The Avenger shuriken catapult shoots 50% farther than a regular shuriken catapult (18" compared to 12" in TT stats). Same damage, same bladestorm rule. They also have slightly better armour (+4 compared to +5 if you care). Ulthwe is big on farseers/warlocks, so they keep what guardians they have more as a standing force than a call-up unit to supplement their shortage of aspect warriors. Those are the black guardians. In terms of actually fielding them (beyond the 18/12 range) guardians can bring heavy weapon platforms (or gear up for melee and close range fighting as storm guardians) and bring a warlock for a squad leader. The dire avenger don't get any cool special/heavy weapons, but they do have a special rule that gives them some flexibility in how they defend against enemies (representing their tactical flexibility). Their exarch (squad leader/sergeant) has the option of going ranged or melee. How this all translates into Eternal Crusade is up the developers of course (and I'll respect their decisions even as I grumble). I'm a giant fan of dire avengers (in case my screaming rants across several threads wasn't a giveaway, sorry) and there really is a difference between guardian defenders and dire avengers, in the same way that windriders (jetbike riding guardians) are different from shining spears (jetbike riding eldar who love jousting). I'd say that where guardians fill the guardsman style troop choice (a block of basic shooting that's moddable with leader and heavy weapon choices) the dire avenger is solely focused on anti-infantry and holding objectives. Really holding objectives. Technical below about 7e dire avenger tt, read if you want, but it's not really on point, it's more a curiosity, and probably explains some of my sentiments about the dire avenger. -They've got a squad power that lets them overwatch better (shoot at things that charge them) or gain counter-attack/stubborn (melee better against things that charge them/not fall for mind shenanigans). That entire rule is there to help them hold objectives. -The exarch. The exarch is really the whole problem people have about this unit. Unlike other exarchs who load up with fancier versions of their aspects weapons, the exarch is almost schizophrenic (which looks unfair to factions who can't load a tactical for melee). Sub-points covering what those weapon choices do to him. -Twin linked avenger catapult: He shoots better, and thus the squad is very shooty, if you want. -Power weapon w/ shuriken pistol: He's now better equipped to handle duels and charges. But there are better options. That weapon can be changed out for best effect against enemy, sword for regular marines, axe for terminators, and maul for lightly armoured. And a lance if you want to charge things? You'll see it on the tabletop modeled as a glaive quite often. -Power weapon w/ shimmershield: This is why most people take the power weapon I think. That shimmershield gives the whole squad a nice save. It makes them tougher, which is never bad. Actually it's really good. The whole squad changes from kind-of-fragile to kind-of-resilient. Part 1 of why people don't take the power weapon/pistol option. -Diresword w/ shuriken pistol: Part 2 of why people don't take the power weapon/pistol option. The diresword takes a rather sub-par melee character and makes him capable of killing anything in a challenge. There's a lot that has to happen for that to happen (it's far from guaranteed) but any player who runs a melee champion of unstoppable power (and ridiculous points) is going to think twice about charging something that can instantly remove that beatstick. Against a space marine character (the standard of what you will face) the DA exarch will strike first and bypass eternal warrior due to wording (eternal warrior is a special rule that basically confers plot armour to your special space marine). And that's why dire avengers are tactically flexible, because their schizophrenic leader can completely change the squad to deal with different armies. Facing a lot of guard? Shimmershield to save against grenades. Ork? More shooting to thin the herd. Army built on a special snowflake deathstar? The diresword will change that. It says a lot about the overall blandness of a dire avenger squad that one character has so much impact. That's something I like about them, how bog standard they are, and what a ridiculous roadbump you can make them in your enemy's plan. I'd like to see that transfer over to Eternal Crusade, where a dire avenger in a squad isn't just a capper with a gun.
I've posted this some where els but here we go again! Dire Avengers are the last line of defence in a Eldar Strike Force, they will hold their position till the objective is met or the rest of the strike force is gone and safe. @Whitefox550 The schizophrenicbit of the Dire Avenger Exarch is thanks to Asurmen and his teachings to the other Phoenix lords. He had to master range and combat since he was the first. So ofc, his Exarchs will follow in his footsteps. Too bad it's hard to Implement Defence Tactics (Overwatch BS 2 or Stubborn with counter attack) in Eternal Crusade. Another problem we will eventually have when Exarch class is introduced. they are way way way way better than any Space marine Sergeant or Veteran Sergeant will ever be. Just look at that stat line. What many tend to forget that an Exarch now has 2 wounds. and the Dire Avenger Exarch also gets a 4+ Invulnerable save. Now add to the problem that the Dire Avenger Exarch could capture objectives. Do you hear the storm of salt and tears approaching if we get all this ? Ofc, this all depends on how we will be able to deploy as an Exarch with the cost / cooldown. But yeah, Space marine and Chaos are just all running around with veteran gear with almost limitation atm. we only got Aspect warriors with default gear.
I just thought it'd be a cool way of handling the "lack of aspect warriors" thing for ulthwé is all, I understand that Dire Avengers may be vastly better, just thought it'd be neat to have another class that isn't brightly coloured (Pretty sure even warlocks are locked to black and bone at the moment which is strange right?)
The Scorpion Chainsword is only used by Scorpions or Autarchs with Scorpion training. There is a difference between the basic Eldar Chainsword and the Scorpion Chainsword. Not every Storm Guardian is likely to have trained as a Striking Scorpion yet they all can take Eldar Chainswords. I hope it is a Chainsword because that is a single step up from Combat Knives. Power Swords would be two steps up and could be reserved for D.A. Exarchs, with basic D.A.s at least able to grab a Chainsword as an improvement over their Combat Knife. The reason for giving D.A.s Chainswords is, as stated above, because the Chainsword is a single step above Combat Knives, while Power Weapons are two steps at least. That would be just fine for the D.A. Exarch; meanwhile, basic D.A.s would either have the default Combat Knife or could pay to upgrade to a Chainsword.
If it just the upgrade you are looking for and not the aesthetic would an advance close combat weapon with a better stat profile not fulfill the same role? It's just my opinion that the DA should have more elegant weapons than the SS (trying my best not to reference Star Wars and failed...)
IIRC I think you can even give Storm Guardians a limited number of power swords. I kinda wish we had Guardians. With the later codexes they actually are pretty flexible - just made of glass. And their Shuriken Catapults suck. Wait...do they? I don't have the latest codex. I swear I thought they all had WS 4 BS 4 in 7th edition.
You're right. Checked the codex and Guardians are WS 4 BS 4 but with a lower Inititive than the DAs. Shows how long it's been since I played the TT.
