Barracuda vs Barracuda - FIGHT [40k Tau]

This morning the Forgeworld newletter gave some welcome news if you have any Forgeworld flyers or are thinking of getting any.  Not only did they release the initial experimental rules for the Tau Barracuda AX-5-2, but they also released an update for all forgeworld flyers giving them Combat Roles (including 3 new forgeworld specific combat roles), Pursuit and Assault values (link here).  Three flyers even got updated dataslates.

One of the interesting points on the flyer update is that the Barracuda and the Barracuda AX-5-2 are listed separately, which is strange since the original Barracuda is out of production now.

So what are the major changes with the AX-5-2 ?  Its a more hefty flyer being just over a third more expensive at base costs, but most of that increase will be coming from the fact that the AX-5-2 is 3 hull points against the 2 on the original Barracuda.  However would you rather have one of the new Barracuda or one of the old ones AND a Forgeworld Tetra for the same cost is a close call.

Weapon Loadout

Weapon wise the Barracuda AX-5-2 has very versatile weapon options.  The main gun on the original Barracuda was an Ion Cannon, while on the AX-5-2 starts with Heavy Burst Cannon and can swap it for a Barracuda Ion Cannon for free or pay 20 points to upgrade to a Swiftstrike Railgun.  The big thing for me is that the Barracuda Ion Cannon does not have the option to overcharge to get a Str8 AP3 large blast.  The Heavy Burst Cannon has twice the shots of the Ion Cannon, but the Str and AP is one worse and the range is a paltry 24" which is a pain on a flyer which moves so fast, and ideally wants its first shot at long range so it doesn't overshoot some potential targets the following turn.  The Swiftstrike Railgun is a Hammerhead railgun with half the range and no option for a Submunition round; a very nice option to be able to target flyers.  Overall I think the Ion Cannon is the best overall, but with the option to take secondary weapons to match the main weapons it opens up plenty of valid options,

The secondary weapons start as Long Barreled Burst Cannons, a nice upgrade over the original Barracuda's standard burst cannons with 2 extra shots each and twice the range. The burst cannons can be upgraded to standard Cyclic Ion Blasters.  A interesting note is that the Cyclic Ion Blasters are not long barreled like the burst cannons (so are restricted to the short 18" range), plus they are the standard Cyclic Ion Blasters from the Tau codex so can be overcharged (unlike the new Barracuda's Ion Cannon).

When I used to play with my Barracuda it wasn't impossible to get the 18" range burst cannons into range, but there were definitely times when when the Ion Cannon and Missile Pods best targets were outside the 18" range of the burst cannons.  With the new Barracuda's burst cannons having a long range it will nearly always be firing, and 12 extra shots is nothing to sniff about and probably makes up for the Ion Cannon not having a large blast option.  However the cyclic ion blaster does give some more high strength shots giving the option of having the Barracuda with all strength 7 or higher shots, becoming a very good anti tank and/or anti flier solution.  If you didn't want the option of a str 10 shot having an Ion Cannon and 2 cyclic Ion Blasters would give the Barracuda 11 (!!) str 7 shots.  The ultimate anti tank option is the Swiftstrike Railgun and Cyclic Ion Blasters, but that options starts getting expensive at an extra 30 points of ever the base AX-5-2, and pushes the cost of the Barracuda past 200 points.

So what loadout is "Ergonomically Terrific" ?

Overall I think the old Barracuda loadout of Ion Cannon and 2 Burst Cannons is the best general option for the new Barracuda.  You lose the option of the ion cannon large blast but you have more shots from the burst cannon that will be in range nearly all the time.

However the great thing about the new Barracuda is that they are very worthwhile alternative options.  You can go with loads of shots with 20 shots from heavy burst cannon, 2 long barreled burst cannons & missile pod, or you can go very anti tank with Swiftstrike Railgun, 2 Cyclic Ion Blasters, Missile Pod and Seeker Missiles.  Therefore choosing the right load-out will depend on the rest of your army, and what gap needs filling most.

Anything Else ?

The new Barracuda also has a few extra things over it's predecessor.  The new Barracuda has picked up Strafing Run, which means with it's combat role of Strike Fighter and its BS4 it can be hitting a great many land units on 2+.  It also has Dispersion Shield which gives it an invulnerable save against glancing (5+) and penetrating hits (6+), however because it has the Agile rule the Barracuda is likely to Jink if it is the target of any decent firepower for a 3+ cover save.

Summary

The new Barracuda is a very nice upgrade over the old one,  The biggest point being the increase in hull points from 2 to 3, but the extra weapon options gives it great versatility and allows you to make the Barracuda a better fit for your army.

Previously when I used the Barracuda it was a mainly ground attack craft, and the main threat was the large blast of the overcharged ion cannon, but what I particularly like is the extra range and shots on the burst cannons, meaning the previous load-out now gives 17 shots all at a range of 36" (or greater), and if you're concerned about heavy armour you can either upgrade the burst cannons to cyclic ion blasters for short range destruction and/or add on seeker missiles for longer ranged str8 firepower.

Overall a very nice addition to the Tau arsenal :)

The Barracuda is Back [40k Tau]

[The new Forgeworld Tau Barracuda]

The Tau Forgeworld Barracuda has been out of stock for sometime.  I've got a barracuda myself, and much preferred it both aesthetically and tactically compared to our codex flyers.  It was part of my tournament army for a while, but has fallen out of favour since the new codex dropped last year.

Then out of the blue it's announced on the Forgeworld blog (link here) that a new Barracuda will be available at Warhammer Fest.  The Barracuda shares the same shape as the original, but takes some of the design elements of its larger cousin, the Tiger Shark, shown here:

The upturned wing edges (winglets) on the new Barracuda are nice, but personally I'm not totally sold on the vertical stabilisers at the back, but I'm sure lots of people will like them and prefer them to the fragile antennae on the Tiger Shark and the original Barracuda.

As if that wasn't enough the new Barracuda also comes with different weapon options:

As well as having the classic Ion Cannon and drone controlled Burst Cannons, the Ion Cannon can be swapped for a Long-Barrelled Burst Cannon or a Railgun, while the Burst Cannons on the wings can be swapped for Cyclic Ion Blasters.  It'll be interesting to see the points costs of these upgrades and whether the Barracuda's base cost will stay the same.

The original Barracuda was definitely best against Infantry, but with the addition of the weapon options it can fulfill more roles.  With a Railgun, Cyclic Ion Blasters and Seeker Missiles it can really fulfill an anti tank and/or anti air role (depending on it's aircraft designation follow the Death from the Skies supplement).  I'm tempted with a flexible role with an Ion Cannon & Cyclic Ion Blasters.  With the addition of the Missile Pod that the previously Barracuda had (and from the picture looks like it still has) that would give it 11 Str 7 shots with the option of exchanging 9 of those shots for a large blast & 2 small blasts at str 8 (although with the Gets Hot rule).

I can't wait to see the rules for the model, as it'll be interesting to see whether it stays as a 2 hull point flyer or whether it is upgraded to 3 hull points as it's bigger (and much bulkier) than the codex flyers.


What do you think of the new Barracuda ?  Will you be retro fitting an existing model or are you tempted to buy one of the new models ?

Rathstar

Supremacy Armour Battlesuit Fusion Eradicator is available [Tau]

Just a quick post to say that the latest Forgeworld newsletter (here) gives the wonderful news that the Fusion Eradicator, the alternative arm weapon for the KX139 Ta’unar Supremacy Armour Battlesuit (reviewed here) is available to buy (link here).

Although it has much shorter range (24") compared to the suits other main weapons, it packs a nasty punch of the equivilant of 5 Multi-melta shots.  Also 24" isn't that short when you consider the suit can move 12" a turn.  Yes killing heavy tanks will force the suit to get very close (12") to get the melta effect on the weapon, however the volume of low ap shots makes it's worth considering putting the Fusion Eradicator on at least one arm of the battlesuit.

The Fusion Eradicator biggest pull is that it helps answer one of the biggest issues for Tau armies, ie. very heavy armour, such as Imperial Knights, and AV14 vehicles.

With the arms costing £30 for those of you with deep wallets you could just order 2 extra arms so you have all the options.  For those of you, like me, who don't I'm not sure whether it would be best to specialise the battlesuit and just have the Fusion Eradicator on both arms, or (owing to GW changing rules over time) to have one of each arms to keep the battlesuit flexible, and limit the amount GW could nerf the battlesuit in any future rule (or meta) changes.  What would you do ?

In the end, for me this gorgeous model, is just the target of window shopping, as with such a high price tag, I can't allow myself to buy it over the other hobby things I could buy and the models I need to paint.

Existng models I'd like to paint up are:
Shadowsun
XV84 Command Crisis Suit
some Fusion XV9s
one more Pihranha to join my squadron of 2

and I undoubtedly will be getting in the new release:
Ghostkeel

Plus I'll probably be having to do weapon swaps; eg. I'm guessing I may have to paint up 6 heavy rail rifles sitting in their original boxes.

So for me getting a KX139 Ta’unar Supremacy is a long way off.

Rathstar

Forge World Blog #1 & Wolves WIP

Hi,

Forgeworld is starting a weekly blog.  I received notification via my Forgeworld newsletter subscription.

"Forge World's Chris Thomas has put together the first post of our weekly Blog looking behind the scenes at Forge World"

It a very small blog entry, a quick picture of a designer putting the finishing touches to the Horus Hersey Book 3, a picture of a Work In Progress model from another designer's desk and a link to a previous video "featuring Calas Typhon - First Captain of the Death Guard and designer Edgar Skomorowski"

Time will tell whether any substanial information will come out in the Forgeworld Blog, or whether it's just glorified marketing.

However I do like the fact that GW is putting more information out, which is a nice change, and this has probably come about with White Dwarf also moving to a weekly schedule.

What do you think of this new Forgeworld blog, or the recent change in GW's printed publications ?

To read the blog for yourselves, here's the link.

Wolves WIP

In other news my Wolves painting is going ok, but I'll probably be painting write up until tournament.  My painting tracker says I'm on target to finish, but I have a few big jobs to do, which include painting all the weapons on the Grey Hunters & Wolf Guard, plus doing the green stuff work on my Cyber Wolf conversion to make a neck attaching his two heads to his body.  I'll be doing the green stuff and starting on the weapons tonight.

Here's a pic of the work so far:

Rathstar

PS. Here's a link to the blog post which has the army list I'll be using:  Army List Post