Quote: (zombocom @ Dec. 07 2009, 01:06 )
While ignore cover sounds nice in balance theory, it unfortunately makes them excellent guard killers rather than their actual role as marine killers.
I think this is the biggest stumbling block here, so I want to make a radical suggestion.
This is a 40K mechanic that Epic cannot duplicate.The Epic mechanics simply don't allow it. No combination of current special rules achieves it. There is no such thing as "heavy infantry hunters" and there never will be without massive rewrites to the mechanics. Using this as a criteria is doomed to fail.
Just dump it.
Further I would argue it is the 40K mechanics that create the heavy emphasis on this "heavy infantry killer" role for Banshees. It does fit with the background flavor in some ways but it is definitely not the end-all-be-all of the Banshee philosophy and we have no obligation to stick to it exclusively.
Instead, we need to find a role for the Banshees that distinguishes them from Scorpions, that fits the background and that can be simulated with Epic rules.
They are fast, even faster than most aspect warriors, and acrobatically nimble. They paralyze their targets psychically to allow them more freedom to strike or move as they please. The Exarch powers, which are supposedly the highest perfection of the shrine's philosophy, are effectively the 40K equivalent of Epic's Infiltrate rule.
I know it's been debated extensively in the past, but I think Infiltrate would be a good power for them. It gives them a precision strike ability that is in keeping with their background. They can move past enemy units in assault to hit high-value units in CC. With their high to-hit numbers and doubling up on base contact they could almost guarantee that the high-value targets will have hits allocated to it.
It would also distinguishes them from Scorpions. Banshees become a surgical strike force instead of just "lots of hits." They have considerably more range coming out of a Wraithgate and are a more mobile CC threat when on foot, meaning they benefit proportionally less than Scorpions from being mechanized. That's a different deployment emphasis.
Maybe that will work to give them a niche in play, maybe not, but even with the idea being around as long as it has I don't think it's been tested enough to tell beyond thoeryhammer.
