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What HS tanks are you fielding, and why?

Don't play Tau, but I see a lot of Hammerheads, and no Sky Rays.

Not sure why?
If the army has lots of marker lights, the Sky Ray could be superior.

Its probably because it can do so much more damage ... its ether 3 str7 shots at 60" or the str6 large blast at 72" (and the solid shots nice for tank hunting but your better off getting a broadside) ... the sky rays got 6 shots and then its just a means of getting marker light hits (i've seen emty it on turn 1)

the sky rays got 6 shots and then its just a means of getting marker light hits (i've seen emty it on turn 1)

I'm still struggling with the missile rules. Each Skyray has six missiles. Can each missile be shot only once per battle.?

yep there all one shot which is why you don't see skyray that much ... now if in the next codex they get X seeker missiles a turn they might make a come back ...

That's really bad.
Look at an Exorcist, it can shoot D6 missiles per turn with normal BF.

Hammerheads.

A) I love them.
B) They look really cool (I realize these aren't good reasons so far.)
C) They excel at anti-infantry and anti-tank, which lets the rest of my army concentrate on one or the other.
D) They are a big target, as well as a big fire soak. With disruption pods, there is a 50% chance that any shot will be nullified.
E) They can fire their arsenal more than once. (Sky Rays would be awesome if they could do that.)

Broadsides. Leave the anti horde stuff to stealthsuits, firewarriors and Kroot.

But given the choice I'd still go with hammerheads.

Isn't that the point of Hammerheads, though? Disruption pods make it as survivable as broadsides but it can also flatten Hordes if that's all you're looking at?

I've always thought of hammerheads as a more mobile and survivable version of a broadside, at nearly double the points. Change that large pie plate blast to AP3 and I'll trade out my broadsides very quickly.

The sky ray is good as a cheap alpha strike unit. Paint two armored targets with markerlights and hit them with 3 seekers each. Second turn starting jetting around at max speed tank shocking and generally just being a nuisance. If you're lucky you can kill two light to medium vehicles on your first round and no one is going to be willing to shoot at your jet tank with no weapons when there are so many more important targets.

? you joking ? the tank cost a min of 135pts ... if you want to kill light tanks a sniper drone team would be better (or just take broad sides like every one else)... if you really must have seeker missiles take them on Piranhas, that way at least you have a useful vehical after you use them ...

basically depends on what you are taking out...
for heavy stuff like land raiders or monoliths, hammerhead every time.

Tri wrote:? you joking ? the tank cost a min of 135pts ... if you want to kill light tanks a sniper drone team would be better (or just take broad sides like every one else)... if you really must have seeker missiles take them on Piranhas, that way at least you have a useful vehical after you use them ...

Sniper teams break after a single casualty and give very poor anti tank. The point of the alpha strike is to negate the offensive power of your opponent as soon as possible then bomb around his lines with a front armor 13 skimmer. A well supported skyray can devastate an ork nob bike squad before they ever get the chance to turbo boost. The entire point of the vehicle is the high volume of markerlit missiles it can launch on its first turn. Its obviously useless compared to a broadside squad (at twice its points) when it comes to anti tank support over the entire length of the game, but thats not the point of the tank.

... if it was me i'd search for 15 more points and take a pair of broadsides ... but then i've always looked at one shot weapons as being a bit lame ... (ok, demo-charges are worth it)

Personally, I think the best HS selection for an army is two squads of 3 broadsides, and a skyray.

They skyray isn't a damage-dealer itself. It's seeker missiles are really a bonus. What you're paying for are two BS4 (with targetting array) markerlights on a vehicle, so they can move and shoot.

I love the Sky Ray model, but there just aren't enough HS slots for it imo.

I run 2 x Hammerheads with RGs and either 2 Sniper Drone Teams, or a couple of broadsides.

Hammerheads, Marker lights are so overworked trying to bring down coversaves that getting even those six missles off can be troublesome at times.

Two or three years down the road when(pretty pls praying to gaming gods)the new codex comes out they will probably streamline the markers and the Skyray will be worth it then. Until then its just a cool model.

If it could be taken in alother slot (FA, elite... troop?) it would be a great model. as it is, competition for HS is really tight, and hammerheads are solid performers. as are broadsides. I think the scale tips towards hammerheads on this one, but I can see some cases where the skyray could fill a 3rd slot.

another unit that DOES occupy a different slot on the chart is pirhannas (sp?), as mentioned above. If you want to invest in them, you can get seekers in good numbers, as well as a fast skimmer with a melta or burst cannon. in this case, you can probably knock the skyray out totally and hammerhead it up.

IMHO, The Sky-Ray can be a killer, depends on how many markerlights you have in your army. You can hide your sky-ray and still shoot the seekers.

Yes they arnt the best but they are cheap and can put the hurt on your enemy, either kill the hidden tank that can shoot anywhere [almost, needs a markerlight], or focus on the rest and weather the shooting.

Remember you can put seekers on other tanks too, this really confuses the enemy, and adds more support for you.

I love the model too, whoop ass tank

Can the sky-ray take extra seekers? if so ten they really are the bomb

Can the sky-ray take extra seekers? if so ten they really are the bomb

No, it can't. It would be great if it could reload the missiles.

I have seen a guy run 3x3 pirahanas, each with 2 seekers on it and that really put the hurt on the enemy [i think it was chaos rhino spam], but a sky ray can be good

pirahanas are definately a better way to get seeker missiles ... not as cheap but they're on a fast skimmer so you can move 24" getting a 4+ cover save and still fire off the missiles ...

I'm always running 2 PF teams and 2 Skyrays, it's a terrific opening volley and gives your markerlights something to do while they wait for the opponent to get into rapidfire and low AP weapon ranges.

The first time you drop a hive tyrant with 4 seekers to the face, you start to see the benefit of a single strong salvo. I think that it's particularly valuable for demoralizing the enemy and putting them on their back heel.

This will only work if you can get by without using heavy support for anti-tank. That job can go to fusion guns and missile pods if applied liberally throughout the rest of the list.

6 Seekers on pirahnas, 6 seekers on Skyray. To launch a devastating salvo how many marker hits do you need?

Remember when figuring the number of markers that most of your targets are going to get a coversave. Thats 20 points worth of missle on every wound and strength 8 ain't the bomb for penning heavy armour.

IMHO the seekers are a huge trashcan that you throw pts into.

BTW the strength of the Skyray in 5th ed is that its the only Tau tank that can move its full 12 " and fire everything because of the markers as defensive weapons Its a durable platform for consistent markerlight shots. Hiding it out of sight is a waste.

Just my opinion

2 units of Broadsides seems appealing, but the thing that bothers me about them is you can only use half their weapons half the time (unless you take Multi-Trackers...but then you lose ASS...not a good trade IMHO). Additionally, this portion of your army becomes a liability in some cases because of it's lack of speed. I am in the process of building 2 units of broadsides to test, but I really like the utility of having at least one hammerhead. Skyray's are awesome though and there will always be at least one in any of my Tau builds. They are just to useful now in 5th vs. previous versions of 40k where other things worked better. Tau need Markerlight support more now than they ever have if you are to be successful with them. The biggest challenge for me right now is whether or not Kroot are worth the investment in my army. I suppose if I had 2 broadside teams, they'd be more valuable as a screening unit to protect the important stuff...but right now I have a unit in my list for the cheap 4th troop choice. They really are the most disposable part of my current list.

Capt K

Centurian99 wrote:Personally, I think the best HS selection for an army is two squads of 3 broadsides, and a skyray.

They skyray isn't a damage-dealer itself. It's seeker missiles are really a bonus. What you're paying for are two BS4 (with targetting array) markerlights on a vehicle, so they can move and shoot.

@focusedfire
Marker light drone on any battel suit (other then broad side) is a move and shoot markerlight (since they count as jet infantry which has relentless) ... its also networked so you can use it to help out the rest of the squad ... and thats 60pts for a pair ... with seeker missiles that make it at least 15pts cheaper then a skyray ... though i guess you can boost a skyray to BS 4, with a 5pt upgrade ...


(editting to make sence)

Why I don't play with my 2 Skyrays.

1. Rolling twice to hit is the suk
2. the seekers don't need LoS, but the tank's markerlights do
3. S8<S10
4. no anti-aircraft mount for apocalypse
5. all seekers are in one basket.

Why I have 2 skyrays:
1. I tend to play Farsight a lot
2. I have 2 different colored armies
3. Still more mobile than broadsides, even if they have an ASS.
>

Centurian99 wrote:Personally, I think the best HS selection for an army is two squads of 3 broadsides, and a skyray.

They skyray isn't a damage-dealer itself. It's seeker missiles are really a bonus. What you're paying for are two BS4 (with targetting array) markerlights on a vehicle, so they can move and shoot.

just quoted it because its my answer 90% of the time.

If you aren't running 6 broadsides? The take the hammerhead. If you are. And 6 broadsides is almost mandatory if you plan to face space marines in a tourney. Enough railguns to kill the landraiders and the addition of the ever valuable plasma rifle to clean up after a consolidation.

If you are running 6 broadsides, you dont need a 7th rail shot. Sub-munition was marginalized the second 5th ed hit. Markerlights... especially move and shoot, especially BS4. are the hardest thing to dig out of the book. Skyray is a decent place to get the best kinda markerlight you can buy. It happens to have some seeker missiles on it. But think of it more as a markerlight provider. You don't need the HS slot as much as you think.