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BGB Page 51:  "Characters are treated as a separate unit when resolving close combats, following the normal rulers for multiple combats. This means the they must be in base to base contact with an enemy model in order to fight, and may not make attacks for being with 2" of another friendly model."

TAU FAQ: "The character (and his drones) are members of the unit in all respects, except close combat, when he (and his drones) count as a separate unit."

If a Tau commander is within 2" of a drone of his that is in base contact in combat, but he isn't in base contact, does he get to attack?

Relevant FAQ: http://us.games-workshop.com/errata/assets/TauEmpireFAQ.pdf

You answered this yourself:

BGB Page 51: "Characters are treated as a separate unit when resolving close combats, following the normal rulers for multiple combats. This means the they must be in base to base contact with an enemy model in order to fight, and may not make attacks for being with 2" of another friendly model."



So the Commander must be in base to base.

So the FAQ isn't overwriting that?

Not that I can see.

The FAQ merely points out that, for close combat purposes, the IC and his drones are a seperate unit from the bodyguard. Without any more specific rules saying otherwise, the IC is still stuck with fighting seperately from any unit he is assigned... and the Drone rules say only that the character and the drones form a unit.

So for close combat, a bodyguard counts as a seperate unit from the IC and his drones, and the IC and his drones also count as two seperate units.

Well ok I agree with your reading of the rules, however I have to say it makes no sense. Don't you think they meant to say the IC and drones form their own unit in combat? Why would the IC's drones form a seperate unit to the IC and his bodyguard? Aren't they there to protect him? Yes.

Because them's the rules.

Yes, it's silly. But the rules state merely that the character and drones form a unit, and that IC's always fight as a seperate unit to any unit they are accompanying.

Follow up question for you:

Can the IC use a shield drone then to take a hit (or make an inv save) even if the drone isn't in btb with the enemy who caused the hit?  Since the hits are allocated to the IC, does the special rules on the drone make it useable or not?

Not in close combat, no. The Drone has no special rule that allows it to take wounds that are allocated to a different model.