Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Objective grabbin' ain't a priority, it just needs to be killy. Very killy.

2x Warboss-on-a-bike w/ PK, Attack Squig - 280pts

2x 4 Nobz-on-bikes w/ 2PKs, 2Big Choppas, Waaagh! Banner, Bosspole, +1 Painboy w/ Grot Orderly - 680pts

2x 15 Lootas - 450pts


Which gives me 90 points to play around with. The idea of this army is that there are things out there that even Nob Bikers can't charge headlong into with impunity, and I ought to be able to snipe most of those things out with the 60 avg. shots (20 avg. S7 hits) I'll get from those lootas. The lootas also give the enemy something else to shoot at (something possibly more intimidating than 6 pissed off PKlaws charging at them at insane speeds), so they either focus on the lootas, allowing my Nobz to pick and choose their attacks, or they focus on the Nobz, taking what should be good numbers of casualties each turn from my lootas and losing his stuff that could most threaten my Nobz.

Of course, I realize this does leave me with a relatively small number of Nobz per squad, but they should still be killy enough to rip through just about anything they charge, and they can still take 7 wounds with lots of saves before taking a casualty. I expect my weaknesses to be high-armor walkers like Dreadnoughts and high-initiative high-toughness stuff like Avatars and Daemon Princes (but seriously, how often will those come up? )

I had a plan to lose one of the Bosses and a couple Lootas in favor of Old Zoggy in a Trukk with a squad of Shoota Boyz. Zoom forward the RPJ Trukk, seek out enemy ICs, and draw tons of fire (since the opponent presumably prefers having his IC instead of a squig... I know I usually do). This leaves one squad of Nobz a tiny bit weaker and less killy, but still plenty potent and scary.

I expect to face Tyranids, probably containing lots of elites and big, durable stuff, and some kind of SM, either Blood Angels or Space Wolves.

Any critique or hints welcome, as well as strategies to use what I've got!

Its to small of a army. you've be very disappointed with how the list does.

You should add more nob bikers. And a skorcha or three.

A unit of 4 nobs simply isn't scary enough. Also, your breakdown on your units isn't very clear. Does each unit have two powerklaw nobs, two big choppa nobs, a Waaaugh! Banner nob, a bosspole nob and a painboy? Not sure how you're working it out in there. There's no way to break that down unless the units are 5 strong, which you may be running, but are unclear about.

If that's the case, a unit of 5 nobs simply isn't scary enough. A lascannon shot or two will spell your doom. So will dreadnoughts, ork mobs, IG with power weapons, terminators....the reason Nob bikers work is because you have so many diversified wounds that the enemy can't actually kill you before you SURVIVE to strike back. 5 Nobs with a 5+ invulnerable save and a limited 4+ Feel No Pain don't have survivability.

Space Wolves....that's a hoot. They're going to light up your nob bikers with missile spam that insta-kill nobs. How many 4+ cover saves / 3+ cover saves can you pass? You won't get feel no pain against any of those. Nor against any of those MCs.

Sorry, that's 4 Nobz and a Painboy, two Nobz have PKs, two have BCs, and the Banner and Pole are given to the Nobz to efficiently distribute wounds. It's still a 6-man unit, including the Painboy and Warboss.

So how would Lootas fare at taking out missiles from Space Wolves or MCs from Tyranid? I'm trying to see if there's a way to effectively use Nobz without relying on them exclusively. Should I keep the Loota squads but make them smaller to make room for more Nobz? Or is there something else I should be running instead of Lootas?

Or should I just scrap the idea and try a Chaos Daemon army?

At 1500 points, Nob bikers are not impressive in and of themselves.

The points you are wasting on Lootas in this list could go to some Trukk Boyz, who would make a fine complement and screen for your Nobs.

You could probably keep one of the Ork Nob biker squads. I suggest using the heavy support slots for things such as Battlewagons and Burnas and Shoota Boyz in said Battlewagons.

EDIT:

This is the list I am currently using:

HQ Options-

Ork Warboss on Warbike, Powerklaw, Bosspole, Cybork Body, Attack Squig -155 Points

Big Mek with Kustom Force Field- 85 points

Elite Options-

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

7 Burnas-105 points

Troop Options-

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

19 Ork Boyz with Shootas, Nob with Bosspole and Powerklaw-154 points

20 Ork Boyz with Shootas, Nob with Bosspole and Powerklaw-154 points

Fast Attack Options-

1 Deffkopta with Twin-Linked Rokkit Launcha and Buzzsaw- 70 points

1 Deffkopta with Twin-Linked Rokkit Launcha and Buzzsaw- 70 points

‘eavy Support Options-

1 Battlewagon with Armored Plates, Grot Riggers, Big Shoota-110 points

1 Battlewagon with Armored Plates, Grot Riggers, Big Shoota-110 points

1 Battlewagon with Armored Plates, Grot Riggers, Big Shoota-110 points

Total Points- 1849

the OP list, apart from being horribly boring to play against, just doesnt have the numbers to do good against most armies...

Yeah, yeah, not enough numbers...

But if that's really the case, how come people successfully run Nob Biker lists? At least, it was my understanding that it's a competitive build. And I've got more numbers than most 1500 Nob Biker lists.


---BIG EDIT---

So hows about this one, then?

Warboss-on-a-bike w/ PK, Attack Squig - 140pts

6 Nobz-on-bikes plus Painboy, w/ 3xPK, 2xBig Choppa, Waaagh! Banner, Bosspole, Kustom Skorcha 460pts

30 Boyz, one Nob w/ PK 215pts

3x15 Lootas 675pts

I got a strong hunch no one's gonna like this list, but I'm curious what insight I could glean beyond simply "Not enough troops! You will die horribly!" So please, if that's the extent of your advice, I already know that, thank you very much

The strategy here would be to either play offensively or defensively, depending on the opponent. Either way, the Lootas sit in the back in whatever cover they can get and unload hell each and every turn.

Playing offensively, the strategy would be to run the bikers around to a flank while shooting at it to soften it up. Once the bikers are in position, hopefully the front lines have been weakened enough that the Nobz can get at whatever they need to get at. The footslogging Boyz, meanwhile, act as a screen protecting the other flank, looking mean at anything that goes after the Lootas.

Playing defensively, the footsloggers charge forward as a screen primarily to mess up enemy formations. The Bikers are there to take advantage of any messy formations the opponent is forced to make.

The nice part of this army is that you get a huge 30-man screen that I'd imagine will probably go relatively untouched, since the opponent will be focusing on getting rid of the killy stuff. Its purpose is mostly real estate control.

45 wounds is a lot to get through, especially if I can get them in cover, and they'll be dishing out an average of 90 shots per turn or about 30 S7 hits, which is about 10 marines killed per turn (more of any other infantry), or about one MC per turn. Nothing game-breaking perhaps, but respectable, I think, particularly against the new Tyranid codex, where weight of fire seems to be the way to bring them down. And as long as the Bikers can be kept alive, they will be putting out the pain on anything the Lootas leave behind.

Obviously, deep-strike and outflank will be a very evil thing to this army, but I'm almost curious enough to try running it.

Thoughts?