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Sup dakka.

I play orks mainly, and i just got my hands on a codex for the bit of Tau i have. Reading through it i can tell its much older codex than i thought (specially since ive never heard of Target Priority tests...but the FAQ says ignore anything involving that so nvm) but there are a few things i have either 0 clue how it works, or i feel im not getting it right and therefore have a ton of "what ifs" about it. I feel like an idiot not understanding THIS much of the codex lol.

I'll just list them below. Thanks in advance!

1) Smart Missile System: The FAQ says it ignores cover that involve line of sight, but then it also says: "This would include when at least half the unit isin area terrain; or a vehicle with wargear or a special rule that means they are obscurred." The first part is obvious (craters, behind an ADL) but the last part....does that involve things like the ork's KFF where it technically says vehicles count as obscured, so i wouldnt get my 5+ if i got hit by this even though that save isnt based on line of sight?

2) Marker Lights: The FAQ didnt clear this up at all, and the Codex gives me mixed answers. At first it sounds like they must "fire" at the same unit the owning unit is targeting, but then it says "...if the firing unit is distracted by a closer target or cannot see the target..." which leads me to believe the Marker Lights can be shot at any unit in range regardless of the original unit being targeted. Is this true? If it is, whats the benefit of Networked Markerlights? Im lost...

3) Landing Gear: Not really a confusion more of a WTF thing. What the hell would make you want to drop your 5+ cover (4+ with the upgrade) to just "land" and sit there like a normal vehicle?

4) Marker Lights and Overwatch: The FAQ says marker lights in overwatch do not give the unit benefits, which tells me they still do SOMETHING. Either i missed something and there is 1 benefit they still get, or can the marker lights be shot via snapfire at other units that arent being overwatched at?

5) Drones on Vehicles: Since they are resolved as part of the vehicle before detachment, can they be affected by weapon destroyed results?

Feel like i forgot to mention another...but i think thats it. Any help would be appreciated.

1) The KFF confers a special rule that makes the targeted unit to count as be obscured, so you would get a cover save.

2) I'm not sure if I understand you question correctly, but you can only fire Marker Lights (and every weapons in that case) if you have a Target Lock. IIRC the whole beeing distracted by a closer unit was a reference to target priority tests (Not that sure as I never played 4th ed.).

3) This was a intended to work for things like if you get a immobilized on your anti grav vehicle which would destroy it but as this is now completely dependent on movement the landing gear is now pretty obsolete.

4) I'm not really sure about this. The part with the unit not benefiting from Marker Lights is purely about that you cannot buff a units BS for overwatch, but I don't know what happens if you hit with a Marker Light on overwatch and the enemy unit failing the charge range would you get a Marker token on that unit or would it expire at the end of the enemy turn?

5) IIRC you can destroy a single drone with a weapon destroyed result but sadly I could not find a proof for this :(

Oh, so the non-drone marker lights are used instead of the gun? That makes more sense. I imagine that means it might as well not exist, as they dont get the benefit from it unless it was from Networked Marker Lights (except i could use it to bring in a missile)

the FAQ says it includes the rule Obscured though, thats my confusion on the smart missiles. Its probably because the wording in vehicles and cover say Obscured any time they have a cover save, probably why the KFF's obscured confused me.

You do not have to, you can choose which weapon you want to use on overwatch and as we are not sure if it even gives a benefit at all if you hit with the Marker Light (in the next turn that would be), it's always the better option to use a gun. The only case in which you should fire a Marker Light is on drones as it's their only option but those are overpriced anyway...

THe marker light problem is a throw back from a previous eddition. You used to have to check to see if you could fire at X.

Ignore that, and any mention to srtategic rating.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, please see the FAQ again, it says nothing about ignoring cover. Rather you can ignore the fact that you do not have LOS to the target unit.

"The target will only receive coversaves that are not based on
line of sight"
I never said ignoring cover as in its basically a Flame attack, i said does it remove the cover on vehicles with obscured because of the last bit of the faq:

Q: How are cover saves worked out for smart missile systems and
seeker missiles as they do not need line of sight?(p27, 30)
A: The target will only receive coversaves that are not based on
line of sight. This would include when at least half the unit is
in area terrain; or a vehicle with wargear or a specialrule that
means they are obscurred.

I am not one to believe that any sentence after a rule is just there for the heck of it if it mentions another rule.

Ah cool; I missed that in the FAQ myself!

 Vineheart01 wrote:
"The target will only receive coversaves that are not based on
line of sight"
I never said ignoring cover as in its basically a Flame attack, i said does it remove the cover on vehicles with obscured because of the last bit of the faq:

Q: How are cover saves worked out for smart missile systems and
seeker missiles as they do not need line of sight?(p27, 30)
A: The target will only receive coversaves that are not based on
line of sight. This would include when at least half the unit is
in area terrain; or a vehicle with wargear or a specialrule that
means they are obscurred.

I am not one to believe that any sentence after a rule is just there for the heck of it if it mentions another rule.

You're misreading that answer.
Your target will only receive cover saves that aren't LoS based - including area terrain, KFF, etc.
The second sentence isn't denying cover - it's clarifying what cover saves aren't based on LoS.

ah gotcha, so they get their 5+ from woods/craters since thats area terrain but not the 4+ from ruins since thats purely which way im looking at you.

 Vineheart01 wrote:
1) Smart Missile System: The FAQ says it ignores cover that involve line of sight, but then it also says: "This would include when at least half the unit isin area terrain; or a vehicle with wargear or a special rule that means they are obscurred." The first part is obvious (craters, behind an ADL) but the last part....does that involve things like the ork's KFF where it technically says vehicles count as obscured, so i wouldnt get my 5+ if i got hit by this even though that save isnt based on line of sight?

The first part is NOT obvious, apparently. Units behind an ADL get no cover from an aegis line, because an aegis line is not area terrain.

As for KFF, SMS only ignore LOS-based cover saves. If you have a rule that simply grants you a cover save you keep that save. If you want an intuitive way of thinking about it, pretend that the SMS is firing from 1mm away from each target model.

2) Marker Lights: The FAQ didnt clear this up at all, and the Codex gives me mixed answers. At first it sounds like they must "fire" at the same unit the owning unit is targeting, but then it says "...if the firing unit is distracted by a closer target or cannot see the target..." which leads me to believe the Marker Lights can be shot at any unit in range regardless of the original unit being targeted. Is this true? If it is, whats the benefit of Networked Markerlights? Im lost...

The part about being distracted by a closer target is a reference to the 4th edition target priority rules, where you'd have to pass a leadership test to fire at anything besides the closest (and most threatening to your troops) target.

The advantage of networked markerlights is that the unit with the markerlights can benefit from its own markerlight hits. So, for example, your crisis suit has a marker drone. The marker drone fires first, and then you can use any markerlight hits it scores to improve the crisis suit's shooting against that target.

3) Landing Gear: Not really a confusion more of a WTF thing. What the hell would make you want to drop your 5+ cover (4+ with the upgrade) to just "land" and sit there like a normal vehicle?

This is a relic of the 4th edition skimmer rules. It has no purpose at all in 6th.

4) Marker Lights and Overwatch: The FAQ says marker lights in overwatch do not give the unit benefits, which tells me they still do SOMETHING. Either i missed something and there is 1 benefit they still get, or can the marker lights be shot via snapfire at other units that arent being overwatched at?

The FAQ just says that you can't use markerlights to modify BS of overwatch. You're stuck at BS 1, and you are not allowed to raise your BS (by any rule). You can still use markerlight hits to remove a cover save (if any).

5) Drones on Vehicles: Since they are resolved as part of the vehicle before detachment, can they be affected by weapon destroyed results?

No. They are treated as passengers.

Who cares when Tau will probably get a new Codex in 3 weeks.

Yea, they are suppose to get a new one soon, but i doubt theyre going to change them so much that the old dex has 0 things in it that helps with knowing how the army works. Major changes, yes, 100% rework? doubt it.

Thanks for clarifying all this up.

EDIT: OK got one more lol

When gearing out my suits, they say "may select upgrades from Wargear list" are these selections adding up to the total (say the Must take 1 Support upgrade for broadsides) or is it an additional one? im assuming that in the case of Broadsides i can only take 1 period unless its labeled Hard-wired.