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Hi!

The new Tau codex is out, but hell, Forge World is late to the party and I want my Hazards. So I've decided to convert the "most important" Forge World Tau units:
- Commander R'alai
- XV9 Hazard Teams
- Piranha TX-42 Squadrons
- Tetra Squadrons
I know, some units are missing, but I tried to focus on the units that really needed some revision because of the new stuff/changes of the 6th ed Tau Codex.

Hope you'll like it (until the official FW errata/faq kicks in), and all C&C is welcomed and usual!

I think 75pts before upgrades is a bit too much for the XV9s

I really like what you have done and I think that you've got the majority of it spot on, however the XV9s are still a bit pricey for what they are.

Also why have you changed the PIGs to assault 2 without rending?

If you can give me an insight on your thought process because I'm a little confused to be honest.


Cheers
Pastel

PastelAvenger wrote:
I really like what you have done and I think that you've got the majority of it spot on, however the XV9s are still a bit pricey for what they are.

Also why have you changed the PIGs to assault 2 without rending?

If you can give me an insight on your thought process because I'm a little confused to be honest.

Okay, so how I was thinking:

1. XV9 price: I effectively "upgraded" a Crisis to a Hazard: 22 (base cost) + 2x15 (2x twin-linked burst cannons) + 10 (Shas'vre upgrade) +5 (vectored retro thrusters) + 1 (Bonding Knife Ritual) +1 (photon grenades) = 69 points, so it leaves +6 points for the +1T what is reasonable IMHO.

2. PIGs: I based the changes on the CIB: the CIB lost 2 shots and gained S7 AP4 and the overcharged mode instead of the pseudo-rending. The PIG now has the same: -2 shots, S7 AP4 and overcharged mode. To compensate for the lost Strength over the CIB, I gave the PIS 1 better AP. 1 better strength wouldn't work since no ion weapon has S8 for standard (not even the Riptide's Ion Accelerator) - and bigger ion weapons have better AP in the codex. So the PIS is now essentially a mini ion cannon instead of a buffed-up CIB.

Thanks for that, I can see where you're coming from and I think you're spot on with the price for the XV9s.

The PIGs however are missing something I believe. I understand fully where you're coming from but I just don't see why I would take them when the Fusion Cascades are cheaper and fullfill the same job.

I would have probably made them Assault 3 and kept the AP as 4 giving them rending with over charge, what do you think?

Cheers
Pastel

PastelAvenger wrote:

The PIGs however are missing something I believe. I understand fully where you're coming from but I just don't see why I would take them when the Fusion Cascades are cheaper and fullfill the same job.

I would have probably made them Assault 3 and kept the AP as 4 giving them rending with over charge, what do you think?
Pastel

The Fusion Cascade is 5 points more expensive than the PIG . And the Rending would stick out from the all-new streamlined ion weapon family. Rending was supposed to represent a boosted version of the CIB's pseudo-rending. But since the CIB have lsot that, there is no reason to keep Rending for the PIG either.

Well aren't I the skim reading idiot ;-)

The CIB just seems better and I don't think it should be since the XV9's are designed to carry heavier experimental weaponry.

Maybe increase its range to 24" but keep it at S7 AP3 Assault 3 and make it like a mini Ion Cannon?

If you think I'm talking rubbish please tell me to shut up.

Cheers
Pastel

PastelAvenger wrote:

Maybe increase its range to 24" but keep it at S7 AP3 Assault 3 and make it like a mini Ion Cannon?
Pastel

I do like the range increase. It adds character to the phased ion gun, separating it from both the cyclic ion blaster as well as the fusion cascade. But assault 3 would make it wreck everything (remember you can have two of them). Adding 5 points to this would make it on the same level as the fusion cascade while being different, which would add to the game.

But more importantly I would like to address the stat of Commander R'Alai.
Quite frankly, he is strictly worse than a stock XV9 (other than core stats). His armament is way worse, and I recommend changing it to this.

Experimental pulse submunitions rifle:....Range...........Str.........AP......Type
Pulse-submunitions rounds :....................24"................5.......... 5........ Assault 2, Large Blast, Ignores cover.
EMP shell :...............................................24"................ - ......... - ........ Assault 2, EMP
Ionic pulsar shell :.................................... 24"............... 8.......... 3.........Assault 4
---------Overcharge :................................. 24"............... 9.......... 3.........Assault 2, Blast, Gets Hot!

Now before you all shoot me over the internet, allow me two explain.

First lets look at the pulse submunition rounds. These should clearly be the same (gave them 1 more str) as the pulse submunition rounds shot by the regular XV9s.

The EMP shell doesnt change much, just removed gets hot cause it is unnecessary.

Hyper-decity sabot is just sounds silly. Tau already have rail guns (read pea shooters now). To bring R'Alai up to snuff with the modern tau obsession with ion weaponry, I renamed it and gave it stats similar to other ion weapons. The final shell I simply remade to be the overcharge of the ionic pulsar shell.

Oh, and for all those jaw drops at the amount of shots, remember, R'Alai only has one weapon, while regular xv9s have two. So every form of his ammo shoots twice as much to compensate.

First, thanks for the feedback guys!

On the PIG: I will think about the range increment. It actually sounds pretty logical.

On Commander R'alai: sadly, this guy is restricted by his fluff. He is supposed to be an old, shellshocked veteran piloting a high-tech suit and waging a big war of revenge with whatever tools he has. His weapon is effectively a pulse sub-munitions rifle converted to fire smaller rounds at a faster rate and it can chamber special (but dangerous, but R'alai doesn't care) ammo too. The hyper density sabot is a railgun round for example. But the S4 on the pulse-submunitions round was a mistype, it was intended to be S5 (oooops).


Also, I've uploaded some new stuff to. These are the more... complicated units, so they've got some major overhauls:
- Gue'vesa Strike Teams: next to the IG allies, these guys wouldn't fulfill any role with their current incarnation, so I reworked them. They are now low-quality drop-podding disruption units. Idea came when I read the Tau's frantic attempt to control the human population of the Tau Empire. Well, this is a way to do it ! Also note that you can take only one "batch" of these guys, so no full-Gue'vesa Troops selection!
- Remora Drone Fighter: ah, the poor Remora. I buffed it up, so now it has a better weapon and Vector Dancer, but still... I don't know what to do with this guy...
- Heavy Gun Drone Squadron: nothing special here. They gained +1T just as the other drones and new weapon options (they can take any special weapon, including the ion rifle and the rail rifle).

Remora Drone - just change the name of its burst cannon, lol why not keep it as a long barrelled burst cannon but with your stats which do make it a bit more lethal.

Heavy Gun Drones - T5 is a bit much, it's very rare too see T5 in the Tau Codex I think T4 is just fine. Since all weapons cost the same 15pts too XV8s now why the 5pts for changing the weapon.

O'Ra'lai- seems fine just the way he is. I would make all the shots the same range though seems daft they are all different ranges.

Gue'vesa- I have absolutely no comments on these (I know you're shocked right?)

Cheers
Pastel

 AtoMaki wrote:

On Commander R'alai: sadly, this guy is restricted by his fluff.

His fluff is that he is an old and highly respected veteran who is given all the best and currently under test technology to use at his disposal. Farsight it the one who makes do with what he can.

I caught another typo, you left out stealth on the Remora drone. Also instead of making up another gun you could always just give it the quad ion turret, like all the other tau fliers.

Normal, unaugmented humans don't survive Drop Pod Assaults, they turn into a pile of paste at the floor of the Pod from the forces exerted on them during the descent and landing.

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
Normal, unaugmented humans don't survive Drop Pod Assaults, they turn into a pile of paste at the floor of the Pod from the forces exerted on them during the descent and landing.

Luckily, we have Tau Plot!Pods, which are much more humane. Imagine the Strike Teams as the ODST of the Tau Empire but without the "elite" edge. also, the Gue'vesa is there to fulfill a desired role I often see to come up in the new Tau topics: forward deployed Scoring units.

PastelAvenger:
I would try to avoid the name "long barreled burst cannon". What about turbo burst cannon or advanced burst cannon?

In the new Tau Codex, every drone got +1T. So the HGD with its T4 would be equal to the humble Gun Drone what doesn't make much sense.

Uhm... Only the Hyper Densitiy Sabot has a different (12" longer) range.... Every other special ammo shares the same 24" range.

Turbo Burst Cannon is better but it still sounds like a weapon in a manga/anime series which is a lot of peoples main gripe with Tau

The problem I have with HGD being T5 is that only the biggest heaviest suits have T5. I think that GW just realised that T3 was not high enough and raised it to the HGD level not that every type of drone deserved a +1T.

I know the majority of O'Ra'lai's are the same range I just thought it was worth a mention. I know different ammo can dictate how far a shot can be fired but I just don't seem Tau weaponry working the same way as conventional bullets

PastelAvenger wrote:

The problem I have with HGD being T5 is that only the biggest heaviest suits have T5. I think that GW just realised that T3 was not high enough and raised it to the HGD level not that every type of drone deserved a +1T.

The Riptide's Shielded Missile Drone has T6(!). An alternative I can see is that the HGD could gain +1W instead of the +1W to represent its bulk.

Anyone know when Forge world will be giving an FAQ for the Tau units?

Last I heard they are working on re-releasing most (if not all) of the Imperial Armour books, so the Tau stuff probably won't get a FAQ until IA3 2nd ed is released (if it is).

 AtoMaki wrote:

PastelAvenger wrote:

The problem I have with HGD being T5 is that only the biggest heaviest suits have T5. I think that GW just realised that T3 was not high enough and raised it to the HGD level not that every type of drone deserved a +1T.

The Riptide's Shielded Missile Drone has T6(!). An alternative I can see is that the HGD could gain +1W instead of the +1W to represent its bulk.

I always assumed that they were T6 so the Riptide didn't get ganked due to the majority of the unit being T4....