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Greetings all. Question about Tau sniper drones.

Now then since they are drones are they also equipped with jet packs like other drones? If this is the case doesn't that make them relentless thanks to having jet packs? If so these puppies seem to be a bit more effective. Am I right or are they not equipped that way?

It would, however since the drone controller is a regular infantry guy, basically a fire warrior with some additions, it won't work. The whole squad needs the USR in order for it to work.

No they dont ALL need relentless in order to be able to fire.

However from memory Drones take on the same "type" as their owner, in which case they would be Infantry, and not Jetpack

That is correct, the unit type would be the same as the owner and would count as infantry and not Jetpack.

And since they don't have relentless on their own they wouldn't keep it when switching to an infantry type.

Also: A relentless model in a non-relentless unit does not lose that special rule

All of this is wrong. Sniper drones are not jet packs. They are regular infantry. It says in the codex their unit type is infantry.

edit: I think your thinking of gun drones units. They are Infantry (jet pack).

VoxDei wrote:All of this is wrong. Sniper drones are not jet packs. They are regular infantry. It says in the codex their unit type is infantry.

Actually

Tau Codex pg 31 wrote: Unit Type: As Owner

Noir Eternal wrote:

VoxDei wrote:All of this is wrong. Sniper drones are not jet packs. They are regular infantry. It says in the codex their unit type is infantry.

Actually

Tau Codex pg 31 wrote: Unit Type: As Owner

I don't have my codex on hand but i'm almost sure your looking at the section about gundrones, shield drones, marker drones

The owner is Infantry.

This isn't apparent from the codex but it was clarified in the FAQ.

The team leader with the drone controller is the owner.

sniper drones are not wargear they are a unit


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Kilkrazy wrote:The owner is Infantry.

This isn't apparent from the codex but it was clarified in the FAQ.

The team leader with the drone controller is the owner.

team leader can't take a sniper drones because it's not listed in the war gear. Sniper drones are not war gear like gun drones.

VoxDei wrote:sniper drones are not wargear they are a unit


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Kilkrazy wrote:The owner is Infantry.

This isn't apparent from the codex but it was clarified in the FAQ.

The team leader with the drone controller is the owner.

team leader can't take a sniper drones because it's not listed in the war gear. Sniper drones are not war gear like gun drones.

Indeed your right, but I thought it was pretty clear in the codex that the owner was infantry.

You have one spotter, an infantry unit, and the unit profile is considered infantry.
Even without the FAQ if you were to look on pg 31 it would still point you back to the unit to tell you that it would be infantry.

Nothing in the codex makes it scream jetpack

VoxDei wrote:sniper drones are not wargear they are a unit


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kilkrazy wrote:The owner is Infantry.

This isn't apparent from the codex but it was clarified in the FAQ.

The team leader with the drone controller is the owner.

team leader can't take a sniper drones because it's not listed in the war gear. Sniper drones are not war gear like gun drones.

Yes, I know. Also a drone controller can only have two drones, not three, and drones that are controlled don't have an Ld stat.

For all these reasons it is not apparent that the team leader is the owner. But he is, because the FAQ said so, thus devaluing the unit 25%.

Noir Eternal wrote:
You have one spotter, an infantry unit, and the unit profile is considered infantry.

Exactly. The unit profile of a sniper drone team is infantry.


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Kilkrazy wrote:
For all these reasons it is not apparent that the team leader is the owner. But he is, because the FAQ said so, thus devaluing the unit 25%.

did they FAQ that the drones taken by a controller don't count toward the unit 25%? I don't believe they count toward unit strenght since they are just wargear but it would be great if they FAQ'd that.

They count towards panic checks, as they are models that are part of the unit. The fact they are purchased as wargear is entirely irrelevant

Thanks all.

nosferatu1001 wrote:They count towards panic checks, as they are models that are part of the unit. The fact they are purchased as wargear is entirely irrelevant

The problem is that it doesn't say it's 25% of the models. It says 25% of the units strenght or something like that. Which causes the confusion. It's the drone part of his controllers strenght? He's just a piece of wargear the controller bought. The regroup rule says 50% of the models so that is obvious the drones count toward that. The unit's strenght is never defined which makes it difficult.

The number of models in the unit is your unit strength. No ifs or buts.

They are a model, they have a stat line, they count for panic.

nosferatu1001 wrote:The number of models in the unit is your unit strength. No ifs or buts.

They are a model, they have a stat line, they count for panic.

Where is that in the rule book?

Have a read of the first line of "Casualties", page 44. Note it states "models"

opps. I got that one and regroup backwards. Its' regroup I'm confused about. Says half strength. But i can't find out what 'strenght' is.

Strength is the number of models in the unit to begin with - its the only contextually sensible answer.

Noir Eternal wrote:

VoxDei wrote:All of this is wrong. Sniper drones are not jet packs. They are regular infantry. It says in the codex their unit type is infantry.

Actually

Tau Codex pg 31 wrote: Unit Type: As Owner

actually it says in their unit entry on pg. 40 they are infantry, so from both pages its right.

question on this unit as I am about to start a Tau army.... It states under the drone controller in wargear that the model with it must take one or two Gun, Marker, or shield drones in any combination for the wargear list. Since the spotter comes with a drone controller, but sniper drones aren't one of the ones that you can choose, does that mean the spotter also has to choose 1 or 2 other drones??? I see the pros and cons of that, but wasn't sure if I missed a rule anywhere that says the drone controller the spotter has is for the sniper drones.

From the FAQ:

Q. The text says that the Spotter of a Sniper
Drones squad is equipped with a drone controller.
Does that mean he must buy 1 or 2 extra drones
for his squad? Also, does that mean that if he is
killed, the drones are removed, or do they
continue to operate as a Drones squadron?
A. The drone controller he is equipped with is
used to control the Sniper Drones. This means that
he cannot buy any extra drones and, if he is killed,
the entire squad is removed.

This is also where the Drones being of the type of their owner comes into play; their owner is infantry therefore they are infantry. Along with, of course, the fact that no other unit type is ever given for sniper drones(they certainly are not gun, shield, nor Marker drones, so why they would be anything other than what is listed is beyond me).

Thanks Kel, haven't read the Tau FAQ yet.

it is here: http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1490298a_FAQ_TauEmpire_2009.pdf

You may want to give it a read for how some rules interact.

It is also important to note that Crisis battle suits, and stealth suits have their own version of the "jet-pack" unit type rules that are more specific than the BRB's jet pack rules and therefore are the ones used for them(they are not relentless, they can just move and fire rapid fire weapons as if stationary and assault after doing so).

Always remember more specific rules trump less specific rules; this is especially important to note with older codices, of various special versions of different target values and etc.

VoxDei wrote:

nosferatu1001 wrote:The number of models in the unit is your unit strength. No ifs or buts.

They are a model, they have a stat line, they count for panic.

Where is that in the rule book?

It's also in the Tau codex, regarding whether drones count towards morale tests and unit strength 50%. See the drone entry on page 31, especially the last line of the second paragraph.

Kommissar Kel wrote:it is here: http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1490298a_FAQ_TauEmpire_2009.pdf

You may want to give it a read for how some rules interact.

It is also important to note that Crisis battle suits, and stealth suits have their own version of the "jet-pack" unit type rules that are more specific than the BRB's jet pack rules and therefore are the ones used for them(they are not relentless, they can just move and fire rapid fire weapons as if stationary and assault after doing so).

Always remember more specific rules trump less specific rules; this is especially important to note with older codices, of various special versions of different target values and etc.

That's not true.

The only jet pack troops in the game are Tau. The jet pack rules in the 5th edition rulebook overrule the Tau 4th edition codex.

Tau have enough disadvantages in 5th edition without picking and mixing rules to penalise them even further.

Killkrazy: I was wrong about Stealth suits; they simply state to use the BRB jet pack rules.

But crisis suits tell us that they do not have relentless, or rather that their relentless is ignored(very last sentence in the Crisis suit rules; clearly tells us that they may not move and fire heavy weapons).

This is not picking and choosing which rules to use; this is having a General rule and then a specific rule removing and replacing a portion of it(much like corbolo's 2+ FNP; or myriad of other special rules in the game).

New general rules ( a new edition) over-rule old specific codex rules.

The Stealth Suit cannot take any non-assault weapons, so this rule is meaningless for it.

Kil - incorrect. Have a look at the smoke launcher entry, where it states if you have 2 rules then the codex always wins out.

Also Stealth suits can take a markerlight, a Decidedly Heavy weapon.