Horde Of Savage Boyz

A Horde of 40 savage orcs with extra choppa or with bows? Whats your choice?

Lets talk (we have probably talked about this before).

Xtra Choppa
50 Attacks


Xtra Choppa
40 Attacks
20 Stand and Shoot
(35 Shoots if you choose to fire the bows)


Is 20 stand and shoot better than 10 cc attacks?

Savage orcs are better with AHW, don't use bows .

I have zero experience with savage bow boyz but in theory small blocks like 10 to 12 SOBs with bows can work pretty well. They can kill most of those cookie cutter stuff that is used to kill those shooting stuff and still deliver some ok shooting.

I would vote for the Extra Hand weapon as opposed to the bow.

I can see how it would be tempting to take the bow for versitility and range, but what it would come down too really is that the bow attacks are only going to be STR 3 and on a stand and shoot at a -1 to hit; as opposed to 10 extra choppa attacks at STR 4 the first round of combat.

Plus, if for some reason the Savage Orcs were to get into a shooting match against a really shooty opponent (i.e. Dark Elves or Dwarfs) I dont see them holding up too well.

And don't forget SO's suffer from frenzy, so I wouldn't expect them to stay still too long.

However, this tactic as opposed to the horde, sounds like it might be worth experimenting with.

Also don't forget that those 10 choppa attacks are going to count for combat res, while the stand and don't. Also, you're often going to want to be marching and charging with your horde, in which case no shots at all. For a unit that wants to be in combat as much as 40 savages do, I can't really see taking bows.

That's it. Don't see the point why giving bows to SOs.

Well, it will look cool so I will go for savage orc arrer boyz

Like 10 or 12 small flankers taking out fast cav both shooty and killy in combat.

And maybe 20 as a medium sized shooty and fighty unit for a Watchtower scenario
(15 shoots, 20 attacks for 180 pts, thats good)

This post has been edited by stashman on May 2 2012, 10:47 PM

You seem pretty keen, so if that's the case, go ahead. It's your army, after all!

I would however say that you'd be better off spending those points on orc arrer boyz instead, if you really want a small unit of archer orcs. The extra attacks and ward saves are kind of cool if that unit ends up in combat, but remember that you will be testing for frenzy every time an enemy unit is within 16" of their front arc, and if you fail you'll have to try to charge them.

You're also paying quite a few points for having savage orcs over standard orcs with bows - I can't remember exact costs, but I think it's at least 2 points per model difference. There's a fanatic you can't take right there for the additional cost of this unit.

If I were to build a pure savage Orc army, which incidently I am in the process of, I would probably find room for one unit of 10-14 savage Orcs armed with bows. I would use these on a flank or some such and go looking for those irritating small blocks of cav or chariots or such like. They can also provide useful support to my bigger units in combat. I wouldn't have a horde of bow armed savages though, that would be a waste.

As said before. You pay extra for a unit which is more awesome in combat than regular boys.

And then you want to pay some more to have to try and keep them out of combat.

This makes no sense.

So if it's bows you want take the normal Orcs as flank protectors.
Thy are better at it anyway, because savages will be baited by something small and cheap which keeps them in combat for a few rounds.
After which your entire flank will be open to anything that feels like wandering round your defenses.

Grtz
-EM-

Unless you are doing fluff stuff, there's no sense to include them with bows. Frenzied unit with bows is not very effective...

I see a role for them in an all savage orc list where you wont be taking normal boyz. I will include one unit of 14 with bows I think.

I have alot of ordinary arrer boyz... need new stuff to my collection

http://z3.invisionfree.com/Orc__Goblin_War...showtopic=30147

stashman I think the problem with you comparison is that you don't consider the huge advantage that AHW has during a combat that lasts more than one round.

I really like the Savage bows though so am hoping that I can attach them to common goblins easily enough.

AHWs are far superior to Bows on Savage Orcs, especially Big 'Uns. The first thing to be considered is Strength - S5 attacks easily trump S3 ones. The second thing that has to be considered is reiability - a unit with AHW who gets into combat will always get use out of them, whereas bows require you to not march (about the worst thing I can think of to do with a fighting Horde - you want to get in there), or to be relegated to be hitting on a terrible value on a Stand & Shoot, and that's assuming you get one. The third is combat resolution - the AHW kills provide it, the bows do not.

All in all, it's a really bad idea, though you seem to be fixed on it. In that case, run them as small units on the side, not as mainline blocks.

This post has been edited by rothgar13 on May 3 2012, 09:59 PM