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Bikes and Bike Armies.pdf

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    Bikes and Bike armies

    1.1 Guide for the competitive player

    The text you're about to read is for a competitive type of game and takes into account the following:

    ou want to field armies with mostly bikes! attack bikes and land speeders

    ou are using codex "# or $%

    The army will not be perhaps &very fluffy&!but fluffy enough

    ave enough cash to buy all this.

    1.( Bikes as models

    Bikes as fast assault units will crush the enemy and bring them death in the name of The )mperor***+one shall escape our wrath*

    ,k! now that -'ve gotten that off my shoulders! realism. The hard cold truth is the fact that apart fromspecific situations a bike is not much better than a tactical marine. Tacticals are very good models and- love them/! but if you 're not using skill 0 a bike is ust an expensive tactical marine.

    ere's my reasoning:

    Tactical marine: T2! Bs 2! bolter! 23 cover when in cover/

    Bike: T4! twin linked bolter! 23 ink

    This is the core of the problem. - know what you're thinking 5 &ey! hold on there* Bikes get a 1(& move!ignore terrain for the purpose of speed /! are relentless! have it and 6un and ammer of 7rath *&

    True! and thank you! imaginary voice. They do indeed get all of those things. The problems start toarise when you have to make all those points you've invested pay off. )ven though you're not using allthose advantages all the time and in fact some of them maybe once per game/ you're still paying forthem.

    7hen - hinted something about skill earlier this is what - meant .

    ow exactly do we make these expensive models worth it! we will discover later0 but let's make onething clear:

    1.8 "peed is my %rmour

    6epeat after me: speed is my armour! speed is my armour! speed is my armour. Good*

    ,ne key thing to remember here is that for any bike unit 0 if you're not moving! you're dying* 9eopleforget that bikes are not infantry 0 but keep using them as they do infantry*

    -nfantry makes up for their lack od speed with numbers. Bikes have speed. -nfantry have volume offire... bikes have speed*

    )very turn you should be doing one of these:%0 get into a good position and keep out of ,"

    B0 move! shoot! assault

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    ;0 shoot an isolated target using superior numbers

    %. #oving and turbo boosting is traditional for the first turn. owever! this should be used on any turnwhen you haven't got a good target for your s

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    (.1 9icking your fights

    Before the game even starts you should have a clear picture of the field and a plan on how each of ourunits will be deployed and what units/ you will engage. -t's like a big igsaw pule.

    ou have the speed advantage 0 it's up to you to capitalie on it* 6ushing head on like a maniac... is fun

    but will get you killed. "peed is not used to get into the fight %"%9. -t should be used to gang up onpeople. Bike s ow about we drive ( s

    (.( $eployment

    $eploying your units is key. ,ne rule we haven't mentioned until now is your scout move. $eployingyour units is used to lure the enemy into a trap. =ey thing here is what to scout move and what to hide.

    %s a rule of thumb! we scout move small s

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    8.1 The list

    < 0 =han E "ammael E ;ompany master on a bike

    Take 804 units of bikes with %B 0 depending on the total sie of the army

    Take some %ttack bikes in singleEdual bike s

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    2.1 6efused flank

    What is it?

    -n short it is a very old 2Dk trick that can be done with any smaller! faster force when facing a large

    lumbering foe. -t is posted up with pics in the 8rd ed sm codex! near the end of it.

    What does it do?

    6A does ( things. Airst it throws the enemy deployment off balance and makes several shorter rangedunits useless for a turn or two. "econdly! it has the ability to separate the enemy force into ( smallersections so each can be dealth with by your 7,) army.

    What kind of force can use it?

    -t can be any army! as long as it has faster units the the maority of the opponent's force and those unitshave to match each other's speed. The very reason why this article suggests the whole bike armyneeds to move fast.

    Why do it?

    -magine ( armies lined up across the board with 8D3 inches between them . % gunline of the enemy!and your bike army across the table. 7hat will happen if the bikes drive straight ahead> #ost likely! alarge part of the force wouldn't get there at all. They would be cut down by enemy small arms fire.

    2.( 6easoning and simple math

    6A aims to avoid that scenario. 9icture this:

    The enemy army is divided into sections! surely. "ome models carry heavy weapons lascannons!

    missile launchers etc./. "ome have multi shot weapons which are far more dangerous for your bikes.% brilliant example here is a lascannon firing against moving bikes. 8 to hit ! ( to wound! 2 3 cover

    ,r a heavy bolter firing: 8 to hit with 8 shots/! 2 to wound! 83 armour save

    ,ne can clearly see that the lascannon will mathematically fail either to hit or wound. There's a 88Ichance of missing! so ??I chance of a hit. Then F2I of those hits will be result in a wound. ;ombinethat and we are at 44I to wound.

    eavy bolter! on the other hand will hit ( times and wound once.

    7hat is the point here> The point is 0 a lascannon no matter what you roll can only ever kill one bike."ure! it will deny the armor save! but still it's only one bike.

    % heavy bolter! on the other hand might kill 8. The chances are indeed small 0 but as soon as you have

    to roll saves! you %6) going to fail some of them.

    +ow we will see what this leads to and how not to get killed.

    2.8 $ivide and ;on

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    dangerous on the approach.

    -t is surely the one with more single shot heavy weapons.

    $riving up to 8 predator tanks packing lascannons and %uto cannons will surely lose you less bikesthan driving up to 8 tactical marines. (Yeah, for sure -edit)

    ou have to pick one side as your side of approach. ,nce you decide which side of the enemy armyhas more heavy weapons than multi shot guns 0 that will be your column of approach.

    2.2 The %pproach

    "o the game started let's say you go first/ and your army is deployed mostly centrally. % unit or ( oneach side but stick to the central part of the field. Cse the scout move to redeploy key word here/ yourunits that are on the opposite side of the approach side.

    B 0 bike unit

    %" 0 the side of approach

    "o this:

    %"

    B B B B B B

    Becomes this:

    %"

    BBBBBB

    7hat we did here is redeploy the the right! as that is where the most enemy heavy weapons are. #ultishot weapons are mostly on the left.

    This can be of course the other way around! if the situation so dictates.

    -nverting the refused flank should be a standard practise. -n fact! you should deploy in a way to be ableto swing both right or left if you are playing second.

    "ome simple math here:

    1(& scout redeploy 3 1(& move 3 possible turbo boost

    %ny bike can! after scouting and moving be (2& or more/ from its starting position. ou can really easilyoutpace people with this method.

    4.D -nto the fire

    %s said! pick a side of the enemy battle line and send your whole army there. %void units that have arapid fire weapon. Those things might seem harmless! but their damage output is doubled in shortrange.

    our first move should be:

    1. $rive into the fire of those heavy weapons

    (. Cse turbo with some units if needed to be in charge range next turn that's 1?01K& from theenemy for bikes/

    8. Cse %B and speeders to hit fast units of the enemy later on that/

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    2. ;oncentrate firepower on the single most dangerous thing in front of your bikes

    4. "pread out your bikes within units to minimie the number of models a template can hit

    ?. Cse ," blocking terrain to your advantage if you can

    ,ne more tip on list building here. Cse minimal upgrades and take max number of models you can. -don't mean models in units! - mean models overall. % command s

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    4.2 ammer of 7rath

    7hat is a typical bike's damage output like in cc> +ot that good. 7s2! single attack. ow aboutcharging> Airst off we move! then shoot with either a twin bolter or a special weapon. The the charge!

    with possible o7 with "4 if playing 7hite scars/! and at least ( attacks.

    That is... 2 or 4 times more damage. Bikes should charge every round.

    ?.D The Grand 9lan

    $%ure, that all sounds great - but you know the same !lan cannot work ever time, dont you?"

    Thank you! again! imaginary sceptical voice...

    -n a game against a really large army that has reserves! deepstrikers! outflankers etc 0 we need a

    backup plan. Before we even start with this 0 let's look at a typical 2Dk game with any army. ow doesone win at 2Dk> -n 4 out ? standard scenarios! and a lot of special ones 0 it's rather simple.

    1.=ill the whole enemy army

    (.Get troops on obectives

    8.=ill the enemy main H

    2.Get a unit into his deployment one

    4.=ill a unit before he does

    To win! you need to avoid number 1 happening to you and try doing more of the rest than the enemy. -fyou ust do 1 and 2 and deny the opponent everything 0 you will win.

    That! as a concept is the true meaning of 2Dk. That is the &what to do& and this article and KKI ofthem/ is &how to do it&.

    -n a single scenario ! the only point of the game is to gather more =9 then the enemy. Then the plan iseven more simple:

    1.=ill the whole enemy army

    (.=ill more units than heEshe does

    "ure! this list would need to have numbers 8! 2 and 4 but that hardly needs to be explained at thispoint. "econdary obectives are done by default at that point.

    The Grand 9lan is in effect what every tactician will tell you. 9ick a plan and stick with it. -f yourstrategic idea was to get into the opponent's face 0 do it even if you do lose some models on your way

    in.

    The whole deal of &9lay your game and not his& is a generalistic statement that holds some truth in it."omehow! it's often hard to get that point across 0 so -'ll give it a shot.

    9laying your game in this case means using each and every edge you can to beat the enemy. Bikes areexpensive models! but they do have a lot of special rules that might help us achive our goals.

    Csing every single rule is what needs to be done. -f your bikes are going to get killed in a prolongedclose combat 0 use it and 6un. -f you need to be near the enemy to use flamers! use the bikes' speedto your advantage. -f you need to target the enemy tanks' rear %J to kill them like )ldar 7ave"erpents/ 0 outflank some attack bikes or bikes with melta.

    ou have the solution for almoast every possible situation in the horrible darkness of the far future.

    )xcept one.

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    ?.1 ,bectives and why bikes are hard to play

    % lot of tabletop0related internet material is pure theory. The reason for this is that while we do play thesame game across the globe 0 we all do it in different ways. -n my town! there are ( clubs you can playin.

    ,ne is a friendly club with a lot of new players and people that like to play 7AB and paint niceminiatures. These guys usually don't care to try to win at all costs! they ust want to have fun. ou willnever see a B% list with 4 and raiders in it at that club.

    ,n the other hand! a couple of blocks away there's a smaller club with mostly veteran 2Dk gamers thatlike to bust each others' chops and play a fairly competitive game. There! all bets are off. KDI of theguys there have won at least (08 tournaments and all the tournaments are won by somebody from thatsmall club.

    The point of this is: +o matter what you do! your list will always have a hard counter in a local tourneyyou attend. - will write more on that later0 for there are a couple of things you can do to avoid beingsteamrolled and collect some tourney pts regardless of the fact that the chance of winning is slim.

    There are a couple of things worth mentioning while playing with obectives:

    1. They are held at the end of the last turn which is a problem if you play with random game lenght.Bikes are good at taking most of them! but not very good at protecting them 0 as the opponent will try toshoot them

    (. -f you go first! then he goes last not a good thing as he gets to hit those bikes in the last turn/. Theother way around is perhaps better! though if he's playing Tau you might be in for a world of hurt ifyou're not careful with your deployment

    8. ,bectives at the top of a high building is a classic way of screwing bike armies over. ;heck with theT, if that is legal. - personally don't see anything immoral in it 0 it's a part of the game.

    This leaves you with either having some units to claim those! or simply killing the enemy's units holdingthe obectives.

    ?.1 The hard counters

    ard counters for bike lists are simply put! units that hit you from afar and deny your armor and coversave. ,ften seen in Tau and )ldar lists. %t this point! we have close to no idea what the future holds andhow the -G and ,6=" are going to look like so we will stick to what's current. (not much to worry there,lol -edit)

    Both of these armies! Tau and )ldar crumble in ;; and against close range grav gun firepower. Gettingthere fast is more important than getting there safe! as there is no &safe& against those.

    -#,! things like that some Tau and )ldar units/ simply break the game at this point in time since theyare both fast! resilient! cheapish! shoot well and can be "9%##)$.

    ;ountering those with 7hite scar bikes includes rushing forward and simply charging them* -t issomewhat harder if you go second 0 but hey! that's life.

    Before you even play against a person like that for playing )ldar used to be a thing of skill once apon atime/ ask yourself the following

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    1. "torm 6aven can deploy the unit right away! but the unit will have to be deployed probably farfrom the opposition. +ot good for a cc unit

    (. 7e move the flyer in and shoot stuff! deploy the unit next turn

    Best case scenario where everything goes well/ the unit will be in assault turn 8. -f the deployment isdelayed 0 turn 2 by which time it might be too little! too late.

    % ;; unit in a "torm 6aven will cost around 4DD pts 0 a solid third of a 14DD list.

    "torm raven and shooty unit deployment:

    The math is the same as above except shooty units are possibly effective right off the bat even on yourown table half. That makes more sense in a biker list. They can even contest midfield obectives if nobike is near it at the end of the game.

    ast note specifically our on flyers.

    Take your pick. They are undercosted all of them 0 but some khmcronssantkhm even more so/ for whatthey do. +o unit has that kind of firepower in the game. -f! for no other reason 0 take at least one to havea fighting chance against other flyers.

    K.D )nemy flyers

    The ones to be afraid of at this point are the ones that deal with infantryEbikes. "o eldrakes! $akkaetsetc... those. There are 2 things you can do against a eldrakeE$akkaet:

    1. "pread out 0 having your units bunched up is a bad! bad idea. Get a (& marker and spread thosebikes out. -f you're not sure how to do it 0 take a flamer template and practise on your kitchen table*$oing this against a $akkaet makes no difference 0 but if you're fighting a Burnabomma 0 yes*

    (."aturate targets 0 combat s

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    "olution

    Airing unit

    B B

    -; B

    B B

    The right &B& should be a bit positioned closer to the back of the unit. This way! a eldrake can kill (bikes before you get to save with a (3.

    - know this is a corner case scenario! for several reasons and the maor one is why would the eldrakeshoot at this unit exactly and not the one near it! or one on the other side of the board. To explain thatwould take hours 0 but remember this if you ever come across it.

    1D.D Ainal chapter of this "aga

    Brother! thank you for making it this far. - hope that the article was as fun to read as it was to write. -also hope that it will help in creating new ideas for bike armies out there as the &meta& will changeconstatly as always! so the bike armies are going to change with it. Cp to a point where they will be athing of the past! only to spring back to life again.

    The meta will change! bikes will be bikes.

    -t does take skill to play 2Dk. The sheer number of combinations out there is a maor factor in the grandscale of things. #astering the whole game is -#, impossible 0 but we try anyway.

    The way new books change the way the game is played makes it even worse. ,ne thing that doesseparate newbies from vets is seeing the process. ,nce you've seen it and it happens every five yearsdue to marketing/ you start understanding how exactly you could keep up with it.

    -'ll give you an example of an early 4th ed bike army - played:

    ,rks !14DD pts

    H: 7adakka

    7arboss on bike

    Troops: 1( Bikers! +ob with 9=! bosspole

    1( Bikers! +ob with 9=! bosspole

    1( Bikers! +ob with 9=! bosspole

    Aast attack: $effkopta with Busaw

    $effkopta with Busaw

    Buggies with twin linked 6okkits

    This list was fun and mean back in the day. Bikers would start on the board or in reserve. ou had7adakka turbo boosting and shooting at the same time hitting enemy rear armor/! 7arboss on bike

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    with T? and a combi0skorcha. Aearless bikers with twin linked dakka guns shooting 8? "4 shots on themove. %lso! $effkoptas did first turn charges...

    eah! it was fun. Then the meta changed. ;ame the G=! -G! +ecrons... you get the picture. 9retty soonthe list had more and more 8 member units with a 9=! and models that weren't bikes. Cntil finally! itwasn't a &bike& list anymore. -t had bikes! but the maority of the models in it weren't bikes.

    -f - wanted to play that army now! sure it would be fluffy 0 but not really that good. 7ith all the flyers E

    A#; crainess! ignore cover shenanigans...

    7hat -'m trying to get across here is that bikes are cool. That will not change.

    Arom a real life perspective! a box of 8 bikes cost a lot of cash. "ome people can afford them! -'m notone of those people. - bought my fair share of those. $J bikers are cool and can be converted! so thatwould be the good thing to do when building a bike list.

    Going off and buying 1( boxes of bikes and 7hite scars conversion bits is a great thing if you're acollector and painter! as well as a player. -f you ust want to have fun playing! your list might as wellhave other models too 0 as that will happen sooner or later anyway.

    Aunny! -'ve spent the first illion words explaining how to play bikes! and now -'m saying &$on't do it>&

    $o it. $o it. $o it!don't overdo it.

    11.D and 0 %ir battle

    7ith realism out of the window! we come to the last strategic not tactical/ info.

    -'m not a military man! but have read a fair number of books of military history. and 0 %ir battle is anidea of a land force supported by tactical aircraft fighting on the move. -t was first executed withsuccess by the German army in 77( and is in practise to this day by every modern army in the world.

    7e cannot fully use all the doctrines of it since 2Dk is a space fantasy game with unrealistic elements.-t's also still/ a skirmish game. The numer of troopers at both sides range from (408D to 14D you coulddeploy more as -G! but lets be real here/.

    11.1 $ividing the army by tasks

    %s we've covered in the list building process! a unit of bikes can look any way we want it to. Alexibility ofone unit allows us to group combat s

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    tanks> 7here are his soft artillery pieces> $evastators> -nterceptor units>

    -n your head! try calculating how many combat s -f not! then take bigger s

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    -n short 0 it can all work out exactly as planned! or go horribly! horribly wrong. -f you lose! you can saythat at least you played your game. -f you win... stuff of legends*

    11.8 #anaging 6eserves

    The overall plan has to take into account the arrival of reserves and a plan B if they are delayed ordestroyed. Alyers are a maor factor here. -f your opponent has those and they are not really a threat toyour bikes 0 ignore them and concentrate on the stuff on the ground with your flyers and troops alike.

    -f those flyers carry troops in them like Jendettas do for example/ and you can choose to go second 0do it. e will roll for his reserves first and hopefully your flyers will come in after their flyers and takethem out.

    Take note of your outflanking force you do have it>/. -f you're facing an opponent with a lot oftransports! there are ( things you can do:

    1. 6eserve the melta guys and hope he will stay back. Then when they come in! they target rear %J andthe rest of the force that has been hanging out in your deployment one oins in for a pincer type of

    attack(. 6eserve the Alamer guys and commit your melta early on scout move first turn suckerpunch/. Thenwhen the reserves come in 0 they roam the board and secure obectives late game. opefully thosetroops that had transports will have less than optimal firepower to deal with them.

    11.2 The Triad of every list

    "eparate your forces into 8 groups in your head before deployment.

    Group 1: %nti infantry

    Group (. %nti armour E heavy stuff

    Group 8: ;ommand group

    +ow take your units! combat s

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    your next battle.

    Thanks brothers*

    9." 0 7hile writing this! - found the way of not allowing the opponent to place obectives on tallbuildings. ust place &your& obective next to the building first0 so he cannot place anything within 1(& ofit. -f you get to place first! do it from the very start. Bikes are fast enough to get there.

    %ddendum:

    Why a combi flamer is almost never out of place?

    ( reasons:

    1. Alamer was and still is one of the best weapons the "# codex or indeed any codex/ has to offer.ou all guys know what the weapon does 0 no need to preach to the choir. +o need to hit and it will hitevery model under the template. That last part works wonders on a mobile platform such as a umppack or bike.

    The option to move 1(& and then put the template down grants the flamer model a (D& range sie of itstemplate being F&/* 6ange is one thing! range of fire plus angle of fire is another! and bikes have both.Alamers can be fired at models they cannot hurt to hit things if front of those.

    %n example of this is 1D guys in front of a tank. ou have 8 bikes with ( meltas and a combi0flamer infront of all that. The flamer model only needs to be positioned so that it doesn't touch any friendlymodels and covers as much of the tank as possible. &%s much as possible& leaves a whole range punintended/ of options. That way! ( meltaguns blast the tank! and the combi0flamer fries the unit. -f thetank survives you can do a multi0charge too.

    %n opportunity to use that weapon will arise 0 and it's up to us to see it.

    (. % flamer is seldom fired more than one time per game. 7hen it is fired! with care it can swing thegame in your favour. The downside of taking a normal flamer not a combi weapon/ in a bike s

    This is where codex "# and codex $% go their separate ways.The following applies more to codex "#and less to $%.

    This whole thing is meant for &competitive& playing in a tourney! and so on. oe is ust making his 7hite"cars army list. e needs a solid list that is both &skewed& enough and can stand up to any otheropponent he might come across. ,nce the list is done! it's done and he cannot change it in between thegames he plays.

    The decision on which units to take has to be made with the following factors in mind:

    1. ow many different armies -'m going to face> 0 if you know nobody's bringing a mech list takemore grav guns and less melta

    (. 7hat scenarios are you playing>8. 7hat are the secondary obectives>2. 7hat are the tie breakers>

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    1: The answer to this

    2: Tiebreakers are points that we collect during the game that determine the placement within the swisssystem between rounds by separating e

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    Jeteran "arge or base>

    - say both. The 1D pt upgrade is not a big investment and brings ( things. %n extra attack and 31d. The former is always a bonus! having an extra attack is better than not having it duh/. Thelatter leads to a paradox. The paradox being! that there are times when you +))$ to pass a dtest! for example when guarding an obective. Aailing a d K is far less common than failing a d F.

    To fail a $ K! we are looking at these rolls:

    04!4

    04!?

    0?!4

    0?!?

    The chance of failure on (d? is 2E8? or 1EK.

    Arom that perspective! paying 1D pts for the upgrade for an extra attack and 31d is a bargain.There are times! though when we'd rather A%- a d test. "uch as a unit that's about to get

    charged by a powerhouse unit how did that happen with the bikes' speed in mind>/ but gets shotat first.

    -f the bikes! by some blessing of The )mperor! have a sudden outburst of common sense andmake a run for it they will flee 8d? average of 1DN/ and regroup next turn.

    %T"=+A works wonders. +ot only do they consolidate 8&! they get to move! shoot and charge.That makes the fall back move as long as it needs to be! when it needs to be before they wouldget charged they run away and are surely out of charge distance/.

    -t also means they close in when they need to close in! making that effective fall back around @&total on the average. "o first they flee! then they come back with a vengeance*

    aving that 31 $ sure does suck sometimes. 9aradox in itself. There should be a compromise. -

    did say having large units brings more benefit than the #"C build. That would imply that they $,get Jeteran sergeants to lead them. They will be re


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