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Hi

I'm currently putting together a 1500/1850 Eldar with harlequin allies list and was wondering on the best transport to deliver a squad of fire dragons?

Choices available:

Wave serpent (115 with scatterlaser): standard, strong and reliable with the added serpent shield

Falcon (125): best firepower output

Starweaver (70): weak, but bloody quick delivery + open top so can fire from the comfort of the vehicle

Thanks for the input

Wave Serpent all the way. Fire Dragons are fragile cargo, and the Wave Serpent provides the best level of protection. Furthermore, it outclasses the Falcon in both cost, practical firepower, transport capacity, and the ability to be taken as a Dedicated Transport.

Depends on if you are taking 1 unit of fire dragons that need to be delivered no matter what or 2-3 units that only 1 needs to be delivered.

If taking multiples the starweaver is a great transport as you can keep the dragons inside and shoot all of them and you save almost half the cost of a unit of fire dragons. The small size and mirage launchers can also make the starweaver nearly as durable as a waveserpent under the right circumstances.

The waveserpent is expensive but you gain 1 turn of really good shooting from it and it will usually deliver the unit inside unless the opponent spends an inordinate amount of firepower to kill it. However the dragons will almost never survive the turn after they jump out to shoot so you are buying 1 turn of really good shooting as opposed to the starweaver which if used well will usually get a 2+ turns of shooting out of the unit if not focused on.

Honestly though IMO venoms are probably the best option. They have most of the starweaver benefits but also gain DS so can safely deliver the dragons without the opponent having much chance to stop them.

Xeones7 wrote:
harlequin allies

Bit OT, but how does that work? I was under the impression that since Harlequins have no HQ they can't be taken as allies.

Okapi wrote:

Xeones7 wrote:
harlequin allies

Bit OT, but how does that work? I was under the impression that since Harlequins have no HQ they can't be taken as allies.

Pretty sure you can take a formation from the harlequin codex. Failing that there is unbound


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 ansacs wrote:
Depends on if you are taking 1 unit of fire dragons that need to be delivered no matter what or 2-3 units that only 1 needs to be delivered.

If taking multiples the starweaver is a great transport as you can keep the dragons inside and shoot all of them and you save almost half the cost of a unit of fire dragons. The small size and mirage launchers can also make the starweaver nearly as durable as a waveserpent under the right circumstances.

The waveserpent is expensive but you gain 1 turn of really good shooting from it and it will usually deliver the unit inside unless the opponent spends an inordinate amount of firepower to kill it. However the dragons will almost never survive the turn after they jump out to shoot so you are buying 1 turn of really good shooting as opposed to the starweaver which if used well will usually get a 2+ turns of shooting out of the unit if not focused on.

Honestly though IMO venoms are probably the best option. They have most of the starweaver benefits but also gain DS so can safely deliver the dragons without the opponent having much chance to stop them.

I'm trying to get a gauge of how durable the starweaver will be... Anyone with any experience. Shooting out of one sounds like a great idea and with their added speed can bomb up the table. Love the idea of venoms deep striking with fire dragons... Didn't really want to splash dark eldar though!

Okapi wrote:

Xeones7 wrote:
harlequin allies

Bit OT, but how does that work? I was under the impression that since Harlequins have no HQ they can't be taken as allies.

You can't take the Allied Detachment FOC, but any Harlie formation, or the Masque detachment, is still fair game.

For my money FDs can't beat the DE Raider, especially since the DE can also give you scatterless deep strike, to make sure you get melta range. The length of the Raider can also let you deny Knights their shield.

I'd still opt for the Serpent, the most reliable transport in the game.

The StarWeaver will be as durable as a lone Land Speeder. If they cough at it, it dies.

You'll have a 4+, sure. But AV10 Open Topped w/2HP.

Raider gets a 3+ cover save and 3 hp.

If you only need 2 hp, the Venom gets a 4+ cover, 5++ invul.