AyanamiKun Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I am currently in the process of expanding my army and I might get some bikes to do that. Is an HQ with a bodyguard unit on bikes worth it? Or are bikes not really that great in the vanilla codex? I would plan to either use a captain with command squad on bikes (quite expensive because of the bikes though ...) or to use the captain with a bike squad as standard selection (5 bikes + 1 attack bike with multimelter). I would use them as a quick reaction unit because they are quite tough and are scoring :) What are your thoughts or recommendations? PS: Cheapest way to get bikes is the Ravenwing DA box, right? I have use for the Land Speeder in there, too :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkGuard Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I hear tell that a bike Command squad is one of nastier combat units in the Marine Codex. T5 paired with FnP and some 3++ saves given through storm shields can be hard to shift, and with lightning claws, a fist and of course a relic blade Captain they'll be able to dish out hurt. They're also able to rapid fire before assaulting and have a rather large radius, 18". On the other hand low AP wounds hurt them, especially as they're so expensive, and they still don't get FnP from krak missiles even though they're on bikes. They're also expensive, did I mention that, and will likely be a priority target. They also can't go up floors in buildings, so even a lowly Scout squad can hide from them by jumping up a floor. But as I've said, widely recognised as a CC threat in the Marine Codex. Equip with some storm shields, some lightning claws and a fist, if you do it right you can get wound allocation tricks. Bike Captain with relic blade, artificer armour and/or storm shield, and points permitting hellfire rounds and/or digi weapons. And yes, Ravenwing battleforce is the best way, as it gives you the normal sprue and an upgrade sprue, and you get a Speeder with options for heavy bolter, assault cannon and Typhoon missile launcher IIRC (so Typhoon then ;)). You will need to source the Narthecium for the Apothecary though, plus all the upgrades, so the Command squad box may also be a good buy if you want to do the Command squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyanamiKun Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Thanks ;) That is exactly what I was planning to do, yeah. I might proxy the Apothecary at first until I know if I want to run a Command Squad on bikes or if I want to try a normal bike squad ^^ And yes, I want the Typhoon ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warp Angel Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I wouldn't play a Vanilla Marine list without a Captain on a Bike with a scoring squad of Bikes, though I only generally take one squad. It's one of the few ways to be competitive with the newer codexes. (The Thunderfire Cannon is another). 1) A captain on a bike, by himself has T5 against most attacks, making him more survivable than other troops. He benefits from Hellfire rounds by having twin-linked and relentless, allowing you to take advantage of his BS. 2) Bikes as scoring troops can advance more quickly than other troops, also benefit from relentless and having twin linked basic weapons, a true heavy weapon in the squad (that is relentless), TWO special weapons, and the T5 against basic shooting. 4) Shooting plus assaulting, they're better than assault squads with equivalent squad strength. Pure shooting, they're dramatically better than a tactical squad and with nearly the firepower against most targets as some devastator squad loadouts. 3) The price drawback (which most people complain about when they say they don't like bikes) is offset to a large extent by not needing to buy a transport for mobility, though you still pay a premium equivalent to a Marine or two. 4) Actual drawbacks in play are a vulnerability to terrain, an inability to change levels in buildings and a large squad footprint (which is sometimes a blessing depending on how you deploy them. These are largely offset by awesome movement capabilities and the capabilities above. If you want to do a "Beatdown command squad", I strongly suggest using hammernators and a Land Raider Crusader instead. Stick with the bikes as troops. The Ravenwing box is the least expensive way to acquire bikes, but you're going to suffer from having no special weapons at all in the package. You'll have to get those bits from elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyanamiKun Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Thanks warp angel! I have more than enough special weapons around :woot: I guess for now I will build the bikes as a tactical squad with magnetized heads to swap them out for veteran helmets if I want to proxy a command squad :yes: Just ordered the box, looking forward to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ah-a-nothepsis Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Have you received your bikes? I use toughness 6 bikers and they are very fun. It pays to be aggressive and it takes a lot of enemy focus to kill them in shooting after a turbo boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyanamiKun Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 I ordered them together with some stuff for friends and one of the items is not in stock ... :tu: How do you get T6 bikers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnosaur93 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 How do you get T6 bikers? the only way i see it is by using chaos marines, then giving bikers mark of nurgle... however they are really T4(6) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyanamiKun Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Ah ok :( Well, I do not play chaos so T4(5) it is :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chengar Qordath Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 How do you get T6 bikers? the only way i see it is by using chaos marines, then giving bikers mark of nurgle... however they are really T4(6) And they're horrendously expensive points-wise, especially since Chaos Bikers are egregiously overpriced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ah-a-nothepsis Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Well it doesn't matter if Nurgly bikes are cost effective or not, I was just sayin' that they (bikes in particular) do very well for me. Not just talking about the toughness, most of the times it doesnt matter if they are 5 or 6! It's their special rules that really sell them for me. A turboboost to chase/get away from threats is too good to pass up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyanamiKun Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 My bikes have arrived and I am in the process of assembling them :( I decided to use 6 magnets per bike (legs/torso, 2x arm/torso) so that I am able to exchange everything from weapons to the model itself (i.e. switch normal marine to Captain or to Apothecary) =) I plan to make them switchable between three basic configurations for now. Config 1 Captain with Command Squad Config 2 Captain with Bike Squad (5 Marines) (+Trike) Config 3 Bike Squad (6 Marines) (+Trike) With this and the switchable arms I should be able to cover everything I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulochromis Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 gonna need a lot of shoulder pads :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyanamiKun Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 I have many of those left over ;) How would you go with a normal bike squad? 2x flamer or 2x plasma gun? I am leaning towards the flamer for an all comers list and after flaming a nice and clean charge into close combat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warp Angel Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I run Flamer, Melta Gun, Multi-Melta in most configurations. Even when the flamer is out of reach, the twin linked bolters on the bike aren't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyanamiKun Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Thanks. I am mostly leaning towards flamers right now, but I just prepared 6 weapon arms with magnets now (2x flamer, 2x melta, 2x plasma gun) ^^ And great tacticas Warp Angel! Just read through some of them today, wow :) Especially Killhammer might help me a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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