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Howdy. This is my first time ever posting in any forum ever, and am also very new to miniatures games, especially 40k. Please feel free to point out any forum etiquette or rules violations I'm making and I'd be happy to correct them.

I was curious as to why in the Dark Angels Codex (6th ed) the cost to add extra Ravenwing Bikers to the unit is 27 points. Now, the base unit has an 80 point cost and comes with two bikers and a sergeant. Basic math illustrates that 80/3 = 26.66666... So I can understand that GW must have rounded up to reach a 27 point value for their bikers, however this proves harmful when it comes to adding more bikers to the unit (adding a maximum of three Ravenwings Bikers to the unit, thus doubling its size).

Now, in all other examples of units I could find (in 6th ed Dark Angels, Tau, and Tyranid codices, respectively) the sum of the max additional units in which the base unit already contained more than one model, was less than or equal to the base cost of the unit. However, with the Ravenwing Bikers costing 27 points each instead of 26, the additions cost a sum of 81, rather than the 80 that was needed for the basic squad.

Since this appears to be a consequence of rounding, rather than beefing up the cost of a model to discourage additions, I'm wondering if there is any know rule or addendum that addresses or corrects this issue, as it is driving my 1500 point army up to 1502. I would greatly appreciate some form of citation with any answers provided so I can cite them myself in the future.

Thank you for your time and patience in reading my post.

It is what it is. Your math actually breaks down a little because you're assuming the Bikers and the Sarge are worth the same amount. If it helps, imagine that the Sergeant is worth 26 points for some reason, while the Bikers are worth 27.

I'm assuming you have two squads of 6, which are generating an "extra" point each. Some opponents won't care about 2 points. Some will. It just depends on who you play with.

Ah. I guess you got me there. I was just assuming they were since the sergeant and bikers have the same exact stats and wargear. Thanks for the perspective and response.

I'll just say that you'll always run into at least one unit that skews your points values a little. For example, why did they make the cost of ravenwing black knights 126, when the command squad is only 120? 126 is a horribly odd number to be throwing around, and it always puts my lists a point over if I just run 3 of them.The only way to prevent wasted points is to bump the squad up to 5.

I agree I really hope they address this issue in the next codex (if they decide to continue updates) but the best way around this is to honestly take 2 HQ choices. Either Sammy and a Liby on a bike or 2 Liby on a bike. It does suck you have to waste 75 points to save 6 but with all the options a command squad gets it kind of works out. Either that or talk to the person your playing I've had a game were they looked at my codex and just straight up said "yeah that's stupid just say it's 80 points extra for the 3 bikers. I understand tournaments won't do this and for good reason. Good luck though I'm whatever you decide and like myself a die hard dark Angels player keep hoping for a new less gak codex! Also look on black library FAQ section a few changes to the codex can be found. It's not much but it does answer a few wtf questions.

BillTrigger wrote:
Ah. I guess you got me there. I was just assuming they were since the sergeant and bikers have the same exact stats and wargear. Thanks for the perspective and response.

If you really need a reason, we could say that the Sargent has access to Melee weapons. As they can be quite expensive, he is only worth 26 points, so he does better without them (points cost).

But there is not really any excuse here. I have seen a few Codices where the base cost is cheaper / more expensive than the additional members. This is just how things are.