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I've grown tired of the mech-focus of GW lately, and decided I would rather play a biker-list in my next tournament. I knew it would be much tougher to be competitive without any tanks, but fun actually beats winning, and it's not like it is a soft list, it has quite a lot of melta, so it should be a though match-up for tank-heavy armies, and I had won or drawn most of my practice matches, so I was hoping for a top 5 placement.


My list:

HQ - 305

Captain N'Keln, bike, powerfist, hellfire rounds
Librarian, bike, nullzone, avenger


Troops - 695

4 Bikers, attack bike, 2x flamer, powerfist
4 Bikers, attack bike, multimelta, 2x plasma
8 Bikers, attack bike, multimelta, 2x melta, powerfist

Fast Attack - 300

2x Attack bike, 2x multimelta
2x Attack bike, 2x multimelta
2x Attack bike, 2x multimelta

Heavy Support - 200

Thunderfire Cannon
Thunderfire Cannon

1500pts


Unfortunatly, I got pretty ill the day before the tournament, and actually spent that entire day in bed. When I woke up on the day of the tournament, I still had a fever, and I couldn't keep any food down, but I still decided to go to the tournament, popping some pills and anticipating getting better later. So when you see stupid mistakes in the first games, remember to blame my fever and the lack of food

Also, sorry for the bad quality of the pictures, I borrowed a camera, and apparently didn't figure out how to use it properly



Game 1 vs BW spam orks

His list:
Warboss, mega armour, pk, attack squig
Big mek, KFF
4-5 Mega Nobz
60 boyz
4x BW, deffrollas


This is a hard match-up for my list. He will get charges, and I must sacrifice units to take out his. It was then made worse when the mission turned out to be annihilation. I groaned and thought to myself, ''please don't be DoW'', while my opponent cheered for it to be DoW.... and DoW it was

He won the roll-off and placed his mega-nobz + warboss at the 24'' line. I choose to just drive in on turn 1.

- Set-up


He started rolling slowly forward, his other three BW's rolled on together to benefit from the KFF. I choose to place on thunderfire on each flank, hopefully splitting his force, so I could concentrate on some of his forces as I removed his mobility. I did however make two HUGE mistakes in my first turn, that ended up costing me the game.
1: I should have put my captain in my large bike-unit, making that unit capable of taking on a boy squad and winning, and making my IC's harder KP's
2: I placed my flamer bikers + captain too close to his BW for some reason, giving him 2 extra KP's that he shouldn't have gotten so easily.


- Stupid mistakes


He rolla'ed one squad of attack bikes. I choose to do a death or glory, but of course it failed, and that squad was gone after the resulting 2d6 S10 hits. His meganobs then had a clear charge on the flamers + captain, and wiped them out at the loss of 1-2 meganobs. The rest of his BW's charged forward.

In my turn, my attack bikes blew up one BW, and the left thunderfire then wiped the 20 boys that fell out. The warboss wagon was immobilized.

In his turn, he wiped out another squad of attack bikes with 20 boys, and the last 20 boys charged my big squad. That combat continued for many turns, ending at turn 5 with me having one attack bike and the sarge left. The boys that had killed the attack bikes were wiped out by the left thunderfire, while the left BW was destroyed by the plasma bikers.


- Boys getting ready to charge and other boys get ready to be evaporated


- Slow grinding match, T5 vs S3 for the win

My last attack bikes managed to take out the warboss wagon before being eaten by the warboss and friends. At turn 5, the score was 5-5, but he would reach my right thunderfire, so I needed to kill something else. My plasmabikers and the last remaining from my large unit charged towards his remaining units. I did manage to kill the warboss, and it was 6-6 on turn 6, but then we played another turn, and his mega nobz got a charge off against my plasmabikers. I got one last shot at the BW with my multimelta, but he saved it with the KFF, and it ended 7-6 to him. He had 4 models left on the table, I had 3... one bloody match


- Not much left



- The last attempt at victory, the warboss is gunned down

I think I pulled off a good comeback after the horrendously stupid first turn. Unfortunatly, it was not enough to make up for my fever-influenced moves in the beginning.

Man of the match: Left thunderfire - killed 40 boys with two rounds of fire

Result: Loss









Game 2 vs SW

I get paired against a SW player, and I'm in for another rough match. He has insane amounts of S8+ guns, and all his units are at least decent in assault

His list:

Rune priest w/Living lightning, Jaws of the world wolf, Chooser of the slain
Rune priest w/Living lightning, Murderous Hurricane, Saga of the beast slayer

3x Wolf Guard, 2 w. powerfist and combimelta (goes with grey hunters), 1 w bolter (goes with long fangs)


8 Grey hunters w. meltagun, wolfstandard, Mark of the Wulfen
Rhino, HK missile?
8 Grey hunters w. meltagun, wolfstandard, Mark of the Wulfen
Rhino, HK missile?
5 Grey hunters w. flamer
Razorback w. lascannon & twin-linked plasmagun, Hunter Killer missile
5 Grey hunters w. flamer
Razorback w. lascannon & twin-linked plasmagun, Hunter Killer missile
6 Long Fangs w. 5x missile launchers
Razorback w. lascannon & twin-linked plasmagun, Hunter Killer missile
2x Predators w. Autocannon, Lascannon sponsons, HK missile


In addition, it is spearhead, and the table is not very nice to my army, with a river blocking in one quarter. Most of the objectives end up in that quarter, and for some reason, I take it, thinking that he will have to come to me and I can jump his units as they come. A fine plan... if he didn't have such an insane amount of long range firepower


- Set up - Why did I choose that quarter?

I start with most of my army in reserve, and he does the same thing, setting up a firebase across from me. Again I have already made some bad mistakes (still havn't eaten anything at this point). I should have chosen a different quarter, as the river blocked me from turboboosting. I should have started with everything on the board, and I should have bum-rushed in, using one unit to screen as the rest could take out his tanks, and then I could have retreated and harrassed him after his long range firepower had been diminished.


- Advance meekly men!

Of course, I didn't do this. I started moving meekly forward, waiting for my own reserves and being afraid of his. I did take out 5 of his long fangs, but here, my luck ended. He hit with EVERY lascannon shot (fact! My opponent commented on this himself), and even that lone long fang left just kept knocking out a bike a turn. Then add that when I penetrated his tanks, I didn't get any destroyed results, and my army was quickly shrinking away, while his was more or less unharmed.


- WHY WON'T THEY DIE!!

He fired a single lascannon shot at one thunderfire, hit the techmarine, and I fail a 3+ coversave. Then he shot another lascannon at the other one, hit the techmarine again, and once again I fail the 3+ coversave


- Finally managed to at least take out some tanks.. a bit too late though

Even with my pretty bad luck with the vehicle table, I had enough meltaguns to take out almost all of his tanks. If he hadn't destroyed my thunderfires early (which was also my fault, they should have been even further back - he was in like 47,5'' range with his preds), I could have hurt his infantry too. Now, with my bikes almost gone, and my thunderfires all gone, I just couldn't take out his infantry, and he could calmly claim one objective and contest the other


- It's a draw!

In the end, he controlled one objective, and contested mine, so it was another loss. A pretty bad start at the tournament, but at least I managed to get some food after this battle, so my mind started working again


- No it's not

While I did play kinda dumb in this battle, I don't think it mattered greatly in the end, as he was insanely lucky with his rolls, and I struggled to kill anything. Sometimes, lady luck just works against you... (in his last fight, he couldn't even destroy some warwalkers with all that S8+, so I guess it evens out... too bad it evened out against me )
- My luck evens out quite a bit in my next match though, so stay tuned

Result: Loss

Thanks for the reports. I am always interested to hear about biker armies. Keep going!

- Blackbone

Game 3 vs Necrons

I have played this guy once before, and I gave him some pointers with his necrons. I especially told him that destroyers are pretty good. Seems he took the advice

His list:
Destroyer Lord, warscythe, res orb?
2x10 Warriors
3x5 Destroyers
3x Heavy Destroyers

While necrons are a pretty bad army, that is mainly because they can't kill tanks and because they kinda suck in close combat. Against my army however, the first one is not an issue. Especially this army can give me quite a lot of trouble. Luckily, the second issue is more of an issue against me, as at least I have powerfists. He has two defences against close combat however, as the steep hills are now ruled to be impassible to vehicles and bikes. He has jetbikes and infantry, so he can climb ontop off the hills, and I can't assault him. (this would have made a huge difference in game 1, but that's life). He also has the speed to play keep-away, but luckily, thunderfires can take out that advantage.

The game is spearhead annihilation. He only has 7 KP's, so that makes this battle worse than if it had been objectives, were he would have to take more risks with his warriors.


- Staring position, loads of destroyers in the horison

I start with my plasmabikers and my thiunderfires one the board and keep the rest in reserve. He starts with everything on the board. In his first turn, he takes out two of the plasmabikers, and they run off the board.. damn, 1-0. He also moved up a warriorsquad and his heavy destroyers towards some hills.

The entire game, my thunderfires keep shooting the difficult terrain shots at his destroyers, and while this doesn't kill many (maybe 1-2 in the game), it did mean that he couldn't turboboost.


- The cavalry arrives

I get most of my army in on turn 2, and luckily, he hasn't gotten all of his warriors up on the hill yet, so I send my captain + flamer bikers after them, and my meltabikers + libby after his heavy destroyers.

He sent a unit of destroyers infront of my thunderfires in turn three, so I send in all my attack bikes against them. They get stuck in indecisive combat the rest of the game (bikers without powerfists suck in close combat )

My libby fries the heavy destroyers with Avenger, while my captain and flamerbikers charge the warriors – using three combat turns to take them out (bikers with powerfists suck in close combat )


- Heavy destroyers fried, warriors locked in combat with captain fluff-fist and his rubber-buddies


- Other warriors get to safety on the second floor, while the destroyers open up on the bikers

As I got stuck in combat with warriors for a while, the other warriors get in safety on the second floor of a building, and he sets up his 10 free destroyers in a firing line. He rolls really good to hit, one unit hitting and wounding with 18! I borrow his dice for saves, and loose 1 biker This continues to be a trend in this game. He hits and wounds with loads, I then borrow his dice to make the saves, and generally loose one biker.


- Get them before our luck runs out!

As my thunderfire cannons keep him from turbo-boosting, I can quickly close the distance, and I take out a squad of destroyers.


- Can't turboboost away from this

After turn 5, the score is 3-1 to me, and I have cornered his last active squad of destroyers, while my flamerbikers keep knocking down some warriors, who then come back with almost as many next turn – damn second floor!


- Necrons doesn't like close combat. Super-dice can be seen in the background

The combat between my meltabikers + libby vs destroyers + lord is indecisive however, and the game ends, so the score stays 3-1

Result: Victory!

My thunderfires were very good this match, reducing his mobility, and also making him nervous as he had to take dangerous terrain tests all the time, but the man of the match must be my opponents dice, which just couldn't roll beneath 3+ (these were normal GW dice, so no worries about cheating) - My opponent did get a bit upset that I lent his dice however, but the jugde said that he couldn't decline me the use of his dice








Automatically Appended Next Post:




Game 4 vs IG

His list
CCS, 3x meltaguns, chimera
Lord Commissar
PCS, 4x flamers, chimera
3x Infantry Squads, autocannons and grenade launchers
2x missile launcher HWS
Leman Russ Demolisher
Leman Russ
Hellhound
Basilisk
5 Stormtroopers, 2x melta


- Set-up

Mission is DoW, capture and control. Finally an excellent mission and match-up. I start with two squads at the 24'' line, and he decides to keep his platoon in reserve, and to deep strike his stormtroopers. His CCS and tanks will come in on his first turn.

I turbo-boost everything up towards the table-egde, making sure that I have melta-coverage in range of the entire board-egde. He rolls on with his three tanks on the right egde and takes some shots. My 3+ coversave means I only loose two bikers from the flamer-squad.


- Chimera and Leman Russ exploded

A competition is called out – first to kill a heavy support gets a price
I take a 24'' shot with a multimelta at the side armour of the leman russ. Two 6's later, and I'm the proud owner of some 40k fluff
I also blow up the CCS chimera.


- Reinforcements have arrived

He then get's in his platoon, and it comes charging in to aid the tanks. His infantry squads wrap around the HWS's. Again, I suffer little damage, just loosing a few bikers to the meltas of the CCS and two attack bikes to the basilisk + demolisher combo.


- Reinforcements are surrounded!

Now, my entire army is in striking range. My Captain + flamer bikers multi-charge the demolisher, basilisk and CCS, wiping them all. The PCS chimera is exploded by multimeltas, and the HWS's are taken out by thunderfires and meltaguns. His infantry is thinned out by bolters and assaults.



- Multi-charge mayhem

From now, it is only a clean-up operation, as he only has infantry with low-strength guns left, and I have him completely surrounded. He tries to block with infantry squads, but I blow holes in his lines with bolters and clear paths. He kills one thunderfire with the stormtroopers (taking out the tech-marine in close combat), but by turn 5, he is tabled, for a loss of 4-5 bikers and a thunderfire cannon.

Result: Victory!

This was a rough match-up for my opponent, DoW against a biker-army, meaning at most two turns of fire, and more likely one, before I'm in his face, blowing up his tanks. He probably should have started with as much as possible on the board and not held anything in reserve though, as he needed every gun available to have a chance at all.

Game 5 vs IG

His list:
CCS, 4x melta, astropath, Officer of the fleet, chimera
Vets, 3x flamers
Vets, 3x plasma, chimera
Vets, 3x melta, chimera
Valkyrie
2x Sentinels, lascannons
5 Ratlings
Hellhound
Demolisher
Leman Russ


Mission is pitched battle, 5 objectives. I win the roll-off and take the side with a ruin, so I have a place for my thunderfires. I deploy all bikers at the 12'' line, spreading melta evenly along the line. The thunderfires go in the now fortified ruin. He decides to keep everything but the ratlings in reserve. (big mistake)


- Half-way there already

I start by turbo-boosting everything as far as they go, I'm almost at his egde already. The thunderfires easily remove the ratlings. (I don't think he knew that I could remove his coversave)

His turn, nothing comes on of course, so I get to move all the way to his egde. He now realizes his folly in reserving everything, but a little too late now.


- Come on, join the party

He get's the valk, his CCS, the sentinels and the plasma vets in. Shooting accomplishes little, as I have my 3+ coversave. I am now in a perfect position to pounce on his units. Meltabikers take out the valkyre, plasmabikers immobilize and WD the vet chimera, and attack bikes take out the CCS chimera. The captain + flamers then charge the CCS, wiping them out. A thunderfire takes a lascannon off a sentinel. I have also turbo-boosted some units so they give cover to non-turbo units.


- Someone turned up.. finally


- I react

In his third turn, the rest comes on, and he chooses to come on the opposite flank from the rest of his forces. That won't save him from my meltas


- Flanking forces almost gone

His shooting again accomplishes little, as I either have a 3+ or a 4+ coversave. Only a few bikers die.


- More tanks join the party

In my turn, I finish the job, taking out all his heavy support with multimeltas, exploding his melta-vet chimera and then using the thunderfires to wipe them. The flamervets are flamed by avenger and then charged, while the plasmavets are trapped in a useless and stunned chimera. By the end of my turn 4, he has one weaponless sentinel and some trapped plasmavets in a weaponless and immobilized chimera left, so we call it there.


- Uhm.. yeah, that was kinda brutal

Result: Victory!


After scores are tallies, I end up in 7th place out of 30, not quite in the top 5 as I had hoped, but I had managed a decent comeback after the bad start. If I hadn't been ill the first day, I would probably have done better. There is another 1500pts tournament coming up pretty soon, so I'm thinking about taking my bikers to the field again.


Army Breakdown:

Captain: Decent. - Of course he needs to be there, and he adds some combat-punch to the unit. He also always puts two wounds on anything but vehicles with his shooting. I think the fist is worth it in comparison to a relic blade, as he more often fights units that the I5 is wasted against.

Librarian: Good. I didn't play any really psyker-heavy armies, so his hood was of limited value. I think he stopped a power or two against SW's, but nothing game-breaking. As long as the enemy doesn't have any psyker defence, he usually get's to put out the hurt with some avenger templates. He also adds some decent close combat boost to the bikers. From pratice games, I know I need him against Eldar, and he can also be good against Lash or Nids.

Meltabikers: Good. They rarely get to use the normal meltaguns, but the ability to combat-squad is nice, and their multimelta often get some kills.

Plasmabikers: Good. They had few good targets in these games, and mostly zipped around looking for side armour. They did kill quite a lot of tanks, the longer range of their plasmaguns making up for the loss of S and AP of the melta. They also took two wounds off the Warboss in game 1, letting a multimelta take the last. With the captain and his hellfire rounds, this unit should make a nice MC hunter.

Flamerbikers:Good. Mech hurts this unit of course, but getting stuff out of transports is what my army does, and those flamers then lay down the hurt. In a practice game, this unit wiped a 30-man boy unit.

Multimelta AB's: Awesome. These guys just destroy tanks. The long range coupled with my high speed is awesome. Their small size makes them easy to hide or at least give a coversave. The same also goes for the multimeltas in my other squads. I can effectively deny large areas to enemy armour.

Thunderfires: Very Good. Even without ruins to bolster, they generally last a while if I deploy them correctly, and they just absolutely murders anything with a poor save. I desperatly need them against hordes, and they can also be awesome against MEQ if they are clumped up (like if their transport blows up). The only thing that drags them a bit down, is that they are heavy, so DoW sucks for them.



The top three places at the tournament were:
1. Deamons (bloodcrusher spam)
2. Foot Eldar
3. Vulkan Marines

Nice, thanks for the report. I really like bike armies, but that must be the ravenwing player in me .

Makes me wonder about the ig players. You basically just have to take your licks, while playing ig, against the bike armies and hope they don't deal out too much damage on their post turbo-boost phase.

What do you add to take it up to the 1750-1850 range?

One thing IG players can do to be better against biker lists, is to include counter-attack or a devildog? (chem-cannon 'dog). A unit of roughriders or a devildog in reserve would have kept me somewhat at bay, as I would know that I would loose at least one unit when they entered. They should also both have started with as much as possible on the field to get more shooting in. The first IG player could have set up his platoon as a screen to allow his tanks more rounds of fire. If the second IG player had started everything on the table, it would also have made it harder for me. Now I could take out everything that was a threat each turn, but if everything was on, I couldn't have taken out everything at once, and some of his units would get more rounds of fire against me.

I haven't actually played this list at the 1750-1850 range, but I would probably go with more bikers, as the list is a bit low on numbers, and more multimelta attackbikes would also be awesome - those guys are killers

Nice work ! Good coverage of the tournament at http://www.youtube.com/user/jonaslep#p/u/4/RzX6ZhBUrHY if anyone is interested. Your army is at about 7mins in the vid !!!

Hey great report. I liked your army so much I made a couple diffrent versions of it in army builder. I think I might make a Biker army. It looks like fun.

Thanks for the replies

@Gleeman: I've seen those videos, my third game is in the very beginning of video 3, with dice-issues included

@Nicorex: Biker armies are awesome, you are going to become a speed-junkie after your first couple plays. People are often amazed by my redeployment ability when they first play me. Of course the army has some downsides, it is not as forgivable as a mech army, you will feel every loss, and as show by my first game, every mistake you make is going to hurt. It is also at best mediocre in close combat, but of course you have your speed to help you with that issue. I would happily recommend that you go through with it though, I love playing this army