The Marine-Killers: Stock up on Reapers & Banshees?

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I haven't used my Eldar in a very long time, but I'm going to run them in a map-based campaign that will be starting in my LGS in October.  I'm an Altansar player and I have always love Maugan Ra, so Reapers have been my favorite Aspect shrine for literal decades.  They haven't been considered all that great lately, though.  With all the Marine Toughness boosts going around at the moment, I feel like their stock is rising based entirely on the back of the starshot missiles.  S10 AP-2 D3 is going to be an excellent MEQ-killer when most of our small arms are remaining S4 -- and they still have their alternate fire mode to clean up larger, less tough squads.  I do love Dire Avengers conceptually, but S4 is going to struggle against the most popular armies in the game.

 

In a similar vein, Banshees are completely unbothered by this change due to being Anti-Infantry 3+.  It is by comparison, though, that they look even better because Striking Scorpions remain S4.  Even with Sustained Hits on a 5+ on the charge, I don't think they're going to generate near enough hits to do appreciable damage to your average MEQ target.  Take a small squad in a Falcon for the Fire Support rule gives you rerolls on either, but rerolling 3s is more reliable than rerolling 5s, and Scorpions want to be infiltrating in any case.

 

So I plan to be using some large squads of Reapers & Banshees in Wave Serpents, with smaller elements of Banshees & Dragons in Falcons, to do most of my killing.  Any thoughts?

[Galron]

Banshees and Reapers are by far our best options now for marines and orks. I think even a 5 man squad of banshees will be invaluable in the coming meta. Save that no overwatch token though for the banshees. With these "new" tiny boards and how crowded terrain is, plus the hazardous rule when they blow up with fragile 1 wound models, I would avoid transports as much as possible with our expensive troopers. Just use your mobility. Prisms do an outstanding job in all the bat reps I have watched. Dragons in falcons do well. 

 

The only issue and why I dont use Reapers is range. On these new small boards(I have been playing since the mid-90s, 4x6 is still my standard and always will be) you will find a similar issue to the transports. You cant make use of your range against infantry since they can simply stand behind solid cover or not shoot at all outside 15" and be perfectly hidden. So you may have to adopt a more aggressive stance with your reaper squad. Which in this case, why you wouldnt use Fire Dragons instead is a decent question I guess.

Edited yesterday at 05:20 PM by Galron