War walker load out and usage

[Karhedron]

I am considering add one or two War Walkers to my roster. Eldar have always been able to bring massed mid-strength shooting to bear with units like Avengers, Jetbikes, Shroudrunners etc. War Walkers can tag a units and further attacks against that unit get an extra point of AP. So I am wondering how best to make use of it.

 

I am thinking about the classic Scatterlaser and Brightlance combo. The Scatter Laser provides 6 shots at decent range to tag something for other units and be sure of scoring a hit. The alternative is a missile Launcher which has even longer range and the benefit of 2 firing modes. The Brightlance is there for an extra anti-tank shot which is never going to be a bad idea.

 

To work with this I thinking Shuricannon jetties. With Lethal Hits and Ap2 they can shred MEQs and even threaten monsters/vehicles. Adding a Warlock Skyrunner for Ignores Cover really helps too.

 

Any other people have any thoughts? 

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I've used three, each with paired aeldari missile launchers, in my two games so far and they've given sterling service.  My usage so far hinges on the following points:

 

1. Individual lethality is wonderful, but the Crystal Matrix giving all subsequent shooting at that target an extra pip of AP is amazing.  The AML's range means I can point a missile at whatever I need, almost anywhere on a board, to ensure I can land a hit to trigger that effect.

 

2. AML's have been maligned for a while as a middle child of the Craftworlds' armory.  Bright lances are better at anti-armor, while out vast array of shuriken weaponry can cover most anti-infantry.  However, I delight in the flexibility I get from having two firing modes.  The scatter laser gives you a high rate of fire for triggering the Matrix, but so can Sunburst missiles -- and those have AP baked into the profile.

 

3. War walkers, as much as I love them, are fragile little things.  If you want to rely on having one available to trigger the Matrix, you'll need more than one or two.  The AML's can help a little bit here, as the long range gives you a semi-stand off capability, but the need to play around terrain may mitigate that in turn.

 

 

I've considered other warloads -- a squad of two both with paired starcannons is a nasty customer for minimum-sized Marine squads -- but I don't feel the need to put lances on them.  They're just much more useful for the AP buff then for direct-damage.

[Magos Takatus]

I am so glad I magnetised mine. War Walkers give you so much freedom from a weapon selection perspective.

[Xenith]

I've only used scatter/lance, again for the reasons outlined above. I think the lance is the bets weapon by far, long range anti everything outside of a prism cannon, but suffers from bs3+. The scatter is there to guarantee a hit on an infantry unit. Ideally you bring 2x scat/lance walkers or the second to tag a vehicle with the lance if the first misses, and also to take advantage of the targeting rule. 

[MadEdric]

I currently have 2 with dual AML and one with starcannon/scatter laser (I don't know why or what edition this was the thing). The 2 with AML were mainly AT for me in the one game I've gotten in so far, usually what ever they fired on was gone, so the extra AP boost didn't matter. The mixed one was great at that though. 

This was in the Guardian Host detachment, so War Walkers get a bit of a boost while in that detachment.