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Made in us
Land Raider Pilot on Cruise Control





Renton, Washington

What units would you suggest?

What point limit should I do?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of a biker army?

Any advice is accepted!

"So does he cast off a frail mortal frame for something greater and more difficile. So does he become a Dreadnought."
3000ishpts
1500ish pts
1000ish pts
Alpha Legion + World Eaters 2000ishpts
Cryx - 19pts
Khador - 7pts
Legion Everblight - 25pts 
   
Made in ca
Enigmatic Chaos Sorcerer





British Columbia

This will be most helpful I think.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/447870.page

 BlaxicanX wrote:
A young business man named Tom Kirby, who was a pupil of mine until he turned greedy, helped the capitalists hunt down and destroy the wargamers. He betrayed and murdered Games Workshop.


 
   
Made in us
Sister Oh-So Repentia





Don't, it's more of a pain than you realize.

However, I do run a pure Ravenwing, so I will offer a little advice.

I recommend about 2000 points. If you play 1500,1750, 1850, or whatever, this will allow a bit of variety in your units.

Bike armies, and speeders for that matter, and fast and shooty. Close combat is generally NOT you friend. Bikes cost a lot more than a generic marine, and loosing a couple from a small squad hurts a lot. A command squad with a captain and chaplain tooled for CC as a counter attack unit is the lone exception.

As for units, all regular bikes is foolish for 2 reasons. One is they are not designed to deal with all types of enemies, and you are a one trick pony. The other is they are expensive. I recommend similar units to bikes, such as scout bikes, attack bikes, and speeders. These are all all still fast, but can deal with more types of enemies and fulfill other mission. Also, the Ravenwing boxed set is quite possibly the best GW value out there. Six bikes, one attack bike, and one speeder for $90. (I bought several last year, the price may have gone up, but still a steal) and there are 3 ravenwing sprues in the box. Lots of extra bitz and such.

Finally, I recommend playing ravenwing for several reasons. First, the Master of the Ravenwing allows bikes as troops, as does a regular space marine captain. But he can also be taken as an Armor 14 BS5 twin linked speeder of death, which can be a nasty surprise. Second, Ravenwing are cool. Really cool. Check out the bitz. Third, a Ravenwing Bike Troop choice allows allows one speeder per troop choice to be taken. In a 2000 point army, I have fielded 8 speeders all as individual units, not a single squadron. Finally, as a troop choice, Ravenwing Speeders count as a scoring unit, but not FA ones.

Bike armies are tough to learn, but well worth the effort.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.  
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




Landspeeders for Ravenwing are no longer scoring.

I play a bike army and varrie the codex. I recommend this, so you have a model for a vanilla bike captain and also a model for Sammael that way you can mix it up when you feel like it.

They are not forgiving if you make a mistake it usually leads to your demise. In general you rush one side of the enemy and then rush away, if you ever caught especially in assaults you will slowly die.

In terms of points cost they scale well. The exception being HQ units.

All chapters have their advantages, you have to decide which bests supports your style. Good luck
   
Made in us
Boosting Space Marine Biker





I run a captain on bike with Vulkan. Lots of mobile melta death. It is great against some armies (never lost to IG in 5th ed) but is very fragile. Dark Eldar will may a pure bike army cry.

The biggest weakness that I have found is that even with the speed, they lack range. You have to get within 12" to make the most use of the TL Bolters and regular Meltaguns. The problem is that you are now within assault range and even with a Power Fist and Captain... they turn into T5 Tactical Squads that most armies can wipe with ease.

Tactics are what you will need to work on the most. Some armies you can turboboost straight at (IG, Tau, other gunlines) but to win against some you will need to go second and stay in reserve. Getting the alpha strike is huge if the enemy walks into your rapid fire or assault range. Or you can just play keep away from nasty deathstars by entering away from them and boosting further away.

There is a place beneath those ancient ruins in the moor…

 
   
Made in us
Sister Oh-So Repentia





Why are landspeeders not scoring. I acknowledge the FA ones aren't, but using Ravenwing with master of the ravenwing makes them troops. And codex trumps BRB. (I have seen many tourneys rule one way or another, but I thought they were still officially scoring.)

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.  
   
Made in us
Land Raider Pilot on Cruise Control





Renton, Washington

Ergh, Biker armies seem harder to run that I thought...

The reason I was asking this is because I'm considering disassembling my hybrid DeathRavenwing Dark Angels. But I didn't know where to put 16 termies, 3 land speeders, a LRC, a attack bike and 9 other bikes.

"So does he cast off a frail mortal frame for something greater and more difficile. So does he become a Dreadnought."
3000ishpts
1500ish pts
1000ish pts
Alpha Legion + World Eaters 2000ishpts
Cryx - 19pts
Khador - 7pts
Legion Everblight - 25pts 
   
Made in us
Sister Oh-So Repentia





We call it a "doublewing" when you take a Deathwing/Ravenwing Hybrid. With your list, take Belial, Troop the Termies, take a Ravenwing Squadron or two as FA, a speeder as FA, and the LRC as a heavy.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.  
   
Made in us
Land Raider Pilot on Cruise Control





Renton, Washington

I have a list if that would help?

Spoiler:


2000pts:


HQ:
Belial ... 130
Thunder Hammer + Storm Shield

Sammael .... 205
In his Land Speeder

TROOPS:

Deathwing Terminator Squad #1 .... 270
5 Strong
Standard Bearer
Apothecary
3x Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields
Lighting Claws

Deathwing Terminator Squad #2 ... 240
5 Strong
Cyclone Missile Launcher
3x Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields
Chain Fist

Deathwing Terminator Squad #3 ... 240
5 Strong
Cyclone Missile Launcher
3x Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields
Chain Fist

Ravenwing Bikes #1 ... 340
7 Strong - 6 Bikes and 1 Attack Bike
Apothecary
Power Fist
Plasma Gun x2
Multi Melta on the Attack Bike

Ravenwing Bikes #2 ... 150
Melta gun
Plasma gun
Melta Bombs

FAST ATTACK:

Land Speeder ... 75
Typhoon Missile Launcher

Land Speeder ... 75
Typhoon Missile Launcher

HEAVY SUPPORT:

Land Raider Crusader ... 275
storm bolter
extra armor

"So does he cast off a frail mortal frame for something greater and more difficile. So does he become a Dreadnought."
3000ishpts
1500ish pts
1000ish pts
Alpha Legion + World Eaters 2000ishpts
Cryx - 19pts
Khador - 7pts
Legion Everblight - 25pts 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




The Sarducci wrote:Why are landspeeders not scoring. I acknowledge the FA ones aren't, but using Ravenwing with master of the ravenwing makes them troops. And codex trumps BRB. (I have seen many tourneys rule one way or another, but I thought they were still officially scoring.)
It was FAQed in january.
   
Made in us
Dark Angels Librarian with Book of Secrets






Connecticut

Demdiddydizzy wrote:Ergh, Biker armies seem harder to run that I thought...

The reason I was asking this is because I'm considering disassembling my hybrid DeathRavenwing Dark Angels. But I didn't know where to put 16 termies, 3 land speeders, a LRC, a attack bike and 9 other bikes.
If you want to move to a C:SM bike list, you can still use your termies, LRC, and speeders.

You will need to get some more bikes and attack bikes to pull it off -- but your pretty close.
   
Made in us
Land Raider Pilot on Cruise Control





Renton, Washington

Should I decrease the amount of termies? Or add on points?

"So does he cast off a frail mortal frame for something greater and more difficile. So does he become a Dreadnought."
3000ishpts
1500ish pts
1000ish pts
Alpha Legion + World Eaters 2000ishpts
Cryx - 19pts
Khador - 7pts
Legion Everblight - 25pts 
   
Made in us
Noise Marine Terminator with Sonic Blaster





Moon Township, PA

Welll, first off, I would hold off on making any permanent decisions about what to do with your Raven Wing and Death Wing until the new Dark Angels codex comes out (in 3 weeks?). With the looming changes and 6th ed, all you can really do is wait. I suspect, at a minimum, the bike cost for DA is going to drop somewhere closer to the C:SM cost for bikes.

What everyone above has posted is pretty sound. The only differnece I see is I have a preference for plasma guns over melta guns while mounted on bikes. Main reason is the range of the meltagun is 12" and that puts you in assault range.

I have tried incorporating the stormtalon,and unless flyer rules change in 6th, I think I will go back to speeder squadrons. Not a complete knock on the ST, it just does not fit into my playstyle with this list.

 
   
Made in us
Dark Angels Librarian with Book of Secrets






Connecticut

To add to what Green_Is_Best has said, I would not go buy a bunch more bikes before 6th edition drops.

If your going to buy any models in the next few weeks, buy staples that you know will be used.
* Marines with guns
* Orks with sluggas
* Genestealers
But stuff for your army that you know will be in the next edition as they are iconic to GW. Troops fill this role.

After all, would it not suck to buy $200 worth of bikes only to have bikes completely suck in 6th edition?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/06/11 11:41:50


 
   
Made in us
Land Raider Pilot on Cruise Control





Renton, Washington

Yeah, I don't think I'll be buying anything new unless its something along the lines of basic troops.

"So does he cast off a frail mortal frame for something greater and more difficile. So does he become a Dreadnought."
3000ishpts
1500ish pts
1000ish pts
Alpha Legion + World Eaters 2000ishpts
Cryx - 19pts
Khador - 7pts
Legion Everblight - 25pts 
   
 
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