Ally Template: Ork Green Tide

CSM, Necrons, Imperial Guard & Tau can all take Orks as Allies of Convenience and with Fearless not being a liability for hordes in close combat now, Orks aren't a bad choice as your Ally at all. In this post we're going to look at the 'Green Tide' for Ork allies where those large Boyz units are going to come to play. This is a great option for shooting armies and with three of the strongest shooting armies in the game available as Allies (Necrons, IG & Tau), this should be a good plug-in to protect those shooting elements with more aggressive units.

Big Mek w/KFF

30x Boyz w/Nob, PKlaw, Bosspole
30x Boyz w/Nob, PKlaw, Bosspole

3x Kannonz w/6x extra crew, 3x ammo runts

Totals: 612 points

A very cheap 612 points which brings a lot of bodies. The main point of this list is to bring those bodies (most of them scoring) and plop them in midfield - there's very little subtlety about it. This helps the shooting and more combat vulnerable units of the parent army to continue what they do best - shoot from far away and avoid combat. By being large and decent in combat, the Orks force the opponent to deal with them or suffer the consquences all the while being pummelled by actually good shooting rather than the

Now the Boyz are written down as Boyz because both Shoota & Slugga are the exact same in terms of points but I prefer the Shootas as they make a better deterrent in midfield. Orks do not have to blindly run forward and smack people around and having 60 odd shots, even at BS2, while sitting on an objective puts the opponent in a mini lose-lose situation. Sluggaz don't have this option but if you have solid scoring backing up the Boyz, pushing them forward might be a better idea and thus the extra attack in combat can be very useful. Remember, vehicles will now very reliably drop to mass S4 attacks assuming they are rear AV10. The PKlaw can take care of anything else.

The Big Mek makes getting cover for these very large squads easier - always very useful, particularly given the reduction in the cover mechanic as a general rule of thumb. The Orks are more vulnerable to being shot off the table but at least they'll have a save each time and even with a 5+, the opponent has to inflict ~46 wounds - not an easy feat. Adding a PKlaw to the Mek makes him a scarier opponent in combat as well so isn't a bad option to consider.

The Kannons are cheap firepower and quite durable with the extra wounds bought. The firepower isn't fantastic but it's cheap and in any mission where Heavy Support can score, well they're scoring so that's a nice bonus.

Options: You really want to keep the Mek + Boyz here, otherwise you're looking at really changing up what this Ally Plug-in does (which is fine but not what this template is for). There's very little which can be of use in the Heavy Support slot other than a Battlewagon and only if you bring along some Nobz to get a second Battlewagon (who with four Hull Points and being cheap, aren't too bad). Otherwise your main options to look at are Fast Attack & Elites.

With Scout being nerfed and only having one Fast Attack option available, about the only good thing here is the Dakkajet but even then, it's not great and there are better Flyers for half the armies which take Orks (Necrons & Imperial Guard) and rumor has flyers coming for Tau & Chaos soon, too. Elites also have very few choices here that are viable as one-offs. Nobz/MANz, as mentioned, can help bring a second Battlewagon but what do they themselves do? They can help out midfield but unlike Boyz, aren't cheap and plentiful and thus generally need the Battlewagon to be useful. Burnaz & Tankbustas are likewise more expensive than Boyz and generally need something to help push them up the field though Burnaz can be an excellent "assault me if you dare" choice. Shame they are still just as weak to shooting as every other Ork. This really leaves Lootas who can act as a semi-cheap firepower unit where the duality for such is taken up by the rest of the army they are allied into. Not necessary by any means but something to think about.

Conclusion

Orks are much improved in 6th overall and this transfer over to their ability to Ally to other armies. By bringing in units which are more capable of operating in midfield and in combat, you're getting the best of the Ork world with the best of the parent army which is generally going to be oriented around shooting. This can be useful for options with stronger Troops (Necrons, Chaos) or weaker Troops (Imperial Guard, Tau) as the Orks can play differently depending upon what's backing them up in the Troops department (i.e. can the Orks run across the field and trap the enemy in their Deployment Zone and have sturdy Troops move behind them to claim midfield objectives or do they need to pressure the opponent into pushing them off the midfield objectives, etc.).

If you've got a fast, zippy army which doesn't really have a midfield core then Orks probably aren't going to be a great asset as they get minimal support from behind. However, none of the armies they can be AoC to can do such a list without spamming flyers (Necrons) so such a plug-in is generally going to be a good idea if you're looking for such a force.