As they rumble forth to do battle, the legions of the Adeptus Astartes are accompanied by light, mobile scouting forces, who reconnoitre the land ahead of the main advance. Amongst these units are Scouts Land Speeders and Bikes, accompanied by Space Marine ‘Attack Bikes. The Attack Bike is composed of a standard Space Marine Bik addition of a gunner mounted on a sidecar. The Vehicle fields either a heavy bolter or a multi-melta as its main armament, and is frequently also fitted with auto-launchers. The Attack Bike ‘crew are often armed with either assault weapons, for close strikes against the enemy, or with special ‘weapons to harry their foes from farther afield ‘The Attack Bike’s main role in combat is as a method of quickly deploying heavy weapons to wherever they are required on the battlefield, They become most effective when fielded in squadrons of three. This allows you to tailor them. for either assault, tactical or devastator missions. ‘An assault squadron would be armed with heavy bolters, the crew carrying assault weapons and SPACE MARINE ATTACK BIKE ‘The Space Marine army must include at least one Techmarine in order to have any Attack Bikes. 45 points + Weapon CREW One Space Marine driver and one Space Marine gunner. WEAPONS Twin-linked bolters fitted with a targeter, and one of the following weapons with a targeter: heavy bolter (+15 points) or a multi-melta (465 points). The Attack Bike may be fitted with a set of auto-launchers carrying frag or kkrak grenades at an additional cost of +5 points. In addition, both crew are armed with bolt pistols. Either crew may be given additional weapons chosen from the assault ‘weapons or special weapons sections of the Ultramarines or Blood Angels Wargear list. ARMOUR, Both crew wear power armour (3+ save). "You will ote thee are some inpatantdfeences Between Ravenwing (tack Bikes and other Space Marine Attack Bikes. Ravenving Atack Bikes can only be fielded as pat of & squadron and the cew are only ‘lowed additonal weapons fom the ass weapons section othe Dark ‘Angels amy’ st Also special rules apply for being members of the Ravenwing compan. See the Space Marine Forces section of Codex “Angels of Death or Tl dua RAVENWING ATTACK BIKE ‘Some of the squadrons in the Ravenwing are equipped with ‘Attack Bikes to provide supporting fire for the company’s lightly armed Bike squadrons, Src SpaceMarine 4 4 4 4 4 1 4 18 The squadron consists of 1 to 3 Ravenwing Attack Bikes. 55 points + Weapon SQUAD CREW One Space Marine driver and one Space Marine gunner WEAPONS Twin-linked bolters fited with a targeter, and one of the following weapons with a targeter a heavy bolter (+15 points) or a multi-melta (465 points), The Attack Bike may be fitted with a set of auto-launchers carrying frag or kkrak grenades at an additional cost of +5 points. In addition, both crew are armed with bolt pistols. Either crew may be given additional weapons chosen from the assault weapons section of the Dark Angels wargear list. ARMOUR SPECIAL Both crew wear power armour (3+ save), Special rules apply when the Ravenwing. shoot at or are shot at by enemy models. See the Space Marine Forces section of Codex Angels of Death for full detailsSPACE MARINE ATTACK BIKE ‘The Space Marine Attack Bike pictured below was painted by Mark Leake. Although the vehicle shown is an Ultramarines Attack Bike, every chapter of Space Marines has its own contingent (yes, even the Space Wolves — Andy Chambers), so you can paint them however you please. In the boxed set you will find, in addition tothe kit required to build your Attack Bike, various other interesting bits and bbobs to personalise your Bikes. For example, you can add ‘a bolter holster for the driver or a stowage box to fit on the back of the Bike, Check out this issue's card section for the Space Marine ‘Attack Bike datafax, and make sure you read the battle report, where you'll be able to see Ian put the Attack Bike through its paces. Space Marine Assault Squad Badge ‘Army Badge perhaps a flamer. A. good tactical option would be to ulilise two bikes with heavy bolters and a. single multi-melta, — Melta- guns could possibly ‘come in useful here, too. Finally, a devastator squadron would carry as y multi-meltas as points allowed, with crews armed with plasma guns, and frag grenade firing auto-launchers (0 keep those pesky infantry at bay A. combination of two different Attack Bike squadrons can be particularly effective in softening up your enemies. A tactical squadron is the lynchpin, either used to sereen the advance of an assault squadron, or supported by a devastator ‘squadron, Once the Attack Bikes have done Space Marine Assaiut Squad Badge Chapter Badge their job you're ready for your main force to administer the coup de grace. Attack Bikes can also be used to support standard ‘Space Marine Bikes by deploying a single Attack Bike with the Bike squadron. This then increases the squadron’s ability to deal with more serious threats. ‘The multi-melta option is probably the preferred candidate in this case. It may be ‘expedient (0 note at this point that since heavy bolter Attack Bikes only cost 60 points each, they must be formed into squadrons. Multi-melta Bikes, however, are over 100 points and so can be fielded singly. If you don’t have the points to field squadrons, or simply don’t own enough models, single Attack Bikes with multi-meltas can still be useful as a means of deploying a heavy weapon to strike at critical points along your opponent's battle line. To sum up, the Space Marine Attack Bike is a lethal and highly versatile vehicle which ranks alongside the Land Speeder for manoeuvrability and sheer destructive potential. And it costs less points than the Land Speeder too!