Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I'm just wondering how other people have been upgrading their Hammerheads. I'm starting to value 3-4 vehicle upgrades as "essential". While it's nice to have a "super tank", Tau can't really afford to spend 180 points on a single vehicle. Here's what I usually take:

Blacksun Filters: A super cheap upgrade that guarantees I won't waste my first shot against something with a 2+ cover save. Maybe not necessary, but it's cheap enough and has been worth it in over half of my games.

Multi-Tracker: Firing like a fast vehicle is insanely good. We can outmaneuver and avoid some opponents, we can almost always get a good shot (side armor or not granting a cover save, etc). I always take this.

Disruption Pods: I haven't been taking them recently. With the new FAQ, they seem awesome again. With a 72" range, we should always get at least a 3+ cover save.

Flechette Discharger: I'm on the fence about this one. They seem fantastic against certain opponents like Nids or Orks. They can kill massive numbers of models and even save the vehicle in combat (since the models are killed before they swing). Even against tougher opponents, the upgrade can make back its points by killing just one marine (which is highly likely). Certain opponents won't even charge the vehicle for fear of losing too many models.
At the same time, should we really be caught in combat at all?

Thoughts? Anyone feel free to argue for or against any of our upgrades.

I like to run mine like this:
- Railgun
- Disruption Pod (essentially a requirement now)
- Blacksun Filter (not as essential, but incredibly helpful)
- Multitrack (double tap always good)
- Smart Missile System, allows you to double tap a target without risking your DPod to being countered for the 12" limitaiton.

Target lock is viable if you feel that you can get use out of splitting the fire of your two weapons but I tend to run an "erase that target" strategy when it comes to target priority so my hammer head opens up completely on one enemy.

I don't like flechette dischargers mostly because I play in a very heavy MEQ environment. Sure it will net me one kill (what I usually got when I ran them) but I just lost a tank to a powerfist or meltabomb. What was I doing that caused me to lose that highly manuverable tank to melee combat?

Basically what yotsuba said, although I run burst cannons instead of missiles to save points. Both are viable.

I like forgeworld plasma cannon turret on my Hammerheads, after I've loaded up on broadsides or fusion Blasters.

Railhead - The railgun is obvious and I think with more armies going foot, the submunition round will see more use.
SMS - Longer range than the burst cannons, sometimes the 18" is just too short for a tank supposed to be shooting at range.
Disruption Pods - Uhh, derr. I took them in 5th, no reason to not take them in 6th.
Multitracker - The ability to move a full move and still fire both weapons is very meaningful for when you have to shift targets. It also helps keep your army fluid and effective.
Target Lock - Often the target that the railhead is shooting at has little care for S5 shooting. However, there is almost something somewhere in range that these guns can target and with a target lock they can. No wasting shots.
Blacksun Filter - Because of 6th ed. I never took it before, but now, it will probably be points well spent.

Depending on other Heavy slots (whether they're full of Snipers or full of Broadsides), I'll either take a Railhead or an Ionhead.

Essential upgrades are D-Pods, Multitrackers and Target Locks, useful upgrades are Smart Missiles and Black Sun Filters.

There's something awesome about a tank that can zoom around to get good firing positions and fire all (or two) of its guns at entirely seperate targets. If anyone's coming too close, spray them with the burst cannons (or if you have SMS, hide behind cover first) while your main gun hammers targets in back field, be they heavy vehicles or special weapons teams (Long Fangs hate Ionheads)

50% of all games start with night fighting. First blood is easy for tau to get if there is an av target for the railgun that doesn't have a 2+ cover save. Blacksun is also very needed for fighting necrons.

Disruption Pods: I haven't been taking them recently. With the new FAQ, they seem awesome again. With a 72" range, we should always get at least a 3+ cover save.

I'm not a Tau player, but I do want to try taking Tau as ally for my Eldar, so please be patient with me. How does Disruption Pods give the Hammerhead 3+ cover. I thought being shrouded gives +1 to cover sv only?

 MarshallDin wrote:

Disruption Pods: I haven't been taking them recently. With the new FAQ, they seem awesome again. With a 72" range, we should always get at least a 3+ cover save.

I'm not a Tau player, but I do want to try taking Tau as ally for my Eldar, so please be patient with me. How does Disruption Pods give the Hammerhead 3+ cover. I thought being shrouded gives +1 to cover sv only?

Because stealth is +1, shrouded is +2.

When it comes to upgrading ANY Tau vehicle:

Disruption Pod-take it, no questions asked.

Blacksun Filter-anything with range over 36 is a must, anything else an option.

Targetting Array-if you don't have drones, take it.

Multi-tracker-if you don't have drones, take it.

Target Lock-only good on railheads, and even then YMMV.

Sensor Spines-only in a terrain-heavy enviourment, can get you some nifty mobility.

Flechette Discharger-as our tanks are harder then ever to shoot at, an anti-assualt is better then ever! I love it.

Decoy Launchers-does not work as intended, just too likely to backfire on you.

Seeker Missile-a krak missile that eats up a markerlight? heck no.

As for Burst/SMS/drones: really depends on the job of the vehicle. just remember, drones on a FW devilfish are troops, drones on piranha/pathfinder devilfish are fast-attack, and drones on hammerhead/skyray (if you accidently take on) are heavy-support. it matters for scoring purposes sometimes.

 BoomWolf wrote:

, drones on a FW devilfish are troops, drones on piranha/pathfinder devilfish are fast-attack, and drones on hammerhead/skyray (if you accidently take on) are heavy-support. it matters for scoring purposes sometimes.

This feels untrue, the book lists the specifically as denial units, not troops that can score.

Care to point me to where it is written?

Because AFAIK the drones belong to the same FOC slot as the vehicle they got off from, and as such should be scoring if the mission allows that type to score.

I don't have my codex at the moment, but I'm pretty sure drones never score. Not sure about being a denial unit in 6th. I do know that they count for things like first blood, or kill points, if approperate. (which really sucks, all of the detraction, non of the benefits for being a unit)

 BoomWolf wrote:
Care to point me to where it is written?

Because AFAIK the drones belong to the same FOC slot as the vehicle they got off from, and as such should be scoring if the mission allows that type to score.

From the 6e FAQ:
Page 30 – Tau Vehicle Armoury, Gun Drones.
Change the fifth sentence of the first paragraph to read: “The
drones may not rejoin the vehicle during the game and count
as a denial unit for the purposes of capturing objectives”.

Drones are great for nabbing the last minute linebreaker as well.


Anyways, every Hammerhead I've used since 6th came out has had the following:

Railgun
Blacksun Filter
Multitracker
Disruption Pod.


a 3+ coversave vehicle that can move 12 inches and fire it's 72 inch weapon at full range even during nightfighting. Everything else you can use just seems to be extra fat that may need to be trimmed later.

Ion Cannon is really a great gun....it's just so hard to pass up the pie plate.

Burst cannon vs SMS is the tough choice for me, I usually go to burst just cause A) it's cheaper, B) in 6th, it's an extra weapon, reducing the chance your railgun gets blown off from 1/2 to 1/3

Both blacksun and disruption pod are mandatory.

Multi-tracker: you could actually do without it if you were super tactical, but get it cuz you'll stay more mobile and endanger your tank less (basically, you won't be forced to choose betwee running away and shooting).

Target lock is definitely a YMMV thing, I use mine a lot, but some people swear I'm crazy, daring to get within 18"

Decoys-no

Sensor spines -- eh, no, you should be able to avoid terrain and it's too expensive

Felchetter dischargers -- no, it sounds funny, but it's better just not to get charged. If you were to do this, do it on you DFs, not HHs

Sir_Prometheus wrote:

Sensor spines -- eh, no, you should be able to avoid terrain and it's too expensive

Felchetter dischargers -- no, it sounds funny, but it's better just not to get charged. If you were to do this, do it on you DFs, not HHs

I disagree.

The sensor spines allows you to do some nasty things risk-free, such as landing on top of buildings, on pillars where there is literally no place to stand in order to assault you, or other locations where a tank is not meant to be.
Not for everyone, but has it's perks.

The dischargers are VERY effective when it comes to orks and nids at making them pay for assaulting your tanks. more fitting for short-range tanks though.

My first Hammerhead in combat parked itself on top of a building turn 1 with it's sensor spines and disruption pod it shrugged off allt he ranged anti-tank weapons and my opponent never once got to use his Warscythes.

 MarshallDin wrote:

Disruption Pods: I haven't been taking them recently. With the new FAQ, they seem awesome again. With a 72" range, we should always get at least a 3+ cover save.

I'm not a Tau player, but I do want to try taking Tau as ally for my Eldar, so please be patient with me. How does Disruption Pods give the Hammerhead 3+ cover. I thought being shrouded gives +1 to cover sv only?

it has a 5+ jink save for being a moving skimmer.

The Disruption pods give it Shrouded, which is +2 to your cover saves.

Hence a 3+ cover save if the vehicle moves and remains over 12" from the enemy.

I don't know how I feel about the railgun for Hammerhead turrets. I think it's overcosted and prone to fits of dice failure. As a result, I find myself looking much more closely at the Forgeworld weapons mounts.

I'd suggest that a disruptor pod is mandatory at this point. A black sun filter seems like an obvious choice as well, because night fighting is so much more common now. As for the others, I really feel that I can't talk much about them without seeing the context of your larger army. Are you a markerlights guy, or no? Do you already have lots of infantry death? Stuff like that.

Twin Linked Plasmas are great for Forgeworld Turret options. Same cost as the Ion cannon, but twin linked, an extra shot and AP 2. 48 inches is able to cover almost the entire board if ou're placed right, so the range disadvantage is negligible and the twin linked makes them really good anti-flyer weapons.

The twin long barreled burst cannon turret is a handy stop-gap AA as well.

Uh.....I don't know where you guys play, but for me, for tournaments, FW turrets are not allowed.

Rail gun should really be used for the single shot, anyway, it's all about the blast. For blasts, dice failure is pretty rare.

My loadout now that we got disruption pods back is:

Railgun - awesome all-rounder
Burst cannons - more shots, cheap
Target lock - burst cannons shoot infantry at short range, railgun shoots tanks/other infantry at long range
Multi-Tracker - 6" with no penalties is great, and 12" and hitting on 6's with one burstcannon is even better!
Blacksun Filter - My Tau won't care about nightfight, but my opponent's will
Sensor Spines - Easy to get a base 4+ save from ruins, and great for lining up targets
Disruption pod - AV 13 with a 2+ save? Yes please!

Sure it comes in at 185pts, but it is almost untouchable and if you can twin-link it with a farseer or guide with markerlights it is a terrifying beast. As opposed to just a regular beast

Railgun is a must. Tau are lucky to have lots of spaces (suits) to fill the role the Ion Cannon could do.

SMS and burst both have uses, depending on your terrain meta. If you have heavy terrain I love target lock and SMS to reach over the terrain hiding your Hammerhead to tap smaller units.

BSF, Multi-tracker, and Dpod are my other go to items in every game for all the reasons said above.

Piccolo wrote:
Railgun is a must. Tau are lucky to have lots of spaces (suits) to fill the role the Ion Cannon could do.

SMS and burst both have uses, depending on your terrain meta. If you have heavy terrain I love target lock and SMS to reach over the terrain hiding your Hammerhead to tap smaller units.

BSF, Multi-tracker, and Dpod are my other go to items in every game for all the reasons said above.

Ion Cannon is not bad. I take it in my lower points games for it's strong MEQ kill potency. Marines get saves vs the blast, they don't get saves vs. your ion gun, When you have two flying around marines tend to die really fast.

An underappreciated use of the Ion cannon is killing Tyranid MCs.

Sir_Prometheus wrote:
Uh.....I don't know where you guys play, but for me, for tournaments, FW turrets are not allowed.

Rail gun should really be used for the single shot, anyway, it's all about the blast. For blasts, dice failure is pretty rare.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/t/Tauupdate.pdf I think this means they are legal in tournaments, yes? That's what I gathered from the "warhammer 40k stamp" part it talks about. Would be good to know one way or another.

nanaki658 wrote:

Sir_Prometheus wrote:
Uh.....I don't know where you guys play, but for me, for tournaments, FW turrets are not allowed.

Rail gun should really be used for the single shot, anyway, it's all about the blast. For blasts, dice failure is pretty rare.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/t/Tauupdate.pdf I think this means they are legal in tournaments, yes? That's what I gathered from the "warhammer 40k stamp" part it talks about. Would be good to know one way or another.

Well, according to them, maybe. But not according to like 90% of tournaments........so that's that.

Sir_Prometheus wrote:

nanaki658 wrote:

Sir_Prometheus wrote:
Uh.....I don't know where you guys play, but for me, for tournaments, FW turrets are not allowed.

Rail gun should really be used for the single shot, anyway, it's all about the blast. For blasts, dice failure is pretty rare.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/t/Tauupdate.pdf I think this means they are legal in tournaments, yes? That's what I gathered from the "warhammer 40k stamp" part it talks about. Would be good to know one way or another.

Well, according to them, maybe. But not according to like 90% of tournaments........so that's that.

More like 50/50 of tournaments disallow them.

Tournaments are trending to more acceptance of FW units in their events.

Don't forget the other use of our devilfish chasis now that you have that mobile 3+ (or 2+ with a flat out dfish), they are great LOS blockers for our suits and Firewarriors. HH's are even better than DF in this regard due to their high armor value, if properly placed with some fish you can block your LOS to your whole army (provided the other guy likes to stand right in front of you anyway.) For this reason alone I think the flechettes are worth it, eventually they're going to get close enough to assault the line of blockers and the flechettes will just add to the cost they pay. By this point in the game they should be out of breath and whittled down anyway, and maybe you can sacrifice your HH for another round of murder at the hands of your army thats sitting behind it at full strength.