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With the nerf to 'Skimmers Moving Fast' and the new weapon firing rules has made these two vehicles (more so falcons) a lot weaker. Normally my weapon of choice on a WS would be the Bright Lance, but the only weapon you can move and shoot with is the Eldar Missile Launcher thanks to it's plasma. Are people feeling the urge to capitalize on it's lower point cost and the ability to move/shoot those plasma rockets? I am particularly interested because I intend to go down a mechanized eldar path (banshees and dragons jumping out the back are just too fun?).

I haven't used Falcons much in 5th.

I'd rather go with Fire prisms.

When it comes to WS though my advice is keep them cheep - TL shuricans do it for me.

WS are more survivable when moving quick. This allows them to drop off their cargo's, usually closer to the enemy. After this they operate as a gunboat. The 24" range on the shuricans doesn't harm them in this role.

Troops Transport Wave Serpents should have Brightlances and spirit stones as they transport troops and don't really need to move fast till late game and can shoot from cover if available. Spirit stones are important so you don't get stunned on the way to an objective

Fire Dragon Wave Serpents should be kept cheap with just a Shuricannon, and spirit stones, because you will move 24 and then drop your fire dragons next turn and might lose the wave serpent in the process. Again spirit stones are important as you don't want to get stunned on the way to deliver fire dragons.

Falcons are only worth taking as a tough to kill scoring unit if you put 5 dire avengers inside. Take Holofields, spirit stones, shuricannon and load up the Falcon with 5 dire avengers. you now have a pretty resilent scoring unit between holo fields and hiding in cover or moving fast with a possible fortune the falcon is still pretty difficult to kill it just lost alot in termsof firepower. There is no point to transporting Harlequins in a falcon anymore with small unit being ineffecive For delivering Fire Dragons wave Serpents are cheaper and the energy field helps against meltas

Hell really bright lances are kinda a waste. Even with the energy field, your serpents will attract alot of attention if they are ferrying troops, meaning they will spend alot of the time shaken/stunned. This means that spirit stones are a must, and then you can boost away or tank shock on turns where you can't shoot.

Ive pretty much given up on falcons now. For the WS weapons...it depends. If you are running a lot of vehicles then a few BL will be a good idea, your opponents anti tank fire is going to be spread around a lot. If you are running one tank loaded with dragons, then stick some shuriken cannons on it because its going to draw fire every turn.

Its sometimes worthwhile to stick a BL onto a vehicle just so that it draws fire instead of something else. With multiple WS all with mixed weapons loads at the very least it gives you more options. And it never hurts to make things a bit complex, never know which bit of your force will confuse your opponent and cause them to take a bad firing round. It can be amazing which part of your army worries different opponents the most .


Sliggoth

My council and multi-flamer Stormies get WSs with just Shuricans and SS. My other "scoring" WSs get EML + Shurican +SS, so that they can multitask against light vehicles or infantry...if they are going after infantry, then they can fire everything while going 12".

As far as BLs go, I only use them on BL+EML WLs nowadays.

The thing is now though, there is really no benefit to moving up to 12" unless you actually have to get somewhere, since SMF is over 12. If you load the tanks down, you may as well just move them slow as gunboats, since there isn't much advantage to moving 12 over 6 to protect the tank.

whitedragon wrote:The thing is now though, there is really no benefit to moving up to 12" unless you actually have to get somewhere, since SMF is over 12. If you load the tanks down, you may as well just move them slow as gunboats, since there isn't much advantage to moving 12 over 6 to protect the tank.

Wrong... going 12" a turn and still firing everything is a HUGE advantage..for example:
1. Avoiding CC units
2. Gaining better fields of fire
3. Only being hit on 6s if you do get assaulted
4. Tank shock+Shooting everything+only being hit on 6s when assaulted
5. Limiting fileds of return fire on your tank
6. Your movment (or even the ability to move) forces your opponent to react...thus giving you a tactical advantage

The list can go on and on. Speed and mobility can be as (or more) effective than raw firepower, and the ability to be mobile and still keep all of your firepower has even greater advantages. In fact, it is one of the greatest (if not the single greatest) advantages that the Eldar have.