Riddle me this, Batman, what's up with the bikes?

[aknorthroader]

So, Codex came out this weekend and I'm sure everyone was pouring over it, confirming things that we have seen in the vids and now I have a question.

 

Who picked who got to ride a bike?

 

The Captain can ride a bike, but the Primaris can't?  The Primaris Chaplin can, but First Born Chaplin forgot how? (he used to be able to as did the librarian)  

 

I know they might not have a specific model made for all the command to have their own unique bike, but at least give us the rules for everyone and let us mod the bikes.  If we were reliant on strictly GW miini's we wouldn't have had all the different types of Razorbacks or Dreadnoughts in earlier editions.  GW gave us the rules for Plasma Cannon Dreds and we would use a Devastator plasma or side sponson from a tank to build them out.

 

It just seems kind of odd that only certain models are able to ride and others not.  I do understand (kind of) why all First Born have access to jump packs and Primaris doesn't (only Inceptors).  Having the additional options is nice and doesn't really break the game...  We don't necessarily need more models, just the rules...

[Bryan Blaire]

If it doesn't have a model, it doesn't get rules. This is the new modus operandi for GW. Doesn't matter what we want or what would be nice or make sense, they are doing it for business reasons.

 

I agree that it's frustrating, it's also stymied my efforts for 40K lately, but it is what it is.

[INKS]

Well that is a shame, everyone should be able to ride a bike - jjust give it an upgrade cost. Let the players make their own models. That used to be a big part of the hobby...

[MasterDeath]

Yes, that used to be part of the hobby, but then GW lost in court to some third party and basically lost copyright on all Models they do not produce a Special model for. Edited October 12, 2020 by MasterDeath

[Gederas]

Well that is a shame, everyone should be able to ride a bike - jjust give it an upgrade cost. Let the players make their own models. That used to be a big part of the hobby...

Yes, that used to be part of the hobby, but then GW lost in court to some third party and basically lost copyright on all Models they do not produce a Special model for.

Chapterhouse Studios caused it. Because they were committing IP violation by making models for things GW had rules for, but no models, and were using the exact names of units.

 

[Hymnblade]

I think it's pretty likely that we will eventually see other Primaris characters on bikes and in Gravis; they just can only sculpt so many models at a time.

 

If they were just going to make one, I'm glad they did a Chaplain, rather than making a Primaris Captain on Bike just for consistency's sake - even though the Primaris/non-Primaris consistency is wacky, at least now there are two types of characters you can have on a bike, rather than just having two marginally-different Captain loadouts. Chaplains also need it more than most characters, since they have to be on the board in the Command phase to recite, so deep strike and transports aren't good delivery methods for them. (Yes there's the stratagem now, but that's an expensive workaround.)

Edited October 12, 2020 by Hymnblade

[WrathOfTheLion]

 

Well that is a shame, everyone should be able to ride a bike - jjust give it an upgrade cost. Let the players make their own models. That used to be a big part of the hobby...

Yes, that used to be part of the hobby, but then GW lost in court to some third party and basically lost copyright on all Models they do not produce a Special model for.

Chapterhouse Studios caused it. Because they were committing IP violation by making models for things GW had rules for, but no models, and were using the exact names of units.

 

 

I'll need to look back into the ruling again, but I think it's because it wasn't IP violation if there was no model for the unit, as some of the conclusions were not necessarily favorable to GW. So if they provide only rules, then someone else can naturally provide the representation. So to cover that base, they avoid loadouts/units for their main IP that do not have exact model representation.

 

But the conclusion is that there will be no further bike character datasheets until the pairing models are released. It is what it is.

Edited October 12, 2020 by WrathOfTheLion

[aknorthroader]

That's a shame...  thanks for the background info.  I am just getting back into the game and this must have happened between 5th edition and now...  I remember all of the customization that everyone did to make those one offs... 

 

I can see this being a huge problem in today's print on demand technology...  Though I do appreciate the variant of shoulder pads and helmets/heads, I do agree that it is IP piracy to just print out your own army or print to sell...  but, if they don't have something already created, others can fill the void...  it is a bit of a quagmire...  

 

and this is why we can't have nice things!  

[WrathOfTheLion]

There are three variants as well for DA and their successor chapters outside of the codex, as there is a kit for them in the Ravenwing command squad. They still have access to an ancient on bike, an apothecary on bike and a champion on bike.

[INKS]

 

Well that is a shame, everyone should be able to ride a bike - jjust give it an upgrade cost. Let the players make their own models. That used to be a big part of the hobby...

Yes, that used to be part of the hobby, but then GW lost in court to some third party and basically lost copyright on all Models they do not produce a Special model for.

Chapterhouse Studios caused it. Because they were committing IP violation by making models for things GW had rules for, but no models, and were using the exact names of units.

 

I think that is a great idea, I just wouldn't have named it those units. :/

[Ishagu]

I'm sure that a few years from now we'll have a choice of all sorts of biker and jump-pack Primaris.

[MegaVolt87]

Its actually inconsistent as a reason in actual application. There is no jump pack chaos sorcerer for instance or kit for chosen they still have rules, yet they cut the dark eldar kabalite trueborn, the DE version of chosen which are traditionally made from the factions troop boxes due to lack of kit like chosen. 

Edited October 12, 2020 by MegaVolt87

[Rogue Crusader]

Are t they keeping the old command and bike vets as options with legends?

 

I know they weren’t in the codex for 8th but we’re index options. I always loved a bike based list even before they were beefed up with 9th.

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

With the Outriders not even getting a multipart kit this year, I think the Indomitus Outriders and Primaris Chaplain on Bike are more like a preview at the moment. When they actually bring out an Outrider MPK (most likely next year), I expect there'll at least be a Captain model alongside, as well as most likely a Lieutenant. Granted, we probably won't get a full raft of character options at that time, but it'll at least be more representative than it is now. The same is the case for Jump Pack troops - I'd argue we still haven't seen the "standard" Primaris Jump squad yet, just the heavy version of same (Inceptors) and the Fire Support equivalent (Suppressors, who themselves haven't gotten an MPK yet).

[bigtrouble]

 

 

and this is why we can't have nice things!  

 But you can have another Primaris Lieutenant!

[Noserenda]

Are t they keeping the old command and bike vets as options with legends?

 

 

^^This, Legends is there with rules for those things that are perfectly legit to use, people ignoring that isnt really GWs fault.