Hi

Since EA came out I have primarily played with IG with occasional game using Orks, SM & AMTL. My main army is tundra IG but I want to build up 3,000 points painted SM and Ork armies so that I can field all rulebook armies.

Back in SM era I always liked the Evil Sunz and Goffs, and either though we're not restricted to these in EA, I fancy painting Evil Sunz. In time I might use the Speed Freekz army list but for now I want to stick to the main rulebook list. Ideally would just need to add trukks to make initial list into Speed Freekz.

So for army selection that means lots of KoS and Blitz Brigades, no footsloggers or Gargants. I've probably played as Orks no more than 4-5 times in that time. So I need a bit of help pulling together a 3,000 points list.

I have read through:
http://www.taccmd.tacticalwargames.net/ ... 95&t=18429

Some specific things I need help with:

1) When I have played with Orks before I have had very low activations. Might be because I was using Uge warbands and Gargants. But what I good number of activations I should aim for? When using IG I would aim for 8-9. Is this a good number of activations for Orks?

2) Without Gargants I was thinking of using several Gunfortresses as the solid centre for army. I have read in other threads that Gunfortresses are considered sub-optimal. Any suggestions on making them work?

3) I have a large number of Gunwagons. Again I have seen comments that Gunwagons are sub-optimal. The consensus seems to be that best mix of Blitz Brigade is 1 Oddboy/2 Gunwagons / 1 Flakwagon. Is it best to keep Blitz Brigades to minimum size? The discount for Uge Blitz Brigades does seem very appealing!

4) Likewise I have seen many comments about how good Skorchas are in KoS. I have few Skorchas but many Wartraks/buggies/bikes. Can low number of Skorchas work?

5) I don't currently have any Dethkoptas or Fighta Bombers. Both units I want to add when I can afford them. But for now these are not an option to me.

Basically I am not aiming for a tournament style optimised Ork army. I just want a 3,000 points face all-comers army that can make best use of what i already have. I am a slow painter but having a clear target should help motivate me to finish.

My current figure options are:
-one battlefrortress and lots of gunfortresses
-lots and lots of gunwagons with a few flakwagons and couple of oddboyz
-lots and lots of wartraks/buggies/bikes with a few skorchas

Core of big/uge warband(s) with gunfortresses, with flanking Blitz Brigades and screen of KoS. So how well would this work?

Thanks

James

Around there is good, but you could go lower if need be. Minimal Flak/Zzap brigades are a good way to boost activations.



They aren't the best, but you can make them better by making sure they can't be picked out. The way to do this, of course, is to make sure they are the only armor in the formation.



See above. Flak/Zzaps are great to boost activations and go Armor/WE-hunting, but you could probably do well with a Big Brigade with Soopa Gunz, for the two template MW Barrage.



4+ Ignore Cover FF attacks are fun. Buggies (and Gunwagons) have their own advantage, in that they "don't care" whether they're in FF or CC, allowing them to hit an opponent where they are at a disadvantage.



Sounds like a plan to me.

_________________
SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Hi

In between drybrushing some bases I knocked up a quick rough initial army list. If I was going to use this army for an intro game I thought I had better stay clear of Gunfortresses to keep things simple:

Uge warband with 12 battlewagons
5 normal Blitz Brigades (each 2 gunwagons, 1 flakwagon, 1 super Zzap oddboy)
1 big KoS (16 warbikes)
2 big KoS (each 12 warbuggies, 4 skorchas)

I think that leaves me 30 points short of 3,000 but I can juggle around. Have 9 activations with a nice nig unit for BTS and some activations for screening etc.

In time I will want to add Gunfortresses, Fighta-Bommers, Dethkoptas. Also in time I might be able to up the number of Skorchas. But I think it will give me a sensible painting target and a viable (albeit not optimised) Evil Sunz army at the end of it.

Any other suggestions appreciated.

Thanks

James

i think spectar ghost meant 'make sure the gun fortress are NOT the only armour in the formation.'

so the first few AT hits that come your way can be assigned to the little gunwagons. i think.

Nope. You may pick WE out of a formation per EA3.2.1, ph2.



So a formation that is all WE is actually safer, since you can't snipe the WE.

_________________
SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Looks like I will be able to get a game this weekend. Colin, my previous regular Epic opponent, is back in Leeds for weekend. Will both be a bit rusty as we have nt played for over a year. If he can find his Black legion army I'll be facing that, otherwise he will be borrowing my IG Steel Legion.

I have been busy painting over last 2 weeks. I still have to paint the infantry and the optional fighta Sqwadron. But I have finished the tanks and just have a few Skorchas to finish tomorrow. This is what I have at the moment:

-Uge Warband, 7 Battlewagons, 6 Gunwagonz, 1 Gunfortress with Big Mek,
-Big KoS: 16 warbikes
-Big KoS: 16 Skorchas
-Five minimum size Zzap Brigades (each 1 Supa-Zzap Gun, 1 Flakwagon, 2 Gunwagonz)
-1 Fighta Sqwadron (3 fighta bomberz) - optional

(I am not sure if we are playing aircraft- if not will swap for minimum size Blitz Brigade).

I doubt that the above is a tournament optimised army. But it includes all of my painted models.
After painting the infantry for Uge Warband, then next priority is a load of Wartraks/buggies to give me a 3rd KoS (will be mixed in with above Skorchas).

Any suggestions on how could tweak the above list? I can't add any new units as won't get painted by the weekend. But if you think I would be better moving say the Oddboyz or Flakwagonz around then please let me know.

Thanks

James

Hey, WGI. I would probably do it like this:

Big Warband with transport (all the wagonz you can afford, see below)
Warband
Big Kos, bikes
Big KoS, skorchas
4 Zzap brigades
1 Blitz Brigade with Zzapfortress
Fightabommas

Splitting the Uge Warband will cost 50 points, so you'll need to shave that by dropping a couple wagonz or a zzapwagon (70 or 85 points).

Reasoning:

It gives you an extra activation and balances out some of your activations. Instead of one really, really hard warband a couple of middle-tough KoS and 5 popcorn, you end up with a tough Big Warband, 4 middle-tough formations (2 KoS, Warband, Fortress Brigade) and 4 popcorn. The Warband activation you gain is slow but it can garrison on OW and the entire rest of the army will be 30cm move and impossible to slow down.

The Gunfort is hard to use with the Uge Warband. If the opponent has multi-TK, that Zzapfortress is a very high priority. You won't be able to keep the troops loaded in it and if the Fortress is killed, that's a big chunk of transport capacity.

Also, the Uge mob has another weakness - no extra transport capacity. Losing a Wagon is less devastating in terms of loss of mobility and they are not as much of a high profile target as the Fortress. However, because the Warband has no extra transport capacity, it will be possible for your opponent to slow the mob down quickly by killing transport.

Putting the Gunfort with a Blitz Brigade guarantees it will be mobile and gives a tougher formation as noted earlier. If the Fort is picked off by TK, it's less of a hit to your tactical flexibility.

You might lose an Oddboy, depending on how you set it up, but you keep the 5 most mobile oddboyz on the Blitz Brigades.

The Big Warband with all the wagonz will have extra transport, which means you have the opportunity to keep the loaded if the situation warrants - multiple empty transports at the front means that you can take several AT hits and not worry about loaded transports dying with everyone on board. Also, it will be nearly impossible for the enemy to put them on foot by killing wagonz.

Thanks neal

I understand the reasoning on moving Zzap fortress to a blitz brigade, and for reducing main Warband to just Big sized.

At the moment I am short on infantry and battlewagons. I might have to look at if I have any more Gunwagonz available to fill in gaps.

Thanks

James

Right- reworked things to get as close as possible to what you suggested neal, but lacking the Battlewagonz and not wanting to field dismounted infantry (this army will be fielded as Speed Freekz as soon as I can get the unique units in Speed Freekz list):

Big Warband with 1 Big Gunz, 7 Battlewagonz, 2 Big Mek Sooper-Gun, 1 Flakwagonz
Big Kult Of Speed 16 Warbikes
Big Kult Of Speed 16 Skorchas
Blitz Brigade 1 Gunfortress with Big Mek, 1 Flakwagon, 3 Gunwagons
Blitz Brigade 1 Big Mek Supa-Zzap-Gun, 1 Flakwagon, 2 Gunwagons
Blitz Brigade 1 Big Mek Supa-Zzap-Gun, 1 Flakwagon, 2 Gunwagons
Blitz Brigade 1 Big Mek Supa-Zzap-Gun, 1 Flakwagon, 2 Gunwagons
Blitz Brigade 1 Big Mek Supa-Zzap-Gun, 1 Flakwagon, 2 Gunwagons
Blitz Brigade 1 Big Mek Supa-Zzap-Gun, 1 Flakwagon, 2 Gunwagons
Fighta Sqwadron 3 Fighta-Bommerz

That gets me the extra activation that you suggested, uses virtually all my painted figures (just a couple of Gunwagonz spare). Bang on 3,000 points under NetEA army list.

I don't yet know what list my opponent will be bringing. Might have a few too many Zzap-Guns. But I can live with that.

Cheers

James

Hi

Had a fun game against Colin (aka Kleomenes) last weekend. He was back up to Leeds a few days so it was great to get a game in of Epic, having played Battletech the last time he was up. As neither had played EA since our last game a couple of years back it was slow going as blew cobwebs off our understanding of rules, and also had a lot to chat about.

Most of our previous games had involved his Chaos vs my IG/AMTL. This time he went for IG against my new Orks. So a bit reversal in that I normally am shooty whilst he is more close combat orientated. His army was pretty standard IG SL, with Reg HQ, LR Co, Baneblade Co with Demolisher upgrade, single Shadowsword, Hydras, couple of pairs of Manticores and some Rough Riders. I took as above with exception of taking a second Gunfortress (which was newly painted) at expense of some Flakwagons/Gunwagons.

Ideally I would have preferred another couple of weeks before playing as I was nt quite ready. But you don't turn down a game of Epic and so i spent last Friday/Saturday feverishly painting, trying to finish off as many units as possible.

Terrain wise we had a clump of Ork building on right hand side near my table edge, with a clump of Imperial buildings diagonally opposite. The other quarters were filled with hills, woods, scrub and rubble- if anything we had a touch too much terrain but better than playing on flat, especially with opposing Shadowsword. We played corner to corner as it seemed to fit the terrain best.

The downside is that I found myself quite bunched in the L-shaped deployment zone. The upside is that my KoS were pretty close to the enemy. Winning strategy roll I sent both KoS charging forward- a double move of 70 cm is sure impressive!! Especially when used to slower IG. I was trying to get them out of my deployment area and dispersed so that could avoid the worst of the artillery.

When artillery fire came down I found out the hard way how bad 6 Manticores can be be. I lost one Blitz Brigade outright and another broken. Most of my units doubled that turn whilst he moved up more slowly, concentrating his fire on my Warbikes reducing them to broken 4 units. My 3 Fighta Bombas braved both CAP and flak fire to strafe the rough riders with little effect.

Having broken the Warbikes first turn Colin then turned his attention to Skorchas. he obviously does nt like KoS. My mechanised Warband and Blitz Brigades pressed forward. Highlight for me was killing one Baneblade and one failed activation of doing same to Shadowsword.

My sole remaing fly boy, Bigglez, was nt going to let 3 blast markers stop him strafing the enemy so he dove back in and almost broke the Baneblade Co by targeting the Demolishers- I was one more blast marker away from breaking what was his BTS unit.....

I think we had to wrap up early at that point as the club was in temporary premises and had to pack the tables away. So I think it finished a draw.

The Orks had taken heavy damage up until then but the surviving units were in charge range for next turn. So hopefully I would have been able to win up close and personal.

We both had great fun and spent some time chatting about the game and Epic in general over a post match coffee.

I have had a quiet couple of days painting wise since. After pushing to get stuff painted for last Sunday i was probably straining myself too soon after eye operation so have tried to relax and recuperate. I have sorted through my footslogging Orks and have done some more assembly, undercoat and basing for my Evil Sunz.

Thanks

James

Hi

I have been slowly painting up more Evil Sunz units over the last 3 months. The main thing I need to paint now are my Ork infantry and some Fighta Bombas. When those I am done I will have the following to choose from:
4 Nobz, 12 Ork Boyz, 4 Gretchin,
8 Battlewagonz
9 Big Mek Supa-Zzap-Gun
12 Flakwagonz
28 Gunwagons
19 Warbikes
16 Skorchas
2 Gunfortress
18 Fighta-Bommas

Some follow up questions:
1) Would adding some Supa Zzap Guns / Flakwagons / Gunwagons to my mechanised Big Warband make the formation more useful or more of a threat? Without them the Big Warband already totals 630 points and thus is BTS

2) I have gone for half a dozen of the standard Zzap Brigades (i.e. 1/1/2) to maximise my activations. Yet I found them VERY fragile. I currently have 10 activations in 3K- should I reduce my activations by making some of these into Big Blitz Brigades?

3) How many aircraft should I take in 3K? Taking all 18 fighta bombas seems a bit much- probably won't win my any friends. Should I take them in 9's or 3's?

Thanks very much

James

Hey WI:

1) I would not add Oddboyz to a Warband. They don't really fit with the role of the formation, which will be close-in support and assault. They'd be relatively easy to suppress down to 30cm range. OTOH, I probably would add a token Flakwagon or two. Keep in mind they can transport, so you either end up with a bit more capacity (which I recommend) or you could shave points by trimming any extra Battlewagons.

Also, adding a Zzapwagon to a Skorcha KoS might be worth trying. I've done that with a couple Buggies (for the 30cm range/suppression). I thought it was okay and added flexibility, but I'd say that will vary based on individual play styles.

2) Basically, you need enough larger formations for the Zzap Brigades to sort of hide behind. They should be positioned so that if someone goes after the Zzaps, they have to worry about the larger formations counter-attacking. It doesn't look like you have enough larger formations to do that without making some of your Blitz Brigades into Big BBs.

I normally field 1 Big Blitz Brigade for every 2-3 normal ones. Two Soopagunz in the Big Blitz gives you 4BP/2 templates.

Or another option would be to put both Forts in the same Blitz Brigade to build a larger formation. I used to field BB + Fort fairly regularly before the Zzap Brigade became the standard. With 2 in a formation and 2 flak/2 gunwagons you'd have 10 units, all the coherency and suppression fun of the WEs, 8 Big Gunz, 14 Twin Big Shootaz and average 4.33 hits in FF, all moving at 30cm, for 400 points.

3) At 3K, for an air-heavy force I go for 2 formations in a 9/3 split. 9 FBs is enough to brave any reasonable level of flak to hit a juicy target, so they are your ground attack. The formation of 3 is for CAP or cleanup.

Thanks neal

For the mechanised warband, it makes sense to include Flakwagons but not Oddboyz- thanks.

I'll try one big Blitz Brigade to every 2 mini sized ones.

The 9/3 split for Fighta Bombas sounds good.

Thanks very much

James