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Revised list after a few field tests - trying to balance things out a little more...

HQ Selections - 180 points ( 180 )

HQ01.. Autarch with Power Weapon and Fusion Gun ( rides with TR01 )
HQ02.. Autarch with Power Weapon and Fusion Gun ( rides with TR02 )

Using the new rules for 5th Edition, this entire army sets up in Reserves. Thanks to the two Autarchs I can have my units arrive on the second turn on a 2+ via Master Strategist. Power Weapons are in there because I had the points and nice to have a little bit of "ignore armor" in the list - but of course with typically wounding on 5s I probably won't see much positive results. The Fusion Guns on the other hand are nice to have when having to deal with the above average number of high armor tanks ( ie multiple Land Raider lists ). Even more useful if he leaves the squad first ( solo disembark ) and then the unit disembarks - there's a chance the Autarch can pop-open a transport type vehicle, and then the Dire Avengers can Bladestorm the occupants.

Troop Selections - 819 points ( 999 )

TR01.. 8x Dire Avengers ( includes Exarch - Dual Cats and Bladestorm )
Wave Serpent with Lance - Catapult and Spirit Stones

TR02.. 8x Dire Avengers ( includes Exarch - Dual Cats and Bladestorm )
Wave Serpent with Lance - Catapult and Spirit Stones

TR03.. 8x Dire Avengers ( includes Exarch - Dual Cats and Bladestorm )
Wave Serpent with Lance - Catapult and Spirit Stones

Pretty much basics with these ( scoring ) units although I only bring them on to the table if I really have to, or if its a very advantageous situation. Thanks to the new rules for 5th Edition scoring units can still claim ( or contest ) objectives while they are in their transports. When they do hit the field a single unit enhanced by Bladestorm can fire 26 shots: mathhammer scoring 18 hits and 9 wounds ( and because they are assault weapons the unit can then charge ). The Wave Serpents of course provide some of the anti-tank in the list ( love Lance weapons ) while protecting the passengers ( gotta love Energy Fields ) - and because they're tanks it means they can Tank Shock. Helpful in late stages of the game when you move an enemy unit off an objective, and suddenly you control it with passengers inside or at least contest it if the payload is empty.

Elite Selections - 128 points ( 1127 )

EL01.. 6x Fire Dragons ( includes Exarch - Fusion Gun and Crack Shot + Tank Hunters ) rides inside Falcon

I think very little has to be said about this unit. Minus the Monolith ( although the AP1 helps under the new ruleset ), if its a tank and the Fire Dragons shoot it, most likely the tank will be gone. And by riding in the Falcon it will be much easier to get them in Melta range of their intended target. Downside to them though is that they are a small and fragile unit. If they are fortunate enough to put a sting in the opposition and make it back inside the Falcon - great ! Otherwise they're a one hit wonder ( and worth a kill point for your opponent ).

Heavy Support Selections - 505 points ( 1632 )

HV01.. Falcon ( Pulse Laser - Starcannon - Catapult ) Holofields and Stones

Okay... Falcon... transport... firepower... tank... yada yada yada...

HV02.. Fire Prism ( Prism Cannon - Catapult ) Holofields and Stones

HV03.. Fire Prism ( Prism Cannon - Catapult ) Holofields and Stones

Fire Prisms got a bump in 5th Edition because of the new Blast weapon rules. And when combined with their bankshot ability they've become more accurate ( twin link reroll scatter ). Versus horde type armies they can simply both fire their "dispersed" cannon into a crowd. Or in the case of epic failure between the Bright Lances and Fusion Guns they can join together and hopefully drop whatever high AV model needs to be eliminated. The downside to the Fire Prisms though is that if one of them suffers MINIMUM damage ( Crew - Shaken ) then the ability to combine beams is negated for a turn.

Fast Attack Selections - 210 points ( 1842 )

FA01.. Vyper ( Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon )

FA02.. Vyper ( Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon )

FA03.. Vyper ( Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon )

Three separate units that look weak on paper but can actually wreak havoc on the battlefield. For starters they can dish out 21 high powered shots ( not the greatest BS though ) which can have damaging results on weaker armored vehicles, or might cause enough wounds to trigger allocation on a whole unit ( with some luck you'll take out a character... special weapon... etc ). Another thing in their favor is their speed - which means if they've lasted towards the end you can race them to objective points that need to be contested. Now of course, if its a Kill Point mission then the opponent could walk away easily with 3 KPs because of the Vyper's fragile profile ( but that might not be a bad thing - because each unit targeting a Vyper is one less that is targeting one of the more important units in the list ).

2 things...

These lists hurt the eyes the way they're organised...go look at other peoples armylists to see a good way to post them for comments.

and you cannot list point values here, be ready for a lock.

and 3rd...

after looking as close as I could (and getting a headache in doing so) be ready to defend the fact that there are no farseers and you're wasting 2HQ slots in each list on useless Autarchs.

Try again with Farseers

[edit]

....also your dire avenger squads are too small to be effective. You're also dumping HUGE points on Waveserpent brightlances. Those points are better spent elsewhere.

Deadshane1 wrote:"...after looking as close as I could (and getting a headache in doing so) be ready to defend the fact that there are no farseers and you're wasting 2HQ slots in each list on useless Autarchs..."

No Farseers because most of their powers require them to be on the table, and the better ones are activated at the start of the turn. The entire list begins in Reserves and the two ( useless ) Autarchs are there to improve the chances ( 2+ reserve roll ) of the entire army arriving together rather than piecemeal...

toxic_wisdom wrote:

Deadshane1 wrote:"...after looking as close as I could (and getting a headache in doing so) be ready to defend the fact that there are no farseers and you're wasting 2HQ slots in each list on useless Autarchs..."

No Farseers because most of their powers require them to be on the table, and the better ones are activated at the start of the turn. The entire list begins in Reserves and the two ( useless ) Autarchs are there to improve the chances ( 2+ reserve roll ) of the entire army arriving together rather than piecemeal...

If you think they're worth the point expediture for a simple "+" on the reserves roll then knock yourself out. You REALLY need a 2+ on turn 2? Or could you go with 1 and a farseer? (more useful for the whole game) I honestly dont see the Autarchs as being that useful, you'd be better off taking 2 Phoenix Lords for each of your aspects. While they're more expensive, at least they contribute much more while on the tabletop.

Also, waveserpents are not only spending big points on lances but ALSO shuricannons? Whats the point in that? Pick a target.

Starcannons are horrible in this edition. Your falcons would be better off with scatterlaser/pulse/shuricannon.

I've found Doomseer+Autarch to be a good mix for mech, because Doom is an incredible boost for your Avengers. Also remember that you get diminishing returns on the reserve bonus with the second Autarch.

I think Lances are a necessary evil to put long range pressure on enemy armour, but you shouldn't put any more points into already-expensive transports. Shuricannons aren't needed.

Also along the lines of what Deadshane wrote, more Avengers is a must. As a mech list, you're already going to be outnumbered against most armies - against a strong horde list like Orks you're going to drown in greenskins.

All told, I would use List 3...with some tweaks.

@ List 3 - best one

The serpents should be fitted out as follows, 2x TL shuriken cannons, 1x TL-brightlance, 1x TL-EML + underslung shuriken cannon. The current loadsouts do possibly act as backups but the points are a waste when you need to buy more dire avengers. With that brightlance & possible krak-eml, including the faclon & 2xfire prisms, more than enough anti-tank - not to mention the fire dragons in a fast transport.

The autarch with the dire-avengers - Either drop the power sword OR give the exarch a powersword & shimmershield with the defend exarch power (keeping blade storm but dropping the dual cats) Better yet, drop the standard autarch and replace with yriel. That dire-avenger sqaud is now very fearsome in close combat. Yeah - get yriel, hes still a master stragegist so acts exactly like a normal autarch.

The autarch with the dragons, drop the p.sword. It wont do you really any good.

Drop the star cannon (fireprims do a better job at laying down anti-infantry ap2 firepower) and replace it with an EML. 3 str 8 shots while stationary or 2 str 8's + a str 4 blast (same principle with the shuriken cannons & the TL-eml's on the one serpent)

Otherwise, looks good

3 is probably the best of the options present, but it still could use some work.

Made some changes to the original post. Playtesting one list now with more balance to it.
Thanx for the replies so far... ( now if I can just figure out why the "HQ" is not the color turquoise )... Aah - glossary term !