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Ok, so he is a Firewarrior leader but so what? It doesn't say he can't join Pathfinders and I think they could benefit from it.

I have a unit of 9 PFs with 3 Ions and a Pulse Accelerator Drone.
I was just thinking the other day, why not throw the FB in with them and give him a Marker Drone?

Think about it:

The unit has to stand still to fire it's Markerlights and Ions anyway

The Volleyfire just says 'his unit' not specifically Firewarriors

Lets say you use his ML and two Pathfinders plus the Marker Drone to get 4 ML hits

That still leaves you 3 Ion shots and, with VF, 12 Pulse Carbine Shots, now at 24"

I think it would make for a rather deadly unit. You could even use his Split Fire ability to target someone else with his Pulse or ML.
On the other hand, lets say the MDrone and PFs go first with their MLs and score two ML hits, you could decide to use his three PR shots instead of his ML.

Moving to get a better position, you still have Rapid Fire on him, which now at 15" instead of 12" will let him still keep up with the Pulse Carbines.

What do people think?

I think it's a waste to buy him and put him in a unit that is going to use their markerlights and ionrifles every turn. You play Tau, by now you realize how great those marker lights are right? i can count on one finger how many times I've fire those carbines instead of the marker lights so far with this new book.

That's my point. You get a decent firing unit as well as a ML block.

If you just fire your MLs I'm surprised you don't just have Tetras instead.

I like my units to be able to multi task depending on what is happening.

"Sir, the firewarriors failed to take out that assault squad which is going to charge next turn, and we're the only ones in range but we need to ML that Rhino for the Broadsides!"
"No worries, lads. I'll take care of the Tank, you take care of the Assault Marines with Volleyfire."

I think the main issue is that now your opponent has an obvious primary target. Shoot that unit to remove marker lights and have a pop at slay the warlord. You couldn't make target priority more obvious.

 Dakarillion wrote:
That's my point. You get a decent firing unit as well as a ML block.

If you just fire your MLs I'm surprised you don't just have Tetras instead.

I like my units to be able to multi task depending on what is happening.

"Sir, the firewarriors failed to take out that assault squad which is going to charge next turn, and we're the only ones in range but we need to ML that Rhino for the Broadsides!"
"No worries, lads. I'll take care of the Tank, you take care of the Assault Marines with Volleyfire."

If the FB had been in the fw unit then the assault unit would have been destroyed due to the extra firepower, and the pathfinders wouldn't need to choose.

Well, I intend to playtest it this weekend, I'll post back with the results.

I actually do run tetras, my pathfinders had a brief appearance, but take the back seat to marker drones and tetras.

I just find you 204pt unit to be rather fragile, immobile, and having a big target on their forehead as well, making the first two even worse.

It's too expensive for what it does. the squad should be specialized for a purpose.

Also, most people around where I play are not okay at all with Forgeworld stuff.

Exalbaru wrote:
Also, most people around where I play are not okay at all with Forgeworld stuff.

How not!? It's GW approved ... heck it IS GW!!

I can understand not using models from other games entirely but Forge World is simply the stuff they can't fit in the regular codexes, usually because they are too darn big (e.g. squiggoth, manta, titans) and would never appear in a run of the mill battle, but they are still official.

Okay:

Orks Vs Tau 1:
Squad lasted 4 turns, took out three Trukks, a Commandoz unit (in a Trukk), a Death Koppta and 12 Boyz before biting it.

Orks Vs Tau 2:
Lost CFB second turn to an impossibly lucky Precision Shot. The rest of the unit -3 survived the game, Markering Trukks, Kopptas and killing infantry here and there.

So far: CFB/PFs 1 : 1 Enemies

Tomorrow it's Space Marines so we shall see.

 Dakarillion wrote:

Exalbaru wrote:
Also, most people around where I play are not okay at all with Forgeworld stuff.

How not!? It's GW approved ... heck it IS GW!!

I can understand not using models from other games entirely but Forge World is simply the stuff they can't fit in the regular codexes, usually because they are too darn big (e.g. squiggoth, manta, titans) and would never appear in a run of the mill battle, but they are still official.

Okay:

Orks Vs Tau 1:
Squad lasted 4 turns, took out three Trukks, a Commandoz unit (in a Trukk), a Death Koppta and 12 Boyz before biting it.

Orks Vs Tau 2:
Lost CFB second turn to an impossibly lucky Precision Shot. The rest of the unit -3 survived the game, Markering Trukks, Kopptas and killing infantry here and there.

So far: CFB/PFs 1 : 1 Enemies

Tomorrow it's Space Marines so we shall see.

Not sure, I've never questioned it. I've been at the hobby for less than a year but I've noticed a lot of people speaking negatively about forge world because it is overpowered. I think the points cost is fine and I'm fine playing against most things. But I know if I did try a pick up game at ward during monday game nights most wouldn't be okay with FW stuff.

Yes some of the bigger stuff (again, the titans) is overpowered BUT most of these models now only take part in Apocalypse where the amount of units you get and the special game rules kind of even things out. The smaller stuff, like alternate Leman Russ, Tau Battlesuits and Chaos Cultists are pretty much just stuff to theme your army or add a bit of spice.

On the Cadre Fireblade side of things, I am not 100% at the moment and if it continues, tomorrows game test may have to be posponed. Apologies.

90% of forgeworld addons to common lists, and all of the special lists, are well balanced or underpowered.

The other 10% (hi, sabre platforms, vulture, etc) are horrible broken pieces of arse. Its easier. To ban all forgeworld than trying to justify specific models for bans without extending that to codicies (hello, vendetta, dedicated transport croissant, etc).

Either way, an hq choice in a high-target-priority markerlight team, distracting from the primary purpose, is a bad call. If he can add shots to the rail or ion rifles, take him in a dedicated sniper team fo'sure, just not in a PC + ML team, or god forbid a horrible mixed-role team (tau should never try to do two things at once with anything that isn't a suit)

I'll give it a shot myself sometime and see how it works. It's an intriguing idea, since I've wondered about using the pathfinders for their carbines myself...

As to the Forgeworld things, there is (in my opinion) no real quality control with their rules. Some of their units (Pellas Mir'san jumps out off the top of my head) are horribly out of balance. I think the perception is that since the Forgeworld products are a different division, they aren't designed (and more importantly, playtested with) the main range, so there isn't any guarantee of game balance there. Since some of their stuff is game-breakingly unfair, some people feel that the cautious option is to disallow all Forgeworld stuff.

Personally, I'm a bit leery about playing against Forgeworld models, but in friendly play, it's all good. In a tournament, no way.

I think it's a pretty confused unit. You're getting markerlights but only one can fire at a different unit and the rest gets pelted with a bunch of S5 and S7 shots. Pretty much everything in the codex can pelt a unit with a mixture of S7 and S5 shooting, but I think this is one of the more limited options for it.

I think the FBC would be better defended and more survivable if joined to firewarriors, having him man an Icarus Lascannon or Quad gun to get some benefit from his cheap (relatively) BS5. This way you're getting a better range at a cheaper cost, which should allow you to fit in more S7 shots and markers in other places.

For a good shooting unit at 24" range I think Kroot with sniper rounds and Krootox would be a more efficient shooting unit, and occupy a slot with more flexability.

Against Orks, I'd imagine it would be decent enough. However against marines I'm thinking that you'll face more difficulties with their better saves.