600 point orc army

[Garet Jaxx]

I searched for threads asking this question under strategy articles and Competitive armies discussion, so I should be good. There are several on HOW to use the orcs, but not which orcs to use, as well as other point values. However, if I missed one, please forgive me. So...

What is your 600 (because 500 is too low )point orc army. I have a few because it changes everytime. Here is one I really like:

Tornak (Cheerleader/semi-shark) 100
Heavies x2 (Bread & Butter) 240
Nerak (Super-Cheerleader) 290
Swogs x2 (Cheerleaders) 340
Arrow Gruts x 2 (Bread & Butter) 420
Ornak (Cheerleader) 520
Blades x2 (Bread and Butter) 600

Tah dah.

This thread is a tribute to Browncoat, whose knowledge of orcs has saved many lives, orcs or otherwise.

[playa1]

I don't know about Nerak (because I have not been able to obtain this fig), but your army looks as though you are trying to highlight the heroes you like. Nothing wrong with that, but having a son who nearly always plays orcs (and nearly always beats me), there is a better option:

Highlight the commons -- this is why the orcs kick A, afterall. Almost all the heroes are great, but some are better than others:

Heavy Gruts x 3 = 210 points
Grimnak = 120
Arrow Gruts x 3 = 120
Krug = 120

This 570 point army will beat your 600 point army and just about any other 600 point army out there (with the special exception of the blastatrons). If you want to do something fun with the 30 points extra, go ahead. The beauty of this army is its simplicity and the fact that it takes full advantage of some underpriced figs.

Depending on your opponent (heavy range, high defense or melee, numbers), you start with either Krug or Grimmy. Grimmy is the usual choice, unless the range is so good or the defense is so high, he and his orcs will get bogged down. Simply put all your order markers on the Heavy Gruts until most of them are dead or Grimmy falls. Once that occurs, then simply put all the order markers on the arrow Gruts. (or Vice Versa). This may sound like a no-brainer, no fun army, but chopping up just about every opponent is always fun. at least 40% of the time my son plays this army, he never moves Krug or his arrow gruts. If Grimmy and his heavies have any luck at all, they will chop up an army twice their value!

Compared to your army, this army has better range, better average attack, and is more versatile (you never have to waste order markers on the blades or the semi-worthless swogs (although I love that they are the only cats in the game, the swogs bonding with arrows makes no sense at all -- the swogs have to move in quick or they are dead and the arrow gruts either slow them down, or don't even benefit from their adjacency). I typically work very hard to bring Grimmy down when I fight this army, and I take heavy losses, and just when I feel I am turning the tide of battle, here comes Krug -- the absolute best unit in the whole game. Even if you try to avoid him, he can break engagements and build up wounds on his own in no time. When the game comes down to a few figs, I will typically have a strong hero who either kills Krug or gives him 7 wounds. I usually lose!

I love ornak, but he just doesn't do it like Grimmy and Krug can! I love blade gruts, but the heavies can absolutely decimate a high defense army any day. They are fast, efficient killers that have seemed all but indestructable on many occasions. I have seen them take down Imperium, Knights, 4th mass, samuri, and minions consistently. Against Blastatrons and Gladiatrons they have the most problems, but it can go either way. Orcs are the best themed army in the game.

[Gomolka]

The only problem with your army is that you have no heavy hitters. Also, you don't necessarily need to use all aspects of the Orcish force available. You would have a very difficult time mobilizing your army, and getting enough units into a fit situation. Your order marker management would be pretty difficult as well. Here's my idea:

Cyprien - 150
Sonya - 195
Swog Riders x3 - 270
Arrow Gruts x4 - 430
Krug - 550
Eldgrim - 580
Marcu - 600

Eldgrim will give Krug a better movement, since he is slow with a movement of 5. Also, you will have plenty of Arrow Gruts and Swog Riders to go around to buff those Gruts. Krug and Cyprien are strong hitters, and will keep your opponent from moving in too close.

I know it isn't a pure Orc army, however It has enough Orc units to be considered one. Also, once you have Eldgrim rush and suicide, you have an all-Utgar army.

[Garet Jaxx]

Originally Posted by playa1

Heavy Gruts x 3 = 210 points
Grimnak = 120
Arrow Gruts x 3 = 120
Krug = 120

The beauty of this army is its simplicity and the fact that it takes full advantage of some underpriced figs.

. If Grimmy and his heavies have any luck at all, they will chop up an army twice their value!

you never have to waste order markers on the blades or the semi-worthless swogs

here comes Krug -- the absolute best unit in the whole game.

I love blade gruts, but the heavies can absolutely decimate a high defense army any day.

I don't see the point of picking the Arrow gruts if you are not going to pick the swogs. Truth be told, the arrow gruts suck without the swogs, same as the heavies and blades without their champions. The more champions in the midst, the better the orcs. The way I usually play it:
heavy + Tornak + Nerak (+Ornak sometimes)= 4 attack and 5 defense.
arrow + 2 swogs = 3 attack and 3 defense.
Krug, the best unit? Jotun rules!
Yes, the heavies are better than the blades, but for almost twice the cost. This army is ok, but focuses too much on you sharks, and not enough on your bread and butter or cheerleaders.

Originally Posted by Gomolka

no heavy hitters.
Also, you don't necessarily need to use all aspects of the Orcish force available.
You would have a very difficult time mobilizing your army
Your order marker management would be pretty difficult as well.
Here's my idea:

Cyprien - 150
Sonya - 195
Swog Riders x3 - 270
Arrow Gruts x4 - 430
Krug - 550
Eldgrim - 580
Marcu - 600

I know it isn't a pure Orc army, however It has enough Orc units to be considered one. Also, once you have Eldgrim rush and suicide, you have an all-Utgar army.

It is true, but all of my orcs get to be semi-professional. I wanted Krug, but wasn't sure how to get him in. I'll look into it.
I was thinking about dropping the arrows, but they work when I need them. They are usually my last resort.
How did you know about my mobilization problems? Yeah, this army is more of a "guard the bridge army," better for narrow spaces. They slowly chop through enemy lines until nothing is left.
Order markers aren't that hard. Either Arrows, Heavies, or Blades; Ornak on the first turn if you want.

I will not lie, Cyprien kicks hindquaters. You do have an orc army, they have just been bitten and therefore turned into vampires.

[playa1]

I don't see the point of picking the Arrow gruts if you are not going to pick the swogs. Truth be told, the arrow gruts suck without the swogs,

This does appear to be true, but anyone who has played them frequently enough knows that this isn't how it works out. If you combine the swogs with the arrow gruts, you will always end up keeping your swogs back (making them worthless with a def of 3) or separating them -- the swogs movement is one of their only advantages (other than the bonding). With the +1 bonus that the swogs give the arrow gruts, THEY STILL SUCK! The arrow gruts are range, w/o much expectation. The bonding with Krug is what makes them worthwhile. You don't really expect their 1 attack to do much, but for the 40 extra points, you get to move Krug (2 attacks) AND 3 extra attacks (3 arrow gruts at range 6). That's 5 attacks per order marker. Depending on Krug's wounds, that might be a very high attack value indeed.

If you don't believe me, play the armies and see for yourself! You will find that Krug kicks butt and occasionally an arrow grut will surprise you and kill a Knight which adds insult to injury after Krug just wasted two others.


As far as Krug v. Jotun:
Krug = 2 attacks (possibly 8 dice with height) Jotun's throw and wild swing (attack 4) -- only if the figs are adjacent, small or medium.

Krug life 8 Jotun life 7

Krug is tough to get around, but Jotun is nearly impossible to situate in certain situations.

Jotun does have a better defense. Jotun does have a higher attack at the start of the game but . . . Jotun is 105 points more expensive!

[Garet Jaxx]

The way I play the Arrows, the swogs help. They don't move a whole lot because that is what my heavies and blades do. For 25 points, the swogs are definately worth it. You can place 8 arrows next to one, more than 2 squads. For 50 points more, I upped 6 of my units attack by 1 or 2.

As for Jotun, it's Jotun. He is just beastly. If it needs to be destroyed, you have Jotun. Zombie horde, use Jotun. Krug is good, especially for 120 points, but Jotun is just cooler, for some reason that eludes me.

[playa1]

I would definitely agree that Jotun is a cool figure to play. It's fun to throw -- especially with some lava on the board. It's also fun to get a really high attack value -- I've seen Q9 go down with one blow from Jotun. However, just as often I've seen the giant fall too quickly. Anyone who has played him enough knows that Jotun hasn't the stamina you expect. I don't know, maybe it is his large size or his high point value, but it is just too tempting to take the giant down. And with a little determination, it is really easy to do so. His wild swing just never comes through and his throw is unpredictable. He is a very annoying figure to try to fit on a bridge or tight terrain! He's fun, but winning is more fun.

My worst Jotun Story: Killed on turn one by two vipers who frenzied. That sucked!

That said, I would like the nay-sayers to comment on the Krug/Grimnak army I mentioned before. If you test play it, you should find Krug +2 arrow gruts will always be more effective than swogs and gruts of equal value. There are a few terrains that make Krug too slow to be effective, but 9 times out of 10, Krug will be the more effective choice here with equal point values.

Just Play Test it! The swogs are cool looking figures, and I won't consider Nerak, since I've never played him, but they are not very effective with the arrow gruts. Even if you do find a position where your gruts can benefit from positioning around the swogs, the +1 advantage is almost useless with such low dice (you are basically counting on a zero shield roll either way!). Also, you sacrifice the most effective element of both the arrow gruts and the swogs -- their speed. You will not be able to make the most of their speed and ability to set up good LOS positions if you worry about keeping them adjacent! I would take Krug + arrows over the swog combinations any day. I would also consider Mimring + arrow gruts which makes a great range combo to be more effective that swogs + arrow gruts. The swogs simply do not fit in well with a good orc army.

[Heroscape Elffy]

When I played Orcs the few times I did, I preferred not to mix the Arrows and Blades. I don't know why. Its just easier. 1 card for markers instead of two.

[IAmBatman]

Arrow Gruts x5 (200)
Mimring (350)
Krug (470)
Swog Riders x5 (595)

Twenty-nine starting spaces and not 600 points exactly, but only one place to put your Order Markers, tactical flexibility up the whazzo, and a true swarm of an army.

[playa1]

IAmBatman makes a great point with a very good army.

It's always easier to not think about order markers. However, when my son kills me with orcs as he often does, he does not try to be tricky with his order markers. He simply piles them on the Heavy Gruts -- doesn't even bother to fool around with the blank marker because he knows I can't do anything about it -- and keeps attacking with them until he has fewer than one squad left. Then he piles them on the arrow gruts and does the same.

This is strangely intimidating, since very often he never has to move his arrow gruts. There are a few armies where he has to think about using the arrow gruts first, but this is rare. The only army that kills the orcs as often as the orcs kill is a gladiatron/blastatron army. The orcs consistently beat undead armies, marro armies (though I just got stingers and have not had a chance to use them much), samauri armies, kyrie armies, and zettians. I've never tried an all 4th mass army because I only have 3 squads, but when I use 3 squads with other valiant figs, it never works.

Anyone else think that the orcs are the most competitive armies out there?

[IAmBatman]

The orcs are sure right up there! Any bonding army that can put up significant range is going to be a force to be reckoned with in this game.
That said, the sickest and hardest to defeat 500 point army I ever played with was the Nakitas Krug Raelin and Q9. Though I'm thinking finding a way to slip the Krav and the rats in there could be pretty disturbingly good too. But I try to avoid armies stacked with most of these figs, as highly dominant as they can be.

[playa1]

Krug, Q9, Raelin, and the Nakitas? It sounds very good. I would think a Ghost army might be pretty effective with a dragon like Nilfheim or Charos to take on the Nakitas. Maybe

Charos
Ghosts x3
Ne-Gok-Sa

If you ever find a hero-heavy Q9 army, ghosts are a lot of fun to counter.

Staying on topic, such an army would get slaughtered by the orcs. Grimnak is the best anti-ghost figure ever.