Linrandir's Weekly Articles
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July 16 2001 Yes, after an incredibly long sojourn in the Webway I have returned to share more of my ideas on different Eldar Units. The sooner I get done with this, the sooner I go onto other things like Eldar in BFG and some of my thoughts on GW as a whole. I just KNOW you're dying to hear that... This week's topic is the Screaming Death, the Howling Banshees. I have never heard a unit cursed more soundly (except maybe the Dark Reapers, but that's another story) by Space Marine players, though now that Terminators have a 5+ Invulnerable the cursing isn't QUITE so loud. Your Howling Banshee trooper is equipped with a shuriken pistol and a power sword. Being Eldar and NOT scorpions, they only have S3, which means Space Marines die on a to-wound roll of 5+. Unless they've got an Invulnerable save, in which case they have to fail that Before they can die. Anyway. The Banshees Always strike first, regardless of cover or what. The only exception to this is when they either attack or are attacked by something else that Always strikes first, in which case they both strike at the same time. Obviously, it is good for the Banshee squad to charge, rather then be charged. They don't tend to do TOO well in extended combats, as their 4+ armor save and T3 don't give them great chances against Marines - especially Space Wolves, but that's another rant for another time. At 16 points each, they are a pretty good buy for what you get. The trick is, with the Banshees, Always get a transport and Always get an exarch. The transport, be it a Falcon or a Wave Serpent or a VDR (like mine over in the Galleries), exists to get the Banshees into close combat ASAP. It's also an ablative shield against whoever wants to stop the banshees by killing them first. A great trick to use with the Banshees and a transport is to have the Banshees get out first, then the transport moves around behind the target unit. Banshees charge in and make the unit fall back, the unit is then crossfired by the transport. IMPORTANT: Make sure there are no enemy units around to shoot up your Banshees before they can make it back to the transport. The Banshee Exarch is one of my favorite characters in the entire game. She has the coolest powers and the neatest wargear...Right. With the Exarch you have an option: More attacks that are weaker or fewer attacks that are stronger. In other words, powerblades or Executioner? Executioner or powerblades? The newest model has the Executioner, and that is what I like. I will take the 3 S5 power weapon attacks over the 5 s3 attacks, because of the following 8-point doozy: Acrobatic power. This lets the Exarch be repositioned at the start of every Assault phase Anywhere in the close combat melee. Think Darth Maul, jumping and flipping with that badass lightsaber and you're not far off. That means you can target specific models AND escape the annoying "helper" counterattacks by killing everything within 2 inches. Of course, having the rest of the Banshee squad there helps a lot as well, but you can't get a crossfire if the squad is on one side and the Exarch is on another. I always take Banshee squads of either 6 or 10, including the Exarch. This is because 6 fits in the Falcon or the Ghostwing VDR, and 10 fits the Wave Serpent or the Wraithwing VDR. Anything else doesn't use the transports to their fullest capacity and is wasted points. EVIL Banshee trick: With the Iyanden Craftworld, take a Spiritseer that has "Enhance" and attach them to the Banshee squad. They will now hit at WS5 and WS6, for the squad and Exarch respectively, and have a +1 to their initiative as well. That'll mean they hit Marines on a 3+, and more hits means more chances to roll those lovely 5's for the squad and 3's for the Exarch which in turn means more dead Marines. And that, my fellow Eldar Commanders, is a Good Thing. Oh yes...Speaking of Evil Eldar Tricks...Give an Iyanden Wraithlord a Spiritseer with Enhance. The sheer cheese of that one is hard to top, but on the other hand it makes the Wraithlord SO MUCH MORE deadly... What's next? I don't know, we'll see. :-) -LINRANDIR
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