Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War
The great big book of Orks - Version 1.0
Orks may be simple, but dey don't have to be stooped -Snord
By Lee T. HaXXXor
For www.gamefaqs.com
Contact: hisneigeness[at]hotmail.com for inquireries
WAAAAAAAGH! Welkom to da wondaful woild of Orks: the biggest, meanest,
GREENEST race `uv the `ole 40th milleninium! Now all youz budding
Warbosses come along an' form a soycle: you iz gonna git da know-wots
on smashin' skumgrods from one `uv da craftiest, cleverest an'
BIIIIIIGGEST Warbosses of the Blood Axe tribe: MURDORK STOMPINSMASH!
[/orkspeak off]
Hey all, I've heard many people complain about how orks had it tough:
confusing technology tree, difficulty at busting armor, lackluster
vehicles; the list goes on. I'm here to tell you that it doesn't need
to be this way and that you can positively crush all sort of opponents
with the orks. The following are a series of tips and strategies as
collected by the great ork warboss Murdork Stompinsmash: graciously
offered so as to help you deal with problematic situations. This is not
a FAQ or a guide, it's a "book" made out of many small chapters to help
out the budding ork player with various problem spots. In other words,
it is offered with the understanding that you know the fundamentals
about orks and Dawn of War, but there's still a little help necessary.
You might not agree with all of the information, but I'm sure you'll
find a nugget of wisdom or two that you'll end up appreciating.
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0. Table of contents
0. Table of contents
1. Version history
2. The Ork Rush
a) Orks are bigger than runtier `unz
b) Getting your WAAAAAGH on
c) Plenty of small mobs Vs a few big `unz
d) Oy! How do I make dis fing go boom?
e) Getting da boyz togedda / Hotkeys
f) Wot `appens next boss?
g) Dealin' wif da enemy
3. Orks as an all-infantry army
a) Orks do it usin' Orks
b) Nutters wif rokkits strapped to dere backs: Stormboys
c) Hold on to da pin, throw da ovver part: Tankbustas
d) Dealin' wiff loses
e) Upgradin' your boyz
4. Setbacks and your other troops
a) My boyz got krumped; wot next?
b) Ey! Wut's dat Mek Shop doin' dere?
c) OOooo, big and shiny!
d) Hokay, wot else I got?
5. Everything about the rest
a) Proppa city plannin'!
b) Da rest uv da buggers
c) Did'ja know?
6. Thanks
7. Copyright
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1. Version history
December 3rd, 2004 - Version 1.0 completed: Construction of the version
of the "Great Big Book of Orks" completed and sent to gamefaqs. It is
completely workable by itself, but I'm always open to new suggestions
on how to better use the orks! Check the Thanks page for more details
if you want to help.
December 13th, 2004 - Same version: Gave permission for Bernd
Wolffgramm to use this guide on his website, http://dlh.net
December 19th, 2004 - Same version: Gave permission for Steven Ng to
use this guide on his website, http://www.ign.com
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2. The Ork Rush.
a) Orks are bigger than runtier `unz.
The first advantage that orks have over other races is how they start
out with a fighting unit: the slugga boy. Other races have to contend
with cultists or space marine scouts; units that simply don't hold a
choppa next to the boys. When starting out your game, don't just take
over your resource points; take your opponent's early on! The only way
to play the orks is aggressively!
b) Getting your WAAAAGH on
The first step to winning with the orks is building a Waaagh banner.
Waaagh banners determine how many orks you can bring to the party, and
the number of orks you bring to the party advances your technological
tree! As you start the game, you begin with 5 ork points: enough for
one unit of slugga boys and another gaggle of grots. With your Waaagh
banner completed, you'll have ten more ork points, or enough to make
two more units of slugga boys: that's sixteen boys at your command so
as to take over any resource point on the board! Quite simply: take
everything that isn't built upon on the map!
c) Plenty of small mobs VS a few big `unz
After much evaluation, it has been found that many small units of orks
were more advantageous then a few big units. Typically, many small
units of slugga boys can be turned into quite the shooty army if you
have the Pile o' Gunz present (four orks in a unit, three may take
special weapons). Big units of orks would favor an assault-minded
individual, but such units are easily targeted by the enemy and can be
brought down fairly easy. That's why in nearly all cases, players
depend on small units of orks as they are harder to target; and then
the player accepts the losses and builds brand new units.
d) Oy! How do I make dis fing go boom?
After building your first or second ork tower (to capture resource
points), build a generator, then a pile of gunz. The idea here is that
unlike other races, orks can come up with quick and cheap anti-armor
weaponry to attack enemy settlements. Shooty orks ARE an option because
you start off with plenty of orks and plenty of special weapons. Orks
may be lousy shots, but with enough firepower in their hands, SOMETHING
has to hit! (In Warhammer 40K table top parlance, this would be known
as a Kuntin' Taktik: because everything counts (or kunts) in large
numbers).
e) Gettin' da boyz togedda / Hotkeys
After receiving those four ork units, you'll want to organize them all
into one neat mob. Hold Shift and left click on each of the four units
until your display screen shows all of your orks. Save the results to a
hotkey by holding Ctrl and any key (I usually keep it simple with 1).
Start training yourself with the assault/shoot hotkeys: F1 along with
F6 turns your orks into close combat choppa swinging maniacs. F2 along
with F7 makes your orks stand and shoot. The amount of special weapons
per slugga boy unit makes a stand and fire strategy viable, although I
do suggest to always keep ONE burna amidst the first group of orks in
case of an emergency.
f) Wot `appens next boss?
Orks are remarkably versatile. If you want to go settlement smashing,
you can easily bring nine rokkit launchers to bear and still have a
unit left over to take care of incoming infantry. If something goes
wrong in the plan, you can switch your orks to melee mode and left
click on the recruit button for each ork unit so that you can
perpetually build your ork mobs and win the fight (don't forget to
build extra Waaagh banners). Or better yet, run away and come back with
more boys. Just understand that you DO NOT want to assault enemy
settlements: choppas do very little against buildings, burnas don't cut
up armor as in the table top game and even the mighty Power Klaw is
underpowered! ONLY use rokkits to destroy buildings: anything else is a
waste of time.
g) Dealin' wif da enemy.
In the early game, the most fearsome enemy to the orks is the character
units: whether they are called force commander, farseer or chaos
sorcerer, these guys can knock a whole bunch of orks away with a single
swing! So the first thing you'll want to build would be your own
character: the Big Mek. The Big Mek isn't as good as the rest of the
characters, so you'll want him supported by your rokkit launcher boys:
rokkits knock characters to the ground where your Big Mek can get some
extra hits. The Big Mek is also surprisingly effective against enemy
infantry that would target your boys and makes an effective early anti-
vehicle/anti-building unit. Something else to consider building would
be shoota boys. Just set your destination marker from your boys hut to
the location of the battle and crank up those shoota boys (don't forget
to press F2 and F7): as they walk by, make sure to equip them with two
big shootas and one rokkit. This configuration makes them versatile and
still efficient at killing infantry/lowering enemy moral.
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3. Orks as an all-infantry army
a) Orks do it using Orks!
As you play with the orks, understand that you are playing an INFANTRY
army, with very little room for vehicles. In effect, you'll find that
vehicles often detract from your footslogging force by producing huge
blasts that knocks down everyone indiscriminately. Your goal with the
orks will be to start out with a few versatile units (slugga boys
equipped with various special weapons) and end up with a slew of many
units with dedicated purposes (tankhunters, stormboys, nob squads).
Remember, the number of orks determines how high along the
technological tree you can get, so build a lot of `em!
b) Nutters wif rokkits strapped to dere backs: Stormboys
Once you'll discover Stormboys, you'll have found your primary melee
group. Unlike regular slugga or shoota boys, you can build one large
mob of Stormboys and succeed in close combat because the unit
predisposes itself to large numbers. First of all, it's quite easy to
maneuver the large mob if you have them fly to their destination, you
don't have to worry about special weapons as there are none and the
large number of boys make it a nice stalling tactic for you to re-
maneuver your shootier boys into position.
c) Hold on to da pin, throw da ovver part: Tankbustas
Tankbusta boys always start out as melee troops, but nowhere can you
shoehorn as many rokkits into a unit: 6 rokkits for 8 boys! Although
the unit can be upgraded to have special tankbusta bombs, I sincerely
suggest equipping each of these boys with rokkits and treat them as a
"shooty" unit separate from your core of other "shooty" boys. That's
because no ork is better at busting up armor than the tankbustas, and
although your other orks may be versatile multi-taskers, you want your
tankbustas hotkeyed in the event of an emergency (then bring the rest
of your rokkits to bear). I typically make my tankbusta squads 7 to 8
man strong for safety reasons, as people rightfully recognize the
helmeted orks as "threats".
d) Dealin' wiff loses
With orks, it's important not to panic. You are micromanaging a whole
lot of many different units, and thus you'll simply have to accept that
one or two units must be lost so that the others may live. Also
understand that although orks may seem bred for close combat, there are
plenty of enemies that best the greenskins in that particular field.
The good news is that if your orks are getting pounded, you will have
considerable time to figure out HOW they are being pounded so that you
may run away and think up an appropriate counter strategy. For the
record, my personal counter strategy for whatever ails me is to come
back with more rokkits. Rokkits usually solve most if not all of my
problems. Seriously: when attacked left-click "recruit" and add some
flamers. If any unit starts getting dangerous low on orks, have them
run away and build big shootas or rokkits to turn the unit into a
shooty one with low ork count.
e) Upgradin' your boyz
The Pile o' Gunz is a central structure in the ork hierarchy as it
allows the user to equip his troops with the special weapons that make
or break the ork army. It is also the structure by which you upgrade
your boys's armor, strength of choppa and most everything else for that
matter. Also of importance would be the Boys Hut, which allows you to
upgrade your Big Mek to the fullest of his capabilities. You should
partake in upgrades periodically: your first priority needs to be your
boys, the second being your upgrades. When you've just created your
second tier troops (such as Tankbustas and Stormboys) consider for the
moment if you couldn't invest in a few upgrades: do you NEED to build
up those Stormboys right away? So for the benefit of those who want to
know my rank of upgrades, `Eavy Armor is always first on my list with
Bigger Boom a close second. After those two, you can decide for
yourself. From the Boys Hut, you want to see if you've got a ready mob
of Stormboys first. If so, go with the kustom force field and
tankbuster kit. Otherwise, use the teleporter. The rest of the upgrades
available from the Boys Hut aren't as important.
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4. Setbacks and your other troops
a) My boys got krumped; wot next?
The plan is usually the first casualty of war, but the versatility of
the ork race shines again with plenty of vehicles and units that can
help regain a victory from the brink of defeat. In these chapters, we
discuss the rest of the ork troops and how they work alongside troops
that might've ran away before they got slaughtered. Luckily, as you
lose ork troops, you regain the ork points that were invested in them.
Secondly, you don't lose anything developed by the technology tree if
you lose your boys. Thirdly, this part of the strategy assumes you've
reached the third tier of the ork technological tree and that you have
plenty of resources available for a comeback (you should have a Mek
Shop and upgraded your Settlement to a Fortress). Fourth, we're
assuming your base isn't torched by the enemy yet. No seriously:
defense before offence.
b) Ey! Wut's dat Mek Shop doin' dere?
If you're like me, you've pretty much ignored your Mek Shop while going
on your offensive. No wonder: it costs a lot of points, needs to be
used in conjunction with the Fortress for best results and usually
churns out wartrukks (useless in my opinion) and wartrakks at the early
stage (which takes two levels of upgrades to receive the stikkbomb
chukka, which is a short range explosive which knocks down friend and
foe alike). Now that you have lost most of your boys, maybe wartrakks
with stikkbomb chukkas aren't such a bad idea: they're great at
disrupting enemy fire if you've dedicated yourself to a strictly shooty
army and if they can shoot over your own troops. Possessed space marine
rush? Just bomb those bastards off their feet! Lots of shooty space
marine coming your way? Destroy their careful formation with a few well
placed explosives and let the boys do the rest.
c) OOooo, big and shiny!
Killa Kans, Looted Tanks and Squiggoths form the rest of the vehicles:
the tier three of machines. Now let's start with the tanks: I don't
like them. Much more expensive then wartrakks, they have about the same
artillery for more hit points. They can shoot farther then any other
unit, but you'll need to use gretchins in hiding to get the full effect
of this long range battle cannon. Lots of trouble for a cannon that
misses a lot. As a Blood Axe player, I feel quite betrayed by the unit.
Killa Kans are quite the improvement, serving quite well to spearhead
an offensive effort with deadly melee power that destroys buildings.
Killa Kans only fear one thing: anti-armor fire, so it gives you time
to figure out what unit you absolutely have to destroy. Squiggoths are
another matter entirely. They rule no matter what situation you're in:
build one as fast as you can! If they are accessible than build them,
but beware as it takes a WHOLE lot of time to crank out of the factory.
Squiggoths are the epitome of ork versatility: they can carry troops,
shoot an anti-armor beam from their back and stomp just about anything
at melee range. Use rampage repeatedly for best results!
d) Hokay, wot else I got?
The first things you should rebuild would be stormboys and tankbustas:
one's a great melee mob, the other gives you tons of rokkits. The Nob
Squad is a unit which I don't usually use, but it's quite deadly when
they're properly upgraded: taking down dreadnoughts, loads of possessed
space marines and just about anything else if you've got the power
klaws available. Another unit that should be left maxed out with the
"recruit" button left clicked: just make sure you got the ork points
available. Nobs MUST be used alongside Mad Doks, it is simply the
killer combo of doom. The Warboss works similarly to the Nob Squad in
that it owns all at close quarters: again add a healer unit for max
effectiveness.
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5. Everything about the rest
a) Proppa city plannin'!
I briefly mentioned it, but here's my full build order for orks. You
start off with slugga boys and gretchins: have your boys get a resource
spot while the grots set up a Waaagh banner. DON'T FORGET TO LEFT-CLICK
RECRUIT THE LIL' BUGGERS! Build more orks and grots. The deployment of
the new orks (ork #2) will be first to come out, so have them grab
another resource point. Your first batch of grots should finish
building their Waaagh banner as orks #1 finish setting up their flag:
so have the grots build an ork tower for resource points while the orks
go bugger off towards the next resource point. Grot #2 arrives, so
build a Boys Hut. Build two more units of orks while you're at it and
capture stuff. Grot #1 should be finished with his ork tower, so have
him build a generator. Grot #2 should finish his Boys Hut soon, so
either build another ork tower or a Pile o' gunz. Just make sure to
build a Pile o' Gunz soon. Get a third unit of grots to do it, but do
it please. Then again, you're free to go at it from your own way now.
Right now, depending on the map and what you got, your next priority
should be either making more ork towers, Waaagh banners, a Big Mek or
as a least priority, another generator. Have fun!
b) Da rest uv da buggers
Here is where I talk about the units I haven't talked about yet. For
example, gretchins can be used to infiltrate if you research the
capability. but it's not something I generally use. When I want to blow
something up, I usually just bring my boys towards the outline of
whatever building I want blown up and right-click repeatedly.
Eventually, the boys stop moving and start shooting: no lagtime in
heavy weapons as in space marines keeps me satisfied. The Mad Dok is
something I keep until the midgame: you'll recall I emphasize a shooty
style of play to take over opponents early on. After I build my second
Waaagh banner, I'll maybe make a Mad Dok and hotkey him in the same
position as my Big Mek (understand that I DO NOT attach the two
together as a unit). Since my Big Mek is always ready for battle, I'll
have my Mad Dok along for when the action arrives and attach him to the
first mob unit that sees close combat action (there's always one that
gets picked on by the other guy's melee troops). Initiate the Bad
Medicine immediately. This works quite well with Stormboys too, with
the inconspicuous mad dok waddling into battle after the Stormboys
arrive in battle (remember that you can't fly off if there's a serious
problem). At rest, he helps heal the Big Mek, who has the most hit
points of all orks; as well as any troop around him, so it's all good.
Nobs as mob leaders are a trickier deal: naturally, any unit that has
that one flamer will also get the Nob upgrade, but for the rest of the
small units it's not something I wholly endorse. Nobs are something
I'll only buy in the heat of the moment, when I'm being assaulted and
I need a heavy hitter. He is not at all essential but to be used with
judgment or after being upgraded (remember that they use TWO ork
points, which would serve to bring a Big Mek instead).
c) Did'ja know?
You can hide orks in buildings! Gameplay-wise, I don't find that so
useful, but it makes for a fun sneak attack. Just make double sure that
your gretchins repair your buildings rather then hide in them: that's
how I found out about the whole affair. No seriously, click on the
repair icon, damn thing had me puzzled and nearly cost me the game.
As of yet, Murdork Stompinsmash (that's me!) is the only one
contributing to this great big book of Orkdom. If your warboss
discovered tricks that have been instrumental in the war against all
skumgrods, you can send them in at hisneigeness[at]hotmail.com and if
I publish them (pending experimentation), I'll give your warboss credit
here. Do not mail me to correct my spelling or for naming conventions,
please.
This is me cut and pasting the copyright thingy from my last FAQ.
Hopefully, it still works as well as it did then...
This document is the sole property of Lee T. HaXXXor, AKA Neige
Thirteen, AKA Christian Charit‚ Colde. This document may not be put on
a site unless permission is given by the aforementioned author and his
multiple aliases. Taking and redistributing this guide for monetary
purposes is illegal, and will not be tolerated. Lee/Neige/Chris
reserves the right to refuse this document to be on ANY site. The
following are the only sites that may have this document for Dawn of
War:
