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So I've got an old style unit of Striking Scorpions, and when I got that the Exarch only had one option for his wargear, the Scorpions Claw.

Soon I'm going to be (finally) investing in a new box of SS and was considering maybe kitting him out differently but not sure what with. I mean as far as I'm concerned all 3 options have advantages and disadvantages:

Scorpions Claw:
Good point - its a Powerfist and combined with the Scorpion chainsword means he has 5 S7 attacks on the charge that ignore armour.
Bad point - he always hits at I1, striking last and maybe not even striking at all.

Chainsabres:
Good point - the ability to have 6 I6 attacks on the charge that can re-roll both to hit and to wound rolls.
Bad point - hits at S3 and doesn't ignore armour, potentially taking the sting outta his tail (no pun intended).

Biting Blade:
Good point - the abaility to gain +1S for every successful hit made (and with WS5 will mean he'll prob always hit at S6) at I6.
Bad point - unreliable because of its special rule, generally generates less attacks being 2-handed and also doesn't ignore armour.

I mean I like the idea of all 3 options really; and with the sabres and biting blade being only 5 points extra to the claws 15 is more economic - must admit if the sabres still gave him the +1S (even if it cost 10 for the upgrade instead of 5) then I'd be set up but its the fact that it doesn't which makes me think twice really.

Would really love to hear others opinions on this to help me make a decision. Thanks!

Personally the Biting Blade is the best out of the three. Leave the armor-ignoring to the Banshees. However the Scorpion's Claw is a good choice too (just not as good as the BB imo), as it gives the squad armor-ignoring qualities. However it forces you to strike at I1 and, depending on the situation, might not bring enough strength to bear to tear down enemy armor.

They are all terrible options in my opinion, but I feel this way about most of Eldar's weapon options. Very few seem to compliment the functionality.

If I personally had to choose, I run banshees instead of SS, then I would go with either the biting blade or the chainsabre. I find the utilization of a Scorpions Claw on a unit like this defeats the point.

foofighter wrote:
Scorpions Claw:
Good point - its a Powerfist and combined with the Scorpion chainsword means he has 5 S7 attacks on the charge that ignore armour.
Bad point - he always hits at I1, striking last and maybe not even striking at all.

They don't combine, his power fist will be S6, 4 attacks on the charge.

Still the best option he can take though.

DarknessEternal wrote:

foofighter wrote:
Scorpions Claw:
Good point - its a Powerfist and combined with the Scorpion chainsword means he has 5 S7 attacks on the charge that ignore armour.
Bad point - he always hits at I1, striking last and maybe not even striking at all.

They don't combine, his power fist will be S6, 4 attacks on the charge.

Still the best option he can take though.

Well that depends on application. Anything with a 3+ save and wounding on 5+ I agree. Much else...all other options are better and even the BB and CS offer comparable reasons.

its entirely up to you macey^^ Your army. all i know is that against my mr tickles your SS will be hitting last

I'd go with the biting blade just because the model looks so cool. But as far as actual utility...

Well, think of it like this, if you were really worried about utility, you should just be using Fire Dragons instead.

So with that, I'd say just take whatever you think looks coolest.

Hmmm good point there and I won't be using the SS for tank hunting. And yeah IMO the BB does look the coolest.

Guess I'll just wait and see when I finally get the boxset

DarknessEternal wrote:They don't combine, his power fist will be S6, 4 attacks on the charge.

I was always pretty sure they did combine, using the claws ability to double his strength then adding the scorpion chainswords +1 strength attribute - as that is how you work it out from the rulebook. and the claw counts as a single cc weapon alongside the chainsword (+1A), with his base of 2, +1 for mandiblaster and 1 for charging to make 5

thats how I've always seen it anywho

but thanks everyone (my next will prob be FD but we'll see)