The Ork Combat Patrol gives you a points limit of 750 for each side, and everything on the table has to come from that box or the general Ork detachment rules. Your force reads as a single unit in most rolls, which is the whole point — fast setup, quick games, minimal bookkeeping. You pick a Warboss or Gorgutz Ironjawz or whatever your flavor is, throw in some Boyz, maybe a Shoota Boy squad or two, a tank or two if the list allows it, and that is it. Games take about 40 to 60 minutes end to end.
Ork Combat Patrol Instructions
You pick your commander first. That is the core. Everything else hooks off that character because Ork combat patrol rules tend to cluster around their boss's abilities. Gorgutz gives you ranged re-rolls and brutal if he survives turn one, which matters because most games decide their outcome by turn two. Morkites and Blood Axes play differently, but the budget stays the same.
You fill out the rest of the army from a restricted roster. Standard squad sizes drop a bit — many units are just one model or a smaller squad than you would normally see. A Boy squad in a patrol list might only run five or six models instead of a full ten, and that changes how you allocate wounds and saving throws. It is tighter than a full army, and you feel it every time someone wipes your entire Boy squad with one shooting phase.
The list building itself is straightforward once you stop overthinking it. Pick your commander. Pick one or two supporting characters if the detachment allows. Build your core units. Stack combat tanks or vehicles if you have slot space. Double check that nothing exceeds the patrol restrictions. I once built what I thought was a solid list with a Deff Dread and two Boy squads and a Wartrike, only to discover the Wartrike counted as a second heavy support slot that I did not have, so I had to pull it and add another squad instead. Took me two attempts to get a legal list and I was already two hours into a game night. Now I build mine, then run it past the army builder a second time before I commit.
What works and what does not
Orks in combat patrol are basically a charge army with some shooting tacked on. The mechanics reward getting models across the board quickly. You want at least one solid combat unit that can anchor your turn, and you want that unit to survive its own shooting phase because Ork durability comes from wounds, not armor saves. Bestavves and brutes hold the line better than you expect.
The real mistake people make is stacking too many small squads. Five Boy squads look efficient on paper, but you are rolling five separate initiative tests, five separate charge ranges, and five separate combat phases. You lose momentum and your opponent just picks you apart. Two or three solid units with decent wound pools play faster and hit harder.
Shooting is not useless but it is secondary. A Shoota Boy squad can lay down fire, but you are better off using it as a screen to protect your charge units than as your main damage source. Red Bull Boyz with Kustom Lasas do more damage per point than you think, especially against light vehicles, which are everywhere in patrol.
How the turns actually play out
Turn one is usually setup and positioning. Orks tend to overcommit early because your opponent will punish a slow advance. I typically deploy my combat unit near terrain that covers my approach, then use my faster units as bait. It sounds aggressive but it forces the opponent to react to you rather than dictating the board.
Turn two is where most games break open. If your charge line-up worked, you are already in combat and your opponent is spending their turns trying to disengage. If it did not, you are falling behind and suddenly your shooting phase needs to do more work. The pivot is usually whether your first wave survived long enough to hold the middle of the board.
Turn three and beyond are cleanup if you got the opening right. If you did not, you are rolling for morale and hoping your opponent makes a mistake. Orks have enough resilience to stay in the fight longer than you would expect, which is the hidden advantage of this format. A Warboss with a Power Klaw and a 3+ save can sit in a combat for several rounds and chew through multiple squads before going down.
Pitfalls that waste your time
The biggest issue with Ork Combat Patrol Lists is the vulnerability to deep strike and jump infantry. If your opponent fields something like a Blood Angel assault squad or an Ultramarine jump pack unit, they can bypass your screening entirely and target your combat units directly. I lost a game last month because I assumed my opponent would play normally and fielded a slow-moving list, only to have a jump pack unit land on my Warboss in the first turn. I spent the rest of the game trying to catch a target that kept moving and my entire strategy fell apart.
Another common problem is weapon specialization. Ork lists often stack one type of weapon because it feels efficient. Five Kunnit Guns sound great against infantry, but they struggle against anything with a 3+ save or better. Adding at least one anti-infantry and one anti-vehicle option keeps your list from becoming a one trick pony. It costs points but it prevents you from having no answer to certain unit types.
The patrol format also does not forgive bad dice luck as much as full army formats. You have fewer models, so one bad roll on a charging unit can collapse your entire turn. I learned to accept this rather than try to optimize around it. You will lose games because of a few unlucky dice, and there is no fixing that. You adjust your list to tolerate variance instead.
Quick reference for building your first list
Start with Gorgutz or your preferred boss. Put one squad of Boyz with a mix of choppas and shootas. Add one specialist squad — either Shoota Boyz or Kunnit Boyz depending on what you expect to face. Add a single Deff Dread or Squiggoth if you have slot space. That is your core. Fill remaining points with units that give you options rather than stacking more of the same thing. Check the patrol restrictions. Play. Adjust after the game.
Most people overcomplicate the list on the first build. They add every unit they think is cool and end up with something that is too slow or too expensive to field effectively. Cut it back. Two or three solid units beat six mediocre ones every time in this format.
