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I have never used Sammael but I am really liking his EW and ap2 weapon. Is the best way to field him on his jetbike? If he is in his landspeeder does that prevent him from attacking in cc?

Yes is prevents him from doing CC. Look in the bestiary section, it shows his profile if he's in the land speeder, it completely changes his unit type and special rules. Effectively he's a buffed Land Speeder profile.

Is one version better than the other, or is it a preferance issue?

I like both...

His speeder is a mobile landraider with 4+ invulnerable... only bad thing is he has 2 HP.

His Jetbike is actually pretty good since he can now join squads.

So, if you're fielding Ravenwing, I'd go with the Jetbike...

If you're going mech or Deathwing, go with the Landspeeder.

Since that's the case I gotta say the best way to field him is on his jetbike since he's the only character with eternal warrior and an at initiative ap2 cc weapon. You can't pass that up for a speeder with 2 HP.

The speeder is reliably killing a LOT of infantry, though -- most of the time you're hitting with all 7 shots.

I just see landspeeder, even an av 14 on as easy pickings and / or first blood. Killing sammael in a landspeeder first turn would be a big blow. Easy to accomplish with deep striking.

The thing that makes the bike better is that he is an independent character now and he has skilled rider and inner circle which makes him fearless. So far in my game that I played with my ravenwing I ran across the same problem I had with the old codex, which is the small size of the ravenwing bike squads. Now that the bike squads don't have fearless it is easy to get them to make a morale check. Having Sammael attach to one makes them fearless and have skilled rider which help to keep them alive a lot longer.

I would vote for the jetbike version.

Jetbike is definitely better. He can join a Ravenwing Attack Squadron conferring the squad Skilled Rider and Preferred Enemy CSM.

With Dark Shroud and Scout, they can be rather devastating.

Oh, don't get me wrong, the jetbike is MUCH better than it used to be, now. I don't think one is inherently better than the other though. The speeder is better if you want plenty of anti-infantry dakka with some versatility (12" move can get you side/rear armour shots with that super-accurate assault cannon), AND if you need more AV14 in your list (probably because you have lots of vehicles already). The jetbike is better if you're running a lot of bikes.

leohart wrote:
Jetbike is definitely better. He can join a Ravenwing Attack Squadron conferring the squad Skilled Rider and Preferred Enemy CSM.

That's a good idea actually, but I was thinking I need him to help keep my banner in the raven wing cmd squad live, any ideas on how to do that?

Do not use the Land Speeder. An Warlord that can be singled out like a Vehicle warlord is a bad warlord. >.>

AP2 is way over rated in my opinion. He still only has 3 attacks at S4. Only non storm shield termis would you be able to take full advantage of. Which if I may point are going to equal his cost and statistically still beat him. The landspeeder is still the superior choice, because he can soak a lot of fire up from the enemy with that AV14 and 4+ invulnerable. Ravenwing are very fragile, and the less shots on them the better off your army will be. Yes a single shot can kill it. But it is statistically more survivable than a land raider because of the 4++ , and the rear armour 10 can be easily hidden, just be aware of it.

It's about as survivable as a Land Raider -- 4++ and 2 hull points is about the same vs. glances and slightly better vs. penetrating hits, since the Land Raider has 4 hull points.

In my opinion the skilled rider ability makes the jetbike far more worth it than the land speeder (even though 14 14 10 landspeeder is pretty cool)

Consider the things the speeder has can be duplicated easily for the points cost in question. The assault cannon and heavy bolter combo, while twin linked, do not net more damage than 2 cheaper speeders. Also, av 14 is nice but av10 means you have a huge glaring weakness over a land raider, which also shoots better than the speeder. Finally, a 4++ invulnerable can be gained on a vehicle via the power field being within 3, and speeders naturally get a 5+ jink, or 4+ behind ruins or with the shroud.

End result is that while the combination of high armor, ok shooting and 4++ invulnerable initially seem good, all 3 are done better with other units in the book. On the bike however, Sammy brings unique abilities to the table, such as skilled rider to a ravenwing squad, and while s4 may not seem amazing, with eternal warrior he is one of your only options for dealing with a challenge issuing monster that would either force a lesser character to hide or be smashed and instant deathed.