I am the wrong person to ask. I really like them, but only with one specific build of Riptide. Most everyone else here will disagree, and there
are very legitimate concerns, but hear me out. I'll go in reverse.
Cons:
1) "Every Drone you lose forces a leadership test. On a ~250+ point model that is crazy, you can't afford to have a Riptide break and run off the board for an extra wound or two." This is the big one you'll hear often. And it is spot on, losing a Riptide to a single failed Leadership test is not an option, especially Turn 1 before it can fire a shot. The simple answer is that they are
not ablative wounds. You are paying the points equivalent of a Crisis Suit with similar weapons, you want offense not defense. Deploying them to deny even the most agile opponents (Eldar) or in-your-face threats (Drop Pods) the chance to pick one off is not too difficult. Drones should not be closer to the enemy than the Riptide itself.
2) "A Stimulant Injector is a similar price point as a Shielded Missile Drone and can give you an extra 1 and 2/3 wounds. Take that for added durability instead." Very true. I don’t have any complaints about the durability of a stock Riptide, and rarely take the Stimulant Injector myself, but if your Riptide is going down too quickly, Shielded Missile Drones won’t offer much in the way of stopping that, with one minor exception that I will get into later. The Stimulant Injector is
the choice for adding durability to a Riptide.
3) “4 BS2 Missiles aren’t that good.” I disagree here. More Str7 firepower is better, what isn’t good is the BS2. Tau can fix that easily.
4) “You can’t use the ‘Boost’ Nova Reactor ability.” No, you can’t. But you won’t want to with this guy:
My Favorite Riptide Loadout (now legal again thanks to the
GW Errata)
Riptide w/Heavy Burst Cannon, Twin Linked Smart Missile System, Early Warning Override, Earth Caste Pilot Array, Bonding Knife Ritual (required for Farsight Enclaves) and 2xShielded Missile Drones.
Total Points=266
Here’s why I like it, and the Shielded Missile Drones are a perfect fit:
1) Tons of Dakka-This guy Nova’s every round with a 89% success rate thanks to the Pilot Array’s reroll. Charge the Heavy Burst Cannon almost always (or Smart Missiles if you plan to Intercept without Markerlights). That gives you 12 Shots at Str6, 4 Twin Linked shots at Str5, and 4 Str7 shots: total output 20 shots! This also means you will not be using the ‘Boost’ ability.
2) Only 2 Markerlights to really get results. This gives the Riptide BS5 rerolling 1’s with the Pilot Array, and makes the Drones a nice, reliable BS4. With the best
AP being only 4, and the most common targets being in 3+ armor you just want to drown targets with Wounds, and not worry about Ignoring Cover.
3) All ranges work together nicely. Every system is between 30” and 36”, good range on a mobile platform.
4) Better against AV14 than the IonTide. With Rending the Heavy Burst Cannon averages 1.3 Hull Points against AV14. Granted, the Ion Accelerator can get a lucky Explodes! result, but it’s not as reliable.
5) In a Dawnblade Contingent, this guy is pretty good (all things considered) against the Wraithknight. Because you get to ReRoll wounds, you get ~2 wounds on a Sword and Board Wraithknight, and ~3 on a D-Cannon or Skathach Wraithknight. Not a one-shot solution, but a nice bit of damage against a nasty problem.
6) This a minor one: Grav will wound less, not by much, but less. One Grav Cannon on full Salvo (5 shots rerolling wounds) throws out ~2.2 Wounds to a Riptide without Drones, because the majority armor save is 2+. With even one Drone, that save is 4+ and the average wounds generated by a Grav Cannon drops to ~1.7. Half a wound per Grav Cannon isn't earth-shaking, but it is the difference between 4 taking you out (a Skyhammer
Dev unit) if you can get your 3++ up first.
7) You can use them as ablative wounds if you get down to one or two left on the Riptide. When the options are a test on Leadership 9 or death if another wound slips through, that test isn't such a gamble.
8) And my favorite: It is great even outside of the Riptide Wing. I don’t enjoy fielding that Wing (the Ghostkeel version is a different story), and most players don’t want to face it outside of a Tournament setting.
This guy lets you take an effective, durable shooting platform that still gives you plenty of points to mix up the rest of your list. He’ll backstop your list and let you experiment with everything else the Tau have to offer, while not eating all of you Markerlights, and can be taken in any Formation that you’re willing to make Farsight Enclaves.
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