Statistics
A pair of 74-Z Speeder Bikes cost 90 points.
A standard unit of Speeder Bikes has 2 minis, each with a wound threshold of 3 and null value for its resilience; the full unit can take 6 wounds before it's completely eliminated, and doesn't have to worry about the disabling effects of severe damage (though of course the loss of 1 mini halves their offensive output.)
They have a white defense die and convert surges to blocks, which means they have a 33.3% chance to block each incoming hit. They also have Cover 1 intrinsically which helps to improve their survivability.
Speed 3 combined with Speeder 1 makes them one of the fastest units in the game. The ability to ignore terrain of height 1 or lower makes them fairly agile, although they cannot stay in one place or hold ground.
74-Z Speeder Bikes have 2 different ranged weapons. With their EC-17 Hold-out Blaster they throw 2 black dice each. Since their offensive surges count as hits, each die has a 62.5% chance to hit. This gives an average of 2.5 hits from 2 Speeder Bikes; this includes 0.5 crits.
Their Ax-20 Blaster Cannon attack is more powerful and longer ranged, but it can only hit targets within the Speeder Bike's front arc. This has an average of 3.75 hits from 2 Speeders, including 0.75 crits.
Total Hits vs. % Chance; Red = Ax-20 Cannon, Black = EC-17 pistol
The probability distribution for the different attacks from a full unit of 74-Z Speeder Bikes is above. When firing their EC-17's, the Most Probable Result is 3 damage, occurring about 36.6% of the time. Another common result is 2 damage (~33%) and you can expect to usually roll at least this much damage; you have just over an 84% chance of rolling 2 or more.
Whenever you can line up an enemy in the front arc of both Speeder Bikes, you have an opportunity to unleash one of the more powerful attacks in the game. Two Ax-20 Blaster Cannons have a probability distribution that is very similar to Luke's lightsaber attack. The Most Probable Result is 4 damage at about 35.6%, and they roll 3 or more damage over 88% of the time. They are very unlikely to miss entirely, with less than a 0.1% chance to roll 0 damage. Because each Ax-20 has Impact 1, when you are firing 2 of them at a target with armor you have a very good chance to end up with 2 crits.
For completeness, below is the probability distribution for just a single 74-Z Speeder Bike.
Total Hits vs. % Chance; Red = Ax-20 Cannon, Black = EC-17 pistol
Ignoring the effects of cover, each Speeder Bike has 4.5 Effective Health Points (this is their wound threshold divided by the probability of rolling a blank with their defense dice.) However, because of their innate Cover 1 they can automatically cancel 1 hit from each ranged attack (crits cannot be cancelled by cover.) This means that depending on how they are being attacked they can potentially survive against several hits beyond their EHP value.
As an illustration of this, consider a standard unit of 4 Rebel Troopers which averages 2 damage per attack. The Cover 1 keyword cancels 1 of these, so with average attack and defense rolls it would take at least 5 such attacks to destroy 1 Speeder Bike mini, and 9 attacks to destroy the entire unit. The Rebel Troopers would have rolled a total of 10 damage to destroy 1 bike and 18 damage to destroy both.
A T-47 Airspeeder, on the other hand, averages 3.75 damage per attack, leaving 2.75 damage after accounting for the defending Speeder Bikes' Cover 1. Thus it expects to destroy 1 bike after 2 attacks and both bikes after 4 attacks, having produced 7.5 and 15 average damage.
Finally, melee attacks and weapons with Blast ignore cover entirely, and so when using these attacks one expects to destroy 1 bike with 4.5 damage and both bikes with 9 damage.
Upgrades
With only a single upgrade slot available, upgrading a unit of 74-Z Speeder Bikes is relatively straightforward.
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts) is extremely beneficial for Speeder Bikes, allowing you to fully utilize their speed and roam far from your commander without losing any responsiveness. The ability to issue them orders regardless of where they are makes it easier to attack critical components of the enemy army at just the right time and get the drop on units by flanking them, or it can help you activate and get out of harm's way when necessary. Unless you plan on using something like Battle Meditation or Commanding Presence on your commander, you should consider taking this upgrade.
With Comms Jammer (15 pts) you could potentially create significant problems for your opponent, preventing them from issuing orders to 1 or more key units on critical turns. However, to do so your Speeder Bikes need to be within range 1 of these enemy units. Owing to their compulsory move you may find this difficult to achieve with any consistency. Getting so close to enemy units can also be quite dangerous as it exposes your Speeder Bikes to melee and short range Blast attacks like Concussion Grenades or the AT-RT Flamethrower. At 15 points, this upgrade is also quite costly, making it difficult to recommend on 74-Z Speeder Bikes unless it is somehow integral to your army's overall strategy.
Preliminary Conclusions
As they can neither claim objective tokens nor stay in place to hold ground, units of 74-Z Speeder Bikes are primarily useful as a source of offensive firepower to suppress, destroy, and otherwise harass enemy units. Good positioning is critical for using Speeder Bikes effectively because their most powerful attack is fixed to their front arc and because they have a compulsory move.
While Speeder 1 allows Speeder Bikes to ignore some terrain and obstacles that would otherwise slow them down, the compulsory move can create some difficulties. When you move your Speeder Bikes, keep in mind where you want them to end up on the next round as well as the current one. Always being on the move can make it difficult to keep in range of a commander to receive orders, so consider using upgrades like Long-Range Comlink, Battle Meditation, or Commanding Presence.
Not only should you endeavor to line up shots with your Ax-20's against high value targets, but you should also look for ways to hit those targets from angles that expose a weak point or don't provide defensive cover. Even though you will probably want to use their Ax-20 Cannons as often as possible, don't forget that if their compulsory move causes your Speeder Bikes to blow by a unit they can still take a "Parthian shot" with their Hold-out Blasters, potentially finishing that unit off.
Speed 3 makes them one of the fastest units in the game. Use this speed to avoid the dangerous front arcs of enemy support vehicles. You may be able to position your Speeder Bikes outside the threat range of powerful enemy units; if you can wait until after those enemies have activated then you can zoom into range and fire without a response from your opponent. This can work even if enemy trooper units have taken an alert token, as long as you stay outside of range 1-2.
In summary, 74-Z Speeder Bikes can support your troopers with good damage output and decent survivability against small ranged attacks, but they are vulnerable to melee and Blast attacks. They will almost certainly take some practice to use effectively, but with skillful maneuvering and well planned orders 74-Z Speeder Bikes promise to be a disruptive menace against unprepared opponents.
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A pair of 74-Z Speeder Bikes cost 90 points.
A standard unit of Speeder Bikes has 2 minis, each with a wound threshold of 3 and null value for its resilience; the full unit can take 6 wounds before it's completely eliminated, and doesn't have to worry about the disabling effects of severe damage (though of course the loss of 1 mini halves their offensive output.)
They have a white defense die and convert surges to blocks, which means they have a 33.3% chance to block each incoming hit. They also have Cover 1 intrinsically which helps to improve their survivability.
Speed 3 combined with Speeder 1 makes them one of the fastest units in the game. The ability to ignore terrain of height 1 or lower makes them fairly agile, although they cannot stay in one place or hold ground.
74-Z Speeder Bikes have 2 different ranged weapons. With their EC-17 Hold-out Blaster they throw 2 black dice each. Since their offensive surges count as hits, each die has a 62.5% chance to hit. This gives an average of 2.5 hits from 2 Speeder Bikes; this includes 0.5 crits.
Their Ax-20 Blaster Cannon attack is more powerful and longer ranged, but it can only hit targets within the Speeder Bike's front arc. This has an average of 3.75 hits from 2 Speeders, including 0.75 crits.
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| Total Hits vs. % Chance; Red = Ax-20 Cannon, Black = EC-17 pistol |
Whenever you can line up an enemy in the front arc of both Speeder Bikes, you have an opportunity to unleash one of the more powerful attacks in the game. Two Ax-20 Blaster Cannons have a probability distribution that is very similar to Luke's lightsaber attack. The Most Probable Result is 4 damage at about 35.6%, and they roll 3 or more damage over 88% of the time. They are very unlikely to miss entirely, with less than a 0.1% chance to roll 0 damage. Because each Ax-20 has Impact 1, when you are firing 2 of them at a target with armor you have a very good chance to end up with 2 crits.
For completeness, below is the probability distribution for just a single 74-Z Speeder Bike.
 |
| Total Hits vs. % Chance; Red = Ax-20 Cannon, Black = EC-17 pistol |
As an illustration of this, consider a standard unit of 4 Rebel Troopers which averages 2 damage per attack. The Cover 1 keyword cancels 1 of these, so with average attack and defense rolls it would take at least 5 such attacks to destroy 1 Speeder Bike mini, and 9 attacks to destroy the entire unit. The Rebel Troopers would have rolled a total of 10 damage to destroy 1 bike and 18 damage to destroy both.
A T-47 Airspeeder, on the other hand, averages 3.75 damage per attack, leaving 2.75 damage after accounting for the defending Speeder Bikes' Cover 1. Thus it expects to destroy 1 bike after 2 attacks and both bikes after 4 attacks, having produced 7.5 and 15 average damage.
Finally, melee attacks and weapons with Blast ignore cover entirely, and so when using these attacks one expects to destroy 1 bike with 4.5 damage and both bikes with 9 damage.
Upgrades
With only a single upgrade slot available, upgrading a unit of 74-Z Speeder Bikes is relatively straightforward.
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts) is extremely beneficial for Speeder Bikes, allowing you to fully utilize their speed and roam far from your commander without losing any responsiveness. The ability to issue them orders regardless of where they are makes it easier to attack critical components of the enemy army at just the right time and get the drop on units by flanking them, or it can help you activate and get out of harm's way when necessary. Unless you plan on using something like Battle Meditation or Commanding Presence on your commander, you should consider taking this upgrade.
With Comms Jammer (15 pts) you could potentially create significant problems for your opponent, preventing them from issuing orders to 1 or more key units on critical turns. However, to do so your Speeder Bikes need to be within range 1 of these enemy units. Owing to their compulsory move you may find this difficult to achieve with any consistency. Getting so close to enemy units can also be quite dangerous as it exposes your Speeder Bikes to melee and short range Blast attacks like Concussion Grenades or the AT-RT Flamethrower. At 15 points, this upgrade is also quite costly, making it difficult to recommend on 74-Z Speeder Bikes unless it is somehow integral to your army's overall strategy.
Preliminary Conclusions
As they can neither claim objective tokens nor stay in place to hold ground, units of 74-Z Speeder Bikes are primarily useful as a source of offensive firepower to suppress, destroy, and otherwise harass enemy units. Good positioning is critical for using Speeder Bikes effectively because their most powerful attack is fixed to their front arc and because they have a compulsory move.
While Speeder 1 allows Speeder Bikes to ignore some terrain and obstacles that would otherwise slow them down, the compulsory move can create some difficulties. When you move your Speeder Bikes, keep in mind where you want them to end up on the next round as well as the current one. Always being on the move can make it difficult to keep in range of a commander to receive orders, so consider using upgrades like Long-Range Comlink, Battle Meditation, or Commanding Presence.
While Speeder 1 allows Speeder Bikes to ignore some terrain and obstacles that would otherwise slow them down, the compulsory move can create some difficulties. When you move your Speeder Bikes, keep in mind where you want them to end up on the next round as well as the current one. Always being on the move can make it difficult to keep in range of a commander to receive orders, so consider using upgrades like Long-Range Comlink, Battle Meditation, or Commanding Presence.
Not only should you endeavor to line up shots with your Ax-20's against high value targets, but you should also look for ways to hit those targets from angles that expose a weak point or don't provide defensive cover. Even though you will probably want to use their Ax-20 Cannons as often as possible, don't forget that if their compulsory move causes your Speeder Bikes to blow by a unit they can still take a "Parthian shot" with their Hold-out Blasters, potentially finishing that unit off.
Speed 3 makes them one of the fastest units in the game. Use this speed to avoid the dangerous front arcs of enemy support vehicles. You may be able to position your Speeder Bikes outside the threat range of powerful enemy units; if you can wait until after those enemies have activated then you can zoom into range and fire without a response from your opponent. This can work even if enemy trooper units have taken an alert token, as long as you stay outside of range 1-2.
Speed 3 makes them one of the fastest units in the game. Use this speed to avoid the dangerous front arcs of enemy support vehicles. You may be able to position your Speeder Bikes outside the threat range of powerful enemy units; if you can wait until after those enemies have activated then you can zoom into range and fire without a response from your opponent. This can work even if enemy trooper units have taken an alert token, as long as you stay outside of range 1-2.
In summary, 74-Z Speeder Bikes can support your troopers with good damage output and decent survivability against small ranged attacks, but they are vulnerable to melee and Blast attacks. They will almost certainly take some practice to use effectively, but with skillful maneuvering and well planned orders 74-Z Speeder Bikes promise to be a disruptive menace against unprepared opponents.
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These bikes are highly underrated. Impact 2 and an Aim token is awesome against armor, at least when you send a pair of them.
ReplyDeleteAnother good plan is to lay down suppression against many units with a pair of bikes: one bike in each unit uses the blaster canon and the other uses the hold out blaster (ideally using the compulsory move then dodge). Four units should have suppression tokens and though the bikes are exposed they’ll have dodge tokens and the enemy won’t Aim and Attack.
I’ll be running three bikes with Veers and 5x HH-12 troopers.
Yeah they've got good damage, have a long reach, and can be pretty slippery too. I appreciate you pointing out how you can split their fire to suppress multiple units, I hadn't really considered using these that way!
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