General description:
Fighters. That’s what the Star Wars Miniature game is missing. But even without fighters you can still strafe people… with speeder bike units. Ever wish you could just zip past a character, avoid attacks of opportunity and go directly for a troublesome character in the rear? Now imagine that along the way you can zap a whole line of figures. That’s what speeder bikes are built to do. Fast (Move 12 and shoot.) Better armor than your average Scout Trooper, the speeder bike can be a nasty surprise for the unwary opponent.
Uses:
Most players tend to hide useful commanders in the rear, behind corners or generally out of the line of fire. If valuable leaders can be removed early, an entire squad can be crippled. Also, most players have a tendency to clump their troops together as they engage. This makes them perfect targets for a strafing attack… which nicely avoids the problem of hitting your own troops with grenades, missiles or lightning.
Strategies and game play:
Air Raid, Enemy Commanders: If your opponent has a removed commander (Battle Droid Officer, Super Battle Droid Commander, etc.) you can send out a speeder bike to eliminate him. Don’t forget to strafe any enemy troopers along the route to your intended victim. Understand that when you attempt this type of attack, the speeder bike will become a high priority target. Expect that you will most likely be destroyed after an air raid, so be sure to select targets of real value.
Strafing Run: When your opponent begins to engage he will often clump his lower level troops together. Make a strafing run against these troopers (especially the 10-20 hit point units.) These kinds of runs can often reduce your opponent’s force significantly. Be sure to plan your attack carefully. You’ll want to have a good chance to eliminate more than 21 points worth of enemy forces… otherwise, you may come out on the short side of the engagement… having lost more points (if the speeder bike is destroyed) than you eliminated in enemy troopers.
Capture the Flag: In some scenarios, points are given to a player who is adjacent to certain target squares or objectives. If playing in such an engagement, hold a speeder bike in reserve. Players often overshoot such target squares, or can be led away from these squares through a planned withdrawal of your forces. In these cases, send the speeder bike in to obtain the undefended objective. In a close game, this can be enough to tip the scales. Sometimes, just keeping a speeder bike in reserve can cause a player to keep forces unengaged to deal with possible attacks from the bike. Take advantage of this and keep your opponent guessing by holding a bike in reserve.
Combos with other miniatures:
Speeder bikes work well with other speeder bikes. Since they move when normally attacking, they gain nothing from most officers. Only the Stormtrooper Commander and Imperial Officer are of much use here. The Stormtrooper Commander can give the vehicle an additional 10 points of damage on its attack run, but this bonus is limited to a single round as the bike’s movement will clearly outstrip the commander’s movement. Imperial Officers can be of use to allow the bike to have a second run. For example, move the bike over a group of characters, strafing as you pass over them. Then fire with the officer. After the officer’s turn have the bike move again, strafing a second time (Officer’s commander effect.) If the bike starts in a position where it can’t be fired upon and returns to the same position, this can be a devastating attack mode.
Ways to counteract it:
Direct fire from heavy weapons units. Speeder bikes should be the number one targets of AT-RTs, Senate Guards and all other weapons that fire for 30 or so damage. Since the craft only has 30 Hit Points, a single strike from such a weapon is almost as good as watching it fly into a tree. Best to be able to destroy the bike before it can make a strafing run. If it does successfully make a run, make sure it can’t make a successful return run.
Strengths/Pros:
Speed and the best damage of any Scout Trooper. Better than average armor for the Imperial faction. Multiple targets during a strafing run.
Weaknesses/Cons:
Weak attack pluses… and virtually no way to effectively improve its chances to hit. Relatively high cost.
Artwork and aesthetics:
Nice looking vehicle, although the model tends to have problems with the plastic bending and warping between the main body of the craft and the front fins. Removing the head of a straight pin and gluing the rest of the pin to the bottom of this section tends to resolve the problem without damaging the figure’s appearance.
Overall rating (1-10):
I give this miniature a rating of 7.
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