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Hey guys

I played a game against a friend with his Tau army recently and the whole markerlight situation just confused the crap out of me. I only play occasionally and dont play any Tournaments so no real way for me to figure out what exactly is going on by watching others play.

I borrowed his Codex for the weekend and made my way through it, but Im still confused.

I know only certain units can shoot markerlights, drones / pathfinders / suits with drones etc. but how many? This is what confused me when I played against this dude because it seemed like every single squad I had in range always had a ton of MLs on them. What restricts a squad of 10 pathfinders from shooting 10 markerlights? Do they only get one per squad? Does it even cost anything? Nowhere in the codex could I find any of this info apart from 1 MLs to improve BS by 1 and 2 MLs to ignore cover.

If you could point me in the right direction or give any clarification it would be awesome, at least when I play against him next time I want to know what to expect, because I dont think even he understood how it works.

Thanks!

Each Markerlight is shot as a normal weapon - rolling a dice and comparing against BS. Each hit adds a "Markerlight Token" to the unit that got hit (misses don't add tokens). These tokens can be exchanged to give one of the benefits described in the Tau Codex (Pinpoint etc.).

Since firing a ML counts as firing a weapon, Pathfinders (and upgraded Fire Warrior sergeant equivalents) cannot fire their other weapon (Pulse Carbine for example). The squad can choose to fire as many ML's as they are equipped with, in the same way as a squad of space marines can fire as many Boltguns as they are equipped with. Markerlights that are not Networked cannot give their bonus to the unit firing them.

When tokens are exchanged for bonuses, they are removed (they are also removed at the end of the phase or turn, not sure which) and will only benefit one unit (you cannot, for example, remove one token to give +1 BS to two different units).

Most units that carry ML's either come as stock (Pathfinders, Sniper Drone Spotters, Skyray's etc.) or as a free upgrade (Gun Drones replace the guns to become ML Drones) or as a points cost (Fire Warrior sergeant equivalent, doesn't replace their weapon).

Hope this helps!

 Quanar wrote:
Each Markerlight is shot as a normal weapon - rolling a dice and comparing against BS. Each hit adds a "Markerlight Token" to the unit that got hit (misses don't add tokens). These tokens can be exchanged to give one of the benefits described in the Tau Codex (Pinpoint etc.).

Since firing a ML counts as firing a weapon, Pathfinders (and upgraded Fire Warrior sergeant equivalents) cannot fire their other weapon (Pulse Carbine for example). The squad can choose to fire as many ML's as they are equipped with, in the same way as a squad of space marines can fire as many Boltguns as they are equipped with. Markerlights that are not Networked cannot give their bonus to the unit firing them.

When tokens are exchanged for bonuses, they are removed (they are also removed at the end of the phase or turn, not sure which) and will only benefit one unit (you cannot, for example, remove one token to give +1 BS to two different units).

Most units that carry ML's either come as stock (Pathfinders, Sniper Drone Spotters, Skyray's etc.) or as a free upgrade (Gun Drones replace the guns to become ML Drones) or as a points cost (Fire Warrior sergeant equivalent, doesn't replace their weapon).

Hope this helps!

Ahh! ok thanks for the reply yes that helps...So if I understand what you're saying ie. 10 Pathfinders can choose to shoot 10 MLs on a squad but then forfeit any shots from pulse rifles etc.

Yeah, a markerlight is a ranged weapon just like a pulse carbine. Since Pathfinders can only shoot one weapon, they can choose to shoot either, but not both.

Also, note that a unit of 10 Pathfinders could choose to shoot 5 Markerlights and 5 Pulse Carbines, but they would have to shoot both at the same target and at the same time. Since the Markerlights aren't networked, some other unit would have to benefit from the markers.

Hi there! I was looking through my codex today and noticed that it in the description of markerlights in brackets it mentions that "no saves can be made against these hits" my question is this.
A. Dose this mean that markerlights ignore cover?

B. Do markerlights also have skyfire, as these are both saves.

For example...

Could a pathfinder fire and hit a unit in cover with its normal roll of a 4?
And similarly could a pathfinder hit a flyer with markerlight with roll of 4 resulting in no saves allowed?

farsite wrote:
Hi there! I was looking through my codex today and noticed that it in the description of markerlights in brackets it mentions that "no saves can be made against these hits" my question is this.
A. Dose this mean that markerlights ignore cover?

B. Do markerlights also have skyfire, as these are both saves.

For example...

Could a pathfinder fire and hit a unit in cover with its normal roll of a 4?
And similarly could a pathfinder hit a flyer with markerlight with roll of 4 resulting in no saves allowed?

Cover does not effect your to hit rolls, it provides a cover save to wounds or damaging hits on vehicles, cover saves may not be taken against ML.

Hard to hit(the snap shots against flyers rule) is not a save and so still effects marker lights.

moving before firing marker lights will also result in the model firing snap shots.

OP, you can find the Markerlight in the reference section of the Tau book. Its a Heavy 1 weapon.

It's important to note that no saves EVER are taken versus Markerlight hits since you're never rolling to wound.

If I have a BS3 Fire Warrior firing a Markerlight, he will typically hit on a 4+ and cause a Markerlight Token to be applied.

If I have a BS3 Fire Warrior firing a Markerlight at a flyer, he will only be able to make Snap Shots and so will need a 6+ to hit and apply a Markerlight Token.

If I have a BS4 Skyray firing its Networked Markerlights at a flyer, it will only need a 3+ to hit and apply tokens as it has Skyfire, which negates the requirement to fire Snap Shots.

Saves never really come into it... only how good your model is at aiming!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Although I do have to CONSTANTLY explain to my opponents that they don't get cover saves versus Markerlight hits, so I think this is a common misconception.

Great thanks for the help everyone. The rules are not that clear sometimes. But this explains it nicely. Thanks everyone.

 Kriswall wrote:
It's important to note that no saves EVER are taken versus Markerlight hits since you're never rolling to wound.

If I have a BS3 Fire Warrior firing a Markerlight, he will typically hit on a 4+ and cause a Markerlight Token to be applied.

If I have a BS3 Fire Warrior firing a Markerlight at a flyer, he will only be able to make Snap Shots and so will need a 6+ to hit and apply a Markerlight Token.

If I have a BS4 Skyray firing its Networked Markerlights at a flyer, it will only need a 3+ to hit and apply tokens as it has Skyfire, which negates the requirement to fire Snap Shots.

Saves never really come into it... only how good your model is at aiming!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Although I do have to CONSTANTLY explain to my opponents that they don't get cover saves versus Markerlight hits, so I think this is a common misconception.

In my play group it seems more like its a hope instead of misconception, they hate Markerlights lol.

 Kriswall wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Although I do have to CONSTANTLY explain to my opponents that they don't get cover saves versus Markerlight hits, so I think this is a common misconception.

That is because it defies logic

If you can barely see me behind an obstacle, it should be harder to hit me. But if you hit me, you will cause a wound depending on my armor.

GW's solution to two very different saves was to combine them together.

Naw wrote:

 Kriswall wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Although I do have to CONSTANTLY explain to my opponents that they don't get cover saves versus Markerlight hits, so I think this is a common misconception.

That is because it defies logic

If you can barely see me behind an obstacle, it should be harder to hit me. But if you hit me, you will cause a wound depending on my armor.

GW's solution to two very different saves was to combine them together.

There is no logic in this game, you should know that.

 Quanar wrote:
When tokens are exchanged for bonuses, they are removed (they are also removed at the end of the phase or turn, not sure which) and will only benefit one unit (you cannot, for example, remove one token to give +1 BS to two different units).

Fist time I played with a Tau army, I did that. Worse still, I thought each ML used helped the ENTIRE ARMY against that unit (not unlike the Triarch Stalker rule). Poor IG friend, had a bad field day back then...

Here is a small list of what can have markerlight weapons.

Pathfinders
Any model able to buy from the Drones list (generally HQs and any 'ui/'vre named model - Stealth suits only with the 'vre)
Drone Squadron
Skyray
Sniper Drone Team
R'alai (FW)
Tetras (FW)
Sensor Tower Grid (FW)
DX-6 Remora (FW)

So it's possible to basically every unit from a Tau army to have markerlights (barring Kroot stuff, almost all vehicles and named characters).

Am I correct in stating that marker lights can only be used by models in the "tau" codex? I read that in the Tau 'dex . Is there a FAQ or rule that changes this? I had an opponent use the marker lights for his Battle Cannon gun emplacement.

osirisx69 wrote:
Am I correct in stating that marker lights can only be used by models in the "tau" codex? I read that in the Tau 'dex . Is there a FAQ or rule that changes this? I had an opponent use the marker lights for his Battle Cannon gun emplacement.

That is correct. From the Tau Codex, page 68 (emphasis mine):

Immediately before a unit from Codex: Tau Empire shoots at a target that has one or more markerlight counters, it can declare it is using one or more of the markerlight abilities below.