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hey, i just started a white scars army and i wanted to know some tactics and tips for playing them. I've watched some battle reports and read some forums but didn't pick up on any core tactics that they use, so i wanted to know any good tips that i could use on the field. also if anybody wanted i could trade some tactical marines new on the sprue for some sm bikers.

(p.s. i have yet to actually play them so i have no combat experience with them.)

Hi and welcome to Dakka!

I play SM, and have tried the White Scars army before. It has it's ups and downs, like any list would, so I'll give you a run down on models/squads and my experiences with how they can/should be outfitted.

1. Kor'sarro Khan: If you're looking for a fluffy list, he's the guy to go to right here. Whether he's on foot or on his bike, he's a good model, although I will say he is better on foot from personal experience. On his bike, he makes your Biker squads (of at least 5 models or more) scoring units, which can be helpful when trying to reach far objectives late in the game. On foot, he's amazing when attached to a unit of TH/SS Terminators in a Land Raider. Granted your Bike Squads are no longer scoring, but keeping to the fluff, you can still have Bike Squads in the list, and remain competitive. I will say that I've seen a White Scars list with Khan on foot, and another Captain on a Bike, and thus making bikes scoring again. This person played Tactical Squads as well, and had 1 Command Squad on bikes, and another on foot. It was pretty pricey for what they did, but he seemed to make the list work effectively. Either way though, you can't go wrong either way.

2. Bike Squads: Keep these units as small as you can, which if you have a Captain on a bike, would be 5 models (including the Attack Bike). Outfit each unit to specialize in either Melta, Flamer, or Plasma weapons (Sgt. included). The Attack Bike doesn't need a MM, unless the rest of his unit has Meltaguns too.

3. Land Speeders: The MM/HF is the most cost effective and efficient way of outfitting your LS's. Keep them moving 12" until they reach a target, or if not, then keep them in Cover or hidden from LOS until they can make a single move to a good target.

4. Assault Terminators: These guys will be your biggest Deathstar unit (and likely a primary target for your opponent). Keeping your Bike Squads with only Shooting weapons, you're going to find that your list is relatively low on Power Weapon attacks. Put these guys in a Land Raider, and if Khan is on foot, attach him to the unit. Now, with his Furious Charge ability, your TH/SS Terminators can crack open AV 14 vehicles, and your LC Terminators will tear through most infantry with relative ease. And just for sh*ts and giggles, if you decide not to run the additional Captain on a Bike, attach a Chaplain to this squad.

Now, let's talk strategy...

Bike armies work best as a Shooting Army. With Khan as your Captain, you can choose to Outflank your units. Bare in mind that when you are announcing units in Reserve, you MUST declare if they will be Outflanking or not at that exact moment. As for Outflanking in general, I find that this tactic works best for your Bike units, as they can travel as far as 24" onto the board if they need to. Otherwise, if you decide to keep them on the board, line them towards the middle of your deployment, around or behind the Land Raider (assuming it's not in Reserve to start).

If you're facing an equally Shooty List (ie - IG or Tau), I find two strategies to be useful.

1. Get as close to them as possible and engage their units with your Deathstars. This usually involves the Land Raider being deployed close to the middle of your Deployment Zone (in non-DOW games), and pushing up the middle, activating Smoke Launchers, and hoping it doesn't get disabled or immobilized before it reaches it's target. Land Speeders and other non-transporting vehicles move Cruising/Flat Out, until they have range of targets. Bikes Outflanking here, would be most beneficial. Having a 12" move from either side of the field into your opponent's zone will force him to keep his units tighter up the middle, which could mean your Land Raider will reach it's intended targets sooner.

2. Putting your whole army in Reserve, and those who can Outflank, take the chance to Outflank. Against bigger model count armies (ie - IG), there is usually a very good and likely chance you'll get within Assault range of most units. As for the vehicles that can't Outflank, having them move onto the board from your table edge, and staying in Cover is important until you can reach them with your weapons.

Against most other armies, the best tactic that I've found is forming the proverbial "Gunline". You line up your units in a line along your Deployment zone and shoot the closest/biggest threats down first if you can. And as the hordes move closer, prepare your Land Raider to get into Assault range for your Terminators. Be on the lookout for enemy Deep Strikers and Outflankers as well. These guys ruin your day if they manage to get within your lines.

Aside from that, just play a few games and learn what other armies can do. No victory is ever earned without hardship. Once you've gotten some experience, and have learned more of the in's and out's of the game, you'll be able to adjust your tactics and learn to deal with each different list in your own way.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

PS - I sent you a PM about a possible trade.

I also am starting a Scars army and I can tell you the best investment for your needs in bikes would be the Ravenwing squad. 6 Bikes an attack bike and a landspeeder for about $75 depending on where you look. also depending on how fluffy your going remeber true Scars lists do not run Devastators or Dreadnaughts. If your interested in understanding the mentality behind the Scars try reading the Andy Hoare books. He wrote Savage Scars and The Hunt for Voldorious both of which are pretty good at capturing the spirit behind the White Scars. Though he does make a few mistakes such as the use of the devastator squads. Overall decent reads.

Good to see soemone going for the Scars! I always felt they were a hugely ovelrooked chapter.

Elaborating a bit on Benshin's advice, a killer combo is to put Kor-sarro Khan in an assault terminator unit with around 3 Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield termies and 2 Lightning-claws eqipped termies. The LC models will benefit -far- more from the Furious Charge tiule he grants,. striking at I5 and S5, cleaning enemy models before they can strike at your expensive termies and thinning them down. It adds a -lot- to the overall survivability of the unit and doesn't harm their high-damage output that much.

Ideally, they'd rde around in a Land Raider Crisader, though this can get a bit pricey. If you want to splurge, however, toss in a Chaplain too for an insane amount of hits on the charge.

Beware of the dangers of Outflanking in Spearhead. Often times, against large model count armies, your opponent will be able to completely line one board edge. Any unit, then, that can't fly over the enemy units and cannot enter will count as destroyed, and your other units will be entering on the opposite SHORT table edge. Not good!

Seen this completely table a White Scars biker army at 'Ard Boyz. Just a warning.

You just have to watch out for tricky situations, that's all. As a (not that experienced) WS player, I think the best thing to do is use the mobility of your bikes to FULL FULL advantage, after all, that is the reason you're playing these guys in the first place.

As mentioned, the extra couple of points req'd to make your Bikes Troops is ALWAYS worth it, IMHO. It means you can use all your other FA slots, and also take A LOT of bikes.

With reference to what Rouroni said, ensure that your Bike squads specialize. I'm not too sure about keeping them small though, I think an extra 15 points for a Sergeant isn't worth it unless he's got a specific role assigned (ie killing tanks with a power fist, my personal favourite). Nevertheless, the squads as a whole must be equipped with the weapons they will actually use, going with default 1 melta and 1 plasma is never a good idea.

You don't even HAVE to use heavy weapons in every squad, and I would never take a flamer. A wall of bikers is more than enough to mow down most infantry. Never forget that bikes can always act as anti-light-infantry, because they all have the TL bolters regardless.

Take out the heavy targets with your meltas and plasmas first, but ensure hordes of boyz/nids cannot get anywhere near your troops.

A fellow White Scars player!

I am also aiming for a White Scars list,bikes and speeders ftw. I wanted to second the Ravenwing box advice. That is just PURE White Scars goodness.

I'd also like to ask the following : Is the power fist mandatory for bike sergeants? Given the amount of meltas that the squads would already have?

In terms of Land Speeders I find myself leaning towards MM/Missiles or MM/AC. Thoughts?

N'Ferno wrote:A fellow White Scars player!

I am also aiming for a White Scars list,bikes and speeders ftw. I wanted to second the Ravenwing box advice. That is just PURE White Scars goodness.

I'd also like to ask the following : Is the power fist mandatory for bike sergeants? Given the amount of meltas that the squads would already have?

In terms of Land Speeders I find myself leaning towards MM/Missiles or MM/AC. Thoughts?

In terms of powered-up Bike Sarges, this is my view:
The plasma and combi-weapon upgrades are not a good choice. They don't give you more effective range and they don't really DO anything, or maybe that's my personal preference against combis. But basically I don't believe they expand your capabilities enough.
The power sword is good because it makes your Sarge just that much better, especially against MEQs and Eldar with high(ish) armour saves.
The power fist is amazing because it can a)get you out of tricky situations and b)extend the vehicle-hammering capabilities of your unit. Remember, it means that your anti-tank unit can remain an anti-tank unit even if/when your meltas get killed. Also, it's good for a tank shock DoG attack as well as succeeding where a dismal 2D6 Armour Pen roll has failed. Look, with 12" melta range, you're going to get close and personal with the tanks anyway!

Land Speeder wise, I'm very inexperienced with them at the moment, but I would say if you're getting a multi-melta get missiles, makes it anti-tank. For anti-infantry, get a HB/AC combo (but I don't have the codex in front of me, I think these are the best choices...)

I read somewhere about a good tactic using a Landspeeder Storm DS vehicle bog-down rush that helps take out enemy vehicle formations, I can't for the life of me remember where on Dakka it is. You might find it useful. Then again, with the amount of anti-tank advice in this post, you might want to take more anti-infantry rapid fire orientated weaponry, depends on your usual opponents.

Hope this has been helpful

For anti infantry on the speeders i believe that a HF/AC would be better. after playing a couple games with my speeders i noticed they have a major problem sticking around the battle field(though that could just be that i was playing against GK) also the cover save allowed from turbo boosting will save your bikers lives over and over again. Attack Bikes are beautiful with the 2 wounds. also moving 12" and assaulting with a power fist sergeant did do good damage

First, decide what kind of Scars army are you going to run;

All bike
All mech
Hybrid bike/mech


That will largely determine your play style/tactics. I would personally suggest all bikes for fluff and fun reasons. Command Squad bikers are no joke--and at 2k you can comfortably run two which gives you a pretty wide umbrella for your other bikers. From there, just fill in medium size bike units with Attack Bikes. Melta/flamer---and forgo the power fist. Shoot/dance and assault anything that gets close to your lines with the command squad.

Outflank is generally not worth it unless you can place objectives near flanks. Otherwise, opponents will avoid/stay out of assault range from flanks---which forces you to move/wait a turn. In that case, coming on from your board edge with a turbo is just as good as a flank. If you can place objectives and make the flanks sacred ground, then go for it.

What kind of list are you considering? Will fluff be a driver in your army creation---or are you willing to break a few fluff rules?

I plan on bikes + 1 maybe 2 squad of speeders. Captain with command squad bikers and loads of bike troops. I might arrange the captain to be usable as Kor'sarro as well, but I don't plan on focusing on outflanking since I get the impression everyone expects the white scars to do so now.
I see the speeders supporting the bikes with missiles while the boys fight it close and dirty.

What fluff rules are you referring to? Dreads and devastators?

N'Ferno wrote:I plan on bikes + 1 maybe 2 squad of speeders. Captain with command squad bikers and loads of bike troops. I might arrange the captain to be usable as Kor'sarro as well, but I don't plan on focusing on outflanking since I get the impression everyone expects the white scars to do so now.
I see the speeders supporting the bikes with missiles while the boys fight it close and dirty.

What fluff rules are you referring to? Dreads and devastators?

Yeah I was referring to Dreads/Devs but since you're going bikes it won't matter. I think Typhoon Speeders fit very well in a Scars army (That was actually my one loss at Adepticon a year or two ago).

Some general thoughts;

Khan is roughly 40-50ish points more expensive than a Vanilla Captain on bike. For that 50 you get--Outflank, Hit and Run, Furious Charge and a possible ID weapon. I consider him worth it in an all bike army (especially if you have a command squad he's leading---because Melta/LC Furious charge LC bikers tend to eat units)....but it's somewhat subjective.
Attack bikes additions are always worth it. The ability to soak a wound from a regular biker + a fast MM is no joke.
Combi-flamers are generally worth it on Sergeants as you have the speed to deliver the flamer + most bike squads have 3 melta anyways.
Power Fists are never worth it on regular squads. You have small squads so allocation might nab him + you don't want your bikes in HTH anyways.
Command squads should either be shooty plasma/melta hell or melta + LC hell. The ability to pull up, melta a rhino then LC the guys getting out is nasty. Even PM flinch when that happens and Khan is leading the charge.


Good luck!

A few questions regarding the command squad...

From the looks of it the company chmpion is a bit meh, losing the melta for another attack and an invul save. Is the save that important?

The company standard? Yay or nay? I will probably model it anyway, i want to try to make one.

Have there been any descriptions of Kor'sarro's bike? I might wait to see the ravenwing jetbike in finecast released and use that for Moon-what's-its-name.

N'Ferno wrote:A few questions regarding the command squad...

From the looks of it the company chmpion is a bit meh, losing the melta for another attack and an invul save. Is the save that important?

The company standard? Yay or nay? I will probably model it anyway, i want to try to make one.

Have there been any descriptions of Kor'sarro's bike? I might wait to see the ravenwing jetbike in finecast released and use that for Moon-what's-its-name.

I don't think the Champion is worth it---I tried him a couple of times and wasn't that impressed.
Standard---ditto.

My Command Squad config for Khan was;

4 x Vets on Bikes
4 x LC
4x Meltagun
4 x StormShield


Pricey? Yep. It also ate armies. Hit and Run with Khan---then charging right back in with Furious Charge makes for good times.

I don't know about Khans bike. I used the Primarch;

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/285772.page

N'Ferno wrote:A few questions regarding the command squad...

From the looks of it the company chmpion is a bit meh, losing the melta for another attack and an invul save. Is the save that important?

The company standard? Yay or nay? I will probably model it anyway, i want to try to make one.

Have there been any descriptions of Kor'sarro's bike? I might wait to see the ravenwing jetbike in finecast released and use that for Moon-what's-its-name.

Re the bike, I rate the best thing to do is get a White Scars Commander kit, and then just make it clear whether it's KK or just a Cap' w/ relic blade...

Hey guys check out my White Scars