*Mock Battle Report further down.*
Simply put, I'm not entirely certain how you're supposed to beat Boyz en masse. With very much the effectiveness of Assault Marines, but costing only a fraction of the price, their vulnerabilities are largely covered by easy to enact special circumstances, and they can present much more of a challenge than you'd expect.
115 - Big Mek, Kustom Force Field, Power Klaw, 'Eavy Armor
85 - Warboss, Power Klaw
220 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw, Bosspole
220 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw, Bosspole
215 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw
215 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw
215 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw
215 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw
Boyz mobs are deadly because of a curious combination of excellent durability for cost and peculiar special rule manipulation. For the record, I have run 180+ model armies on a 6'x4' table, and they work quite well when you've the entirety of a 6' edge to deploy on, even with terrain covering 30% of it (not so well when you're running corner to corner).
The core of the army relies on a principle similar to the Necron Rez Orb style of "living wall" advance. Big Mek force fields give 5+ cover saves to any units within 6". Errata clarifies this to mean any unit with at least a single model within 6" of the Big Mek.
Deploy the mobs in three ranks each one to two models deep (varying based on terrain) with two side by side, each stretching outwards from center to their respective edges. The first rank has your Bosspoll squads, as they'll be taking the most immediate fire. The second rank has your independent characters - one in each squad - with the Big Mek very near the center (well within 6" of each squad). The third rank is comprised of squads that will maintain the majority of their fighting power, and push into the heart of the enemy. All models (save those wrapping around terrain) should be within 7" of your front lines. If the Big Mek or Warboss's squads come under serious fire, they can fall back to their third squads respectively during movement (switching from one rank to another).
Your Warboss is along for a Waaaagh! in Round 2 or 3 (Fast enemy assault armies like Blood Angels might land elements close enough to assault in the bottom of Round 1. Shooty enemies will probably stay near starting zones or fall back to delay hand to hand), depending on which round you can reach the enemy front en masse. Alternatively, you can replace him for cost with a Warphead, giving you a 1/3 chance of a Waaaagh! in any round (to include the first) if you're willing to risk a reroll, with a possibility of a nice auto-hitting Str 10 melta attack amongst other goodies (getting Line of Sight is a simple matter of leaving gaps in the first and second row just big enough for a Warphead to see a target).
Embedded Nobs are your method for dealing with vehicles. Charging, a Nob gets 4 Str 9 powerfist attacks against armour on the charging round. In a single round, this is often not enough to kill armour that's moved or walkers, but it will almost certainly cause lesser effects that will make things easier on subsequent rounds, or allow you to walk past and ignore the vehicles. Remember, against vehicles without weapon skills you have to charge every round to attack them. Embedded Nobs also give you a method of dealing with nasty special characters (ala Mephiston), and large mob sizes leave you fearless until over half the models are dead.
You'd think that with this many models jammed together it would be Template Heaven for kills, but, given the 5+ cover save, that's surprisingly not the case. Say you fire a Battle Cannon that hits 10 Orks? 1/6 odds of rolling 1s leaves 8.33 wounds, and the 5+ cover reduces this to 5.6 wounds total - quite manageable for a direct hit given 6 point wounds, and many large templates will deviate to hit fewer, even given such large mobz. Flamers, as someone noted, are an exception to this, but unless an enemy knows what's coming and specifically tailors his army to countering it, odds of enough flamers to effect the outcome are shockingly small.
Imperial Guard massed lasgun fire won't save Guardsmen. Bolter fire (to include massed Heavy Bolters) won't save Marines. Pulse Rifles won't even begin to save Tau (or Kroot), and Gauss weapons won't save Necrons. Tyranids are completely out to lunch. Feel free to run simple shooting comparisons yourself - say two rounds of normal fire and one round of rapid fire before assault to be generous, with the Orks running instead of shooting back.
Assault armies usually won't kill more than a quarter of the Orks before melee begins, shooty armies usually won't kill more than half, and once in combat, Boyz drag their betters down pound for pound like pirahna eating a lion. This includes assault squads you'd think would do better, like marine assault squads, Death Company, Terminators, Monstrous Creatures, at least one of the C'tan, and yes, Mephiston, but certainly includes weaker squads like Hormagaunts and Kroot as well. Eldrad Ulthran, even assuming only 6 normal Boyz could attack him at a time, would get spanked like a weak kitten.
Perhaps funniest of all, practically every squad is a scoring unit.
Perhaps I'm missing something, but I've run preliminary numbers on a significant number of largely disfavorable scenarios, and it's surprising how well Orks come out. Absent a 100% flame tailored army (or maybe even with it), can anyone think of a good way to deal with this? If you know it's coming, perhaps you can run a tank army and simply outrange them the whole game (eldar falcons with 24" moves to break through lines that get too close), but what normal army's going to be prepared for this?
Boyz vs. Blood Angels Mock Battle Report
To be taken with a grain of salt, as odds and tactics can vary wildly (as I'll freely admit, though we'll surely see a few idiots point out the obvious anyway). Because there is truth behind numbers, however, a sample of how effective Boyz can be is more telling than your typical dismissive (numbertarded) blatherskeit or singular, often exceptional experiences.
I made a few assumptions regarding tactics and layout, and surely forget a few rules in the process of running the mock report (which relies on individual averages - the odds of actually seeing a battle run just like this are pretty far out, but deviation can occur either way). Quite a few assumptions favor the Blood Angels, though (especially to include no objectives to fight over). Primarily, I'm running this just to show how effective Boyz can be - not mass Ork mobs. This isn't a "lookit how cheap Gretchin are!" thread, nor is it a "I can't run numbers, so I'll make some claims I can't back up with averages, experience (how many people run or fight all Boyz armies?), or even an intelligent guess based on the slightest effort towards either!" thread. A simple numbers comparison will show you how well Boyz stand up to lasguns, bolters, pie plates, or an autonomous anarchist commune deriving its power from a mandate from the masses, so I won't draw things out unless you really, really need me to.
Please do tell me if you think I'm softballing the Blood Angels force.
250 - Mephiston
200 - 5 Sanguinary Guard
180 - Furiosa, frag cannon, Drop Pod w. Deathwind Launcher
180 - Furiosa, frag cannon, Drop Pod w. Deathwind Launcher
380 - 7 Death Company, Land Raider Redeemer
180 - Death Company Dreadnought, Drop Pod w. Deathwind Launcher
130 - 5 man Devastator Squad w. Rocket Launchers
115 - Big Mek, Kustom Force Field, Power Klaw, 'Eavy Armor
85 - Warboss, Power Klaw
220 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw, Bosspole
220 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw, Bosspole
215 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw
215 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw
215 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw
215 - 30 Ork Boyz (sluggas and CCWs), 1 Nob upgrade, Power Klaw
Turn 1, Round 1
Blood Angels get the first round.
Mephiston moves 11", hides in cover.
Sanguinary Guard moves 11", hides in cover.
Two Furiosas land on opposite flanks.
Frag Cannons each hit 14 Orks total. 10 dead Orks each.
Deathwind Launchers each hit 8 Orks. 4 dead Orks each.
Land Raider moves forward 6". Twin-linked assault cannons hit Orks. 2 dead Orks.
Devastator Squad fires blast templates. Each shot hits 3 (factoring in misses) Orks. 4 dead Orks.
Total Ork casualties: 34. Distributed: 13 dead from each front squad. 3 dead from each second squad. 1 dead from each 3rd squad.
Turn 1, Round 2
Ork first and second squads on each flank advance, running, pushing in towards center, gaining 8" towards center, 6" towards flanks. Ork third squads on each flank push towards Dreads for assault.
Ork third squads assault. 13 Boyz from each reach the Dreadnaughts - Nobs make it within 2". 4 Boyz from each flank Dreads to hit rear.
Dreads strike first. 3 attacks each. 1.67 dead Orks from each squad. Nobs attack. 4 attacks each. Each score .66 penetrating hits - .22 odds of dead Dread each. 4 Boyz on each attack rear armour. 4 attacks each. 1.33 glancing hits on each.
Squads pull in.
Total Ork casualties: 3.3 (37.3). Blood Angel Casualties: 1.33 penetrating hits, 2.66 glancing hits.
Turn 2, Round 1
Death Company Dreadnought delayed.
Mephiston moves forward 3", fires plasma pistol. .46 dead Orks.
Sanguinary Guard moves forward 3", fires Boltguns. 2.22 dead Orks.
Deathwind Launchers each hit 3 Orks. 1.33 dead Orks each.
Land Raider moves forward 6". Twin-linked assault cannons hit Orks. 2 dead Orks.
Devastator Squad fires blast templates. Each shot hits 3 (factoring in misses) Orks. 4 dead Orks.
Death Company assaults from Land Raider.
Mephiston and Sanguinary Guard assault.
Mephiston strikes first. 6 attacks. 4.44 dead Orks. Sanguinary Guard strikes second. 3.75 dead Orks. Nob attacks. 1.25 dead Sanguinary Guard.
Death Company strikes first. 10.37 dead Orks. Nob attacks. 1.25 dead Death Company.
Both Ork squads break. (1 Nob, 2 Boyz, 1 Nob 1 Boyz). Left to run off table edge. Blood Angels consolidate back.
Dreads strike first. 3 attacks each. 1.67 dead Orks from each squad. Nobs attack. 3 attacks each. Each score .25 penetrating hits. .08 odds of dead Dread each.
Total Ork Casualties: 37.2 (74.5). Blood Angel Casualties: 1, .5 (1.83) penetrating hits, 0 (2.66) glancing hits.
Turn 2, Round 2
Ork second squads move forward and inward. Waaagh! Run, assault. Warboss and Big Mek join squad not fighting Mephiston for assault on Death Company.
17 Orks each squad reach melee to include Nobz (from middle) and ICs (from center).
Mephiston strikes first. 5 attacks. 3.7 dead Orks. Sanguinary Guard strikes simultaneously. 2 dead Orks. Nob strikes simultaneously. 1.67 dead Sanguinary Guard. 10 Orks strike. 40 attacks. 1.67 dead Sanguinary Guard. Orks are Fearless. 4.75 dead Orks.
Warboss strikes first. 5 attacks. 2.08 dead Death Company. Death Company strikes simultaneously. 3.33 dead Orks. Big Mek strikes simultaneously. 4 attacks. 1.67 dead Death Company. Nob strikes simultaneously. 4 attacks. 1.67 dead Death Company. 11 Boyz strike. 44 attacks. Last Death Company dies.
Warboss squad spreads out for consolidation.
Dreads strike first. 3 attacks each. 1.67 dead Orks from each squad. Nobs attack. 3 attacks each. Each score .25 penetrating hits. .08 odds of dead Dread each.
Total Ork Casualties: 15.4 (89.9). Blood Angel Casualties: 10 (11), .5 (2.33) penetrating hits, 0 (2.66) glancing hits.
Turn 3, Round 1
Death Company Dreadnought lands near Warboss squad. Fires Storm Bolter and Meltagun. .81 dead Orks.
Deathwind Launcher hits 8 Orks. 3.55 dead Orks.
Devastator Squad fires blast templates. Each shot hits 2 (factoring in misses) Orks. 2.67 dead Orks.
Land Raider Tank Shocks Warboss squad, stopping in middle. Flames both sides. 6 Orks on each side hit. 10 dead Orks.
Orks take leadership test (Warboss). Pass.
Mephiston strikes first. 5 attacks. 3.7 dead Orks. Sanguinary Guard strikes. 2 attacks. .5 dead Orks. Nob strikes. 2 attacks. Sanguinary Guard dead. 16 Boyz strike. 48 attacks. .67 wounds to Mephiston.
Dreads strike first. 3 attacks each. 1.67 dead Orks from each squad. Nobs attack. 3 attacks each. Each score .25 penetrating hits. .08 odds of dead Dread each.
Total Ork Casualties: 24.6 (114.5). Blood Angel Casualties: 1 (12), .5 (2.83) penetrating hits, 0 (2.66) glancing hits.
Turn 3, Round 2
Warboss squad moves into rough coherency, charges Land Raider.
Warboss strikes. 5 attacks. 1.25 penetrating hits. .42 odds of dead Land Raider. Big Mek strikes. 4 attacks. .66 penetrating hits. .22 (.64) odds of dead Land Raider. Nob strikes. 4 attacks. .66 penetrating hits. .22 (.86) odds of dead Land Raider. Dead Land Raider. 50/50 odds of explosion killing 1.8 Orks.
Mephiston strikes first. 5 attacks. 3.7 dead Orks. Nob strikes. 3 attacks. 1.25 (1.92) wounds. 8 Boyz strike. 24 attacks. .33 (2.25) wounds. Ork pass leadership.
Dreads strike first. 3 attacks each. 1.67 dead Orks from each squad. Nobs attack. 3 attacks each. Each score .25 penetrating hits. .08 odds of dead Dread each. 1 Dreadnought dies. Orks consolidate towards center.
Total Ork Casualties: 7.9 (122.4). Blood Angel Casualties: 0 (12), 1 Land Raider Redeemer, 1 Furiosa Dreadnought.
Turn 4, Round 1
Death Company Dreadnought approaches Warlord Squad. Fires Storm Bolter and Meltagun. .81 dead Orks.
Deathwind Launchers hit 5 Orks. 2.4 dead Orks.
Devastator Squad fires blast templates. Each shot hits 2.5 (factoring in misses). 3.33 dead Orks.
Warboss squad (Now Warboss, Big Mek and lone Nob) take Leadership test. Pass.
Death Company Dreadnought charges Warboss squad.
Death Company Dreadnought strikes. Assigns all hits to Warboss. 5 attacks. Warboss dies. (Not assigning hits, or splitting them, leave strong odds of Warboss surviving. If hits not assigned, Big Mek and Nob would die, Warboss would survive to attack rear armour. Warboss alone would cause more penetrating hits, and be less vulnerable to Devastators). Big Mek and Nob strike rear armour. 2 penetrating hits. Death Company Dreadnought destroyed. Big Mek and Nob split up, consolidate behind Land Raider wreckage.
Mephiston strikes first. 5 attacks. 3.7 dead Orks. Nob strikes. 3 attacks. 1.25 (3.5) wounds. 4 Boyz strike. 12 attacks. .16 (3.66) wounds. Orks fail leadership. Retreat.
Dreadnought strikes. 3 attacks. 1.67 dead Orks. Nob attacks. 3 attacks. .25 (.62)penetrating hits. .08 odds of dead Dread.
Total Ork Casualties: 16.9 (139.3), 1 Warboss. Blood Angel Casualties: 0 (12), .25 (.62) penetrating hits, 1 dead Death Company Dreadnought.
Turn 4, Round 2
Ork squad that killed Furiosa moves towards Mephiston. Shoots 20 shoota shots. .19 (3.85) wounds. Assaults Mephiston.
Big Mek and Nob move around to assault Drop Pod on far side from Devastator squad. Assault.
Mephiston strikes first. 5 attacks. 3.7 dead Orks. Nob strikes. 3 attacks. 1.25 (5.10) wounds. Mephiston dies. Squad sweeping advances towards cover/Big Mek and spreads out.
Big Mek and Nob strike. 8 attacks. 4 penetrating hits. Drop pod destroyed. .67 odds of blowing up d6 inches causing .22 wounds.
Dreadnought strikes. 3 attacks. 1.67 dead Orks. Nob attacks. 3 attacks. .25 (.87) penetrating hits. .08 odds of dead Dread.
Total Ork Casualties: 5.5 (144.8). Blood Angel Casualties: 0 (12), 1 dead Mephiston, .25 (.87) penetrating hits, 1 dead Drop Pod.
Turn 5, Round 1
Deathwind Launcher hits 3 Orks. 1.33 dead Orks.
Devastator Squad fires blast templates. Each shot hits 2.5 (factoring in misses). 3.33 dead Orks.
Dreadnought strikes. 3 attacks. 1.67 dead Orks. Nob attacks. 3 attacks. .25 (1.12) penetrating hits. .08 odds of dead Dread.
Total Ork Casualties: 6.3 (151.1). Blood Angel Casualties: 0 (12), .25 (1.12) penetrating hits.
Turn 5, Round 2
Ork Big Mek switches to larger surviving squad. Moves and runs towards Devastator squad.
Lone Nob works his way towards lone Drop Pod, staying out of its Line of Sight in terrain.
Dreadnought strikes. 3 attacks. 1.67 dead Orks. Nob attacks. 3 attacks. .25 (1.37) penetrating hits. .08 odds of dead Dread.
Total Ork Casualties: 1.67 (152.8). Total Blood Angel Casualties: 0 (12), .25 (1.37) penetrating hits.
1/3 odds Game Ends. Game continues.
Turn 6, Round 1
Devastator Squad fires blast templates. Each shot hits 2 (factoring in misses). 1.78 dead Orks. Orks pass leadership test.
Dreadnought strikes. 3 attacks. 1.67 dead Orks. Nob attacks. 3 attacks. .25 (1.62) penetrating hits. .08 odds of dead Dread.
Total Ork Casualties: 3.4 (156.2). Total Blood Angel Casualties: 0 (12), .25 (1.62) penetrating hits.
Turn 6, Round 2
Big Mek squad moves towards Devastator squad. Shoots 11 slugga shots. .6 dead Devastators. Assaults.
Nob moves towards Drop Pod, staying out of its Line of Sight in terrain. Runs.
Devastators strike simultaneously. 5 attacks. 1 dead Ork. Big Mek and Nob strike. 8 attacks. 3.3 dead Devastators. 8 Boyz strike. 32 attacks. 2.67 wounds (1.1 dead Devastators). Devastators dead. Big Mek sweeping advances back south towards surviving Dreadnought.
Dreadnought strikes. 3 attacks. 1.67 dead Orks. Nob attacks. 3 attacks. .25 (1.87) penetrating hits.
Total Ork Casualties: 2.67 (159). Total Blood Angel Casualties: 5 (17), .25 (1.87) penetrating hits.
1/2 (67%) odds Game Ends. Game Ends.
Odds are over 62% that the final Furiosa would be dead.
Survivors:
Orks: 3 squads (3 Nobz, 18 Boyz), Big Mek.
Blood Angels: 2 Drop Pods.
1:13,.46,2.22,1.33,4.44,3.75 (break)
2:13,2,4,1.33,10.37 (break)
3:3,3.7,2,4.75,3.7,.5,3.7,3.7 (break)
4:3,3.33,.81,3.55,2.67,10,.9,.81,1.2,3.33, (Nob left)
5:1,1.67,1.67,1.67,1.67,1.67,1.67,1.67,1.67, 1.67,1.67 (12.3 left)
6:1,1.67,1.67,1.67,1.67,1.67,1.2,3.7,1.33,3.33,1.7 8, 1 (8.6 left + Big Mek)
I'm not saying that Boyz will always win like this (though how many other armies can field nothing but massive squads of scoring units and stand a chance at victory?), even though they did perform pretty well against templates (key being max-sized squads to wound soak along with staying in Mek range whenever possible - don't even start rolling for leadership until 2/3rds of the squad's dusted). I am saying that Boyz are pretty badass, and that any game with objectives is going to force a confrontation sooner than any shooty army's going to want one.
My poor, poor Necrons only have Monoliths and Nightbringer's special abilities going for them (although note that these models don't help your Phase Out count any). Anything else they've got will get steamrolled by a green tide of averages. What on earth do Eldar have coming?