Help me decide the loadout for my Wolf Guard bikers

[Karhedron]

I have half a dozen unmade plastic SM bikers and a large pile of SW parts and I have decided to build myself a WG biker squad. I also have a chaplain on a biker which I will wolfify a bit a Wolf Priest on bike. This is handy as he provides rerolls in CC and can patch up wounded bikers (not the best plan with only 2 wounds apiece but it will help them last a little longer hopefully). I also plan to build one a WGBL to lead the pack.

 

Now I need to decide on loadout. I have plenty dakka units in my army already so even though they are cool, I don't think I want to build a Storm Bolter unit. I have TAC Razorbacks and plenty of Grey Hunters to fill my horde-slaying niche. What I don't have is any fast-moving, hard hitting assault units. I don't have TWC or Wulfen yet and my Skyclaws are more of a harassment unit than a CC hammer.

 

I am thinking TH/SS on the WGBL and WGPL and 2xWC/SS and 2xCS/SS. That gives a good spread of capabilities. 7 TH attacks back up by rerolls to hit from the Priest and rerolls of 1s to wound should make a mess of most large targets, they should be able to kill something up to about Dreadnought toughness by themselves. The WCs will chop up MEQs quite efficiently for their points and the CSs give me a bit extra horde killing power whilst also supplying ablative wounds for the squad. This costs the following points.

 

125 WGBL on bike TH/SS

135 Wolf Priest on bike

250 5 WG bikers, TH/SS, 2XWC/SS, 2XCS/SS

 

That is 510 points. My current list sits comfortably at 1500 points so with a bit of tweaking, this add-on take me to 2000 points and adds some fast, hard-hitting CC power.

 

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions on the squad and loadout? Should I do something different with the bikers? I have models and money is a consideration so I don't want to have go forking out for TWC if the bikers can make a decent job of the same role.

[Kasper_Hawser]

Not sure why I'm writing even though i pretty much agree with everything you said. Only thing that doesn't jive with me is that its' hard to picture Space wolves on bikes which aren't Blood Claws, but I'm not one to talk about fluff adherence anymore, considering I use a Wolf Guard Battle Leader with a jump pack to bolster my list whenever he needs to be, whether back line with my Long Fangs, or mid/front line with my Grey Hunters, Razorbacks and Wulfen. I still give him a close combat weapon.

 

On the subject of Bikes, due to my disdain of TWC, I've been thinking of a few Biker wolf lords to accompany the now not so accurate Land Speeders to ensure their typhoons/assault cannons/heavy bolters. Already has a 4++ and T5 which I think is good enough, so think a simple Frost sword or claw will do.

 

Back to your question, if you are strapped for points, I think you can shave about 10 points by replacing Wolf Claws with Frost Swords. You already have the WGBL for rerolling ones to wound, so you may not need the reroll to wound wolf claws too much unless you are fighting a lot of High Toughness stuff.

 

Hope this helps.

[Kasagi]

I've been running 5 WG on bikes, 4 with SS/SB and the leader with SS/TH.    That's 36 S4 shots at close range.

[aluriel00]

I'm a big believer in keeping my units more or less homogeneous. My two units of bikers go 2x FA/SS, 3x FA/SB. I put all of my thunder hammers in a 5 man jump pack unit so that I can take on flyers as well as tanks, large monsters.

 

To me, the problem with splitting gear is that at least part of your unit is poorly armed for the opponent you are fighting. If you are attacking something high toughness, then the wolf claws aren't doing much. If you are attacking single wound models, then the hammers are wasted. I split them up and make certain I hit the right enemy with the right unit.

[Gherrick]

The downside to that level of specialization is it allows the opponent to focus on those hammer units, and leaves you with not much vs the high toughness models. It is better to be half-equipped than not equipped at all, IMO.

 

My typical loadout for my WG bikers are SS/SB x4, with PL having TH/SB. I tend to keep them out of melee as much as possible, however. If you are looking for a more melee build, I'd probably give the regular models CS instead of SB, and still keep the leader with a TH/SB.

[Deadnaughty]

3x SS/SB + 2x Combi-Melta/Frost Sword.

[Gemini]

I have 2x5 man packs. Application is all hypothetical as I've only gotten in 1 real game of 8th since it dropped...

 

Squad A: 1 4x SS and Storm Bolters with a WGPL TH/SS

Squad B: 1 4x SS and Combi-X (I used the holstered bolt guns from the TWC set so it's what I say it is) with a WGPL TH/SS

 

GREAT Resilience/Toughness with obscene amounts of shooting. Squad A against large units, Squad B against his biggest threat; if I'm facing a HORDE army then flamers, if I'm facing a small/elite army combi-plas and if lots of armor combi-melta.

 

I plan to run RP on bike, WGBL on bike and some Swift Claws and then call them my 'Hels Angels' :)

[rgr_maddog]

 

I plan to run RP on bike, WGBL on bike and some Swift Claws and then call them my 'Hels Angels' :)

Ha, my Space Wolf bikers have always been the 'Sons of Russ MC'

[TiguriusX]

I have 2x5 man packs. Application is all hypothetical as I've only gotten in 1 real game of 8th since it dropped...

 

Squad A: 1 4x SS and Storm Bolters with a WGPL TH/SS

Squad B: 1 4x SS and Combi-X (I used the holstered bolt guns from the TWC set so it's what I say it is) with a WGPL TH/SS

 

GREAT Resilience/Toughness with obscene amounts of shooting. Squad A against large units, Squad B against his biggest threat; if I'm facing a HORDE army then flamers, if I'm facing a small/elite army combi-plas and if lots of armor combi-melta.

 

I plan to run RP on bike, WGBL on bike and some Swift Claws and then call them my 'Hels Angels'

 

I got my ebay delivery and currently have 13 bikes in the armory.

 

I have been brainstorming how to field them.

 

The meta here appears to be hordes with tricks (game 1 I learned about plague bearers and to hit modifiers but I saw many nid and ork players as well)

 

I'm considering a 5 man squad with combi-flamers to cleanse and purge

 

-4 bikers with combi-flamer and storm shield

-WG pack leader with combi-flamer and thunder hammer

 

I've been theory crafting and they can potentially erase HUGE numbers

 

At long range (12-24) they have a respectable 3 shots each

 

When you move in close those numbers jump

 

The sweet spot for this squad is < 8

 

6 bolter shots and D6 automatic hits per biker

30 bolters and 5D6 automatic flamer hits

You then have the option to charge in and mop up or get stuck in with a different unit 

 

The flamers also discourage melee units from trying to tie them up.  Priority target if you get in close will be shooting units with lots of dice

 

Bonus...if you really need to reach a unit you can turbo-boost and still use the flamers with no penalties

[The Saint Ragnar]

For me the choice of loadout for the WG bikers would be SB/SS because I have a need for Dakka in my lists. However, from the OP it seems there is enough to have an Ork begin to blush (which is heresy).

 

I feel like your CC picks for them make sense but I do not really see our WG as CC powerhouses even with the buffs of the characters. I know you said you do not have any so you are working with what you have but I would definitely grab a box of Wulfen and kit them out to be your CC powerhouse. A squad of 5 with 2xTH/SS, 2xGFA, and WPL with 2FC sets you back 231 points but sure gives a wallop to anything they hit. You can basically teleport them up the board with on the hunt so you do not really need to worry about them being shot up before they make combat (unless the charge is failed). It is basically a "bomb" you can set off in your opponents face that they have to kill outside of combat because if they don't...

 

Back to the topic at hand of how to build WG bikers for your needs. I feel like switching out the WC for FS would then allow you to swing another power weapon like a PS onto one of the other guys. You could go crazy and give the four without the TH a PS. The upside is now every attack has AP -3, downside is you lost out on a couple of S5 attacks but the loss of those could be seen as being outweighed by more AP -3 attacks. Against hordes AP -3 just means guaranteed deaths on those T-shirts but against MEQ you could have a few more bodies drop from the AP -3. I am sure someone could run the math to see what gives the most benefit but from my thoughts having all that AP -3 goodness would be better.

 

Another alternative could be that you could go 2 x CS/SS, 2 x TH/SS and 1 x PS/SS. This leans more on the heavy weapon side but still gives you enough attacks to clear out the chaff that will try and tar-pit the unit. You could drop the PS and go for a CS to save the 4 points for something else giving you more attacks against that chaff because two AP - 3 attacks might not really make the difference in the grand scheme of things.

 

These are just my thoughts and ideas so feel free to use them as a springboard for your bikes. I really recommend the Wulfen as your CC hammer but without those models the bikers seem like a pretty good second bet. Just watch out for mortal wounds as you have no save against those with the WG compared to the Wulfen.

[Gherrick]

I have my WG bikers with 4xSB/SS, SB/TH on squad leader. Flamers (combi or otherwise) are ok, but the short range makes them a bit harder to use effectively, and can be avoided on the 9+" charges. They are also a LOT more expensive than a SB, which is the primary reason I stick to SBs.

 

While you could make a CC WG biker unit, with only 2 base attacks you're better off keeping them at a respectable distance, and leave CC to the likes of TWC and wulfen, which do it a LOT better.

[TiguriusX]

I have never used bikers in a match.

 

How are you using them specifically?

 

Do you stay at long range and only close to finish a wounded unit?

 

If you are rapid firing SB you are 12" away before they get a movement phase and not safe from being charged.

 

If the enemy is intentionally taking 9 inch charges to avoid combi flamers it tips the odds in your favor

[Gherrick]

I tend to only get into the 12" rapid fire range if the odds are good that the unit will take significant losses, since if they then charge I could have up to 40 shots in overwatch. I tend to use them to "guard" a section of the board, since they have an effective coverage area of 26-38".

[Kasper_Hawser]

If I may suggest, rather than just think about how to equip your WG bikers, also consider WHO ELSE is going to accompany them to ensure they meet your game plan, whether it is speedy hammer unit, speedy anti-horde unit, or simply speedy objective grabber.

 

Because ultimately, building a deathstar is easy only for the enemy fire to focus fire on it. It's building multiple threats to force the enemy to pick one or the other, while leaving at least one of them intact or damaging enough to meet its objectives.

 

to this end, if you building towards the 13 bikers, make sure you split them into two, with one or two characters to follow then. Stormcaller will be invaluable to both groups. Perhaps one be the melee hammer with the, well, hammers and combi meltas, while the other stick with stormbolters/combi flamers and chainswords. Sprinkle stormshields in both, and you'll have both units able to cover each other jobs, with only slight specialization.

 

In hammer squad case, even if they face hordes, they still have the twin bolt guns on the bikes to thin hordes in a pinch. For the other squad, they can still hurt heavy armour even without AP, and their power weapons will still give pause to all big units.