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So I have been planning out a 1k list for a short time and have come up with three options
Option 1:
HQ
Maugan Ra - 195

Elite
Fire dragons - 124
- 7 models
- 1 upgraded to exarch
- in a wave serpent

Troops
2 Dire Avenger Groups - 274
- 10 models each
- exarchs in each
-- equipped wuth dual shuriken launchers
- One unit in a Wave serpent

Dedicated Transports
Wave Serpents - 220
- TL shuriken Cannnons
- Single Shuriken cannon upgrade

Heavy Support
Dark Reapers - 185
- 5 models
- exarch with crackshot

Total points: 998

Option Two
HQ
Maugan Ra - 195

Elites
Fire Dragons - 163
-8 models
--exarch with firepike and tank hunters
--in a wave serpent

Troops
Dire Avengers - 152
-10 models
--exarch with 2 shurken catapults and bladestorm
--in a wave serpent

Dire Avengers - 120
- 10 models

Heavy Support
Night Spinner - 150
- Holo Fields

Dedicated Transport
Wave Serpent x2 - 220 combined
- TL starcannons
--Single Starcannon upgrade

points: 984

Option 3
HQ
Farseer - 120
- Doom and Guide
--Spirit Stones

Elite
Fire Dragons - 147
-7 models
--Exarch w/ tank hunters and fire pike
-- in a wave serpent
Troops
Guardians - 166 + 40
-17 models
-- Bright Lance
---Warlock with conceal

Dire Avengers - 152
- 10 models
--exarch w/ 2 shuriken catapults and bladestorm
--in a wave serpent

Heavy Support
Night Spinner - 150
- Holofields

Dedicated Transports
Wave Serpents - 220 combined
-TL Shuriken Cannons
--Single Shuriken Cannon Upgrade

points: 995

Any help is appreciated.

Well how competitive do you aim to be? Judging from your lists that you've posted you really like Maugen Ra. Remember that hes almost certainly over costed for what he brings to the table, and his lack of his invulnerable save is troubling, however he is undeniably a huge bad ass, and you can definitely make your opponents fear him in casual games.

Maugen Ra, for his part works really well in a squad of Harlequins w/ a Shadow Seer and a Death Jester. Ra and the Jester can walk with the harlies and shoot, the Shadow Seer protects him from ranged punishment, and the Harlies help him beat the crap out of things with their rending attacks in close combat. They compliment his abilities far better than Dark Reapers do... which is interesting!!

Dark Reapers aren't very good but you definitely want to invest in one of the Exarch's special weapons. the Popular combos are Fast Shot + Missile launcher for anti tank support, or Crack Shot + Tempest Launcher for trolling marines who think cover can save them. Either way he is the only member of a Dark Reaper Squad who can remotely come close to earning back his points against a competent opponent!

You are being a bit silly with your Fire Dragons. I know that people like to joke and say crap like "there is no such thing as overkill!! Derp!!" But thats not true... there totally is such thing as overkill in 40K and Fire Dragons practically personify it.

Seriously Fire Dragons are so good because you have the ability to get 5 ballistic skill 4 melta guns for 80 points. Thats such an awesome bargain that it makes Imperial Guard's mouth water. When you start adding 3 additional bodies and an Exarch with a bunch of bling you really aren't getting any better at killing tanks. Seriously, the difference between the odds of 5 fire dragons killing a land raider is only slightly lower than your tricked out squads odds... and your squad costs nearly double the points. See the problem. You'll always be better served with 2 dragon squads than a single super upgraded one.

By 1000 points I'd start considering upgrading your serpent's weapons to Scatter Lasers. the extra range is worth the points premium and being able to reach out and touch units like longfangs the turn you emerge from reserves is a great ability.

As for Heavy Support I think you'll find that the Night Spinner is a fine tank.

Anyway let us know what units you have, what units you'd really like to use, and how competitive you want this army, and we here on dakkadakka can tune our advise accordingly.

I have a squad of dire avengers, a maugan ra (I got for 6 bucks shipped from ebay) a pack of 3 warlocks (cheap off of ebay) and a wave serpent. So for the most part I am open to suggestion.

I am willing to drop maugan for the 1k,list, but when I push it to 2k eventually, I might do as you suggest and run him with a troupe.

Also, I didnt see the strength on shuriken cannons correctly when I glanced and thought they were s8. Boy was I wrong.

So dropping two fire dragons and the exarch I get about 67 points back. take 30 off for both serpents getting scatter lasers, and I got a spare 37 points.

Another question I have is with guardians is taking a BL worth it since they have bs 3? Or should I stick a EML on them?

Also, If I park my guardian squad in front of the night spinner, would it be considered in cover, since it can be debated that they are not covering 50% of the hull?

I am kind of leaning towards option three, as it seems a little bit more competitive and likely to win. I am not overly concerned about winning 100% of the time and making it very frustrating to play against (I have my 500 point ork list for that).

So with option three, should I drop the extra bling on fire dragons, upgrade wave serpents to scatter lasers and finish filling out my guardian squad?

Troops do not give vehicles cover saves. Pretty much only other vehicles or terrain (walls, buildings, ect) give a vehicle cover saves for the line of questioning your asking (getting cover and shooting). Some lists can buy upgrades that allow them to have cover saves by parking in a woods or the like that would normally not give a cover save. As far as I am aware, Eldar do not have that option.

For long range fire support, I like tossing a BL on a Wraithloard since it is a BS 4. For Guardians I like Scatter Lasers, as the more shots that BS 3 has, the better chance some shots will hit. But in my list I run 3 Wraithlords and the Avatar as the core of my foot-dar list.

So with option three, should I drop the extra bling on fire dragons, upgrade wave serpents to scatter lasers and finish filling out my guardian squad?

Yes.

Whelp actually

Guardians really aren't that good. Its a combination of being ballistic skill 3, armed with 12 inch assault (of all things) weapons, being awful in close combat, and clad in paper machie.

Storm guardians are a Bit Better, as they can get 3 flame templates if they take 2 flamers and a warlock with destructor, which they can use to drop and pop and burn things real good. They also need a Wave Serpent otherwise they'll get shredded trying to walk into flamer range.

So yea, I'd recomend either picking up some storm guardians in a wave serpent if you like the fluff behind guardians, or Guardian Jetbikes if you don't want to buy another tank.

It seems like you are more interested in fielding a mechanized list, so those choices will serve you better than guardian defenders.

BlkTom wrote:Troops do not give vehicles cover saves.

as per page 62 of the BRB 50% needs to be covered by "[...] intervening terrain or models[...]"
My main question was due to the night spinner being on a flying base and it being hard to fully tell if it is 50% covered or if I would have to get another flying base unit to obscure it. As it stands the Night spinner is a barrage unit, so los for it is not that big of a deal.

BlkTom wrote:For Guardians I like Scatter Lasers, as the more shots that BS 3 has, the better chance some shots will hit.

Only thing about this is I will already have two wave serpents with scatter lasers and not as many AT options as I would like.

akaean wrote:It seems like you are more interested in fielding a mechanized list, so those choices will serve you better than guardian defenders.

I am leaning towards another wave serpent with storm guardians w/ warlock and flamers.

Good suggestions so far, definitely getting somewhere with this list.

as per page 62 of the BRB 50% needs to be covered by "[...] intervening terrain or models[...]"
My main question was due to the night spinner being on a flying base and it being hard to fully tell if it is 50% covered or if I would have to get another flying base unit to obscure it. As it stands the Night spinner is a barrage unit, so los for it is not that big of a deal.

Humm... I swear I read that somewhere, but till then I will have to agree with what you found. I even looked up 'Model' and they list troops as models, as well as Wraithlords (MCs apparently).

But yeah, if it is on the flying base, it will be hard for ground figs to give it cover. Have to eyeball it or get a laser pointer.

I don't think I will need to worry about providing a cover save and bubble wrapping it too much seeing as how it is a fast skimmer with barrage. And I think most eldar tanks only get about 30% covered max from ground troops due to being on flying bases.