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Hello.

Ive read online that a big no no is to never combat sq your 6 ravenwing bikes (splitting them into squads of 3)

I wanted to ask for additional pros and cons that i miss.



Pros:
Splitting fire
If more than 3 wounds are suffered, only a max of 3 can die.
If both squads charge the same enemy, only 1 squad gets overwatched
Can tar pit more enemies
Can get to more objectives.
Can aid friendlies easier.
Can alocate weapons ie, 1 combat squad could be all plasma (inc sergeants pistol)

Cons
Losing only 1 bike forces a morale check rather than 2
Less shots at one enemy unit (although both combat squads can follow and shoot the same enemy umit)
Charging the same enemy unit means you need to pass 2 lots of charge ranges

So to conclude... Why are people against this when the pros outweigh the cons?

Three bikes are easier to pick off than six with a pieplate.

Cons:
Easier to concede First Blood
Worse when Kill Points are a factor.

Also, if you're going dakkabanner bikes, you only need to keep one bike within 6" of the banner to give the whole unit salvo 4 bolters, but if you combat squad, you need to keep two bikes inside 6" to get both combat squads the benefit, which means clustering up a lot more

 Eldarain wrote:
Cons:
Easier to concede First Blood
Worse when Kill Points are a factor.

Good point. Although in the new 7th ed missions. It would benefit. Objective wise


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 nwabudikemorgan wrote:
Also, if you're going dakkabanner bikes, you only need to keep one bike within 6" of the banner to give the whole unit salvo 4 bolters, but if you combat squad, you need to keep two bikes inside 6" to get both combat squads the benefit, which means clustering up a lot more

Another good point. Dont think i use dakka banner much but defo worth mentioning

If you're using the dakka banner, don't combat squad.

If you didn't bring the Ravenwing as a troop choice... bring Black Knights instead.

If you have troop Ravenwing but no Dakka Banner, you are probably better off with 6 x 3-man squads, with 2 special weapons and an attached Attack Bike in each of the 6 squads, than you are combat squadding.

 Ian Sturrock wrote:
If you're using the dakka banner, don't combat squad.

If you didn't bring the Ravenwing as a troop choice... bring Black Knights instead.

If you have troop Ravenwing but no Dakka Banner, you are probably better off with 6 x 3-man squads, with 2 special weapons and an attached Attack Bike in each of the 6 squads, than you are combat squadding.

I thought the atk bike when purchased with a ravenwing bike squad was always treated as a single unit? Perhaps I am assuming? Lol

Yeah the attack bike is bought as one choice but treated as separate once you deploy. Which IME means you have enough scoring choices.

 Ian Sturrock wrote:
Yeah the attack bike is bought as one choice but treated as separate once you deploy. Which IME means you have enough scoring choices.

So do att bikes take up a slot of FOC?

1 FOC gets you 3 bikers, plus an optional 1-3 more bikers, plus an optional Attack Bike. If you buy 6 bikers in one FOC, you also get the option of a Speeder, all in that same FOC. When you deploy, the attack bike and speeder are always treated as separate units (all with Objective Secured, if you took them from a Troop slot -- yay for the return of scoring Land Speeders!).

Im still running MSU and seem to be doing fine. The banner is great but you cant expect it to save you. It should be used in conjunction with your supporting choices.

I had a game last night and my banner got sniped turn 2... sucked losing salvo but I had enough other supports and speed to take advantage of other parts of the game.

IMO, People should quit worrying about getting tabled and actually focus more on the scenarios.

 Ian Sturrock wrote:
1 FOC gets you 3 bikers, plus an optional 1-3 more bikers, plus an optional Attack Bike. If you buy 6 bikers in one FOC, you also get the option of a Speeder, all in that same FOC. When you deploy, the attack bike and speeder are always treated as separate units (all with Objective Secured, if you took them from a Troop slot -- yay for the return of scoring Land Speeders!).

Yep... and you can really get by with just using 2 Troop FOC for full bikers+AB+Speeders. That's 8 Objective Secured units for those 2 FOC troop slots!

That really does help DA's ability to utilize other units more effectively. (ie, maxed RW Knights!)

Can the attack bike deploy with the bike squad when flanking from reserves? or must it roll flanking separately?

axisofentropy wrote:
Can the attack bike deploy with the bike squad when flanking from reserves? or must it roll flanking separately?

It has to outflank with the other bikers. But, once it hits the table, it's always a separate unit.

The only caveat (I don't have my codex handy though, so I may be mis-remembering) is that if you purchase the Speeders, I don't think you can outflank anymore as the Speeder doesn't have that rule.

You only buy them as one FOC choice (unlike with the previous codex, where you deployed them together and then treated them as separate units). As soon as you have bought them, they are treated as separate units, so, it seems pretty clear that that separation happens well before deployment.

 Ian Sturrock wrote:
You only buy them as one FOC choice (unlike with the previous codex, where you deployed them together and then treated them as separate units). As soon as you have bought them, they are treated as separate units, so, it seems pretty clear that that separation happens well before deployment.

+1