So the Eldar lists seem to have aspect warriors in formations of 6-8 stands but you generally only get 2 stands per warhost now. Seems like the aspect warriors do not match up very well as they all have different abilities, speeds, weapon targets.

What aspects work well together in formations of 2 different aspects.

Dire Avengers for some good fire fight with Striking Scorpions for close combat. Throw in Fire Dragons for MW shots to taste.

note: these comments are based on the epic uk version of the eldar list.

Yeps. The striking scorpions being there because of their 4+ save more than anything else, the 2 cc attacks being a bonus. I also favour 2 scorpions, 4 avengers and then 2 fire dragons as exarchs because they will get their exarch attacks on a 4+ to hit and it's an MW. In that regard, you can swap the scorpions for spears which have same save but will save you on wave serpents. If you're deploying off a vampire then the scorpions are a better choice.

As for everything else, banshees are crap, dark reapers are not worth the bother, spears are okay but mostly in pure formations (great against imperial guard or any army that has a lot of reinforced armour saves), warp spiders are probably the best 'pure' aspect fm (scary out of a wraithgate or a storm serpent!*), and swooping hawks are also very good against armies w/ lower SR to create excellent supporting fire opportunities and/or crossfires. An option which is seldom taken is having a mix of aspects in wave serpents along w/ spears riding alongside (same speed) and using the serpents as cover. Cheaper than putting everything in wave serpents and the spears are skimmers too anyway to force firefights if needed.

* - spiders out of wraithgates are AWESOME. They create a kill area of 45 cm around the gate and if the gate can move (in a serpent) even better. Anything within 45 cm can be assaulted as the spiders are infiltrators and so can go around any ZoCs and screens. Also they will be assaulted by an fm that will bring a LOT of combat resolution straightaway:
+ 2 for 2 inspiring exarchs
+ 1 for outnumber (usually most fms are less than 8 strong)
+ 1 for no bms while opponent has them (opponent can't put bms on an fm off the board)
+ 1 for less bms than opponent (see above)
That's +5 from the start. Then you have 10 attacks at 4+ to hit which isn't shabby at all, a 4+ save on anything that comes back. Last game w/ them I broke an fm that had a hierophant and a hierodule in it. Come in w/ 5 resolution as above (total DC for them was 7), clip the 'nids so they're hitting on 5+ whatever they throw back, nobody damaged anybody but they still broke. Sure, they're fearless, but it was hard to rally them w/out sending them away from the action where they mattered the most and when they rallied they were already on their way w/ a lot of BMs to be broken again.

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I like 6 Dire Avengers with 2 Dark Reaper Exarchs. Killer FF ability. 4 Avengers, 2 Scorpions, and 2 Fire Dragon Exarchs ia also popular for it's flexibility.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Is the epic uk fire dragon MW a unit ability rather than a weapon one then?

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No, it specifically states that the EA is an MW for the FD (love the acronyms)

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INteresting. That's not the case in Swordwind or the NetEA lists.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Yeah, if using the NetEA list I'd use the Dark Reaper exarch for its 3+ FF shot. All other comments the same though.

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Interesting, I hadn't noticed. The Banshee EA is first strike too which at least makes it not wasted. I notice Dire Avenger exarchs are still useless though.

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Well, useless and useless. A DA stand with an Exarch (1.5 hits) is still more dangerous than a Reaper stand with an exarch (1.33 hits), and the shots aren't *that* useful if they're mounted in Wave Serpents (as the Serpents bring limited shooting capacity). I'd still pick the Reapers if I had free choice, but if you, say, have the model for a DA stand and not a DR stand, it's not too bad - the fm is a hair better in assaults and has slightly weaker shooting.

edit: Oh right, DA has cc weapon. Never mind then, still useless.

We've always played that the Fire Dragon Exarch EA was MW.

1) I'd find it strange if the firepike wasn't MW, and
2) I don't really see anything in the rules that would remove MW from the Exarch EA - The Fire Dragon MW ability is on the base attack, not on an EA. It should follow that the EAs granted by the Exarch had the same attributes as the base attack.

1) 5 fusion guns is 1 MW attack. 1 firepike isn't as powerful as 5 fusion guns.
2) The rule is that the exarch weapon is a totally different weapon from the fusion guns, so they don't share special abilities. Warp Spiders have first strike in their notes, so the exarch attacks gets FS. Fire Dragons have MW on the weapon, so the exarch attack doesn't get MW.

Yep there's an FAQ on the matter. Basically, unit abilities convey the ability on all weapons in the unit and weapon abilities affect just that weapon:



Edited to add example: warp spiders have "first strike" in their notes, whereas banshees have it on the banshee mask weapon entry. Thus in Swordwind, banshee exarch extra attacks don't get first strike but warp spiders' do.

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Huh. Well, you learn something every day We'll just have to play that way from now on...

Which for the life of me still doesn't make a lick of sense.