Topic: Final Decision before purchase

[Pyro]

There are two possible army lists that I will purchase for my new Biel Tan Army. These two lists should each be about a 1000 points and should cost about the same amount of money. I need some opinions over which one is the better bet to buy, and which one is better for expanding upon. Oh and I can already see these two lists going into a hawks vs. spiders argument...

List one:
Farseer w/ W.Blade, SP, Fortune
9 Banshees, 1 Exarch w/ Executioner, acrobatics
Wave Serpent w/ TL Bright Lances
8 Scorpions, 1 Exarch w/ Scorpions claw
Wave Serpent w/ TL Bright Lances
2 vypers w/ Starcannons (note: I would have to buy the starcannons separately. Starcannon bits are 5 bucks a pop, which is another GW tyranny)
4 Swooping Hawks, 1 Exarch w/ WoS, Sustained Assault

List two:
Farseer w/ W.Blade, SP, Fortune
9 Banshees, 1 Exarch w/ Executioner, acrobatics
Wave Serpent w/ TL Bright Lances
8 Scorpions, 1 Exarch w/ Scorpions claw
Wave Serpent w/ TL Bright Lances
9 Warp Spiders, 1 Exarch, dual spinners, powerblades, withdraw

So... discuss...

[tokonyo]

I would go for a combination. You could take out the vypers from the first list and use spiders in their place. Just don't get kit out the exarch, just get him withdraw and an extra death spinner. Your whole army is mounted, so it doesn't need to shoot down transports or far back indirect fire tanks. (by the time the vypers get down there and shoot, the serpents have reached the army)

This is especially nice, because I find that spiders and hawks complement each other nicely. The spiders harass until the opponent sends out a squad to deal with them. At that point, the spiders shoot, and the hawk exarch charges in to clean up. If the hawks don't break them, the spiders can charge in and help.

[Pyro]

I like the idea, but what about the spiders getting shot up on their way to combat? I'm worried because they are the only unmounted thing until the hawks drop.
edit: erm... the list is also 10 points over, heres the full bit

HQ:
Farseer w/ fortune, WBlade, SP
- 76

Troops:
8 Scorpions, 1 Exarch w/ Scorpions Claw in Serpent w/ TL Bright Lances, Spirit Stone
- 306
9 Banshees, 1 Exarch w/ Acrobatic, Executioner in Serpent w/ TL Bright Lances, Spirit Stone
- 324
4 Spiders, 1 Exarch w/ Dual spinners, Withdraw
- 147

Fast Attack:
4 Hawks, 1 Exarch w/ WoS, Sustained Assault
- 157

Total 1010 pts.

Eh... take out a spirit stone or something? I dont really know how many people a 5 man Spider squad can take, seems weak to me.

...I think i'll probably go with this. I just checked and its the cheapest option monetarily, which is good.

[tokonyo]

The spiders could get hit by indirect fire, such as a basilisk, but everything in the eldar army is vulnerable to that. The nice thing about spiders is that it's easy to keep them in cover, and their 3+ save gives good protection otherwise. Just don't be too aggressive with them. Take a couple pot shots at heavy weapons teams or vehicles, and back off. Strength 6 weaponry gives a lot of versatility, so you can shoot dreadnoughts, whirlwinds, and tough troops.

I just remembered, a good idea is to proxy your army first, and then test it out. Most of my armies have proxies in them, because I like to switch my army style quite a bit. If you find that the spiders are getting shot up, then pick the other list. If the hawk exarch isn't dealing what he's supposed to, don't get him.