Re: [Epic] comment on Rob L.'s envelopment thing

From: Eugene E.W. <eug_at_...>
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 11:20:51 -0400

----------
> From: Francois Bruntz <fbruntz_at_...>
> To: space-marine_at_...
> Subject: Re: [Epic] comment on Rob L.'s envelopment thing
> Date: Wednesday, July 23, 1997 3:42 AM
>
> You wrote :
> >BTW, don't space marine attack bikes seem way better than the
> >vanilla
> >bikes? I just joined the list, so this might've come up before, but
> >I'll
> >bet that Ravenwing was heavy on the attack bikes. +1fp, +15cm range
> >is much
> >better than +1assault, +5cm move, IMHO.
> >
>
> I don't agree with you, simple bikes are as useful as attack bikes.
> I use them in my assault detachments (with my assault marines and
>
> vindicators) or in my armour detachments to give them some help in
>
> close assaults. They are cheap and they can cover your most important
>
> units if your detachment is the target of the ennemy fire...
>
> What do BTW and IMHO mean?
>
> Francois Bruntz
> Apprenti MIAGE (Universite Paris XII - IBM France)

I see your point. The reason the attack bikes seemed better to me is
because I was thinking along the lines of all bike formations --ravenwing
type dealies, in other words. I personally have found that, for detachments
of that nature, attack bikes to be much more useful: the vanilla bikes
don't accomplish much; they are chewed up by firepower and don't get much
of a chance to respond. The attack bikes are both maneuverable and have the
punch to make other detachments take notice of them --they are the only
fast units to have 2fp and 30cm range.
 
However, I can see that vanilla bikes could be useful in combined arms
units, as extra mobility and assault factors.

I would think that they would be more useful as an adjunct to infantry than
vehicles: a 4+ save isn't going to eat up many sixes, so the same number of
predators will still probably go down, whereas the bikes could shield
infantry fairly effectively.

As a further remark, bikes are cheaper than space marine scouts, but might
be able to replace them for slowing down the enemy; admittedly the bikes
can't enter buildings, and can only be 30cm ahead of your detachment hq,
but the get the extra movement every turn, not just the first. You might be
able to pull off an encirclement with just one detachment...although this
would be tricky.

BTW stands for By The Way, (as far as I know, anyway), and IMHO stands for
In My Humble Opinion. Sorry 'bout that.
Received on Wed Jul 23 1997 - 15:20:51 UTC