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So, after carefully reading the Tau Empire codex and some suggestions on other forums, I've come to the conclusion that drones attached to battlesuit units actually do NOT count when assessing if the unit is under 50% when trying to rally from a previously failed morale check.

Tau Empire codex Pg. 31 has a very specific list of when and for what purposes drones count for unit strength purposes.

Pg.31 wrote:Drones under the command of a drone controller are counted when assessing if the unit they are with should take a Morale check having taken 25% casualties. They are similarly counted when determining if the unit is strong enough to claim an objective. If their unit suffers losses, drones are counted when determining if it is below 50% for Victory Point purposes.

This quote suggest that I am right in my assessment, but am I right?

Discuss!

No.

...And yes.

This quote is a great example of selective editing. If it had simply read, "drones are always counted where issues of unit strength are concerned," then yes you would be correct. However, as you say, the Codex presents a very specific list. It does not "suggest" anything. These are the RAW, play them as such.

That said, there is another issue here. The drones are, obviously, models. Thus, a unit that has lost "more than %50 of its models" counts drones by default when determining this. This, however, is not the RAW. The BRB clearly states that it is being "below half strength" that causes units to be unable to regroup. What you need to do is find the definition of "unit strength."

Nope. And No.

Unit STR is the size it is at however many models it starts out as, let's call it Original Unit Strength. Once under 50% of OUS, any survivors better have a BK, otherwise no ability to rally.

A lot of this is largely irrelevant as Suits can no longer secure objectives (although FWs with drones can) and Victory Points are also no longer in 5e.

Plus, it doesn't bypass the requirements for Rallying.

Warboss Tufgrim wrote:Tau Empire codex Pg. 31 has a very specific list of when and for what purposes drones count for unit strength purposes.

Does it, though? Or does it simply have a list clarifying how drones work in certain situations, as otherwise some players would be confused due to their status as wargear...?

To my mind, drones are separate models. The codex doesn't specifically say to not count towards unit strength as you would any other model (as it does in the Ork codex for Grot assistants and squigs) ... and so they count towards unit strength like any other model would.

insaniak wrote:

Does it, though? Or does it simply have a list clarifying how drones work in certain situations, as otherwise some players would be confused due to their status as wargear...?

To my mind, drones are separate models. The codex doesn't specifically say to not count towards unit strength as you would any other model (as it does in the Ork codex for Grot assistants and squigs) ... and so they count towards unit strength like any other model would.

Would it not be worthy to clarify that they indeed count towards the starting unit size, as wargear usually isn't?

I agree with you though, they are indeed separate models, but they are also dependent of the guy with the drone controller. For example; a 3-man crisis team has a team leader with HWDC and 2 Drones. The team leader is the first to die, and his drones consequently are removed. The remaining two suits fail ther Morale test and fall back. Can this unit regroup?

I snapped this up on ATT and merely posted this to understand how most people feel about this.

On thinking about it, I vaguely recall a clarification from an older FAQ that drones didn't count towards the 50%... although it may very well have been for the last codex.

I'm kind of on the fence about it. Ruleswise, I see nothing to indicate that they wouldn't count as models for rallying purposes.

Fluffwise, and considering their nature as a wargear item, I would be happy to ignore them.

So, given that I don't actually have a Tau army, I'd be happy to play it either way until GW get around to clarifying it.

Warboss Tufgrim wrote:I snapped this up on ATT and merely posted this to understand how most people feel about this.

WT, what's the general consensus on ATT?

I checked ATT's rules forum and didn't see it come up. Care to provide a link? Are you "WarbossTufgrim" there?

Brothererekose wrote:Unit STR is the size it is at however many models it starts out as, let's call it Original Unit Strength.

Page #?

MekanobSamael wrote:

Brothererekose wrote:Unit STR is the size it is at however many models it starts out as, let's call it Original Unit Strength.

Page #?

There is no page for my little O.U.S. acronym. I just made it up, thus "Let's call it ..." , but page 46's 1st bullet is the one with the 'half strength' phrase.

Brothererekose wrote:WT, what's the general consensus on ATT?

I checked ATT's rules forum and didn't see it come up. Care to provide a link? Are you "WarbossTufgrim" there?

To be honest it wasn't much of a rules argument, I think it came up in a battle report somewhere. I'll see if I can find it again.