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I kinda like what I am seeing, certainly better than the latest releases. I am not a fan of the flyers one bit but everything else is decent. Pathfinders are bound to be good, Farsight looks great and the Riptide just needs some chunkier ankles and a more even distribution of weapons to be a really impressive centerpiece.

That being said it has also brought the FW Tau back to my attention and I would probably buy some of that stuff before the GW kits, especially this beauty.



Shame they didn't take more inspiration from FW actually, especially in the flyer area.

Here's my personal opinion on the new stuff:

Sunshark Bomber/Fighter - Looks pretty awesome. I can see where they're going for with the whole "drone-fighter" look, bit like the Reaper/Predator drones of today, although the top mounted missiles look a bit daft.

Riptide - Again, the only fault I can see with this one is the ridiculously tiny head, although it shouldn't be too hard to convert a larger one.

Farsight - Much better, although personally I didn't think an upgrade was necessary.

Broadsides - Haven't seen enough to pass judgement yet.

Pathfinders - Nothing spectacular, but it's nice to see them in plastic finally.

Overall, I think GW have actually pulled it off this time, given some of the abyssmal stuff they've done recently, I think they've actually done well this time, might convince me to build up a small allied detachment.

I am not a fan of the riptide, but i will say this, remove the tiny head, it requires non, on a mecha than large, the optics would be integrated in the suit all over. If this is all that is new, i am dissapoint, i wanted a expansion on the kroot and the auxillaries, instead of added more illogical tau units.

 insaniak wrote:

Puscifer wrote:

cjharrisman wrote:
Having had a look at the new Tau stuff, (Tau were my first army so im getting interested in collecting them again)
The Riptide is going to have the same problems as the crisis suit,

WEAK ANKLES!

Its a hugely over sized torso with massive legs on tiny spindly ankles in scale. The crisis suit had that problem and im sure the Riptide will follow.

The legs appear to be ball and socket jointed at the hip, knee and ankle and it can be modelled as if it is kneeling down.

It might be a good idea to do this as it won't tower over everything else and actually get cover.

Yeah, I would be far more worried about Farsight's 'Fine'cast ankle.

Finecankle?

Actually imho a big problem with the riptides head is, that it's painted white unlike the other parts of the suit, so it really catches the eye and you instantly see that it's rather small compared to the whole suit. If you would paint it the same it would not stand out so much.

See I don't have a problem with the small head. I don't even see why it needs to be large. Why would the tau create a large head anyways? It is not like the camera inside of the head that feeds to video to the pilot needs to be large because the machine is large. That would just make it an easy target.

 Lord Scythican wrote:
See I don't have a problem with the small head. I don't even see why it needs to be large. Why would the tau create a large head anyways? It is not like the camera inside of the head that feeds to video to the pilot needs to be large because the machine is large. That would just make it an easy target.

This. All the people that want the thing to have a bigger head are just asking for somebody to blow it off and then they'll be unable to pilot the stupid thing.

 agnosto wrote:

 Lord Scythican wrote:
See I don't have a problem with the small head. I don't even see why it needs to be large. Why would the tau create a large head anyways? It is not like the camera inside of the head that feeds to video to the pilot needs to be large because the machine is large. That would just make it an easy target.

This. All the people that want the thing to have a bigger head are just asking for somebody to blow it off and then they'll be unable to pilot the stupid thing.

And yet people are complaining about the flyer being unrealistic using the same argument. I think it's safer to say that people are just trying to find whats wrong with the models and aren't looking at the good points much.

agnosto wrote:

 Lord Scythican wrote:
See I don't have a problem with the small head. I don't even see why it needs to be large. Why would the tau create a large head anyways? It is not like the camera inside of the head that feeds to video to the pilot needs to be large because the machine is large. That would just make it an easy target.

This. All the people that want the thing to have a bigger head are just asking for somebody to blow it off and then they'll be unable to pilot the stupid thing.

I agree. The head is really just the same size, the rest of the suit is just massive. As long as that head can see a large field of vision, it is perfectly fine.

I just feel it's proportionately awkward to look at. I'll be not enlarging the head, but giving it a design more fitting for the size of the mecha

Head looks funny and cool at the same time, and it doesn't even need one. And this is the Tau, so the earth caste engineer that said Hey, lets add a head! is brushing the community rooms with a toothbrush.

I'm kind of happy the heads are so small, because I'm missing a crisis suit head and the Riptide comes with two extra.

 Ledabot wrote:

 agnosto wrote:

 Lord Scythican wrote:
See I don't have a problem with the small head. I don't even see why it needs to be large. Why would the tau create a large head anyways? It is not like the camera inside of the head that feeds to video to the pilot needs to be large because the machine is large. That would just make it an easy target.

This. All the people that want the thing to have a bigger head are just asking for somebody to blow it off and then they'll be unable to pilot the stupid thing.

And yet people are complaining about the flyer being unrealistic using the same argument. I think it's safer to say that people are just trying to find whats wrong with the models and aren't looking at the good points much.

I agree. People complain to complain. Personally from what I have seen of the tau's design methods, they are not too keen on large windows and easily destroyable viewpoints. Kind of like the prefer murder holes. I would imagine they have small sensors all over their craft that display internal holographic projects of everything around them. Pretty smart tactic if you ask me.

 YotsubaSnake wrote:
I just feel it's proportionately awkward to look at. I'll be not enlarging the head, but giving it a design more fitting for the size of the mecha

I think that's because you expect it to be a helmet for someone's head when in fact it's just a sensor suite. Robotech and Gundam all have proportional heads for no reason than pure aesthetics; I like functional better.

FoWPlayerDeathOfUS.TDs wrote:
Head looks funny and cool at the same time, and it doesn't even need one. And this is the Tau, so the earth caste engineer that said Hey, lets add a head! is brushing the community rooms with a toothbrush.

Actually from what I understand, Tau Battlesuits need a head. The Tau are jacked into the suit, and it becomes an extension of their body. Thus when a Tau would look around, they move the suit's head instead of their own. It would both be disconcerting and counter productive for you to try and look around and instead find that your head has become fused to your body.

On the note of the new Riptide, I really hope it has some good survivability since it looks to be about 7-8 inches tall and a major gun magnet.

 agnosto wrote:

 YotsubaSnake wrote:
I just feel it's proportionately awkward to look at. I'll be not enlarging the head, but giving it a design more fitting for the size of the mecha

I think that's because you expect it to be a helmet for someone's head when in fact it's just a sensor suite. Robotech and Gundam all have proportional heads for no reason than pure aesthetics; I like functional better.

It's not even that, I feel that the head could be about that size but needs to be something more balanced for the size of the mech instead of an unusually tiny sensor head stuck on top.

you wonder why tau have bs3 some times.

 Desubot wrote:
you wonder why tau have bs3 some times.

Stormtrooper effect.

 Commander Cain wrote:
I kinda like what I am seeing, certainly better than the latest releases. I am not a fan of the flyers one bit but everything else is decent. Pathfinders are bound to be good, Farsight looks great and the Riptide just needs some chunkier ankles and a more even distribution of weapons to be a really impressive centerpiece.

That being said it has also brought the FW Tau back to my attention and I would probably buy some of that stuff before the GW kits, especially this beauty.



Shame they didn't take more inspiration from FW actually, especially in the flyer area.

I'm probably one of the few... but I can't stand those XV9 Suits. The legs look awful.

I think the worst part of the XV9s are the legs. No matter who makes them, tau just don't got leg.

The sheer size of the Riptide gives me hope for the next Tyranid book. That thing dwarfs even the Tervigon, which is already the biggest non tank outside of Apocalypse.

Anybody here anything about kroot?

Info on the Kroot and Vespid seems to be lacking at the moment. If anyone finds out anything it'll get posted. So stay tuned.

I'm willing to lay odds that Kroot and Vespid are gone for now. That in order for Tau players to field their army we are going to have to buy 2 books. Also bet that the Tau Codex will be $50 until June and then go up to $52 +. The Allies codex will probably be $35 +. Not a rumour, just my opinion.

Two books will be a deal breaker for me.....(Unless I buy the codex and then get a "shared" copy with my mates).


The Rip-tide(Hate the name, would have preferred a name like "Suppression" or "Firestorm") looks to have more weapon options than have been mentioned.
I see the base plasma set up in the pic with the large burst cannon, see the Ion upgrade and another weapon that looks like a giant plasma weapon or some type of rail weapon.???? The mystery option looks a bit like one of the xv9 weapons.

Agree with those that say the head is too small, am planning on using a spare hammerhead targeter(Chin turret optics/sensors) with a cut off pirahna nose to convert a new head.


Yay, Crisis suits stay the same. The 15+ suits that I never assembled after 5th ed dropped will now be built.(still don't plan on playing 6th ed, will use in house ruled 5th ed & 5th ed apoc games).


I already have 30+ pathfinders but may get some of the new ones for the drones and ion weapons. Will have to see if the rules warrant a purchase.


Broadsides??? Will use Forge World XV88's or the XV 9 that looks like it carries a rail type weapon. Will be cheaper and better looking, imo.


Hammerheads look to be a non-use unit unless Sky Rays become a transport or are moved out of heavy slot.


Sky Rays sound like the unit of choice in Heavy Support right now but this depends on the accuracy of the rumours and what the Sky Rays rules/missiles end up being.


The fliers? As others have said, they dont fit with the Tau look. From the front they look like a mix of Predator Drones and WWII Stukas ...only with a sad face. Got a feeling that the real reason to buy the kit will be for the interceptor drones. These drones modded to fit onto my barracudas might just work. (Again, will have to wait for the rules to better understand why I would want to buy this kit. )


All in all, I see some possibilities in these rumours but only if Burst Cannons, Fusion Blasters and Pulse Carbines have been improved.
If the Kroot and Vespid get left out for now then the Tau units will have to be really good for the army to be playable after the Railgun "repurposing/nerf". Though, this begs the question, If Tau are competitive/playable without the Kroot and Vespid, then why would we need them later?

Faeit 212 rumors says that release date is April 6'th, it is written in WD from where those pictures comes from.

Glad I'm not the only one who's fine with the head. I might actually be upset if it were much larger.

I'm grateful to be in the crowd that's happy about these new models, (except the flyer, but I never really planned to use one anyway... It looks like the Tau looted an Ork Fighta Bomba for F sakes...) as well as SUPER excited about new rules. It sounds like Tau are finally getting some long overdue versatility. For fluff sakes, they SHOULD be the most technologically versatile race in the game...

Sorry guys, reposted by my mistake.

The Riptide is designed to plug gaps in the Tau lines. He can give covering fire, or shield his allies with covering fire. The Riptide has some sort of generator or experimental reactor that can reroute its power to different systems at the start of each turn, either going faster or higher strength shooting or an invul save.

I can confirm Farsight does indeed have a new model. The feet are bigger like Sahdowsun

It's more dynamic than the old model. It has him flying/dropping in, one foot held up by a rock, like the new Chaos Warp Talons. He's using the shield to block, and the arm is held out straight. Very cool looking. He has like a "banzai" ribbon tied around his left leg.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

 chris_valera wrote:
The Riptide is designed to plug gaps in the Tau lines. He can give covering fire, or shield his allies with covering fire. The Riptide has some sort of generator or experimental reactor that can reroute its power to different systems at the start of each turn, either going faster or higher strength shooting or an invul save.

I can confirm Farsight does indeed have a new model. The feet are bigger like Sahdowsun

It's more dynamic than the old model. It has him flying/dropping in, one foot held up by a rock, like the new Chaos Warp Talons. He's using the shield to block, and the arm is held out straight. Very cool looking. He has like a "banzai" ribbon tied around his left leg.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

The farsight pics have been posted multiple times in the thread.. just an FYI. Look two pages back for the most recent.

Sigh. Yet another MC that gaks all over the Carnifex ability and cost wise.