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How should I equip Tau broadside suits? I have been thinking of 2x broadsides both with high-yield missile pods and smart missile systems with 4 missile drones.

What do you want them to do? What does the rest of your army look like? You really can't answer this type of question in isolation.

For the HYM I suggest the interceptor upgrade. It's cheap at 5 points for the damage it can do. The shot volume also gives a squad a fairly good chance to hit a flyer the turn it comes in, but the biggest bonus to me is just discouraging deepstriking troops near the backfield.

Flinty wrote:What do you want them to do? What does the rest of your army look like? You really can't answer this type of question in isolation.

I would plan them to be an anti-aircraft unit. I haven't yet chosen rest of my army. Mainly probably fire warriors, hammerheads and pathfinders.

Savageconvoy wrote:For the HYM I suggest the interceptor upgrade. It's cheap at 5 points for the damage it can do. The shot volume also gives a squad a fairly good chance to hit a flyer the turn it comes in, but the biggest bonus to me is just discouraging deepstriking troops near the backfield.

I think that I would rather take the sky fire rather than interceptor, as I think it's better to let the fliers fire once and then take them out for sure rather than take the risk that the fliers shoot twice.

Honestly, I've been using HYM and Missile Drones. I've played against a couple of armies now that took Heldrakes/Storm Ravens/Vendettas and I haven't had a problem against any of those flyers. I also take neither Skyfire or Interceptor because I think it simply drives the cost up too much. I have noticed a downward trend in people bringing large amounts of flyers and rather have seen them settle for smaller numbers of say, 2-3.

LValx wrote:
Honestly, I've been using HYM and Missile Drones. I've played against a couple of armies now that took Heldrakes/Storm Ravens/Vendettas and I haven't had a problem against any of those flyers. I also take neither Skyfire or Interceptor because I think it simply drives the cost up too much. I have noticed a downward trend in people bringing large amounts of flyers and rather have seen them settle for smaller numbers of say, 2-3.

What support system you then use?

High Yeild Missiles and Veloctiy tracker with missile drones. Toss in a commander with dual missile pods, skyfire, interceptor and the puretide neurochip and you have yourself a unit that shoots down aircraft in the enemy turn and then gives your broadsides tank/monster hunter your following turn.

at 5 points for interceptor, I think it's actually a steal. It's not effective at just fliers, but can make an impact on just about any unit coming in from reserves. I think the HYM is the better option simply because it you get 4 times the shots for -1 S, though the lower AP is a bit disappointing.

What's the range of HYMP? I'd think Interceptor would be better on Railgun BSides because the 60" range covers wherever your opponent comes in.

 Ravenous D wrote:
High Yeild Missiles and Veloctiy tracker with missile drones. Toss in a commander with dual missile pods, skyfire, interceptor and the puretide neurochip and you have yourself a unit that shoots down aircraft in the enemy turn and then gives your broadsides tank/monster hunter your following turn.

If you use the interceptor rule with your broadsides in the enemies turn you can't fire their weapons in your following turn.

Are Target Locks any good? 5 points for split fire seems decent, especially if you're facing mech lists with lots of light transports.

I quite like seeker missiles, but it's probably not worth spending a markerlight token to fire one, anyone had success with these? They're only 8 points so might be worth a punt.

Interceptor upgrade.

Split fire does nothing, really, to an opponents mindset. You, as the player, can split fire across two targets (but missile drones still have to target the original target and your overall chances of hitting something remains the same).

Interceptor forces the opponent to make choices before you've even acted. Its all about mind games. A lucky roll may cripple his backfield harrassement unit before it gets to take out a key target. Outflanking troops could be at risk. Flyers could be destroyed. Not very likely but there is a chance and it will force the player to make more choices.

More choices = more mistakes, which is better for the other guy (you).

If all the suits had Target Locks, the drones could all fire at one unit and the suits could fire at whatever they like, no?

 lordofthegophers wrote:
If all the suits had Target Locks, the drones could all fire at one unit and the suits could fire at whatever they like, no?

True, I thought it was exclusive to a single model and 'the rest of the unit'. But your right, there can be multiple single models with multiple Target Lock support systems.

Still - Interceptor gives the unit something more valuable.. And with the additional missile drone + TL-SMS/Plasma rifle, you have the additional weapon (that you can't fire because you can't use your multi-tracker in an enemies movement phase) that you can still fire in your own phase.

Also split fire is okay but your not going to be doing over-kill unless your running a maxed squad or shooting at a rhino. The point is, you have a single support slot, what can the army most benefit from.

I dont take any support systems, I like my Broadsides cheap as can be.

The way I look at it is that Broadsides remind me of my old SW Long Fang squads.

I take 2 Broadsides, both with HYM and SMS and 2 Drones (to eat Str. 8 and provide a little more firepower). This supplies me with 12 Str. 7 shots and 8 Str. 5. I take 3 of these squads and so far have been extremely happy with the versatility they've offered. I've also had no problem killing Heldrakes (they are the only flyer that really worries me), as i've played against lists with 2 of them a few times now and killed both pretty easily.

 Micawb3r wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:
High Yeild Missiles and Veloctiy tracker with missile drones. Toss in a commander with dual missile pods, skyfire, interceptor and the puretide neurochip and you have yourself a unit that shoots down aircraft in the enemy turn and then gives your broadsides tank/monster hunter your following turn.

If you use the interceptor rule with your broadsides in the enemies turn you can't fire their weapons in your following turn.

The commander uses the interceptor rule, and because he doesnt shoot in the following player turn it gives the rest of the unit who can fire tank/monster hunter

I think the classic Heavy Rail Rifle/SMS is still the best loadout for Broadsides. Not sure about the upgrades. I initially favored the Velocity Tracker, but I think Skyrays may be so good at anti-air that this role is not necessary. To be honest, I'm having a tough time fitting Broadsides into my lists with strong competition from Skyrays, Hammerheads, and Sniper Drones. The internal balance in Codex: Tau is really something else-- I want to have nearly every unit!

 Kingsley wrote:
I think the classic Heavy Rail Rifle/SMS is still the best loadout for Broadsides. Not sure about the upgrades. I initially favored the Velocity Tracker, but I think Skyrays may be so good at anti-air that this role is not necessary. To be honest, I'm having a tough time fitting Broadsides into my lists with strong competition from Skyrays, Hammerheads, and Sniper Drones. The internal balance in Codex: Tau is really something else-- I want to have nearly every unit!

Even ignoring or after those missiles, the twin skyfire markerlights will allow any unit of your choosing to become BS 2 or 3. Army-wide skyfire woo!