His bike army is painted up in an Ultramarines Blue. It looks pretty awesome with the pictures he has shared so far! If you are interesting in writing up a piece, please feel free to contact me about it.
--Frosty
Greetings Interwebs, I am David Cacace (Ultra8th in some places), located in the middle of nowhere, PA. I wouldn't say that I am the greatest 40K player of all time, but I have won a few tournaments, both large and small, and I absolutely love playing a "White Scars" style bike army. I originally got into it by my distaste of non-bike marines... but that is another story. In any case, I enjoy playing/converting/painting bikes, and all the new tactics changes between 5th, 6th and DA have been quite a roller coaster ride! I believe (as you should!) that bikes are a very competitive army, and in the right hands can be downright devastating against most, if not all, current 40K armies.
Due to the travails of graduate school I have only recently been able to disseminate the DA codex and get in a few good games. My lists are not super-optimized, but instead vie for the "brute-force" tactics that DA (in my opinion) need in order to do well. I've broken up my analysis into four sections: a typical army list I've run, "impressions" covering (in a rambling way) the particular units and army composition changes, "tactica" for some new neat tricks I have picked up, and a "conclusions" section try to tie things together regarding running a bike army. Hopefully you (and I) will learn something from this to use in your next game, or just give you an idea about how a Ravenwing army runs. This is by no means a comprehensive list/description.
As a forewarning, I hate in all forms and fashion Dark Angels, I play my army as.... Ultramarines colors, with Dark Angels rules. Or... Blue Angels? It works, I'm from their hometown.
::Standard Army List::
This is what I start out with for 1850, I have deviated here and there to try out different combos. Still not optimized.
Sammael... 200
CS with Devastation Banner, Apothecary... 215
Librarian (Lvl 1) on Bike, Auspex... 90
Ravenwing Bike Squad, 2 Extra Bikes w/ 2 Melta Guns, MM AB... 209
Ravenwing Bike Squad, 2 Extra Bikes w/ 2 Melta Guns, MM AB... 209
Ravenwing Bike Squad, 2 Extra Bikes w/ 2 Melta Guns, MM AB... 209
Ravenwing Bike Squad, 2 Extra Bikes w/ 1 Melta Gun, MM AB... 199
Ravenwing Black Knights, 2 Extra BKs, 1 GL... 210
Boombox... I mean, Darkshroud... 80
Landspeeder Typhoon (HB) x3 (one squad)... 225
Comes to 1846, 38 units.
::Impressions::
- As Stillfrosty has already covered, DA get some neat new special rules over C:SM. Of particular note are Scout, Skilled Rider and Hit and Run and Inner Circle. The first, Scout is only super-awesome in games where A) you go first and B) you aren't siezed against. Scout *does not give you Jink*, because it is a redeploy, not a move. That being said, Scout does give you the ability to get outside that tricksy 18" "oh crap, I'm going to run off the board" problem. Skilled Rider is just amazing as it allows you to ignore terrain completely (and +1 Jink), and Hit and Run can turn a bad assault into an easy kill (watch out for Necrons, one of their HQs can take that away from a unit...). Inner circle is a nice bonus, I personally hate running away when I don't want to (although the lack of combat tactics hurts.... once in a blue moon).
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| My custom C:SM Captain Numitor. |
- On a first glance, Sammael is great. Jetbike, AP2 melee, 5 attacks on the charge, eternal warrior, plasma cannon? For 200 points? Unfortunately, he is 3+/4++ and only S4/I5, which means that you probably still shouldn't charge those terminators unless you are really, really sure you are going to win. Forget about the Paladins, they will eat you alive. He also has a very.... meh Warlord trait. Well, if you are playing DA Ravenwing, he is essentially your only *viable* choice. It is a damn shame that you can't use custom Captains to make bikes troops.
- The Command Squad is necessary, the only banner you will take is Devastation. Use an Apothecary. Watch out for Manticores, the Sniping Artillery of the 41st Millenium. *rolls eyes*
- The ability to take Attack Bikes as their own unit... astounding. See Tactica.
- Cheap Librarians are great - just do yourself a favor and stick to a Level 1. If you purchase a Level 2, you are guaranteed to not roll any powers that you want, and you are stuck with a 110+ point useless model. Pick Prescience, attach to the Black Knights (for Fearless) and have a ball. Give him a power generator for mobile 3" 4++ (don't go into melee...) for Baleflamer protection on this valuable unit. Auspex is a neat piece of gear but typically you won't be close enough to use it.
- Just like C:SM, you will have almost no anti-flyer capabilities. Black Knights are pretty good within 9" (TL plasma hotness) but don't go investing in anti-air - it takes too many points away from boots (tires?) on the ground.
- On a related note, TL Plasma... only Gets Hot if you roll successive 1's. 2 + 1 = no GH. Amazing. If you run BK, expect them to be targeted first.
- The Boombox (Darkshroud) is a neat unit - but super vulnerable. That being said, auto-3+ Jink saves give it a good chance of living... unless you are me and roll 1-2 all day long.
- Lack of TFC does hurt. So damn much. But, you make it back up with Salvo 20-24 TL Bolters, especially if your opponents have to reroll their saving throws... You now have the ability to blow up Paladin squads in a single turn from a safe distance using (no joke) 96-112 TL bolters+4 MMs.
- Cheaper Typhoons means that they may be worth the investment now, even if they are still glass cannons.