Star Belly Geek's Diskwars Pages

The Orcs
Army Analysis

The Orcs have many strengths and are an Evil army for beginners. Some Orc strategies are suggested in the Command and Control section. Peter Bakija has a good Orc Page as well.

Fixed flat Orcs:

In the basic Orcs of the Broken Plain army set, you receive four Grugs, two Urkan Bowmen, two Tribesmen from Ulc, one Beastrider and one Wasteland Ogre. Grugs are the backbone of any Orc army, and everyone can use more of them. Urkan Bowmen are archers with defensive combat stats, but cost two Grugs - useful in small quantities but these are Orcs, not Elves. Tribesmen from Ulc are decent berserking units, with some speed, but not for every army. Wasteland Ogres are like always-berserked Tribesmen, although slightly slower - keep them out of range of Fireballs, but they back up your Grugs with a good attack. Beastriders are a good cavalry, and their extra cost pays for a way to knock off Fairy Swarms. The Orcs are solid out of the basic box, and buying more just makes them better.

In the Moon Over Thelgrim expansion Zocrab's Marauders you receive two Zocrab's Warmongers, two Garnahk Flailers, one Goblin Bootlicker and one Zocrab's Gurbanger. Garnahk Flailers are interesting in a fast, berserker-heavy army, but otherwise not terribly useful. Goblin Bootlickers could be used as fodder for Gorzac Goblinflinger, but are not good in combat and cost as much as a Grug. Zocrab's Gurbangers can move quickly and hit hard, but they die easily so many people don't like them. Zocrab's Warmongers are next to useless, since they are actually worse than Grugs in some circumstances, yet cost more. There is little reason to buy extra boxes of this expansion set, except for possible random disks.

In the Legions box Last Stand at Dunwarr, the Orcs got a nice boost, with two Beastriders, four Goblin Marauders, two Goblin Raiders, three Lowland Twisters, two Torch-throwers, four Tribesmen from Ulc, five Urkan Hordes, two Urotok Warriors, and Zhalla Bakhal. Goblin Raiders, also a Wastelands random disk, could be nice against Elves, Dwarves and Knights, helping to keep disks alive while tough opponents are swarmed. I like Lowland Twisters a lot, but you've got to be careful because they're inclined to explode, and may take one of your own disks with them. Torch-throwers, another random Wastelands disk, wouldn't be useful if they weren't Champions and thus discounted, but at four points for a 4 attack and occasional defensive missile, they have a place in some armies. Urkan Hordes rock my world - fast, First Blow, and with Urotok Warriors they can move more than once a Round! Don't let them get pinned, though, because they'll bite it quick. Urotok Warriors are nice when you've got the Urkan Hordes around, but remember two things - they still die with a Fireball, and they're now restricted to 2 per army under the newest League rules. Zhalla Bakhal is an incredible disk for his price - able to leap piles of disk to join an attack with an Urkan Horde, durable and First Blow. Awesome. Too bad he's unique.

In the Waiqar's Path expansion The Eternal Horde, the Orcs receive three Gobog Gnashers, two Ja'tak Hurlers, and three Ulcan Deathseekers. Gobog Gnashers, are durable berserkers, although they also get Rage - a livable price, in my opinion, for a disk with the potential to take down Stalwarts. If you're good at dropping missile, the Ja'tak Hurler might have a place in your armies, but if you're, at best, 50-50 in your drop rate, these guys aren't likely to help more than they hurt. Ulcan Deathseekers could be useful in some strange Mirage-missile combination, or against Elves. Otherwise, they stay in the box.

Coming soon: the Broken Shadows expansion box The Banner of the Raven.

Random flat Orcs:

Basic Orcs were very basic. Their standard troops were their meat and potatoes, and random disks only added a couple of features. Ghash Zzurkan is a spellcaster with good combat stats, but not cheap, and he was eclipsed by Weerel Moog in the usually magic-light Orc army. Goblin Marauders are worse than useless - that special ability sounds neat, but they die too easily to be cost-effective - maybe if they cost 4 or 5 apiece, but certainly not at 7 points. Shieldgrogs are great defensive units, and can pin most units without danger. Ugg the Mean can be useful, but mostly on defense, since he's slow and can't attack the most dangerous of your opponent's disks. Urgg the Really Mean, on the other hand, is practically a must-have unique for non-pure Orcs: tough with a good attack for a good price. Zeegra Warrior Priestess would be a good spellcaster option if the Orcs didn't have Weerel. As it is, Zeegra and Ghash will only appear in high-magic Orc armies (what are we, Acolytes?!).

The Moon Over Thelgrim supplied some Orc random disks that, while not indispensible, are very nice to have. Too bad the fixed disks weren't very good. The Darkwood Ogre is good for its durability, speed and high attack, and its extra "surprise" Instant Blow is icing on the cake. A good supplemental disk. No one can have too many Goblin Crossbowz in their army - cheaper than Grugs with the potential for an occasional missile attack. Gorzac Goblinflinger is tough, but you have to plan for his ability to be useful. Your opponent will have to deal with the possibility of that attack, but its six-inch range is rather limiting. Khazzrek, Goblin Hero is a bargain - he won't Swashbuckle much, but he's hard enough to kill that he's worth more than his weight in Grugs. Orc Assassins can lurk behind your lines, waiting for the opportunity to put the hurt on enemy uniques or other disks that stray too close - remember that the Assassin can ambush your own Uniques to get him closer to a final target. Weerel Moog, Goblin Mage is the cheapest spellcaster around, probably due to keeping other spellcasters out of the army, but the Orcs always have room for a 5-point spellcaster (and probably his Familiar).

With Wastelands, the Orcs primarily gained variety and some sneaky tricks. The Lowland Ravager could be very useful against high-defense units, as well, and its speed helps in that use, but losing the Ravager hurts, since it costs more than most other Orc disks. Obarak Tribesmen are the Wastelands attempt to make Goblin Marauders and Zocrab's Warmongers look good - an expensive Grug that can't be Zipped or Shielded. Yuck. Turzak the Blinding isn't going to show up in most Orc armies despite his ability to put an Activation marker on Helspanth the Firedrake and two Fire Wyverns at a 12 inch range - he costs more than twice what Weerel Moog costs, and can't cast second level spells. In that afore-mentioned high-magic Orc army, though, opponent archers had better watch out. Ulcan Skulkers add a fascinatingly sneaky aspect to the Orcs, as well as a great counter to anti-Orc disks like the Alchemist. Urtog Warriors are decent, tough elite troops, especially if they get a round or two against disks with Defenses of less than six (they take out Necromancer Farrenghast in three rounds, if they aren't bothered). Zharta Khun is a must-have Orc unique, allowing combination attacks like two spells from Weerel, or a move-then-attack from an Orc Assassin or Ulcan Skulker. Zhoka the Mad gives the Orcs another good attacking unique - and if you use berserkers don't forget that she can ambush your own disks to get her to the front (or home) quickly. Zobak the Despised has a small downside, but against opponents with lots of Champion, Neutral or Evil disks he's durable with a useful special ability.

Waiqar's Path expanded the berserking and assault aspects of the Orcs. Brutalizers are expensive for an Orc, but against many armies a Swashbuckling, multi-wound berserker could be nasty. Frenzied Mesak get faster as they die - but I think they cost a lot for that 8 points of wound capacity, especially with Nakot available at the same price. Goblin Warriors are an interesting berserker, but you're paying for another group-use ability that might not see use. Half-Orcs are good defensive disks with the ability to save your other disks' bacons. Few Orc armies should do without one. Kylus, Master of the Tribes, is a durable warrior with self-healing ability - who needs Urg when you've got Kylus? Nakot look a little bad at first glance, but glance again: they move twice per round! That's 7 points for two Activations (16 inches movement...) and a decent First Blow. Nice. Ur the Horribly Mean sure is expensive for a level 1 spellcaster with no wounds. Maybe if you know your opponent will be casting spells (say, against Acolytes), but otherwise I stick with Weerel Moog. Warlord Zarek would be really nice if he didn't rule out Kylus (what is it with these Orcs and their personality conflicts?). Choose based on the need for high attack and speed (Zarek) versus the utility of greater survivability (Kylus). Zarek's Guards could be good in large groups, acting as foils to make it easier to pin opponents who attack, but there are usually better options for your front-line disks.

The Orcs are a faction that's solid and don't take a deep understanding of the game to play. On the other hand, there are some very interesting possibilities that only become apparent as you watch and use the disks for a while, so they have a good replay value. Big Orc winners are Shieldgrogs, Goblin Crossbowz, Weerel Moog, Zharta Khun, Urkan Hordes (with their Urotok friends) and Zhalla Bakhal, with honorable mention for all those other unique disks, none of which cost more than 14 points. Big losers are Goblin Marauders, Goblin Bootlickers, Zocrab's Warmongers and Obarak Tribesmen.