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Hello dakka, so I'm finally expanding my tau and have purchased a hammerhead and longstrike under the impression there is only way to do it which is rail cannon and burst cannons, is this the best build or are there better options for it? are the seeker missiles worth it? also smart missile system vs burst cannon vs gun drones. and what is everyones take on recommended vehicle upgrades for a longhead?

The smart missile system is the same cost as the burst cannon, and is better in literally every way: better range, ignore LOS, and is not vulnerable to plasma siphon.

An argument can be made for gun drones in that you can detach them and use them to screen, plus secondary weapons fire snapshots if you move the tank.

I am not too big on the seeker missiles anymore, since they have to fire at the same target.

Also, you should ALWAYS take disruption pods. At least, I do.

If you're going with the Railhead, get sub-munitions. It's cheap, and gives you non-vehicles targets.

maceria wrote:
The smart missile system is the same cost as the burst cannon, and is better in literally every way: better range, ignore LOS, and is not vulnerable to plasma siphon.

An argument can be made for gun drones in that you can detach them and use them to screen, plus secondary weapons fire snapshots if you move the tank.

I am not too big on the seeker missiles anymore, since they have to fire at the same target.

Also, you should ALWAYS take disruption pods. At least, I do.

If you're going with the Railhead, get sub-munitions. It's cheap, and gives you non-vehicles targets.

thank you very much for the input, SMS does look like a great deal on paper. Seekers do a good bit for 8 points but i didnt know about firing at same target, i thought you could spend a markerlight to fire it at any point so great to know, and kinda makes me not want it at all since I dont have any tetras. Anything else worth taking for the longhead in particular?

Old codex the marker shot the missile, now its the unit using the mark to use the missile. It makes no sense that theyre limited by this since its a "call down" strike, not a targeting system by the user.

That really limits anything but skyrays using it. Skyrays can risk not moving to fire all 6 at BS4 (5/6 if your own networked markerlights land) at once since once they fire the missiles theyre not that big of a target. Ive never had mine get shot at unless it was in the way of my opponent AFTER i shot the seekers from them.

I will take them on Broadsides if i have 24pts lying around because thats a better point dump than most anything else, and if theyre in HYMP range (or railgun) but not SMS then fire the seeker too.

ah, explains the source of the confusion.

Are sensor spines worth it for a hammerhead? i figure it should be stationary but maybe it would work well with the disruption pods

Oh nononono quite the opposite, the hammerhead should never EVER remain still. Always move 1-6" or it gets no jink. Unless you find a ruin it can sit behind and get cover anyway, that is.

Sensor spines are good if you arent stressed for points. Moves Through Cover for 5pts makes them never worry about immobilization results. other vehicles get a reroll, we just ignore it.
Typically it wont be that much of an issue since our tanks have long guns and are usually skimming the backfield. But ive had several times where i went on a heavy area terrain board, and found it hard to move without making tests right and left.

I consider longstrike near mandatory on a hammerhead. He brings a blacksun filter and better point defense counterfire system, so that saves some of his points. Add in tank hunters and BS5, with those smart missiles and yeah, he is WELL worth it.

Submunition rounds are fantastic with longstrike, as the blast will rarely scatter and it gives the gun a secondary role if you have no good solid shot targets.

I also always take a d pod on a hammerhead, longstrike or not. Most ignore cover weapons are not strong enough to pin Av13, and the things that can rarely can ignore cover, and you want to protect your investment.

Sensor spines are also fantastic for the points; as Vineheart said hammerheads should always move. Also, the ability to move into cover really helps. By no means required, but if you have the points take it. If you have another few points to kick around, consider an advanced repair system. It is cheap, and not reliable but it can bring your tank back into the game. Only take if you can afford it.

So my go to hammerhead build is
-Longstrike, smart missiles, submunitions blast, d-pod. Then sensor spines and advanced repair system if I have leftover points in my list(in that order)

Longstrike will prevent what happened my last game against GK lol.

Hammerhead with Dpods, SMS, BSFilter, Spines, Subs 151pts. The entire game it sat on the left side of the table trying to take down these two dreads that were sporting krak missiles and TL lascannons. That fight lasted till turn 6 when he FINALLY got lucky enough to both pen me and i didnt make my 4+ jink lol.

Railhead should have owned those things, being AV12, but i kept glancing or doing jack because of bad rolls and no tankhunter lol. The Venerable i finally took out in T4 was because i said THATS IT and lit the damn thing up with markerlights lol. Made my Railhead BS8, yea its an overkill but i actually NEEDED THAT rofl (fml on rolls lol)

If you do take Longstrike though, remember he adds 44pts to what you would normally bring (44 instead of 45 because he brings his own BSFilter so you dont need to buy it anymore). Doesnt sound like much for a one-time purchase, but be surprised how many times i was short 20-30pts and i couldnt spare anything to make the strat still function lol.

Thank you all for the great and detailed replies, I know exactly how to outfit now. Just gotta find where my wife "organized" my longstrike into the closet. I like having my support systems on there so I'll get to magnetize on some sensor spines on bottom but not sure what to do for pods. Pretty excited for the chance though.

Actually i think spines and seeker missiles are the only vehicle upgrades that even have models. Far as i know anyway.