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Aside from the buzzsaw/rokkit suicide deffkoptas that are kinda popular right now, dose anyone know of any usefull application the koptas can be used for against non vehicle armies(Nids for example)?

I usually dont add these until i get close to 2000

Buzzsaw/rokkit suicide units are all they are good for. They don't have the number to be that useful for anything else. I see most newer guys running 3-5 deffkoptas and when a unit actually focuses on them, they lost a couple koptas, and fly off the board. Bye, bye 225 points

yep that is the whole picture.

they are there to die and maybe take a tank with them.

but what is more fluffy than that for an orc strapped into a half baked barely working flying machine anyways?

I park them over an objective, and it normally keep my opponent away as long as there is some cover near by. I run 3 rokkits and it does its job pretty well.

I have also used them to outflank with their scout rule and try to pop a tank on side or rear armor, or free up an objective that my opponent is holding on the back of the board.

yea i outflank them to hit rear or side armor, then fly them around trying to do that again or hide them for the last turn so they can contest any objectives by moving extremely far.

bigmeklover wrote:yep that is the whole picture.

they are there to die and maybe take a tank with them.

That is the most popular way they are used, but deffkoptas are much more useful than this one trick pony.
Here are some uses for your deffkoptas that you might want to consider.

Turbo Boost for Cover
You can turbo boost them and use them to screen another unit. As the koptas have moved over 18", they get a 3+ cover save, and any unit behind them can get the 4+ cover save. This allows you to protect those important units, such as lootas, when you need to keep them from getting creamed.

Objective Contesting
On turn 5, it makes good sense to turbo boost a kopta near an enemy objective to contest it. On turn 6, do the same with another kopta. The goal is to keep him from getting the objective points while you hold you own. Its just gud' kunnin' dinkin.

ZOMG Twin-Linked Rokkits
The deffkopta has a ~55% chance of hitting with its twin linked rokkits. The ability to move 12" and shoot 24" means that 5 deffkoptas will score between 2-3 hits on a target. This can be of great use when it comes to cracking open rhinos and other transports. Once you get those marines out of their candy coated shell, they are much easier for your boys to smash!
You might say "But whats what Lootas are for!". To this I ask, "Can you lootas move and shoot?" The ability to move around to get a clear shot, or come onto the board (such as in dawn of war) and fire is a huge advantage. Unlike lootas, they are also AP3 STR 8 weapons. These are how you take down the "Doom of Cheeze", or score a few critical hits on thunderpuppies. A few STR 8 weapons can be a huge advantage for the 'kunnin warboss.

Get da little ones
You can use them to assault units such as Thuderfire cannons, small units of 5 lootas, etc. Even if they just tie up the unit for a few turns, they can do the job well by keeping the gun from shooting your boys. After all, isn't it better to have those 5 long fangs spend 3 turns killing your deffkoptas instead of firing 15 frag missles into your boys?
Hell, if it happens to have a buzzsaw, you can even use them to crunch necron scarab swarms!

But for 20 points less you can get three Rokkit buggies which out preform three TL Rokkit Koptas hands down

so i take it that no matter what you want to take them all (3 koptas) in seperate units? is there a scenario where multiple koptas in a single unit can be effective?

General_Chaos wrote:But for 20 points less you can get three Rokkit buggies which out preform three TL Rokkit Koptas hands down

Save for the fact that they cant assault.

And they can't turbo boost for a 3++ cover. (Obscurement is not as good)

They also cannot ignore terrain like a jetbike.

Their profile is also lower, which makes it harder than a kopta to screen other models.

Aside from that thought, they out perform Koptas with no LD worries and being able to leave assault.
Overall though I perfer koptas, but its all a matter of what you perfer

Automatically Appended Next Post:

stu192 wrote:so i take it that no matter what you want to take them all (3 koptas) in seperate units? is there a scenario where multiple koptas in a single unit can be effective?

In my horde army I took 2 units of 3, and found great success with them.

I deepstruck a ironclad dreadnought behind an enemy leman russ, unleashed a meltagun and 2 hunter killer missiles into its side armour...all failed. AH WELL! next turn I will assault it and get str 10 +1 on damage table and it'll be screwed. Nope, allied deff kopters came in and hit my DNs rear armour. Destroyed.

Bad things happen. Never will i doubt ork BS again.

Jaon wrote:I deepstruck a ironclad dreadnought behind an enemy leman russ, unleashed a meltagun and 2 hunter killer missiles into its side armour...all failed. AH WELL! next turn I will assault it and get str 10 +1 on damage table and it'll be screwed. Nope, allied deff kopters came in and hit my DNs rear armour. Destroyed.

Bad things happen. Never will i doubt ork BS again.

55% to hit per shot. Moving 12" and firing up to 24" Str 8, AP 3.
Those numbers are no joke. The scout move turbo boost + 12" normal move means you can get shot shots on most armor.
Unlike the buzzsaw trick, your models are likely to live for a 2nd or 3rd round of shooting. I'm not saying the buzzsaw trick is useless (its not, its a good trick), I'm saying that there are other good uses for koptas.
If you have 2 squads of 5 koptas, they can put good pressure on enemy MCs before you have to commit your boys to the fight as well. While the PK is great, with only 3 attacks a turn (4 on the charge), and a 50% hit rate vs WS 4 or greater, the extra few wounds you can throw on a 'fex at range will lower the damage done to your boys.

Yeah but for the points you cant beat what you can do with 1 buzzkopta.

It's also worth pointing out that they're 2W T4(5) models that have enough equipment options to diversify an entire squad of 5. In a defensive sense, they're basically Nob Bikers that fly.

alanedomain wrote:they're basically Nob Bikers that fly.

That's kinda of a stretch there...

General_Chaos wrote:

alanedomain wrote:they're basically Nob Bikers that fly.

That's kinda of a stretch there...

That's why I said that they're "Nob Bikers that fly" defensively, as in they're just as hard to kill as diversified Nob Bikers are. They lack the offensive punch of Nobz, of course, by virtue of not being S4, but otherwise the statline is the same, and Koptas can turboboost more easily since they ignore terrain. Only major downsides are that they max out at 5 members in a squad, and they can't ever be Troops, sure, but they're still valuable and can easily be much harder to kill than is assumed for a "suicide unit."