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Hi everyone,

We had a question last weekend regarding firing a skyray's missile with ML (so with the BS5, ignore cover and LOS...)
What happened is the following :
- 2 marketlights hit one of my unit (a thunderfire in ruins)
- the TAU player then launched one missile using one ML causing one wound
- he then decided to use a second missile using another ML failing
- he then hit the thunderfire with some more ML
- he used a third missile using again a ML killing the thunderfire

At the moment i did not think about it, but reading again the rules for the missiles suing ML, should he not have done the following :
- fire th 2 designators of the Skyray
- say how many missiles he shoots using the ML and how many without
- proceed to see results
- cannot shoot anymore with the skyray if it was not enough until next turn

Thanks a lot

I believe that if he only shoots missiles with the ML and saved the rest then he can use further ML to use the rest.
Although he must decide how many missiles he shoots using ML and how many without at the same time when firing the Skyray.

okay the skyray is an oddball case as its one shot Missiles can be called by other units during their turn..Same thing applies to broad sides and the one shot missiles they carry ..(note the missiles are being fired by the use of a marker light by other units and therefore do not get any kind of boost unless more marker lights are expended)
one Skyfire lobs two marker lights onto DakkaJet C and lobs missiles at BS 5 and takes out Dakkajet C

later Pathfinder unit J scores a hit with 1 ML's on Battle Wagon D..They choose to call in a strike from the skyfire . that uses one marker light ..NO bonus..ie at base Ballistic skill BW still gets its cover save ..

It can still do that? I was under the impression that it had to fire it's own missiles.

morfydd wrote:
okay the skyray is an oddball case as its one shot Missiles can be called by other units during their turn..Same thing applies to broad sides and the one shot missiles they carry ..(note the missiles are being fired by the use of a marker light by other units and therefore do not get any kind of boost unless more marker lights are expended)
one Skyfire lobs two marker lights onto DakkaJet C and lobs missiles at BS 5 and takes out Dakkajet C

later Pathfinder unit J scores a hit with 1 ML's on Battle Wagon D..They choose to call in a strike from the skyfire . that uses one marker light ..NO bonus..ie at base Ballistic skill BW still gets its cover save ..

They have the bonus, a missile fired spending a ML is always BS5 and ignores cover.

 Tyran wrote:

morfydd wrote:
okay the skyray is an oddball case as its one shot Missiles can be called by other units during their turn..Same thing applies to broad sides and the one shot missiles they carry ..(note the missiles are being fired by the use of a marker light by other units and therefore do not get any kind of boost unless more marker lights are expended)
one Skyfire lobs two marker lights onto DakkaJet C and lobs missiles at BS 5 and takes out Dakkajet C

later Pathfinder unit J scores a hit with 1 ML's on Battle Wagon D..They choose to call in a strike from the skyfire . that uses one marker light ..NO bonus..ie at base Ballistic skill BW still gets its cover save ..

They have the bonus, a missile fired spending a ML is always BS5 and ignores cover.

And don't forget ignore LoS!

I thought the missiles can only be fired from a unit that has them - but you can spend a markerlight to make them "better".

Scratch all I just said, Sleekid is right.

Lol that happens for never reading that codex.

sleekid wrote:
At the moment i did not think about it, but reading again the rules for the missiles suing ML, should he not have done the following :
- fire th 2 designators of the Skyray
- say how many missiles he shoots using the ML and how many without
- proceed to see results
- cannot shoot anymore with the skyray if it was not enough until next turn

My understanding (away from my Tau book) is that this is how it works.

ok thanks a lot.
I found it a bit OP otherwise (not that TAU needs it^^)
Because that meant you could check the results so as not to fire any missile on top of what excaclty is needed...

Page 68 of the Tau Codex has one thing I want to bring your attention:
The Rules concerning Markerlights inform us how we go about spending them. These instructions require us to single out which Unit is "cashing in" the markers in such a way that it is impossible to select more then one unit or return to a unit that has already spend marker-light. Immediately before a unit from Codex: Tau Empire shoots at a target is the exact wording, both of which require the Unit to be taking part in a Shooting Sequence in order to meet this trigger point. It also contains instructions that the Unit has to nominate use One or More abilities at this point in time, terminology which has informed us to only trigger a Rule once in the past. As a Unit can only be nominated to make a single Shooting attack per turn, and the timing makes it impossible to select markerlights outside of this sequence, it has only one window where it can make these marker-lights.

Then there is the misconception that other Units can fire a Seeker missile, it is not correct:
The Seeker Rule informs us that the Unit spending the points fire a single seeker missile, if it has one, at the same moment and target as all other weapons.

Remember, the skyways marker lights are networked, so they're "special"

JinxDragon is correct, but I will add that networked markerlights need to be resolved first, but that is only 2 hits.

Thanks Rigeld2 and TheJugHead,
Networked markerlights make adjustments to the timing even further, but that is explained on the next page well enough.

There tends to be some confusion about the skyray and it's missiles with marker lights and such.

I'll give a scenario or two.

1. Everything in your army fires before the skyray and your pathfinders manage to get 5 marker lights on a target, the last thing to fire is the skyray and you can fire its two networked marker lights scoring one more hit. Then proceed to use all six marker lights at that point in time to fire the missiles at the marked target with bs5 and ignores cover and Los. However if you have moved only one can fire at the bs 5 the rest snap shoot ignoring cover and Los.

2. You cannot fire the skyray then another unit then back to the skyray, then another unit then back to the skyray. That's old rules and don't work any more. Your opponent was wrong and mixing two rule sets. This happened to me at a tourney and the rules judge laughed and asked the dude are you kidding me. All firing is done with one unit then you move on to the next.

This are the rules:
For each markerlight counter expended on this ability,
the unit immediately fires a single seeker missile (if
it has one) in addition to any other weapons it is
permitted to fire. A seeker missile fired in this way:
- Does not need line of sight.
- Must be fired at the same target as the vehicle's
other weapons.
- Is resolved at Ballistic Skill 5.
- Has the Ignores Cover special rule.
- Does not reduce the number of weapons a vehicle can
fire at its full Ballistic Skill.
- Does count towards the limit of 2 missiles that a flyer
can fire each turn.

The last comment is weird. Are there even in Tau Flyers that have more than 2 Seeker Missiles?

I can't think of one unless it's a Forgeworld Flyer.

Only FW, and with FW all flyers other than the remora at least have the option to take more.

Makes sense. I only use Remoras.

Remoras are amazing. Cheap, well costed, quite powerful, and surprisingly hard to kill for a 10/10/10 flyer. You should proxy a barracuda to test it out as well, they are great, especially with the buff IA:3 v.2 gave them.

I made my own via Sketchup. Just waiting for the printout from Shapeways.

That's really good .