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Ive been running a SM biker army, and it does overall well. The speed and toughness of the army is quite strong, yet I have been having problems with taking out transports at long range.

I've been thinking of adding some units designed for this purpose, and think it will dramatically increase the strength of my army. Which of these would you add, and why?

Typhoon speeders as they can actually keep up with your army and add Long range anti-infantry AND anti-tank.

something the other options can't do.


if you need to pop transports then the 2 krak missiles will do that job very easily.

they can move 12" and fire the krak missiles OR 2 Frag missiles and the Heavy bolter.

I use both typhoons and ac/las predators for my transport destroying needs. Going with only typhoons makes your anti-transport very fragile. Ac/las is more consistent and harder to neutralize, while the typhoons are a cheap. In my 1500 point list, I use one of each.

I'd consider Land Speeders with multimeltas and heavy flamer, 70 pts.
They are both anti-tank and anti-infantry.

but not really good at either and are inefficient for the pts cost.

Grey Templar wrote:but not really good at either and are inefficient for the pts cost.

Thats debatable, its up to how well you use them really.

I would go with the Preditor! The Land Speeder can get to the enemy transports quick but can get Destroyed much more easliey than the Preditor. The Preditor can uselly last most the battle and support you ifantry and destroy enemy transports!

look at it this way.


you are paying for 1 of those 2 weapons.



if you melta a LR turn 1 and it explodes and your opponent immediatly kill the LS. you made your pts back even though you never used the flamer, but you could have spent the pts for that flamer on a Tactical squad lascannon or another piece of wargear that could have done something.


if instead you flame a squad of gaunts then you will not make your pts back before the gribblies catch you and then you lose pts on the deal.


my point is that it would be better to not spend pts on the Heavy flamer that would go to better use elsewhere and use the cheaper MM only speeder to kill a big scary tank.

Grey Templar wrote:Typhoon speeders as they can actually keep up with your army...

Why would you care if your heavy support options can keep up with your bikes? It's not like a predator is dependent on being near the bikes to shoot...to the contrary, it's safer at a distance. I suppose you could be concerned that someone could kill your tank because it's alone and unsupported, but bikes are mobile enough that an opponent will have a hard time getting around you to your rear area.

Land speeders with melta, while handy, might not be needed as much, as the bikers should have a decent amount of melta. Plus, they'll be easy prey for enemy middle-stength weapons (heavy bolters, multilasers, etc) that aren't very effective against the bikers but are great against AV10.

which is why a Typhoon with just the stock heavy bolter is perfect.

move 12" and fire 2 Krak missiles or move 12" and fire the Heavy bolter and 2 Frag missiles.

Templar; They are exceptionally good at both.

The Tornado has both the Speed and maneuverability to get in range and a good firing position for the 2d6 Penetration roll on the multimelta on Side or rear Armor.

And that same maneuverability means that it can lay the Heavy Flamer template down in the most advantageous position to burn out enemy troops. A HB/Ass-cannon Tornado only gets 7 shots, roughly 5 of which hit, most of them will wound, and those that get no save will likely be behind cover of some sort. Then with the heavy flamer You should be able to position yourself so the shot catches 5-7 models, again most of which wound and if the enemy has a 4+ or worse save even cover cannot help them.

With either case against MEQs, you should be able to get more models under the Template than the number of shots hit, then it just comes down to more hits=more potential failed saves.

A Typhoon w/hb should actually be able to get more hits from the 2 blasts and 3 HB shots, but the quality of those shots is less.

Edit: a lot of things were said while i was typing this. The Speeder vs gaunts is Fallacy; doubly so in actuality. A heavy Flamer fired at a unit of gaunts will force a Morale test (unless it is in synapse range), then the Gaunts fired at need to hit on 6's (as you likely moves at cruising speed to get to them), then they can only Glance on 6's (unless they also paid for adrenal glands)

I voted Other, as I would choose a 6-man Long Fang squad with 5 Missile Launchers. Very cost effective, and can split fire to possibly take out two transports a turn. Admittedly they run into difficulties with AV 14 (Land Raiders, Battlewagons and their ilk) but anything else tends to get krumped under the weight of five krak missiles. Obviously not an option for you the OP, as it's SW only. My $0.02

you do realize that the a Speeder with Assault cannon and heavy bolter can only move 6" and still fire all guns. same goes for the MM/HF.

the typhoon can stay at a decent range(where it is more survivable) and move 12" and fire its weapons at infantry for a bloody harvest OR it can keep the maneuravability and fire its krak missiles(at targets the HB wouldn't damage anyway)

Typhoon, hands down.

Bike armies are capable of massive redeployment (refused flank. baby!) to adjust to enemy setup. Using a Turbo Boost move, you can effectivley shift your entire army around the board as needed. A 12" max move for a Predator leaves it behind to be swamped. A 6" move for a Dread is even worse.
Only the Typhoon can keep up with the bikers, by moving Flat Out. They're cheap enough that you can take multiples to mitigate the AV10, can get a movement-based cover save, and can hang out near the back of the board to cut down on incoming fire.

Now, if bikesa re only PART of your force (say, you run bike/mech or bike/pod), I'd go with a Predator to support a bike/mech force, and a Dread to support a bike/pod. But pure bikers? Typhoon.