Bikes, and where they can and cannot go.

This issue is a regular cause of discussion, so I thought I'd throw a few observations out there as a way of laying this to rest once and for all.



Bikes - of the non-jet-bike variety - have the Very Bulky special rule. It states that it counts as three standard models for the purpose of transport capacity - which clearly implies that Bikes can enter both transports and/or buildings as long as these have sufficient capacity to hold them and/or have no specific rules preventing bikes from entering.

As far as I can tell, this means that - as long as a bike unit can fully fit into a designated building, i.e. in line with its transport capacity - bikes can occupy buildings.

The rules do not include any pointers as to what to do with multi-level buildings and bike squads. There are some logical extrapolations that can be made, however.

For enclosed buildings - such as Bastions - it could be argued that the internal structures include ramps, stairs or ladders; there is no way to prove or disprove this. In the case of fortifications, it might be expedient to let the deploying player state what the situation is; for buildings being deployed as terrain, players should try to agree on this beforehand, and if this proves impossible a 1d2 roll could be used per building to resolve matters.

For ruins, I suggest that bikes wanting to move and/or assault up levels within a multi-level structure should have to follow the processes for moving into/assaulting dangerous terrain.

Ruins present certain difficulties, but we needs to remember that ruin models are not no more accurate in specific details than any other - we need to use some creative thinking to picture what they might actually have left within them (in terms of access points, stairs, internal walls etc.).

If each level of the ruin is said to require 3" to move up or down a level, bikes would need to roll at least a 3 on a difficult terrain test to be able to try to climb up to a higher level - and make a dangerous terrain test in order to be able to do so. As per usual, models will have to be able to fit into/balance on spaces they are seeking to reach, and unit coherency rules will need to be observed.

For the purpose of assaults, an additional 3" per floor level could be added to charge ranges (this to be added to the usual 2d6 - 2 rule for charging difficult terrain), with dangerous terrain tests being required for each floor traversed. Base contact calculations should allow for a 3" floor differential i.e. if you are within 3" of a model on a higher or lower level at the end of a charge, you count as being in base contact with that model.

I think this represents what the rulebook intends for these kind of situations, but does not say directly (because it does not deal with it effectively). It certainly places serious obstacles in the way of standard bikes moving into or assaulting through multi-level ruins, without rendering them completely unable to tackle units that are targeting them from above.