# Best Setu for Hoeling Banshees/ Swooping Hawks & Striking Scorpions?



## geneticdeviant (Sep 17, 2009)

Hey guys, Will be buying some of the above units and was wondering as to the best way to equip them and set them up? Advice please.

Also in regards to the Swooping Hawks "Skyleap" ability, am i right in thinking i can deep strike in drop my grenade template, then skyleap off the board straight away same turn meaning an enemy cant touch me? What can i reliably kill with that grenade template? Again advice please?


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## Jack Mac (Apr 29, 2009)

Standard for Howling Banshees is 10 with an Exarch with an Executioner. Functions about as well as mirrorswords in a number of common situations, and better than in some others.
You also want them in a wave serpent, probably. Else they'll die. War Shout and Acrobatic both fun but optional.

Striking Scorpions...more flexible. In a serp, with shadowstrike in an outflanking serp, by themselves outflanking... plenty of options. One point worth noting is that you can take both a biting blade and a scorpion's claw, since they each replace a 1-handed weapon. You can only use one of the two each round, but it gives some options. Another point worth noting is that chainsabres *aren't* scorpion chainswords, meaning you don't get +1 S from them. They look better, at first glance, than they are.

Yes, you can deepstrike Hawks and immediately remove them. The problem with Hawks is that they are set up to do three or so jobs mediocrely, but doing any one of these jobs precludes any of the others. The 'best' setup, I'd say, would be a minimal squad with an exarch, no equipment and skyleap. If you're going to skyleap, anything else is wasted points.
That template...well, d6" scatter isn't bad (if I recall correctly, a hit doesn't scatter for these, so that's alright) but... pay less than that for a fire prism, stick it in cover and you've got a better* large blast weapon, with options for termy-killing too.

*pluses:
-better S and AP
-cheaper when taking a naked prism
minuses:
-can be shot at (use cover)
-hawks' grenade pack might do a wierd thing with cover (namely, deny it unless they're in area terrain); it's not made explicit one way or another in the rules.


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## PanzerPig (Apr 15, 2008)

Hi there, ok i'll take the units in order of my somewhat limited experience, so you know, take all this with a pinch of salt and if you feel more comfortable with a diff set up, then go for it. 

Howling Banshees- These girls I love, they just mess up marines with that many power wep attacks. Also striking at I10 on the first round means you have a really effective assault unit for things like zerkers. 8 in a serpent with an executioner and none of the powers (altho i always get tempted by acrobatic). 

Scorps- These guys make light infantry cry, so many attacks at S4 and a power fist to boot. 8 in a serpent with scorp claw works well, I like to walk mine in with the shadowstrike ability to outflank. Big unit numbers help with this or even that 3+ save won't save them for long. 

Hawks- I tend to avoid, i've only ran them twice but the underperformed so much, along with the amount of bad press they get really makes me doubt their usefulness. If I was going to run them, i'd do so with skyleap and the sunrifle for the sheer volume of shots and the grenades.


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## geneticdeviant (Sep 17, 2009)

Any advice on warp spiders and dark reapers? Warp Spiders look interesting, worried about the perils of the warp when they roll a double though.


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## Cyklown (Feb 8, 2010)

The wound hurts, but it's the price you pay for their cute tricks. Spiders aren't great, but they're arguably our best FA choice.

Don't use Hawks. Hold onto the models and check to see if they make them any good in the next dex we get. It's probably only going to be 2-3 years of waiting for them to make it. (we hope).

Banshees... well, about 8 is solid, with the afor-mentioned executioner. Put them in a wave serpent. Kill things. Don't take the exarch powers.

I don't really use Scorps these days. No fleet means that they're worse at assaulting out of transports than HB, and 3 s6 powerfist attacks, while handy enough, isn't that great. Trying to glance a dread to death before it kills a squad of 16-point dudes doesn't sound like fun to me. Plus s4 is anything BUT impressive on a dedicated assault unit that takes away an elites slot. Elites are the only place we get any reliable melta weapon presence. Sure, they get a billion attacks, and against orks and the smaller nids they're totally tubular. Against the bigger bugs, however they're still just dying on a 2+ to wound, and a s6 fist is only wounding on a 4+. Maybe if the mandiblasters game them the +1 to s and the swords game them rending... *shrugs* That'd step on Harlies toes, but harlie's access to rending is overpriced as of 5th, which is a shame. Harlies were a cool unit that got ganked by 5th all around.


Reapers used to be decent. Now they don't do much to vehicles, have heavy weapons and can't fire out of vehicles. If they give us a fast attack slot that is a fast skimmer with 3 (heck, 2, but 3 would be lightyears better) firepoints and assault doors and a moderate carrying capacity (10 would do it just fine) (and maybe some sort of melta weapon on it. Otherwise we're still stuck with Elites for our meltaweapons) then they'll be cool. Units that can't cope with living in transports fail, sadly. Additionally, the bad old days of Exarchs carrying EMLs would be back with a vengence, if there was any reason to field Reapers. S4 weapons don't do anything to transport. S5 barely does anything to vehicles. They still be a bit of a waste of a HS slot, however. You can take Fire Prisms, daka'd-to-hell Falcons and BL-Falcs, and the falcs can all take Holofields. Those all spell Win.


Oh, and Rubber hawking is a fucking awefull idea. 132 points for, at best a s4ap5 shot every turn after the first? Fuck That Noise. Don't do it.


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## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

Cyklown said:


> Banshees... well, about 8 is solid, with the afor-mentioned executioner. Put them in a wave serpent. Kill things. Don't take the exarch powers....


Agree on all except the last thing. Countercharge (acrobatics) for the price of a Gaunt? Skip that? No. You take that.


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## Cyklown (Feb 8, 2010)

MaidenManiac said:


> Agree on all except the last thing. Countercharge (acrobatics) for the price of a Gaunt? Skip that? No. You take that.


It's nice, and I'd HAPPILY take that with a spare 5 points that I have lying around instead of, say, ACTIVELY hurting myself by upgrading some lock/seer to a singing spear, but if your Banshees have a ride then countercharge is largely useless. You're Flat-outing near things, disembarking the next turn and fleeting into combat. You can't you use countercharge while engaged.

I'm saying it won't come up, it's just ranked sliiiightly below crack shot of a FD exarch.


But you are right that it's both arguably better than Warshout AND fairly costed.


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## Barnster (Feb 11, 2010)

hawks can be good against ig weapons teams and other eldar and ork batteries anything else leave them at home. 

Banshees need a transport, I tend to run them as 6 in a falcon, the falcon can knock out tanks and is tough to destroy. WS I think are best left for avengers who need the larger transport size. Against thing like marines your still chucking out a load of attacks so can take them out, against horde armies scorps are better.

Scorps are good against low I and low as infantry. Avoid the claw, you don't want to be attacking tanks with these guys. Thier saves also helps alot.

Warp Spiders are a love hate unit I never have felt the love for these guys. High strength but ap- is not the best combo on a short ranged gun. They can be good at target light vehicles but other units do that better, plus powerblades are never a good idea, you don't want these guys in combat


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## Cyklown (Feb 8, 2010)

You're still paying 22 points a model for t3 av4 models with s3 guns. You're better off with something else. Jetbikes are faster, more durable and can take s6 weaponry.

Quite frankly, the entire Fast Attack selection of the codex is generally best left alone.


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## Sethis (Jun 4, 2009)

Cyklown said:


> Oh, and Rubber hawking is a fucking awefull idea. 132 points for, at best a s4ap5 shot every turn after the first? Fuck That Noise. Don't do it.


I would sig this, but I have no space left.


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## Forty Three (Jun 20, 2008)

since TKE hasn't graced this thread with his presence, I'll just link his blog here. Very good if you're just getting into Eldar. (ignore the recent stuff, he's just gone all BA FOTM but I suspect it'll pass =P )

http://hobbyinfobythekingelessar.blogspot.com/?zx=5145077dafe025d4


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## Cyklown (Feb 8, 2010)

He'd better.

"Twilight, FTW!" or "Here alone I weep, longing for the blood, FTW!" just wouldn't have the same ring to it.


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## Warlock in Training (Jun 10, 2008)

Cyclone what the fuck is your Avatar?!

As for SSs go vs HBs. The Girls are nice for MEQ and 2+ assholes. However I find the Str 4 with SC Exarch that can kill those that are MEQ or better with 4-5 attacks on the charge can kill any Marine unit as well as PW totting Banshess with sheer attacks. Against the Ork Players, Nid Players, IG Players, Eldar/DE Players and Daemon Players Scorps kick ass as well if not more than HBs. Its fair trade off. They can survive better than 4+ Banshees and can wound more without the Doom Farseer. Also I cant remeber if thay had Plasma Gernades but if they do then they can assault through cover where there is much disscusiions over 5th Ed rules and HB masks. 

My take.


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## Forty Three (Jun 20, 2008)

Cyklown said:


> He'd better.
> 
> "Twilight, FTW!" or "Here alone I weep, longing for the blood, FTW!" just wouldn't have the same ring to it.


:laugh::laugh:


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