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So I can either have 5 shining spears totally upgraded or 10 scorpions w/scorpions claw in a serpent with star engines and TL-shuriken cannons.
which do you all think is a better choice or do you think banshee are better than both?

The last I read, Scorpions inched out over Banshees against MEQs and slaughtered them in contests against GEQs.

I advocate Shining Spears. They can hunt tanks and wipe out injured units. They need a shooty army to make targets for them though.

So, it depends on your list. If you have a more balanced list, grab the Scorpions, which don't need to be supported. If your army is overboard on shooting you can rein it back in with some Shining Spears.

Take neither, HtH units that cannot assault out of their transports, and are not fleet (scorpions) and flying space marines that cost twice as much and can't be taken in useful squad sizes (spears) are both subpar units.

Well, it depends on the rest of your army.
If your Shining Spears can be accompanied by an Autarch on jetbike with laserlance
and possibly be fortuned by a Jetseer, then this unit is quite a threat for the enemy.
On the other hand, outflanking Scorpions led by an Exarch with claw can wreck havoc behind enemy lines.

It depends on your enemy just as much as the rest of your list. Just prepare for what you'd expect to fight.
Banshees for MEQ
Scorpions for stuff like Orks, but there are more effective units
Spears for MC


All of them should be used as a support unit and with a unit supporting them.

As has been mentioned, the problem with shining spears is that five of them is an expensive, fragile clump without much staying power. They might work if the rest of your army can support them. The scorpions can stand alone without any support, but there are plenty of armies that wont fear them at all.

Make certain that there isnt another type of unit that would help your army more than either cc unit. In 5th edition and the current metagame I find the eldar do better as a firepower type army rather than cc most of the time.

Now, if you have a seer council in your list then by all means go with the shining spears. But take a hard look at everything else if you dont.



Sliggoth

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

@Sliggoth: if you have a seer council in your list, you don't have enough points left over to be wasting them on crap units.

Neither.

Take Harlies, every time.

Darkhound how do Scorps beat Banshees at meqs on the charge a banshee will kill 0.5 meqs and a scorpion will kill 0.33 meqs. In all sequencial turns the banshees will kill 0.33 and the scorps will kill 0.25 in all sequencial turns for squads of ten that is big difference

Autarch on a jet-bike with mandiblaster and laser lance ... better then a unit of Shining Spears.

Tri wrote:Autarch on a jet-bike with mandiblaster and laser lance ... better then a unit of Shining Spears.

^ That.

Throw in a Fusion gun and suddenly he can multi-task, esp. when he's used aggressively.

As to harlies: I'm meh with Eldar in combat outside a Decked out seer council and certain IC's in general.

A full unit of Shining Spears accompanied by an Autarch on jetbike with laserlance is a serious threat.
This particularly holds if the unit can be fortuned.

I think that shooty armies are better since in cc your opponent gets to hit back at your fragile eldar wheras at range you just pumel his units with high powed weaponry and all he gets is a save. In CC there is the disadvantage that if you roll bad dice you can come out worse, at range bad dice just means missing.

wuestenfux wrote:A full unit of Shining Spears accompanied by an Autarch on jetbike with laserlance is a serious threat.
This particularly holds if the unit can be fortuned.

its good but to be honest taking a guardian jetbike squad with a warlock is a cheaper and more useful unit, to add the Autarch to.

My shining spears must all have signs on their backs saying "shoot me", they never live very long. The only time that I can really see using them is in a very high point game where they are useful at times, in normal points games they are just too big of an investment of points to count on.

Shining spears or scorpions only do well against certain armies, there are many times they just are out of place.



Sliggoth

And a jetbike seer council is not really that much more expensive model-per-model and is more effective.