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Hi all.

Quick question regarding whether people take the official bodyguard (2 models) or just attach the commander to a Crisis team (3 models). I know the bodyguard has a LoS special rule and can both take signature systems and have a higher Ld but do people just go for a Crisis team for they extra model?

Thanks in advance!!

In Farsight Enclaves armies, you usually see one of the following:

- Mark'o (2x missile pod, target lock, drone controller) with a squad of marker drones.

- Buffmander (CCN, MSSS, Etc.) with a Riptide, or as part of an O'vesaStar.

If you really want to put him with other crisis suits, I'd go with the troops for scoring. If you really want a large squad of Crisis suits, go with Farsight to get the 7-man bodyguard bomb.

Um commanders can take 7 bodyguards. And it's pretty much never going to be a good idea. Tau doesn't deathstar well. And the unit would be incredibly expensive. Use a buffmander that can jump from unit to unit.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok ok I have to append that. NEVER EVER EVER use a farsight bomb or anything equivalent. A deathstar is different, go ahead and try that. But a bomb is subject to reserve rolls. If you don't come in t2 you are crippling your army. They are just gonna get their poop pushed in while they wait for the bomb to drop. You just don't want to gamble that big of a point sink not being there when you need it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I don't have a farsight codex yet, but I could see an o'vesa star being very survivable.

Imnewherewheresthebathroom wrote:
Um commanders can take 7 bodyguards.

Citation required.

Farsight can take 7 Bodyguards. Generic commanders can take up to 2.

Still a bad idea, all you gain is +1 ld for 10 pts per model. You get sig systems but you should have already used the good ones on HQ's or riptides. And you can only have one of each per army.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh and the guards test on the commanders ld so truly pointless.

I don't advocate taking the Bodyguard teams at all, I was just throwing it out there as something that's possible. If you go bare-bones, an 8 or 9-strong team of Crisis suits deepstriking in can be pretty devastating, even if it's not optimal.

I'm a big fan of the Mark'o, myself. It's economical. Kitting out Commanders to be Shootmanders (I just made up that word) ends up being costly and lackluster, in my experience.

Mark'o that must be marker light commander? I'm not familiar with the term. If so do you put him with a drone squad?

Yeah. It goes something like this:

Commander 152
Missile Pod, Missile Pod
Target Lock, Drone Controller
2x Marker Drone

Drone Squadren 56
4x Marker Drone


That gives you six BS5 markerlight shots, and it gets better the more drones you add to the squad. The unit can jump shoot jump to increase its survivability. And the commander himself gets 4 S7 AP4 shots at his BS5 at a separate target of his choosing.

CDRAlbrecht wrote:
Yeah. It goes something like this:

Commander 152
Missile Pod, Missile Pod
Target Lock, Drone Controller
2x Marker Drone

Drone Squadren 56
4x Marker Drone


That gives you six BS5 markerlight shots, and it gets better the more drones you add to the squad. The unit can jump shoot jump to increase its survivability. And the commander himself gets 4 S7 AP4 shots at his BS5 at a separate target of his choosing.

Don't think it really gets much better as you add more drones as the drones cannot split fire. Most of the time you're going to need 5 lights maximum on a target (3 to raise your Riptide to BS6 to avoid Gets Hot on its overcharged Ion Accelerator and 2 to strip cover). You get those 5 Markerlight hits with 6 drones and they should be out of sight when not marking up so casualties should be minimal. Most other units can get by with just stripping cover and a buff to BS if you've got lights left over or just flat out buffing their BS if their weapons don't have the AP to negate an armour save which is better than the cover save (i.e. Fire Warriors shooting at power armour).

Something to keep in mind with XV8 bodyguards is that their special rule doesn't specify that an XV8 bodyguard must take the LOS wound. So you can make sure your drones are the closest model to your commander and those drones will take the wounds without having to roll.

Thanks guys!

I've read about the various Shas'O builds like Mark'O and Buffmander but I personally quite like the idea of a commander kitted out with some good bits of kit including iridium and having a bodyguard, going around and executing enemy elites and maybe the occasional tank. It's a shame, as a Drone Controller is good to use on a BS5 model. I'm in two minds whether or not to take the shield generator and two marker drones or just take two shield drones.

Are the Mark'O and Buffmander builds truly a lot better?

Also keep in mind the bodyguards do not take up a FOC. You can take a team of body guards for each Tau Commander you have. This includes Farsight and Shadowsun.

I have tried a commander with a markerlight set up and i found it limiting to what he could do out on the field. So i've recently been going with a commander with Iridium, Stim and weapons suited to the role i want him to play. I usually utilize the ABP and CIB as they are unique and worth having since he is BS5.

Shield drones have lost their luster since the old codex. Shield drones used to take the armor save of it's master, but that has since been changed to just a 4+ armor save. The drones already make LoS roles for your commander, so you might as well get something that can shoot. Just keep in mind that the drones do not benefit from target lock. So whatever your unit shoots at, the marker drones shoot at too.

As for "truly better" builds, it all depends on what your army is doing and what you want it to do. Personally, i find buffmander to be a waste of BS5. :C Mark'o really hamstrings the potential of the commander as well. Sure you can have 6-8 drones with him shooting at BS 5, and give the commander dual MP so he can shoot too, but he still has to babysit the drones.

Personally, i have had a few successes where i sent the commander out to do some work and he got the job done without dying on me. T5 2+ armor with stim is real freaking hard to kill.

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

Don't think it really gets much better as you add more drones as the drones cannot split fire. Most of the time you're going to need 5 lights maximum on a target (3 to raise your Riptide to BS6 to avoid Gets Hot on its overcharged Ion Accelerator and 2 to strip cover).

It doesn't work like that. For blast weapons with the Gets Hot! special rule, you roll a D6 separately when you fire the weapon, and on a roll of 1 the weapon gets hot and you need to make an armor save. If you've been using re-rolls to avoid Gets Hot! you've been accidentally cheating.

CDRAlbrecht wrote:

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

Don't think it really gets much better as you add more drones as the drones cannot split fire. Most of the time you're going to need 5 lights maximum on a target (3 to raise your Riptide to BS6 to avoid Gets Hot on its overcharged Ion Accelerator and 2 to strip cover).

It doesn't work like that. For blast weapons with the Gets Hot! special rule, you roll a D6 separately when you fire the weapon, and on a roll of 1 the weapon gets hot and you need to make an armor save. If you've been using re-rolls to avoid Gets Hot! you've been accidentally cheating.

This thread goes through that. You do get to reroll the 1 on the gets hot die with BS6+.


Also, from the Rulebook (page 37, second column, second paragraph):

If a model has the ability to re-roll its rolls To Hit (including because of BS6+, or Twin-linked), a Wound is only suffered if the To Hit roll is also a 1; it may also re-roll the Gets Hot results of 1 for weapons that do not roll To Hit