Waaagh in Spaaaace!, Starting BFG Options

[arinnoor]

My local gaming group is starting up Battlefleet Gothic, a game everyone seems interested in, but few actually want to try. As I want to mainly use this to expand upon my existing army, in terms of campaign and narrative goodness, I chose to use an Ork Fleet. However after only playing one demo game, not with Orks, I do not fully know enough to guess what would be a good starting point for my 750 pt list/shopping list. Thus I come to you, the internet, in hopes of a solution. Here are the questions I have at the moment.

1) Which fleet list do I go after? The Ork Armageddon Rules, that are bundled with the D/panzee or the Clan Rules? The Clan rules seem more fun, but also infinity more convoluted. For simplicity the Armageddon Rules have been recommended over the Clan Rules.

2) What models would be good to help me understand both the game itself and Orks for 750? The end goal is 2000 points, but I'm not sure where to start. The following has been recommended to me.

Warboss w/ Extra Powerfields
Karrier Terror Ship w/ boarding torpedoes
Kroozer w/ heavy gunz (so you can see what Savages are like without buying them)
2 squads of 2 brutes- quick, maneuverable, and not worth shooting at.
one squad of a Ravager and 2 Onslaughts.
one squad of 2 Ravagers and an Onslaught.

3) What are some general Ork tactics for playing the army?

4) What are some army specific tactics (tactics specifically against other armies, not to be confused with list tailoring)?

[Full_Blooded_Ork]

It's been awhile since I played but the army looks decent.

Your club is allowing the klan rules? I don't think those are offical.

[arinnoor]

I was going to make a case for them, but given it was easier to just use the Armageddon rules I'm just going to do that.

[Warboss Gorhack]

As far as tactics go... I'm not an expert, and it's been a while for me, but this is what I can offer.

Orks are not one of the better Battlefleet Gothic fleets to be had. Some consider them to be the 'joke fleet' of BFG. While we're not great, we can still win battles with hard work and perseverance. Expect some frustration until you learn how to use them effectively.

Orks are sluggish and have limited access to orders, so any fleet with speed is going to give you fits. Our vessels are tough but lack somewhat in defensive turrets. Don't forget that you have access to the free "All Ahead Full" order and it will make up for your lackluster speed a bit. Personally, I dont worry much about the loss of shooting that comes with "All Ahead".

Ork guns tend to be random. Even with that our average and high end gun results don't compare favorably with equivalent ships form other fleets. Points values don't always reflect this; you can't expect to lose handfuls of models and still win in Gothic. If the enemy manages to string you out his better speed and longer range fires will chop you apart piecemeal. Take a lesson from your local gangstas and gang up.

It's essential that when you do you gang up that do so against bite size pieces of the enemy fleet. Keep your vessels in mutual support range, so that if he comes afer one of you he comes after all of you.

Maneuver wise your best bet is to have them come to you. Alas, in many scenarios they don't really have to. Some scenarios (Blockade Runner as I recall) are tough for Orks from jump street due to our lack of maneuverability vice almost everyone else.

Big Gunz re almost always disappointing due to poor range and odd gunnery modifiers.

'Umies and Chaos are the 'gold standard' in most Gothic communities. Unlike 40K, Beakies are seen less often.

Other fleets have much better standoff shooting (Lances) and better fighters and bombers than Orks.

Boarding often goes well for Orks, but if you want to go for boarding strategy build toward it. Take plenty of Ordnance to distract him. Meganob boarding parties are good, and Boarding torpedoes can be fun and profitable.

Panzee are fast, shooty and fragile as you might expect. Throw everything you have at them if they get into range, because you won't get many chances. If they slip out of reach,

Tin'eads do everything well. There aren't a lot of them, but it doesn't really matter.

Fish'eads are a very ordnance kinda fleet as I recall. Lots of fighters and missiles and such.

'Umies are very tough to kill from the front, somewhat sluggish and have solid firepower. They have a ship for every occasion, so a lot depends on how the admiral built his fleet.

'Beakies have pretty vicious firepower, but their fleet is specialized for planetary assaults. They're somewhat lacking in fighters and Lances as I remember.

Spikeyboyz have the nastiest firepower of all and are fairly mobile, but are somewhat less tough than their 'Umie equivalents.

Your Brute Rams are your most agile vessels by far, but don't get hung up on Brute Rams as rams. They're cheap, fast and agile for Orks, and have guns, too. If you have enough of 'em their shooting can hurt.

By the way, the jerk in me insists on reminding you that it's navies and squadrons not armies and squads.

Hope that helps. I hope even more that some veterans with more experience will wade in on this!

Warboss Gorhack

[Kr00zA]

Some old farts waffling on about Ork tactics in this topic...

http://www.the-waaagh.com/forums/?showtopic=32534

[Full_Blooded_Ork]

Here's another guide I found.

http://sg.tacticalwargames.net/fanatic/78bgm.pdf