Guest Article: Robot Rodeo

Another article by Saramoff whilst I madly paint my blue Marines. *goes back to painting and waiting for Dan's article*.

It had been less than a week ago since it happened. I sat upon my Terminal, inputting data and conversing with colleagues over an internet portal. The name was peculiar, speaking of how Stormshields are Black and small, purple xeno monsters. As I glances through my legally acquired Imperium documents, I noticed something unusual. Both Space Marine Captains and their Masters of the Force were well versed and capable of taking to the field on bikes.

Had this idea not occurred to Chapter Masters of ages past? I had yet even seen a Master take to the battlefield, yet one on a bike was even more of a rarity. It was at this realisation that something unusual happened. The roof of my living hive came crashing down, and from rain-stricken skies did a halo of gold and blue descend upon me. A voice shimmered, booming from the heavens. It's tone fatherly and commanding, stern as it was nurturing. It was only one man that I could imagine; Robute himself.


“Saramoff. Though you have affiliated with xenos and the Knights of the Imperium, you have recognised something unseen by others. May you go with my blessing, so you may make an unstoppable force for the Imperium. Master both the Forge and the bikes, and bring glory in the Emperor's name.”

I knew what must be done. To forge an idea required a tether to keep the idea safe, to continue my focus and drive to perfect such a vessel of holy power.
The Robot Rodeo.

Courtesy of WisdomLike- from the 3++ Chatbawcks for the name Robot Rodeo. My original name, Dreadbikes, did not have such flair.

Hello once again! Saramoff here with more list buildings. In this episode of an unknown writer I'd like to try my hand at Space Marines. Truth be told I don't plan to use this list unlike my Draigowing, which has been modified several times now. I'm simply making lists to get better and improve myself.

So, let's do the Robot Rodeo. What's it about, first of all?

The basic idea was that I saw that Masters of the Forge could take bikes. I know little about marines so I did my research. Bikes are great when they're troops. They deliver melta and twin-linked bolter goodness, slagging tanks and mowing through infantry. They are fast and able to redeploy, saving precious Fast Attack slots if your Captain takes to the wheels too. They're also a different style of play, as I've tried to make normal marine lists but can't seem to get a twist on them. What is it that bikes perhaps lack? I assumed that it was long range, heavy strength shots to support the bikes.

And as we all know, Riflemen Dreads do this job very well. In fact, if we're doing one FoC change, why not have a Master as well? Vastly underrated and a fun conversion job. Thus the idea was born, a list of Bikes and Dreadnoughts. I've made three lists here, at respective 1500, 1750 and 2000 points levels. Let's go through the motions here.

1500 Robot Rodeo

Strangely, only the last list will have a Master. This is simply to conserve points and because we don't need a third dread just yet. Let's begin with a simple choice, the Captain. He needs a bike! Great, he has a bike. Now we have no worries about tactical marines hoarding all the troop slots.

We want our Captain able to hold his own and be quite flexible; for shooting, a combi-melta gives him infantry and a one-shot tank buster. For close combat, a relic blade and a stormshield give him offensive power and durability. Lastly, Artificer armour, because I frankly filled points with it when I made the list. 2+ is nothing to scoff at, however.

Captain - Bike, Combi-Melta, Relic Blade, Storm Shield, Artificer – 205

Taking a captain unlocks a command squad. These guys are... well. They seem pretty cool, a sort of mini squad/retinue that your captain can go with. We'll come to them later, as we need 2 troops choices.

The obvious choice is more bikes. At this level, we're able to take 2 full squads of bikes. I won't analyse bikes as it's been done over, but suffice to say we want melta. Bikes can get a lot of melta, more than the enemy can reliably deal with. Not only does this give bikes very capable mech handling abilities but you can also roast terminators, too.

We'll go with 2 full squads to max out bodies, and because we can afford it right now. This is a full squad of 1 sergeant, 7 bikes and 1 attack bike. 2 bikes get melta guns. I initially had a mix of flamers and melta, but I was told off for using flamers. If you're close to flamer stuff, you're close enough to be assaulted or you're at a point where flaming people is overkill as there's nothing really left.

For this reason, the bikes get 2 melta and the sergeant gets a combi melta. Our attack bike also gets a multi-melta, because at 10 points it's a steal. Now, we have some very good troops here. Tough (not as tough as a rhino, but they can certainly hold their own) with heavy anti-tank and great anti-infantry. I'll take 2.

8 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta - 255

8 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta – 255

Command Squads seem to be quite flexible in their loadouts, able to suit any role you give them in whatever themed army you want. They also can take bikes. Slick! They're getting bikes, no question about it. I was enlightened that my biker list needes something to go into close combat with the enemy, and bike squads just aren't too great at it. These guys however, are. We will flesh them out to be a combat squad worthy of my captain to joyride with. Three Lightning Claws and a Thunderhammer gives us power weapons galore! At 2 attacks each they now can deal out some damage. The thunderhammer is Insurance, VT2 style. Not only does it persuade your enemy that assaulting a dreadnought at your men is a bad idea, but you can play golf with rhinos as well. Stormshields will be useful, as a 3++ guarantees a degree of resilience to anything.

And melta guns.

Bike lists can pump out high amounts of melta, and these guys are no exception. Giving them 4 melta guns now has them in a great position. They have melta to wreck tanks and the bikes to get there, paired with close combat weapons and the New Black to wreck face in close combat. I am a fan of generalists that cost quite a bit, so 380 points for these bad boys is a good buy in my mind. Flexible and potent, they will deliver the Captain to where he needs to be, and help him deliver the enemy models off the table and back into the case.

Command Squad - Bikes, 3 Lightning Claws, 1 Thunder Hammer, 4 Stormshields, 4 Melta Guns – 380

The next part is very simple and needs little introduction. Rifleman standard pattern Dreadnoughts. Two Twin-linked autocannons each, 125 points. These guys support our bikes and take down enemy tanks or pulverise annoying ranged units. I'm not going into details here, riflemen are a classic method of bringing pain to the enemy. Can I have three please, Robute?

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons – 125

Thank you kindly.

Thus, we have 1410 points and 90 points left over to play around with. Right here we can add some nifty upgrades to fill the points out but we have a very solid core here. You could take melta-bombs everywhere or add a few more bikes. If you were desperate for more upgradeless bikes, 90 points is exactly one more troop.

Captain - Bike, Combi-Melta, Relic Blade, Storm Shield, Artificer - 205

Command Squad - Bikes, 3 Lightning Claws, 1 Thunder Hammer, 4 Stormshields, 4 Melta Guns - 380

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

8 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta - 255

8 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta - 255

1410

1750 Robot Rodeo – Faster and Furiouser

Let's keep working upwards and onwards! To take the list to 1750 we need to change just one thing. 8 bikes, as cool as having 8 bikes is, need to be taken down to 5. This way we can take three sets of 5, thus increasing our ability to not waste unnecessary fire via overkill (good) and get more melta (yesssss) The old bikes cost us 510 whilst the new have costed us 615. In 105 points we've lost 1 normal bike, gained another assault bike, another combi-melta, 2 more melta guns and a multi-melta. I consider this a good thing, as it means 1 more scoring unit and more even distribution of bikes.

5 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta - 205

5 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta - 205

5 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta – 205

Again, we're not taking more dreads. At this level we can take 3 and manage fine. Whilst I may sound similar to a broken record, more melta is never a bad thing. 3 separate Attack Bikes to fill out our Fast Attack slots means we have 3 different melta guns that go and do their own thing, to support the bikes. It also means that we have enough melta now that we can easily afford to start punching infantry down with our twin-linked bolters, should we run out of tanks to turn into slag.

1 Assault Bikes - Multi Melta - 50

1 Assault Bikes - Multi Melta - 50

1 Assault Bikes - Multi Melta – 50

With this all done, our list has only grown in strength. The melta value has jumped up, with another combi-melta, 2 more melta guns and a whopping 4 more multi-melta thrown into the list. Mech lists are not much of a worry when you can vaporise their boxes quite easily. Our list is as follows with 25 points to bling up your men as you please.

Captain - Bike, Combi-Melta, Relic Blade, Storm Shield, Artificer - 205

Command Squad - Bikes, 3 Lightning Claws, 1 Thunder Hammer, 4 Stormshields, 4 Melta Guns - 380

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

5 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta - 205

5 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta - 205

5 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta - 205

1 Assault Bikes - Multi Melta - 50

1 Assault Bikes - Multi Melta - 50

1 Assault Bikes - Multi Melta - 50

1725

2000 Robot Rodeo – Electric Boogaloo

Now, we are taking a Master of the Forge and at this level, only another Dreadnought and the Master itself is really necessary. The Master is to take the dreadnought, and as I'm feeling funky we'll give him a Conversion Beamer. Whilst it's debatable on how optimised taking it is, the other options won't do too well. Close combat options on a bike squad that primarily shoot won't help out so much, but an extra big gun that can threaten enemies on the other side of the board is sort of fun. It's mostly insurance, as your enemy will know to stay close to you and within Melta range of your bikes.

He's gonna need some sweet wheels, and will require a conversion job. This will be a lot of fun for this list, as he'll have a really decked out bike or some sort of robot spider or something.

Master of the Forge - Bike, Conversion Beamer – 155

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons – 125

With 5 points left over for digital weapons or something, here's your full Robot Rodeo. Ready and raring to go!

Captain - Bike, Combi-Melta, Relic Blade, Storm Shield, Artificer - 205

Command Squad - Bikes, 3 Lightning Claws, 1 Thunder Hammer, 4 Stormshields, 4 Melta Guns - 380

Master of the Forge - Bike, Conversion Beamer - 155

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons - 125

5 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta - 205

5 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta - 205

5 Bikers - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta), 2 Meltaguns - 195

1 Assault Bikes - Multi Melta - 50

1 Assault Bikes - Multi Melta - 50

1 Assault Bikes - Multi Melta - 50

Dreadnought - Two Twin-linked Autocannons – 125

Final Note

This list has a lot of what you need. For one, it's an absolute terror against melta lists. You have fast, redeployable melta and a total of 8 twinlinked autocannons to rail the enemy with. You have 3 combi-meltas, 10 melta guns, 6 multi meltas and a conversion beamer. This will make people second guess putting their tanks out so quickly! Your command squad is to assist in close combat and to put a dent into anything that wants to threaten your bikes. The captain can obviously go with them or with any bike squad, lending some CC punch or an extra body to allocate to. The Master goes with whatever as well, preferbly 5 bikes so his conversion beamer gets some use. Really, he's a cool model and a good shot, so why not use that to our advantage?

As a final note, thanks for reading. I'm not sure whether the concept has been done before but it was worth a look through to expand it and see how it can do. Not to mention it was a fun list building exercise. By no means am I great at optimisation but I wanted to give it a try and show you my thought processes, make an entertaining article and simply get the word out.

Peace, out.