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I occasionally see people take or suggest taking reaver jetbikes in large numbers.  Will someone explain to me the logic behind this?  I rarely (1 in 20 games) get the points worth out of reavers.  Is there something Im missing?

 

I don't know about using large numbers of them. Just about all the DE players I've known just use them as an Archon delivery system, if they use them at all. The same goes for Hellions.

Yeah, I don't really get the big units of reavers. An archon on a reaver jetbike can be really cool. And I can see the value of a minimum sized squad with blasters to fly around and pop vehicles or grab objectives, but I don't know about big units.

they are also really useful combined with character models as webway delivery units, but large number of them are very expensive and, at least IMHO, dont hit hard enough to warrant buying lots of them.

I've never seen them used much, so I'm not really qualified to talk.

However, unless my memory is drastically wrong, only models that are classified as infantry (ie no jetbikes, no skyboards) may plant the WWP, and they must be stationary and dismounted in the turn that they activate it.

Yeah, unfortunately you can't deploy a WWP from a jetbike.

Well, a jetbike army is one of the 3 common builds for a Dark Eldar army. Effective lists are Raider Rushes, Jetbikes, or WWP armies.

Raider rushes are just that. Everything in a raider, ravagers, maybe a unit or two of bikes.
Jetbikes armies are 30 jetbikes with two blasters and sybarite with an agoniser in each squad, with raiders for your troops.

Webway portals are having a Haemonculus open up a WWP and having everything walk through it. This is one of the only builds were Incubi are an option.

To be honest, I want to dismiss this tactic as silly, but a GT win (with 15 bikes and 2 dracons on bikes) prevents me from doing this. 30 jetbikes seems silly...2 turns of shooting and they all go away..or they get overwhelmed in cc. I was looking for a description of the tactics involved, because to me there a HUGE point sink.

Well, 15 bikes might be the right number for a bike heavy army, rather than say 30. Reaver jetbikes are actually some of the cheapest bikes in the game. I think a lot depends on how you equip them though. Usually at that number they've got 2 blasters, and a sybarite with power weapon and tormentor helm. Characters are similarly equipped. After that, it's all about using your movement to pick your battles with things you aren't going to get bogged down with.

Many of the most successful DE armies I've seen combine all three of the above strategies. Reavers make great assault elements to come out of WWPs.

Personally, I like units of 3-4 with 2 blasters and that's it. They make for good seek and destroy sacraficial units that can go hunt down a defiler or basilisk. And really, what else are you going to use your fast attack slots for? Hellions? Probably not. They have almost the same role, but lack the 24" move that's necessary to get into the back field.