Topic: Keeping Lootas Alive?

[adamscurr]

I love the firepower thatlootas can deliver, but I quit using them a while back because it just seemed like they never actually got to fire.  Between morale checks (they really need a boss pole option!) and weapons that cause pinning, a clever opponent can really keep them from firing...

How do you guys keep your lootas alive?

Adam

[waylander1983]

sit them in a truck! safe from pinning wepons and small arms fire!

[DropFall]

There's a couple of options. Firstly there's vehicles, you have either a Trukk (at the expense of the unit it was brought for), a Looted Wagon (suffering pesky Don't Press Dat rolls each turn), or a Battlewagon (which will set you back a few points). The second option is to put them in cover. Thirdly put a Big Mek with a KFF and bosspole with them, a costly but often worthwhile investment, however you could use that KFF elsewhere to better effect.

[Doopsie]

Best way I've found is to make sure you have higher-priority threats on the table.

 For example, when I tried a straight green tide list with LOTS of boys, lots of Lootas, and KFF Meks, the lootas got shot off the table quickly, because their range made them a bigger threat than the boys, who were going to take a minimum of 2-3 turns to reach combat.

In contrast, when I run lootas as fire support to a speed freak army, the lootas are rarely  even shot at, much less removed from play. Even raider-heavy DE, who are the most vulnerable to Lootas, find themselves unable to spare the fire power to deal with the lootas because they have 4-6 Trukks full of boys less than a turn away from charging.

So my suggestion would be to increase the number of immediate threats your army can provide, so that lootas aren't an obvious, must-kill-now unit. Add some speed (trukks, deffkoptas, bikers), harder-hitting units (Nobs, Meganobs, Kans, Deff Dreads), or distraction units (Green Baron, Kommandos).

[angel of death 007]

I am going to have to agree that the more priorty targets you have out there the better.   Basically Lootas are a threat early on and if the rest of your army is less of a threat then your opponent may try to eliminate that threat early and then work on the rest of your army later.

With my kan wall lists I play, I don't mind if my opponent focuses long range firepower at the lootas.  Usually it is the same fire power that would be focused at my dreads or kans.  I figure if the lootas eat a turn of shooting, that means my kans and boys get a turn of walking/running in without taking as many potential casualties. 

Most wise opponents will only target the lootas on the first turn.  Lootas really only have the potential to take out one target, usually none (as i have a hard time bringing down rhinos with them).  Lootas are a support element and are by no means a primary or a necessary keypoint to my army. 

Maybe you are a little too reliant on their firepower and need to take another longer range support element (boomwagon, kans w/ rokkits, battlewagon w/ kannons) or even a second squad of lootas. 

The more high priorty threats you have the less firepower your opponent can afford to focus on the one.

[zero88]

I usually just sit mine in cover and that will suffice. If you have extra points buy them a looted wagon with a big shoota. that gives a armor 11 bunker to shoot out of, and if the battle moves away from their LOS, they can redeploy to a new position quicker than walking + running. As for the bosspole, if you use a SAG attach him to the squad.

[Dartron]

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned but keep the squad big!
I usually run about 12 in cover but you can run as high as 15. Thanks to 'mob rule' you need to lose 5 Lootas before you even have to take a Ld test at 10. Cover is key as is fearless. Smaller squads ( <8 ) will get shot and break or be pinned easily enough. 12 Lootas also seems to be the magic number for cracking Rhinos, stunning AV12 and all kinds of other usefulness.

[angel of death 007]

The problem I have with large squads of lootas is that they are really hard not to clump up when hugging cover.  This makes them very threatened by blast templates, ordinance, or even flamers. 

I have tried using squads of 12 before which are ok, but my magic number is 10 at the moment.  Seem to be able to take a few casualties, don't have too much of an issue with line of sight, and can keep them relatively in cover without too much clumping. 

15 usually is over priced and overkill for most targets.  Yes there are times when I wish I had the extra shots but overall the points saved can be better used in other areas of my army, as my lootas are more of a support element then anything else.

Cover and LOS are essential.  Doing so in which as little as possible end up under a russ battle cannon shell or thunderfire cannon barrage is even better.