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.

So I have read Threads on Burnas, Lootas, Nobs, Boys, Kommandos, Ard Boys, Defkoptas, Trukks, Battlewagons, even Flash Gits but, never storm boys why is that?

Does anybody every use them, any reasons why or why not?

They are a bit expensive and their SC isnt very good.

However I have heard good stories of them terrain hopping till they're in range of jumping on something.

It all depends how they fit in your list

I have tried, tried and tried again with storm boys. My conclusion, I am now over them.
Are they useful, sure, sometimes. They can be amazingly fast, and thus good at quickly delivering a PK. Zagstruk is expensive, but really ramps up the units capabilities.
They are extremely glass jawed though, which is not good for them being twice the cost of a normal boy.

They are often compared to Trukk boyz.
Trukkers are cheaper, have waaaagh!, have 2 heavy weapons between them and the trukk, are troops, and actually have a bit longer assault range when waaaghing (13+2+d6+6=22"-to-27") BUT, have a smaller max unit size, and if their trukk is immobilized or destroyed early, they are walking.
Stormboyz have deepstrike (very risky without Zag), don't have a transport they are dependent on, have a larger max unit size, can jump over things, BUT, no waaagh!, shorter assault range compared to waaaghing trukkers (12+d6+6=19-to-24), no heavy weapons, don't usually handle area terrain as-well, are more costly, not troops.

The biggies are the cost and not being troops.

I've tried proxying them (I had at one point debated on buying them) and found out that they are really only good if you take them to screen other units, or make an out flanking list (commanos with snickrot, deffkoptas, ect) but even that is debatable, it performed good but not tournament worthy, was fun tho.

Well now I know. Those are some pretty good points, I guess I was hoping for some unspoken understanding that they just worked but, I guess looking at it, there do seem to be better units. I just thought the idea of getting a larger group than 12 guys across the table sounded cool.

I love them! I actually ust painted 4 of them today and kitbashed a nob too . I use them partnered with Trukk boyz as a way to get more bodies on the field. I think my favorite perspective on them is: "Don't think of them as double priced boyz. Think of them as boyz that take up a fast attack slot."

My troops are maxed out with five Trukks and a Grot mob, and I still thought I didn't have enough boyz so I went and put some stormboyz in my list and never looked back. Very rarely do they under perform and they almost always make it across the field as they are screened by Trukks and under a KFF.

They're not the best unit in the codex and they don't fit every list, but, if you build your list around them, they can be supremely effective.

jayjester wrote:
They are often compared to Trukk boyz.
Trukkers are cheaper, have waaaagh!, have 2 heavy weapons between them and the trukk, are troops, and actually have a bit longer assault range when waaaghing (13+2+d6+6=22"-to-27") BUT, have a smaller max unit size, and if their trukk is immobilized or destroyed early, they are walking.
Stormboyz have deepstrike (very risky without Zag), don't have a transport they are dependent on, have a larger max unit size, can jump over things, BUT, no waaagh!, shorter assault range compared to waaaghing trukkers (12+d6+6=19-to-24), no heavy weapons, don't usually handle area terrain as-well, are more costly, not troops.

Stormboyz do waaagh, sort of. It's an extra d6 inches of movement, and you lose a boy if you roll a 1. Stormboyz are effectively orks with jump packs that waaagh every single turn, with the bonus of being able to fire a few slugga shots on the way in.

I use stormboyz most games, from 12 to 20, and they're almost always tactically beneficial to me. They work well as counter-assault units if you have lootas or some other form of gunline, especially. A small suicide squad has a pretty fair chance at popping a light transport or two, and a larger squad works well as a counter to high-mobility targets like bikes & jetbikes, or enemy jump infantry. Their advantage over boyz in transports is that their mobility cannot be destroyed. They can still be used last-minute objective contention after all your vehicles have been destroyed.

Sometimes I make a flank of 3 rokkit buggies screening 20 stormboyz, which seem to synergize well with each other. The buggies cover the stormboyz, and do their best to pop some transports for the stormboyz to swoop in on.

The thing to remember about storm boyz is they are the ork boyz with the fastest jump pack in the game. They have no other advantage than that.

That being said if you want to have unit of boyz actually make it into combat relatively intact, stormboyz can do that. Something that horde boyz (get shot up moving across board) or truk boyz (truck are destroyed by bolters... then they lose 1/3 the squad to the explosion that happens 2/3 of the time) can't really pull off.

If you want them to be able to do anything, you of course have to take a full squad of 20. This lets you take some wounds, and still have enough attacks to beat most troop level squads. Will they be able to stop a dedicated assault unit? No. But they are good at taking out small squads, troops, and devastator type units so the rest of your army is doesn't take as much fire. Also, if you take them, don't limit yourself to just one squad. I've found that 2 squads of 20 with Nob w/bosspole and PK is just starting to saturate most opponents to deal with real turn 2 threats (and not the turn 2 whaaargh that happens to idiots playing against foot horde).

After the first combat they engage in, even if they win, they won't be in shape for another combat probably. So the best thing to do with them in that case is to hide them, and then use them as last minute contesting.

I personally really like them but they do take up the same slots as buggies, which IMHO are pretty good, and koptas, which in other peoples opinions are pretty good. So like quite a few ork units, if you want to take them in the needed quantities, you must sacrifice other good units to fit them in. The competition for the elite and FA attacks slots (where all the good stuff is) can be pretty fierce.

Looks like the jury is out on this one. I guess I will have to try feilding a unit and see what I can get done with them

When i've used orks i've taken them as a distraction unit.

Either shoots those stormboyz or shoot the main horde coming your way.

That being said if your playing an ork army with alot of back table shooting units like lootaz or cannonz then storm boys are a decent interception unit to provide the punch that these units generally lack.
Also i find there very good at picking of small units or lone Rear AV:10 vehicles on the flanks. If the cover is decent this unit can mop up a unit, if the combat takes 2 player turns then all the better as you can then charge something else without getting shot again.

Rusty, make sure you proxy them first. They work well in large units and are fairly expensive, so it's worth trying before you buy.

yeah, I will have to prox them out first, I can see where they would be usefull, but I also see where how the table is laid out and how the rest of your points are spent would directly effect them

RustyNails wrote:I also see where how the table is laid out and how the rest of your points are spent would directly effect them

As it does with everything!

Stormboys are a tool to deliver Zagstruk. Go with a small unit to deliver this to save points.
Zagstruk has 4 base attacks, and on a turn he charges he counts as having a PK that strikes at I4, for 5 STR 9 attacks! As he can assault the turn he deep strikes ....

Zagstruk is your sniper to assassinate a target of opportunity.
Is there a 'Russ that did not move last turn? 5 Autohitting PK hits will take care of it.
Are there 3 dual-scatterlaser war walkers tearing apart your army? Zagstruk is the cure to that problem!
Is there 1 bike left in a squad that just turbo-boosted away to deny you VPs? Zagstruk can fix that fast!
Is there a necron lord who needs to be removed from play? Zagstruk is your go-to guy.
etc... etc... etc...

Actually I would prefer to get Stormboyz without Zagstruk. It's the unit's mobility that is useful about them. They're d6" faster than a regular jump pack unit.

Melissia wrote:Actually I would prefer to get Stormboyz without Zagstruk. It's the unit's mobility that is useful about them. They're d6" faster than a regular jump pack unit.

True. Zag is just a big pointsink. Too bad warbosses cant have a jump pack

kenshin620 wrote:True. Zag is just a big pointsink. Too bad warbosses cant have a jump pack

85 points is a big pointsink?

Love me some Stormboyz but Zagstuck sucks because you have to deepstrike your chances of actually getting the assault off is about equal to your chance at mishaping, so your wasting Stormboyz greatest strength which is getting into combat FAST

labmouse42 wrote:

kenshin620 wrote:True. Zag is just a big pointsink. Too bad warbosses cant have a jump pack

85 points is a big pointsink?

Yes.

No one mentioned how cool looking storm boys are?

LunaHound wrote:No one mentioned how cool looking storm boys are?

Tsk! Coolness has no place in the current meta game.

I have seen Zagstruk and a full unit of Stormboyz deliver the goods and I have seen them fail miserably. The same way I have seen termies and any other current deep striking units work.

85 points for Zaggy still strikes me as good value if you are prepared to run the risk.

notabot187 wrote:

labmouse42 wrote:

kenshin620 wrote:True. Zag is just a big pointsink. Too bad warbosses cant have a jump pack

85 points is a big pointsink?

Yes.

What are nob bikers then? The US national debt?

We may be talking about apples and oragnes, so lets cover the definition of "Point Sink". If it means something else to each of us, then we might both be right, but just talking about something else.

Point Sink :
Something bought in your army that takes a large percentage of your points. Usually 20% or above.
This often is in the form of a deathstar unit, such as thunderwolves, but can also be in the form of a large squad with attached character, such as 10 meganobs with a warboss in a battlwagon.

The main tactical purposes of a pointsink of to either deliver a massive distribution of points of a small area (ie deathstar) to crush whatever it is put against, or to achieve a specific tactical purpose (shrike with 10 assault termies)

As such, 145 points for Zag and 5 stormboyz are not a point sink in any games over 750 points. Calling them such would be akin to calling 7 scout marines objective camping a "huge point sink"

How do you define "point sink"?

If you playing fun friendly game where you can gamble on your unit to mishap and get delay or destroyed then go for it. But if you looking to win at a competitive game I would leave Zagstuck at home because he's something you can't count on.

labmouse: What are Nob Bikers, then?

Scoring. And personally I think Nob Bikers are a points sink too nowadays, but the, I cordially dislike nobs in general because they're so overused everyone's adapted their tectics for them anyway.

Melissia wrote:labmouse: What are Nob Bikers, then?

Scoring. And personally I think Nob Bikers are a points sink too nowadays, but the, I cordially dislike nobs in general because they're so overused everyone's adapted their tectics for them anyway.

Cute answer.

kenshin620 wrote:They are a bit expensive and their SC isnt very good.

However I have heard good stories of them terrain hopping till they're in range of jumping on something.

It all depends how they fit in your list

This is really true. I have 2o of them for my Ork army and I terrain hop them to get into position. The best tactic I have used with them is when I go second against an assault army I take two squads of ten and jump them forward alongside a battlewagon w/ Nobz or Burnas+KFF Mek. This way the enemy has three strong/fast units right in there face at the end of turn 1 that they can not ignore. This leaves the rest of my boyz (who are always on foot in my army) time to move up on the enemy. But for the most part, if you want to run Storm Boyz you have to be really committed to running them or you'll hate every second of it.

would you rather have a boy with a jump pack or 2 boyz without? especialyy since 1/6 stormboyz die? yea. thats right.

stompydakka wrote:would you rather have a boy with a jump pack or 2 boyz without? especialyy since 1/6 stormboyz die? yea. thats right.

Rokkit packs will kill, on average, one stormboy a game. I feel that's a fair trade for the fastest jump packs in the game. And when my troop slots are all full, I'd gladly pay a measly 12pts for the fastest jump infantry in the game. Stormboyz will not work in every list, but they will perform exceptionally if you focus your list around them.

He's not a point sink, he's just a more expensive option that's less effective. Like buying lootas and paying extra for them to be rokkit launcher meks. The 40 pt klaw nob is more reliable.