SGTPozy wrote:
Yeah I'm afraid... Afraid that even with this new toy that we won't be able to compete with the cheese armies (SM, Eldat etc.)

 casvalremdeikun wrote:
It probably still dies effortlessly to Grav.

 winterwind85 wrote:

 casvalremdeikun wrote:
It probably still dies effortlessly to Grav.

Since it will be a superheavy walker with invul Save only haywire on 6' s, Not a Problem.
Given the ammount of interceptor Tau can bring deepstriking Cents or devs Arent that much of a problem

 winterwind85 wrote:

 casvalremdeikun wrote:
It probably still dies effortlessly to Grav.

Since it will be a superheavy walker with invul Save only haywire on 6' s, Not a Problem.
Given the ammount of interceptor Tau can bring deepstriking Cents or devs Arent that much of a problem

OK, I just got back from the event, so after posting the photo earlier, I thought I'd put up some more info that I learned on the day.

Next(?) IA book is still planned to be Tau... possibly against Imperial Knights (plus some Guard tagging along for the fun of it). Unlikely to be out for a while though ("next year"?).

On the big suit...

Rules totally undecided yet, according to Will, the sculptor. So I'm not sure if the ones listed earlier are accurate - though as it's obviously someone else that writes the rules, maybe they've written them and just not told him, it's possible.

The arms and shoulder weapons are all mounted such that they could be swapped out for other weapons. The shoulder weapons are intended as a kind of railgun, but not the same as the "heavy railguns" we've seen on the AX-1-0 for example... he spoke about this at some length, and had some cool ideas how he imagines them working. He figures that the velocity of a railgun like this could be variable: as well as the high-velocity solid rounds we know of from existing railguns, you could fire a different munition at a much lower velocity and "lob" it like a mortar, or even launch a drone-controlled shell. Flexibility was the key word, he said it several times.

The arm weapons are triple-barrelled rotary ion cannons (again, no idea what that means for their rules). The arms on the model he had on display were magnetised (he actually dropped it while I was talking to him and it fell to bits, I panicked but he was like "nah don't worry about it" and put it back together) and the model will be produced with 6mm/8mm holes in it, so you don't even need to drill your own magnet holes.

He's sculpted alternate arms already (triple fusion guns of some kind I think), but not any more shoulder weapon systems yet. Because the arms are on a magnetised mount, he isn't tied into them all having the same design, and mentioned that one variant could include a "box" of missiles (SMS/MP style) instead of an actual arm holding a gun. The shoulder systems could be different too - there could be two independent weapons (instead of three on a shared axle mount) and those could also include missiles. He sounds quite keen on drone-guided missiles.

The suit has three pilots, and you may be able to see the three entry hatches on the front in the photo: he imagined the central one to be in charge, with lesser ranks either side, much like a Princeps and Moderati for an imperial Titan.

The model will come on the round base shown as it's the largest plastic base they make! He put this model together without thinking about the base, posed differently it ought to fit the base a little bit better. It's a bit hard to tell from the photos how big this model is - it's big. Warhound big? Much bigger than a Knight, anyway.

Oh - it's "with manufacturing", i.e. finished and ready for production. When it will actually go into production and go on sale, he wasn't sure (that depends on when it fits into the release schedule, when they can write rules for it, etc. and is out of the sculptor's hands).

Overall I personally love the model, though I've seen mixed reactions to it in this thread. However - I'm not sure about the three shoulder guns (makes the model look too much "I hear you like guns with your guns" for my taste). A pair of independent missile racks would look much better IMO, and sounds like something that is very likely on the cards - indeed, it looks really cool if you just leave the shoulder weapon off completely, you don't have to have something there if you don't want to! But the arm and body weapons are really cool IMO. I'm very positive about this, and will be buying one.

Juicifer wrote:I'm more afraid of seeing an official GW commemorative baby carrier for it.

DaPino wrote:

 winterwind85 wrote:

 casvalremdeikun wrote:
It probably still dies effortlessly to Grav.

Since it will be a superheavy walker with invul Save only haywire on 6' s, Not a Problem.
Given the ammount of interceptor Tau can bring deepstriking Cents or devs Arent that much of a problem

Grav doesn't mean haywire. Grav means it wounds on it's armor save (so 2+ if it has a 2+ save). Against vehicles, grav was already relying on 6's anyway. Grav gets nerfed vs SH vehicles hard because they can't be immobilized tough.
However, seeing as Riptides are MC's while they, by all means of logic, should be walkers, I don't see this one being a vehicle either, rather a GC.

Anyway, I haven't seen any proposed rules, where did the OP find them?

 n0t_u wrote:
I have a revenant.

But it looks more silly than intimidating with so many guns. The burst cannons would make more sense for missile defense on the shoulders as well. Really it should just have less guns because how often would you even use the 18" guns with everything else.

 Flinty wrote:
It annoys me a bit that they've gone down the route of a superheavy walker, when the Tau background goes more into air superiority for anti-titan duties. A-X-10s and Mantas all the way

 Kanluwen wrote:

 n0t_u wrote:
I have a revenant.

But it looks more silly than intimidating with so many guns. The burst cannons would make more sense for missile defense on the shoulders as well. Really it should just have less guns because how often would you even use the 18" guns with everything else.

"Close Defence" in this case doesn't mean "shooting down missiles".
It means shooting people trying to charge you.

This model is slated to have its rules in the next Imperial Armour book, which is supposed to be Tau v. Ad Mech

 Kanluwen wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
It annoys me a bit that they've gone down the route of a superheavy walker, when the Tau background goes more into air superiority for anti-titan duties. A-X-10s and Mantas all the way

We don't have the exact details of this campaign book.

For all you know, this thing is never deployed outside of Tau worlds and used as a relatively static ambush defense.

 winterwind85 wrote:
It is, and to answer the next Comment, forgeworld is Totally legal in normal Games.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
It annoys me a bit that they've gone down the route of a superheavy walker, when the Tau background goes more into air superiority for anti-titan duties. A-X-10s and Mantas all the way

We don't have the exact details of this campaign book.

For all you know, this thing is never deployed outside of Tau worlds and used as a relatively static ambush defense.

Makumba wrote:

 winterwind85 wrote:
It is, and to answer the next Comment, forgeworld is Totally legal in normal Games.

Maybe where you play. I see no problem with it. Even in places where FW is legal. Tau have no access to invisibility and both eldar and marines should be able to kill it in one turn. Unless it has a ++1 save or can cover the whole opposing deployment zone with a cover ignoring interceptor skyfire template.

 Flinty wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
It annoys me a bit that they've gone down the route of a superheavy walker, when the Tau background goes more into air superiority for anti-titan duties. A-X-10s and Mantas all the way

We don't have the exact details of this campaign book.

For all you know, this thing is never deployed outside of Tau worlds and used as a relatively static ambush defense.

All I know is the concepts that were shared by the dev team in the various Tau Empire books. The original idea was to deviate away from the route that all the other races took, i.e. the superheavy walkers, and came up with a different idea that was eminently workable. I just think its a shame they have caved into coming up with ever larger walkers armed with increasingly ridiculous weapons.

 Vector Strike wrote:

The sculptors themselves said it will be a SHW - no fear from grav.

http://www.advancedtautactica.com/viewtopic.php?p=294915#p294915

DaPino wrote:
So maybe, JUST MAYBE, they'll change Riptides into walkers as well.
Because a tiny guy piloting a giant machine should, by all means, be a vehicle. I honestly did not understand what they were thinking. Suits, I get it, they're just highly advanced armor.

 Kanluwen wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Flinty wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
It annoys me a bit that they've gone down the route of a superheavy walker, when the Tau background goes more into air superiority for anti-titan duties. A-X-10s and Mantas all the way

We don't have the exact details of this campaign book.

For all you know, this thing is never deployed outside of Tau worlds and used as a relatively static ambush defense.

All I know is the concepts that were shared by the dev team in the various Tau Empire books. The original idea was to deviate away from the route that all the other races took, i.e. the superheavy walkers, and came up with a different idea that was eminently workable. I just think its a shame they have caved into coming up with ever larger walkers armed with increasingly ridiculous weapons.

This isn't a Fire Caste vehicle. It's Earth Caste, operated by three individuals.