How to play like a Storm Lord? White Scar Players.

[G3rman]

Hello everyone, I'm beginning to collect a Storm Lord force and have little experience with Fast Attack, their parent chapter's main specialty. While the chapter isn't really fleshed out on and I can play more to my own style, I would like to incorporate at least some of the White Scar influence a Second Founding chapter deserves from them.

 

Can you tell me what kind of tactics to use with bikes, speeders, and assault marines? Which ones would be cost effective, most helpful, and most fluffy?

 

I am not a big tournament guy so please feel free broaden your advice, I play more for fluff and fun than competition.

[Hellios]

Hello everyone, I'm beginning to collect a Storm Lord force and have little experience with Fast Attack, their parent chapter's main specialty. While the chapter isn't really fleshed out on and I can play more to my own style, I would like to incorporate at least some of the White Scar influence a Second Founding chapter deserves from them.

 

Can you tell me what kind of tactics to use with bikes, speeders, and assault marines? Which ones would be cost effective, most helpful, and most fluffy?

 

I am not a big tournament guy so please feel free broaden your advice, I play more for fluff and fun than competition.

 

Well it depends if you are going to play an army with bikes or say take a biker captain and play an army where bikes are the core of the force. I can certainly say that Ravenwing list (Dark Angel bike lists) can do pretty well although it can take a while to get to grips with such a list.

[G3rman]

I would prefer to use bikes as a support to an infantry force, because I love infantry over all. How are bikes most often and effectively used? How many bikes would make a substantial impact on a game (In other words, how many should I plan on getting?)

 

I'm asking now because I am getting ready to stock up on models.

[ShinyRhino]

I run a bike-cored force a lot, and have run it alongside a bunch of different supporting units.

I'd aim for a Biker Captain and at least 10 bikes as a solid core to start out. It's an expensive army choice, no doubt. You'll save a bit of cash if you buy a Ravenwing battleforce, and just skip all the Dark Angels parts that come with it.

I wrote a Biker tactica a while ago that I really need to finish, but I've lost my train of thought on it, lol.

 

When combined with a Rhino-borne infantry force, yuor bikers are going to be your scalpels in the toolkit. Maneuver them around and pick targets they're best suited to kill, while the Rhino units do cleanup or area denial.

 

Assault marines will be your followers-on to the Rhino force. Jump them up behind the tanks, getting cover saves when needed. If something a little too scary for your Rhino units starts closing in, jump over the Rhinos with the Assault Marines and go to town in either melee or a stalling action.

 

Landspeeders are your big guns. Typhoons are a natural selection, as they have the range and volume of fire to put the hurt on anything short of a Land Raider or Leman Russ. Multimelta/Heavy Flamer speeders are also useful for breaking down heavy armor or flushing enemy infantry out of cover (where your bikes don't want to go).

 

Bikes take some practice to get right, but once you do, you can impose your will on almost any army.

[G3rman]

Alright, thank you once again ShinyRhino.

 

Looks like my wish list this time around is;

 

Space Marine Battleforce

Ravenwing Battleforce

 

Seems like a good way to jump start my forces from the motley crew of what I currently have.

 

I also like the tactics, as from what I've read bikes are often used to get in and destroy vehicles or harass enemy units. The more bleak side says they die before they can do anything, but with proper movement they may live longer.

 

So you would suggest a bike commander?

 

And for rhinos, I've always wondered how best to use them when I drop troops off. Do I keep them with the squad for cover, or should I send them ahead a bit to act as LoS blockers and bullet sponges?

 

Since Devastators are practically outlawed in White Scar organization (because they slow everyone down) I think I will have my tactical squads use heavy weaponry, or at the very least keep my Devs as mobile as allowed.

[ShinyRhino]

The Bike Captain is only there to make the bike squads into Troops selections. If you feel you're fine with just Tacticals and Scouts, skip the Bike Captain and use the points elsewhere.

 

Bikes are actually far more durable than folks give them credit for. Sure, they can be cut down by plasma and krak missiles, but if you're savvy with your movement, you can be getting cover saves when needed. They take practice to get the hang of, like any unit.

 

I can't give you much Rhino advice. I abandoned Rhinos for bikers a couple years ago, and am just now returning to the usage of our AV11 transports. I'm still not that great with them.

[G3rman]

Since a Rhino's armor is relatively weak and the squad they are with will be sure to attract fire, I figured the best was to move the vehicle outside of explosion danger range while still supporting them in some way. Worse comes to worse and they are destroyed, the squad can move up and use the rubble for cover.

 

I may still use a biker commander, but if I get used to using rhinos as transports, that will give me an excuse to convert a fancy looking 'Command Rhino' for my captain to ride in style.

[ShinyRhino]

Since a Rhino's armor is relatively weak and the squad they are with will be sure to attract fire, I figured the best was to move the vehicle outside of explosion danger range while still supporting them in some way. Worse comes to worse and they are destroyed, the squad can move up and use the rubble for cover.

 

I may still use a biker commander, but if I get used to using rhinos as transports, that will give me an excuse to convert a fancy looking 'Command Rhino' for my captain to ride in style.

 

The explosion threat to a squad outside of its Rhino is minimal, at best. It's a 1/6 chance to explode on a penetrating hit with a non-AP1 weapon. If the Rhino deos explode, the opponent has to roll the explosion distance, which may not even reach your Marines. Explosions against units outside of a vehicle are S3. That mens for each Marine caught in the explosion, the opponent needs to roll a 5 to wound. You then get your 3+ armor save.

I wouldn't factor the exploded Rhino into your battle plans. Use it more as a physical barrier if necessary.

[MagicMan]

Physical or LoS barrier, Rhinos can be handy for hiding behind.

 

 

Or Tank shocking things. Saved myself from a unit of Deff Koptas by doing that last weekend...

[Ookami_81]

Welcome in the biker marines community !

 

If you want to play White Scars successor chapter, as almost everyone said, you need a mobile army, and if Rhinos and tac squads are not anathema to them, I think you really have to take bikes as your main infantry force.

White Scars uses Bikes, Speeders, and barebone Predators, but it's a rather lame heavy support choice. (but really dirt cheap).

 

I myself play in a "White Scars" style, and If I still use tac squads in Rhinos in big lists (and because I have two of them as my first troops). But honestly, bikers are much better troops: they are few in numbers, but tougher (OK, krak missiles and plasma are dangerous but you will not face armies with every mini having T8+ weapon or PA3- everyday, even more so out of tournaments) mini by mini, are at least twice as mobile than footsloggers (that is: tac squads with burning Rhinos, that is, tac squads past turn 2), never loose that mobility until total annihilation, and their weapon loadout are much more efficient than in tac squads: bolters fired at 24" even when moving 12", same firepower as termies at 24" range (well OK you have to move in the dangerous rapidfire 12" range, but it will hurt any regular troop), and you can have up to three melta weapons in a squad of few models: 4 bikes and an assault squad if you want troops, on less bike in fast attacks solts.

 

I really recommend to take a biker captain with relic blade: it's a wonderful leader, and bikes as troops have the excellent advantage to free your fast attack slots, where you can put supporting (lol) landspedder Typhoons, as a formidable and very mobile firebase. They will help your bikers against mass troops with heavy bolter and frag missiles (defensive weapons ;) ), and they will destroy transports with two krak missile a turn per model, at a whooping 60" range.

 

For heavy support, if you want to keep in line with the fluff, you want to use naked predators, but frankly they will be somewhat redundant with Typhoons, and if you take combi preds, well it's not fluff anymore (pillboxes.com proudly presents a fully armed predator), and it's not mobile enough to support bikes. You have to choose something that can kill what your bikers and Typhoons will struggle to kill, and that is heavy infantry. For this job, the only mobile heavies you've got in our codex is a couple of Vindicators. Two of them will assure that one of them will hurt, and they'll attract the krak missiles you want to keep your bikers and speeders from.

 

As an example I provide you with a list I love in 1500 pts: (if you don't like death star units take more bikes) It's not really hyper competitive because of the death star command squad on bike (a big bag of points, but it hits really hard), but it's fun to use and it's a good list to learn bikes tactics. The DS unit is also your only close combat capable unit, and it can sometimes be useful in a mostly shooty army.

 

Captain on bike with Relic Blade, hellfire rounds and artificer armor

 

Command squad on bikes, champion, TH, 2 LClaws, 3 meltaguns, 1 standard, 3 SShields => With the captain it's a killer unit, for everything, but it's still only six guys, be careful with them.

 

Bike squad, four bikes, one naked sarge, two meltaguns, assault bike with multimelta, melta bombs. => Anti heavy tank unit, don't get caught in the open, don't get caught in assault.

 

Bike squad, six bikes, combiflamer sarge, two flamers, assault bike with heavy bolter => Troop killer. Don't get too fast in assault or flamer range, bolt them to death, kite them, and flame them to finish them. Barbecue time !

 

Three Typhoons Landpeeders

 

Two Vindicators. I took the Siege shield because to me it's what a Vindy look like.

 

Sometimes I also use Regular assault squads hiding behind the vindies as a replacement for the biker command squad, because I love those guys. You put your biker captain with the big flamer bike squad, and you replace the command squad by a full 10 men assault squad lead by a JP chappy, PFist sarge, meltabombs, 2 flamers.

[G3rman]

Thanks for the responses!

 

I've decided my general army collection and goal.

 

For 500-750 games, I'm going to play a mechanized foot army with bikes in a supporting role.

 

For everything 1000 pts and above, it will be bike-centric with elite Sternguard/Vanguard and Speeder support and heavy armor as a spearhead. We are somewhat divergent from the White Scars, but we still maintain the savage charge that makes a WS successor stay true to the name.

 

I even made a little fluff for the elites of my army where they are referred to 'Jade Warriors/Bikers' because of the jade pendants and icons they wear from their tribal days. That helps me so I can paint up BA blood drop bits green and call it Jade, a stretch but still it works and gives the chapter my own twist to it.

 

ShinyRhino's biker tactica is definitely the Codex Astartes to my Storm Lords and I will follow it closely in building plans for the biker portion of my army.

 

I am set on buying a Ravenwing Battleforce along with a Predator still, along with some nice bits from maxmini. Currently I am working on what minis I can salvage from my foot-sloggers to have something for small point games.

 

I have a single bike that has been glued together wrong I got from a friend, do you think I try and take it apart or just not use it?

[Validar]

if you want them to look tribal, wouldn't it make more sense to use some space wolf bits? They've got the neckchains and such, whereas the BA just engraved a drop of bl... Jade into their armor :)

[Lord Scytha]

if you want them to look tribal, wouldn't it make more sense to use some space wolf bits? They've got the neckchains and such, whereas the BA just engraved a drop of bl... Jade into their armor :D

 

I might remember this wrong but I think I read somewhere that Storm Lords adorn themselves with pelts.