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CptZach wrote:
TL MP suits might be good against rhinos but past that they aren't all that useful.

They insta-kill T3 units just fine, thank you.

CptZach wrote:Rhinos have smoke, so yes, they can all be in cover
Pathfinders + devilfish + hammerhead = around 300+ pts
And you can wreck 1 35 pt rhino a turn (not a very good return)
TL MP suits might be good against rhinos but past that they aren't all that useful.

The smoke only last one round, and that's what you have the Pathfinders for, so it's only good the Rhinos come with smoke or these guys would be bored.

The devilfish can be given to Fire Warriors for objective control and therefore should not really be counted here, and the Hammerhead should really not be using it's strength 10 vs. a Rhino. It should either be handing out pie to the Marines (who where kind enough to line up in Pie Formation after the Rhino was destroyed) or be dealing with the serious threads of a Land Raiders. But you're right. If wielded poorly Tau can be a weak army.

And MP+PR suits work wonders against marines. If they field many Rhinos they are usefull for a long part of the game, and if not they most certainly outmaneuver footslogging marines while picking away at them. Besides, in a take all comers list you are gonna love them when faced up against Nids.

And I am still failing to see how your proposed Piranha Spam will be more cost-effective than TL MP suits or MP+PR+TA suits (a favorite of mine) for that matter. The base cost for a Piranha with Fusion Blaster (12'' range I might add) is 70 points (I assume you give them Dpods here... Correct me if I'm mistaken and I'll correct you for not using them ) and the cost for a Suit is between 53 and 67 points. And thats for between double and triple (even quadruple within 12'') the number of shots, at three times the range... And a Piranha can't JSJ and is potentially picked of with one STR5 shot (agreed, not that likely, but the one-shot madness doesn't start before str8 with Suits, and they can equip drones for just that). On top of that, the Piranhas give up 2 KP in most circumstances.

What I will agree on is that Piranhas can be useful in some configurations. A squad of two with Fusion Blasters has their uses, and a squad of 5 Piranhas with Burst Cannons skimming around behind a Gun-Drone wall of 10 Gun Drones that JSJ to give cover but not grant cover can be an awesome thing to fool around with. But both has a lot of drawbacks in form of cost, footprint and KP missions that just makes them too much of a gimped unit. Their speed is great and all, but I would definitely prefer suits and tanks over Piranhas any day.

Cheers,

- Gorlak