[swordtart]

Agreed.

43 and I disagree on how effective air power is (and should be in CW) but it is certainly more effective than running after the bikers in a car.

The downside of planes and copters is the crippling capital costs (and in reality the maintenance costs should be crippling too). Conventional air power is thus likely to centred in wealthy communities which are less likely to be the target of biker raids.

In my game, a bike raid is 2d6 vehicles (mixed bikes and the odd trike or a pickup). These raid the outlying crops of small farming compounds. In a few hours they can gather 500-1000lb of fruit. They probably won't be noticed doing this and as it represents the output of less than half a dozen trees it will not significantly dent the farms viability. Each orange is worth about $1-5 depending on where you sell it.

These raiding parties are a subset of a larger force that is centred somewhere easily defensible (from air as well) in the county. There are plenty of ruined towns and cites to choose from. This force might number 100-300 individuals and about 1/3rd as many vehicles. It has some AA offence but prefers to hide under cover. It would require extended carpet bombing to significantly damage them or a small army. Most will be dispersed rather than destroyed and will regroup in another state.

Most farms will have static balloons for observation and some offence. These will be centred round the compound which will be protected by a berm perimeter surrounding a set of sturdy buildings linked by walls. There will be a central tower the base of which is a bunker. Most defences will be in the compound, and there will be a beaten zone 50 yards all around it. A small autogyro will be available within the compound for crop spraying and as an additional deterrent to raids. There will typically be 2d6 adults housed here.

The crops will be spread out within a mile of the compound. The fields (groves in my case) will have a wide deep ditch all round (for irrigation and to prevent vehicle access). A single bridge (on the side closest to the compound) provides vehicle access to the grove. This is visible from the compound and during the day there is a good chance it is monitored. It is gated and locked, but no-one expects this to be a deterrent to determined attack. The most valuable crops are placed closest to the compound.

The bikes are farmers too, they just farm farmers. If they predate too much they will kill the farm and likely bring about county level retaliation. After a week or two they will move in small groups to rendezvous in another county or state depending on the harvests. In winter they live off their surplus and tend not to move around. Some counties will actually negotiate acceptable quotas with gangs as it is cheaper in blood and treasure than trying to curb their impact by combat. Gangs are at their most dangerous in spring and summer as this is the growing season and farms are not easy targets. In these seasons they turn to the more traditional attacks on weak travellers and sometimes towns (supplemented by drug dealing). They tend to strike on a single day then immediately move on to another county to hide out for a few weeks. Their predations are more obvious during this time, but they tend to be hard to track. Any negotiated treaties are normally voided during this period and county forces (other corrupt ones) operate a shoot-to-kill policy that is reciprocated.

Spring and summer is when the recruits are sent out to be blooded ("Roaming"). They will go with a trusted sub-leader who is more experienced. They may go on expeditions lasting for weeks and not return to the base in that time. The sub-leader will know some places to make contact with the gang so they can regroup, but if he dies the recruits are on their own and won't be welcomed back even if they can find the gang again. This reduces the risk of infiltration. If they make more than they lose in repairs and replenishment by the end of the season they are made full members. If not they probably won't be coming back anyway. This frees the gang of useless mouths when there is less surplus to support them.

Bikes will be 60% standard bikes, 30% trikes and 10% support vehicles (support vehicles generally don't carry gang colours so they can be used for trading). Most vehicles will be shared between two gangers of the same rank and thus each has at least 1 passenger space (even if it is only a pillion). The recruits bikes run $2-3K, full members rate $5K and the leaders and sub leaders may go as high as $10K. The HQ holds the support vehicles under the control of the quartermaster and chief mechanic. Many vehicles will have part damaged components as salvage as a major aspect of bike gang life. Recruit bikes may be wholly jury-rigged to minimise the losses. They are also easily identifiable as gang vehicles. Part damaged body armour is common at the lower echelons. Most bikers have BA and also ABV (even if it is little more than rags).

There are more handguns in the gang than vehicle mounted weapons. Many sidecars have heavy weapons on pintles. A 2 space pintle can be placed to have an arc of fire like a side sponson at far less cost and weight. Laser guiding rockets (single shot or launchers) on tripods only requires a laser scope rather than a targeting laser so it becomes a cheaper upgrade (other than the tuning costs). Two laser guided AP HR fired from a stationary sidecar is a significant threat). Many recruit bikes when part of the main gang have cheap AP Mini Rocket weapons that are only used in mass barrages or at very close quarters for defence. When roaming they may have upgraded from salvage. Roughly 1/3 of the gang operates as mounted infantry and has no vehicle skill at all. Smoke and paint grenades are popular (every ganger carries at least two to cover extraction). Explosive grenades are only issued for dismounted engagements as the risk of collateral damage is too high. More exotic munitions are reserved for sale or use by the elites.

I could write lots more, but this is the blue print for bike gangs in my campaign.