I really like Night Scythes because:
- Unless my opponent has a list that's balanced to take on flyers, I generally don't have trouble with taking out things with skyfire. Given that my city's big on university students (we're all poor), it means people don't generally have much experience with fliers, and anti-air weapons
- If my opponent's list doesn't have anything with skyfire (or if I've destroyed it all, which usually happens as they're target priorities for me), then he's hitting me on a 6+ which, statistically, is the same as a 2+ invulnerable save (done 'before the fact', rather than 'after the fact')
- I can bring my models onto the table during the late part of the game, which is a way of protecting them throughout the course of the battle; you can't kill what's not in-play, which is better than any kind of save! This is good too, because my style of play usually has Warriors arriving around turn 4 or 5, just to claim objectives
- Their weapons (unlike the Ghost Ark) are the same as A-Barges and hence really sweet for killing troops, in addition to other fliers. With multiple Night Scythes, I can even target TEQs and chance at killing flying monstrous creatures
- They're anti-flyer models by virtue of simply being fliers
- My buddies are very competitive and I'm one of the few people in the group who's taken the time to learn (experiment, read about, etc) flier and anti-flier tactics, so I feel that I generally have an edge on most people in my circle in that regard. One of the keys with fliers is that you want them to arrive after your opponent brings in their fliers, so you can gun them down when you arrive, as well as after your ground forces have taken out anything with skyfire. So far this hasn't been difficult for me, although I can see myself investing in a comms relay (and defence line) for 70 points
I haven't been using Arks because:
- I want to keep my Warriors safely off the battlefield so I can drop them onto objectives late into the game
- Again, because of my style of play, my Warriors are generally for claiming objectives, while I let Wraiths and Scarabs get their hands dirty
- I don't have much experience with using transports in my armies. I plan on changing that, because I like what I'm reading here! Currently I have 12 Wraiths and 12 Scarabs running up the center of the battlefield -- I'm considering adding a Ghost Ark and 10 Warriors to that spearhead to smash through/across the tabletop. I'll have to experiment..