A Guide to Using the Exarch Delivery System

The Swooping Hawks are a unit which I have had sitting in my army box for 12 years. I do not believe I have ever used them until now, in my biel-tan list. At first glance they look [i]very[/i] points heavy. In fact this is true, but it isn't necessarily a points sink. You may have heard the term 'Exarch Deliver System', before. It is my opinion that this is one of the most useful and substantial ways, though not the only way, to use the Swooping Hawks on just about any opponent. An Exarch delivery system means that the entire squad exists for the sole purpose of the Exarch arriving intact to your target opponent. To make it efficient, points and killing wise, the entire squad is based around the Exarch to augment his role. We will look at the Exarch and his options soon, but first let us look at the unit itself so that we may understand how it is quite ideal for the role of bodyguards for a very swordwind style assassination squad.

The Squad:

Mobility:

The majority of 1v1 tables, where the objective is the opponents destruction, are 48" long, with 12" for each players deployment and a 24" combat zone. Swooping Hawks move 12" per turn so may assault on the second turn if your opponent has advanced or is on the front line. Swooping Hawks also have the fleet of foot ability, which is an excellent boost in movement to get into a bit of cover before your opponents turn, or insuring getting your full attacks on your target opponent, as well as contributing to your Exarch being able to get to the enemy unit's special equipment carrying or HQ model with his bounding leap.

Another option is the deep strike ability, giving you the ability to put an ordnance template anywhere on the field. The blast has a moderate strength and weak AP value, but it is good enough for Imperial Guard, Tyranids, or other more redundant armies. I would find it more useful if it caused a pinning test. Deep strike I personally do not prefer to use in any situation because of its unpredictability and risk, though it does have its uses to have an uninjured squad pop in on the field after a few turns to take out a squad the rest of your army has been unable to destroy or get to. Taking the deep strike option forfeits speed and concedes the initiative which the EDS is based off of. It is not suggested to use deep strike when using Swooping Hawks in a biel-tan-esque EDS squad.

Unit Size:

With such a large movement distance for Swooping Hawks it usually isn't that hard to find some terrain to gain cover in or hide behind on their way up. It is unlikely that most people adhere to 25% terrain but if you have anywhere near that much it should be enough. The Swooping Hawks have a modest saving throw, and with cover or the ability to be completely out of line of sight, they are a relatively secure unit in small numbers, which helps keep the points cost much lower without sacrificing killing power. Also because of Exarch and Aspect warrior initiative, as well as the plasma grenades Swooping Hawks are equipped with in their standard package, you are going to have a good chance at braking the enemy before return attacks are made.

A squad of 5 or 6, including the Exarch, is typically adequate to arrive in force, with an uninjured Exarch, and brake or destroy the opposing unit. Between the unit and the Exarch this rests somewhere between 150-200 points for a proper and efficient setup. It can be a good chunk of your list, but it has the ability to brake and wipe units on the charge as well as switch from one unit to the next with good speed.

Wargear:

The Lasblaster: Not a very Eldar name is it? Sounds more Imperial Guard to me. Low strength, weak AP. It looks rather weak, and in those respects it is. Assault 2 and 24" range keep it semi-useful, though I would trade it in for a shuriken pistol and close combat weapon any day, to cause the squad you are charging at least a couple of casualties before the charge to soften it up, or maybe one kill in the case of a marine squad. Because of its range it is quite possible to use Swooping Hawks in the sniping/harassment role, though this is not what I am covering here.

Plasma Grenades: This tiny piece of gear can give a huge advantage, especially if your opponent is right near the front line, but is in cover. It could cause you to take an addition turn if you want to strike first. If your enemy has power armour or is a close combat squad itself, this may be a problem.

The Exarch:

Now onto the Exarch himself, and I might as well start with the better half of what makes this whole squad worth it.

Exarch Powers:

Sustained Assault: A somewhat expensive warrior power, but with this the Exarch has more potential than a fully tooled Harlequin Solitaire. And for those who are unfamiliar with the Solitaire, he has a max capability of 12 attacks on the charge. This power allows the Exarch to make an additional attack for every attack that hits, and an additional attack for every additional attack that hits, and so on. Also the codex does not limit this power to the charging turn exclusively so the squad that does not know when it is beaten, by the second turn of close combat never will. If you do not take an Exarch with this power, do not take the squad at all. There is no EDS without it.

Bounding Leap: A cheap power, and a useful add-on in my opinion, but not a necessity. Bounding leap gives the Exarch an extra D6" to move into the enemy squad after he has reached it. This allows the Exarch to get into base to base contact with characters, specific opponents, or just to help insure that he, and the rest of your squad, will get its full attacks.

Wargear:

The equipment you give your Exarch is not nearly as important as sustained assault, but is still a huge factor to your success and winning back the cost of the unit, and if you want to get the most out of this expensive unit, an upgrade is necessary.

Hawks Talon: Only slightly better than the lasblaster, with one more attack and one more strength. It is also a rather expensive upgrade. Swooping Hawks squads in an EDS role should not be used as a shooting focused squad. Enough said. Some Swooping Hawk squads are used in this manor, such as the sniping range variant outlined here by moc: http://www.40konline.com/community/index.php?topic=89440.0

Power Weapon: Having a power weapon is a large part of the lethality of the Exarch. Even with his sheer frightening number of attacks, high initiative and weapon skill, power armour squads would still not take enough wounds to justify using a Swooping Hawks squad. I see a power weapon as an essential upgrade, and the power weapon choice itself is the cheaper of the two, the second being:

Web of Skulls and Shuriken Pistol: This upgrade gives both a power weapon and an extra attack for having two close combat weapons, which most often means more than one extra attack. The web of skulls is a power weapon so has that all important effect, but is also a modest shooting weapon with a 24" range, a good strength, and the ability to hit up to four opponents. This choice is twice the cost of just a power weapon, but gives an extra one, or more, attacks and a superior shooting weapon.

Method:

The EDS is used in a number of ways, depending on the role that needs to be filled and the particular style of its user. Also remember that the EDS is certainly not restricted to only the bellow, and in most battles fills several of these roles. Being highly mobile and very powerful allows this unit to take targets of opportunity.

-The EDS is often seen working with other units, be it close combat aspect warriors or ranged power, to completely crush enemy units.

-Also this configuration of the Swooping Hawks is well suited to finishing off smaller units such as, say, a squad of 4-6 marines that your dark reapers didn't quite finish off, which you don't wish to dedicate another round of shooting to.

-A personal favorite that dates back a couple of codex editions is rushing into a squad in front of opposing heavy support to deny LoS down a firing lane. This method can be implemented quickly with a 12" movement, a 1-6" FoF, and 6" charge, often by the second turn, thusly allowing your slower moving units to advance safely as the hawks eventually move up and eliminate the opposing fire-base. I find this useful when my opponent either cuts off open lanes of advance, or has a liking for mirroring my deployment.

-Many players have the EDS fill in the role of taking out small but threatening squads, such as heavy support (mortars, devastators, havocs, etc.), HQ, and fast attack units (raptors come to mind). With the mobility of the EDS it is easy for this small squad to move from squad to squad reaping havoc and gaining victory points. The key here is finding cover/CC's to reside in while crossing the battlefield

-Another of my personal favorites, the assassination squad. This is an EDS similar to the above, but targeting a specific model, be it the enemy librarian, or Necron lord. Individual targets are usually utility units such as the aforementioned, i.e.; units like our Farseer: a single unit that causes heaps of trouble.

-One thing not to forget is that while the Swooping Hawks are between targets, or after they have taken out their primary targets, they often fill the harassment role by firing on squads from a good range to force morale checks, or take off vital ablative armour. This often falls into the role of sweeping up damaged enemy units, such as combining with weaker ranged fire; the starcannon from a wraithlord, or the one remaining warwalker/damaged falcon. This can be a very useful, and safe considering the save and numbers of the hawks, and possibly inevitable role should the hawks suffer casualties or with the loss of the Exarch.

-A main reason for many who use deep strike with the EDS is to combine many of the above roles to disrupt enemy forces with an unexpected, or at least not fully known, and powerful unit dropping within the midst of their formation. This can be useful for aiding overwhelmed flanks with the fast reacting EDS if needed for a defensive unit. There are nearly endless ways to cause disruption of your opponents forces with deep striking hawks, so I won't try to list any more, let your imagination guide your trigger finger.

There you have it, the Exarch Delivery System. One last tip, which is a very important one, is that if you can only be partially out of LoS, keep the Exarch behind the cover, as opposed to just aspect warriors. You live and learn, and the Exarch takes it in the neck. Below is a sample of a small squad used in my biel-tan list. The squad moves 12" per turn and uses FoF as necessary to move into cover that hides it from LoS, and charges the front line or preferable target of opportunity on the second turn.

183-Swooping Hawks (6)-Exarch-Web of Skulls-Sustained Assault-Bounding Leap

This is an analysis of facets of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game by Games Workshop. This article does not assume or imply ownership of Games Workshop intellectual property. Sources used includes Games Workshop's third edition Eldar Codex, and Rule book.