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Quick question guys.

If I bring a Sa'cea Sept Broadside and give it 1 missile drone and one shield drone, will both the missile drone and the Broadside get a reroll?

Drones are a separate unit as per the codex and the trait is 1 reroll per unit so... yes?

Donno whats unclear about it.

 Ordana wrote:
Drones are a separate unit as per the codex and the trait is 1 reroll per unit so... yes?

Donno whats unclear about it.

Nothing just confirming what I thought and making sure there are no FAQs.

yup. Makes perfect sense that they will get to re-roll one per unit. Anda unit is a unit.

Does anyone know where to find the Tau list that just won the GW heat tournement? Some people were talking about it in another thread, apparently it had the staple dakkasides, but also 6 or so pirahnas. I am interested in details.

Yaktan wrote:
Does anyone know where to find the Tau list that just won the GW heat tournement? Some people were talking about it in another thread, apparently it had the staple dakkasides, but also 6 or so pirahnas. I am interested in details.

It was posted in the stream's chat multiple times, though I'm sure a full list will be posted somewhere. Off the top of my head, it had Shadowsun, Cadre Fireblade, 3x Pirhana, 5x Pirhana, 3x Missile Broadsides, Riptide, 3x5 Strike Team with Markers (IIRC) (all Tau faction) and a Sa'cea group of an Ethereal and three Firesight Marksmen. Something like 18 total Seeker Missiles.

Yaktan wrote:
Does anyone know where to find the Tau list that just won the GW heat tournement? Some people were talking about it in another thread, apparently it had the staple dakkasides, but also 6 or so pirahnas. I am interested in details.

| Simon | Tau | Tau Sept | Cadré fireblade, Shadowsun, 3x 5 strike teams marker lights 2 shield drones. Grehk Riptide Hevy Burst Cannon 2x Smart Missile System 5x Piranhas 3x Piranhas 3x Broadsides with all the missiles in the world 5 shield drones | Vanguard detachment | Etheral on hover chair 3x Farsight Marksman

this is from Advanced Tau Tactica

Question about firesight marksmen, they have proven to be the go to source of markerlights for some time now, however with the increasing numbers of snipers hitting the tables, does anyone else think that their time is limited?

I'm not saying they have become auto loose, but I think that keeping markerlights around for later turns just got a lot harder.

Anyone got any radical ideas or just sticking withe them for the time being?

Ice_can wrote:
Question about firesight marksmen, they have proven to be the go to source of markerlights for some time now, however with the increasing numbers of snipers hitting the tables, does anyone else think that their time is limited?

I'm not saying they have become auto loose, but I think that keeping markerlights around for later turns just got a lot harder.

Anyone got any radical ideas or just sticking withe them for the time being?

If the enemy is throwing sniper fire on Firesight Marksmen (24 points a pop, 3 wounds, 2+ save in cover), I'd count that as a bonus. It means they're not shooting my Fireblades/Ethereals/Farstrider/Commanders.

Also, the easy solution is the synergistic one; Sniper Drones nearby. They have Savior Protocols and are buffed by the Firesight Marksman. But any drones will do. 4 Gun Drones hanging out nearby as bubble wrap vs deep strikers will do and keep them sniper proof for several turns.

 John Prins wrote:

Yaktan wrote:
Does anyone know where to find the Tau list that just won the GW heat tournement? Some people were talking about it in another thread, apparently it had the staple dakkasides, but also 6 or so pirahnas. I am interested in details.

It was posted in the stream's chat multiple times, though I'm sure a full list will be posted somewhere. Off the top of my head, it had Shadowsun, Cadre Fireblade, 3x Pirhana, 5x Pirhana, 3x Missile Broadsides, Riptide, 3x5 Strike Team with Markers (IIRC) (all Tau faction) and a Sa'cea group of an Ethereal and three Firesight Marksmen. Something like 18 total Seeker Missiles.

I like that Sa'cea idea on the Marksmen.

 Jancoran wrote:

 John Prins wrote:

Yaktan wrote:
Does anyone know where to find the Tau list that just won the GW heat tournement? Some people were talking about it in another thread, apparently it had the staple dakkasides, but also 6 or so pirahnas. I am interested in details.

It was posted in the stream's chat multiple times, though I'm sure a full list will be posted somewhere. Off the top of my head, it had Shadowsun, Cadre Fireblade, 3x Pirhana, 5x Pirhana, 3x Missile Broadsides, Riptide, 3x5 Strike Team with Markers (IIRC) (all Tau faction) and a Sa'cea group of an Ethereal and three Firesight Marksmen. Something like 18 total Seeker Missiles.

I like that Sa'cea idea on the Marksmen.

Ethereals and Marksmen are the primary units to benefit from Sa'cea. Ld10 Ethereals and re-rolling 3+ Markerlights. I'm surprised he didn't make a Battalion out of them with Markerlight Strike Teams + Marker Drones for extra command points (he basically spent all of them in turn one in the two games he was shown in), but hey, he went 6-0 for the GT, so I guess he knows what he's doing!

 John Prins wrote:

but hey, he went 6-0 for the GT, so I guess he knows what he's doing!

never argue with success. It makes one look like a fool when one does. hehehe.

The Sa'cea Marksman Vanguard is about as cookie cutter as Tau lists get.
You should see it in basically every competitive Tau list.

 Ordana wrote:
The Sa'cea Marksman Vanguard is about as cookie cutter as Tau lists get.
You should see it in basically every competitive Tau list.

I added sacea to my list at lvo, but not that way. I like it though

 Ordana wrote:
The Sa'cea Marksman Vanguard is about as cookie cutter as Tau lists get.
You should see it in basically every competitive Tau list.

I desperately want to field them in Tidewall Droneports. Marker Drones moving and hitting on 3+, just to see the look on people's faces (before they shoot them off the table).

 Ordana wrote:
The Sa'cea Marksman Vanguard is about as cookie cutter as Tau lists get.
You should see it in basically every competitive Tau list.

If I may ask, why the ethereal for the HQ slot and not a firesight marksman for the additional markerlight on a 2+ ? Or is it personal preference from list to list?

 GeckoDragon wrote:

 Ordana wrote:
The Sa'cea Marksman Vanguard is about as cookie cutter as Tau lists get.
You should see it in basically every competitive Tau list.

If I may ask, why the ethereal for the HQ slot and not a firesight marksman for the additional markerlight on a 2+ ? Or is it personal preference from list to list?

The Ethereal provides several things that are not locked to a particular Sept, meaning you don't lose anything for taking him in a different sept from the rest of your list. Any Tau units can use his leadership, as well as his Invocation of the Elements abilities. The Fireblade's Volley Fire ability is sept-specific and so should match your Fire Warriors. If you just care about the markerlight, then sure go ahead and take a Fireblade.

 ZergSmasher wrote:

The Ethereal provides several things that are not locked to a particular Sept, meaning you don't lose anything for taking him in a different sept from the rest of your list. Any Tau units can use his leadership, as well as his Invocation of the Elements abilities. The Fireblade's Volley Fire ability is sept-specific and so should match your Fire Warriors. If you just care about the markerlight, then sure go ahead and take a Fireblade.

Huh, never realised that was something they did, definitely makes more sense than what i was thinking of. If one wanted firepower they would fill the slot with a commander, so my thoughts were that they were going for the markerlights alone and all the associated sa'cea strategems. Though if the ethereal can run off and do its own thing elsewhere for everyone why not take it over a fireblade.

Fits the fluff too i suppose, a fireblade is looked up to as a hero from that particular septs fire caste only, but an ethereal has presence regardless of where they come from.

Yeah, for the competitive style dakkaside plus drone lists, an ethereal seems rather useful. Giving your shield drones good leadership can really help keep them around.

I have had drones run away a surprising number of times, and I just have a couple 2 drone squads that come with my stealth suits, or 4 man gun drone squads manta striking. That LD 6 is surprisingly bad. Cowardly little robots.

Yaktan wrote:
Yeah, for the competitive style dakkaside plus drone lists, an ethereal seems rather useful. Giving your shield drones good leadership can really help keep them around.

I have had drones run away a surprising number of times, and I just have a couple 2 drone squads that come with my stealth suits, or 4 man gun drone squads manta striking. That LD 6 is surprisingly bad. Cowardly little robots.

Until my current list, i have used the crap out of Aun'Va. so much win in one little unit. Although i just didn't have the points for him in this list I'm using, I cannot type enough superlatives regarding his usefulness.

so what are peoples thoughts on running the XV84? I'm new to Tau (well new to anything post 5th edition Tau) and i'm going to run one with BC and CIB with A ghost walks among us and vectored thrusters. super mobile and 7 shots hitting on 2's each of which score ML hits.

lame the xv84 only does a maximum of 1.

in other news.

Which is better, Ghostkeel, or missilesides?

gendoikari87 wrote:
lame the xv84 only does a maximum of 1.

in other news.

Which is better, Ghostkeel, or missilesides?

Hard to compare since they both do very different things for a list.

 Ordana wrote:

gendoikari87 wrote:
lame the xv84 only does a maximum of 1.

in other news.

Which is better, Ghostkeel, or missilesides?

Hard to compare since they both do very different things for a list.

If we compare a missileside with an ionkeel they want to hunt very similar targets.

8 S7 AP-1 D(D3) + 8 S5 AP0 D1 shots
vs
6 S8 AP-1 D(D3) + 8 S5 AP0 D1 shots

The threat ranges are just the same, although the key difference is that the Ghostkeel has to move to get into range (and might have issues with penalties to hit on one of its weapons depending on upgrades/support/markerlights)

Defensively the ghostkeel has more wounds, higher toughness and a native -1 to enemy shooting but a worse save and it does degrade (although a broadside would be on its last wound by then so it is less of an issue than you might think.

115 vs 118 points before add-ons.

You do have to take 2 stealth drones with the ghostkeel but if you are not taking drones to protect your broadsides they will not last long.

The key thing is that broadsides come in units and they want to be stationary - that means that they fit perfectly with Shadowsun and her Kauyon + C&CN suite of buffs to have them re-rolling everything for 2 turns. Broadsides make a very powerful static firebase. Broadsides are also vulnerable to being tagged in combat because they lack the Fly keyword.

Ghostkeels on the other hand want to move around to take shots and do not come in units which can maximise the value from C&CN. They are pretty unconcerned with being tagged by enemy models as they can just fly away. They fit a far more mobile play style better suited to objective grabbing but less well suited to simply killing as much stuff as you possibly can. Some of the support systems are way more expensive on a ghostkeel, which you do need to watch out for as the cost of the suit can go up a lot.

I think Broadsides will continue to be the favoured choice in ITC with its emphasis on killing stuff and the enormous need for LOS ignoring weapons, which the SMS is and the BC is not. In CA18 missions I think the ghostkeel is a real sleeper unit, not yet being seen very commonly but it will do really well in that format.

Thanks inquisitor, I think the really interesting comparison with the ghostkeel is how it compares to a leman Russ, 6 vs 2d6 shots and the same profile if you take an ATS. same BS if you take a target lock 10 t6 wouns vs 12 T8 wounds but the ghostkeel gets -1 to hit and is way more mobile. Might not stack up perfectly but getting close to a LR is pretty impressive.

gendoikari87 wrote:
Thanks inquisitor, I think the really interesting comparison with the ghostkeel is how it compares to a leman Russ, 6 vs 2d6 shots and the same profile if you take an ATS. same BS if you take a target lock 10 t6 wouns vs 12 T8 wounds but the ghostkeel gets -1 to hit and is way more mobile. Might not stack up perfectly but getting close to a LR is pretty impressive.

Leman Russ needs a lot of screening to keep it firing. Without a screen something just jumps in and touches it in combat to shut down the LR. Try that with a Ghostkeel and it will just fly away and shoot you again. Fly is a fantastic keyword to have.

Can someone do a brief rundown of the crisis suit commanders? they all look incredibly similar outside of the coldstar and XV84

gendoikari87 wrote:
lame the xv84 only does a maximum of 1.

in other news.

Which is better, Ghostkeel, or missilesides?

I have used a singular Ghostkeel for a long while and it has done amazing things for me. I try and plant it RIGHT on their doorstep during deployment right where their best terrain piece is and watch the ants scatter. Too good. It's also hearty, and you can repair it on both your turn and his. I don't know about more than one, because what the one does is so specific and there's a point of diminishing returns.

I JUST attended a GT and used 8 Missilesides, but I didn't do all that well (in heavy part due to TO rulings, not because the Broadsides failed to impress). Having a unit of them is probably very advisable . Between the Commander letting you go off the hook for a turn with Command and Control plus the Master of War thing, you can REALLY do some damage. I crushed like 4 tanks in a round in one game thanks to that and even without it I was doing work. In one game this guy brought this cheeky SEVEN Eldar flyer list, with SEVEN Venoms. All he had left at games end were two archons on the table. so much for -1 to hit, because I had the Velocity Trackers on 6 of the broadsides and it was mission 4 (deploy everything missions) so I made him go first. Which he did not expect. Which did not help his cause. So that was fun.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

gendoikari87 wrote:
Can someone do a brief rundown of the crisis suit commanders? they all look incredibly similar outside of the coldstar and XV84

I'd just get the Irridium armor one and the Shield Generator. I honestly wouldnt prefer the Coldstars becasue they are pretty much free head Hunter or Kingslayer points depending on your list.

I am not familiar with the forgeworld options, but for codex options for commanders you have:

Shadowsun, unique, locked to T'au sept, can deploy with ghostkeels/stealth suits, can give an extra turn of re-roll hit bubble. Gets special drones.
Farsight, unique, locked to Farsight Enclaves, is designed to operate in meele. I am not sure if he actually does much, but seems like even if he does, he will be all on his lonesome as the only meele model in the army. (I guess a blob of hounds could back him up?)

XV8, cheap, can take irridium for 2+ save. Lots of loadout options. I run one with missile pods/ats mostly because I have the model. Is reasonably costed (after chapter approved--he dropped 33 points!) and can put the hurt on light vehicles.
Enforcer, costs 4 points more for 1 more wound, no option for irridium. Some people like to run them with quad cyclic ion blasters, can work as as manta striking threat.

Coldstar, has the 20'' move, 20'' advance. Cannot take CIB, but has special burst cannon if you want to go for a dakka skirmisher build. I like mine with the quad fusion, though his utility is lessened by my meta being full of invuln saves, particularly imperial knights. On the other hand 4 2+ fusion blasters does make eldar planes very sad. Even got a 12 point drop in chapter approved. As noted above, the fast movement can bait you into bad decisions where you send him out in front and he dies, on the other hand used judiciously the movement can be a huge tactical boon, grabbing malestrom objectives, getting in close to zap annoying eldar planes, etc.

Does anyone know of a video, or post, that takes about the different Septs and which ones synergize well with one another.