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Howdy all!

Yanked out my first box of lootas the other day and noticed that they come w a mek (which appears to be a free upgrade for a loota or burna unit)...I always hear about how awesome lootas and burnas are but I got to wondering if anyone out there puts a few of these meks in their loota or burna unit?

What is the general opinion of meks? Useful? Not? Also what upgrades (blasta, big shoota, the like) do you find useful on them?

most will say unuseful but I am different I run:
12x burnas,3xmeks w/1xkmb and 2xbig shootas
battle wagon,deff rolla,2xbig shootas

This is in my 2000pt list and is around the 350pt mark I like to have versatility in my squads(to hell with efficiency I say!!)
Also they mop up nids big and small alike in this way

TBH, i would bother with meks.

You can swap 1-3 S7 shots for a single S8 shot that has a high chance of killing himself.

You can swap out 1-3 S7 shots for 3 S5 shots, since lootas work best at anti-armour, not really worth it unless your swarm hunting.

Swap 1-3 S7 shotas for a single S8 shot that will only hit 1/3 of the time.
So you lose the extra dakka for a single S which wont do alot, might aswell take tank bustas if you want that.


Thats just on the lootas though, with burnas its even worse.
KMB and rokkit are useless since your not tank hunting with them, you lose the templates and power wep attacks.
The shoota does not provide enough firepower to make it worth it, and you shouldnt need to shoot at range, you should have them dropped off by a wagon, or shooting out of one.

I would argue for Meks in Burnas, if only because the way I see it done nowadays, a lot of the Battlewagon Spam armies go for a full-strength Burnasquad, then attach a Big Mek to that unit. This makes it a doubly-high priority target, both because it's carrying the KFF, and because it's carrying a metric load of Burnas. So the vehicle will be taking its share of damage along the way. Having some means to repair it is rather helpful; the Mek can go in a regular Ard Boy or Boy squad if need be.

You also have an AV14 tank with a deffrolla and cover from said big mek.
Not only that, but if they fire at that alot, then its drawing plenty of fire away from your mainstay units allowing you to get close enough to assault.

...

That AV 14 is only really useful against truly static armies...like Loota Gunlines (and even then, that's assuming they're all in the same general area). Tau to a lesser extent. Because you have to close in to take advantage of your Battlewagon, against any opponent that can move, you had best treat your Battlewagon as being AV 12.

juggler, that is true, but generally you will be making the most of your units and terrain to keep the rear armour covered and out of the way, and to some extent, doing the same for side armour.

This is why i like the wagon rush lists.
5+ wagons keeping side by side work well, but fall apart when someone DS's behind you.
Not only that, but once 1 gets popped you need to close the gap before it happens again.

Also depends on the board your playing on, heavy terrain feths up wagons lists big time, while an open field allows them to move about keeping eachother covered.

5 wagons.
X - basic
O - KFF mek

XOXOX

There are more threats besides Deepstrikes behind. Aircav/Vendetta lists are another example. Scout them to opposite sides of the map, force the Wagons to have to split up to deal with them. Storm Raven lists are another example list that can mess up wagon Rushes. Their incredible speed and ability to deliver numerous melta weapons into your ranks, are also dangerous. (Skies of Blood a Librarian Dreadnought w/ Blood Lance, and either an Inquisitorial Stormtrooper Team, or a Combat Squadded Assault Marine unit).

The other list that I've messed up a Wagon list with was actually that Tyranid list I posted awhile ago, though I'd need more games to recreate the effect. The one with the triple Tyrannofexes, triple Tervigons, dual Heavy Venom Tyrants, and max Hive Guard. Between having Termagantscreens to deny Deffkoptas from locking up your guns in close combat, and the ability to Onslaught your shooting into the side arcs of enemy vehicles, you can overwhelm Kustom Forcefields and turn Battlewagons into so much scrap.

Meks are great, but _not_ leading a Loota unit, in my opinion.

Yeah back on topic, Im with the meks in lootas/burnas units are a waste. The kmb has the gets hot rule, and although I laugh at that in a SM army, in an Orky army, its basically bye bye mek. There isnt any reason to drop a loota/burna boy for the guy, he doesnt really do anything other then fix transports, and in my opinion grot riggors do just fine. Just keep the extra bits for a conversion down the road, and add an extra lootas/burna boy.