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I'm looking for some tactics regarding the use of tankbustas. I know that lootas are the preferred choice here but, I'm not a huge fan of their static feel (I run mainly kos style lists). I'm not looking for a lootas vs tankbustas debate but, instead, to hear from anyone who uses them regularly and competitively and how they employ them.

They are pretty good with a Kan Wall. If you do it just right you can even block LOS with the Kans to funnel their "Glory Hogs" rule.

If your enemy doesn't have vehicles you get unshackled and can go nuts. A TB mob makes a mess of monstrous creatures.

If you need them somewhere fast you can always take a TrukBoyz mob, steal their Truk for the TB and then they have a fast transport. Run it where you want it and have them jump out and lay waste.

If you have them in a list with a bunch of high priority targets then the enemy will have to make tough choices like "Do I try to save my vehicles from the TB or the three Boyz in Trukks bearing down on me?" so think about the list as a whole. As a Kan enthusiast I find if you run them with a shooty Kan Mob or three they complement them well shooting through the holes in the Kan mob.

I'm torn between running them with a Nob or just getting more of them. The Nob lets you get a Bosspole and he can keep the Rokkit so it's not all bad, but then you end up paying 15+ points for a reroll on LD that's really only good for losses in the shooting phase. The PK Nob is good if you get jumped but mostly if the Tankbustas end up in assault with anything but a vehicle you've done something wrong.

If you have them in a list with a bunch of high priority targets then the enemy will have to make tough choices like "Do I try to save my vehicles from the TB or the three Boyz in Trukks bearing down on me?"

I've been thinking of doing exactly what your talking about here. My newest list runs 2 battlewagons, 4 trukks, and a looted wagon with tankbustas(nob with pk and 2 tank hammers). The hope is this relatively inexpensive unit (150pts w/ looted wagon) can go largely ignored then have them hop out and smash something big(6 S10 +4 S9 attacks).

The Green Git wrote:If your enemy doesn't have vehicles you get unshackled and can go nuts. A TB mob makes a mess of monstrous creatures.

That being said, they can do wonders against a Nid player, especially if they like to deepstrike a Trygon.

I use them from time to time, though usually only if my opponent isn't going too vehicle heavy, otherwise they can be kited. I just try and keep them behind my vehicles and kanz to block LOS until they're close enough.

, otherwise they can be kited.

I'm not sure why everyone always makes it sound like glory hogs works similarly to rage. They are only required to shoot and assault IF in los of a vehicle(not forced to attack or move towards the closest) and if you run them in a vehicle and move at crusing speed your not affected by either condition.

I'm kind of surprised at the lukewarm response to this unit. If I'm not mistaken didn't the second place contestant at adepticon run a unit of tankbustas in a looted wagon?

Admittedly, I haven't had a chance to run them personally yet(just finished making the unit) but, I thought that if you had HS slot available such a cheap unit(nob w/ pk and 2 tank hammers), with the ability to crack some of the bigger vehicle threats out there, would make an excellent addition to a kos style army.

This is very true, no rule states they must move towards a vehicle so no, they cannot be kited.

Also with 15 of them rocking around min 10-14 shots per turn, only AV14 is a challenge to them.

I've had the best luck rolling them around in a BW so they can get close to a valid target. On the charge those tank hammers can wreck pretty much anything, I like to give the Nob a tank hammer to take advantage of his attack and initiative value (absolutely priceless if you charge a dreadnought)

Really the only drawback to them is that they cost the same as Lootaz and compete for the same spot in the army list.

MannyMcCoconut wrote: I'm not looking for a lootas vs tankbustas debate but, instead, to hear from anyone who uses them regularly and competitively and how they employ them.

Your request is oxymoronic and self-defeating in nature. You're asking competitive players to tell you how they use an uncompetitive unit. The answer is that we don't put uncompetitive units into competitive armies and still call them competitive.

If you don't like Lootas because they are static and want something speedy for anti-tank, turn to Deffkoptas and bolster your Deffrolla count.

@dash
I don't feel that that's a fair assessment. Like I mentioned earlier, Andrew ferris took second place at adepticon with a list that ran 1 battlewagon, a bunch of trukks, and a looted vehicle with tankbustas in it. I certainly don't have your experience with tournaments but, is adepticon not as competitive as other tournaments(not being sarcastic I honestly don't know)? I know that tankbustas aren't a commonly used unit for competitive play however, when I saw andrew's list, I thought that perhaps there is another school of thought out there and those are the people I was looking to hear from.

Tankbusters: 15 pts each. 1 shot at BS 2
45 pts per rokkit hit.


Rokkit Buggies: 35 pts each. 1 TL shot at BS2
63 pts per rokkit hit


Rokkit Kans: 50 pts each. 1 shot at BS3
100 pts per rokkit hit.


Yes they are a the cheapest way to get Rokkit hits. You pay for this efficiency by losing control over the unit and having the least durable platform for the rokkit as well.
That efficiency is lost once you start paying for the Nob and PK, tank hammers, and a transport.


Lootas deal more damage to vehicles that are AV 12 or less.
The rokkits deal ID to T4 and have better AP; Perfect for FNP marines. Too bad that it is really hard to do as you are forced to shoot at vehicles.


If you are playing against Nids they are a great buy as you have control over them. They ID warriors and armor pen most of their MC's
If you are able to, you can limit their LOS with your transports so you can shoot at the targets you want to shoot at.
They are best in a battlewagon, but still not always good.

I see your point about their limitations as a shooting unit. What are your thoughts on them purely as an assault unit? I was thinking of throwing a unit of 5 in a looted wagon with nob + pk and 2 hammers. My list contains 2 bws, a bunch of trukks and other goodies. I was thinking that this would be an inexpensive, low threat unit with significant potential for busting some large threats.

For the pts and stats the Nob is better of with one of the Tankhammers.

Like I said, put them in a BW roll them to range against AV12-14 targets and assault where necessary.

MannyMcCoconut wrote:@dash
I don't feel that that's a fair assessment. Like I mentioned earlier, Andrew ferris took second place at adepticon with a list that ran 1 battlewagon, a bunch of trukks, and a looted vehicle with tankbustas in it. I certainly don't have your experience with tournaments but, is adepticon not as competitive as other tournaments(not being sarcastic I honestly don't know)? I know that tankbustas aren't a commonly used unit for competitive play however, when I saw andrew's list, I thought that perhaps there is another school of thought out there and those are the people I was looking to hear from.

Don't put overmuch stock into a single player placing in a tournament as as weighting method for something's utility. I win tournaments with Necrons - close combat Necrons no less. Does that make them good? HELL NO.

I don't know what Mr. Ferris played against, but of the armies I saw listed for having attended Adepticon, most of them were distinctly what I would call "semi-competitive" at best. An exceptional player can use subpar units and still perform well, which may be his case. It may also be that he also didn't match up against any "competitive" armies.

I'm neither saying bad nor good for this situation, just asking you not to read too much into it.

While I've not used Tankbustas, I think they can have certain roles. A good harrassment unit if used correctly can lend a hand in controlling where your opponent moves. So a good psychological tool if used right and poorly countered. A trukk would easily help them out to getting you where you want them.
As an assault unit, you'd want the Tankhammers and bomb squigs to really pack some punch when needed. You could take a PK/BP Nob leader but you'd be missing out on those rokkits at range. For assault it could be more handy.

More Dakka wrote:For the pts and stats the Nob is better of with one of the Tankhammers.

Like I said, put them in a BW roll them to range against AV12-14 targets and assault where necessary.

I think its a waste putting a tankhammer on the nob. Tankhammers automatically hit at str 10. So it would be wasting his higher strength.

I think tankbustas could be pretty good against AV14. Give them 2 tankhammers. In assault they are going to have 6 str10 attacks, as well as their tankbusta bombs (6+2D6). Tankbusta bombs have pretty good odds against AV14 (I did not mathhammer that, so I may be making stuff up), and with the str10 attacks, should be able to crack open a land raider.

The set up idea you have MannyMcCoconut I think is solid. Test it out and see how it goes.

PraetorDave wrote:

More Dakka wrote:For the pts and stats the Nob is better of with one of the Tankhammers.

Like I said, put them in a BW roll them to range against AV12-14 targets and assault where necessary.

I think its a waste putting a tankhammer on the nob. Tankhammers automatically hit at str 10. So it would be wasting his higher strength.

Nob with PK is S9 on the charge. Tankhammer is S10 always. When were talking about attacking vehicles the Tankhammer is not only free, but it lets you strike in initiative order (4 on the charge).

Also it doesn't auto hit, it just counts as 2 handed weapon that confers S10 in the assault phase.

Given the cost of a PK it's better to just take the free tank hammer on the Nob. Also since he is BS2 he's not losing anything by replacing his Rokkit Launcher.

More Dakka wrote:

PraetorDave wrote:

More Dakka wrote:For the pts and stats the Nob is better of with one of the Tankhammers.

Like I said, put them in a BW roll them to range against AV12-14 targets and assault where necessary.

I think its a waste putting a tankhammer on the nob. Tankhammers automatically hit at str 10. So it would be wasting his higher strength.

Nob with PK is S9 on the charge. Tankhammer is S10 always. When were talking about attacking vehicles the Tankhammer is not only free, but it lets you strike in initiative order (4 on the charge).

Also it doesn't auto hit, it just counts as 2 handed weapon that confers S10 in the assault phase.

Given the cost of a PK it's better to just take the free tank hammer on the Nob. Also since he is BS2 he's not losing anything by replacing his Rokkit Launcher.

Sorry I didn't mean to say that it automatically hit. I meant that it was always str10, instead of like the powerklaw where its Str4x2+1.

In this case, I would eschew the Nob all together. He really isn't adding much to the unit, and is just going to make an inexpensive unit less inexpensive. Because you can get str10 for free, a PK nob really isn't all that great, unlike say a boyz mob, where he is the only place to get high strength. Possibly the only reason to pay for one would be to get a bosspole, and even then the benefits are rather small (especially for the cost).

I have to agree that I fail to see the point in adding a nob to this unit. In any other case, it is to get a powerklaw in the mob. With the tankbustas, you can sport around 2 Str10 tankhammers. While I see the initiative issue making it potentially worthwhile, if there were 10 points laying around.

As for protecting them, definitely put in a vehicle so you can help control the glory hogs rule as well.

If you are footslogging, just put them in the 2nd ranks so they are at least getting a cover save. The only downside (please correct me if I am wrong) is that if they have LOS to a vehicle, they HAVE to shoot regardless of range. This means no running. So, now they are boggin down units behind them.

I doubt I would run in a competitive list, but at the FLGS, I would definitely do so to mix it up. Hell, put a weirdboy with them and hope for 'ere we go.

They have a place In most lists. I usually run 5 with 1 tankhammer and nob.
They usually are ignored because its a small unit but when you take out a land raider or because they're shielded from glory hogs they ID other Warbosses at other T5 IC the oppenent makes them number one on the list next game.