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Recently i've tried out vulcha boyz in a test game in vassal - cause i think bout converting some stormboyz from boyz + rokkits. That was a friendly game vs an ig player with a not-very optimised list that contained:

Lists:


Long story short, stormboyz came in turn 2 and with just a d6 scatter, were fine and reliable. I was lucky and they ran 4 inches - enough to spread vs blasts and flamers - decided not to loose 1/7 of the large squad emidiately with 2d6 run. Since i had a MAN'z missile on his one flank and vulcha boyz on another one, he had to split fire, however, easilly downed 22 vulcha boyz so that there were 9 left.
I was lucky to pass Zag's ld8 - cause otherwise with a +2 to mob rule, they'd have 5/6 to flee. However, they passed. I called WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! and the guyz made a 12 + 2d6 run + 2d6 charge with 'ere we go. Resulting in a swooping 28' charge cause i rolled 8' on a run and 8' on a charge. They got to the tanks and won me the loosing game (flamer stormtroopers were deadly precise, manz got pinned for 1 turn and pasknisher...well, you know - killy as usual).

I've counted and the average stormboy'z charge is somewhere around 25-29' on the WAAAAGH!

So, this made me think of fielding just a squad of regular stormboyz without zag - cause, firstly, i don't have enough ork bodies for a larger squad, and need to find Zag himself. Secondly, the durability per point is quite poor. Deepstriking 6+ armored guyz that cost 9 ppm and having gone below 10, rely explictrly on ld8 and 1/6 to pass mob rule afterwards is not great in a footslogging list that i currently field. They need target saturation which footsloggas can't really provide vs a defensive shooty army by the time they might arrive on turn 2.

But a single ~10-strong deepstriking squad may be lucky enough to go to the flank behind blos if there is gona be space and appropriate terrain. Or just swoop across the board from cover to cover and synchronise their unexpectedly long charge with approaching footslogging boyz to bring this extra pk where neede or take down an enemy vehicle within this enormous charge range.

Your thoughts?

I find stormboyz are best used when not deepstriking. Use them as an alpha strike unit on turn one if your opponent takes a single step into no mans land, or use them for a guaranteed turn two charge, especially on a waaagh which'll give them a 36" potential threat range.

Also, Zagstruk is worth it only if you use your rokkit packs in the assault phase rather than movement phase. That S8 AP2 auto hit at I10 is great and totally unexpected. Use it to murder unsuspecting enemy characters in challenges.

I wouldn't run the Vulcha skwadron unless I had like, 50+ stormboyz to deep strike, because as you said, they just aren't durable enough, and because of the Ghazghull mob table, they lose their staying power. Just run them as Fast Attack rather than the Formation. It's not worth the price you pay just to deep strike more accurately if you aren't running an obscene amount of stormboyz.

On the other hand, this 2d6 move can be great to mitigate deepstrike scatters and minimise blast damage.

Are you forced to take ld check if you loose 25% models during your own shooting phase, btw?

I forget, how does the rule read for not getting Hammer of Wrath hits after using the rokkit packs? I don't have a rulebook with me. Does it explicitly say 'during the movement phase,' or does it say if they're used at all you can't HoW? I think you may have just found a nice little loophole if they're relatively close enough already... during a WAAGHH turn, you can move them 6" WAAAGHH 2d6, then still get the HoW on the charge because you didn't use the packs during the movement phase. Though this depends completely on how that's worded

It wouldn't be the first time I misinterpreted rules. But it does appear that stormboyz can;

-Move 6 Inches in movement phase
(In conjuction with Warboss Waaagh)
-Use Rokkit Pack in shooting phase for 2d6 inches
-Use Jump Pack to Assault up to 2d6 inches with HoW and a assault range reroll due to jump unit rules.

ED7 pg 65
Codex Orkz pg 98

not to make it a YMDC of course.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
I would also assume they could use jump pack in movement phase to move 12". A waaagh could be called, use rokkit pack to move 2d6" in shooting phase, and then assault 2d6" in assault phase while rerolling one die because of the 'ere we go special rule. Losing HoW attacks but gaining 6" in the movement phase for the loss of a reroll die in assault.

How many were you going to kill with a handful of str3 attacks anyways : \
I guess that is the decision to weigh.

I am itching to use them.. but 2 stormboyz= a bike so why am I not taking a bike?
Without the formation the units only real hitting power is 1 nob, easily challenged etc.
With the formation you pay for captain useless and you have to deepstrike. That means your best chance is a turn 3 assault when the rest of your army can easily hit enemy lines by turn two.

I can see a use for them in a footslogging army where you want more bodies and a fast harassment unit.

I think they are for beefing up your numbers behind a wall of truck boys. Bikes are more survivable if being shot at but if you want a turn two assault you could get soo many more attacks than bikes and with a Waaagh the stormboys could be moving a long way.

 sn0zcumb3r wrote:
I am itching to use them.. but 2 stormboyz= a bike so why am I not taking a bike?

Cause stormboyz have 2d6 extra threat range on the WAAAAGH!

 sn0zcumb3r wrote:
Without the formation the units only real hitting power is 1 nob, easily challenged etc.

Same with bikers, really. We're talking not about a deathstar with bosses and painboyz but of a small supportive squad.

 sn0zcumb3r wrote:
I can see a use for them in a footslogging army where you want more bodies and a fast harassment unit.

That's what i'm talking about! I think they're a bit underrated. Basically, Stormboyz are somewhat a sidegrade of what they used to be. Point cost dropped from 12 to 9 but loose d6 extra movement and gain extra d6 running with 1/7 death rate.

I can see the synergy of a small ~10 strong stormboyz squad with pk nob and a footslogging horde. They both aim for turn 3 WAAAGH! and with this extra 2d6 run move compared to bikes, they're easier to hide and remain a realistic 25-30' threat. Besides, they don't need to ride around impassable terrain and your own forces.