To check out the previous article in this series, please go here.

What do I want?
I'm winding up the Constrictor Swarm. I'll still be playing with it and tweaking it for a while, but I'm starting to plan out my next army. I'm going to want something as a break from the Swarm. As I said last time, I want something with a low model count that I can really go all out on the painting. I also want something with mobility and/or something that requires a bit of finesse to use. (Ie: not just slam forward into the other guy.) I also want something that is not Tyranid in nature. Last time, I took a look at an aggressive Thousand Sons army. The remaining armies under consideration (subject to change without notice) are Ravenwing and Suit-Heavy Tau. This week we'll take a look at Ravenwing. (Note: these pics are used without permission)

Live to Ride, Ride to Live
Ravenwing, White Scars. An army based around Bikes has a lot of mobility potential and very few models. The low model count appeals to me because I can spend more time painting each individual model and I can even do some of that crazy conversion work I like so much. (I've seen some really cool Quad attack bikes. It's been something I've been wanting to do for a while, and this gives me a good excuse to do it. I've also never really done a mounted character before, so that should be fun and interesting.) The mobility appeals to me because I've been playing some fairly slow armies lately (The Swarm, Godzilla) and I want something that can really zip around and take the initiative. They are also not very common. There are more Deathwing players than Ravenwing, and I haven't seen too many White Scars armies either. I haven't seen them doing well at tournaments either, but I think they have potential. More importantly, I think they'll require the kind of finesse that I'm looking for, which will make me a better General. Plus, a small army like this should be easy to pack into a case and go play, which is a bit harder to do with my Swarm!

Brainstorming
First off, I decided that I wanted to focus almost exclusively on Bikes and some Landspeeders. Teleporting Terminators could fit into the theme of mobility and would provide a solid punch to rally around, but they aren't Bikes. Assault Marines also fit into the idea of mobility, but again, they aren't Bikes. Tactical squads can be mounted in Rhinos for mobility and provide good firepower and inexpensive Wounds, but (everybody say it with me...) they aren't Bikes. Scouts? Devastators? Predators? Not Bikes. That's not to say that I won't ever add these things in, but I'd like to focus on the Bikes. Having the whole army be very mobile is something I really want to explore here. Even my old Dark Eldar Air Force was only mobile until it dropped the troops off. While I've been referring to this concept as Ravenwing, I'm not necessarily using the actual Dark Angels Ravenwing. As I understand it, there will be a new Dark Angel codex out somewhere down the road. If I pick this army, I can always switch over to it when it arrives. In the meantime, I'll avoid complications and simply use Codex: Space Marines and their trait system to get what I need. The White Scars would be an option as well, but there's a certain amount of background already written for them, and I'm not sure it's what I want. I'm not sure yet if I want to have some overarching theme (such as a Mongol Horde on bikes, though the concept does have appeal, I'll admit) or if I just want to go with vanilla. So that means I'll be restricting myself (mostly) to Space Marine Bikes, Attack Bikes, Scout Bikes, Characters on Bikes and Landspeeders. With that in mind, let's see what it might look like.

So What Would it Look Like?
Well, let's start by looking at the Traits that might be useful to this army. Trait Advantages

Be Swift as the Wind: Well, this is the only way to play a biker army, so I suppose we might as well take it. The wording in the description says, "May take Bike Squadrons as Elites..." There is some question as to whether this also includes Attack Bike Squadrons and Scout Bike squadrons. My take is that the other kinds are simply specialized versions of the Bike Squadron, but are still in fact "Bike Squadrons, in much the same way that Assault Terminators are "Terminators."

Blessed Be the Warriors: Assault squads as Elites and/or Fast attack. Eh, I'm not interested in Assault squads, so this is unnecessary.

Cleanse and Purify: "One member of a Tactical Squad..." Well, that lets me out as I'm not planning on having any "Tactical Squads."

Heed the Wisdom of the Ancients: Dreadnaughts as Heavy Support or Elites. If I wanted to use a Dreadnaught, this'd be useful. As I don't, it isn't.

Honour your Wargear: Devastator squads as Elites and/or Heavy Support. Again, I'm not planning on using Devastator squads, so this isn't useful to me.

Never Despair: If it's possible to play another turn of the game, you can do it on a 4+. While this could be useful, I'm playing a fast, mobile army, so I plan on not needing an extra turn. In addition, with the limited numbers I've got, a war of attrition is a bad idea for me. If it can't be done in 6 turns, it's not gonna get done!

No Mercy, No Respite: "Any Tactical Squad or Assault Squad..." I plan to have neither, and I don't plan on having this Advantage.

Purity Above All: This allows Sergeants with Terminator Honors to be Apothecaries, which lets them ignore the first failed save every turn, with some limitations. At first I was absolutely in love with this one and planned on making it a central part of the army. Every Sergeant would have it, which would give the army a HUGE boost in resilience! I was very pleased with this thought and wrote up the army list, then I looked back at the wording of the rules... "Any Veteran or Tactical Squad may..." Arrrgh! No good.

Take the Fight to Them: "Any model with a Bolter in a Tactical Squad..." Again, no Tacticals means no use for this.

Scions of Mars: Upgraded Techmarines, in a list that has almost no vehicles. Huh, guess not.

See, But Don't Be Seen: "Any Tactical Squad or Devastator Squad..." Nope, nada.

Suffer Not The Alien To Live: Preferred enemy against one particular Xeno-Species. Well, I could use this, but it's only good against one specific type, and they don't let you pick "Power-Armored Goons" as a type. If I played in an area infested with Ork players or something it might be useful...

Suffer Not The Works Of Heretics: "Any Tactical Squad or Devastator Squad..." Right out.

Trust Your Battle Brothers: "Any Command Squad, Veteran Squad, Tactical Squad, Assault Squad or Devastator Squad..." Again with everybody but the bikes! Interestingly, the White Scars Chapter has this one. I suppose it'll help them if they take Assault squads or something. Not me.

Uphold the Honor of The Emperor: "Any Command Squad or Veteran Squad..." Dang.

Okay, so there's only one Advantage that's really worth it for this army, with a couple of also-rans that could be useful in some areas, but probably aren't worth it except in specific situations. That means I only need one Minor Drawback...

Minor Drawbacks

Death Before Dishonour: Opposing player can request an extra turn on a 4+. This is possible, I suppose, but it's not great.

Die Standing: May not use Drop Pod assault special rules. Well, I wouldn't be able to use the Drop pods for this army, so it'd be an easy Drawback to take!

Faithful Unto Death: One less Elite, Fast Attack and Heavy Support Choice. This would definitely hurt.

Have Faith in Suspicion: No Librarians, no Psyker allies. While I'm not currently planning on Librarians, I'd like to keep my options open there.

Have Pride in Your Colours: No models may use Infiltrate or Scout rules. This would definitely hinder my Scout Bikes. No thanks.

We Stand Alone: No allies. Eh, I'm unlikely to use them, but I'd like to keep my options open.

Looks like Die Standing is the Winner here, so I'll take that then!

Tactical Composition
Now that I've got the Traits sorted, lets look at what I need from the squads and how I can get it. The purpose of the bike squads is to strike at and take out enemy units with devastating concentrated force. So, each squad needs as much short-range shooting power and assault strength as possible. Resilience is also absolutely necessary. The concept is basically that of the Alpha Strike on a smaller scale. Do enough damage to your targets to completely ruin them in a single volley, so you take less damage when it's time for them to strike back. If you can do this and also limit how much the remaining part of the forces can see, you can do it again next turn. Lather, rinse, repeat. Well, that's the theory anyway! :) So I want a lot of short-range firepower and some oomph in the assault phase with these guys. How do I get that? Well, it helps to think of a Space Marine Biker as a more powerful version of a Space Marine. With Toughness 5 and a good armor save, they are fairly resilient like a Space Marine. They have Twin-Linked Bolters on their Bikes, which means they can move and shoot at 24", rapid-fire at 12" and, because they are Bikes, shoot and still assault. A Bike squad can get Flamers, Melta Guns or Plasma Guns, much like a Tactical Squad can get Heavy and Special weapons. Plasma Guns are very powerful, but since they are not mounted on the bike, they have too much chance for killing the Biker, not something you want when your basic Troops are 32pts each! In addition, being hand-carried, they would prevent the unit from charging, which is definitely a deal-breaker. Flamers can be very effective, particularly when you've got the mobility that bikers do. On the other hand, Melta Guns give me the option of taking down Heavy Infantry, Monstrous Creatures or vehicles, and their short range is mitigated by the mobility of the Bikes. It's hard to argue with something that has S8 and AP1, with additional antivehicle effects at short range. While the flamers could be a handy tool occasionally, I think I'll stick with the flexibility that Melta Guns give me, and I'll take the maximum 2 per squad. Speaking of squad size, I'll want fairly large squads, I think. In part, I am required by my Trait to make any Troop squads be at least 5 members (the maximum is 6.) In addition, I expect that I'll take some damage, and I want to still have a squad around after getting shot. This brings us to the idea of Attack Bikes in the squad.

Is an Attack Bike a worthwhile addition to a regular Bike squad? At first I didn't think so, then I started looking a little closer. For 50pts you get 2W and a Heavy Bolter and a Twin-linked Bolter. With a base cost for a Bike at 32pts, That's 18pts for an extra Wound and a Heavy Bolter. If you think of it as replacing 2 Bikes, you are actually saving points on the deal, plus you get a little extra firepower in the bargain. It's not bad, not bad at all. At first I wasn't convinced, so I compared the firepower of a Twin-Linked Bolter and a Heavy Bolter...

Heavy Bolter vs T4 Sv3+ opponent: 3 x 2/3 x 2/3 x 1/3 = 4/9 = 0.44 Dead Space Marines.
Twin-Linked Bolter vs T4 Sv3+ opponent: 2 x 8/9 x 1/2 x 1/3 = 8/27 = 0.30 Dead Space Marines. (Assuming Rapid Fire)

It's not a massive difference, but it's actually cheaper than buying two Bikes, and you get a little more firepower! Okay, so What does a Multi-Melta bike do for the Squad in terms of Firepower? Let's compare: 2 Bikes, 1 w/Melta, both with Skilled Rider=78pts. Multimelta Attack Bike with Skilled Rider=67pts. Both have 2W, both have a Melta Weapon and a Twin-Linked Bolter, but one is 11pts cheaper! In addition, the Multimelta has a longer range and is IN ADDITION TO the 2 Melta Guns already in the Squadron, thus boosting the firepower significantly! Okay, I'm sold, I've GOT to have some of these, preferably in every squad. This brings us to the part where size matters. In the Troop squads, I must have at least 5 models. If I take 5 Bikes and an Attack Bike, that's 7 Wounds. If I only take 4 Bikes and an Attack Bike, that's 6 Wounds. Neither of them will give up any VPs until they've taken 4 Wounds, but the squad of 4+Attack Bike costs one Bike less. Applied across 4-5 squads, that's a whole extra Squad you could have. I'd rather have the extra squad, thanks. That gives me more flexibility and it gives me more Special Weapons and more assault characters, too. I can give every member of a Bike Squadron the Skilled Rider ability (reroll dangerous terrain tests) which is definitely a bargain at 2pts each. Finally, if I upgrade the Sergeant to have Terminator Honors, he can get a Powerfist, which will more than double the assault effectiveness of the squad. So, that all said, lets look at our squad now. 253pts 4 Bikes plus 1 MultiMelta Attack Bike. Skilled Riders, 2xMelta, Sgt w/honors and Pfist/pistol

It's pretty expensive, but it's flexible, mobile and has both firepower and assault power in spades. It can hurt anything out there, and it'll be the backbone of the army. For the rest of the army, I need something to complement it. Some extra mobility would be nice, and three Landspeeders (Tornado, of course) fit the bill nicely. With their high speed, they should be able to quickly take on indirect ordnance which would be trickier for my Bikes to root out. Some small squads of Scout Bikes with Meltabombs and a Powerfist Sergeant should boost my vehicle threats and add to my assault potential easily. In addition, at only 126pts per squad, if they take out a single enemy vehicle, they should have paid for themselves. Note that if I want to field these as Elites, I _must_ give them a Veteran Skill. I think Furious Assault will give them a little extra boost. Finally, I'll need a leader. Librarians have some pretty neat powers, and the Leadership ability of a Commander is pretty good, but I think I need the most boost in close combat, and I think that a Bike-Mounted Chaplain would fit the bill nicely.

Here's the temporary list...
131 Chaplain (Reclusiarch) Terminator Honors, Rosarius and Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Space Marine Bike.
126 3 Scout Bikes: Skilled Rider, Furious Assault, Melta Bombs, Sgt w/honors and Pfist/pistol
126 3 Scout Bikes: Skilled Rider, Furious Assault, Melta Bombs, Sgt w/honors and Pfist/pistol

253pts 4 Bikes plus 1 MultiMelta Attack Bike. Skilled Riders, 2xMelta, Sgt w/honors and Pfist/pistol
253pts 4 Bikes plus 1 MultiMelta Attack Bike. Skilled Riders, 2xMelta, Sgt w/honors and Pfist/pistol
238pts 4 Bikes plus 1 Heavy Bolter Attack Bike. Skilled Riders, 2xMelta, Sgt w/honors and Pfist/pistol
238pts 4 Bikes plus 1 Heavy Bolter Attack Bike. Skilled Riders, 2xMelta, Sgt w/honors and Pfist/pistol
238pts 4 Bikes plus 1 Heavy Bolter Attack Bike. Skilled Riders, 2xMelta, Sgt w/honors and Pfist/pistol

80 Landspeeder Tornado
80 Landspeeder Tornado
80 Landspeeder Tornado

1843pts

Okay, I've got 10 highly mobile scoring units. 8 Assault Characters, 12 Meltaweapon attacks, 6 Heavy Bolters, 3 Assault Cannons and 22 Twin-Linked Bolters! That sounds like a pretty reasonable-sized army, despite only having 35 models. I'll definitely have to work on creating local superiority through my mobility. For a Flank Attack, consider that there are very few places on the board that can't be reached with a Turboboost move of 24" plus a 2nd turn move of 12+6 inches! That's 42" in two turns! (that's the hypotenuse of a right triangle 29" on a side) Assuming that you deploy up to 12" in and 24" apart, if you start 12 inches from one side of the board at the edge of your Deployment zone, you can get to within 7" of the opposite board edge and be about 4" into the enemy deployment zone on that second turn! I can start behind cover, somewhat spread out so my opponent won't know what my plans are. Then I can suddenly concentrate on one side or the other to (hopefully) smash that part out of existence, then fade away and do it again!

Okay, does it fit?
Well, it's a highly mobile army with a low model count, and I think it'll require the finesse that I'm looking for to pull it off, so yes, it does fit my criteria! Next time we'll have a look at Suit-heavy Tau to see how they'd work.

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