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I'm finally going to have a bit of cash to invest in a Broadside suit for my very lacking Tau army, and I'm giving a lot of thought to weapon configeration. I notice most people seem to stick with the SMS for their Broadsides, but I've been thinking about the twin linked plasma rifle option. How do people generally feel about these options? What have you found works best for you? I'd appreciate any help because I am a fairly new Tau player (and absolutely terrible)

I've always used the twin liked plasma option with either the target array to get the +1 balistic skill or the multi-tracker so that I could blast incomming units with 3 railgun hits and 6 plasma shots (ap 1, ap 2) if the enemy got within rapid fire range. Granted I also use my broadsides as a distraction unit hiding them in cover to get a 4+ cover for the save, but also making them avalible for my opponent to shoot at so that they waste most of the early turns of the game shooting at broadsides with a 2+/4+ cover, meawhile the rest of your army goes unmolested by the guns aimed at the broadsides, and if your opponent chooses to ignore broadsides, then you just start blowing his stuff up with them. This works for me about 80% of the time. Using SMS and the A.S.S. is the popular build, becuase you can hide your broadsides behind a building to protect them, and fire your 'no line of sight SMS' or walk out from behind a building (slow and purposfully) to fire your railguns at a tank, This involves hiding your broadsides, and since I don't like to hide them (cause I use them as bait), it's not the tactic for me. Bottom line: Broadside load out will depend on how you want your army to work.

I find that plasma rifles are too expensive to justify placing on Broadsides. They are tank killers, and MC snipers in a pinch. Plasma rifles really don't pair up well with railguns. SMS is a better choice because it's free...and because it's free. If your Broadside isn't firing it's railgun, it better be because there are no more targets for it. You pay too much for an upgrade you'll never use, as the suit can only fire one weapon at a time (unless you give it a multi-tracker over A.S.S...which you shouldn't. Moving and firing that Railgun is so cash). TL Railguns + SMS + A.S.S. is the tried and true Broadside loadout. You'll never shoot the plasma rifles, and if you do it will be only in the rarest of circumstances.

plasma rifles are not tank killers. why? Str6 will have to hit the side armor of most tanks to glance and definitly the rear to Pen

they are MEQ killers and since they have the same range as the SMS they are a good purchase

i run the team leader with the plasma and the reqular suits with the SMS because of cheapness

SMS fil the exact same role as the plasma rifles, to kill MEQs and MCs that get too close to the XV88s

Plasma is an OK broadside upgrade if you have the points


Broadsides with both plasma rifles on one arm and a shield generator one the other look really cool BTW

My advise: buy the FW Broadside with SMS, it's gorgeous. Magnetize the weapons so you can try with the plasma rifles as well.

I have found the problem with the plasma rifle option is that it is usually ineffective against the targets that the Broadside tends to fire at with rail guns. The times when they might be useful are the times when SMS can work as well or better. I always take ASS with each Broadside and use just the basic configuration. I usually take gun drones with each unit as I normally expect to be using cover. I would recommend, as others have, that you save the points for something more useful like V*8 configurations.

I accept that exceptions can exist when you have SM etc. as targets but usually an XV8 team is better at handling them anyway.

Grey Templar, RogueFox meant "Broadsides" when he said "they" in the second sentence, not "Plasma Rifles". That's the problem with an unclear antecedent.

I prefer the SMS as it gives me better anti-troop firepower in a pinch (and my Broadsides seem to end up in a pinch in most games). By turn four or five, I've usually run out of armored targets anyway.

I stick with the SMS for a few reasons:

Cheaper. And a team of three broadsides gets pretty expensive as is.

Third point loadout: you need a multi-tracker to fully make use of the plasma rifles. Given how vital the ASS is to broadsides (broadsides without ASS will lose their first turn shots in all dawn of war games, will not be able to prolong firing by backing away from incoming enemy, or lose shots to not being able to clear LoS), you will always be faced with the question of firing the railguns *or* the plasma rifles. And for me, the Railguns just win out.

I run SMS with A.S.S. Team lead, 2 shield drones and Black Sun Filter. (Bye bye deathleaper) and HWLT on the team leader to split fire.

I tend to run out of armored targets by turn 4 or 5 and the SMS are effective for pounding troops sitting on an objective, without getting shot at.

i think broadsides can fire 2 weapons at once

normal crisis suits can fire multiple weapons as is, I assume the XV88s can as well.

Grey Templar wrote:i think broadsides can fire 2 weapons at once

normal crisis suits can fire multiple weapons as is, I assume the XV88s can as well.

Crisis suits can only fire multiple weapons if you take a multi-tracker, the same with broadsides. They aren't vehicles.