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I've been an Eldar player since 4th ed and the Guardian Jetbikes were literally what drew me to the army as a whole. My very first Eldar models came from a box of 1 Autarch on bike, 9 Bikes & 2 Vypers.
I've always had a dozen+ since then, way before Scatterbikes existed. My army is a Saim-Hann themed group of exiles that left their Craftworld to act more like a corsair army.
If I am putting Eldar on the board there WILL be jetbikes as my primary Troops.
I shouldn't be shamed/punished/treated like TFG for using my favorite 40k unit, like ever, just because they suddenly got OP in this edition.

Now that I got that rant out of the way, what is the best loadout for them that is both tactically efficient, yet palatable for an opponent in casual games?
Obviously units of 3 Scatterbikes are out of the question here. Likewise 3 vanilla bikes are out as well. those are great for objectives, but they do not contribute to the battle otherwise.

The builds I'd like to discuss are:
A) 3 bikes, 1 Scatter laser
--------This build is pretty straight forward. Cheap and can JSJ the Scatterbike to plink shots

B) 3 bikes, 3 Shuricannons
--------While not as cheap as build A, nor as effective as 3 Scatter bikes, this build has nice firepower and requires planning to use, since it requires them to get closer

C) 3 bikes, 1 Scatter, 2 Shuricannons
---------I have actually tried this build and love it. It combines the 2 builds above and allows you to still get some shots yet stay out of 24" range if needed. The only downside is that it really is getting close to 3 Scatterbike territory for casual games as it only has 2 less shots when in 24" and has some Bladestorm

D) 5 bikes, 2 Scatters
----------similar to build A, but is more eggs in the same basket. This build would be a good place to put a Character

So which build do you think is best?

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Of the options you list, I’d prefer to see option D across the table. While not the 1-in-3 heavy I’d prefer the bikes stayed at, it also feels like a real unit, and not just MSU spam.

Second choice, I’d go with A. Less heavy weapon spam. I’d prefer a shuricannon instead of the scatter, just for the nostalgia.

B/C are about the same. Not full scatbike, but close enough.

Well, I'm more oldschool than MSU.
Therefore, I prefer 5+ models such that I dont have to make a morale check after one casualty.

 wuestenfux wrote:
Well, I'm more oldschool than MSU.
Therefore, I prefer 5+ models such that I dont have to make a morale check after one casualty.

You know I used to think the same way. With 5-6 models, losing 1 doesn't cause a test.
But I have found that about 4 out of 5 times my bikes suffer casualties it is more than 1 at a time. So now instead risking only 2 bikes running away, it's 3 or 4.

So it looks like option A is best for a few units with option D for any characters to join

Bring them in maxed out squads with no heavy weapons

 oldzoggy wrote:
Bring them in maxed out squads with no heavy weapons

I think Dire Avengers in a Serpent do that job better.