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Inspiring is worth 25 points in my book. Throwing an extra attack on after that is more of a token in my opinion. I'm not against specific weapons, but removing them all together wouldn't stop me from taking exarchs.
The issue is not 'is the +1A needed to make it good?', but 'would I ever use that option?'.
Right now, I would never take HB Exarchs or a HB Autarch, and I have never seen anyone who does (in a Biel-Tan list played without the houserule of giving these characters FS). That's kind of a sad thing, especially for someone like me who really wants to make HBs a focus of their force (already a hard task for the reasons Ginger pointed out). Rules as-is, it's absolutely inevitable though. I would rather add 2 Warp Spider stands to my Howling Banshees, so the Exarchs/Autarch can hide there- they have better saves, and the 2x4+ FF is at least as good (usually better than) the single 2+ CC attack the Banshee squad will have. Plus as a FF unit the Spiders aren't on the front line, providing extra Character protection.
Given all the options, why would anyone ever add these Characters to HBs?
If a list option is so bad as to be a 'no brainer' to avoid, then it has no place being an option at all- that's simply good rules design, but is a terrible thing in this case.
To call this simple rule change 'too fiddly' is an absolute joke- afterall, what's easier:
Rolling 10 CC dice needing 2+ with FS (the recommended change), or
Rolling 8 CC dice needing 2+ with FS, waiting for casualty removal, checking if the Character stands are still in base to base, then maybe rolling a few extra non-FS attacks after that's been worked out and it's known if maybe the FF is still in range (the current rules)?
I like the EpicUK Exarch rules, though can see why some may consider them too fiddly, but surely the simple change I'm recommending of giving HBs FS as a 'note' rather than from wargear simplifies things and makes them much more viable as an option?