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Made in se
Powerful Pegasus Knight





Alright, I'm having trouble choosing a new army, or rather, an army which follow a theme.
The theme I'm aiming for is loads of bikes, simply because it seems like a cool and rather rare idea to complete. But I'm having trouble choosing which codex I'll use...
As far as I know it's Dark Angels, "normal" Space Marines, Orks and Eldar who are capable of a pure bike army.

I would like (if I dare to ask) a quick rundown of how competative, rare and just plain funny each of these armies are, aswell as some basics on how to play an all-bike army so that it really works.

Thanks in advance.

*Hopes that the noob-flamers will stay away*

If I use -><- I'm not mocking you, it's a reflex from using the " silly" icon on every other forum.
However, if I use this -><- I might just mock you.
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Karash (at the home page of SATW) on the subject of America's fear of nudity:

which gets even weirder, seeing how you americans tend to use [the F-word] more often in various meanings than a smurf would use "smurf".


Nearly a quote except the censorship.  
   
Made in se
Storm Trooper with Maglight





Well, I have no real experience of pure bike armies, but out of these I think that
Space Marines would both be cool and most effective.

Just take Kor'sarro Khan, Bike command squad, 3 Bike squads for Troops, Scout Bikers for Fast Attack and Attack Bikes for Anti-tank.



 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





New Jersey, USA

From what I've seen a mass of Ork Nob Bikers is very very hard to kill.

if I was going to do an all bike list I'd go with the Orks.


 
   
Made in gb
Mighty Brass Scorpion of Khorne






Dorset, UK

A Saim-Han Eldar Jetbike army can be very effective (jetcouncil's are stupidly powerful). Although If you wanted pure jetbikes (no grav tanks or anything) You would only be able to choose from 5 different unit types: Jetbike Guardians, Shining spears, Autarch on Jetbike, Warlock on Jetbike, Farseer on Jetbike. Its important to keep in mind that there aren't any GW models for Jetlock's or Jetseer's, so you would have to be comfortable with converting your own.

   
Made in us
Rotting Sorcerer of Nurgle





YMMV and these are just my opinions, so take it as worth a grain of salt.
__________________________-

I had the same exact issue a bit back. I spent alot of time on Vassal to experiment...and IMO that's the best way to find out which you like.

My choices were the same:
-SM Bikers (DA or SMurfs).
-Nob Bikers.
-Seer Council/GJB.

Now, I did not choose Orks.
1. I'm wierdly not a fan of wielding the army, though I don't mind playing against them. The Nob bikers were the new kids on the block then and were filled with 'jerky' in all the meanings you could come up with. In addition, I was fortunate not to go that route as the IG PBS then came out and was a pretty hard counter to the Nob Biker lists

2. Eldar, sadly it won't be 'pure' bikers, as I run 2 Prisms. Now, I don't own the actual models, I made a completely scratch built jet bike army out of flying bases, random bitz, and card stock. <---Wasn't the best of results but I did get real games in. Guardian Jetbikes are cool, but are horribly fragile. Large base, just MEQ stats, not so great ld even with Embolden, disappointing shots with generally average Shuriken Cannon. Even enmass, they can only do much damage at close range which is 'danger zone' for them. I ran a 10 man Seer Council, 1 Seer, and 1 Autarch and jammed them down the throat of my opponent to deal with them and not the prisms and jet bikes, but the council itself is a gimmick.

It...relies on Fortune. When I say rely, I really mean it. It is the foundation of the list and when it doesn't get off (a variety of reasons why it wouldn't go off)...you basically have a 12 man squad of Marine equivalents costing over 600 points.

3: I ended up with SM (DA/SMurfs). At the time it seemed unique and obscured. In addition, I had felt that they would get a more consistant result based on player skill rather than a reliance on a death start unit.

Between DA and SMurfs, I went for SMurfs because I had felt that the DA work best as Doublewing when used in conjunction with Deathwing.

SMurfs offer a flexible list of support options.
Now, 'pure bikers' can be a hard thing as point increase, they (even with a discount recently) are still somewhat over priced...they are not cheap on the wallet either.

It think 'pure bikers' works well at the 1500 level (and have been loving it for a while) and starts to lose charm at 1850 because they need other options for support.
As a side note: you don't 'HAVE' to take Khan for a biker list, a normal Captain is good enough if you are not looking to do anything specific.

Either way, good luck, the biker list relies on the speed. Guestimating ranges will be more important than anything else, and depending on which army you choose, they are pretty different from each other and require a different approach even if similar in how they approach the enemy.

Remember the Dark Angels said it best: "Speed Kills."

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
 
   
Made in se
Powerful Pegasus Knight





Well, maybe I won't go with "pure" pure bikers, a little tank support is not completly off.

I got Vassal so I might try to get a few games in, but I'm new with it and my connection isn't the most stable.

After a little thought I've ruled out eldar, mostly cause of the models, even if that assault move is nice... So either Orks or Marines, even if I lean a little on the marine side (if only for the ravenwing battleforce)
At what points do the biker lists start to really work, I doubt that they are a good 500p army, but what about 1000?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2010/08/20 14:01:14


If I use -><- I'm not mocking you, it's a reflex from using the " silly" icon on every other forum.
However, if I use this -><- I might just mock you.
Rats with hats: 3k
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Karash (at the home page of SATW) on the subject of America's fear of nudity:

which gets even weirder, seeing how you americans tend to use [the F-word] more often in various meanings than a smurf would use "smurf".


Nearly a quote except the censorship.  
   
Made in us
Rotting Sorcerer of Nurgle





The Ravenwing battleforce is ACE.
It's a great foundation and better yet, it doesn't 'have' to be Dark Angels.
The bits in it are amazing and the speeder is nice too if you like it, or you can sell/trade it with someone. Win/win IMO, and economical on the wallet.

One minor issue...theyz-haz-no special weapons in there........./sad panda face. So you'll have to dig into your bitz box to get them the much needed Special Weapons.
____________________________

Here's my 7 second list.

Captain, bike, relic, stormshield.
8 Bikers, 2 Melta, Fist, MMAB.
8 Bikers, 2 Melta, Fist, MMAB.
2 MM Attack Bikes.
2 MM Attack Bikes.

1000, so... seems to get the basics into 1000. I'm sure you can move things around to get the MSU aspect instead of the big clunky squads, even dropping some stuff on the Captain to reflect the lower points.

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
 
   
Made in se
Powerful Pegasus Knight





So I guess the basis of that army (and most other biker amries) is to zoom around, melta tanks and wear down infantry until a squad with a fist charge in and finish them off...I'm getting more excited by the second.

A question though, on combat squads. How to put them up. Like a "normal" space marine squad with the heavy weapon (Attack bike) and mini-amount of grunts in one unit and sarge+special weapons in the other?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2010/08/20 14:28:47


If I use -><- I'm not mocking you, it's a reflex from using the " silly" icon on every other forum.
However, if I use this -><- I might just mock you.
Rats with hats: 3k
: 750p
Karash (at the home page of SATW) on the subject of America's fear of nudity:

which gets even weirder, seeing how you americans tend to use [the F-word] more often in various meanings than a smurf would use "smurf".


Nearly a quote except the censorship.  
   
Made in us
Napoleonics Obsesser






Ork nob bikers. They have two wounds and an extra toughness and can take a power claw...(I've been told all of this second hand by an ork player, so feel free to correct me )

Although vanilla marines can be fun too. Easier to paint for sure.


If only ZUN!bar were here... 
   
Made in us
Consigned to the Grim Darkness





USA

ORk Nob Bikers have +1S, +1T, +1 wound, +1 initiative, +1 attack, and a 4+ save compared to regular Ork Boyz. Each individual nob can be customized from a set of wargears that yes, includes power klaws.

The people in the past who convinced themselves to do unspeakable things were no less human than you or I. They made their decisions; the only thing that prevents history from repeating itself is making different ones.
-- Adam Serwer
My blog
 
   
Made in us
Napoleonics Obsesser






:O Now I see why everyone and their mother plays or has played them


If only ZUN!bar were here... 
   
Made in us
Rotting Sorcerer of Nurgle





@Oscarius:
Combat Squadding is how ever you want.
I generally put them into:
-Combat Squad: Vet, 2 specials, 2 joes.
-Support Squad: Attack Bike, 3 joes.

Some I've seen had Vet, specials, and Attack bike and put the other joes in their own squad hiding somewhere, not a fan of that. Basically Combat Squad allows you to allocate resources more efficiently should it be advantageous for you depending on the mission/opponent. It allows you to have a big beefy squad that's only 1 kill point, or to break it up to spread out firepower. Not as numerous as pure MSU, but it adds flexibility to the large squads.

@Samus:
Yes, nob bikers are nice, but only if you do the jerky: everybody is unique, while str 8+ is still scary to those bikers even with the 4+ constant cover save, more so than the other types of biker lists.

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
 
   
Made in se
Powerful Pegasus Knight





Well, I kinda knew that I could combat squad in any way I wanted (aslong as it was 5 guys + 3 guys w. Attack bike) but it was more of a tactical question.

Thanks a ton for all your help, now I'll just have to stick with the theme.

If I use -><- I'm not mocking you, it's a reflex from using the " silly" icon on every other forum.
However, if I use this -><- I might just mock you.
Rats with hats: 3k
: 750p
Karash (at the home page of SATW) on the subject of America's fear of nudity:

which gets even weirder, seeing how you americans tend to use [the F-word] more often in various meanings than a smurf would use "smurf".


Nearly a quote except the censorship.  
   
Made in us
Napoleonics Obsesser






I agree that the ravenwing box set would be an amzing way to get bikers...Wow. It comes with about 150$ worth of stuff!


If only ZUN!bar were here... 
   
 
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