Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So...Scout Bikers. Anyone else run them? I wanted to add a couple of squads to my army, then I realized I have to buy them all individually. Has anyone out there found a way around this prohibitively expensive limitation? I thought about converting normal Bikers into Scout Bikers, but I don't know how time/cost effective that would be. Any ideas?

yea... I have a 10 man squad of scout bikers.

They CAN be pretty good, depending on the enemy. If you get first turn against any mechanized list, they can just be devastating... nothing like a power fist + 9 krak grenades on vehicles that haven't moved yet to wake you up in the morning... not to mention rapid firing krak grenades to punch holes in rear armor.

Fun to play, but very expensive, both money-wise and points wise.

So, did you pay full retail on ten individual bikers? Or did you find some manner of shortcut?

I field them and bought the models individually. I love em. I field a full scout army and what would it be without scout bikers?

i was thinking off getting some myself cause I like the sound of the landmines... haha

I bought all of mine off ebay. I got them for around $10 each... not full retail.

I run them in my vanilla marine army and absolutely love them. Squad of 5 bikers, 3 grenade launchers, mines if I can afford them, srg w/ PW, MB & homing beacon. I usually run 3 pods so with the bikers I have the threat of bringing down 2 pods on turn 1 within inches of my opponent's deployment. Add in a couple of LS Storms with assault kitted scout squads and your turn one alpha-strike can be considerable.

Here's a link to a batrep of mine where they really got to work they way I envisioned them: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/397832.page

Obviously they won't always be that effective, but holy kats did they earn their kibble that day! They served to deliver the drop right on target, took out a command squad with shooting, sentinel in assault, L Russ with shooting, cluster mines took out a veteran squad, took out another veteran squad in assault and claimed the winning objective. This was by far their best game... but it does illustrate their potential quite nicely.

I've run proxies, so I'm already convinced of their effectiveness. My only issue is getting the actual models without paying $20 apiece. I'm all for supporting my LGS, but the price for a full squad (let alone more than one) is ridiculous.

gaovinni wrote:I field them and bought the models individually. I love em. I field a full scout army and what would it be without scout bikers?

Off-topic, but what do you use for a HQ in a full scout army?

Even the 10th Company has a Company Commander and retinue.

I've thought about doing a full Scout army before, and fluff wise, couldn't you stick a Librarian, or a Chaplain, or a Master of the Forge into the army? It wouldn't be any more unfluffy for a 10th company army than for any other would it?

Well, scouts are certainly and advanced deployment / scouting force... so a libby's psychic awareness (from a military perspective) could be invaluable to the success of the mission.

Since Librarians and Chaplains aren't part of any specific Company, they can always be included in an "all scout" company and still be fully fluff accurate.

All scout armies don't tend to fare very well, because they're meant to support tactical squads and the like. They are however, a thematically awesome army.

Infiltrating and scout moving your bikers means you can get a turn 1 charge in most games, granted they survive. Also, the homer they can take is great for deep strike-heavy lists. They are a pricey unit though.

Cerebrium wrote:

gaovinni wrote:I field them and bought the models individually. I love em. I field a full scout army and what would it be without scout bikers?

Off-topic, but what do you use for a HQ in a full scout army?

A captain. In the fluff even the 10th company is led by a captain.