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I have played a fair few games with my tweaked 1000pt list and had mixed success, mainly because I only field 2 troop choices and they are blown up so the best result is a draw on 2 out of 3 games. My main question is about pathfinders. I have never used them at all and was wondering if some of you that have could explain their benefits and why I should adjust my list to include them. Thanks for the hints and tips in advance.

ATO

Pathfinders are a unit that enjoys much love with a lot of Tau players....

I however do not field them ever... I also do not field Kroot either.


Regardless of perceived benefits of the PF unit... I have never been a fan of spending points on a unit that dosent kill anything.

I would rather spend those points on more suits which actually fire.

Im no mathhammer guru and my logic may be flawed here but adding a 6 man PF team for 170 pts = I can field a 3 Firestorms for that... Thats 15 extra shots per turn.

Thats 7-8 extra wounds per turn on a unit. x2 for having a 2nd unit of them.

Now take the single unit of Storms and add marker light support..... 6 PF will hit 3x...

Take the BS up to 5 for the unit and you hit 33% more.

83% of 15 shots will hit. 12.45 wounds.

Compare that to the 2 units of storms that wound 15 wounds per turn.....

I would only take a PF team when ALL Elite slots and HS are taken....so at a 1k points game.... No I wouldnt take them.






Automatically Appended Next Post:
Of course if you dont have 3 extra suits but you own the PF models that is a different story =]

Well, i have played against Eldar Pathfinders and they kick

AP 1 on a roll of 5 or 6 to wound. Thats ripping apart most troop choices.
+2 to their cover save... Makes them dam near impossible to remove from a bunker / fortress.
Hits on a 3+. Wounds on a 4+ & Ignores armour on a 5+
Pinning.

well. need i say more?

On the other hand, 24 points per model. Realistically, you will only need 5. So 120 points of a mandatory troop choice.
Best if you avoid Close Combat - They dont really live to long in h2h

Yeah, they could be classed as 'expensive', but for a unit who is really hard to shift in cover (preferably sitting on a objective), they are a definate.

Tau Pathfinders are useful; Tau win or die based on the number of markerlights they can put out to mitigate their mediocre BS, and small Pathfinder units are pretty efficient in that regard.

Eldar Pathfinders are solid objective-holders with their +2 to cover saves, and they quite literally have a 21% chance per shot of wounding anything with a 3+ armor save (Daemon Princes, Carnifexes, Wraithlords...), but they don't do well against vehicles or normal infantry.

I assume from Alltheones' title and signature he's referring to Tau Pathfinders; probably take a small unit in any size game, just for the extra markerlight hits.

Yer i am on about the Tau ones yer I just havent decided whether they are worth losing units for that is my main concern. Markerlights are useful dont get me wrong but im still not convinced. Are there any special cool tricks they can do which might change my mind?

Cheers

ATO

Milisim wrote:Pathfinders are a unit that enjoys much love with a lot of Tau players....

I however do not field them ever... I also do not field Kroot either.


Regardless of perceived benefits of the PF unit... I have never been a fan of spending points on a unit that dosent kill anything.

I would rather spend those points on more suits which actually fire.

I'd defo agree here, they have never been worth their points for me, for the points you pay for the pathfinders + Devilfish you can have a whole new Deathrain suit Squad (159 Points for 3 TL Missile Pods with Targeting Arrays)

At 1000-1500 Points leave them in your case.

Thanks Godz, yer I used to use markerlights all the time but didnt find them all that useful if im totally honest. It was just a suggestion that someone made to me. Said they were useful but before I bought any I thought i would check it out on here first.

Thanks

ATO