Heavy Weapons against the Ork Horde?

[Koremu]

tbh I'm not that sold on Sternguard vs. Ork Hordes. For the same cost you can have 50% more Tactical Marines, and while Sternguard retain a slightly better K per point, 50% more wounds makes the Tacticals much better at surviving against hordes.

 

On another note, Heavy Flamer Land Speeders are your friend.

[minigun762]

tbh I'm not that sold on Sternguard vs. Ork Hordes. For the same cost you can have 50% more Tactical Marines, and while Sternguard retain a slightly better K per point, 50% more wounds makes the Tacticals much better at surviving against hordes.

 

I would agree with that for Orks but I think Sternguard are the better all around choice point for point, so in a tournament setting I'd go for them over more Tacs.

[Koremu]

tbh I'm not that sold on Sternguard vs. Ork Hordes. For the same cost you can have 50% more Tactical Marines, and while Sternguard retain a slightly better K per point, 50% more wounds makes the Tacticals much better at surviving against hordes.

 

I would agree with that for Orks but I think Sternguard are the better all around choice point for point, so in a tournament setting I'd go for them over more Tacs.

Probably true, but tournament play is the bane of any tactical discussion.

[Grey Mage]

Yes, but tournament play is common enough it must be factored into these discussions.

 

In general Sterngaurd are going to be a good choice- the second base attack and superior firepower make them a competitive choice. Their lack of scoring status is a definite, though avoidable, drawback, and as you noted you have to be careful not to make your list topheavy.

[jbarket]

Not to derail my original post, if assuming Sternguard are scoring units, as they are in my list, at what point have you invested too much in them versus tactical marines? They're definitely superior, but in my lists lately I do a lot to minimize my troop choices and go straight for Sternguard.

 

I mean, to pick up at 10 man tactical with a special weapon and a heavy weapon, you end up around 170ish-190ish, while a 10 man Sternguard squad similarly equiped is more like 260ish. By the time I take a full load of 30 Sternguard, the point difference is enough that I could have bought an entire other squad of tactical marines.

 

Right now, I'm running under the assumption that the potential for 2x heavy weapons plus the insane special ammo is always worth it, but at 1850 I've got 40% of my total points loaded into just Sternguard, and that's before heavy weapons or transports.

 

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As far as the Ork issue goes, we'll find out tonight. I decided to take a far riskier list and minimized my Sternguard down to a single squad. Instead, I'm taking the LRC and some other heavy hitters and gambling on the fact that he might not have enough armor penetration at this point level to deal with them, or that the units that are capable of it will be so few that I can orbital bombardment them away.

[Hellios]

Based on the armies I play (not 1,000pts) I guess that when scaled to 1,000pts I would have about 20 "normal" marines on the ground and work around from that. If you are not using scouts then 2 5 man combat squads (taking seperate slots) and 10 Sternguard taken however you want add in about 100pts for youe HQ and that would be half your army... again based on the 1/3rd scoring idea you would want 300pts 10 tacticals and 5 sternguard?

 

Then go with whatever you want :P from anywhere :D

[Ming]

A recent battle at 750 points between generic marines and orks is in a OK video on RippedDragon's and Fritz's Blogs outside of B&C, part of the Fritz 750 Challenge...full disclosure....I'm the guy that lost....

[Ryjak]

@Ming: You may have been better off setting up in a refused flank on your right side, with maybe a combat squad on the far left. This would have given the Whirlwind the cover it needed and concentrated your forces, as well as turning the ork numbers against them. This would also allow you to protect your Assault Squad until they could pre-assault or counter-assault the Ork mobs.

 

Also, go to Home Depot and buy a large sheet of foam for 8 bucks, and a can of primer paint. Use Emer's or rubber cement, a knife you can easily sharpen, and construct a big sectional hill to add to the terrain you had on the board. Topography isn't terrain, and blocks LOS better than anything.

[Warp Angel]

Thunderfire.

 

You're going to average three direct hits out of four shots and scatter will still likely keep you on target. That means that a single 100 point weapon system can inflict at least 3 casualties at any range (and if you place templates against a typical ork formation, you'll get 2-3 per shot) with a S6 AP4 hit, a S5 AP6 hit that ignores cover, and a S4 hit that if it hits (doesn't even have to wound) forces a difficult terrain check. For Stormboyz wanting to use their packs, trucks and battle wagons wanting to move, bikerz or nob bikers, you've got a very good chance of inflicting lasting hurt.

 

Typhoon - 2 krak/frag missile shots and a heavy bolter wreck hordes. You need to stay at a distance, but you've also got the speed to go claim objectives if you can last til the late game.

 

Cheap plasma cannon in your sternguard squad. 2 plasma cannons in each squad wreak havoc.

[Zynk Kaladin]

I'm the guy that lost....

 

(Off topic): So I guess your son isn't getting his inheritance :lol:

 

 

Contributing to the OP, typhoons are effective, cheap, and very nice.

[spartan249]

Typhoons are good against everything but Lootas in the ork army. If you're going to take typhoons, take something that's dedicated to eliminating the lootas first. Once you destroy the lootas, the typhoons can go to town on anything and everything in the ork army.