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3/7/2016 Updated Colors! Let me know if you can see these!

purple is not an improvement. may I suggest bold instead?

 carldooley wrote:
purple is not an improvement. may I suggest bold instead?

Which theme are you using? Mobile device or?



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Made them all green.. how is that?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 BoomWolf wrote:
Yes, coldstars have fixed and unimpressive weapon loadout and no relic access because they would be otherwise bonkers.

As for tau flying circus, I'm playing with the concept of one.
With FSE you can get 8 coldstars, 8 drop suits with dual 15 guns and a riptide with some upgrades at a list.
That's a lot of coldstars and drop fusion. It's bound to be at least amusing.

Bare bones coldstar may be no flyrant, but it's CHEAP.

Another thing i just thought of.. maybe a ton of coldstars paired with the drone net.. each coldstar takes a drone controller and have like 5+ drones per squad.. turn 1.. swoop shoot at some rhinos.. turn 2.. drop, all drones auto pop out, unleash 20+ shots which could actually do damage to a squad of marines + offer wounds to soak for commander... Turn 3 take off again.. move.. drop.. shoot.. etc etc... hmm interesting.

Oh, I like the purple better than the dark blue.

As to FSE rate of fire, CiBs are still better than Burst Cannons. Same range bracket, better stats.

SJ

 Grizzyzz wrote:
Which theme are you using? Mobile device or?

dakka 2012 dark/orange

it's your thread, frankly you can format it however you like.

 jeffersonian000 wrote:
Oh, I like the purple better than the dark blue.

As to FSE rate of fire, CiBs are still better than Burst Cannons. Same range bracket, better stats.

SJ

They do have better s.. which is definitely a positive, and ap4 vs. ap5 which does effect some specific armies more so. But they are 10pts more a model, and who has enough wysiwig CIBs to go arround? I don't =(

I only mention the points.. because 30+ points a unit of 3+ models.. starts to add up!

Paulson-games.com sell a really good look-a-like at $3 a piece, the Light-Mech Energy Blaster.

SJ

The ONLY good use I've come up with for a Coldstar is a Dronemander with the Drone Net so he can jink with his unit.

It'd still not worth it. Don't take Coldstars. Don't buy Coldstars. Maybe they'll have better rules in 8th.

Maybe I'm the odd one out here, but I've actually had really good success with my Coldstar. He has yet to die on me, and he always has some use somewhere. My loadout for him is Shield Gen so he doesn't have to jink ever, and Stim so he has more survivability. Outside of low point games, he is never my warlord, always an extra HQ I take along. And he does work. You can't send him against TEQ or heavy vehicles or the better MCs, that's not what he's designed for. He's a harassment unit. Send him against troops squads and light vehicles. As an FMC he can be wherever I need him to be. At BS5, the only ML support he needs is ignore cover. With 6 TL S5 AP5 shots and 2 S7 AP4 shots, he's actually a pretty decent threat to most troops in this game. He may not kill them in one turn, but that's fine. He whittled them down enough that either another unit can kill them, they break and run, or they simply don't have enough bodies to be a threat anymore and I can destroy them at my leisure.

The big problem with the view of him is that he simply isn't the best thing in our codex. 'Oh he doesn't have AP2 guns, he sucks. Oh he isn't as survivable as a Riptide, he sucks. Oh he isn't a point and click destroyer unit, he sucks. Oh he isn't blatantly OP, he sucks.' This is a mentality that pervades the internet in general (and one I see a lot on dakka). The Coldstar has a specific job; harassment, fast objective taking, and troop/light vehicle destruction. If you take him and try to force him into a role he isn't designed for, whether it's support as a drone controller, or anti-TEQ, or anti-MC, he's gonna perform subpar. If you take him for the role he was intended, more often than not he'll shine. He's not our star player, he's not a 'do everything and do it better than everything else' unit that Tau players have gotten used to with the Riptide and Ghostkeel. He has a niche, and if you take and use him within that niche, he'll serve you well.

 GI_Redshirt wrote:
Maybe I'm the odd one out here, but I've actually had really good success with my Coldstar. He has yet to die on me, and he always has some use somewhere. My loadout for him is Shield Gen so he doesn't have to jink ever, and Stim so he has more survivability. Outside of low point games, he is never my warlord, always an extra HQ I take along. And he does work. You can't send him against TEQ or heavy vehicles or the better MCs, that's not what he's designed for. He's a harassment unit. Send him against troops squads and light vehicles. As an FMC he can be wherever I need him to be. At BS5, the only ML support he needs is ignore cover. With 6 TL S5 AP5 shots and 2 S7 AP4 shots, he's actually a pretty decent threat to most troops in this game. He may not kill them in one turn, but that's fine. He whittled them down enough that either another unit can kill them, they break and run, or they simply don't have enough bodies to be a threat anymore and I can destroy them at my leisure.

The big problem with the view of him is that he simply isn't the best thing in our codex. 'Oh he doesn't have AP2 guns, he sucks. Oh he isn't as survivable as a Riptide, he sucks. Oh he isn't a point and click destroyer unit, he sucks. Oh he isn't blatantly OP, he sucks.' This is a mentality that pervades the internet in general (and one I see a lot on dakka). The Coldstar has a specific job; harassment, fast objective taking, and troop/light vehicle destruction. If you take him and try to force him into a role he isn't designed for, whether it's support as a drone controller, or anti-TEQ, or anti-MC, he's gonna perform subpar. If you take him for the role he was intended, more often than not he'll shine. He's not our star player, he's not a 'do everything and do it better than everything else' unit that Tau players have gotten used to with the Riptide and Ghostkeel. He has a niche, and if you take and use him within that niche, he'll serve you well.

I completely agree with you that taken out of role he is not good (goes for anything), the problem comes down to just that.. defining his roll? As you stated harassment.. anti light vehicles.. I can by that maybe.. in a hunter contingent looking at something to help other units get that +1 BS.. But the problem is.. we just have better stuff that does the exact same thing..

I did the math earlier.. against a rhino with no cover saves he MIGHT wreck it in one go.. lets take a 10 man squad of firewarriors which is almost half the cost.. with no markerlights.. they are doing nearly the same damage to a rhino as coldstar does..

You mentioned he is very mobile and thus can help grab objectives.. , but while swooping he can't score objectives.. so you need to move him, and then land next turn in order to grab that objective.

Idk, I am really trying to think outside the box.. but it is a tough time coming up with even a niche use for him.. atleast for me. Awesome model though and I am glad he is working out for you!

can a Coldstar commander take a drone unit with it when it swoops? if so, LoS? and what support upgrades to make it better? Counterfire Defense System?

 carldooley wrote:
can a Coldstar commander take a drone unit with it when it swoops? if so, LoS? and what support upgrades to make it better? Counterfire Defense System?

Per coldstar rules, any drones are immediately removed from the table when swooping. When coldstar lands, those drones are immediately placed back on the table in unit cohesion (i am unsure it actually specifies how they are placed.. which has me now thinking of some really cheeky things to do with this..)

there isnt a need for a guide you just spam suits like a lemming and ignore your armies weaknesses entirely in order to milk the most out of the best troops choice in the game the crisis suit and then faceroll all your friends

 ionusx wrote:
there isnt a need for a guide you just spam suits like a lemming and ignore your armies weaknesses entirely in order to milk the most out of the best troops choice in the game the crisis suit and then faceroll all your friends

If only it were that simple...

 ionusx wrote:
there isnt a need for a guide you just spam suits like a lemming and ignore your armies weaknesses entirely in order to milk the most out of the best troops choice in the game the crisis suit and then faceroll all your friends

If you cant tribute something why bother to respond? there are enough I hate tau post please go there

 Grizzyzz wrote:

 GI_Redshirt wrote:
Maybe I'm the odd one out here, but I've actually had really good success with my Coldstar. He has yet to die on me, and he always has some use somewhere. My loadout for him is Shield Gen so he doesn't have to jink ever, and Stim so he has more survivability. Outside of low point games, he is never my warlord, always an extra HQ I take along. And he does work. You can't send him against TEQ or heavy vehicles or the better MCs, that's not what he's designed for. He's a harassment unit. Send him against troops squads and light vehicles. As an FMC he can be wherever I need him to be. At BS5, the only ML support he needs is ignore cover. With 6 TL S5 AP5 shots and 2 S7 AP4 shots, he's actually a pretty decent threat to most troops in this game. He may not kill them in one turn, but that's fine. He whittled them down enough that either another unit can kill them, they break and run, or they simply don't have enough bodies to be a threat anymore and I can destroy them at my leisure.

The big problem with the view of him is that he simply isn't the best thing in our codex. 'Oh he doesn't have AP2 guns, he sucks. Oh he isn't as survivable as a Riptide, he sucks. Oh he isn't a point and click destroyer unit, he sucks. Oh he isn't blatantly OP, he sucks.' This is a mentality that pervades the internet in general (and one I see a lot on dakka). The Coldstar has a specific job; harassment, fast objective taking, and troop/light vehicle destruction. If you take him and try to force him into a role he isn't designed for, whether it's support as a drone controller, or anti-TEQ, or anti-MC, he's gonna perform subpar. If you take him for the role he was intended, more often than not he'll shine. He's not our star player, he's not a 'do everything and do it better than everything else' unit that Tau players have gotten used to with the Riptide and Ghostkeel. He has a niche, and if you take and use him within that niche, he'll serve you well.

I completely agree with you that taken out of role he is not good (goes for anything), the problem comes down to just that.. defining his roll? As you stated harassment.. anti light vehicles.. I can by that maybe.. in a hunter contingent looking at something to help other units get that +1 BS.. But the problem is.. we just have better stuff that does the exact same thing..

I did the math earlier.. against a rhino with no cover saves he MIGHT wreck it in one go.. lets take a 10 man squad of firewarriors which is almost half the cost.. with no markerlights.. they are doing nearly the same damage to a rhino as coldstar does..

You mentioned he is very mobile and thus can help grab objectives.. , but while swooping he can't score objectives.. so you need to move him, and then land next turn in order to grab that objective.

Idk, I am really trying to think outside the box.. but it is a tough time coming up with even a niche use for him.. atleast for me. Awesome model though and I am glad he is working out for you!

I think it really comes down to the list you put him in. My lists generally are very suit heavy, and funny enough for Tau generally don't have a lot of S5. I'm generally taking more plasma, fusion, MPs, and Ion, with the only S5 I have being SMS usually. I can see how a list that runs more fire warriors than I do would see him as kinda superfluous, but for a list like mine he generally acts both as a harasser (get in the opponent's face and make him worry about the Coldstar) and as a clean up crew (Oh, my Riptide left 2 models from that unit alive? Ok, instead of devoting a Crisis or Broadside team to deal with it, my Coldstar can sweep them up). Is he the best thing in the codex? Absolutely not. But, the way I see him and the way I use him, he's a decent model that can be sent off on his own with little to no support and can still be expected to at least be annoying to my opponent. Whether he's cleaning up the remains of decimated units, or popping trukks and venoms, or simply making my opponent think twice about leaving a troop unit alone backfield for late game objective grabbing, he will find a use in my army.

 GI_Redshirt wrote:

I think it really comes down to the list you put him in. My lists generally are very suit heavy, and funny enough for Tau generally don't have a lot of S5. I'm generally taking more plasma, fusion, MPs, and Ion, with the only S5 I have being SMS usually. I can see how a list that runs more fire warriors than I do would see him as kinda superfluous, but for a list like mine he generally acts both as a harasser (get in the opponent's face and make him worry about the Coldstar) and as a clean up crew (Oh, my Riptide left 2 models from that unit alive? Ok, instead of devoting a Crisis or Broadside team to deal with it, my Coldstar can sweep them up). Is he the best thing in the codex? Absolutely not. But, the way I see him and the way I use him, he's a decent model that can be sent off on his own with little to no support and can still be expected to at least be annoying to my opponent. Whether he's cleaning up the remains of decimated units, or popping trukks and venoms, or simply making my opponent think twice about leaving a troop unit alone backfield for late game objective grabbing, he will find a use in my army.

Go for it man! I am toying with a few lists...

2 FSE CADS:
4x Coldstar, shield, drone controller

Drone net:
4x10 gun drones

Haven't added up the points to this yet.. probably add in a stormsurge as a firebase.. but essentially 4 coldstars with drones, fly up, take out some transports, then drop down and blow up a squad, then get up and do it again.

Coldstar taxi is amusing indeed.

You'll need troops though to patch up the list. Fusion suits?

Assuming you take 2 monat fusion suits in each CAD you are looking at 1484 points.

 BoomWolf wrote:
Coldstar taxi is amusing indeed.

You'll need troops though to patch up the list. Fusion suits?

Assuming you take 2 monat fusion suits in each CAD you are looking at 1484 points.

Yeah I was trying to make lists last night.. and it was actually rather difficult to make a list this way. MAYBE doing just 2 coldstars with taxi drone squads would be ok.

My favorite Coldstar fact: As a MC, enemies are allowed to use Meltabombs against him.

They double his toughness and kill him instantly.

 raverrn wrote:
My favorite Coldstar fact: As a MC, enemies are allowed to use Meltabombs against him.

They double his toughness and kill him instantly.

An Icarus Lascannon will ID him, too.

SJ

Good thing the general consensus is that quads are superior against nearly every target then, isn't it?

At times, howing a glaring weakness is irrelevant, is that weakness is so uncommon and most anything else wouldn't care-that people never bother to pick the tools to exploit that weakness.

 BoomWolf wrote:
Good thing the general consensus is that quads are superior against nearly every target then, isn't it?

At times, howing a glaring weakness is irrelevant, is that weakness is so uncommon and most anything else wouldn't care-that people never bother to pick the tools to exploit that weakness.

Skitarii Onager with an Icarus array

SJ

I forgot for a moment that faction even exists XD

Anyone seriously player it though? IIRC on last LVO it had a single player.

 BoomWolf wrote:
I forgot for a moment that faction even exists XD

Anyone seriously player it though? IIRC on last LVO it had a single player.

My Tau (granted i haven't played since the update to them) are 0-6 against my friends mechanicus/skittarii list (something like ~700 free points in gear).

Worst defeats I ever experienced.. Their alpha strike might be more devastating then Tau.. with BS7 and twinlinked units just because he wants it. I lost 3 riptides (even after EWO) top of turn 1.

Wat.
Jesus.

What kind of list did each of you field?

 BoomWolf wrote:
Wat.
Jesus.

What kind of list did each of you field?

I have fielded all sorts of list combinations. But the more important question was what was his list?

I am not an expert on the their codex so forgive me.. But taking one of their decurians + an oathsworn knight allows for free upgrades on everything. To get droppods in his army he allied in the older space wolf formation where its an HQ+2 elites minimum.. so he would have a wolf priest and 2x1 servitors as a tax to get his 3 drop pods.

He had 2 destroyer squads (the tread guys with grav cannons), would sometimes pod them sometimes now. He also had 2 units of vanguard (again names.. but has 4 plasma guys in this unit... and those are assault 3 plasmas gross).

So he has a really tanky core list with his Knight, which is shadowed by a solo dominus which can go to ground for a 2++ save and with all his free upgrades on a good roll can 100% fix the knight even from 1HP remaining.. so its a huge pain if you can't kill the knight outright.. and further if you target the dominus he just goes to ground.

Additionally he has the MC robot guys .. castellans i want to say.. a few melee troops that can infiltrate in order to snag objectives.. a dune crawler for some skyfire flare...

All our games were when he was practicing for the last NOVA open.