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I know this topic has been beaten to the ground but I'd just like to run it over one more time with some solid numbers.

The comparison:

3 mm/tl land speeders @ 300pts.
This gives you 3 mm shots and 6 missile launcher shots total.
The minimum distance to use all your guns is 24". (12" for full melta effectiveness)
At 10 armor and 2hp. 6 lucky bolter shots can dust your whole squad.
Jink gives you a nice 5-4+ cover save.
The ability to fly over difficult terrain is also a good plus.

You could drop the mm and justify skirting at the max 48" tl range. @ 270pts.
Giving you more survivability.

Vs

6 mm attack bikes @ 300 pts.
Giving you 6mm shots and 6 twin linked bolter shots. (Are relentless)
Minimum distance being 24" (12 to gain 2d6 for armor pen)
2 wounds is nice, making it 12 lucky bolter shots to dust your squads. (6 insta-kill).
You also get the jink 4-5+ cover save, as well as a 3+ armor save.
Bikes can get into cc which is awesome! 12 s4 attacks.
However they have to maneuver around terrain.

It seems like it's a difference of long range vs short range and then weather or not you need one or the other in your list.
I've read of people using mm/hf speeders for close range, but it seems like bikers have more utility for close range with their cc abilities.

Thoughts?

Why would you only use the bolt pistol on your attack bikes? The things have tl bolters and are relentless...

 Flinty wrote:
Why would you only use the bolt pistol on your attack bikes? The things have tl bolters and are relentless...

There is no mention of twin linked bolters in the codex. Which I thought was weird cause the model clearly show's otherwise. Fixing op.

BoniFactor wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Why would you only use the bolt pistol on your attack bikes? The things have tl bolters and are relentless...

There is no mention of twin linked bolters in the codex. Which I thought was weird cause the model clearly show's Iotherwise. Fixing op.

It's covered in the wargear section. Page 100 establishes that bikes "are fitted with a twin-linked bolter".

 Vaerros wrote:

BoniFactor wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Why would you only use the bolt pistol on your attack bikes? The things have tl bolters and are relentless...

There is no mention of twin linked bolters in the codex. Which I thought was weird cause the model clearly show's Iotherwise. Fixing op.

It's covered in the wargear section. Page 100 establishes that bikes "are fitted with a twin-linked bolter".

Ah, got it, thanks!

The typhoon launcher on the speeders actually makes them a priority target. They are great against lists that lack ranged firepower, but against lists that do, they will be fragged asap.

Martel732 wrote:
The typhoon launcher on the speeders actually makes them a priority target. They are great against lists that lack ranged firepower, but against lists that do, they will be fragged asap.

So would you then have both options in your pocket? Speeders for orks n nids, ect. Bikes for necrons, tau ect

I'm biased. I run BA, so I can give attack bikes FNP, which makes them better than speeders in almost every case.

For vanilla marines, its hard. I'd say that speeders without typhoon launchers are more susceptible to being gunned down without doing anything. Just the fact that a penetrating hit from a plasma or krak missile can potentialy one shot a speeder, but only removes single wound from an attack bike is pretty nice. You can't shake or stun the attack bike either. And it fights in HTH.

But the typhoon changes things. It brings a lot of firepower to the table that's very mobile. Side hits on many vehicles with krak missiles is money. The only problem is now these AV 10 HP 2 skimmers are getting pretty pricey, and your opponent will see this as an easy way to get krak launchers off the board.

I'm not sure if that helped, but this is a really tough call I think for the vanilla marines.

Martel732 wrote:
I'm biased. I run BA, so I can give attack bikes FNP, which makes them better than speeders in almost every case.

For vanilla marines, its hard. I'd say that speeders without typhoon launchers are more susceptible to being gunned down without doing anything. Just the fact that a penetrating hit from a plasma or krak missile can potentialy one shot a speeder, but only removes single wound from an attack bike is pretty nice. You can't shake or stun the attack bike either. And it fights in HTH.

But the typhoon changes things. It brings a lot of firepower to the table that's very mobile. Side hits on many vehicles with krak missiles is money. The only problem is now these AV 10 HP 2 skimmers are getting pretty pricey, and your opponent will see this as an easy way to get krak launchers off the board.

I'm not sure if that helped, but this is a really tough call I think for the vanilla marines.

Wow Fnp on bikers would really make a difference. Although wouldnt a krak missle be able to insta kill an attack bike?

As far as converting vanilla marines into a ba army, is it simply a matter of hq choices? Ill have to look through the codex. I remember sang priests giving fnp no? Can you mount them on an attack bike?

BoniFactor wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
I'm biased. I run BA, so I can give attack bikes FNP, which makes them better than speeders in almost every case.

For vanilla marines, its hard. I'd say that speeders without typhoon launchers are more susceptible to being gunned down without doing anything. Just the fact that a penetrating hit from a plasma or krak missile can potentialy one shot a speeder, but only removes single wound from an attack bike is pretty nice. You can't shake or stun the attack bike either. And it fights in HTH.

But the typhoon changes things. It brings a lot of firepower to the table that's very mobile. Side hits on many vehicles with krak missiles is money. The only problem is now these AV 10 HP 2 skimmers are getting pretty pricey, and your opponent will see this as an easy way to get krak launchers off the board.

I'm not sure if that helped, but this is a really tough call I think for the vanilla marines.

Wow Fnp on bikers would really make a difference. Although wouldnt a krak missle be able to insta kill an attack bike?

As far as converting vanilla marines into a ba army, is it simply a matter of hq choices? Ill have to look through the codex. I remember sang priests giving fnp no? Can you mount them on an attack bike?

No, bikes have T5. FNP is a great addition to an already fairly resilient unit, but even without FNP I think I would still prefer bikes over speeders. Bikes are more versatile and are less prone to being popped infantry IMO. Still a tough decision, as speeders can really manipulate terrain to their advantage.

Sanguinary priests can ride bikes, and then join whatever squad they like, and squad within 6" also get the FNP. I usually have mine hang out with the plasma bikers.

Don't forget your speeders can double up on weapons and still fire both now. I've put together a double heavy flamer one, though it's still got to see use, Double multi-melta gives you incredible firepower against tanks but is very vulnerable - for this I've decided to stick with attack bikes. Double HB is cheap and may be ignored by your enemy in return for juicier targets, but 3 of them can cause significant damage...

I run 2 squads of 3 Multi-Melta Attack bikes and find they are better suited for armor melting. Basically The attack bikes have a better chance of getting close and killing armor then surviving to do it again next turn. The hammer of wrath for CC is also a nice bonus for bikes.

The T5 with 2 wounds are pretty nice while speeders tend to get popped running multi-meltas.

Typhoon speeders have some nice firepower but are way to fragile if your opponent has long range weapons. They tend to be easy kill points and a very expensive loss for you.

Bikes all day any day, I'm a fan of the lone MM suicide speeder but nothing more. bikes are just so dificult to kill it can do damage and cause chaos for your opponent