Expanding the WAAAGH

[Fishean]

Right now I have the Assault on Black Reach and Storm Claw box sets and the old and new battle force. So I am looking at:
50+ boys
7 or 8 nobs
3 warbikers (one is nob with PK)
3 meganobs
3 DeffKoptas
gretchin and runt herd
2 Warbosses
2 truks
3 killa Kans
1 deffdread
1 mek
Not quite sure where to go next was thinking more bikes and maybe a dakka jet. Any advice?

[Mr.Pickelz]

More boyz is never a bad thing. Lootas will help a lot as they're your main long range firepower. Battlewagons are great transports and can be loaded up with Rockets/Big Shootas. If you're into Forgeworld, The Warboss on Bike (Zhadsnark) is a good way to get a Warboss on the Relic bike. The Big Squiggoth is a Heavy Support choice and is a Monstrous Creature Transport, it works well with Burnas or Lootas riding it for extra protection, and few people play one, so it would be a curve ball for most players. More Trukks with Boyz is always a good thing, shoota boyz with a big shoota/rocket, in a Trukk with a rocket, will give ya some nice firepower. Mek Gunz offer some artillery support and are a nice way at getting more long range shooting in, more so if you like Grotz. Deffkoptas are pretty good, take a big unit of them with rockets and fly them up on a side (they're Jet Bikes).

So basically, you need:
Ork Boyz
Battlewagons
Mek Gunz
Ork Boyz
Dakkajets (these are good for their price)
Big Squiggoth (Forgeworld, pricey, but adds a nice touch to any Ork army)
Warboss on Warbike (Forgeworld, it's a nice model that you can use as the FW character or as a Warboss on the relic bike)
Ork Boyz
Meganobz (get at least 15 of them for the formation that gives them good buffs)
Trukkz (boyz are slow gitz without them)
Painboy (put this lad in with the Green Tide, and you multiply their awesomeness)
Bikerz (never a bad thing to have a unit or two of them)
And last but not least, Ork Boyz (you will need lots...)

[Path Walker]

Boyz are always good, the old Ork adage from 3rd edtion still applies today, Boyz before Toyz, the true strength of Orks is in number, you don't need armour when another Ork is cheaper, I personally aim for about 60 Boyz per 1000 points, always suits me well, mobs of 30 for preference, they're a bugger to shift unless they have a lot of Large Blast or Templates, so you should be able to get enough to survive the turns before they hit combat.

Anything else you can adapt to your playstyle, Lootas are nice long range shooting, bikers/deffkoptas are great at getting where you need them to be, Nobz and Meganobz are scary in combat but they get pricey quick and I find that throwing more Boyz at a problem often works better.

[Erik Setzer]

Depends on how you want to play the army. What do you like about the Orks and want to use more of?

Want to throw big mobs at the enemy? You need more Boyz (and Nobz).

Want a bunch of walkers clanking forward to crush them? At least three more Killer Kans (for a unit of six), another Deff Dread, maybe a Morkanaut/Gorkanaut.

Want more speedy units to hit the enemy? More Bikers, more Deffkoptas, and another couple Trukks would be a good start.

Do you like firepower? Lootas let you fire masses of shots at anything, Mek Guns are good for a variety of things, Flash Gitz can be fun shooting and also lend a bit of assault power.

Want those Meganobz to crush gitz? Get another box or two and a Battlewagon to transport them. (If you want to assault, leave it open-topped. It's risky, yes, but worth it if you can rush it forward and get them in assault range.)

To make the Grots useful you'll need at least one more box to get to 20, maybe two. Thankfully they're pretty cheap.

Want to fly the friendly skies? Dakka Jet will protect your army from other flyers and lay down some covering fire, Blitza Bomma and/or Burna Bomma can help hurt the enemy.

You'll almost certainly want a Painboy, and probably a Big Mek with a Kustom Force Field (you can make one from the MegaNobz kit), to protect your Boyz. (Fun trick: Attach a mega-armored Big Mek to a unit of Lootas or Mek Gunz, and then walk across the table shooting at full BS. Don't ask "Why?" Ask, "Why not?")

If you aren't using rokkits in your Boyz units, collect all the rokkit launchas, get another box or two of Boyz, and make a unit of Tankbustas for hunting tanks. (They'll do better with a Trukk to get them close.) You might not use them often, but hey, you'll have the option.

The key thing is to figure out how you want to run the army. What would you enjoy doing most with the Orks? Orks are about fun. Winning, losing, the important thing is to yell Waaaagh! and have a good time. You can work multiple builds to be about equal in terms of competitive level, so, again, it's really up to how you want to fight with them.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh! And remember that, as an Ork, you can use just about anything to convert weapons, vehicles, wargear, etc. So don't be afraid to raid the bitz box, grab cheap cast-off vehicles or guns, or whatever, and make your own converted models for units. Just be sure to tell your opponent what it is.

[Grenndal]

A good ork force requires a lot of boyz.

After that the new mek guns are fun and if you do forgeworld I love the Grot tanks.

I generally like to run shoota boys in battle wagons. It gives them some protection and some more mobility.

The big thing is to have fun. Orks are just fun and goofy

[Drew da Destroya]

Oh! And remember that, as an Ork, you can use just about anything to convert weapons, vehicles, wargear, etc. So don't be afraid to raid the bitz box, grab cheap cast-off vehicles or guns, or whatever, and make your own converted models for units. Just be sure to tell your opponent what it is.

I can't second this enough. If you have friends, raid their bitz boxes (ask permission, of course, and even offer to trade/give them some money, but usually they'll just give you stuff they aren't using). I'm building myself some Lootas (I have the 4 from the box, but I want a full unit of 15, and they should be unique!), and I've got parts from other Ork kits, Guard, Dark Eldar, Eldar, Chaos, Tau, various Marines, and probably some other stuff as well. It's a lot of fun to build them.

If you're just looking for bitz, the Marine Devastator kit and the Guard Heavy Weapon Squad kit are both great places to start. I actually went with the Catachans, as I was building Kommandos at the time and wanted the packs and jungle bits, but the weapons are the same either way. Mortar, Heavy Bolter, Autocannon, Lascannon, and Missile Launcher... it's good stuff.

The others are giving great advice as to what units to look at when expanding. For me, Lootas are a must, as I generally need the long-range firepower. Same reason I often taken Kannons (mek guns), although Lobbas are a lot of fun, too (don't forget that they're Barrage weapons, so the first shot scatters, and the last 4 can't scatter quite as far).

I've been slowly building at least one unit of just about everything, though, so I can have whatever I need at a moment's notice. Your basic Boy is the base of nearly every other infantry unit, and Ork design is robust enough that you can really just bash together stuff until it looks about right.

[Fishean]

Alright thanks everyone I think I will start by getting a 2 boxes of lootas and a dakka jet from there probably more bikes, boys, meganobs, and a battlewagon the the meganobs.

[Dave Mcturk]

if youre not gw fussy - getting orc bodies from 'another source' is great - gw weapons and heads are still far superior though

[Fueldrop]

I sees. Watcha need 'ere is a buncha grots to run in and give da boyz a bita extra cuvva while dey is charging towards da enemy! WAAAGH!

[Da Gargoyle]

If you have not got him already get Gazskull. Gaz in his armour with a unit of meganobs is just beautiful, (in a blokey sort of Orky way). My mob had Gaz, 4 mega nobs and a mek in Mega armour. The mek came from a little blending of bits, with a cigar smokin head from a kopter set, a spare mega armoured body, a couple of arms with combi weapons and tools and a little scratch building from the bitz box. More Kanz can't be bad and a second dread, if you only field just one, they'll shoot him first cause he's dangerous.

I havn't gamed Orks since the Dex in the green cover was superseded. That being said I still like collecting them. I converted an Italian Semovente into a war wagon before they released the wagon kit. Built a tray on the back, twin linked big shootas on either side and grots all over the shop tinkerin. I scratch built a Stomper before the kit came out and bought the starter set just for the Kopters.

I don't see them much on the gaming table any more either. One lad used to hand me my a**e on a platter with Orks against my Eldar. But more templates and blast markers solved the problem in the end. Also I think they used to have a better save from the mek with the field generator thingy. So I think Meks are good, Don't know how many you can field these days, but one walking with your kans and dreads could help repair them. And one with the Mega boys for the force field could help.