The present study concerns the effect of copper additions on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of directly quenched Ti-B steels. Ti and B are added as microalloying elements with an aim of achieving adequate austenite hardenability and Cu is added to retard the austenite (gamma) -> ferrite (alpha) transformation. Therefore, the microalloying and Cu additions together allow the transformation of austenite to occur at a lower temperature, resulting in a finer microstructure containing martensitic constituents. The direct-quenching route is adopted with an aim of facilitating the nucleation of the constituent phases from the deformed austenite. In order to circumvent the hot-shortness due to the Cu addition, 0.79 wt% Ni has been added to one of the 1.5 wt% Cu microalloyed steels. The present study has demonstrated that the Ni-containing 1.5Cu-Ti-B steel is capable of providing an attractive combination of strength and ductility comparable to the high strength varieties of HSLA steels in directly quenched condition.