I've decided to make a guide to the advantages and disadvantages of the different Ork units. It's something I could use myself and instead of asking for it I thought I'd have a go at making one. I have yet to play a game of EA so all help anyone can give would be much appreciated!
I thought I'd post it now as I work on it so I can incorporate any feedback and to check if people want it in the first place
.Unit Name: Ork Boyz
Advantages:
Cheap (25), good in CC (4+), can move freely through most terrain and they also usually come with a free Grot to soak up enemy fire.
Disadvantages:
With a 6+ needed when shooting they are not going to hit much when taking a Double action (because of the extra -1), they are also slow (15cm) which can make it more difficult for them to get into hand to hand combat.
Unit Name: Warbikes
Advantages:
Cheap (25), very fast (35cm), decant guns vs infantry (5+) and good in CC (4+). These bikes can take a Double action, move 70cm then shoot at infantry within 15cm needing a 6 to hit, then next turn assault a formation up to 35cm away with a CC score of 4+.
Disadvantages:
Low armour (5+), counts as infantry so easier to hit, poor in a FF (6+), low weapon range (15cm), poor to hit vehicles (6+).
Unit Name: Warbuggies/Wartraks
Advantages:
Cheap (25), very fast (35cm), good guns (AP5+, AT5+, 30 range). With the move of these units they can get to where the shooting is needed, this is very useful for focusing casualties on or suppressing a formidable enemy formation.
Disadvantages:
These are LV's so can be hit by AP or AV rounds, poor in an assault (5+ CC, 5+ FF), low armour (5+).
Unit Name: Scorcha
Advantages:
Cheap (25), very fast (35cm), great guns vs infantry when in range (4+, ignores cover), great in a FF (4+).
Disadvantages:
These are LV's so can be hit by AP or AV rounds, poor weapon range (15cm), can't hit vehicles, low armour (5+), poor in CC 6+.
Strategy:
These are more support units, for instance if you have a formation just made up of these and someone assaults you in CC you will be devastated. Their advantage comes in because you often can't get all units in a formation into CC, so to get the most out of an assault formation you need a good amount of CC and a decant amount of FF.
How much FF you want in a formation depends on your opponent. For instance when fighting Space Marines you will probably be fighting small formations so only a limited number can get into CC, but if you fight Orks or Imperial Guard you may be up against larger formations where more units that can CC could be an advantage.
Stompas
Advantages:
Great armour (4+ & Reinforced), great gunz (2-3 AP5+, AT5+, 45 range), good in a FF or CC (4+), even better if you take the Kombat 'Ammer (base contact, MW, +1A).
Disadvantages:
Expensive (75), just as easy to suppress as any other normal Ork unit, slow (15cm).
Strategy:
These are tough to kill but can be easy to suppress, for instance it take an average of 36 shots, if the enemy needs 5+ to hit, to kill 3 stompas. But it only takes 3 formations to shoot at them to give 3 BM's and break them.
These are often used as shields for formations. This is because hits are allocated from the front of a formation to the back, so if you put a stompa or two in front the first 1 or 2 hits gets taken by the Stompa, and with their very thick armour they are move likely to survive then the other vehicles in the formation.
Unit Name: Stormboyz
Advantages:
Cheap (25), Fast (30cm), good at CC (4+), they have Jump Packs and are Scouts.
Disadvantages:
No weapons that work outside an assault, low save (6+), infantry so easy to hit, if they end their move in dangerous terrain they must take a dangerous terrain test.
Strategy:
Because of their 30cm movement and the fact that they have jump packs (which lets them jump over impassable of dangerous terrain) they can get to most places on the battlefield. A basic formation is also very cheap (150).
One strategy to use these advantages could be to buy a formation of these solely to charge an enemies barrage (or other vulnerable units at the back of the field) formation. With a 60 double or 90 march there is a decant chance they can get within range to assault on the next turn, this means the enemy can either let you assault, and quite probably loose their barrage, or send a formation to stop you. The formation sent to stop you is probably worth more then 150 points, so you have the enemy at a disadvantage while they deal with you, or you destroy or seriously damage a barrage formation worth most probably more then 150 points, so both ways you win.
Another way to exploit their strengths could be to use them as a shield to stop the enemy assaulting one of your formations. They are scouts, which means that they have a 10cm zone of control and only need to be within 20cm of each other instead of 5cm, this means that with only 6 units they can protect a whooping 120cm of battlefield. For the enemy to pass through this with ground troops they must first shoot a hole in it or assault it, both ways you have succeeded in making the enemy attack you instead of your guarded formation.
General Strategy
Plan your strategy before you build your army. This can be very important, for instance if you have found that large formations can work against one enemy it might be a disaster against another that has huge barrage formations.
Another thing to think about is the speed of your units, if you have an army that is mostly very fast and is going to charge into assault immediately you may not want some slow units that get left behind.
Think through how you will use each formation before you add it to your army list, if you can't think of how it will work with the rest of your formations it may be a good idea to get a diferant one.
Another thing to consider when building an Ork army is the fact that they get a +2 to initiative when taking double or engage actions. So if you are building a shooty army that mainly goes for sustained fire you may end up failing a fair amount of action tests.
