Attack Bikes... Are they worth it?

So you are almost done building your list. You count up your points and woah, you have 50 left. What to spend them on? How bout a Multi melta attack bike? Great buy for the cost right? But is it really?

A single attack bike can be great. They are small and can hide behind a tank, providing additional tank killing punch. But what if they miss? No one will let them live. They are too easy to kill and once exposing themselves to get the melta range, will almost certainly die. So, at 50 points a model, are they worth it? I am no math major, but I'm sure some one can do the statistics of a melta bike actually killing a tank with a single shot. I would have to say they are less then 50/50?

So from the stand point of making up their points, in the long run, I would have to say that a single bike fails. Every Land Raider you pop gives you 4 more games where you can do nothing, but how many games does a single bike manage to pop a tank?

This is compounded by kill points. A bike is an easy, juicy kill point and in those missions you are better off just reserving it to keep it off the table, then bringing it on and hiding it for the entire game. At best you will trade it for a KP, but I think the majority of the time it will just cough up a KP for nothing.

Of course there are exceptions. I have had games where a single attack bike, making good use of cover and other vehicles, has managed to pop several tanks. I have also had tournaments where in 3 games they died every time and failed to pop any thing.

Based on the point totals I saw, new dex bikes will cost 60 points each. I think it may be time to consider if giving a guy 60 points and a KP is worth it... or if I can find a better use of those points.

Jawaballs