# Orc Boar Boyz



## All_Is_Dust (Aug 21, 2011)

Just started my first WH fantasy army.


I'm not as familiar with the rules of fantasy and was wondering if anyone could give me a little advice on how to set up my Boar Boyz.

How big of a unit should I bring? What roles do they fill in the game and how do the different weapon options effect them? I appreciate and help


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## Blackhiker (Dec 28, 2007)

In general cav is good for supporting flank charges. Because of the steadfast rule cav will almost never win a combat without help. 

As for the best setup I find at least 10 or fifteen are needed, so that once they reach combat they will still have enough numbers to be useful. For a durable unit I would suggest normal boys with shields. This will give 3+ armor saves while still leaving moderate damage output.

For maximum damage output I would suggest savage boar boyz big uns, with extra hand weapons and a razor banner. This is what I really suggest since on the charge it will give a total of 4 S5 per model in the front rank for the first turn of combat with -3 to armor saves. Which against standard infantry will give you roughly 10 wounds to your opponent the turn that you charge.

Well those are my 2 cents.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

I wouldn't run fewer than 10. 15 is a good number, but it has a big footprint on the table so it can be difficult to maneuver. If you have Orc Boar Boyz (as opposed to Savage Orc Boar Boyz), I'd give them spears and full command, and use them as a linebreaker unit. You can then use a couple units of 10 Goblin Wolf Riders and/or Orc chariots as flankers and use your faster units to surround enemy units and smash through. 

If you've got Savage Orc Boar Boyz, I'd give them the razor banner and extra hand weapons, as Blackhiker suggested. I think your one upgrade to Big 'Unz is better used on an infantry unit that's going to form the anchor of your battle line, but that's just me. A unit of 40 Savage Orc Big 'Unz, for example, is a SERIOUS problem for your opponent. They can't really shoot that problem away easily... but they can turn artillery and ranged units on a unit of 10 Boar Boyz of any persuasion and take a big chunk out of it.


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## Ratvan (Jun 20, 2011)

Yay I get to plug my own article

http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=105709


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## olderplayer (Dec 11, 2009)

I only run Boar Boyz as a command unit for the speed and flexibility to get around the board and the ability to give a better armour save to my warlord and BSB boss and a look out sir. I then try to run the unit as a flanking unit and/or to keep up with a unit of trolls and some of the other fast units (wolf chariots, wolf riders, snotling pump wagons) so that they don't panic and run away when one unit gets shot up enough to die or lose enough (like losing one of two wolf chariots or 2 of 6 wolf riders) to have to test for panic. The low LD of O&G units makes then vulnerable to cascading panic tests as units die or suffer wounds, trigger panic checks, fail them, and then flee triggering additional panic checks. 

The biggest problem is that the toughness 4 and armour save is just not quite enough to avoid the unit getting ultimately shot by magic or shooting up unless it is screened by trolls or chariots. Thus, you really need something like ten models with two characters to make it work and that is a lot of points to invest in that unit.


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## All_Is_Dust (Aug 21, 2011)

Thanks guys! I recently purchased the book and admittedly haven't completely read all the rules yet so all the info has been super helpful. After looking at the models and thinking over how I want to play my army I was thinking of using the boar boyz to support Gorbad in large scale games down the road. For now Im going to try and make a shooty army and then expand from there. So the next unit on my list will be a great Orc Shaman and a unit of Arrer Boyz


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

If you want to go the shooty route with O&G, I'd highly recommend picking up (or otherwise assembling-- I mean, we are talking about Orcs, after all!) some spear chukkas and rok lobbas. Goblin war machines are extremely cheap, and have special allowances in the book that let you bring them in enough volume to be a very serious threat. 

Another surprisingly effective shooting unit is a block of Night Goblins with short bows. Whether you give the unit Fanatics or not, your opponent will be a little cautious approaching them since they'll ASSUME you brought fanatics-- which can actually work in your favor. A unit of say 60 Night Goblins with short bows isn't that expensive in the grand scheme of things, and short of like... I don't know, a big unit of Chaos Knights or monstrous infantry (who can soak the wounds)... a Stand and Shoot reaction does surprising things to even elite armored infantry units. Case and point, a unit of 60 Night Goblins (arranged as a horde) shoots 45 times...and even though you're looking for 5+ to hit in that scenario, 45 shots will get stuff done. 

Keep in mind that shooting is a support element in Fantasy. O&G can bring a very effective shooting phase to bear, but you have to have the close combat troops to seal the deal. A big unit of Big 'Unz (possibly of the Savage Orc variety), Boar Boyz, or Black Orcs can hang back and wait for the opposing army to close, and then charge into a flank or an overrun opponent out of position once they've gotten stuck in with your Goblins. 

Arrer Boyz are sort of an odd unit, I think. They're better fighters than your average archers in the game by virtue of being Orc Boyz with Choppas. However, they're almost twice as much as a goblin with a shortbow per model. The only time I can really see that being worthwhile is against chaff units that have A1 and are S3, so the volume of attacks doesn't overwhelm you and the T4 of the Orcs makes it so you can set up an effective counter-charge. But that being said, you don't run into a lot of units that you're that worried about that are only throwing one attack per model at S3-- hordes of skeletons come to mind, but that's really about it off the top of my head. I also wouldn't worry about the difference in range between a bow and a short bow-- it amounts to one movement phase for the slowest units in the game to close that gap, and if the target is better than M4, the range difference will never matter anyway.

I wouldn't discourage you from trying out Arrer Boyz-- you might find them more effective-- I've found there are no bad units in Fantasy like there are in 40k, but some really are much more situational than others. And in my experience, Arrer Boyz are one of those units. You might find a really cool trick with them though-- a lot of Fantasy comes down to personal preference, I've found. So they're definitely still worth checking out, even if you end up switching them out for Goblin archers later.


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## olderplayer (Dec 11, 2009)

Doom Divers are by far the best shooting unit. The ability to redirect the scatter and the AP hits make them excellent against high value targets. Spear chukkas are cheap but not very effective. Rock lobbas are worth considering but most competitive O&G armies play only doom divers as war machines.


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## All_Is_Dust (Aug 21, 2011)

Awesome, I love those models so it will be an easy purchasing decision.

So next models I purchase will be Night Goblin Archers and Doom Divers. I got a bunch of el cheapo Orc Arrer Boyz so I will give them a shot. 
You think 30 Orc Arrer Boyz is enough or would I need to make that unit bigger? 
I'll definitely make my Night Goblin block of 60, Im already excited about this lol.
How many Doom Divers would be balanced?

You know, I'm going to take some photos and start a WIP thread this week as I buy and paint these units.

You guys have been a great help thanks again


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## Blackhiker (Dec 28, 2007)

30 arrer boyz are okay, I would personally suggest another 20 in order to put them in horde formation, so that their bows will actually have a decent chance to hurt something. It will also allow you to have a unit of 25 on either flank for other games.

As for doom divers having at least 2 would be a good idea a third might end up being a bit excessive.


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