Renovating Aun'Shi

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**Vineheart01**

Willing to bet anyone that doesnt have the Tau codex, and even some that do, dont even know who Aun'Shi is. Essentially hes a named Ethereal that is suppose to be melee orientated, but suffers from a LOT of problems .. most obvious one being we have no melee units for him to join, much like Farsight's problem.

So, rather than give us a unit that he wants to join, how about we overhaul him?

Spoiler:

Ive had the idea of a ground unit moving so fast they conferred their protection through that instead of normal saves. Thats why he doesnt have a Shield Generator because he has an incredibly powerful Dodge skill to compensate, which varies depending on his stance. Considering Aun'Shi kinda reminds me of a stereotypical anime fighter with his pose and lack of armor, i decided to make him crazy fast and dodge everything rather than depend on something that doesnt make sense for him to be holding (how the heck does he power that shield generator?)

Despite being melee orientated, his melee capability in the current codex is pretty piss poor. Better than other tau, but since hes pretty much doing everything on his own (gee sounds like farsight) he needs to be much stronger to compensate for his unit doing jack squat. So i gave him Rending by default and improved his strength from the weapon, rather than pretty much auto-killing himself if he wants Rending.

Drones made the most sense to accompany him so he can move across the field quickly while providing him ablative wounds. Not 100% sure but i think theres fluff reasons why he wouldnt be with Vespid. The explanation for them keeping up with him is theyre constantly using their Jetpacks, so they cant assault move.

Hes still vulnerable to ID, and being T3 thats bound to happen if he faces more dangerous foes such as pretty much any MC, powerfists, etc. That coupled with the extra VP if he dies justifies why hes so cheap for how nasty he is to me. He is S7 AP4 with 3-5 attacks and Rending depending on his stance after all. Only reason i didnt make him stronger is because beyond S7 is getting a bit nuts for a small model, and i feel instasporking T4 models is too much.

Yes, his drones are effectively BS1 because their save out in the field is a Jink. Result of them moving so fast is lack of accuracy.

EDIT: Fixed Dodge to 4+

**oldzoggy**

So WS infinite S7 T3 W3 I10 A4
Ap4 Rending
Ignore difficult terrain.
Protecting drones
3++ save that is better then a inv
+ great wargear and special rules
and all that for 135 points

Could we hire you to re write the "piss poor" close combat orientated units in other codexes. I'm sure many warbosses and archons would be interested in your work

**Vineheart01**

Whoops, Dodge was suppose to be 4+ lol. Fixed that.

His drones only protect him in the field, and he pays for them separately theyre not included in his 135pts. In combat, they serve literally no purpose for him as he acts alone. Hes moving too quick for a simple Drone to react fast enough to block a melee attack for him.
Though i probably should add Challenge requirements now that i think about it.

And im guessing that was suppose to be a mocking comment anyway, Regardless, thanks for pointing out the 3+ typo lol

**oldzoggy**

It was a mockery. Lets try to be more constructive.
Your character has better close combat rules then most close combat armies have. A Tau close combat specialist should not have better close combat stats then dark eldar archons or most greater daemons. On top of that he is horrible under costed.

**Taffy17**

I think his stat line isn't so bad, I think he should have rending and AP4 though. Maybe give him a rule like champion where he must always challenge and accept and give him +1 WS and initiative in challenges.

Keep his re-roll saves stance and change his other one to make his weapon master crafted and shred.

Think that would do

**raverrn**

"they become Hard to Hit and count as having a permanent Jink Cover Save that cannot be removed. Attacks that do not require Line of Sight and are not a Barrage ignore this rule. Aun'Shi does not benefit from this part of the rule if he joins any unit that is not completely composed of Drones."

What does this even mean? Does Ignores Cover work on him? Who knows!

If you're dead-set on giving him a cover save (which is asinine), don't give him a ~*~special twilight vampire~*~ jink save that causes rules headaches.

"If Aun'shi's unit moves more than 6" in the movement phase, it has a 4+ Cover save until the beginning of your next turn."

Simple.

**oldzoggy**

If you're dead-set on giving him a cover save (which is asinine), don't give him a ~*~special twilight vampire~*~ jink save that causes rules headaches.

completely agree same goes for the WS infinite and the strange drone rules. Try to use existing or a few simple rules don't go all out by swamping it in your own complex rules.

**Vankraken**

Too much rule breaking rules for something that really doesn't need it.

WS 6 is decent enough to get hitting on 3s vs most things, give him a 4+ invuln save because shield generator, and if you want to do the stance thing then copy the mechanics from the GK Brotherhood Champion with either the rerollable saves or AP2 attacks. Make the melee weapon +2 strength, AP5, and rending.

The 12" movement seems farfetched and out of place. Ethereals are suppose to be the beacon of inspiration for the Tau and needs to be protected at all cost. No point trying to make a CC juggernaut when he should never be actively trying to engage in CC and should only be defending himself from attackers that have broken through the defensive lines to try and assault his unit.

9 out of 10 times I would rather have the 12" aura from a standard Ethereal over a single target buff from across the board. Take these changes and drop its cost down to 75 points but even then I doubt I would ever take it because a T3 melee character is useless in an army with any good melee units to protect him.

**MagicJuggler**

I think the simplest thing to do for making Aun'Shi really scary would be to give him Zealot and replace his close combat stances with Battle Hymns, as though he were an Imperial Priest. He is more expensive than Aun'va after all, while still being a T3 model without Eldar trickery.

**Tactical_Spam**

There is a reason nobody uses this guy... Hmmm, maybe because he's a melee character in the army that likes to sit back and fire volley after volley into their enemy. I'd get rid of the character altogether

**Alcibiades**

Aun'Shi is I believe designed to improve the melee power of Kroot -- who are not supposed to be a melee unit primarily, but can serve as such against things like Guard or Eldar, which are capable of outshooting Tau if allowed to do so. He is designed to do battle with IG Sergeants and Warlocks, not Carnifexes.

**jade_angel**

My problem with Aun'Shi is that he's awfully expensive - more than double the cost of an Ethereal, and heck, more than even Space Pope with his bodyguards, funky shield-stick and two auras. I'm basically paying 60 points to put a 4++ on an Ethereal, except for those rare times when he actually gets in a fight with something he can survive fighting (that is, Guard Sergeants, Warlocks and maybe the odd Fire Dragon Exarch - Marine Sergeants, Sisters Superior, Hekatrices and the like will hand him his head on a silver platter.)

It's usually more cost-effective to hide my Ethereal in a team of Stealth Suits, even. At least they give me some actual firepower.

Where he could be useful is, as Alcibiades says, in a unit of Kroot - except that thanks to having Rapid Fire guns and no pistols, they can shoot XOR charge. No Counter-Attack means they don't want to get charged, and one attack per (AP5, yes - whoopee) means that the charge-versus-shoot calculation nearly always favors shooting. So he isn't useful even there.

All in all, what's needed here is for the actual role of Kroot, Vespids, Aun'Shi and Farsight to be rethought. Of the four, right now, only Kroot are worth taking, and then they're useful as Infiltrating or Outflanking anti-infantry shooting with the secondary option to use Sniper Rounds. Handy, and worth keeping, but also not at all what they're fluffed to be (which is largely counter-assault).

**raverrn**

I don't know, what I'd like to see is some extra utility for him, something that sets him apart and makes him an asset - and that thing is not some kinda out of place melee beatstick.

What if he allowed friendly Tau units within 12" to choose to pass or fail Ld checks?

**jade_angel**

That's a good start, yeah. Or hell, even if he just carried around a bubble of Fearless. Giving his unit Preferred Enemy (Everything) would be useful too.