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My idea of a balanced Dire Avenger exarch power that is both fluffy and useful, if not exactly powerful.

Preparation
The Dire Avenger Exarch carefully studies the movements of his enemies and the rhythm and flow of the engagement, ordering his squad's shooting accordingly.  When a squad of Dire Avengers including an Exarch with this power engages (or is engaged by) an enemy unit in close combat, move all charging/consolidating models as normal. If the Dire Avengers did not fire their weapons in their last Shooting phase, then they may choose to fire them at the unit they are assaulting before the combat begins.  Work out this shooting as normal, except that line of sight to the target is not required. (Note that this means enemies in cover shot by Avengers outside it will receive cover saves). Casualties caused by the Avengers' shooting are counted towards combat resolution.  Once combat is joined, this power has no further effect.


In preliminary playtesting, I've found that taking away their charging attack when they use this power isn't really necessary, as DA's attacks never do much. With the DA's getting 18" range in the next codex by all accounts, I think this power would be an excellent way to give the Eldar player an incentive to use the Avengers in a variety of roles, not just as "walk backwards and shoot" models.

What do you think?