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Well I looked at that new rapid fire rumor (2 shots at full distance while stationary) and then one thought came immediately to my head, "holy gak batman! Krootox!"

Think about it for 175 points you have a squad that has a 3+ cover save in jungles, 6 str 7 shots at 48 inches that hit on 4's, 9 str 6 melee attacks (12 on the charge) and 20 str 4 melee attacks (30 on the charge!), and they can claim objectives! That and you can have 5 such of these squads!!
That's a total of 30 str 7 shots a turn for the cost of 875 points. Not bad tau, not bad.

Kroot are still I3. Kroot still have no armor save. Kroot have a leadership of 7(or 8).

They'll still die really fast.

KplKeegan wrote:Kroot are still I3. Kroot still have no armor save. Kroot have a leadership of 7(or 8).

They'll still die really fast.

Stick them in a forest. All good boards have some kind of forest.

Yeah, my Kroot have been so effective in friendly games my opponents are leery of putting too much forest on the board now.

A squad of TH/SS termies would like a word with you

Anyway, while this is definitely the awesome-sauce for the Krootox and Kroot in general, I think the idea of Rapid Fire as Heavy 2/Assault 1 has a few other nasty applications with the Tau.

For starters, the Tau Pulse rifle - think about it, being able to fire 12 St 5 AP 5 shots 30 inches while keeping a squad of Firewarriors moving? It will make them harder to assault while they still can pump out a lot of firepower. Scarier still, if those firewarriors are stationary they are putting 24 shots out to 30 inches, double what a unit can do now. Using Marker lights you can easily translate those 24 shots into 20 hits. There are not many units that could survive that sort of fusillade.

Next up, the Tau Plasma Rifles. Evn though the platforms carrying them (Crisis Suits and Broadsides) have had true relentless stripped away from them, they still always count as stationary when using Plasma Rifles. Now, isntead of having to close to within 12 inches to maximize the effectiveness of their plasma rifles, Crisis Suits can jump 24 inches from their target, pop off 2 St 6 AP 2 shots, then hop back out to 30 inches (ideally with cover).

Now, instead of having to take the ASS to get Slow and Purposeful, Broadsides can just lay down a barrage of back up and lay down a barrage of plasma blasts if somebody gets too close.

Thinking of Kroot, forget the Krootoxes for a moment. If you have initiative and infiltrate a unit of Kroot 24 inches away from the enemy lines, on the first turn you could lance into them with up to 40 St 4 AP 5 shots.

Put a few Kroot units on the board in the opponent's face like that and he'll have to deal with them for a turn or two before he can start advancing on your Firewarriors. If he chooses to bypass them and head for your gunline, he's going to be absorbing dozens of shots front and back as he goes, or your Kroot might charge out and eat a couple of squads letting your Firewarriors focus on the rest.

So yeah, this change, if it happens, is really a winning proposition for the Tau all around.