To ride or not to ride.

[Melekharn]

As some of you may see in My WIP blog, I've been considering bikes in my list.

 

Now, I've never used bikes in a marine army - I always thought they weren't overly specialised.

My initial thoughts were that I could buy almost double the number of raptors (or assault marines for you Imperial types) and they could move just as well, if not better.

Lets face it, jumping doesn't restrict your movement as much as sitting on a motorbike, and 10 models instead of 5 looks a touch more intimidating.

 

Delving further into it however, I have recently realised they are a highly mobile unit, capable of dishing out quite a bit of anti-infantry firepower.

While they have a number of higher powered weapons at their disposal (mainly plasmaguns and meltas), it seems to me, that it makes more sense to equip them with flamers.

It is my opinion that flamers are the natural compliment to twin linked bolters and bolt pistols.

Why?

The most effective range for a bolter is 12", while the flamer template is approximately 8" long. Against the right target, a template (or two) combined with bolt weapons can be utterly devastating.

Zoom in as close as possible, all weapons blazing, then, assuming there are survivors, hurl them into combat.

All going well, you'll wipe that unit from the face of the table in a single round.

 

On the other side of things, bikes are also quite capable of being opportunity hunters.

Equipping them with melta weapons gives them the choice to zoom around the table picking on vehicles that have been silly enough to remain out in the open.

Having said that, I would field this tank hunting unit as small as possible. If your opponent knows you're going a-hunting, then they are going to send stuff after you.

Bikes have a large footprint, making it hard to keep them hidden from enemy scopes, so it seems common sense to reduce this as much as possible.

 

To me, plasma seems like a waste.

While it excels at killing off hardier units like terminators, or soft vehicles, the unit itself will suffer when it comes face to face with said squad.

Infact, I can't think of any real benefits to arming a squad of bikes with 2 plasmaguns unless using bikes in support of another unit that is hunting these models.

 

 

I want to know your thoughts on this.

What setups have worked for you?

How many bikes do you normally field?

[ak-73]

A starting point for your research:

http://www.3plusplus.net/2010/06/how-to-sp...ers-part-1.html

 

More excellent articles available on that site.

 

Alex

[awfulawful]

I like to kit my bike squads to shot, but with the exception of a bike command squad, assaulting is really an option of last resort. You pay a huge points premium for bikes, and aside from the minor boost in toughness, those points are paid for mobility.

 

You are absolutely correct that you should use that advantage and keep the bikes zipping around looking for weak targets to prey on, but I would argue that those should generally be shooting targets. That's why I prefer the double melta gun squad. They can hit a tank if the opportunity arises, or use relentless bolters on depleted squads. Avoid assaults whenever possible, and be ready for the fact that the squad might just spend the whole game turbo boosting and then making a late objective grab (or even conga lining for two).