Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Here is a little Datasheet I've made, please give feedback

Tau SX-316 Shield Generator 350 pts


UNIT: 1 SX-316 Shield Generator


TYPE: Super-heavy vehicle


STRUCTURE POINTS: 2


POWER FIELDS: 3


ARMOUR
BS FRONT SIDE REAR
- 12 12 12


WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT:
-Shield dome generator
-Earth caste repair system
-Drone control network
-Nuclear reactor
-Failsafe detonating system


Shield dome generator: Gives al models within 24” a 3+ invulnerable save against anyattack originating from more than 24” away, as long as at least onePower Field is active.


Earth Caste repair system: All destroyed power fields can be reactivated on a roll of a 5+ during the player's movement phase.


Drone control network: Due to Earth Caste drone control systems set up in the Emitting Tower, the Earth Caste engineers are able to defend and repair the SX-316 without putting themselves in unnecessary danger. The SX-316 may buy up to 20 drones from the armoury of Codex: Tau Empire. It also has access to Technical Drones. These count as a single unit with the Fearless special rule and must stay within 12” of the SX-316. Drone models that do not stay within 12” count as destroyed. Once the SX-316 is destroyed then the drones are destroyed as well.


Nuclear reactor: If the Shield Generator suffers an Apocalyptic Explosion result on the Catastrophic Damage chart, its reactor goes nuclear! This is the same as an Apocalyptic Explosion except that the range of the blast is 6D6”, and models within range suffer a Destroyer hit.


Failsafe detonating system: The Earth Caste would rather see their technology destroyed than to have other races such as Greenskins and Gue'la defile it. Within the direst of circumstances the Tau Shas'o may order the Failsafe Detonating System to be activated. At the start of the player's turn the SX-316 Shield Generator then counts as having no structure points left and the player must roll on the Catastrophic Damage chart.






Tau Technical Drone 30 pts
WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
2 2 3 3 1 4 1 n/a 4+
Equipment: None.
Unit Type: As owner, or Jet Pack Infantry if independent


SPECIAL RULES
Combat Engineer: In each of your Shooting phases a Technical Drone may choose to repair a single friendly, damaged vehicle. The drone cannot use this ability if he has gone to ground or is falling back.

To repair a vehicle, the Technical Drone must be in base contact with it or embarked upon it. Roll a D6. If the result is 5 or more, you may restore a Hull Point lost earlier in the battle or repair a Weapon Destroyed or Immobilised result suffered earlier in the battle, effective immediately.



Here is a WIP picture of the model

WAY too cheap. For comparison, this is what you get for 300-350 points. 2 SP, 13/12/11 armor, and no apocalypse-level weapons or abilities. It's a superheavy Leman Russ that is worse by far than the two normal Leman Russes you could buy for its points.

Now let's look at what your unit gets:

* 3++ for everything in 24". IOW, kill it now or lose the game, because you're giving a 3++ to dozens of superheavies/titans/etc. I can't even begin to think of a fair point cost for that, Warlord/Emperor titans with a 3++ is just so absurdly overpowered that no point cost is high enough to cover it. The only "downside" is that you can kill the shield generator, but any decent player is going to keep it out of LOS and perfectly safe from return fire.

* Some drones that don't make any sense. So you give it 20 shield drones, how does that even work?

* Better void shield repair than a normal superheavy.

* Enough repair drones to automatically repair any damage to it that doesn't kill it immediately.

 Peregrine wrote:
WAY too cheap. For comparison, this is what you get for 300-350 points. 2 SP, 13/12/11 armor, and no apocalypse-level weapons or abilities. It's a superheavy Leman Russ that is worse by far than the two normal Leman Russes you could buy for its points.

Now let's look at what your unit gets:

* 3++ for everything in 24". IOW, kill it now or lose the game, because you're giving a 3++ to dozens of superheavies/titans/etc. I can't even begin to think of a fair point cost for that, Warlord/Emperor titans with a 3++ is just so absurdly overpowered that no point cost is high enough to cover it. The only "downside" is that you can kill the shield generator, but any decent player is going to keep it out of LOS and perfectly safe from return fire.

* Some drones that don't make any sense. So you give it 20 shield drones, how does that even work?

* Better void shield repair than a normal superheavy.

* Enough repair drones to automatically repair any damage to it that doesn't kill it immediately.

You are probably right about the 3++ on other superheavies, making it unable to shield those off would solve that issue though.

Shield drones could protect and provide a 4++ to the drone squad against close range fire. I did not want to limit the drone options too much, so I decided to make all drones available from the codex. If you don't like them don't take them.

You might be right about the repair drones again, seeing how you can now field 20. Putting a harsher limit on them would also solve that issue I think.

And how many points would you rather see it cost then?

elzadar wrote:
You are probably right about the 3++ on other superheavies, making it unable to shield those off would solve that issue though.

That fixes some of the balance problems, though it's still a really powerful ability for anything that doesn't have a disruption pod (and even there it gives you a 3++ against D-weapons). Imagine how many Broadsides/Manticores/etc you can fit within 24".

Shield drones could protect and provide a 4++ to the drone squad against close range fire. I did not want to limit the drone options too much, so I decided to make all drones available from the codex. If you don't like them don't take them.

It's not about like/dislike, it's that the rules just don't work. How do you have a unit composed of shield drones and a superheavy vehicle? How does wound allocation work? Do you roll to wound or to penetrate armor? Etc. There's a reason that all drone controllers are infantry models and vehicle-mounted drones drop off and form an independent unit when they disembark.

And how many points would you rather see it cost then?

I don't know. First you need to figure out the final rules before you worry about point costs.

Updated ruleset: (further feedback would be appreciated)

Tau SX-316 Experimental Shield Generator 400 pts

UNIT: 1 SX-316 Experimental Shield Generator

TYPE: Super-heavy vehicle

STRUCTURE POINTS: 2

POWER FIELDS: 3

ARMOUR
BS FRONT SIDE REAR
- 12 12 12

EQUIPMENT AND SPECIAL RULES:
-Shield dome generator
-Earth caste repair system
-Drone control network
-Nuclear reactor
-Failsafe detonating system
-Immobile

Shield dome generator: Gives al models within 18” a 3+ invulnerable save against any attack originating from more than 18” away, as long as at least one Power Field is active. Other super-heavy vehicles and gargantuan creatures do not benefit from this rule, as they are too large to be fully protected by the shield.

Earth Caste repair system: All destroyed power fields can be reactivated on a roll of a 5+ during the player's movement phase.

Drone control network: Due to Earth Caste drone control systems set up in the Emitting Tower, the Earth Caste engineers are able to defend and repair the SX-316 without putting themselves in unnecessary danger. The SX-316 may buy up to 20 drones from the armoury of Codex: Tau Empire. For every four drones you can buy one Technical Drone. So in a squad of 20 you can have 5. The drones count as a single, separate unit with the Fearless special rule and must stay within 12” of the SX-316. Drone models that do not stay within 12” count as destroyed. Once the SX-316 is destroyed then the drones are destroyed as well.

Nuclear reactor: if the Shield Generator suffers an Apocalyptic Explosion result on the Catastrophic Damage chart, its reactor goes nuclear! This is the same as an Apocalyptic Explosion except that the range of the blast is 6D6”, and models within range suffer a Destroyer hit.

Failsafe detonating system: The Earth Caste would rather see their technology destroyed than to have other races such as Greenskins and Gue'la defile it. Within the direst of circumstances the Tau Shas'o may order the Failsafe Detonating System to be activated. At the start of the player's turn the SX-316 Shield Generator then counts as having no structure points left and the player must roll on the Catastrophic Damage chart.

Immobile: The shield generator cannot be moved after it has been deployed, and ignores any effect which forces it to move.



Tau Technical Drone 30 pts
WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
2 2 3 3 1 4 1 n/a 4+
Equipment: None.
Unit Type: As owner, or Jet Pack Infantry if independent dependent

SPECIAL RULES
Combat Engineer: In each of your Shooting phases a Technical Drone may choose to repair a single friendly, damaged vehicle. The drone cannot use this ability if he has gone to ground or is falling back.
To repair a vehicle, the Technical Drone must be in base contact with it or embarked upon it. Roll a D6. If the result is 5 or more, you may restore a Hull Point lost earlier in the battle or repair a Weapon Destroyed or Immobilised result suffered earlier in the battle, effective immediately.