Should I keep my Standard Bike Squads?

[Rommel44]

Hey mates. I am a White Scars player and while I love everything about the Chapter and their use of Bikes, I have run into a bit of a conundrum atm. With the new Primaris Bikes incoming, I have started seriously debating if it would be worth keeping my Non-Primaris units in general, and while I am keeping some of the HQ units and my Air Wing of Stormtalon Gunships, when it comes to the standard Bike Squads, I am really torn atm. What are your opinions on this? While I do love my Bike Squads, I am aware that GW will eventually replace all Non-Primaris units with Primaris in the future and a part of me see's this as an opportunity to sell them while they still have some value financially. Appreciate the help mates.

[Gederas]

Keep the bikes, as of right now we have NO idea what the Primaris Outriders' rules are.

 

For all we know, they could (very likely seeing as how they're all equipped with chainswords) be a primarily melee unit.

[Rommel44]

Keep the bikes, as of right now we have NO idea what the Primaris Outriders' rules are.

 

For all we know, they could (very likely seeing as how they're all equipped with chainswords) be a primarily melee unit.

Standard Bike Squads are like that as well considering we can also give them Chainswords and they are pretty effective on CC as well.

[BluejayJunior]

I'd definitely wait. GW haven't really done 1-to-1 replacements of units. All the new units are different from previous ones and don't just completely slot into the roles of older units. So at the very least, hold out until the new rules for Outriders are released. Outriders and Bike Squads may have different roles or rules to differentiate them. Even if the Outriders are more melee focuses, that means you can use Bike Squads for carrying special weapons. 

I wouldn't think selling them now would be any more financially lucrative than waiting. I'd assume most people would be hesitant to pick them up right now, knowing the Outriders are coming soon. And even if the old units do eventually get removed (which I can't see happening in the next 5 years), there will be a place for them in Legends. And, honestly, I'd expect Legends to get a lot more traction in casual gaming if all the old marines are moved in there. 

[Prot]

Points might be an issue as well. The new bikes seem very good with the rules we've seen, but the thing that has me still looking at my old bikes is the idea of a squad just escorting a Hammer Captain.

 

This will be even more important since we know it's harder to protect characters. 

 

That is to say, if you have 2 bikes left within 3" of your Character, then he can be shot at. If you take those same points and they get you 3-4 bikes, then you have a valid ablative wound shield for your captain for another turn.

[TheNewman]

Seconding Rommel and Prot, classic bikes being decent-ish in melee and better able to stay over the three-model cap to protect characters are valid selling points for them.

 

Also, classic bikes can have real melee weapons on the Sergeant. No telling when or if that will be true for Outriders.

[Dr. Clock]

There's no 'right answer'... just follow your instinct and how you feel about the minis you already have.

 

Personally I get attached enough to the minis I have and paint that I don't really like to sell them, and will continue to play them even when newer or fresher things seem to make them redundant.

 

I like the Primaris stuff, but didn't want to mix them into my Salamanders - so I've gone full Primaris as a different army (Storm Lords) and now I just collect 2 different SM armies on either side of the newMarines split...

 

I expect that old school bikes will still work just fine. I kept using just normal catapult bikes for Eldar after scatter-bikes became a thing because they were still excellent scoring units... and eventually just took a mixture to fill both firepower and scoring niche...

 

So my guess is that if your list works okay for you now, it's not likely to be invalidated just by the presence of a slightly more efficient profile at the expense of specialization. Indeed, if I were in your position I might be thinking about buying in MORE old bikes in about 8 weeks when other marine players are dropping theirs; unfortunately the bike kit has been showing its age for a while now tho so it's not like there's a glut of them in general.

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.

[TheNewman]

I kind of disagree, the Marine Biker has held up pretty well considering the current kit dates back to 2nd edition.

 

I'm seriously considering picking up a few more just because I'm constantly fielding them with Chainswords but most of the six I own aren't actually armed that way.

[TheNewman]

Update: Yeah, I doubled down on the old bikes. One of my fellow local gamers likes to wheel and deal on old models, he had the Raven Wing bikes from the old Dark Vengeance box and another old bike kicking around. Those and one new box (when that comes in) will give me two squads of five with chainswords and a power weapon serg, one squad of three with all special weapons and an Attack Bike, one squad of the old attack bikes with the metal sidecars, and a new Captain on a Bike*.

 

* I had one already, but he was hard to tell from the other bikes at a glance. The new one will be much easier to spot.

Edited July 6, 2020 by TheNewman

[Johanhgg]

I’m keeping the bikes. I’m not ready at all to let my old marines go :)

[Prot]

Well we have our answer now with the new Datasheets.

 

I'd suggest a minimal investment in Outriders, since the 'old' bikes are infinitely more flexible. I run larger squads my self with a Multi Melta, and my Sarge always has a Thunder Hammer.

 

Aside from the twin bolters, really this unit is very different than Outriders. Two very different use case scenarios. Unless something else drastically changes, I believe I would choose classic bikes over outriders, and in most cases use just a squad of 3 outriders.

[Armament81]

Yea to mirror Prot, I plan to use a combo of both.  Don't ditch your old ones.  And at 55points the MM Attack Bike may still be better than the ATV which my guess will have 8 wounds, but only 1 shot.  I would rather have 2 ABs with MM vs 1 ATV.

 

A single unit of Outriders for 135 points will be a great encirlce option to come in on turn 3.  Also a decent target to give a master crafted weapon to the sgt as well.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Armament81