IronDragon66 Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Hello all, - Which codex do you think would work best for a bike based army? At first I was thinking just straight SM, but then.....with Space Wolves you could use their thunderwolf calvary as a counts as for some just bigger badder bikers. Or you could use Blood Angels with all their supped up engines, but those dont extend to bikes. The normal Space Marines have scout bikers to though which is another advantage over the SW and BA codexes......any thoughts??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeoilSage Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Codex Space Marines can be organized to give you a Bike-strong army: a Captain with a bike can take squads of 5 bikes as a Troop choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronDragon66 Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 thats what i was thinking, theres just more options in SM for more bikers....HQ, Scouts, and regular Bikers. Just was curious to see if anyone had ever done anything else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehoel Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Codex: Dark Angels has the Ravenwing. Sammael on a Jetbike and then Ravenwing Attack Squads as troops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronDragon66 Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 ahha...forgot about that, let me go dig it out of my book shelf and see if i have the most up to date one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War Angel Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Ok course white scars is you're predominate biker army. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PorridgeMeister Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Ok course white scars is you're predominate biker army. He means in terms of the metagame - which actual Codex should he use rather than parent Chapter: e.g. Vanilla, BA, SW, BT, DA, GK... OT: Vanilla because it is up-to-date rather than DA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War Angel Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I ment to mention that, this being said, if you take the white scars hero in the vanilla codex, he has that one ability that is pretty useful. You can use him with any chapter you want and just make a count as unit. I'm not sure what the DA offer, but I think you can build a strong bike gang with that hero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arianod Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I concur: Kor'sarro Khan is your man right now, if you want a biker army. Lets you take bikes as troops and gives the whole army the ability to outflank, which is pretty sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronDragon66 Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 Cool thanks guys for all the goon thoughts......ive been watching to much Sons of Anarchy so now i want to make a biker army B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War Angel Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 My codex is 500 miles away, Does that allow for you're army to flank from multiple directions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkGuard Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Khan certainly does let your army flank from multiple directions, although it's unreliable. With Bike lists, the most common are Space Marine ones due to their bike Captains and Combat Tactics letting them get out of tight spots. Dark Angels come in second IMO with their Ravenwing lists, but Fearless and the fact that a lot of their functionality is directly related to Deathwing hampers them a bit. As this isn't really a question on building fluff for a DIY Chapter, but rather a generic question on which Codex best suit bikes I'm moving this Amicus Aedes, where it should hopefully get more replies from all sorts of power armoured players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Angel Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I think it depends on how you want to mix the list up. If all you want is bikes go C:SM if you are looking for a mix of bikes, attack bikes and speeders go Ravenwing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Hawk Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Hello all, - Which codex do you think would work best for a bike based army? At first I was thinking just straight SM, but then.....with Space Wolves you could use their thunderwolf calvary as a counts as for some just bigger badder bikers. Or you could use Blood Angels with all their supped up engines, but those dont extend to bikes. The normal Space Marines have scout bikers to though which is another advantage over the SW and BA codexes......any thoughts??? Mmmm..... I smell Vanilla :tu: The 'bikey-ness' is one of the best things about the codex, and one of the things BA & SW can't do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulochromis Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Bikers rock! (but they're expensive) Codex:Space Marines Check out White Scars for C:SM biker armies, with and without Khan. Check out ShinyRhino's Biker Tactica here at the B&C for a really good unit breakdown (mainly C:SM focussed). Codex:Blood Angels Check out Kirby's Blog for some interesting C:BA biker armies that take advantage of the Furious Charge & Feel No Pain bubbles that C:BA allows. Codex:Dark Angels I'd wait until 6th Edition before diving into Ravenwing. The unit prices are high at the moment, you can't get very big squads (if you wanted them) and if the rumours are to be believed, the Codex may have a very limited shelf-life. Cheers, Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShinyRhino Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 The standard Space Marine codex allows the most flexibility in a biker army. Troops bikers, a command squad on bikes, HQs on bikes, and plenty of various supporting units from other FOC slots. Blood Angels cannot get biker troops, but can build a neat army using both bikers (in the Fast slots) and Assault Marines (in Troops slots). I can't remember if you can get Sanguinary Priests on bikes though, and if you can't you lose some of the punch that the Blood Angels can provide. Space Wolves can only field Swiftclaws, which are a fun, but unreliable unit. The Headstrong rule for Blood Claw type units is tough to overcome and requires expensive investments into bike-mounted HQs to keep the leash tight (haha). Dark Angels have Ravenwing, but their use as Troops requires you to invest in a Sammael, who isn't all that wonderful of a character. You'll also end up with a smaller army due to the old-codex points costs. Of course, the Ravenwing bikes carry teleport homers, which can be fun if you decide to build a combination Raven/Deathwing list. I'd personally stick with the standard Space Marine codex because it's so flexible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Drunk Guardian Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 I want to put in that Swiftclaws are an underrated unit. They ARE very expensive so they're frowned upon however a well built unit is shooty, assaulty AND tough. The only thing they really can't do well is fast-melta. Otherwise, a properly configured unit of Swiftclaws is a brutal all-comers unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ming Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Most amazing and winning-est list I saw in 5th was a DA Ravenwing. Seriously. I'd seen games end on turn 1 when he used it. Bikes and landspeeders, nothing else needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShinyRhino Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Most amazing and winning-est list I saw in 5th was a DA Ravenwing. Seriously. I'd seen games end on turn 1 when he used it. Bikes and landspeeders, nothing else needed. Do you mean 4th? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arikel Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 One nice advantage to codex BA is that the suped up engines let their tanks keep up the same speed as their bikers. This means you could have two tac or assault squads in rhinos as your troops which keep up with your bikes as they roar down the table (sort of like the fat prospect in SoA who always has to drive the van;) as well as very mobile predator artillery support. Of course, your bikes are not troops, which is the big advantage of the regular codex for biker armies, allowing you to field more biker squads and have the bikes score too. Depending on how many models you have you might be able to field either army type as the mood strikes you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellios Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Dark Angels have Ravenwing, but their use as Troops requires you to invest in a Sammael, who isn't all that wonderful of a character. Oh I don't know... In speeder form he is a pretty tough cookie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronDragon66 Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 So i guess the BA codex with its supped up engines brings up another question..... - is it possible to make an effective army using just bikes....no dreads, no tanks, no deep striking units....just bikes and only bikes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkGuard Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 So i guess the BA codex with its supped up engines brings up another question..... - is it possible to make an effective army using just bikes....no dreads, no tanks, no deep striking units....just bikes and only bikes? It's not even possible. IIRC all Blood Angels bike units are in Fast Attack with no way to switch, so you will have to take something that isn't bikes. If you want bikes and only bikes then Space Marines will be the best Codex for diversity of units, followed by Dark Angels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freman Bloodglaive Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 As already said, for a pure bike list you want to play Codex Marines (and have a fair chunk of the folding green). I raided eBay for bikes, and have about 40 of them now. Whatever you do, don't pay full retail for them. Your basic Captain on bike is 165 points with a relic blade, and I'd not take anything else on him except to fill in the last few points. Your command squad is your assault presence on the battlefield, add your Captain to give them some initiative 5 attacks while the apothecary helps keep him alive (well as long as yours is more skilled than mine) apothecary bits are obviously on the command squad sprue. Storm shields on all the veterans (I just stick an Empire shield on the side of the bike), lightning claws on three of them, then a hammer or fist for the last veteran (if you have friends with Space Wolves they have wolf claws and thunder hammers on their sprue which they won't always use). Bike squad size is a source of debate. Although max size squads with combat squads is good for scoring it means you have fewer special weapons. Minimum squads have more firepower but less staying power. After reading a comment from someone on Warseer I've been running 5 man squads with an attack bike, tri-melta and a power fist on the Sergeant. It seems to work well, enough bodies to keep running around, but not so many that they get in their own way. The fist doesn't make them an assault squad, but it does mean that when they're trying to break a vehicle they can charge in and fist it if melta doesn't work, or assault the troops inside a transport if they break the transport and are left with the option of charging or being charged. For each thousand points my pure bike list runs a captain, a command squad and two bike squads. So far they're about 50:50 in win:loss, although I'm sure if they ever encounter Dark Eldar the bikes will be slaughtered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facmanpob Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 If you're looking to play pure bike then Codex SM gives the best value for money in terms of points cost I think, as most people have already mentioned. where DA bikes shine at the moment is in their ability to provide a safe platform for Deathwing Assault....so if you are looking at a mixed bag army list, you could do worse to use Dualwing Dark Angels. As to Sammael, how can you not love a Landspeeder with AV 14! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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