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Hello Dakka!

I was reading a bit through the SM codex again and stopped at the page with the Scout Bikers. I'm thinking of maybe adding some of them to my army, mainly for following reasons:

- Bikes with Scout and Infiltrate are darn mobile, which is always useful
- Together with their locator beacon, they should be perfect for getting some shock troops right where they belong - Terminators, Assault Marines, stuff like that.
- They have these cool frag mines. I think of those more as psychological warfare - GEQ units will be hellish careful about where to walk and their player will have his mind occupied at least a little bit about where the feth these frag mines lay.
- The are T4(5), which makes them quite resilient against your usual small arms fire, better against lasguns than Tacticals and quite good against S5 kinda weapons, too, even though their armor is lower.
- They have bikes. And shotguns.

So, what are your thoughts and experiences about or with Scout Bikers? Are they worth their points? And more important: Are they fun to play?

Thanks in advance for all answers,
Witzkatz

They look rad and they have a place in certain types of builds.

I use mine in Alpha strike lists. Their ultra mobile locator beacon allows them to bring in pods right where you want them and they also combo fantastically with a gating libby.

On top of that they are good for blowing up a tank first turn with m.bombs on sarge or tying up a dedicated shooting unit. They also can shoot pretty damn well with astartes grenade launchers.

I like them, and think that they can be a big force multiplier in certain builds but are by no means a mainstay in the dex.

P.S. the mines are a waste of points, IMHO, better to use the points elsewhere.

If they scored with mounted assault I'd be all aboard.
But no.
My FA slots are just too valuable for a unit that really needs other units to synergise with (like podding/DS stuff/other infiltrators)

They break real easy with Ap4 weaponry like hvy flamers... it's pretty scary for them.
But yes, they are good for alpha strike, but I'm skeptical of their abilities on a consistant basis, they seem more like one trick ponies to me when used alone for that Alpha Strike role. Just waiting to be disappointed.

But a full squad is pretty killy in terms of mass shooting by a follow up charge, but the lack of regular special weapons makes it a little more meh.

Personally, I'd say they make better assault marines than Assault Marines -- outflanking, better shooting and T5 (with 3+ cover when not assaulting), and when *in* combat T5 4+ is not all that different from T4 3+.

Of course, Assault Marines are probably the worst FA choice in the SM codex, and so comparing them to Assault Marines as opposed to Land Speeders and Attack Bikes is kinda pointless.

But, still. They're better than most people think, and I don't think there's a point to taking Assault Marines with Scout Bikers in the codex.

Witzkatz wrote:

- Bikes with Scout and Infiltrate are darn mobile, which is always useful
Definitely. Maybe not infiltrate so much, but if you start them in the right place and turbo boost them where you want that first wave of drop pods to hit, you'll get that 3+ cover save, and they'll actually survive a few turns if you keep doing that.

- Together with their locator beacon, they should be perfect for getting some shock troops right where they belong - Terminators, Assault Marines, stuff like that.
True, but as far as Terminators are concerned, don;t underestimate the humble teleport homer. In most cases you'd want to deepstrike Terminators, you'll want them there to assist a Tac squad, which can have homers.

- They have these cool frag mines. I think of those more as psychological warfare - GEQ units will be hellish careful about where to walk and their player will have his mind occupied at least a little bit about where the feth these frag mines lay.
You;d think so, but that's not really the case. Unless he's playing footslogging vets (which I've never seen) he won;t care. He'll charge his blob squads through to clear the way for the important stuff. You usually won;t inflict enough kills with them to really matter.

- The are T4(5), which makes them quite resilient against your usual small arms fire, better against lasguns than Tacticals and quite good against S5 kinda weapons, too, even though their armor is lower.
True, but your safest bet is to keep them moving with Turbo boost to get that 3+ cover save, so they can keep deepstriking your gak where you want it.

- They have bikes. And shotguns.

Totally. Scout bikes are integral to my steel rain list. I don;t bother shooting them. I'm always moving them at least 18 inches toward trouble spots, so I can bring in my drop pods accurately.

I've ran scout bikes a few times.

The mines are really hit or miss.

Most of the damage I have caused with them has been through shooting. The grenade launchers have come through pretty well for me a bunch of times (usually in the form of 6 frag grenade blasts.)

As an assault unit they are pretty aweful. The upside is that they can get a first turn assault. The down down side is that they have a really low number of attacks. Even with a power fist on the sergeant they feel lacking.
They do work as a great shock unit coming in from outflank.
Shotguns are irrelevant IMO. They have twin Linked bolters on the bikes. With BS3 I would always want to shoot those instead of a shotgun, especially since bikes are relentless and can rapid fire and charge anyway.

Cheers
~Volkan

Scout Bikes are extremely good-- in fact, they are so good that I consider them unfun for my opponents and will not use them. They are basically guaranteed to be able to assault on turn one, have an 18" threat radius when outflanking, and are able to beat many units in close combat thanks to good old toughness 5. I don't think the mines are worthwhile, but most other stuff about them is great-- and I don't even use drop pods!

There is no such thing as 'guarenteed'.
Dawn of War begs to differ with you Fetterkey .

The all reserve enemy army too.

Sanctjud wrote:There is no such thing as 'guarenteed'.
Dawn of War begs to differ with you Fetterkey .

The all reserve enemy army too.

Good point, but I find these are comparatively rare, especially in competitive play. We'll have to see what happens with Tyranid spores, of course.