Burna Boyz vs Lootas

[STS17]

I am looking to start Orks and have currently in my collection two AoBR sets and an Ork Megaforce on the way. The Megaforce comes with 5 boyz that can be lootas or burnas and I am curious what everyone's opinion on each is.

I am looking to expand this unit of 5 probably into a unit of 15 at some point but am currently unsure which route I would like to go.

Lootas have a high strength medium ap weapon with a decent range and the potential for a lot of shots. This means they could be good at taking out light vehicles or medium infantry/MCs. In addition, they would make a great fire support base for my advancing Boyz.

However, Burna Boyz carry a flamer and this makes them incredibly versatile. Able to effectively handle almost any horde based unit in one turn of shooting is amazing. My plan for this unit would be to mount them in a battlewaggon and send them on their way. But their flamers also double as power weapons in CC provided they dont shoot in the shooting phase. This means I could feasably drive them 12" dismount 2" and charge 6" for a whopping 20" threat range to any elite unit on the table, increased to 26" if I Waaagh! that turn as well. 15 boys gives 45 attacks on the charge at S4 meaning they are going to cause some serious damage to any unit they attack or that attacks them.

What are your experiences with the two units? Which do you prefer? I am looking to play a mostly Green Tide army possibly with a few Warbikers and Deffkoptas (as I have 9 and 6 respectively)

[yWizePapaSmurfy]

Do note Burnas are still only Init 3 on the charge, so they aren't that awesome against anything past normal Storm Bolter/ Fist termies. Mass burning things is nice and better.

Lootas are what the army needs true and through regardless though.

[The Dark Pwner]

Yer lootas ftw. thing is the lootas can take care of almost anything where as the burnas are only good against guard. I say always go for more dakka, you already have anough cc troops...40 i believe? and another 20 of whatever? I whould go shoota boyz...but yer lootas and dakka ftw!

[STS17]

Well I have 40 which are "forced" to be slugga boyz because thats all that is included in AoBR but the mega force comes with another 40 that I can make however I want. I was thinking of making three units (2x 25 slugga and 30 shoota for a home objective or some such)

Yea the burnas are I3 but how many wounds would you realistically expect them to take before they get to go?

[Angelofblades]

Best burna use , is the drive by burna.

Keep the burnas in a transport, preferrably a battle wagon. Drive up, place a flame template and multiply it by the number of models in the unit. Often equals dead unit. You can easily cause in excess of 20 wounds on a single unit, while remaining in the vehicle, protected.

Even more so if a KFF is close by. But lootas are almost a must in every list. Why not take both?

[yWizePapaSmurfy]

Yea the burnas are I3 but how many wounds would you realistically expect them to take before they get to go?

Hm, if against a good CC unit, lose half their number.

[catachanninja]

Just do what I did and rip the arms off your slugga boysz, it's what I did, works really well with the burnas, assemble The lootAs as such with boys heads and use the specialty ones for burnas

[STS17]

Yea the burnas are I3 but how many wounds would you realistically expect them to take before they get to go?

Hm, if against a good CC unit, lose half their number.

Even losing half their number - 15 goes down to 7 that still leaves 21 attacks which ignore armor.

21 attacks = 10-11 hits against WS4-8 and against T4 thats 5-6 wounds.

Done right, if you expect to lose half your burna boyz before you get to attack then simply shoot some flamers off before charging and kill those models off first.

[LeperMessiah]

Burnas are best in a mechanized list doing the drive-by flame job, as described above. If you're running a foot list, get lootas first. They can provide fire support that covers the width of the table. Just stash in cover and fire away. But you want either a small unit of lootas (5-6) or max size because of their Leadership issues. The middle range (8-12) will run away too quickly and cost you a lot of wasted points. At least with the small squad, it's a small loss and the big squad can take a round or two of fire.

[yWizePapaSmurfy]

Yea the burnas are I3 but how many wounds would you realistically expect them to take before they get to go?

Hm, if against a good CC unit, lose half their number.

Even losing half their number - 15 goes down to 7 that still leaves 21 attacks which ignore armor.

21 attacks = 10-11 hits against WS4-8 and against T4 thats 5-6 wounds.

Done right, if you expect to lose half your burna boyz before you get to attack then simply shoot some flamers off before charging and kill those models off first.
Fun, where are my Nobs and Warboss, sitting back and watching the Burnas do a awesome job that clearly the Burnas do better?

I think I'd take the Nobs and Warboss to ensure a wipe, thanks.

[Durandal]

Done right, if you expect to lose half your burna boyz before you get to attack then simply shoot some flamers off before charging and kill those models off first.
I am pretty sure they don't count as power weapons if you fired them that turn....and Smurfy was referring to losing half their number after initiating the assault, not before it.
It'd be a lot simpler to pile on 15 flamer templates, get 45 hits, and at S4 (Vs meq)) get 23 wounds easy. Nothing survives that, usually (I've seen some one individually roll 14 dice for St. Celestine's 2+ armor save and make all of them).

[KrickitArmy]

Done right, if you expect to lose half your burna boyz before you get to attack then simply shoot some flamers off before charging and kill those models off first.
I am pretty sure they don't count as power weapons if you fired them that turn....and Smurfy was referring to losing half their number after initiating the assault, not before it.
It'd be a lot simpler to pile on 15 flamer templates, get 45 hits, and at S4 (Vs meq)) get 23 wounds easy. Nothing survives that, usually (I've seen some one individually roll 14 dice for St. Celestine's 2+ armor save and make all of them).
Correct, but I'm pretty sure STS17 was taking that into account. If you're afraid of losing so many men before you can strike in assault, kill them before you get into assault. You lose your power weapon, but hopefully kill enough of their guys before combat to minimize what they can dish out. Plus, if you've got enough guys you can fire only a few templates and leave a few power weapons.

I'm only pointing out that this is the strategy. I personally don't see it as very effective. Burna Boyz are anti-infantry. Orks have anti-infantry crawling out their eyes. Lootas are the better option.

[Thrune]

I had this same problem, I found lootas worked best after some testing.

Find a friend who does not mind a few games with the orks in question being tested. Leave them armless and headless and inform your friend that they are one or the other then play a few games and see what works best for your army.

I still plan to get some burna boyz later tho. I think Lootas work best in small point armies where their range can have instand effect where burnas tend to only tended to able to find a few targets. Smaller armies tend to be more spread out my kitchen table.

Like I say try both and see what works before your final build.

[SourImplant]

Best burna use , is the drive by burna.

Keep the burnas in a transport, preferrably a battle wagon. Drive up, place a flame template and multiply it by the number of models in the unit. Often equals dead unit. You can easily cause in excess of 20 wounds on a single unit, while remaining in the vehicle, protected.

Even more so if a KFF is close by. But lootas are almost a must in every list. Why not take both?
QFT. You'll hardly ever see an army list without at least one small mob of Lootas, and Burnas should almost always be in a transport. If you're facing someone who has ever been burned by Burnas in a transport before, they will be a very high priority target, so a KFF Mek always helps there.

Haven't tried it myself, but a combination I've always thought looked good on paper was a mob of Burna Boyz in a Looted Wagon with skorcha and red paint job. Cheaper than a Battlewagon, better armour than a Trukk (which you can't take as a dedicated transport for the Burnas anyway).

As LeperMessiah noted, Lootas' biggest problem is their Leadership value. Ld7 with no options for a Bosspole sees them turning tail pretty easily. I like to attach a Big Mek with the Shokk Attack Gun and bosspole to a Loota mob for the +1Ld and rerolls, or screen them with plenty of Grots. Whatever you do, try to keep them in cover and at least 12" away from your table edge so you can get at least one chance to regroup.

[Angelofblades]

Reflecting back on this. I find it difficult to compare either units. They have differing functions. Where lootas are great anti transport and MC, burnas can't touch vehicles much. A better comparison would be lootas vs tankbustas. Now additionally, contrary to popular opinion, I believe tankbustas are awesome. Who cares about gloryhogs? Stick em in a battlewagon and move the battle wagon accordingly, throw in the tankhammer and you're golden. A unit of 15 should be enough to do the trick.

[Ugh]

I run a core of three BattleWagons 2 filled with Burnaboyz ;) cus I love them .... but .... they really do the BBQ and your opponents will learn to respect them. Keep the lads in the wagon with their friend the KFF Mek and just let them do the crispy dance on the opposition. Lootas are a must just as the other guys noted. I switch between 2 x Lootas/ 2 x Burnas .. depending on my mood. Usually my mood is 2x Burnas and 3 Wagons with Rollers ;)

One note though !! concerning the boxes with Lootas/Burnas ... they only let you build 4 ! and not 5....
good luck ... and as the spikey guys say .... let the galaxy burn !!!! ;)