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So, I'm considering adding Biker Nobz to my army. But, I'm having a hard time balancing their effectiveness with their cost. They're awfully pricey. So, assuming that I'm using a speed freaky type army, and i'm playing 1000 pts or 1500 pts, how many biker nobz should I include? Is a squad of 3 effective with one being a Painboy? Or does it need to be at least 4? How many of them should I give Powerklaws to?

3 diversified Nobs and a painboy is fine for the pts your playing at.

anymore nobs or lots of expensive equipment will get really expensive really fast.

So 4 total including the Painboy? Got it. What about Powerklaws? Is 2 too many in a squad of 4?

The only times I've used Nob bikers I ran with 3.

No Pain Boy, all three had PK's and Shoota/Skorchas.

1 had Bosspole and another had Waaagh Banner.

They were tank and small squad hunters. I kept them behind my Battewagons until they attacked. I also ran 10 Nobz in a Battlewagon and 12 Biker Boyz in that list so the 3 Biker Nobz were less of a relative threat. 1500 is pretty small to use ANY Nobz Bikers IMHO.

I think 3 is the legal minimum. What do you want them to do for you? What else are you using?

Yeah, more info is needed.

Are these going to be led by a warboss? If so.. they scale smoothly from 3 to 10. Keep them diversified, and keep about a 1 in 3 ratio of power klaws.

No warboss? Well then their leadership is highly suspect. In that case i'd go more for what PipeAlley suggested. Small, cheap diversification. Max 3, kombi-skorchas to thin out hordes before committing to a fight you could get bogged down in.

more details about the rest of your list could help to give more specific advice.

The rest of my army includes a Deffrolla BW carrying a KFF Mek and either regular boyz or burnas. 2 trukks full of boys, and a few buggies with TL Rokkits. In a 1500 pt game, I'd probably also include a PK Warboss in one of the boyz trukks. My thought was that I'd use the Biker Nobz to turbo boost up the side while the bulk of my force gets into assault/deffrolla range. So, I guess I'm looking for the biker nobz to be a distraction while I get into position, and cause as much damage as possible while they're still alive.

If the boss isn't riding with them... then PipeAlley's unit (maybe with a couple less power klaws, and not neccessarily needing the waagh banner) will do the job...

This could be a great distraction unit.

nob power klaw kombi-skorcha bike
nob kombi-skorcha bosspole bike
nob kombi-skorcha bike

Waaagh banners are a steal for the Pts.

WS5 nobs will hit most enemies on a 3+.

Not to bring up the pink elephant in the room, but my orky answer would be that the best number of nob bikers to bring at 1000 or 1500 points is zero.

The whole point of Nob Bikers is what they bring to a battlefield.

1. Immense threat: Powerklaws and Big choppas that can move 24" per turn to get where they need to be (a turn 2 assault) or move 12", shoot and assault 6". They can carve through vehicles and troops like a knife through hot butter.

2. Survivability: With wound diversification, a natural 4+ armor save, a natural 4+ cover save that can be improved to 3+ at will, a 5++ invulnerable save and two wounds apiece....these guys are potentially the most difficult unit in 40k to kill. They require intense firepower from anti-tank weaponry to deal with, and even then they have 4+ cover saves or 5++ invulnerable saves (for you shiesty Tau railguns out there).

3. Distraction: Nob bikers are a distraction too. The enemy literally must dedicate everything to killing these and ignore the rest of your army, or die. A psychic battle squad in an IG army has a bit of an easier time, but pretty much everyone else is in for some hurt.

At 1,000 or 1,500 - you can't build a big enough squad to do those things effectively. At 1500 perhaps, if you dedicate your entire army to being nob bikers.....but if you're looking for a support element, the best advice I can give you is that Nob bikers are the main course in an ork army, not a side dish.

Not sure I agree Dash. I've been using a unit of six (painbot y, 3 pks, banner, pole, something else) with a boss in 1500 point games to good effect. There are enough that they can survive a lot, and still hit hard, while leaving me about 1k points for other threats.

I don't like the idea of running the big 10-man unit in 1500 (and especially not 2 of them), simply because of how vulnerable they can be to the wrong thing if you draw it.

Redbeards got the right idea, 5 Nobs, banner, pole, and a painboy, although i would probably take a warboss with them and load them with powerklaws to take on the tanks. This is expensive, but VERY effective.

Most of the time i would say Dash knows everything about orks and would bow to his advice, but Redbeard has a good point.

at least if you take a warboss they become scoring and then you might not feel so bad at putting so much into 1 unit.

10 man would be excessive, but a small unit of 3-4 would be managable.

they are still just as hard to kill, but arn't too freeking expensive to be compromising on the rest of your list. orks are cheap after all.

I'm not saying don't do it, just playing devil's advocate and bringing another thought to the mix.

Between DashofPepper and Redbeard I'd go with Redbeard's advice every time.

I have to disagree with Dash, I quite like using my nob bikers as a support element in my 1850 and 2500 lists. And they always perform and destroy what my boyz can't. Like Plague Marines, Sanguinary Priest buffed BAs, and Land Raiders.

edit: oops didn't see the for 1000-1500 pts part specificallly for nob bikers.

Nurglitch wrote:Between DashofPepper and Redbeard I'd go with Redbeard's advice every time.

Hrm...I begin to understand why people call you a troll...

Nothing constructive added...check.
Personal slight....double check!
+1 to post count...check!

Of course I added something constructive: I pointed out who the better source of advice is. I'm sorry that you take it personally that Redbeard provides better advice than you.

Splitting than ten man list into 2 five man squads could also be possible. At 1500 points, you can still field a respectable unit as thus:

5 Nob Bikers- 2 Powerklaws, 2 Big Choppas, 1 Waaagh! Banner, 1 Bosspole, 1 Painboy, Cybork Bodies-360 points

Multiply that by 2

360 points x2 and you still have 780 left over to play with.

Two squads of nob bikers backed up by what? You may be able to do something with trukks, but I can't imagine how you would work in KFF effectively.

I certainly prefer the idea of one squad, with all of it's vulnerabilities, over two sqauds with the same. Redundancy isn't a good thing, all of the time. At 1500 points, one cheap squad of 5-7 seems to make the most sense.

Dashofpepper wrote:

Nurglitch wrote:Between DashofPepper and Redbeard I'd go with Redbeard's advice every time.

Hrm...I begin to understand why people call you a troll...

Nothing constructive added...check.
Personal slight....double check!
+1 to post count...check!

Fighting over toy soldiers again? Will you guys grow up?
In any case, I don't think Nurglitch's comment was in any way offensive, so there is no need to get so worked up, unless you are really that sensitive.

Dashofpepper wrote:At 1,000 or 1,500 - you can't build a big enough squad to do those things effectively. At 1500 perhaps, if you dedicate your entire army to being nob bikers.....but if you're looking for a support element, the best advice I can give you is that Nob bikers are the main course in an ork army, not a side dish.

Now to point out your flaws. There is nothing wrong with taking small squads of Nob bikers. Big Squads of Nob Bikers probably mean you will have only 2 troop choices at about 1750 or 2k points. I never believe in putting all eggs in one basket. In addition, large squads of nob bikers are often an overkill.
A squad of 4 Nob bikers + Boss biker is a good size in my opinion. Lost of one Nob biker does not require you to take a morale check (4 out 5). The squad is small enough for easy maneuvoring, is cheaper, and poses large enough a threat against most units. The points saved gives you room to build fire support/ anti tank elements into your list. Nob bikers are best used against infantry, not vehicles.

Davicus wrote:Fighting over toy soldiers again? Will you guys grow up?
In any case, I don't think Nurglitch's comment was in any way offensive, so there is no need to get so worked up, unless you are really that sensitive.

Getting involved in playground fights and taking sides again? Bad teacher~!


Nob bikers are, Killy, Fast and Durable.
They will either take an elite slot or troops - For orks the troops slot will always be the better place, but this will force A Warboss/Ghaz selection. The problem with running the as a small unit of elites is one loses access to lootas/burnas.
As troops if one's taking tiny squads (3) they really are another deffkopta style unit, similar range and save. Slightly more durable if not losing combat but otherwise really them same - just missing TLRL.
So I'd find it had to really recommend them.
At a big squad size (8-10) they are scary as feth - really. But will cost you an arm and a leg, leave you with maybe 2 squads boyz and lots of toys or only the one toy and just enough boys
So I would sit with the rest of the crowed and say that 4-6 Bikers really seems to be the best number. Gives killing, staying, and fast power. They will throw out enough attacks to win combats and not be swept. And one isn't paying for a tank-hunting squad that could have a highly similar job done by Koptas.

I would still prefer to have a battlewagon instead of bikes... but that's just my roots

Actually DashofPepper's advice does make sense too. Both advices are not wrong, it all depends on the positioning, enemies units you're facing, and the opponent's style of playing.

Nob Bikers CAN be field in smaller games, especially if the opponents doesn't have any strong melee units to back them up (Tau, Eldar, Necrons, IG, etc.). But just becareful of instant kill monstrous creatures, rending units, power weapons (Beakies and other variants, chaos, 'nids) which can be seen in smaller games too. If you're facing more of the latter, its better not to bring Nob Bikers in smaller games as it will be difficult.

If you're facing the earlier group i mention, then they'll do good. But of course, they're not invinsible. If your opponent have decently good dice rolls to hurt your nob bikers (and you fail a lot of your FNP), it'll go down too. I believe no matter how good your squad is, be sure to depend on the dice gods to help you

ChrisCP wrote:
Getting involved in playground fights and taking sides again? Bad teacher~!

Kid, stating the facts does not equal to taking sides. Maybe you need some lessons. :-)

Davicus wrote:
Kid, stating the facts does not equal to taking sides. Maybe you need some lessons. :-)

True the first part was a wondeful display of neutrality - but the second bit let me know who you'd let out to lunch first ;-)

ChrisCP wrote:True the first part was a wondeful display of neutrality - but the second bit let me know who you'd let out to lunch first ;-)

In that case, you have a problem, not my comments :-).

kazuki85 wrote:
Nob Bikers CAN be field in smaller games, especially if the opponents doesn't have any strong melee units to back them up (Tau, Eldar, Necrons, IG, etc.). But just becareful of instant kill monstrous creatures, rending units, power weapons (Beakies and other variants, chaos, 'nids) which can be seen in smaller games too. If you're facing more of the latter, its better not to bring Nob Bikers in smaller games as it will be difficult.

I prefer to play game without knowing what my opponents with bring to the table. In any case, large or small games, it is always safer not to spend the bulk of your points on the Nob Bikers, in case you run into situations like the above.

First, let me say thanks for all the responses guys. I really appreciate the input.

I can totally see both Dash and Redbeards point of view. Thankfully, I don't play in uber competative tournaments or anything. Mostly just play at the GW store with a group of friends. So, I don't need an a super metagame type army. However, I do really want to crush my friends and hear them squeal. Dash, I had the same concerns that you voiced her your post. I'm not sure if they are worth the points at this low point cost game. But, I would like to give them a try and see how they perform.

It seems like the concensus is small 3-4 biker nobz which includes a painboy and if possible a boss on a bike. So, I may give that a shot. Again, thanks everyone for the suggestions.

This might be better as another question, but I'll ask it here anyway. Is Cybork bodies on Nob Bikers worth the points? I noticed several of you have suggested taking it, but with the bike armor save and FNP from the painboy, is cybork useful?

Yeah, I didn't know I had the option to say zero bikers...

But with that option I would agree with Dash. At 1500 points, once you've covered the KFF mek, the battlewagons, and the significant amount of fire support that orks need. There isn't any room left for hard CC units. Taking away fire support to add a possibly counterable CC unit isn't wise, and dropping your troops count could cost you a seize ground game that you should have won.

But if you don't play competitively, then there isn't really any need to seek list building advice. Non-competitive games are the best places to do your own playtesting and experimentation. Just proxy if you don't want to commit to buying/building yet.

Cybork is fairly important for the bikers as it help against them nasty PWs and such

Shep wrote:Yeah, I didn't know I had the option to say zero bikers...

But with that option I would agree with Dash. At 1500 points, once you've covered the KFF mek, the battlewagons, and the significant amount of fire support that orks need. There isn't any room left for hard CC units. Taking away fire support to add a possibly counterable CC unit isn't wise, and dropping your troops count could cost you a seize ground game that you should have won.

But if you don't play competitively, then there isn't really any need to seek list building advice. Non-competitive games are the best places to do your own playtesting and experimentation. Just proxy if you don't want to commit to buying/building yet.

What about something like:

Warboss, bike, pk, cybork
KFF Mek

5x Loota
5x Loota
5x Loota

19x Boyz, nob, Pk
19x Boyz, nob, PK (I figure I should take 19 in both, so that if one wagon blows up, the Mek can evacuate to the remaining wagon)
10 Gretchin, runtherd

5x Nobz - bike, 1x PK, 2x Bchoppa, painboy, cybork, waaagh banner, bosspole

Rokkit buggy
Rokkit buggy
Rokkit buggy

Battlewagon /w big shoota, deffrolla, grabbin klaw, boarding plank
Battlewagon /w big shoota, deffrolla, grabbin klaw, boarding plank

Should I find points for a 2nd PK in the Nobz unit (or attack squig for the boss)?

Yes and yes, PK first thou... I'd alomst drop the BP off the nobz as if you're losing combat you're going to lose the squad anyway... almost.... but I can't find room for a whole PK without dropping a buggie :(