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Am I missing something, or are attack bikes actually a pretty decent choice. For 150pts you get three very mobile multi-meltas, or for 120 you get three heavy bolters. I'm thinking about running 2 full squads at 1850+, coupled with dreadnoughts and razorback tactical squads.

Vulkan buffs them, obviously, but even without it is there a weakness I'm missing?

They're not vehicles, so they can't do movement interdiction the way that speeders can. So a lot of people prefer speeders now, which is why you don't see them as much anymore IMO.

But they're also cheaper than speeders and can assault, so it's largely a matter of taste.

Well, its just for 140pts you can get two HF/MM speeders which'll probably do the same job, yet once they've popped a tank can flame infantry. Also they ignore cover and are (in some ways) more durable

At higher point levels speeders are probably a better buy.

Attack bikes are a decent choice. They can fill two roles in your army.

HB Attack Bikes
These bikes are best used for sniping large targets, such as a DP, or to add anti-infantry fire where you need it. They have 9 HB bolter dice between the three of them, and 6 bolter dice as they can fire 2 weapon. Given the footprint of the 3 models, thats a good amount of firepower in a small package. The ability to move 12" and fire the weapons gives good mobility.
YMMV, depending on your army composition. I use 2 rifleman dreads, so I dropped my HB attack bikes for a vindicator and have found better results with it. I can see army lists where the HBs can be useful -- but not every army.
Basically, as yourself, "Do I need sniping and/or more anti-infantry?" If so, a dakka dread is the better option, so then ask "Do I have any more heavy slots?" or "Do I need the 12 inch move and fire"


MM Attack Bikes
It goes to say their role is for tank-hunting. Their pretty good at it, even without Vulcan. Against AV 12, a MM has a greater chance of destroying than a LC. (~7.42 vs. ~7.16)
They work best when split into 3 groups of 1 bike each. You can target 3 different targets, so if the first bike neutralizes the target, you can utilize the other shots to the full advantage. You can split them across the board to increase your area of influence. Most importantly, you don't have to make morale tests when 1 model dies. With a LD of 8, thats not a gamble you want to take if its avoidable. This does offer up more KPs, but thats what you pay in flexability.


Bikes or Speeders?
I perfer MM attack bikes to speeders for the following reasons.
* Lower profile makes it easier to hide behind cover
* Can turbo boost for 3+ cover save -- beats a 4+ obscurement
* T5, 2 wounds, 3+ save is tougher vs most weapons than AV 10. ACs shoot speeders from the sky....
* Can assault when required -- hey they still have krak grenades too..
* When they die, its not as many points down the drain
* People think of them as less of a threat.
Speeders do have their advantages as vehicles, but I don't find it worth the risk. Without exception, every time I see a speeder deep strike, they get their one pot shot and then are an AV 10 target sitting in front of the entire enemy melta-weaponry. As the rest of the army is out of range, the melta guns target the speeder, turning it into a molten heap on the ground.

If your vanilla, you have a ~20.64% chance of destroying that AV 14 for your 70 point investment. Vulcan is a ~27.71% chance. I can see people making that gamble if their playing Vulcan. If you are not though I think that there are safer bets -- ie, you don't hit on a 13 in blackjack.

In most cases its a toss up between MM/HF Speeders (Typhoon is obviously a completely different role) and MM Attack Bikes (HB Attack Bikes are a waste), they both are mostly there to give you a mobile multi-melta. The attack bikes are cheaper but don't give you the movement blocking options that the Speeders can and don't have the heavy flamer (but can assault I guess). Generally the main thing which decides which one you should take is how many vehicles there are in your army. If you are mech heavy then the lower profile of the Attack Bikes means you can easily hide them out of sight to make sure that they don't give squashed before they can move anywhere. Speeders on the other hand can easily be used in any army as they can Deep Strike (although you shouldn't be Deep Striking more than one of them be squad) so should almost always get a shot off on something.

In short if you can hide them safely, go with the Attack Bikes if you want to use them, otherwise the Speeders tend to be a better choice.

I like attack bikes in squads of regular bikes, but not by themselves. Why? They are not T5. They are T4/5. Which means they get instant popped by S8 weapons, which are usually AP 3 or better. ML spam and DL spam out range, and instant kill them. At least with speeders there is a chance they could roll a bad result, and they need a 3+ instead of a 2 to have a chance of destroying.

Another reason is I run the regular bikers as troops, which means I don't lose speeders when I take bikes.