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I'm going to be picking up Three Forge World Hornets, and was looking for some advice on the weapon choices.

I feel as though what my army is lacking in thus far, is a vehicle solution. The local meta is 1500 point games, so it keeps things small and quick. I'm looking mainly towards the Bright Lances, or the Hornet Pulse weapons. I like the look of the Pulse, 48" Heavy 3, Str 6, ap-3 2 damage. It provides a nice balance of strength, armour piercing and decent damage, and brings volume of fire, and costs 30 points each, and each Hornet can take two weapons. The Bright Lance being 36", Heavy 1, Str8 Ap-4 and D6 damage. Obviously it's better against vehicles than the Hornet Pulse, but less flexible for taking on other targets, specifically against TEQ's that the Pulse would shred through with multi-damage and volume of fire.

What do people think is an 'optimal' take all-comers sort of load out for Three Hornets? What would provide the most to my current list?

The Hornets will be added to a list of;
Aeldari Outrider Detatchment.
Farseer Skyrunner
9-man Jetbike squad with Shuricannons
10-man squad of Warp Spiders
Wave Serpent w/ Twin Starcannon
5 Wraithguard

If my basic mathhammer is anything to go on, hornet lasers all the way, they're almost as good as lances against tanks and better against everything else.

Hornet Pulse laser VS T8 3+ sv = 3 (shots) * 0.66 (3+ to hit) * 0.33 (5+ to wound) * 0.84 ( 3+ save - 3 = 6+ save) * 2 (damage) = 1.097712 average damage per turn per laser
Brightlance Vs T8 3+sv = 1 (shot) * 0.66 (3+ to hit) * 0.5 (4+ to wound) * 1 ( 3+ save - 4 = unpassable 7+ save) * 3.5 ( average of damage) = 1.155 average damage per turn per lance

Also more shots at less strength benefits more from Guide/Doom rerolls.

Also there is the dbl Shuriken Cannon version, cheap, extremely fast and can have some neat upgrades to give it more buffs.

This is how i would play them honestly.

I'm curious what people think of Hornets now, post-Codex. I adore how they look, and am creating a Corsairs-themed Ynarri army, so I'm tempted to buy one (or more). But I'm winsering whether they're worth the expense, both in terms of money and points. Fortunately they're one of the few FW Eldar vehicles not nerfed by CA.

The core of my army's offense is three fire prisms and a unit of 9 shining spears supported by a farseer skyrunner and a warlock skyrunner.

The hornet pulse laser has amazing dakka against TEQs and light vehicles, but at 150 points with a CTM it's fairly pricy. Point for point I'm probably better off with more dark reapers currently but that's both cheesy and soon to be nerfed.

Thoughts?

You want anti armor. Webway strike some wraith guard in with wraith cannons. Or use a hemlock wraithfighter. Auto hits. Strength 12 Tons or damage. Hornets are just nowhere near as heavy hitting as that. Autohit is hard to beat. Or some fire prisms with pulsed laser discharge. Double shooting with lance. Wrecking power. And then you can change your firing mode. Why pick hornets

Hornets are to costly, just use Vypers. You'll never advance Hornets to get the extra -1 to hit so why bother? I own a couple and with the changes to their weapon they are pointless now.

Edit: Yes i know Vypers are T5 compare to T6, but the Hornet is also (with Hornet Laser) 145pts where a Vyper is 80pts, you can have 2 Vypers for 15pts more

1 Hornet: H6 S6 -3 2D
2 Vypers: H2 S8 -4 D6, A6, S6 -Rend 1D


Vs T5 3+

1 Hornet, Didnt move = 4.44
1 Hornet, "Did" move = 3.33

2 Vypers, Didnt Move (BL= 3.11) (SC=1.33) total= 4.44
2 Vypers, "Did" Move (BL= 2.33) (SC=1.33) total= 3.66

As you can see the 2 Vypers are just as good, but against T7 they are always better and against T4, the Hornet IMO is best against T5, but even then the equal points in Vypers is about the same if not worst. b.c on the move the SC's do more damage, and now you have 2 units so you can shoot 2 different things if need too (BL's at one thing, SC's at another).

The Hornet Laser NEEDS to be changed. I would do 30pts and make it "Pick" H2 S8 -3, 3D or A3 S6 -3 2D. If it isnt 2 modes then it needs to be Assault 3 S6 -3 2D and 25pts.

Personally i like the 2 modes.

 Thadin wrote:
I'm going to be picking up Three Forge World Hornets, and was looking for some advice on the weapon choices.
What do people think is an 'optimal' take all-comers sort of load out for Three Hornets? What would provide the most to my current list?

The Hornets will be added to a list of;
Aeldari Outrider Detatchment.
Farseer Skyrunner
9-man Jetbike squad with Shuricannons
10-man squad of Warp Spiders
Wave Serpent w/ Twin Starcannon
5 Wraithguard

That's quite an interesting mix there. I don't think I would run the bikes as a minimum squads. That would be three squads allowing you maximum flexibility to cover the board and provide solid infantry to light vehicle fire. The big squad provides a juicy target for your opponent to shoot as opposed to three min squads where fire could be wasted. After that, you do need some form of anti armor, which Hornet with Hornet Pulse Lasers (HPL) could provide with a little help from Doom. Bright lances are wasted on this platform as you can get two on a War Walker for 90 points (giving up 2" of movement, 2 wounds and a 3+ in trade for a 4+/5++, Scout, a better WS and a savings of 35 points). You could always go for Wasps with Bright Lances if you really want BLs. However with respect to Hornets, build them with HPLs as they can always be proxied as BLs if you want to try that out.

As someone with three hornets, which I built last edition, I can say three is too many for 8th at their current point cost, especially when you are playing 1500 points. With bright lances, three will run you 375 points or 435 points for HPLs. Two seems to be the sweet spot for me even in 2k games.