And in 40K, how do the armour statistics compare, and more importantly, is there a 'support fire' equivalent? As Dptdexys says, Banshees have to pick their target very carefully, usually some weaker flank formation with few supporting formations - is this also true in 40K, and especially in the 'fluff'?

Building on what others have just posted, alternative suggestions seem to be 20cm with infiltrate reflecting their superior speed, and "Assassin" (enemy infantry in B-B get -1 on their armour save - a variant on sniper) applied to the Banshee mask.

I always thought the best solution for Banshees was a special rule giving them MW but only against Infantry units...

I disagree, first strike captures that effect really well I believe.

Infantry dies while vehicles save and fight back.

Power weapons, which slaughter marines have difficulty in being represented.

But this is not really the issue. The issue at hand is that banshees need to be a valid alternative choice to scorpions, not necessarily that power weapons get represented. Making them faster will make no difference on that account. Infiltrator os a scorpion ability and so is extra armor.

If my proposition is not liked enough I would suggest adding first strike to the unit notes instead of the weapon, and give them CC2+. This way the exarch issue is solved, they are better defensively, and they are valid alternatives to scorpions.

I know this has been proposed before, but I really think its the easiest fluffy fix

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What about 2+ cc, first strike OR 4+cc, first strike, lance?(both attack options in 1) Or is that to much anti tank?

EUK banshees already have CC2+ and the exarch gets first strike on her extra attack too, I think they work pretty well overall... I had a unit come out of a vampire and batter my baneblade formation with ogryns at a tournament once, I didn't find them weak or underpowered then!

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well apart from all flavours of marines (loyalist and chaos) ogryns, necrons, crisis suits, ork nobs, and anything else with a half decent armour save...... stuff which banshees would take to bits in 40k

I'm perfectly happy with banshees the way they are (at least in the EUK lists) but the point I'm making is there is significant overlap with the scorpions who are generally more versatile, on average they will score more hits, and against weak infantry like IG, the few hits they suffer in return are largely negated by their superior armour, when you throw resilient infantry into the mix where the banshees aren't able to avoid return attacks (or when they can't base to base an entire formation) they really start to look inferior, and in the 40k rules (AFAIK, I haven't played for years) they are stronger than scorpions against heavy infantry, and first strike doesn't really capture that at all

I think they're fine with CC2+ and FS on the exarchs, still not quite as good as the others, but not a complete waste, they're a casualty of the epic rules IMO

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but that doesn't boost them against heavy infantry (terminators aside) and makes them effective against war engines and reinforced armoured vehicles..... that's the shining spears' job!!

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I am not a big fan of the EUK rule on exarchs. FD exarchs come out as no-brainers, which I find poses an internal balance issue.

Plus I believe if NetEA has not adopted it at this time, it probably won't. Therefore an autonomous solution to the Banshee exarch issue must be found.

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The NetEA Eldar list suffers from a Champion who hasn't done anything of note with the Eldar in years.
Nice guy, but he clearly doesn't have the time for list development anymore.

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remove FS from the banshee exarch's extra attack and they are largely nerfed as everyone will remove casualties from them first, thus rendering their extra attack worthless..... I do agree that fire dragon exarchs are a total no-brainer under EUK lists however

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Banshees are very niche. They don't work for me in transports as I use the scorpions extra attacks and armour here to lessen return fire or to soak up hit meant for vehicles.

That being said I was viciously savaged by Dave Thomas' Howling Banshee air drop earlier this year. The EUK ones are pretty decent but they're more situational and dependent on playstyle than a lot of aspects. That being said, so are swooping Hawks.

I tend to prefer Warp Spiders for air assaults because of their large threat range and higher armour after the initial drop, wheras others like Steve (Correct me if I'm wrong Steve) prefer a more mixed bag of FF aspects, similar to my mounted aspects because of the pure damage they can throw out.

Banshees however are favourable from an air drop perspective because the return hits will be low (First strike + CC against FF oriented troops) and there's less of a risk when rolling your own attacks. My 6 x Warp Spiders + Exach will be lucky to get 4 hits on an air drop, wheras Banshees can be expected to hit with most/if not all their attacks. They're actually a very clever unit to use now as Dave has proven in multiple tournaments.

Personally I think it's the niche and variety of playstyles that see them not used so often, even with the EUK changes but they have been proven as being effective.

Well First strike on the Banshee notes would autonomously solve the exarch issue, and make the unit a viable alternative.

The defensive use is also not much of a stretch, especially as it already exists for warp spiders.

Perhaps we would see 4 x Banshee + 4x Warp spider airdrop combo more often, which I think would be a good thing.

Again, I don't think the EUK rule on exarchs is good in terms of internal balance. In terms of external balacne, if it is deemed necessary, I would much rather Exarchs be improved or reruled across the board. And concerning the CC issue of exarchs perhaps just MW on their extra attack would be a fine addition.

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"War is not about who is right, but about who is left". - B. Russell

Again, where Exarchs are concerned it depends on playstyle.

FD exarchs are the immediately obvious choice since they have the more straightforwardly recognisable bonus. But you wouldn't take FD exarchs in a Warp spider or Swooping Hawk fm for example. Same with shining spears. Dark Reaper Exarchs are also quite a good addition because of their range and improved FF value (The two exarch stands have the same FF attacks as a full fm of Space Marine Devs!), as Rug has already pointed out. FD Exarchs and the fms that usually contain them are slow and with poor armour and so are restricted to either vampire drops, where they are slow and have poor armour in following turns or in wave serpents which makes them an expensive unit and most likely the BTS, so they do have their downsides and are not always the immediate choice, go-to exarch.

If FD exarchs didn't get EA MW, then you'd never see them in EUK lists, it'd be the ubiquitous DR Exarch that Tac-coms lists always have 2 of (Because they're clearly the best). If anything EUK Exarchs are the most varied and balanced of the two ways of doing things.

Internal balance wise this only leaves the DA and CC Aspect Exarchs as the ginger step children of the list, as all of the above mentioned exarchs get taken on a regular basis and are useful, in tournament lists. But this discrepancy is mainly down to the actual Game mechanics which: Favour FF over CC, the hit allocation process which assigns damage to units in CC first and the way the Inspiring characters interact with the engagement process and the bonus is added to the score after both sides have attacked and removed casualties. You wouldn't want to risk your inspiring bonus by putting it on CC troops, unless they had first strike and hit on a 2+ (And could be put at the back of the unit). Banshee Exarchs will be seen more often than

No amount of list adjustment is going to be able to square away this imbalance in the core rules.