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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut






I know that reliance on a single unit of 10 pathfinders for markerlight a is a bad idea, but I'm having a hard time coming up with alternatives for the lights. I got 12 markerlight drones, and a skyray. Also is the markerlight upgrade for fire warrior shas'ui worth it? Are drones good even without the controller?

Should I get a skyray, shas'ui with lights, a unit of drones and then 2 units of path finders in order to spread as many lights out as possible or are is there a better plan?
   
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Member of a Lodge? I Can't Say



UK

I use two five man pathfinder teams which works pretty well and occasionally my fireblade split fires his markerlight.

I would throw in sniper drones for more BS5 markerlights but the kits are sooo expensive.

Skyrays are good cause you can mark flyers and increase the BS of allied snapshots against them.

a mark'O is another one I've seen which is putting a commander with a drone controller with a squad of marker drones for BS5 markerlights but i see that as an unnecessary amount of marker lights on a single target.

Firewarrior Shas'ui with markerlights are too expensive to be worth it IMO.

Hope that helps

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/05/26 12:35:04



"That's how a Luna Wolf fights."
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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut






Taffy17 wrote:
I use two five man pathfinder teams which works pretty well and occasionally my fireblade split fires his markerlight.

I would throw in sniper drones for more BS5 markerlights but the kits are sooo expensive.

Skyrays are good cause you can mark flyers and increase the BS of allied snapshots against them.

a mark'O is another one I've seen which is putting a commander with a drone controller with a squad of marker drones for BS5 markerlights but i see that as an unnecessary amount of marker lights on a single target.

Firewarrior Shas'ui with markerlights are too expensive to be worth it IMO.

Hope that helps


I'd honestly rather run a second skyray (or broadsides) over sniper drones. Also sniper drones tend to take up an all to important heavy slot that broadsides or a hammerhead could be using. Also won't the 5 man squads break easily when then lose two models are so?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/05/26 13:38:15


 
   
Made in gb
Member of a Lodge? I Can't Say



UK

with two five man squads you get an average of 2-3 markerlights on 2 different targets each turn which is ideal.

Usually you can put them behind your fire warriors (5+ cover save) or in ruins (4+ cover save) making them tougher.

Often your opponent will go after your big hitters instead of focussing on your pathfinders which enable your big hitters unless they know how to play against Tau.

also you want to be able to mark multiple enemy units as opposed to putting a lot of marks on a single enemy unit.

This is my logic and it works for me. If you want tougher markerlights you could use a skyray.

Also don't write off sniper drones. With an ethereal a squad of 9 drones and 3 spotters gets 27 BS5 sniper shots within 24" and 3 BS5 markerlight shots per turn.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/05/26 13:57:46



"That's how a Luna Wolf fights."
"If you can't keep up, go and join the Death Guard"
"It had often been said that Space Marines knew no fear, but when Angron charged, he ran" 
   
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I've been assembling Marksmen from Pathfinder kits (binoculars and pistols, I think would fit), and will probably try to fit Pulse Rifles plus stabilizers to Drones.

Reasonable kitbash?

Probably not competitive, but the official kit isn't the only way. And the official kit looks dumb.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





I run Farsight Enclaves and currently I utilize x2 teams of 4-6 Marker Drones with Commander Suits for BS5. I have found this to work extremely well because not only does it take away potential shots from my Missile Suits (another common build with Marker Drones and Commander) but generally I have found only a small number of Marker Lights to be the best route. When designing your army if you are to reliant on Marker Lights it almost never goes well as they are very easy to kill and are not exactly the cheapest unit in the book. With x2 teams I prioritize my targets and make sure that they either die or are so severely depleted that they wont be able to nearly function as well and I can finish them off later.

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Made in br
Fireknife Shas'el




Lisbon, Portugal

I usually go for Tetras (Imperial Armour 3, 2nd ed.). They're fast, survivable and are as efficient as pathfinders, point-wise.

Sky Rays are the toughest ML platform (but will fire one as snap shot if move), while the T5 Commander with marker drones are the most precise option.

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Made in gb
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UK

I've run a Commander w/ Splitfire, 2x Missle Pods and Drone Controller with about 4-6 Marker Drones

You've got 4-6 BS5 markerlight as well as 4 S7 shots that can be fired elsewhere so that your Commander isn't babysitting the drones.

Skyrays are also a good source of markerlights.

YMDC = nightmare 
   
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Trustworthy Shas'vre






2x5 is better than 1x10
Marko with Drones
Skyray

Any of those options offer diversivication. 1x5 Pathfinders Plus a Marko, 2x5 pathfinders plus a Skyray, etc.

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Made in us
Fireknife Shas'el






I've had good success with a Buffcommander in a unit of Missile Pod suits with Target Locks and with 6 marker drones. Some variations of this with different weapons on the 3rd suit and even with a Farsight commander added in as well. Always worked rather well for me.

I've also ran Mark'Os and 2 Skyrays. Never ran bare pathfinders though. Way too immobile and too fragile for me.

I'm expecting an Imperial Knights supplement dedicated to GW's loyalist apologetics. Codex: White Knights "In the grim dark future, everything is fine."

"The argument is that we have to do this or we will, bit by bit,
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Strike Cruiser Vladislav Volkov

Can you still give Markerlights to Stealthsuits?

I had a buddy who used to do that back in 3rd/4th and it wrecked my face.

   
Made in us
Fireknife Shas'el






Stealth suits can only hold 1 markerlight on the team leader from what I remember. But the unit is 90 points base without even factoring the cost of the marker or squad leader. It's just too pricey now. That and each team can only carry 2 drones max.

I'm expecting an Imperial Knights supplement dedicated to GW's loyalist apologetics. Codex: White Knights "In the grim dark future, everything is fine."

"The argument is that we have to do this or we will, bit by bit,
lose everything that we hold dear, everything that keeps the business going. Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky."
-Tom Kirby 
   
Made in us
Water-Caste Negotiator





The answer to any and all markerlight questions is always Tetras, Tetras, and more Tetras.

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