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So I keep thinking about why the Tau havent made special Ethereal Battlesuits to protect their sacred leaders, so I decided to write up some rules for them. I imagine them as being similar to the Crisis Enforcer suits, but with tassels and strips of cloth hanging from the shoulders and waist.

WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
Ethereal Crisis 4 3 5 4 3 5 4 10 3+ 80 points

Wargear: XV-8

Special rules: Independent Character, Supporting Fire, Very Bulky, Failure is Not An Option, Invocation of the Elements, Stubborn

Options:
May take one of the following:
-Honor Blade.......5 points
-Two Equalizer....10 points
May take up to three items from the Ranged Weapons and/or Support Systems lists
May take up to two items from the Signature Systems list
May take up to two drones from the Drone list


There it is, fairly simple, but I think it could be extremely effective on the field. What think you?

one small problem with this idea.... only Firecaste can pilot battle suit, and ethereals do not have the time for the training needed and cannot wear the pilot suit. simply put massive waste of resources and time the Tau race would not be interested

It doesnt really fit the fluff.

As said, only the Fire caste are allowed to pilot battlesuits (so far as we know)

Also, the Ethereals are not really warriors. They arent really supposed to get into direct combat. They are on the battlefield to bolster the troops morale and to direct the fight, not to directly participate in it.

Dont get me wrong, its an interesting concept, it just doesnt seem to sit right with the fluff, at least to me.

How about..

Command XV-89 Suit.
75 Points
Drops its Heavy Railgun and High Yield Missile Packs for a Command Console for the Ethereal.

Unit Type: In(ch) HQ choice

WS 3
BS 3
S 5
T 4
W 3
I 2
A 3
LD 10
Sv 2+

Special rules: Independent Character, Supporting Fire, Very Bulky, Failure is Not An Option, Invocation of the Elements, Stubborn

May choose from 1 of the following:
Twin Linked Plasma Rifle
Twin Linked Smart Missiles
Twin Linked Burst Cannons

1 item from the Support Systems list
Up to 2 drones from the Drones list including Missile Drones

Pick a Battle Style at the beginning of the game. The Ethereal must begin the game deployed in order to use this special rule.
Mont'Ka: Provides a +1 to any Reserve Roll and a +1 to the Steal initiative roll.
Kauyon: May forgo your Reserves Roll on turn 2 and roll as normal on turns 3+.

This gives the Ethereal a bit more protection and would allow him to be a bit more aggressive on the battlefield without giving him the full mobility of the Jet Packed Crisis Suits. The Battle Styles are to represent the fluff. Mont'Ka.. gives you the first turn and allows your Deep Striking suits to get into position early to crush the enemy. The Kauyon bonus allows you time to draw your opponent into your trap and then bring in your suits behind him or the outflankers into their exposed deployment zone.

Ethereals should not have ranged weapons, they aren't combat units. They're there to inspire the troops around them.
They're GWs only nod to a realistic leader, ie one who hasn't fallen out of an 80s action movie, they really don't need changing.

If anything they would be in a command & control vehicle than a suit, as Aun`va ( The Space Pope ) sits in some sort of a throne, it would be more likely for the ethereal to sit in some kind of a skimmer.

So far the ethereals been more interested in showing themselves without armor ( but WITH a shield generator ) and be a source of inspiration for the Tau.

If you want a mechanized Ethereal, you can go for a Devilfish, painted in snazzy colors to distinguish it as the pope limo. Also increases the buff range splendidly.

What about like a special pope mobile for ethereals?

ajsnips44 wrote:
What about like a special pope mobile for ethereals?

I could see this idea far more than a Battlesuit Pope. Instead of a top hatch the Ethereal could stand on a platform leading down into the Fish (preferably with a glass or shield dome on top for all his faithful Tau to see). Paint it up in fancy Space Pope colours and he can even go on the offensive with the SMS, Burst Cannon and Seekers. And as a previous post said, it really does increase the buff range, even if it is a bit of a jammy way to do it.

Love the Pope-mobile...

Did someone ask for a Pope-mobile?


As far as the Ethereal Battlesuit goes I had a similar idea years ago
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/309268.page

I've since changed the suits name to an XV89-3 Celestial Suit, of course the 8 represents the mass class. The 9 represents that it is a more heavily armored variant of a suit while the 3 also indicates that it is a support/auxilliary suit since the Ethereal is mainly there as an inspiration to the troops and a guiding hand. The point of my suit was mainly for protection of Ethereals in a combat zone as and others said an Ethereal shouldn't be activly charging into battle.

As far as Fire Caste being the only ones able to use battlesuits while there is no official fluff that I know of stating this it does make sense. But there is always the idea that the Tau create suits for more purposes than just warfare such as utility suits for the Earth Caste and armor suits for Ethereals etc.