Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Not sure where this belongs but, here goes...

Most of the races in 40k have psykers of one form or another.
I know that the Tau have next to no warp presence but even so shouldn't the ethereals have some form of actual game-worth abilities.
Necrons get powers - not psychic as far as I know - and yet Tau only have a 60+ point standard bearer that is more detrimental than any other unit in their poor outdated codex.
All I'm proposing is giving them some form of actual worth.
They are supposed to be good in CC - but they aren't - they have nothing for ranged; why don't they have anything actually useful??

Opinions...

"Tau only have a 60+ point standard bearer that is more detrimental than any other unit in their poor outdated codex. "

There you go ! Thats the general opinion. They are ussless.
Moving on...

I think that an alternative solution to Etherals would be to allow them to influence the FOC choices according to their sept.

Etheral - 30pts
WS4 BS2 S3 T3 W2 I4 A3 Ld10 Sv-

Wargear
Shield Generator - 4++ Invun
Honour Blade - Power Weapon

May upgrade one unit of Fire Warriors to Honour Guard for +2pts/model, giving them +1BS and Fearless

Must be upgraded to one of the following Castes for the following point cost (I sold my old Tau Codex a while ago so any Tau players, feel free to correct me if I've got the wrong Caste).

Fire Caste - All Fire Warrior and XV8/88/9 units gain a Bonding Knife for no additonal points cost.

Water Caste - Any non-Kroot within 6" of the Etheral may choose to pass or fail any Morale check they are forced to take.

Earth Caste - The 0-1 restriction on Special Issue Wargear is removed. XV9 Battlesuits may be taken as Elite Choices, and XV8's are now Troops XV88's gain access to Phased Ion Cannons, Fusion Cascades and Pulse Submunition Rifles instead of their Railguns.

Air Caste - May take units of Piranah skimmers as Troop choices as well as Fast Attack. May also upgrade Pathfinders to take Tetra skimmers instead of Devilfish. May not take XV88 Broadsides.

But that is just butchering Tau fluff. Ethereals are their own unique caste. They can't be part of the others.

Yeha but can't GW give them a, you know, positive side...

Like some form of Uber-high-tech Tau contraption that destroys whole units
Or make the Ethereals as good as other IC CC things from other codices... (e.g. Chaos Space Marine Lords wipe the floor with them..

Yeah, make the honour blade a power weapon

OK, how about replacing them with the elders from the different castes off of the ruling commitees that co-ordinate with the Ethereals??

Typhon the Storm Giant wrote:Yeha but can't GW give them a, you know, positive side...

Like some form of Uber-high-tech Tau contraption that destroys whole units
Or make the Ethereals as good as other IC CC things from other codices... (e.g. Chaos Space Marine Lords wipe the floor with them..

Yeah, make the honour blade a power weapon

OK, how about replacing them with the elders from the different castes off of the ruling commitees that co-ordinate with the Ethereals??

Making the honour blade a power weapons goes against fluff too. However, fluffwise they are really good with them in duels spinning them within "millimetres [of each other] and microseconds from causing terrible damage." Perhaps show that in game by giving them a ridiculous WS and number of attacks, like WS 5 A 6 allowing them to tear through hordes easily enough. Another idea is to take a book from the IG and use something similar to orders, except instead of saying "fire at this tank with twin-linked weapons" or "fire an extra lasgun shot" make it more inspirational stuff like "this unit can reroll morale checks over the opponent's next turn" or "this unit gains furious charge" or "all units within X inches are stubborn."

Yeah, even showing the fluff skill of the Ethereals in the rules with them being good in assault as suggested by buttons would be better because at the moment - quite frankly - they just suck...

This is how I see an Ethereal should function

Aun'ui - Prelate
WS5 BS4 S3 T3 W2 I3 A3 Ld10 Sv-\4+
75pts

Special Rules
Inspiring Presence - All units within 12" may use his leadership as their own. Also, any unit joined by an Ethereal is fearless.

Price of Failure - Fluff: Bearing witness to the death throes of one of their exhalted ones, most Tau will be utterly and wholly shaken, resulting in vomiting, convulsions, and an intense panic response. However, some Tau warriors will resist the flee instinct and instead will be consumed by an incredible, white-hot rage and will stop at nothing to avenge their Lord's death. Their senses sharpen, guiding their aim and their fury makes them faster and stronger.
Crunch: If an enemy unit kills the Ethereal, all Tau units must take a morale test. All those who pass gain Furious charge and +1 BS. Those units that do not test (e.g. within vehicles) recieve no bonus.

Blind to the Warp or Warp Drain - Fluff: The Tau have a mind that barely registers in the Warp. This biological emotive quirk is only more pronounced in the Ethereals, who are effectively Blanks. Their minds act as a drain in which psychic energy flows into and is discarded back into the Immaterium. Thusly, they do not generate any psychic activity at all and cannot be affected by it in anyway.
Crunch: Ethereal and any unit he has joined cannot be affected by psychic powers at all.

Wargear
Shield generator
Symbols of Office - pair of ccws

Options
Trade Symbols of Office for
Honour Blade - two handed +2 S for 10pts
Energy Staff - two-handed power weapon for 10pts

May take Gravity Displacement Throne for 20pts
Adds +1 T, gains jetpack special rule and has TL Burst Cannon

May be accompanied with an Honour Guard of Fire Warrior Veterans for 12pts a model.

If a Gravity Displacement Throne is taken, you cannot take a Fire Warrior veterans team but may instead take a XV8 Bodyguard unit instead.

A few tweaks but nonetheless a more effective HQ, giving him mobility to keep up with suits, provide a leadership bubble, and alsp some much needed, even though limited, pskyer defense.

Yeah, that would be great because it keeps with the fluff and makes them a viable choice to play with

Benn Bloodmane wrote:This is how I see an Ethereal should function

Aun'ui - Prelate
WS5 BS4 S3 T3 W2 I3 A3 Ld10 Sv-\4+
75pts

Special Rules
Inspiring Presence - All units within 12" may use his leadership as their own. Also, any unit joined by an Ethereal is fearless.

Price of Failure - Fluff: Bearing witness to the death throes of one of their exhalted ones, most Tau will be utterly and wholly shaken, resulting in vomiting, convulsions, and an intense panic response. However, some Tau warriors will resist the flee instinct and instead will be consumed by an incredible, white-hot rage and will stop at nothing to avenge their Lord's death. Their senses sharpen, guiding their aim and their fury makes them faster and stronger.
Crunch: If an enemy unit kills the Ethereal, all Tau units must take a morale test. All those who pass gain Furious charge and +1 BS. Those units that do not test (e.g. within vehicles) recieve no bonus.

Blind to the Warp or Warp Drain - Fluff: The Tau have a mind that barely registers in the Warp. This biological emotive quirk is only more pronounced in the Ethereals, who are effectively Blanks. Their minds act as a drain in which psychic energy flows into and is discarded back into the Immaterium. Thusly, they do not generate any psychic activity at all and cannot be affected by it in anyway.
Crunch: Ethereal and any unit he has joined cannot be affected by psychic powers at all.

Wargear
Shield generator
Symbols of Office - pair of ccws

Options
Trade Symbols of Office for
Honour Blade - two handed +2 S for 10pts
Energy Staff - two-handed power weapon for 10pts

May take Gravity Displacement Throne for 20pts
Adds +1 T, gains jetpack special rule and has TL Burst Cannon

May be accompanied with an Honour Guard of Fire Warrior Veterans for 12pts a model.

If a Gravity Displacement Throne is taken, you cannot take a Fire Warrior veterans team but may instead take a XV8 Bodyguard unit instead.

A few tweaks but nonetheless a more effective HQ, giving him mobility to keep up with suits, provide a leadership bubble, and alsp some much needed, even though limited, pskyer defense.

I would like to see this in the next Tau update. Interesting idea, well balanced, and fits with the fluff

Mind if I take a shot at mussing this around balance-wise for my taudex? I've been trying on different ethereals for a while, it's nice to see one people actually like, I guess I'm just not that creative

Sweet Lord if the Ethereals worked like Benn Bloodmane wrote, I would fit it in the army even if he cost as much as Aun'Va

I would take these in pretty much every list if they worked the way bloodmane wrote them.

Got a points cost for these bloodmane?

Nom

nomsheep wrote:I would take these in pretty much every list if they worked the way bloodmane wrote them.

Got a points cost for these bloodmane?

Nom

id say 75pts


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Iur_tae_mont wrote:Sweet Lord if the Ethereals worked like Benn Bloodmane wrote, I would fit it in the army even if he cost as much as Aun'Va

Thank you


Automatically Appended Next Post:

chrisrawr wrote:Mind if I take a shot at mussing this around balance-wise for my taudex? I've been trying on different ethereals for a while, it's nice to see one people actually like, I guess I'm just not that creative

Go ahead.
just get a SC in there named Shas'O Bloodmane


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Typhon the Storm Giant wrote:Yeah, that would be great because it keeps with the fluff and makes them a viable choice to play with

There it is, test him out see how he performs


Automatically Appended Next Post:

WarrKing wrote:

Benn Bloodmane wrote:This is how I see an Ethereal should function

Aun'ui - Prelate
WS5 BS4 S3 T3 W2 I3 A3 Ld10 Sv-\4+
75pts

Special Rules
Inspiring Presence - All units within 12" may use his leadership as their own. Also, any unit joined by an Ethereal is fearless.

Price of Failure - Fluff: Bearing witness to the death throes of one of their exhalted ones, most Tau will be utterly and wholly shaken, resulting in vomiting, convulsions, and an intense panic response. However, some Tau warriors will resist the flee instinct and instead will be consumed by an incredible, white-hot rage and will stop at nothing to avenge their Lord's death. Their senses sharpen, guiding their aim and their fury makes them faster and stronger.
Crunch: If an enemy unit kills the Ethereal, all Tau units must take a morale test. All those who pass gain Furious charge and +1 BS. Those units that do not test (e.g. within vehicles) recieve no bonus.

Blind to the Warp or Warp Drain - Fluff: The Tau have a mind that barely registers in the Warp. This biological emotive quirk is only more pronounced in the Ethereals, who are effectively Blanks. Their minds act as a drain in which psychic energy flows into and is discarded back into the Immaterium. Thusly, they do not generate any psychic activity at all and cannot be affected by it in anyway.
Crunch: Ethereal and any unit he has joined cannot be affected by psychic powers at all.

Wargear
Shield generator
Symbols of Office - pair of ccws

Options
Trade Symbols of Office for
Honour Blade - two handed +2 S for 10pts
Energy Staff - two-handed power weapon for 10pts

May take Gravity Displacement Throne for 20pts
Adds +1 T, gains jetpack special rule and has TL Burst Cannon

May be accompanied with an Honour Guard of Fire Warrior Veterans for 12pts a model.

If a Gravity Displacement Throne is taken, you cannot take a Fire Warrior veterans team but may instead take a XV8 Bodyguard unit instead.

A few tweaks but nonetheless a more effective HQ, giving him mobility to keep up with suits, provide a leadership bubble, and alsp some much needed, even though limited, pskyer defense.

I would like to see this in the next Tau update. Interesting idea, well balanced, and fits with the fluff

Thank you

In my Extended Codex for the Tau, how I'm doing it is in a method similar to haemonculi.

Ethereals will be a 40-50pt unit (get a light shield gen standard for a 6+* save standard, lose price of failure, gain a pulse rifle, whatever unit they join gains +1 BS. They'll be able to take some nifty toys to boost squads / do stuff, as their status entails.) that you can take 1-3 units of per HQ slot (maybe 1-4)