I have:

34 orcs with shield and hand weapon, deployed in 5x7

25 orcs with additional hand weapons, deployed in 5x5

25 orcs with additional hand weapons, deployed in 5x5 (same as above)


Which unit do you think shoul be big uns?

Maybe I should combine these 2 units of 25 orcs into 1 bigger unit, and make them big uns?

25 is fine aswell, but take whatever size you feel thinks good. My only advice is that by upgrading a unit to Big 'Uns you are making it an offensive unit (you want the S and WS after all) and this, additional hand weapons should be taken in addition to get the most out of the upgrade as possible.

I would combine the units of 25 into a Big 'Un Horde, though 50 might be a bit of overkill in that regard. Then again, their armor save is very poor, so it might not. Try it out and see. :)

My preferred big un unit is 40 with hand weapon and shield. If you're going double choppa, I think savages are much better.
As it is, i'd upgrade the hand weapon shield unit with big un, and 6 more orcs.

I say move the designation around from game to game to keep your opponents off balance. All of the units will benefit from being upgraded.

I'm torn between suggesting the 2 choppa Orcs for maximized effectiveness or one of the shield Orcs.

I will say that as long as 51% of a unit has the equipment that it is suppose to, that it is legit for WYSIWYG. So, don't feel bad for mixing and matching Orcs between units (if your color scheme allows).

It really depends how you want your Big Uns to act on the battlefield, I tend to run the following formations of Orcs and switch up the Big Uns upgrade depending on how I feel on the Day.

Defensive Big Uns - Spear and Shield, same amount of attacks as AHW with the same save as HW&S Big Uns the ONLY drawback is that you want to take the charge, which is fine apart from if you get hit by cavalry, chariots, impact hits ect. I tend to run this mob 30-36 (inc characters BSB & Lvl 4 typically and run the shammie out at the last moment) deployed 6 wide and 5-6 deep to try and keep steadfast. With the Big Un upgrade you're getting 18 S5 attacks in the first round which is a nasty shock to most opponents.

Counter Big Uns - Additional Hand Weapons.
I tend to run this mob smaller and further back then my Spear Boys, they numnber 24 (including Character, usually Warboos for Waaagh!) and aim for the flanks of what is still standing against the spears of my boyz. People tend to think that my Spears are the Big Uns as there are more of them (never really worked out why that should work all the time) and then have to take 17 S5 attacks in the flank plus the Warbosses attacks and the 18 S3 spear attacks from the front (2nd turn) makes a mess of all but the nastiest of enemies.

Obviously that has not really answered the question, the defensive Big uns works well with the HW&S option but you don't get as many attacks but do gain a parry save. Plus the bonus is you can charge with them and not lose attacks.

I like smaller units to act as Hammers/Support units and find that 24-25 (including characters) is the perfect size for this role.

I wouldn't personally combine those two units as I think that 50 is overdoing it slightly, but then again I have never bought into the whole Horde thing so never really go over the 6X6 size

For me its got to be one of the AHW units, although I would bulk them up a but with 5 more orcs from the HW&S unit. By giving a unit the big un upgrade you are really making them a hammer so you want as many attacks as possible. Assuming that your HW&S unit is your main anvil you would also be adding a fair bit of cost to a unit thats primary job is to sit there and survive rather than cause casualties. As has been said before it really depends on your tactics.

I just won a game today against Dwarfs in 3000 points.

I used:

3000 Pts - Orcs & Goblins Roster

Warboss (52#, 852 pts)
1 Orc Warboss, 205 pts (Choppas; General; Size Matters - Orcs; Waaagh!; Hand Weapon; Light Armour)
1 Basha's Axe of Stunty Smashin'
1 Enchanted Shield
1 Crown of Command
1 Orc Big Boss (Battle Standard Bearer), 132 pts (Choppas; Size Matters - Orcs; Hand Weapon; Shield; Battle Standard Bearer)
1 Armour of Destiny
50 Orc Big'Uns, 515 pts (Choppas; Size Matters - Orcs; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Light Armour; Extra Attack)
1 Razor Standard

I should have thrown in a champion to protect the challenge from a Dwarf Lord with ASF and Rune of Might (Double STR against T5). This time I threw the BSB against him and needlessly to say, he got slaughtered (the armor of destiny didn't keep him alive).

But, this unit managed to plow through a unit of hammerers with the Dwarf Lord, RuneLord, and BSB in it.

This unit took so many hits from warmachines (he had an organ gun, 5 bolt throwers), but it continued to stay huge and healthy. I think next time, I will equip one of the character with the Ironcurse Icon (it's basically free, only 5 points).

But the main reason I won the game is that my Night Goblin Shaman did irresistible force on Curse of the Bad Moon, and it took out his 3 horde units of Dwarfs warriors with GWs.

Having a flurry of S5 plus Armor Piercing, a total of -3 Armor Save (that's the same as Fanatics) works pretty well. The extra -1 Armor Save is from the Razor Banner.

I'm gonna try something the next couple of games. 20 regular Big'uns. Plus one movement or reroll LD banner. They are gonna be joined by a bigboss with crown of command, and dual choppas. This unit can take the tower, in those scenarios, should you get it from the start. The also offer the potential to cheat people into charging you flank, and then stay stubborn, creating favorable positions for your main blogs.

Maybe itøs not wort making them Big 'uns, but it works rather nice with my fluff ;)

I'm sure a boar boy unit would probably do this better, but I don't have those models yet.