Assault Bike

The Assault Bike, also known as the Space Marine Bike is a light vehicle that is used throughout the Imperium by most Adeptus Astartes Chapters, and even by Renegade and Chaos Space Marines. The Assault Bike is an extremely powerful machine, and is capable of propelling a fully armoured Space Marine at dizzying speeds and yet is responsive enough to perform a full-range of death-defying combat maneuvers. There are tales of experienced Space Marine Bikers that have driven their Bikes through solid rockcrete walls at full speed without harm. Assault Bikes usually operate in squads of up to 8 and are used for fast-moving assault type missions, intelligence gathering, infiltration, and general reconnaissance. When Assault Bikes are used for assault missions they will attack the enemy at incredible speeds, using both surprise and unstoppable momentum to rip through enemy formations, before the enemy can regroup and go on the defensive the Bikers will turn around and attack once again from an unexpected direction. Bike squad tactical strikes are often likened to thunderbolts, as by the time the enemy hears their approach, the damage has already been done. In order for Space Marine Bikers to use their mechanical steeds at maximum efficiency they must function flawlessly as one, to this end the Codex Astartes dictates that all Assault Marines, Scouts, and the entire 6th Company of a Chapter must master the art of mounted warfare as part of their training regimen. There are several Chapters that take this further, with every Space Marine in the Chapter being required to maintain his mounted training, even if the Space Marine has long since passed into the ranks of the Chapter's 1st Company. There is no Astartes Chapter that better exemplify this this better than the White Scars, who proudly employ Assault Bike squads as the main body of their strike forces. There are many other Chapters who are less enamored of a Assault Bike's tactical value, and prefer to send their assault forces into battle in Rhinos and Razorbacks instead.

History
The Assault Bike, along with its Attack Bike variant, have been used by the Adeptus Astartes since the dawn of the Imperium. The Space Marine Legions that fought during the Great Crusade maintained deployed entire companies of Assault Bikes to use for lightning fast attacks on their enemies. These vehicles were deployed during the Horus Heresy by both Loyalist and Traitor Legions alike. During the Horus Heresy many Assault Bike squads were used by the Traitor Legions to hunt down Loyalist survivors of the Virus-Bombing of Istvaan III, and the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V. During the Siege of the Imperial Palace on Terra, at the end of the Horus Heresy, the White Scars Legion and their expert use of Assault and Attack Bikes helped keep the Traitor Legions away from the walls of the Imperial Palace, and after the walls were breached they were successful in capturing the Lion's Gate Starport and denied the Traitors many of their reinforcements. After the death of Arch-Traitor Horus the Traitor Legions made a hasty retreat, all the while being chased by the White Scars Bike squads.

Armament
The standard Assault Bike used by both the Adeptus Astartes and the Chaos Space Marines is armed with twin-linked Bolters that are attached to the Bike's handlebars. While the Assault Bike itself is only lightly armed by vehicle standards, the vehicle's real firepower comes from its rider, the vehicle's rider is always equipped with Frag Grenades, and can also use Krak Grenades. The rider is usually equipped with a Bolt Pistol and a Chainsword, and can also be equipped with Flamers, Meltaguns, and Plasma Guns. Bike squad Sargents, and sometimes regular Astartes from very well equipped Chapters may also be equipped with Plasma Pistols, Powerswords, Powerfists, Combi-Weapons, and Melta Bombs. There are several less common Assault Bike armaments, such as Bikes adapted to be used by Chaplains, or to accept non-standard upgrades such as smoke-launchers. Assault Bikes used by Chaos Space Marines are usually equipped with the same Bike-mounted and rider-carried weaponry as their Loyalist counterparts, but there are some Chaos Space Marine Bikers that add various items and weapons to their vehicles, such as Doom Sirens, Chaos Icons, and spikes and hooks for cutting and impaling anyone who gets too close. Chaos Bikers also make use of weapons that have long since vanished from most Space Marine armoures, such as Power Scyths and Chain Axes.

Assault Bike Variants
The Assault Bike, like many other Imperial vehicles, has over the years had numerous variant patterns created by the Adeptus Mechanicus or various Space Marine Chapter Armouries with a wide array of different weapon and feature combinations. Out of these many variants those officially recognised by the Adeptus Mechanicus and most commonly employed by Astartes Chapters are featured below:
 * Attack Bike - The Attack Bike is the most common variant of the Assault Bike and has been is use by the Adeptus Astartes since the Great Crusade. The Attack Bike adds a sidecar to the Bike that is equipped with a heavy weapon and a passenger seat. The heavy weapon is operated by the vehicle's passenger and when an Attack Bike is attached to an Assault Bike squad it is used to add heavy firepower in the form of either a Heavy Bolter or a Multi-Melta. There are several Chapters that field Attack Bikes as part of their own squads instead of attaching them to Assault Bike squads.
 * Scout Bike - During the final stages of a Space Marine Scout's training he is attached to a Scout Bike squadron. Scout Bike squads are usually deployed as fast-moving reconnaissance and disruption units. These squads will operate outside of the chain-of-command and will only answer to their commanding Sergent. Scout Bike squadrons are commonly used behind enemy lines to lay cluster-mine traps, call down orbital bombardments, and teleport homers to allow squads to deep-strike behind enemy lines. Space Marine Scout Bikes are nearly the same in all ways to the Assault Bike, except with lighter armour quieter engines. Scout Bikes can also be armed with Astartes Grenade Launchers instead of twin-linked Bolters.

Notable Users of the Assault Bike
The Assault Bike has been in use by the Adeptus Astartes since the Great Crusade, and the Traitor Legions took theirs with them after the Horus Heresy. In the 41st Millennium most if not all Space Marine Chapters make use of the Assault Bike in some fashion or another, below are some of the more notable users:
 * White Scars - The White Scars Space Marine Chapter make the most widespread use of Space Marine Bikes of all variants. The White Scars' homeworld of Chorgoris is comprised of large wind-swept steppes and grasslands. The recruits taken from Chorgoris are taken from the savage horse riders of the steppes, and thus the entire Chapter is already adept at mounted-warfare. The White Scars use Assault Bikes during nearly all of the campaigns.
 * Dark Angels - The Dark Angels Space Marine Chapter make heavy use of Assault Bikes in their 2nd Company, the Ravenwing. The Ravenwing is a highly specialised unit that is intended to make use of mobility and speed to defeat the enemy rather than heavy firepower. The Ravenwing is made up of Assault and Attack Bikes, along with Land Speeders.
 * Space Wolves - The Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter gives the use of Bikes over to their Blood Claws Neophytes. These Blood Claws, known as Swift Claws, make use of Assault Bikes in lightning fast hit-and-run attacks. Since Blood Claws are considered very head-strong, this is a good way for them to express this.
 * Ultramarines - The Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter makes use of Assault and Attack Bikes as the Codex Astartes dictates.
 * Salamanders 
 * Raven Guard
 * Emperor's Children
 * World Eaters
 * Word Bearers
 * Death Guard

Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications
Technical specifications for this vehicle have not been released by the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Also See

 * Imperial Vehicles

Gallery
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