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.

Just ordered some Mek Guns (not the actual, they are way too expensive, a nice proxy). I want to add a unit of ~12 Lootas to my ~3 Mek Guns, but I'm wondering if I should double up on the Mek Guns. I know they both have different profiles, bu which do you guys like for general TAC lists?

Well, smart Ork players run a double CAD for maximum HQ coverage. I'd run 7-8 Lootas and a unit of Mek Gunz in each.

 Lord Corellia wrote:
Well, smart Ork players run a double CAD for maximum HQ coverage. I'd run 7-8 Lootas and a unit of Mek Gunz in each.

Right on. Is 10+ better than 7-8 Lootas? 10+ is the recommended unit size I've seen.

I like the mek gunz better than the lootas personally but that is mostly due to my lootas hating me. I am interested to see what people suggest because I may have to try it.

I realize it's a rather rare opinion, but I honestly don't really like lootas. Easily killed, easily broken, expensive, and unreliable. I prefer tankbustas for anti-vehicle (though they have the most of the same survivability issues as lootas), and almost anything else for anti-infantry. Plus, tankbustas only take up the near-useless elites slot, and therefore don't compete for HS slots with mek guns.

Mek guns, on the other hand, are tough, cheap, and pack a solid punch.

For a general-purpose list, I'll go for mek guns every time.

I'm curious about what you're using as a proxy. There's a couple good youtube videos of people making them out of trukk parts, which I've tried to good effect.

And I LOVE tau ion cannons for converting mek guns, if you can get your hands on any.

 Kap'n Krump wrote:
I realize it's a rather rare opinion, but I honestly don't really like lootas. Easily killed, easily broken, expensive, and unreliable. I prefer tankbustas for anti-vehicle (though they have the most of the same survivability issues as lootas), and almost anything else for anti-infantry. Plus, tankbustas only take up the near-useless elites slot, and therefore don't compete for HS slots with mek guns.

Mek guns, on the other hand, are tough, cheap, and pack a solid punch.

For a general-purpose list, I'll go for mek guns every time.

I'm curious about what you're using as a proxy. There's a couple good youtube videos of people making them out of trukk parts, which I've tried to good effect.

And I LOVE tau ion cannons for converting mek guns, if you can get your hands on any.

http://www.amazon.com/Tamiya-3-7cm-Anti-Tank-Gun/dp/B000WN5A0K

This is my current proxy. Some extra bitz and it is ready for action.

Love my Mek Gunz. I agree, Tankbustas + Mek Gunz > Lootas.

I <3 mek gunz.

I like the traktor kannonz, and KMK, but honestly for me I prefer to take just kannons. They are just so cheap for the Str8 shot at range with BS3 and artillery toughness. Throw in an ammo runt for each and i'm happy.

I have about 25 lootas, and just rarely use them.

Collecting Mek Gunz, as soon as I get enough, I'm gonna stop using my Lootas.

Both Lootas and Mek Guns have worked well for me in the past, and I'd usually run both in the same list, though for me they face stiff competition from Battlewagons.

Mek Guns are cheap enough to stick in practically any list, so I usually run 2-3 Traktor Cannons to take down enemy fliers and to protect my own. However, they're near useless when not facing flyers or skimmers, so I don't like to take too many.

Whilst many peoples' concerns over Lootas are well founded, I still find them a very effective and, most importantly, flexible unit. The latter part is why I take a unit of 8 or so in every list. They can threaten Infantry, light tanks, flyers and other units of above average toughness such as MCs and bikes. And they can do all this from a good range, bunkered in some ruins or behind an ADL, sat on a home objective. Considering the rest of my list rushes forwards, this shouldn't be overlooked.

However, I've had very poor luck with tankbustas. I did hear, on this forum, that they were quite good and so I gave them a go. However, I feel that BS2, combined with so few shots, makes their damage output very low. You basically rely on the bomb squigs to do the damage. Also, their relatively short range and lack of durability forces you to put them in a Trukk to make them at least a little bit effective, which only increases their cost.

To me they perform different functions and a direct comparison isnt the best. However, as they do share a slot they can be compared in that regard. In which I then think Mek Gunz>lootas.

However, lootas imo;

1 loota (14pts) = 2 shoota boyz (14pts)
Both have same stats, except the trade off is one has 4 Str 4 shots at 18", the other has 1-3 Str 7 shots at 48".

When looked at in this regard I actually like to use lootas aggressively, yeh when 1 dies you've lost 2 shoota boyz, but combine that unit with a MegaMek and not only can you move shoot and charge without penalty, but you have a nice 2+ at the front. I used a unit of these to smash a centurion squad with a librarian to pieces (I had weakened them before with a couple other units fire).

IMO, if you are trying to keep orks alive then your thinking about them wrong, they are all expendable. Units of 9 for min size, 25% = 3 dead. Max of 13, 25% = 4.


Mek gunz on the otherhand;
Cheap enough and output some serious damage, lobbas are great for AI duty, with plenty of ammo runts. KMK's great at dealing with tougher units.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall I like both and use them dependant on the list type. Although I think lootas need more planning with the list than mek gunz and adding a battery of KMK's is always a great addition.

I wouldn't say that lootas are inferior to Mek Gunz. They just fulfill different roles - lootas are for long range support and taking out light vehicles and flyers, Mek Guns (I run mostly KMKs) - for dealing with 2+ saves and heavy vehicles. I wold say they work best together. Tankbustas are also cool for Tank Hunting, but too short ranged for my taste. Still great suicide squads.

Recently I've taken to running loota spam lists. It originally started as a joke but it was wining and oftentimes dominating games with volume of dice. I take 6 squads of 10 lootas. Sometimes with fortification support

Right on. Thanks for the input guys. I just got 3 Kannons and 12 Lootas and figure I'll fun them both and see what I like more

Its kinda up for debate which is better but i never leave home without a full squad of Lobbas, regardless of my opponent. The ability to snipe out Lascannon fethers, bombard numbers, or pressure a character is just too awesome. All for 90pts!

Lootas are technically stronger....ok a lot stronger lol...but they cost a bit more and are way easier to remove. I used to take them every game last dex more because i could since they were elites, now days i dont really care since theyre heavy. Theyre still stupid easy to remove. Any ignores cover weapon or something similar to their own rate of fire and their done.

Lobbas require a charge or heavy weapons to take out reliably. Its quite common my lobbas go unbothered because the only gun that can reach them has way more important targets to deal with (MANz, battlewagons, etc) and usually gets snuffed out before he can anyway. Last game i had was against Blood Angels and i managed to snipe both his lascannons out of his heavy guns squad (whatever it was called for BA) turn 1, so he had nothing except heavy bolters left that could reach them lol.

I view my lobbas about the same i view my Tau Piranhas. Theyre cheap and annoying as gak, but durable enough to make you waste your time getting rid of them. Whether you ignore them or kill them i win because i either get free table fire or i wasted a ton of your units' time.

There is some problem with lobbas. Yep - they are tough to shooters. But they die if one MEQ comes in CC. So you need to screen them or add MA bigmek. Which is cool but doubles their price. I know there is not a lot units capable to reach them soon but playing against Tomb Blade made me think not to use them at all.
Actually i think the best HS choice is battlewagon. Coz you'll need that metalbawkses to drive your punchy boys in the enemy lines, or protect your shooty but squishy gitz like FlashGitz or tankbustaz

Battlewagons fill a totally different role than lobbas/lootas though, which is the problem here. Battlewagons are absolutely terrible in the dakka department, even with the Killkannon price cut.

Also i have literally only had my Lobbas get caught in melee once without me losing the game before it happened anyway. And that was because a lone surviving Assault Marine from BA decided to take a 3turn safe route and assault my lobbas. Yes he succeeded but it was already Turn5 and i was decimating the rest of his army lol.

Mek guns are incredibly good bullet magnets with tons of cheap T7 wounds and decently good dakka. Sure they die to CC but realistically they aren't getting charged until turn 3 at the earliest and any potential turn 2 charge attempt is probably going to be intercepted by all your boyz, bikers, meganobz, etc that would love to have an over extended target to shoot and charge into. KMK, Lobbas, and Kannons are the 3 good mek guns. Traktor kannon is great against flyers but if there aren't any flyers then its useless so its hard to fit it into a TAC when lootas and tankbustas are well rounded and can handle AA duties as well.

Lootas are still dirt cheap auto cannon spam and gives some much needed range high strength shooting that the Orks desperately need on the battlefield. They are quite good at proving fire support to soften up targets and force jinking which lets your melee units get stuck in against a weakened enemy. They also allow you to have a greater threat range against vehicles that would opt to deploy away from your tankbustas. Tankbustas are way better if they are close enough but more mobile threats can keep away from tankbustas so its nice to have a unit that can camp a ruins and cover most of the board. Tankbustas also tend to get targeted 1st and its harder to keep them safe while getting to the enemy. Lootas can park in heavy cover which can be quite difficult to dislodge (especially if you have the city fighting strategic trait which most any Ork army taking a CAD will go for).

I generally dislike lootas but there are some cases when they are actually better than mek guns. Mek guns have limited range and the best mek guns are those with blasts, so there's even less stuff to have at least something vs flyers.
Bustas are much better than lootas but they once again have range issues and thus need transports. Not all lists can effectively utilise bustas.

Next game i'm gona test out lootas with a bunker. The idea is that i want to shoot my dls megaboss with a bunch of shootaboyz up the field using an escape hatch, so that there's gona be plenty of space for one squad to fit inside later on. I'm planning to get lootas inside after warboss goes away. Yep, lootas will have to snapshoot for a turn but that's preferable to loosing them emidiately to enemy fire. I figured lootas are the best unit for a bunker in our dex.

Btw, how many shooting points do this bunkers have? 8?

 koooaei wrote:


Next game i'm gona test out lootas with a bunker. The idea is that i want to shoot my dls megaboss with a bunch of shootaboyz up the field using an escape hatch, so that there's gona be plenty of space for one squad to fit inside later on. I'm planning to get lootas inside after warboss goes away. Yep, lootas will have to snapshoot for a turn but that's preferable to loosing them emidiately to enemy fire. I figured lootas are the best unit for a bunker in our dex.

Btw, how many shooting points do this bunkers have? 8?

WoM Imperial Bunker has 2 fire points, each allowing 4 models to shoot. So total of 8. That's probably the cheapest option for max unit shooting. Its also a medium building so allows for 20 models inside; so a nice DLS boss with a shoota boyz unit.

The issue i have is that 6" per turn is too slow even with an escape hatch. I've tried out Ghazzy + council and they didn't manage to reach anyone. Was facing eldar. However, i got stupidly lucky and Ghazzy made a large blob of jetbikes and a jetseer run off the board turn one with his bigshoota. But than all i did was moving forward and loosing nobz to 2 D knights never being able to catch up anything. Orkses won a game though. This eldar guy did really bad. He was basically holding back and shooting D and s6 at Ghazzy + Nobz and i saved quite a lot with a MFF. So, basically barely won thanks to extreme luck, bad opponent and even more luck.

Anywayz, want to try it out once again to see if a cheaper yet slower unit does better. Might also try a bunch of meganobz this way. Will probably have to go for Ghazzy detachment and run MFF mek with a fearless bosspole. 9 meganobz and a MFF mek will be a ton of fun. Unless i face tau, sm or d-scythes...

As for lootas = 2 shootaboyz but shootier...Why not try to make a megaboss + loota star with an escape hatch? However, i'm afraid tankbustas are gona be better there anywayz.

 koooaei wrote:
The issue i have is that 6" per turn is too slow even with an escape hatch. I've tried out Ghazzy + council and they didn't manage to reach anyone. Was facing eldar. However, i got stupidly lucky and Ghazzy made a large blob of jetbikes and a jetseer run off the board turn one with his bigshoota. But than all i did was moving forward and loosing nobz to 2 D knights never being able to catch up anything. Orkses won a game though. This eldar guy did really bad. He was basically holding back and shooting D and s6 at Ghazzy + Nobz and i saved quite a lot with a MFF. So, basically barely won thanks to extreme luck, bad opponent and even more luck.

Anywayz, want to try it out once again to see if a cheaper yet slower unit does better. Might also try a bunch of meganobz this way. Will probably have to go for Ghazzy detachment and run MFF mek with a fearless bosspole. 9 meganobz and a MFF mek will be a ton of fun. Unless i face tau, sm or d-scythes...

Yeh, you can't charge out of it right? As repel the enemy only works for access points not hatch I believe? I think its best suited for a shooty unit? So a big shoota blob could work well. Maybe if you centred objectives near or around it you could draw them to it before using the hatch?

If we're only choosing between Lootas and Mek guns...mek guns. Specifically Lobbas in full units or kmks.

If I get to choose my favorite? It's Flashgitz. Hands down best shooting we have as orks.

FratHammer wrote:
If we're only choosing between Lootas and Mek guns...mek guns. Specifically Lobbas in full units or kmks.

If I get to choose my favorite? It's Flashgitz. Hands down best shooting we have as orks.

Really? I thought a lot of people didn't like them because A) you have to stop to use your Gitfinda and B) their range is rather short.

I'd say Lootas, mostly because moving them doesn't really impact their shooting that much.

Personally, I take mix of both Lootas and Mek Kannons KBK. I usually put a Big Mek with SAG in the squad to help with leadership.

I like running/having both in my collection. I can change it up or often times run both. I'll set up a small firebase with lootas and mek gunz supported by a big mek.

 jreilly89 wrote:

FratHammer wrote:
If we're only choosing between Lootas and Mek guns...mek guns. Specifically Lobbas in full units or kmks.

If I get to choose my favorite? It's Flashgitz. Hands down best shooting we have as orks.

Really? I thought a lot of people didn't like them because A) you have to stop to use your Gitfinda and B) their range is rather short.

The good thing about Flashgitz is that they don't need models. If they're not inside a transport or a building, they're allready dead.

The only way to show them off is to run them with a mega-character in front.

I usually take 5 lobbas, with full runts and grots. I also like 9 or so lootas and a battlewaggon for the tankbustas.

The lobbas always get their points back, sometimes spectacularly so. The lootas have to work the whole game to do that, but frequently die turn 1.

 koooaei wrote:

 jreilly89 wrote:

FratHammer wrote:
If we're only choosing between Lootas and Mek guns...mek guns. Specifically Lobbas in full units or kmks.

If I get to choose my favorite? It's Flashgitz. Hands down best shooting we have as orks.

Really? I thought a lot of people didn't like them because A) you have to stop to use your Gitfinda and B) their range is rather short.

The good thing about Flashgitz is that they don't need models. If they're not inside a transport or a building, they're allready dead.

The only way to show them off is to run them with a mega-character in front.

Yeh for me flashgitz need something extra like a character, every time they have been shot at you just lose so many points. I do love them, but its an unconditional kinda love, not an ecstatic pride love