7x40 Is a mass O'horde

[stashman]

Or is it just bad??? I Will be trying out this, what I think is an awesome list. Give me some inputs and tell me if you have used this "kind" of list (more than 5 units of 40 models) or know some one that did. Here is my 3000 pts list.

Give me GOs and NOs


Characters

Black Orc Warboss, 263 pts
General; Heavy Armour; Shield
Sword of Strife; Dragonhelm; Talisman of Preservation; Ironcurse Icon

Savage Orc Great Shaman, 290 pts
Level 4 Upgrade; Hand Weapon
Fencer's Blades; Lucky Shrunken Head

Orc Big Boss, 132 pts
Battle Standard Bearer; Hand Weapon; Shield
Armour of Destiny

Night Goblin Shaman, 110 pts
Level 2 Upgrade; Hand Weapon
Dispel Scroll



Hammer Units (10 wide)

40 Black Orcs, 510 pts
Musician; Standard Bearer; Armed to da Teef; Heavy Armour
Banner of Eternal Flame

40 Savage Orc Big'Uns, 460 pts
Musician; Standard Bearer; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Warpaint

40 Squig Herd, 270 pts
(30 Squigs; 10 Herders)



Anvil Units (5 wide)

40 Orc Boyz, 300 pts
Musician; Standard Bearer; Hand Weapon; Shield; Light Armour

40 Night Goblins, 185 pts
Musician; Standard Bearer; Nets; Shield



”Flank” and Range Units (7 or 10 wide)

40 Orc Arrer Boyz, 300 pts
Musician; Standard Bearer; Hand Weapon; Bow; Light Armour

40 Goblins, 180 pts
Musician; Standard Bearer; Hand Weapon; Short Bow; Light Armour; Shield


Thinking these two formations (unless scenario makes randomize)

Goblins - Savage Orcs - Orcs - Black Orcs - Night Goblins - Squig Herd - Arrer Boyz

Savage Orcs - Arrer Boyz - Night Goblins - Black Orcs - Orcs - Goblins - Squig Herd

[Malorian]

40 arrer boyz is a big much. They just need 30. Move them to the board orcs and horde them.

[metalloveman]

you have got a ton of really solid infantry blocks and a good selection of magic(though I prefer goblin magic to Orcish), what I think your list needs is some support units. a rock lobba, 2x5 fast cav, or maybe some lone trolls to gaurd your flanks. get the points by shaving off 10 or the archer boys and some of the sheild boys.

[russellmoo]

I don't think 40 goblins/night goblins is big enough-

I would lose the goblins, increase the number of night goblins, and throw in some wolf riders, and single troll re-directors

[bluemage]

I think the real problem is you can't keep all of those blocks within 12" of the general and bsb and still be using them effectively. The benefit of taking a couple of chariots over another horde is that the foot print is so much smaller. And steadfast on orc of goblin basic leadership without a reroll can't really be depended on to hold.

[bad dice]

Also look at the massive point differens between you anvil units
Considering that normal orc boys realy aren't all that much better anvils then NG whit nets
This seems a big waste

[Malorian]

I think the real problem is you can't keep all of those blocks within 12" of the general and bsb and still be using them effectively. The benefit of taking a couple of chariots over another horde is that the foot print is so much smaller. And steadfast on orc of goblin basic leadership without a reroll can't really be depended on to hold.

Well most of it doesn't need to be within range of the general, really it's just the goblins. If the warboss is put in with the horde of shield orcs for a center with goblins on either side and then the rest on the flanks he'll be just fine.

[Jal]

This might be fun to play, but don't expect to win against anyone that knows what they're doing.

Would be awesome to see on the table though!

[AM1640]

Hi, I am amazed malorian didn't just say been there done that. Seriously, go look at the battle reports on the Orc Tactical Team Podcast. Malorian uses hordes of Blorks, Sorks, and squigs. It is a win big or lose big style of army. Some times you will have good luck, go up against the right enemy units, get the right spells off, not get destroyed by magic and eat enemy units in combat. Other times you won't. If you are okay with that than go for the big blocks of infantry with no support units.
I agree with the other posters that you should consider including some chariots to augment the infantry charge, some fast cav to go war machine hunting, a single troll for re-directing, some artillery ( though not alot it is just for flavour and possibly monster hunting). By having more variety in the army you can respond to different situations. The characters look solid. The orc arrer boyz won't kill much and the goblins with short bows will never kill anything. The range is so short that by the time you can use them you are in charge range. I would increase the number of night goblins and include a fanatic or 2. If you had a tool box full of sledgehammers how would you get any plumbing work done?

[Malorian]

If you had a tool box full of sledgehammers how would you get any plumbing work done?

Threaten to hit plumber with sledgehammer until he fixes pipes?

[bluemage]

Well most of it doesn't need to be within range of the general, really it's just the goblins. If the warboss is put in with the horde of shield orcs for a center with goblins on either side and then the rest on the flanks he'll be just fine.

But most people don't play on an empty table. If your opponent plays with a refused flank you won't be able to bring all 7 of your hordes to bare at once. Terrain that's impassible prevents you from keeping a solid battle line. So will things like rivers and buildings. And while forests don't mess with you the way they used to, if you end up in a magic mushroom forest away from your leadership, you can expect to fail some stupidity tests. Then there's animosity, your units will squabble, you will be forced to declare unwanted charges and this unreliability will distort your battle line. If your opponent has enough shooting and/or magic to cause panic tests on units out side the general's leadership they may very well fail that and run.

Army lists that just run horde formation units have serious weaknesses and when you run 7 hordes instead of 5 hordes plus chaff you're only exacerbating those weaknesses for no real gain.

As for those saying watch Malorian's battle reports, yes you'll see just how amazing hordes can sometimes be. But if you watch enough of his battle reports you'll also see those games where his unbalanced lists come up against their counters and he loses games.

[thrawn]

you have got a ton of really solid infantry blocks and a good selection of magic(though I prefer goblin magic to Orcish), what I think your list needs is some support units. a rock lobba, 2x5 fast cav, or maybe some lone trolls to gaurd your flanks. get the points by shaving off 10 or the archer boys and some of the sheild boys.

i agree with above so i say . . .

GO!!!

with a couple of small tweeks. lose some orc archers, take some trolls. other than that it's a solid list and it should do well.

[Malorian]

But most people don't play on an empty table. If your opponent plays with a refused flank you won't be able to bring all 7 of your hordes to bare at once. Terrain that's impassible prevents you from keeping a solid battle line. So will things like rivers and buildings. And while forests don't mess with you the way they used to, if you end up in a magic mushroom forest away from your leadership, you can expect to fail some stupidity tests. Then there's animosity, your units will squabble, you will be forced to declare unwanted charges and this unreliability will distort your battle line. If your opponent has enough shooting and/or magic to cause panic tests on units out side the general's leadership they may very well fail that and run.

Army lists that just run horde formation units have serious weaknesses and when you run 7 hordes instead of 5 hordes plus chaff you're only exacerbating those weaknesses for no real gain.

As for those saying watch Malorian's battle reports, yes you'll see just how amazing hordes can sometimes be. But if you watch enough of his battle reports you'll also see those games where his unbalanced lists come up against their counters and he loses games.

Terrain really does very little unless it's a river. Most terrain doesn't effect your movement, and remember that the orc player gets to place half of them (oh look a river on the side board edge).

I find that when my list fails it generally has to do with the fact that they concentrate on my general's unit when I run an aggressive build, or plain bad luck. Sure I get beaten, but the times I say to myself "Man I sure wish I dropped some of my hordes for a ton of chaff." are very few.

Keep in mind that running that many hordes can also allow you to come in as waves. Instead of a bunch of chaff to mess around with and set up charges I can just throw a squig herd horde in your face and go from there