I'm a relatively new wargamer. When it comes to deploying my speeder bikes, they tend to get targeted and taken down with the first nearby enemy unit. I don't really know how to use them. Sure, I can use my comm jammer to make it so the enemy can't issue orders to units in the area, but that doesn't seem like a big deal to me, and it certainly isn't worth sinking a 90+ point unit into the game only for it to be shot down on the next available activation. I would call them glass cannons, but they are just glass that happens to go high speeds. I wasn't even using my speeders to do anything last game except go around the battlefield with its compulsory moves and my opponent decided it was like shooting fish in a barrel. So my question is: What's the point of the speeder at all, and how should I be using it/helping it survive the first or second turn?

I love speeder bikes. I use them to great effect. They are great at getting enemy attention, and if they are ignored, they hit hard. Mine get taken down fairly quick from time to time, but they have saved the day more often than not. I don't normally run a single squad either, I always run two. Use the two squads in tandem, focusing each one on the same enemy unit where possible. I also give them long range comms so I can issue orders to them when I need to control their activations. Imperial Specialists also have a great command card- Pinned Down. It issues orders to two support or heavy units. When one of those units attacks an enemy unit with a faceup order token, that token gets shuffled back into the stack. It takes some experience using them though. None of my lists did well until I played them a few times and got the feel for the list. Let me know how they do the next time you play them.

- As stated above play them as a tandem and focus down one target.

- Don't drive them throgh the center of the battlefield, use them to attack the enemy flanks.

- When you move them use your cohesion to place one of the bikes in cover or on a building/rock so that they get heavy cover.

- Keep in mind that they need to to do a speed 3 move at the start of the next round when you are planning your move/attack for your current turn.

- Long Range Commlink is usually the best upgrade for them and they like to get Veers "evasive maneuver" in round 2 or 3.

- Point costs for speeder bikes have been adjusted by FFG from 90 to 75 points.

- They will die. It's only a matter of how much they can shoot before they do so.

On 5/28/2020 at 5:27 AM, Staelwulf said:

- They will die. It's only a matter of how much they can shoot before they do so.

Agree with everything that Staelwulf said, but this is the most important takeaway. You have to assume they are going to get destroyed. If you can occupy the enemy guns with them and spare the rest of the army, that's still pretty useful.

Use the bikes to flank. You want to make it so only the unit you are killing should be within range to fire back (if possible). Other units may be able to move closer to you to get into range, but that is fine, because they would not be able to aim and fire back. Use the bikes in a train as mentioned multiple times. 3 units allow you get the best use out of them. Deploy them along a flank and move all 3 units together and shoot at the same unit with all 3. Move (with compulsory) then aim or dodge, then shoot. If you are playing against rebels or clones then dodge and shoot instead of aim and shoot (they hit harder). If you are playing against empire or droids then aim and shoot after compulsory move. Never use the bikes to go up the middle at your opponent, you always want to limit the amount of units that have the ability to shot back at you.

Use Veers with them. If i am running triple bikes I run 2 of them with long range comms and 1 with HQ uplink. Targeting array can be strong too, but I find keeping them that close to Veers is tough for some flanks, depending on the objective setup. I like to use Assault first and make sure that I use all 3 bikes very last, then I use Veer's 2 pip and the HQ on the 3rd bike to give all 3 bikes a dodge when they are issued orders. Then use each of them first on round 2. This should allow you to devastate 2-3 units between the end of round 1 and the beginning of round 2. Use your other units to attack the units that may be able to fire back at the bikes to give them suppression tokens and weaken them if you are able kill any figures. This will keep them from using as many activations against your bikes. (less aims, dodges, and standbys).

Bikes are one of the most underrated units in the game. They were so even before the point decrease. Now they are just plain strong. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.