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Made in us
Human Auxiliary to the Empire



Harrisburg, PA

I've started to use my XV25s in a different manner: as a mobile ball of guns. I use 3 suits (no team leader upgrade), give them each a drone controller and then 2 gun drones (or 1 each, since I don't think the Battleforce comes with enough drones to make 6 total). You can infiltrate them or deep strike them in behind enemy lines to harass their troops to force them to make a choice: either devote time and attention to eliminate the suits and drones (2+ cover), thereby allowing your own forces to pound them (or allow scoring units to make bids for objectives) or they ignore them and continue to get chewed up by 15 st5 ap5 shots (with some pinning mixed in) every time your shooting phase comes up. Give it a shot. It may surprise you.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/11/09 16:36:54


 
   
Made in us
Gore-Soaked Lunatic Witchhunter







spears wrote:
 AnomanderRake wrote:
I actually built four of the Fire Warriors in the Battleforce with carbines and declared them to be a Pathfinder squad starting out, they've been helpful in the few tiny games I've played with my miniscule Tau army.

I cut the torso of some tank commanders and stuck them on spare legs with the armour trimmed off.
Looks alright for pathfinders imo.


Oh! And I left the giant shoulders off too. It's enough that nobody complains they look too much like Fire Warriors when I bring them out.

Balanced Game: Noun. A game in which all options and choices are worth using.
Homebrew oldhammer project: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/790996.page#10896267
Meridian: Necromunda-based 40k skirmish: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/795374.page 
   
Made in us
Fireknife Shas'el






When I started the army I made 6 FW with pulse carbines (please make them useful in the new dex) and ended up just using them as pathfinders. Nobody ever had a problem since they had the same armor and loadout (and pathfinders are a bit costly for essentially a firewarrior with no shoulder pad) Besides, it's not like there is an actual markerlight item they are equipped with.

And then I got a tetra and never looked back. (Please make the pulse carbine useful! We're running out of codex entries. Give it the blind rule or something)

I'm expecting an Imperial Knights supplement dedicated to GW's loyalist apologetics. Codex: White Knights "In the grim dark future, everything is fine."

"The argument is that we have to do this or we will, bit by bit,
lose everything that we hold dear, everything that keeps the business going. Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky."
-Tom Kirby 
   
Made in us
Human Auxiliary to the Empire



Harrisburg, PA

 Savageconvoy wrote:
When I started the army I made 6 FW with pulse carbines (please make them useful in the new dex) and ended up just using them as pathfinders. Nobody ever had a problem since they had the same armor and loadout (and pathfinders are a bit costly for essentially a firewarrior with no shoulder pad) Besides, it's not like there is an actual markerlight item they are equipped with.

And then I got a tetra and never looked back. (Please make the pulse carbine useful! We're running out of codex entries. Give it the blind rule or something)


It would be awesome if they made the line in our Codex: "...and the chance to mount an underslung photon grenade launcher" actually mean something. Like an actual grenade launcher that could launch not just Photons but EMPs as well.
   
Made in us
The Conquerer






Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios

Launching an EMP grenade would actually make them really nice.

That might happen in the new Tau codex, although Carbines will probably become a 5-10 pt upgrade if that happens.

Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines

Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.

MURICA!!! IN SPESS!!! 
   
Made in ca
Warp-Screaming Noise Marine




Canada!

Torrent fire that can wound toughness 4 on 2+ or toughness 6 on 4+ or better while being able to reliably glance av 11/12 is still the name of the game. Tau have this a little bit harder because of the darned BS 3 (casts shadows on the use of any word like reliable) but they can still do that fairly well.

I'd be inclined to weigh more shots over low AP on a lot of units. Over just about anything. Broadsides vs Hammerhead being an exception to this. If you don't plan on using allies all the time for forward scoring and walling off your shooting I'd rely heavily on devilfish with stealth.

24-30 inches has become more dangerous even to suits though, being the only thing in range of a bunch of crapy bolters is more common these days and bolter fire certainly adds up.

It may be useful to have some TL missile suits. I know it goes against the more shots rules but they aren't horrible at shooting up and they are a little less expensive if you're going to be stretching points.

It's just a show, I should really just relax... It's just a show, I should really just relax... It's just a show, I should really just relax... It's just a show, I should really just relax...  
   
Made in us
Human Auxiliary to the Empire



Harrisburg, PA

Using a Deathrain over a fireknife may be a good idea if the army is still small, like what comes out of the Battleforce in question. Only problem is that he'd have to find another Missle Pod bit, since the box would only come with one. Granted, he could always check his FLGS to see if someone has an extra bit to give him or sell him on the cheap, but as is the Fireknife isn't a bad way to configure his suit.
   
Made in gb
Focused Fire Warrior






 AnomanderRake wrote:
spears wrote:
 AnomanderRake wrote:
I actually built four of the Fire Warriors in the Battleforce with carbines and declared them to be a Pathfinder squad starting out, they've been helpful in the few tiny games I've played with my miniscule Tau army.

I cut the torso of some tank commanders and stuck them on spare legs with the armour trimmed off.
Looks alright for pathfinders imo.


Oh! And I left the giant shoulders off too. It's enough that nobody complains they look too much like Fire Warriors when I bring them out.


Snap, excuse the quality i made and painted these guys in a rush to add a few more points and havent got around to finishing them off yet. I think the backpacks work though.
   
Made in us
Human Auxiliary to the Empire



Harrisburg, PA

Took me a few seconds to realize the carbines aren't upside down but rather you cut the bottoms off other carbines and glued them to the top of the ones you used. I did something similar, but I just cut off the tiny bit that is attached to the stock and glued it straight to the top in front of the sight. The backpacks seem a tad bulky for Pathfinders who are supposed to be scouty type units, but it could work as the electronic mechanisms for the marklights. Still better than buying them individually from GW's website or off of Ebay since it costs you far less to just buy a box of FWs and just use the bits in there to convert.
   
Made in gb
Focused Fire Warrior





500 point list you can make with the Battleforce

Spoiler:

Hq
Shas'el
PR
MP
TA
HW MT 97

Troop
FW x 6
DF
DP 145

FW x 6 60

Kroot xz11 77

Elite
Stealth Team x3
DC x3
GD x 3 120
Total 499


Decent list to start with! Of course, it needs more Suits!

Successful Trades: 2
"The human body is a paradigm of perfection and purity. Its makeup is an example to all lesser creatures and races (and be assured, all other creatures are less than human) that our place as dominators of the galaxy is right and just.” The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer 
   
Made in gb
Long-Range Land Speeder Pilot





Nottingham, UK

4TheG8erGood wrote:
500 point list you can make with the Battleforce

Spoiler:

Hq
Shas'el
PR
MP
TA
HW MT 97

Troop
FW x 6
DF
DP 145

FW x 6 60

Kroot xz11 77

Elite
Stealth Team x3
DC x3
GD x 3 120
Total 499


Decent list to start with! Of course, it needs more Suits!


Yeah, thats fantastic. Thanks. I have ordered the Hammerhead upgrade pack for my Devilfish, is there any reasonable way to fit one in here? Dropping the Kroot maybe? or would i better off keeping it as is until bigger points games?


 
   
Made in us
Sneaky Sniper Drone





Baltimore, MD.

At such a small point of game the more small arms fire you have the better imo. I'd keep the kroot for now until you can get some more firewarriors. Three small scoring units at 500 points is a good amount. I wouldn't cut that down to 2, because those are the only units that can claim objectives ie: scoring. If the firewarriors take 2 wounds in a 6 man team there is a 40% chance they run. I'd bring out the hammerhead at 1000pts. You're more likely to see more armor at that point level and you will need S10 at that point. Best of luck!!

5000k (11-5-3) 6th Ed. 
   
Made in us
Human Auxiliary to the Empire



Harrisburg, PA

The Railhead is incredible in a small point game. You get the solid shot to blow up enemy metal boxes and then you get the shotgun round to deal with the stuff that comes out. While at 500 you are kind of limited, 750-1000 is where that railhead will really shine.
   
Made in il
Warplord Titan Princeps of Tzeentch






Railhead shines everywhere above 750 points, not just up to 1000.

Forgeworld plasma head...now that beast shines even brighter.

can neither confirm nor deny I lost track of what I've got right now. 
   
Made in us
Fireknife Shas'el






I'm actually going to be proxying the plasma head my next game. I didn't think about it before but with 4 Twinlinked shots its actually good against a lot of things just due to the volume of shots. I'm actually even considering using it as a anti-air platform.

I'm expecting an Imperial Knights supplement dedicated to GW's loyalist apologetics. Codex: White Knights "In the grim dark future, everything is fine."

"The argument is that we have to do this or we will, bit by bit,
lose everything that we hold dear, everything that keeps the business going. Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky."
-Tom Kirby 
   
Made in gb
Long-Range Land Speeder Pilot





Nottingham, UK

This is all great advice, thanks!

I think for my next 500 or so points i will probaby just boost up the number of troops in the squads to 10 FW each and a few more kroot, upgrade to a hammerhead and then blow the rest on battle suits.


 
   
Made in us
Fireknife Shas'el






I'd start with suits first, since even in a 500 point game I'd bring more suits than tanks or anything else.

I'm expecting an Imperial Knights supplement dedicated to GW's loyalist apologetics. Codex: White Knights "In the grim dark future, everything is fine."

"The argument is that we have to do this or we will, bit by bit,
lose everything that we hold dear, everything that keeps the business going. Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky."
-Tom Kirby 
   
Made in us
The Conquerer






Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios

With the units you have, you have 3 Troops units. Which is plenty for Tau. Firewarriors arn't that great of a unit. You should focus on getting more suits.

Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines

Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.

MURICA!!! IN SPESS!!! 
   
Made in us
Human Auxiliary to the Empire



Harrisburg, PA

Agree, suits first. Specifically, get your XV-88s (Broadsides). Most people I'm sure run either two squads of two or one squad of three.

Firewarriors aren't bad, per se, but they are very weak when compared to the basic grunts of the other armies. A 30" single shot or a 15" double shot that wounds a MEQ on a 3+ seems good on paper, the BS 3 leaves a lot to be desired. With some markerlight support from Pathfinders or FW Tetras, they can be quite scary. You can get away with the two squads of six from the Battleforce for now while you work on building up the mech part of the army.
   
Made in us
The Conquerer






Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios

firewarriors are statistically the same as Marines with bolters against T4.

They are only superior against higher toughness, and then only marginally. Plus the Marines can take special and heavy weapons.

Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines

Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.

MURICA!!! IN SPESS!!! 
   
Made in us
Human Auxiliary to the Empire



Harrisburg, PA

I probably should have said they're better than they were in 5th edition :p I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some FW buffs in the new codex (like the pulse carbine being able to fire emp/photon grenades), as I really do like the units.
   
 
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