What to do with Nobs

[Boris420]

6th (ed) has done a number to our Orks for better or worse. I find that Nobs in boyz mobs are disappearing from lists here and there as the old hymn of "take nob with powerklaw and bosspole and the jobs a good 'un" for the hidden powerfist in 5th isn't working out so well in 6th.

*Biker Nobs are still fierce with the new T5 which kinda makes up for the nerf to FnP. Does anyone still take painboys? Or are you guys just taking eavy armor instead? Is anyone still equipping them differently?

*Big Choppa's dont negate any type of armor save but can be useful to take out light tanks. (still...WtF??? since when did a great big green ape with a chainsaw for a sword not be able to cut through even a t-shirt save?) Are Nobs on foot still as terrible of an idea as they were in 5th? Paper trukks are fragile for transportation as ever and battlewagons got nerfed as well, although last a helluva lot longer than looted wagons and trukks combined. A KFF Big Mek doesn't seem to go as far as it once did either way.

*All in all we Orks NEED powerklaws. I dont see the point of trying to hide them anymore in boyz mobs so it looks like taking pure nobs mobs are the way to go unless you want to tinker around with some Meganobs. How do you equip yours? There's been talk about using smaller squads of around 5 or so instead of the usual 7-8 we saw in 5th.

your tactical advice please!

[Terror of the East]

Im hoping for AP5 on ork choppas in the next FAQ - apparently khorne berserkers are getting that on their weapons... so makes fluffy sense especialy since they were once one and the same rule wise.

On tactics - im finding battlewagon and biker nob rush to be effective. its great at taking down characters and special weapons in shooting and devistating in assult. and with fnp and look out sir all over the place its nasty. also do upgrade to evey armour. its worth it.

[Latro_]

For the pts a nob is still a worthwhile basic upgrade, warbosses are now where its at with the Klaw

I used to take one on bike i'm gonna switch to two and drop the big mek with KFF.

[The_Klobb_Maniac]

Depends: Squad nobz? I'm one of the ones who in my recent experience has decided to advocate against them. They're a lot of points, no longer hidden, and as orks you have no protection! Someone challenges him you're going to lose him. Snipers, guys with decent numbers of attacks, overwatch, pile-in being 3", all of these really hurt the upgrade ones.

That said, squads of nobz are better than ever! FnP + Cybork gives you (essentially) a 55% chance of saving against S7 minus no matter the AP, meaning anyone not running fists will take awhile to kill them. Anyone with fists only kills as many as they used to, and that's assuming no bike. (keep in mind that FnP was buffed in most cases. Who was trying to take down your bikers with bolters?)

Battlewagons are still excellent and easier to fit into lists than ever.

Contrary to your belief, you can run an army just fine without Klaws now. I only have a squad of MANz and a couple in Storm boyz mobs (and even then, only at higher points levels like 2000+.) All those points are fitting more shooting firepower into my list than every and ensuring that every point of it is shooting non-stop. It's beautiful for a Flash Git like myself anymore.

I'm guessing this may have spawned from my other post in the tactica, so you know my reasons against Klaws:
-Termies are what we're supposed to avoid anyway
-Fnp is no longer negated on T5+. (Plagues and ICs were a big reason I took mine. Now most of them I care about are safe; if they weren't already with a 3++.)
-Fearless is no longer a draw-back, so no reason to tie combats as easily. Let your boyz take some bruises.


MANz received a giant buff against almost everyone out there. The only thing stopping them are AP2- ID causing shooting weapons or other fist squads. Not being killed before swinging is a huge huge huge deal IMO. I had a big squad of chaos termies charge them the other day, killing a mere 1 MAN on the charge. All those fists will probably pound something if I need to; but now that they don't counter things like Nob Bikers; what's the point? I may as well just upgrade a Warboss to MA and call it a day.

[Boris420]

Are you still equipping them differently? If so, what's their loadout? I like your idea of using 2 boss's and dropping the KFF. Also, if PK's aren't needed as much as they used to be, are you just using big choppas in your nob mobs? skorcha's? perhaps the later for overwatch?

[TywinLannister]

I played a 1500 pt game the other day against Eldar/Dark Eldar allies. Nobz were worth their weight in gold, the list was simple:

1x WARBOSS, Pk, Twin shoota, Attack squig, Cybork, eavy armour
11x NOB, 'eavy armour, sluggas, choppas (3 with PK)
1x PAINBOY all in TRUKK (This unit was kept in reserve)

1x BIG MEK, KFF, 'eavy armour

30x Slugga and choppa boyz, 3x Big Shootas, NOB, PK
30x Slugga and choppa boyz, 3x Big Shootas, NOB, PK

10x LOOTAS

5x NOB BIKERS, 2xPK
1x PAIN BOY

The list was solid and we played the one objective in each table half scenario. Both units of Nobz were horrendously useful (including the scoring mob in Trukk - held in reserve).

The two boyz units and bikes surged towards the enemy objective, with the lootas holding at the back, shooting whatever targets they chose to.

The warboss and nobz in trukk arrived from reserve to fight off any pesky invasion to my deployment zone and objective and once they got it, the stuck on it.

The mobile 5+ cover to the advancing boys was also priceless.

[Cacodemon]

Aren't Nobz mobs max. 10 models strong?

[Theocracity]

Nope, I think it goes up to at least 15.

Not that you'd ever want to pay the cost for that. That's a lot of teef to pay :P.

[madden]

Nope max 10 in a nob squad.(just checked dex). As to claws I agree my boyz mobs still have nobs but I'm running big choppas on them and using nob squads with claws and war boss. Oh and take a look at the shock attack gun again in this edition large blast ap 2 sure it's random str but with reduction in cover saves across the board I'm finding it a lot more useful.(though mines a deathskulls force so I use what I've got).

[The_Klobb_Maniac]

Er, not sure who he was replying to. I don't use two bosses. The ONLY* reasons I take a boss are:
-Tougher warlord
-MANz as troops (justifies me getting them)
-Double force org chart at higher points

I still prefer KFFs to bosses. Barrage weapons, Focus Fire, and myriad other reasons (such as overwatch) all super-justify KFFs as important; probably more important now than in 5th. Covering wagons is still a nice feature if you still have trouble with that.

[Soss]

Nobz are a max unit of 10 models.

I have been running a couple different units to see how they perform.

I run Mega nobz with Thrakka in a Battlewagon. I found the battlewagon rarely makes it through the game but it does the job of getting them up field. I usually have at least 1 or 2 left to control of contest ann objective at the end of the game. I like this unit a lot.

I run biker nobs and they are great. I had a 6 man unit take fire power from almost 1500 points in necrons and survive to charge them a unit next turn to get 1st blood. Very good just real expensive, I take only a couple PK and BC with some plain nobz to soak up wounds andof course a painboy.

My 30 man squads have been a little different. I run them like 5th with a nob with PK, BP and EA. They can die early to challanges or percision strikes. I try and keep him back enough so that if I am charged the nob is not engaged so he can't be challenged, then on int 1 he piles in to be engaged so he can hurt the squad. That is harder to do but I still think it might be worth it. I need to test these out more. I have tried Mad Doc with a 30 man squad with 5++ with a nob and that worked out ok because I could except challanges with either of them if I liked and still had a PK to beat down the enemy unit.

[The_Klobb_Maniac]

I thought you could challenge from any part of the squad? Don't you just move the models to make contact? Or something..?

I still just see a lack of need for them. (I should shut up about this..) But basically, their roles have become less special (we can take out tanks now, combat resolution doesn't insta-gib double models, etc..) and they've become targetable. They won't help with MCs unless your opponent forgets to challenge him and again, at 40 points a pop... it's brutal.

The three squad nobz I took out gave me:
1 Shoota with a big shoota
3 Shootas (if you count the models the nobz had been upgraded from being downgraded back to boyz)
2 Tankbustas
4 Lootas
and.. I still have 19 points left.

What sounds more helpful to you?

[Soss]

I don't have the book in front of me but I believe you can only accept a chalange if you are engaged, which if you are more than 2" from a model in base to base in your unit you are not engaged at that time.

So by keeping you nob back a little it will protect him for that 1st round of assualt at least. If you have it set up just right when int 1 hits he should be able to pile in so he his engaged and can attack the enemy sqaud with his PK. The next turn he can be challanges as normal. Hopefully you already put the hurt on and there is no next turn assault.

[Rated_lexxx]

What nerf to FNP. It's only 5+, but you get it against everything but instant death. So it evens out

[Boris420]

give me lists of how u equip your nob squads, whether they are biker or in transport or on foot. do wound shenanigans still work? i dont see the entry that had existed in 5th for multiple wound models and wound allocation...

[Soss]

The wound shenanigans is different than 5th. In 5th you wanted all your Nobz to be modeled different. In 6th that is not and issue with the "look out Sarge" rule. The Look out sarge rule I think is a little different and better at the same time, if you ad a warboss with a matching save it makes it very hard to kill off the unit. You will be able to have wounds on every model almost before you will need to remove a model as a casualty.

Thrakk with 5 mega nobz has been very good for me as has been a warboss biker with 6 nob bikers. The bikers being a bit better just for the twin linked dakka guns and them all getting percision strike, overwatch is way good with them also.

[Boris420]

The wound shenanigans is different than 5th. In 5th you wanted all your Nobz to be modeled different. In 6th that is not and issue with the "look out Sarge" rule. The Look out sarge rule I think is a little different and better at the same time, if you ad a warboss with a matching save it makes it very hard to kill off the unit. You will be able to have wounds on every model almost before you will need to remove a model as a casualty.

Is that because when u attach an IC they get a 2+ throw to the "look out sir" rule?

[Boris420]

Now that Nobs are no longer characters (unless as squad leaders for boyz) what do you guys do with them to make them survive? attach warboss?

[Soss]

Now that Nobs are no longer characters (unless as squad leaders for boyz) what do you guys do with them to make them survive? attach warboss?

I haven't had a game yet with the new FAQ rules about look out sarge. But I would say that the best way to protect the nob squad would be to add a warboss to the unit.

The nob bikers where OP with the original LOS rules and am not sure how they will hold up with the change.My last game with my nob bikers they never lost a model and where able to take out a IG blob squad with shooting thanks to percision strike, it wasn't fun for my opponent. Losing percision strike will be a big blow also.

I did run Thrakka with some Manz in a couple lists and that worked out quite well. He was able to soak up a lot of the fire directed at them and they killed quite a bit. I think I might try them again.

[Soss]

I just played a game with Biker Nobs under the new FAQ. They did not last as long or where they as durable with this change. I ran 7 with a warboss, the warboss helped. I still think they could be used but I will use them differantly now. I used to move them up to that they would draw all the fire knowing that most of them should survive. Now I will not do that and try and hide cover or behind units more. I still think that nob biker may be the quickest way to get a unit in your oppenent deployment away to cause some havoc, you just have to be much more cautious now. If I had a bunch of bikes I would say warbikers with Wazdakka would be very good.