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Prototype Crisis Railgun

Points cost: 50

Takes two hard points.

May either fire with Solid shot, or the following profile

Range: 36' S: 4 AP: 3 Assault 4, Rending, Blast

May only be taken by Commanders.

Came up with this in ten minutes. Opinions?

The Assault 4 is a bit much, that means he can jump forward PEW PEW PEW PEW, and then jump back. Not good for any other army, at least make the range like 12 inches.

And Solid Shot would still be heavy, right?

Still Heavy of course. Assault 3 maybe?

solid shot heavy 1 sounds better... S10 ap1

Your Friend Doctor Robert wrote:Still Heavy of course. Assault 3 maybe?

.

Not even. It can decimate everything basic infantry can throw at it. Assault 2 and 12 inch range sounds good if you're planning to keep that weapon Strength and AP.

Make it assault 3 and AP4 and it would be alot better. AP3 would break it, because then it would be an instant death for any marine squad.

bdix wrote:Make it assault 3 and AP4 and it would be alot better. AP3 would break it, because then it would be an instant death for any marine squad.

And still instant death for the best armored infantry the guard can put out .

36' Inch Strength 6 AP 4, Assault 3 Blast, then?

Remember we've got more than enough S 5 weapons, and it's nice something that will actually scare MEQs.

If you're going for a crisis version, think rail rifle, not railgun; the rail rifle has only just come out of an extensive test phase, it is unlikely that they'll manage to transfer the power of a railgun to man-portable size this quickly without sacrificing power like the railrifle has.

With this in mind, a solid shot is out of the question; the systems required to fit a railgun capable of a solid-shot to a battlesuit are too large to make you commander any different from a broadside.

Take the basic profile of a railrifle and make a few changes, perhaps S7 AP3 Assault 2 for one firing mode and S8 AP2 Heavy 1 for another?

Newbie Tau player here: I'm quite tired of all of the S 5 AP 5 weapons that do little to nothing against MEQs, so this is certainly a step in the right direction in my opinion.

The Solid Shot does seem a bit much for a prototype rail rifle, but I see where you're going with it. Avatar 720, that sounds much better as an alt. fire than the S 10 AP 1, just as long as it stays at 72" range or something ungodly far, which is typical with Tau.

In regards to the original idea, I think the S 4 AP 3 rending thing sounds awesome, and, unlike most Tau weapons, will actually DO something interesting at long ranges.

Keep it at Assault 36" but perhaps tone it down by making a rule that limits the amount of shots? Something along the lines of having to reload the fletchettes or letting the rifle cool down?

Points cost seems perfect for a variety of reasons.

All in all, it still needs quite a bit of tweaking, but it will certainly be a lot of fun when it's a bit more refined. A long range heavy sniper rifle with the capability of tearing infantry apart at closer ranges? WHY DON'T THE TAU ALREADY HAVE THIS?!

Idea: The weapon has a range of 48 Inches, and at this range it is Assault 1. However, as the target is closer, the enemy becomes easier to target and thus the user need not as much time targeting and more time firing. Thus, for every 12 inches closer the target is, the weapon gets an additional shot. So it's Assault 1 at 48 inches, Assault 2 at 36, Assault 3 at 14, and Assault 4 at twelve inches.

Now, considering it's 1 AM, this may not be the best idea. What do you all think?

Avatar 720 wrote:If you're going for a crisis version, think rail rifle, not railgun; the rail rifle has only just come out of an extensive test phase, it is unlikely that they'll manage to transfer the power of a railgun to man-portable size this quickly without sacrificing power like the railrifle has.

With this in mind, a solid shot is out of the question; the systems required to fit a railgun capable of a solid-shot to a battlesuit are too large to make you commander any different from a broadside.

Take the basic profile of a railrifle and make a few changes, perhaps S7 AP3 Assault 2 for one firing mode and S8 AP2 Heavy 1 for another?

I think just allowing taking the rail rifle with little to no tweaks would be nice.

A 36" Str 6 AP 3 weapon on a mobile platform is pretty darn nice.

The downside is that it's heavy and single shot; the Plasma Rifle outperforms it every time due to being rapid fire and AP2; the only thing the rail rifle has over a plasma rifle is range.

It'd have to become an assault weapon if it's ever going to compete, but would you rather 36" S6 AP3 Assault 1 or 24" S6 AP2 Rapid Fire? Bump the strength up to 7 (argue that the crisis suit's advanced systems allow for more effective usage, more efficient cooling and more energy input to create a stronger output) and you might have a chance, but duct taping a rail rifle to a crisis suit as it is wouldn't do it any good.

Avatar 720 wrote:The downside is that it's heavy and single shot; the Plasma Rifle outperforms it every time due to being rapid fire and AP2; the only thing the rail rifle has over a plasma rifle is range.

It'd have to become an assault weapon if it's ever going to compete, but would you rather 36" S6 AP3 Assault 1 or 24" S6 AP2 Rapid Fire? Bump the strength up to 7 (argue that the crisis suit's advanced systems allow for more effective usage, more efficient cooling and more energy input to create a stronger output) and you might have a chance, but duct taping a rail rifle to a crisis suit as it is wouldn't do it any good.

With 5th ed, the jumping restriction can go out the window though, as the rb says they can move and fire heavy weapons anyways. Just drop that line from the codex and viola...

I like the idea even if I dont play tau, could be a cool looking model that could dish out damage, Maybe you slice half the Railgun off (you Know how it's split) of slice it down and mount that Bit*h!