So I have posted a couple of times on the board of my change in tactics following the new codex. I pontificated on ditching serpents and taking falcons. I took part in a general melee Apocalypse game on the weekend and anchored the left flank for the forces of ??? The list ran like so:
Bog Standard Avatar
Autarch on bike with laser lance
Farseer on bike with singing spear - Doom Guide & Fortune
Warlocks on bike with singing spear x 4 - Protect, Enhance, Destructor & Quicken
Wraith Lord with 2 flamers, missile and Ghostglaive
Wraithguard x 5 + Warlock with singing spear - Destructor - would rather have rolled enhance
Scorpion x 5 & Exarch with claw
Banshee x 5 & Exarch with mirror blades.
Storm Guardians x 10 Flamer and Fusion gun + Warlock witch blade and Empower
Walker x 3, 1 x scatter laser, 2 x star cannon and 3 x Missile with flak
Cloud strike squadron (3 x Falcons) - Scatter lasers x 3 Pulse Lasers of course & shuriken cannon x 3 + Holo fields
Two vypers 1 with missile & shuriken Cannon 1 with bright lance & twin link catapults
I equiped the Falcons with the scatter lasers for laser lock which worked a treat and resulted in taking out two Hellbrutes one each turn. The Vypers and the Seer & counsel took out the lesser targets of a Tzeench Chariot and assorted daemons. They then swept accross the board and flanked the next unit. Next turn Banshee & Scorpion disembarked and while the Falcons tried to take down a Chaos flying dragony thing, the bikes, banshee and scorpions shot a daemon unit to death.
The infantry advanced the other side of the terrain feature and kept the attention of a mob of zombies and a bigger mob of Orks. On the way the Wraith Lord shot, flamed and charged the zombies, a mistake really. The Avatar was taken out second turn by a bunch deap strike death marks. 24 shots wounding on two all of which did. The walkers took down a flyer and then became the focus of the next two to enter play. A Demolisher from an allied unit took out 7 death marks & the waithguard 4 more but 2 got back up and the rest of the battle was a CC smack fest with the Wraith guard.
All in all the force faired reasonably well with the falcons, seer & counsel, Wraith Lord and surprisingly the Vypers surviving unscathed.
The only unit not playable in a standard game is the Cloud Strike squadron. The force was less than 1900 and needs a spirit seer or a second troops choice to make it legal for standard 40k. The laser lock works well, and perhaps you can advise. I claimed laser lock for the walkers as a squadron off the one scatter laser, not sure if the rule is meant just for the vehicle or the squadron?
Anyone else ditched Serpents or are trying new tactics?