CC. their weapon is assault 1 with a 12" range so these guys are a point and run till you hit combat. The best use for these guys are in Trukks or a Battle wagon.

You can make slugga boyz work in a footslogging list as well as use shootas to good effect in Battle wagons. The mathhammer between the two is minimal when you take all the different units in the game into consideration and is more up to your play style although I find Shootas a little more utilitarian in most cases.

Upgrades:
There are a few upgrades to a boyz mob so lets go through them now. Stikkbombs are like frag grenades and let orks attack at I3 when charging into cover. Most units go at I4 or faster so this is mostly a waist of points. One mob in the army my upgrade to ard boyz which gives a 4+ armour save. this makes 1 mob of boyz more survivable but is pretty expensive at 4 points a boy for a save most weapons ignore. For every 10 Orks in the mob you can get a special weapon.5 points for a Big shoota S5 A3 or 10 points for a Rokkit S8 A1. I prefer Rokkits as the ork army is filled with anti-infantry but very few S8 shots (they even hit every once in awhile). The most important upgrade is the must have for every mob, one boy may be upgraded to a Nob.

Nobs:
The Nob is what makes a boyz mob so good. actually most the time the boyz are just ablative wounds for the Nob to do his thing. The reason is a Nob is an upgrade character so he cannot be singled out (except by shenanigans from the Vindicare Assassin and a few others). The difference between him and the boyz is that he has S4 I3 and 2 wounds. He also has the choice of taking a big choppa (+2 S) and Power Klaw (X2 S power weapon) which the Power klaw is a no brainer. A power klaw  (4 S9 attacks on the charge) is what makes a big unit of boyz so deadly and will win most fights due to attrition. The other must have is a boss pole. A boss pole lets you re roll a failed leadership by wounding a random boy and mitigates their crappy 7 leadership.You can also give your nob a 4+ armor save for 5 points as a way to keep 1 more boy alive during the fight by assigning a wound to him every once in awhile. The only other thing to mention about the Nob is that he may be the one to have the Rokkit or Big shoota (a way to keep the special weapon alive a little longer).

Special Rules:
Furious charge- gives the boyz I3 (helps a little) and S4 on the charge. This helps tremendously in close combat. On the charge you will would on 50% of your hits compared 1/3 the time during your second round of combat or if you get charged.

Mob Rule- Orks with their Ld of 7 will run slightly more than 50% of the time when called upon to make checks so this rule also helps and sometimes can be a hindrance. you can use the amount of Orks (up to 10) as their leadership and if you number 11 or more you are fearless. Helps when being shot at or pinning checks but Sucks as fearless wounds are deadly to our crappy armour saves.

Waaagh!- When called (once per game but not during 1st turn) all units are fearless and get fleet of foot for the assault. This is also a great bonus as it extends the Orks threat range significantly and most people underestimate the far reaching movement during an Ork Waaagh! It also saves small units about to or that are currently running off the table with the army wide fearless rule. But no great Ork ability would be complete without the random goofiness of taking a wound to each unit that rolls a 1 for thier fleet movement that turn.

Transports:
 Ork boyz have two modes to get across the field besides footslogging. 1.The Trukk and 2. The Battle wagon. While we will go into these vehicles later what we need to know right now that these vehicles dictate the size of mob you may take. A Trukk limits your mob to 12 and is a dedicated transport which may only be taken with a boyz or Nobz mob. a Battle wagon limits your mob to 20 and also takes up a Heavy slot on the FOC.

Competitive uses:
30 boy mob of ard boyz (4+ armour) to act as a screen to give the rest of you infantry 4+ cover save
20 boy mobs with 2 special weapon walking behind Grots/Ard Boyz/Kanz for 4+ cover save
30 boy mobs with 3 special weapon walking behind Grots/Ard Boyz/Kanz for 4+ cover save
20 (19 with KFF) Boyz in Battle wagon (if shootas then firing 40 shots a turn)
11 Slugga Boyz and a Nob in a Trukk (need multiple units to make this work)
11 Shoota Boyz and a Nob in a Trukk (held in reserve for a late turn objective holder)
180 footslogging boyz (green tide)

Overview:
Pros:
Boyz are cheep
OK in close combat
Hidden power klaw
Fearless if over 11 boyz
Can bring 30 bodies in a unit
Scoring
Lots of shots and attacks

Cons:
Not survivable (6+ armour save)
BS 2 (only hit 1/3 with shooting)
Must get charge to be effective
I2 (most armies swing first)
Fearless if over 11 boyz (see Not survivable)
Ld 7
Only OK in close combat

Ork boyz are a good solid troop choice. If you ask what you should add to your Ork army you will usually hear "Moar Boyz". A lot of the Boyz Cons are mitigated by adding bodies and their special rules.  For a good solid army you need at least two units of 20 and probably a lot more. Remember to always give your Nob a Power klaw and Boss pole. When ever possible always try to get the charge as not charging will take the thunder out of your boyz. You are only OK in assault so the trick is finding out what you should and shouldn't attack (this takes playing experience). don't be afraid to shoot because that's one of Orks greatest hidden strengths. Ork boyz are about numbers (bodies, shoots, & attacks), that hidden Power klaw, and getting the charge. Use these to your advantage. Now go forth and krump some stuff ya dirty gits!