Hunter Contingent [Tau] - Part 3 (Coordinated Firepower - how do you play yours ?)

So after looking at the Core formation for the Hunter Contingent (and the change to our previous formation, here) and the imho the best of the new formation in the codex (here), it's time to look at the main reason to take the Hunter Contingent, the Coordinated Firepower rule.

As well as being able to reroll your Warlord Trait, the other rule of the overarching Hunter Contingent is the Coordinated Firepower rule:

At first glance, and I mean glance it appears to be a nice fluffy rule that rewards combining units to boost accuracy, and will help Tau take down big deathstars.  Against smaller units it has to be carefully used not to cause massive overkill, eg. in most situations if I fire my Riptide and my 2 units of Broadsides at a unit they are normally dead whether I have any buffs or not.

Overwhelming consensus is that Rule As Written (RAW) this rules means exactly what it says, but one of my favourite quotes from all of the reviews I've watched and the people I've talked to is from Matt from Miniwargaming where he adds "but sure as hell there's no way I'm playing it as that".

When you take this RAW interpretation, it's like going down the rabbit hole when the implications are considered.  As well as my explanation here's a good series of videos by Minwargaming, where Matt (who started Tau a few months ago) goes through the new rules with Dave (a Choas worhipping fish-face hater - well as nice one at least):

Miniwargaming Tau Review (here), including the episode where they discuss the codex and the Coordinated Firepower rule (here)


Stage 1 - Targets Locks and Split Fire

The background to the Coordinated Firepower is that by working together and sharing targeting data the Tau become more accurate, well it makes them better at shooting that guardsmen :)

This kind of goes out the window when you look at the availability of Target Locks, which allows a model to fire at different target to the rest of their unit (and costs 5 points per Commander/Crisis/Ghostkeel/Broadside Suit).  Although most suits would give up the opportunity to get Early Warning Overrides (giving Interceptor) it can completely negate the issue that the units combining fire have to fire at the same unit to get the benefits.

An example is a Crisis Suit unit of 9 models, 8 have target locks.  They combine fire with 2 units of drones at one target to get +1 BS.  Now RAW the Crisis Suit unit gets +1 BS because their combining targeting data etc.  BUT 8 of the crisis suits can fire at different targets, which begs the question why are they getting +1 BS.  When you combine this with the Stormsurge being able to fire each weapon at different targets you could have a sizable portion of a Tau army firing at loads of targets all getting +1 BS.

My personal preference would be the rule to be amended that only "models" firing at the target of the Coordinated Firepower get the benefits.

However we're just started, lets take it to Stage 2


Stage 2 - Conferring Universal Special Rules

The Tau get access to two good Universal Special Rules (USRs) which are conferable on the rest of the unit; Tank Hunter & Monster Hunter.  The only two main ways to get these rules are to use the Firebase Support Cadre or for a Commander or Crisis Shas'vre to take the Signature System (relics in other codexes) Puretide Engram Chip.

The Firebase Support Cadre has to fire all models in the whole formation at the same target to get Monster Hunter and Tank Hunter (much reduced from it's previous incarnation when they got Tank Hunter and Preferred Enemy (Space Marines) inanely.  The rule is good against deathstars, but against other opponents is overkill, after all if you fire 2 broadside units and a riptide at a single unit it is very normally dead without any buffs.  In my last game I combined fire once to get Monster Hunter against a formation of a Talos, Cronos Pain Engine & a character that was a single unit, and I never combined to get tank hunter as it was just overkill against the Dark Eldar vehicles.  It has to be an av12 or 13 vehicle that is very important for me to kill to fire 500 points of what most people would agree is 2 of the best units in the Tau codex at.

The other main option is the Puretide Engram Chip this can be used more easily, at the expense that it's normally on a Commander.  Here even though GW has been asked and responded that there is nothing to FAQ with the rule and it means exactly what it says, can a piece of wargear that was worth 15 points in the old codex where it could only affect one unit really still be worth 15 points when it can affect multiple units.

One last way to get Tank Hunter is to take te Special Character upgrade Longstrike on a Hammerhead, as he also has Tank Hunter.

Lastly Tau Battlesuits also have Night Vision, this confers to the rest of the unit once one member has it, so Crisis suits combining fire with Fire Warriors for example would confer Night Vision on the Fire Warriors, by RAW.


and this is where it gets crazy...


Stage 3 - Wargear that Affects the Rest of the Unit

The issue here is the sheer number of combinations, and for wargear that was pointed when it could only affect one unit, it seems unbelievable that GW would think they would be fine at the same cost if they have the possibility to affect many units.

The list of wargear that confer benefits on the rest of the unit (and therefore by RAW all the units combining in the Coordinated Firepower attack):

Command & Control Node (Signature System): Once the bearer does not shoot all other models in his unit gain twin-linked

Multi Spectrum  (Signature System): Once the bearer does not shoot all other models in his unit gain ignore cover

Drone Controller (Battlesuit Support System): All other drones in the unit use the bearers Ballistic Skill (BS)

Pulse Accelerator (Exclusive to a Drone only allowed useable by Pathfinders): The range of all pulse weapons are extended by 6" - this was intended for the Pathfinders 18" range pulse carbines, however by combining fire with fire warriors it will extend their pulse rifles to 36" range


and when we want to get really crazy we have Dark Strider's (an HQ Special Character, that is the cost of 2 Ethereals) Structural Analyser.  This item reduced the enemy's toughness value you use to wound against by 1, which also counts for instant death.  Marines would now count as T3.  This is not too bad (and to be fair I've never seen Dark Strider being used) when he could only effect one unit, because he also had the restriction that he could only join Fire Warriors and Pathfinders.  However now he can be in a Fire Warrior unit that combines fire with a Broadside team or a squad or Riptides/Stormsurges, in those example the -1 toughness would be huge.


How Have Others Ruled It

We have the Independant Tournament Circuit rules pack, that is big in the US, and it used as the basis of the majority of the tournaments in the US:

Frontline Gaming ITC (Independent Tournament Circuit), link here,

The ITC tries to give FAQs but also adds comp by modifying rules, examples include that the Invisibility spell reduced shots to BS1 rather than Snap Shots (meaning blasts can now by used against Invisible units), and 2+ rerollable saves only pass the reroll on a 4+.

The ITC had a vote on how they wanted the Coordinated Firepower rule to be played (not what RAW was).  In that case the vote was a narrow win that it should only give the +1 BS and joint use markerlight abilities.

The other big ruling organisation is the European Team Championships, which has a very comprehensive Composition (Comp) pack:

Current (as at 24th Jan '16) ETC Rules Document: link here

Within in this they have ruled the same as the ITC that the Coordinated Firepower only gives the +1 BS and the ability to jointly use markerlights.

Strangely neither changes the wording of the rule to stop target locks getting round the ability of target lock members to benefit to from the +1 BS (as it is conveyed on the unit) even through they are not firing at the target of the Coordinated Firepower attack.

Conclusion

Basically with most issues with 40k, it comes down to what type of game you want to have with your opponent.  If it's a nice friendly game I would advice only using the +1 BS and jointly using markerlights.  If you are using no-Comp balls to wall type lists and practising for a no-Comp tournament, and the opponents has the type of list that has stuff like D-Scythe Wraithguard deepstriking without scatter confered from attached Dark Eldar characters or unkillable Necron deathstars then you may want to play Rules As Written (RAW).  At the end of the day it's best to have a conversation with your opponent before the game starts, rather than these situations come up in the middle of the game.  They may not like the ability but at least they know to expect it.

So far I have only played the Coordinated Firepower as it giving the +1 BS and joinly using markerlights, but then I haven't played a cut-throat game, and even them I would have the conversation with my opponent first.

If you going to a tournament and your note sure on their ruling I would e-mail them before hand for a ruling (and have it printed out ready to let you opponent know at the start of each game).  It not only saves arguments, but it may impact how you build you army list.

Questions to Agree With An Opponent or Check with a Tournament Organiser:

First quote the whole rule, particularly the "resolving their shots as a single unit" part, then:

1) The +1 BS conferred by the Coordinated Firepower rule is given to the whole unit.  If a member uses a target lock (or other ability) to fire on a different target do they still receive the +1 BS ?

2) Do Universal Special Rules that confer to the rest of the unit if one member has it (eg. Tank Hunter) confer to all units combining in the Coordinated Firepower Attack ?

3) Does wargear that affects the rest of the model's unit confer to all units combining in a Coordinated Firepower attack ?

With these questions sorted out before you start playing, it will lead to better games where both you and your opponent can focus on rolling nice and moving plastic models round the table, rather than arguing over rules (when it crucial to an in-game event) or one player fun being soiled by what they believe is a Over the Top rule.


Hope this helps show the full implications of playing the Coordinated Firepower rule as written, and what to clarify before a game starts.

Now off to bed for me, one more day of work, a bit of painting tomorrow evening, and then my Tau get a run out in a 1 day tournament :)

[My 1500 point Tau army, set-up for their practice game, last Tuesday]

Rathstar

Hunter Contingent [Tau] - Part 2 (The Best of the New Formations)

Well after looking at the basics of the Hunter Contingent, and the change to our pre-existing formation (here) it's time to look at the owww ahhhh part of the codex, with a look at what I think are the best of the remaining formations in the new Tau Codex


Optimised Stealth Cadre

This is my favorite formation, it includes the stunning new Ghostkeel model, the formation is so good that it gets my XV15 Stealth suits that haven't seen a battlefield in years out of the case, it helps with anti-tank, and is very very markerlight efficient.

For this formation you will need a unit of Ghostkeels and two units of Stealth Suits.  There is no restrictions on size of the formation so it can be as cheap as 310pts (however I think you should always upgrade the Ghostkeel's secondary weapon to at least a twin-linked burst cannon, making the minimum cost 315pts).  What makes this formation so good is the Wall of Mirrors special rule:

Basically at the start of the game you should just tell your opponent that this formation will be activating the Wall of Mirrors every turn (as there is no downsides).  It's interesting to note that the units in the formation do not have to fire at the same target to get the benefits, so you could fire at three different targets all with +1 BS, Ignore Cover and hitting rear armour.  However if you do decide to all fire at the same unit then they can benefit from the Hunter Contingent's Co-ordinated Firepower rule to gain a further +1 BS to mean all the shots will be hitting on 2+.  Hitting on 2's with Ignore Cover is like having 4 free markerlight tokens against any of the formations target - that is just a brilliant bonus.

Since the previous codex when broadside railguns were reduced from strength 10 to 8, Tau have struggled a bit with high value armour.  A hammerhead is a bit expensive for 1 shot a turn that misses a third of the time.  We were almost forced to take fusion guns and try to get within 9" to get the melta effect with either Piranhas or Crisis Suits.  However most vehicles have low value rear armour, perfect examples being Predators, Necron vehicles with Quantum Shielding, Leman Russ tanks.  For most of the these vehicles the rear armour is 2 to 3 points less than the front armour, meaning that the strength 5, 7 or 8 (all three units can get fusion weapons) guns in this formation could really do a number on them.

Lastly be aware that the Ghostkeel is the lynchpin of this formation.  If the Ghostkeel's are dead the Wall of Mirrors does nothing, so if you opponent snipes your Ghostkeels you'll just be left with subpar Stealth Suits.  Keep your Ghostkeel(s) safe (well as much as possible given the short range on the Ghostkeel's weapons).  For this reason I think the formation really starts to shine when you put a 2nd Ghostkeel to the Ghostkeel unit, making it much harder to take out the Ghostkeel unit.


Burst Cannon or Fusion ??

This is more of a personal choice and will depend on the type of vehicles you normally encounter and how much anti-heavy tank firepower your army already has.  With fusion to get the most of it you have to get within 9" for the melta ability to take effect, which may be dangerous.

Outside of 9" you may think that with ignore cover you'd want the AP1 of the fusion gun, however with four times the shots and a good strength of five, the burst cannon will kill as many marines as the fusion gun.  Going against rear armour, in terms of stripping hull points the burst cannon does just as well as the fusion gun against anything it can hurt (AV10 & 11).

The fusion also has the chance of causing instant death to T3 and T4 models, but to start with I'm going to try saving points and just using the burst cannons.  This will give my 315 point formation 6 str 7 shots and 30 str5 shots.  I can't wait to assemble and paint my Ghostkeel so I can try it out.


Retaliation Cadre

The biggest issue with this formation is that it is quite a large formation, which may make it hard to fit into a Hunter Contingent along side a Hunter Cadre*.  The formation consists of a Commander, 3 units of Crisis Suits, a Broadside unit and a Riptide unit; taking the crisis suits as units of one, but giving them weapons will see the formation cost roughly 500-550points, and this will rise sharply if you add more crisis suits and additional wargear.  Personally I also don't like spending too much on HQ characters and this formation forces you to bring a second commander* (after the one in the Hunter Cadre).

The whole formation gains Relentless (only really a factor for the Broadside, but a very nice buff).  If the whole formation is kept in reserve then they all deepstrike on turn 2 automatically (even the Broadside) and get +1 BS on the turn they deepstrike.

Again nice benefits, and will cause absolute havoc the turn they deepstrike (with a guarantee that they will come in early).  To make the most of this I would try to put a few homing beacons in your army.  Ethereals, Tetras & Stealth Suits & Pathfinders (one of their special drones) can buy them.  Also remember that a unit does not need to be on the table at the start of the turn for it's homing beacon to be used (unlike the Imperial equivalent) so you could deepstrike a Stealth unit with a Homing Beacon and then deepstrike Crisis Suits with 6" with no scatter (you just have the risk that the Stealth Suits arrive after turn 2).

Also be wary that deepstriking the formation will mean a large amount of points are off the board for what could be 2 enemy shooting phases, so you will have to build the rest of your army with this in mind.


* Both of these issues can be removed by playing the Dawn Blade Contingent from the Montka Campaign, for which the core formation can be the Retaliation Cadre.

I think the top 3 picks for formations to add to a Hunter Cadre to make a Hunter Contingent are the three already discussed (Firebase Support, Optimised Stealth & Retaliation), and along with the cheap Drone Network auxiliary choice, are the main ones you should choose between.  There is however one more formation that I think is good, it's just very expensive to field:


Heavy Retribution Cadre

This formation is expensive.  It contains a unit of Ghostkeels and 2 units of Stormsurges, making the minimum points 850, and you will want to spend more on weapon and wargear upgrades (eg. replacing the flamer secondary weapons, giving the Stormsurges an invulnerable save etc.).  To field the formation as pictured above (from the GW website) the unit would cost a minimum of 1110, and more importantly cost you £315 to buy.

Although the formation is (in my mind) impractical to field apart from in the largest of battles the formation rules are nice.  The Stormsurges can reroll to hit against targets within 12" of any of the formation's Ghostkeels, plus if an enemy unit is fired on by 2 or more of the units in the formation then they can not Run or move Flat Our, plus must halve the results of charges range in their next turn (helpful to reduce their mobility and keep the Ghostkeels from being charged).

If you have big pockets and regularly play big games this formation may be worth it for you.  However in smaller games I would rather have a Ghostkeel unit as part of the Optimised Stealth Cadre and not be forced to bring at least two Stormsurges.

Well that's it for the formations from the new Tau Codex that I believe are going to be used regularly.  However that's not all the new formations that will be used in Tau armies.  The Montka Campaign supplement gave us other formations, such as the Riptide Wing, Drone-Net VX1-0, Etheral Council & Ranged Support Cadre among others.

Next post I will go over the Co-ordinated Firepower rule and it's implications and then look at the additional formations in the Montka Campaign supplement.



What do you think of the formations I've dicussed ?  Will you be using them ?  Did I miss out a formation that you think is great ?  Let me know in the comments.

Until next time, happy gaming :)

Rathstar

Hunter Contingent [Tau] - Part 1 (Overview, Firebase Support Cadre & Hunter Cadre)

Note: This post was originally started in November, and since then I've been waiting for the controversy about the Coordinated Firepower rule to settle down.  Well now it is time to finish this part of the post, and put my thoughts on the Coordinated Firepower rule in a seperate post where I can do it justice - not the rule itself, but the options on how it could be played and Tournament Organisers could rule it.



In a previous post I said I was amased that there was going to be practically no changes to the stats, weapons and options of the Tau units which did not have a new release.  This lead me to stupidily think there would be little change in how competitive the Tau army would be, and that there would be many new units being used in Tau units.

Well I still think that there will be little change to the units seen on the tabletop for Tau armies, it'll be the same as before with the addition of the Stormsurge (see below for my change of heart) and the Ghostkeel (again I'll explain further down why).  Breacher teams will be seem briefly until most people see that a 5" range (the only range it's better than a pulse rifle armed fire warrior) combined with a overpriced devilfish to get them into range is not that effective.

So what's changed ?  Well formations :)  Tau followed the trend of previous codexs and got a Detachment of Formations and Codex enties.  The Tay version is called the Hunter Contingent, and like the ones before it requires a core formation (in this case the Hunter Cadre) and 1-10 Auxillery choices.  Here's the rules for the Hunter Contingent::

[Click on the pics to read them better]

The thing that jumps out is the Coordinated Firepower rule:

Caveat Controversy:

I think the biggest thing this rules shows is that GW doesn't playtest any rules in any depth.  Any casual Tau play immediately looks at the Coordinated Firepower rule and thinks, a nice fluffy rule that really helps against deathstars and must be used carefully not cause overkill and waste firepower, but then in seconds will think "hang on a second, have that thought this through", when they consider all the rule interactions and wargear that was point costed when they could affect only one (in most cases a specific) unit and now could affect multiple units under the coordinted firepower rule.

Now the rule (to me anyway) quite clear, most most people (myself included) thought GW would no doubt GW will FAQ it, as they couldn't have considered all the implications.  However to our surprise GW has been silent on the matter, and the closest thing is an e-mail from GW saying that the rule would not be FAQed because they meant exactly what the rule said.

Link to Facebook showing reply from GW: here
and the same from Imgur: here

Rather than discuss the Coordinated Firepower rule here, I'm going to leave it to another post (not to soon, as I promised a tournament organiser I would spell out the issues and options for his tournament).  Instead I will highlight the top formtions, just my opinion, that the Tau can now take (in no particular order).



"Mark a target and we will wipe it out"

Although this was a quote from the Skyray in Dawn of War I think it's a good for what I believe was the only Tau formation we previously had and the one I believe will still be a popular with the new codex (although it will get a lot of competition now); The Firebase Support Cadre:

This formation consists of a (unit of) Riptide(s) and two units of Broadsides (any size now).  The formation, compared to before, and been both nerfed and buffed.  Before  the formation got Tank Hunter and Prefered Enemy (Space Marines) innately.  Now they do not get Prefered Enemy at all and the formaton all has to fire at the same target to get Tank Hunter.  On the plus side the broadside units do not have to have the maxiumum of 3 broadsides in the team, meaning this formation does not have to be as many points as it was before.  The formation is also careful to say that all "models" have to fire at the same target unit (rather the all units have to) to get the formation benefits so target locks can not get round this.  A second nice bonus is that when the units fire together at the same target they get monster hunter as well as tank hunter, meaning the targets that the formation is very good against has expanded, partiularly when Wraithknights and Guargantuan Bloodthirsters are around.

Overall the changes are definitely a nerf compared to the previous formation, however I think it will still be popular because it gives a second access to Tank Hunter, and now Monster Hunter (the first being the Puretide Engram Chip signature system available to Commanders, and Crisis Suit Shas'vres).

At decent range the Tau have alot of str 5 and str 7 shooting, but at that range they struggle with the weaponry to kill av13 and av14 or T8 Wraithknights.  Before I used the Firebase Support Cadre to allow me to deal with av13, with so many str7 shots from the broadsides they could take out av13 targets like Imperial Knights, and luckily av14 targets were rare.

Without massed Sniper Drone and Broadside firepower boosted by Monster Hunter (and in the case of Sniper Drones also boosted by the Ethereal's Storm of Fire ability)  I think there's only one way to effectively deal with Wraithkights and other high toughness Guargantuan creatures, and thats a Stormsurge with markerlights making the destroyer missiles str D (that's the game changer that was not in the Wgite Dwarf preview that has changed my mind on Stormsurges).  Some people will take the Stormsurge route, but for those that don't I highly recommend the Tank Hunter and Monster Hunter available from the Firebase Support Cadre (along with the Puretide Engram Chip).



Hunter Cadre

This is the Core formation of the Hunter Contingent.  It is a very flexible formation, that will mainly be taken to get access to the Coordinated Firepower rule of the Hunter Contingent.

It's best to think of the formation as a slightly more onerous CAD, with a fixed HQ option.  The requirments are:
1 Commander
0-1 Cadre Fireblade
1-3 Elites
3-6 Troops
1-3 Fast Attack (excluding the flyers)
1-3 Heavy Support ot Lords of War (excluding Skyrays)

Notable exceptions are the remaining HQ choices, eg. no Ethereals or Darkstrider, unless you have a seperate CAD, no forgeworld, and no (non formation) fotifications.  Darkstider will not been seen unless you play that if he joins a unit that his part of the Hunter Contingent his structural analyser works on all the units that are part of a Coordinated Firepower.  Ethereals can be included in your army in one of three ways;

• as part of a Command choice of the Hunter Contingent, which also requires a Commander and a Crisis bodyguard team.  The crisis bodyguard team is inefficient compared to normal crisis suits, and while a Commander is ok, is a second needed when you already have one in the Hunter Cadre.
• by including a CAD detachment, for the min expenditure of 90 points for 2 units of fire warriors and an Ethereal, you open up lots of slots, that can also be used to include forgeworld, and fortifications - this is my preferred option as it also allows me to use my Tetras (although MSU Pathfinders and Marker drones give them more of a run for their money).
• one last option is the Ethereal Council formation from the Mont'ka suppliment, however you have to have 3-7 ethereals that have to join together as a single unit and still a give up an additional victory point for each one killed

The Hunter Cadre is so flexible that it is easy to convert any old codex list into the Huntre Cadre as it plays like a slighter larger CAD.  However there is a sizable minimum points cost to the formation, which may become an issue if you want to fit in a number of other formations.  For example if you want to use the Firebase Support Cadre you may not want another Elite or more Heavy Support choices.  This is particularly an issue if you want to play the Retailiation Cadre (which includes 3 crisis suit units, a broadside unit, a riptide unit and a commander).

Some of the Tau formations are so good, that an argument could be made for just taking the formations and not bothering with the Hunter Cadre, or just taking a very small CAD (which also has the benefit of having Objective Secured) for a much smaller points cost, allowing more points to be spent on the good formations.  If you took the Retailiation Cadre, Firebase Support Cadre and the Optimsed Stealth Cadre that could be a fluffy suit based army in itself that also has very additional formation good rules, that can be built to deal with any enemy force.

The main benefits of the Hunter Cadre is ok (units can give supporting fire within 12", and can run and fire if close to the commander or cadre fireblade), but in many cases these benefits are not as good as some of the benefits in the other formations.

Ultimately if doesn't come down to whether you like the special rules of this formation, but whether you want the special rules of the Hunter Contingent, mainly Coordinated Firepower.

The Coordiated Firepower rules makes markerlights much more effective, as they can affect multiple units, however if your army is less depenent on marker lights, and/or has large powerful units (which will ovekill units if they combined firepower) then you could be best not using the Hunter Contingent.  Another benefit of the Coordinated Firepower rules is the +1 BS if 3 or more units combine fire but if your formation already gives you extra BS (eg. the Optimsed Stealth Cadre) or gives twin-linked, you may not need the Coordinated Firepower rule as much.

My current army has lots of units, and most of them are in the 80-150 points region, so I know combining 3-5 of them will not kill a unit of marines, so I could do with the +1 BS and more efficient use of marker lights, so I will take the Hunter Cadre because I want to use the Hunter Contngent rules, not for the formation in itself.

In time as I buy more models and experiment with Stormsurges, units of multiple Ghostkeels, and some of the bigger formations I may not need the Coordinated Firepower rule as much, and therefore I would forgo the Hunter Cadre to spend more points of the formations I do want.



That's all for now, next post I wlll look into the best (imho) of the new formations.

What's your opinion on the Hunter Cadre and the Firebase Support Cadre ?  Do you use them, and what do think of the competition they face from the other formations ?

Rathstar

PS.  I little gem I found while researching this article is a formation compendium located on the Blood of Kittens website (link here).  It has a record of all legal formations and is a great resouce

KV128 Stormsurge - Rules & First Impressions - Updated 29/9 with clearer pics

This is about the time that White Dwarf leaks start appearing and bang on time the rules for the KV128 Stormsurge has been leaked.  Here are links to the original file and Faeit212 where I first saw it reported.

Now to set my bias out first, out of the 2 new Tau suits the Stealth Suit (below) caught my eye more.  So with a tight budget, the Stormsurge is the one that would have to impress me with the rules to get me to part with my money straight on release day.

First off it's a Lord of War Gargantuan creature, so it's doesn't take away any slots for Broadsides, Skyrays, Crisis Suits or Riptides.  It also has the increased mobility of being able to move 12" in the movement phase.  So a very good start.  Coming in at 360 points it's twice the current cost of a riptide, so direct comparisons should be made against Riptide (with an Ion Accelerator, costing 185 pts), and the Wraithknight, which is 65 points cheaper base (however I think a fair cost for the Wraithknight would be about 360-380 points).

Update 29th Sept: New clearer pics of a French version of WD has been found here

Toughness

Defensively the Stats are similar to a Riptide.  It has the same stats as a Riptide apart from 2 key areas:

• It's got a 3+ save rather than a 2+ save, which although making it less susceptible to Grav weapons (which will still be very nasty to it) it puts in a place where you could try to torrent the model down.
• It doesn't have an invulnerable save, although it does have access to Support Systems, so hopefully it will be able to purchase a Shield Generator.  However as it is still slightly tougher in the secondary save arena compared to a Riptide because the Riptide can use it's 5++ invulnerable save instead of it's armour save, while the Stormsurge can use Feel No Pain in addition to it's armour save.
• The Stormsurge has 8 wounds against the Riptide's 5

I think the 3+ armour save is a big issue, with many weapons being able to get rid it, such as Missile Launchers.  However most weapons that will kill both the Riptide and Stormsurge quickly will be AP2 (eg, Lascannons, Plasma guns, meltaguns, Grav) it may not make much difference in some games, however in others such as against my current Tau list, with MissileSides and Skyrays the lack of a 2+ save will really hurt the Stormsurge.

If, and it's still an if at this moment, the Stormsurge can get a invulnerable save from the Support Systems, then it's survivability goes way up, having effectively 3 saves, and being able to use 2 of them to avoid damage.

Overall the toughness of the Stormsurge goes not warrant it being twice the cost of a Riptide, so lets see if it's offensive output is enough to warrant the price tag.


Firepower

So how good are these weapons systems, lets leave the main gun to last and look at the other weapons.

As what looks like a defensive option it comes with a twin-linked flamer, however this can be upgraded to a twin-linked Burst Cannon for a few points.  On top the large missile battery there is a twin-linked Smart Missile System. The big disappointment is the large missile racks, which are only 4D6 shots at the strength and ap of a pulse rifle.  Although there is the potential for 24 shots, because you're rolling 4D6, rather than D6x4 for example, you are very unlikely to get anywhere close to 24 shots, and are very likely to roll near the average 14 shots (you should only get 24 shots once every 1296 times it fires, but it that time you are likely to have also rolled 4 shots as well).  Fire Warrior shots are not exceptional, I use Fire Warriors because they are troops and at 15" with the Ethereal's Storm of Fire ability they get 3 shots each.  Probably the nicest secondary weapon is 4 Destroyer missiles which are one shot Str8 AP1 with a nice long range.

So far the firepower is very mediocre.  So lets more on to the main event; the main gun:

The Stormsurge comes as standard with a Pulse Blast Cannon, which is an odd weapon that is growing on me as I write this overview.  It's a short ranged weapon with a maximum range of 30" which is very short by Tau standards, however I've dealt with the 36" range on my broadsides, so we'll see.  This weapon has a different profile depending on the range the target is, going from Str9, AP3, Heavy 2, Large Blast at 20-30" to Str10, AP1, Heavy 2, Blast at 10-20", and within 10" it changes to Str D, AP2, Heavy 2.  These are very short ranges, but with the 12" mobility of the Stormsurge I think this can still work, when you combine it with Ignore Cover from markerlights, and it's Saving Grace (see below) it could be very nasty moving forwards 12" and them dominating the midfield with firepower.

Update 29th Sept: The clearer pics here show that the Pulse Burst Cannon is not as good as I first thought, it's second profile is AP3, and the last profile is only AP5, which is not as destructive as I thought.  The biggest thing is that it only reliable kills marines at the 10-20" range, and then it's only 2 small blasts.  This puts the nail in the coffin for this model for me, unless the Support Systems in the new codex radically changes something

The alternative to the Pulse Blast Cannon (for the extra cost equivalent to a Sniper Drone) is the much more straight forward weapon, with a great 72" range, and packs a nice punch with Str10, Ap2, Large Blast, Ordnance.

The two weapons dictate the two ways to use the Stormsurge effectively.  Either have it sit back and fire round after round of single large blasts, or move forwards and be more aggressive and dominate the mid field with all it's weapons in range of enemies closing in on the centre of the board.

Both weapons are nice, but don't quite do it for me, but don't worry there is...


The Saving Grace

You thought that was just a stabalising point just behind the leg, no that it what will make the Stormsurge worth it's points.

After moving, at the start of the shooting phase the Stormsurge can choose to deploy the stabalising leg, if it does it can not move for any reason and loses it Gargantuan creature Stormps, however from the next shooting phase it can fire Twice a turn.  Obviously easier to use with the long range main gun, but the devastation from 4 shots a turn with the Pulse Blast Cannon, imagine a target thats is just within 18" with part of the unit  over 20" away, that's been targeted by 4 markerlights to get +2 BS and Ignore Cover (if that doesn't change in the new codex).  It will face 4 Large Blasts Str9 AP3, and on average 44 Str5 shots (assuming the flamers have been upgraded to burst cannons)..

Best yet it is very quick to release the stabilising clamps.  It can do it at the start of any movement phase, so there is no disadvantage of always extending the clamps in any shooting phase, because if you need to move next turn you just release them at the start of the movement phase, or if all is well stay still and fire double shots.

Overall

My overall assessment is that this is an expensive model, and it is devastating sitting back with the stabilising clamps down.  However I think to really make the best use of all of it's weapons I would use the shorter ranged Pulse Blast Cannon.  You may not have the best targets (sometimes none) for the main gun on turn one, but a 12" move should put you in a good position for turn 2.  This allows you to threaten/capture objectives and also make use of stomps in the right situation.

Three factors stop me from purchasing this model straight away. One is that very expensive, if it can purchase an invulverable save from the Support Systems it's going to be close to 400 points, which is huge for something that could die in a turn to D-Scythes, multiple Grav weapons etc.

My second reason is that it may not be able to get a invunverable save.  We'll have to wait for nearly 3 weeks now for the codex (or probably two and a bit weeks before reliable rumours surface).

Finally my last reason is that it's going to need support from markerlights.  If they change in the new codex this model will suffer, because with that amount of firepower you really want ignore cover and a +1 or +2 BS to make the secondary weapons count.

I'm going to wait before getting this model, but I know it will sell like hotcakes, and I can see that the firepower with the stabilising clamps down can offset it's medicore toughness for it's points cost.  Even with an invulnerable save I think 2 units of MissileSides and a Sniper Drone team boosted with the 3 shot power of the Ethereal (ok it'll be hard getting the Sniper Drones to be within 24", but if they are) should do the following wounds:
Broadside Unit 1 HYMP:  1.3
Broadside Unit 1 SMS:  0.7
Broadside Unit 1 Drones:  0.6

Broadside Unit 2 HYMP:  1.3

Broadside Unit 2 HYMP:  0.7
Broadside Unit 1 Drones:  0.6

Sniper Drones: 2.5 (assuming no rends to make the maths easier, when they should be about 3 rends)

I make that 7.7 wounds, if the Sniper went first and the broadsides used their markerlight hits it would push the wounds past 8 to kill the Stormsurge in a turn.  However that it 708 points firing at one model that's less than 400 points.

Time will tell, but I expect we see lots of Stormsurges on the battlefield.  If you have a big wallet, a decision may be swap a Stormsurge and a Riptide to get the forgeworld KX139 Ta’unar Supremacy Armour (reviewed here)

What's you thoughts on the new model, will you be buying it on release ?  Does it allow Tau to complete with Wraithknights and Decurions ?  Can it survive the usual deathstar killers, Grav and D-weapons ?

As potential opponents of the Stormsurge, how will you plan to take it out ?

Next week I'm sure the rules will be leaked for the XV95 Ghostkeel, and I can't wait to see if it can compare in effectiveness, and personally I think it's a really nice model.  With a much lower points cost it shouldn't require the complete rewriting of an army list like trying to fit the Stormsurge in will.

Rathstar

PS. Now back to converting, below is the first work in progress pic, can you guess what it will be ?  There's a pretty big giveaway :)

TAU KX139 TA'UNAR SUPREMACY ARMOUR - and now we have rules :)

Yes, not only is this gorgeous model, the KX139 Ta’unar Supremacy Armour, now on sale, from the Forgeworld website for £250 (click here if you have a deep wallet), but the same page also has the official rules for download, which don't say they are experimental.  Click here to download them.

Checking in at a hefty 600 points, to me that seems like a reasonable amount for something so tough with so much firepower.  With T9, 2+ Save, Gargantuan Creature Feel No pain, a 5++ Invunverable save (4++ from shooting), and to top it off 10 wounds it is very tough.

When it comes to firepower it again does not disappoint.  The Pulse ordnance multi-driver (the big rail-gun looking weapons on the shoulder) has two firing modes, either a 7" D-weapon blast, or a slightly weaker 3 circle Apocalyptic Barrage that ignores cover that will clear out swaths of anything that's not in 2+ armour.  The triple barreled ion cannons fire the same as an ion cannon but with 6 shots, however instead of a large blast option it can opt to concentrate the beam and fire 3 shots Str9 Ap2 per weapon.  Each Tri-axis Ion Cannon can be switched out for a Fusion Eradicator which fires 5 fusion gun shots with slightly better range than a fusion gun.

And yet that's not all the firepower, there's still the smart missiles and burst cannons which add another 16 str5 shots, and can even be fired in overwatch at BS2.


Loadouts

I think the base loadout with the Tri-axis Ion Cannon is best.  The Fusion eradicator are nice, but getting them within 12" to get the melta effect is much closer than this suit wants to get to other super heavies which will probably have D close combat weapons (or at least just be better in close combat),

This leaves the  KX139 Ta’unar Supremacy Armour surprising not that good at taking out other super heavy walkers given that it only has a single 1 shot D weapon, against everything else it's firepower seems ungodly bringing a nice mix of ap2 and ap3 with the two firing modes of it's 3 main weapons, and even a little extra to help thin out hordes.

Oddly enough I think this suit needs support against other super heavies.  Some Tetras for markerlights and homing beacons followed by deepstriking fusion armed crisis suits should be enough.

Also don't forget that although it only has 2 attacks in close combat it still hits at str9 ap2, and there is always stomps which could do much more damage.


So Would I Buy It

If money was no object I would have already bought the KX139, however like most people I have a lot of commitments that come before models.

With the Tau codex being released next month, I'm already looking at buying the Codex, Tactical Cards, the big Stormsurge big suit and the only midly smaller Ghostkneel Stealth suit, so for the moment I can't afford to, but as soon as I have the new codex suits painted up this is something I'd like to buy.


Would I Use It In Games

I think the suit would be great in big games, say 2500, and although you can use it as low as a 1000 point game I think it would unbalance the game and lead to less fun games.  I know GW are pushing us to use anything we want, but for anything less than a 2000 points game (or a 1750 point game where someone wanted to test their army against an expensive Lord of War) I would leave it out.

The Ta’unar Supremacy Armour is after all the cost of 3 Riptides,which is quite expensive, but to me it's nearly as tough as 3 Riptides and I would say puts out the more firepower than 3 Riptides.  So it's definitely worthwhile using it, but it's not going to make your army an auto win.  If you minimise on other expensive units and build around it to have a decent army it should do well for you.

Obviously I couldn't help pointing out a list using the units I have and here's a 2000 point list I quickly made up:

Ethereal with 2 Marker Drones - 74
10 Fire Warriors - 90

10 Fire Warriors - 90

10 Kroot - 60

10 Kroot - 60

2 Tetras - 70

2 Tetras - 70

Sniper Team (2 Marksmen, 9 Drones) - 161

KX139 Ta’unar Supremacy Armour - 600

Firebase Support Cadre (taken for Tank Hunter)

Riptide with Ion Cannon & Early Warning System - 190

3 Broadsides (Missiles) with 6 Missile Drones - 267

3 Broadsides (Missiles) with 6 Missile Drones - 267

Total: 1999 points

It's still a bit weak against a Knight army (with the 52 infantry models being almost useless against the Knights), and an Imperial Guard mech heavy lists would also cause problems, but the list should do fine against most opponents, and hopefully be fun to play with and against too.

Paying By Installments

Lastly you can buy the KX139 Ta’unar Supremacy Armour is parts, you can get the main body for £130, the top gun (pulse ordnance multi-driver) for £60, and each of the tri-axis ion cannon for £30 each.  Coming to a total of £250 meaning you say nothing if you buy them as a bundle.

I may use this option myself, after buying the GW stuff in Oct, I would buy the body in Nov, and ask for the weapons for xmas pressies.

Closing Thoughts

It's going to be an expensive end to the year

Let me know your thoughts on the Ta’unar Supremacy Armour ?  Worth it's points, do the rules and background fit the Tau fluff ?  Will you be buying one ?

Rathstar

7th Edition - Where has Games Workshop Dropped the Ball (Top 3)

Hi,

First I'd like to say that I really like 7th edition.  The quality of the rulebook, and the fact that they split the rulebook from the fluff and hobby sections so you don't have to carry them to games is great.

I particularly like the increased clarity they have added to the rules, with better attention to specifying the order in which things in each of the turn phases are done.

However with such a huge ruleset there are bound to be areas where GW has dropped the ball, and not thought through the implications or playtested them enough (do they have any playtesters who aren't GW Fanboy Fluff Bunnies?).  An alternative thought is that rather than dropping ball some changes are concious decisions to allow people to use what ever models they want, mix up the game so people have to buy more models, or another two figures to those of us who want a more balanced game :)

Well here are my top 3 areas in which I think GW has dropped the ball:

Number 3 - Flying Daemon Princes having Jink even when Gliding

Flying Monstrous creatures just have the Jink special rule, not when their Swooping but all the time.  I think the changes to the Jink rules was supposed to make it a cost to benefitting from the Jink cover save.

Most most common units with the Jink rules are Flyers, Vehicles and Bike (including Jetbikes), all of these units have a choice now between benefitting from their improved Jink cover save and reducing their damage output from firing in the following turn.

However Jink's downside is only in shooting, so if you have a unit that does not shoot or that it isn't their main aim then the Jink has now downside.  You could already do this with the aforementioned Bike units if you built them for a combat role, however with all the bike units shooting is significant part of their damage output (excluding characters on bikes).

Daemons can easyily create Flying Daemon Princes where none of the damage output comes from shooting, but from Psychic powers and Combat ability.  Nurgle Daemon Princes with Shrounding could Jink all the time for a 2+ cover save, and Shrounding is not hard for other Daemon Princes.

The reason this is only 3 on the list is because:
1) Tau, Eldar & Guard can remove cover saves easily
2) A 4+ Jink is only one better than the 5+ Invunverable save the Daemons already have

However Daemons have the easiest access to a 2+ rerollable (cover or invulnerable) save, so expect them to continue to be around the top tables of tournaments for some time to come (and that's without looking at the Number 1 of this list)



Number 2 - No Restrictions on Detachments

This is not a new one, as I posted about it before previously, and even before the rulebook was released the Sons of Sanguinius blog had already highlighted it.

Gone is the concept of dual force org at 2000 points in 6th edition.  7th edition allows you to have as many primary detachments as you want once you fill the minimum requirements of 1 HQ, and 2 troops. The  Sons of Sanguinius blog shows how 8 Helldrakes could be fitted in a 1850 point army, along with 60 troops and 3 sorcerors that can summon more daemon models (if they want to take the risk of using daemonology).

Allowing as many detachments as a player wants can lead to ridiculously spamy, boring to play with and against, but very effective and powerful lists.  Also such lists lead to an increase in the Rock, Paper, Scissors element of pick-up and tournament games (as opposed to player skill).


So what do I think is even worse than multiple primary detachments....


Daemonology Conjuring Powers

[you again ?]

Although I think it's a nice characterful addition to the game, and for most armies it will be fine, it's when you build a Daemon army around summoning it gets ridiculous very fast.  Warp Charge dice of 30+ is easily attained, and with 4 of the 7 spells in Daemonology being Conjuring powers it's easy to generate another army that the enemy is practucally impossible to stop (as they don't target the opponent Deny the Witch is only on a 6+).  Here's a starter as an example:

4 Lvl 3 Tzeentch Heralds 95pts each = 380 pts [12 Warp Charge Tokens]
6 Units of 16 Horrors = 144 pts each = 864 pts [18 Warp Charge Tokens]

So 1244 points so far with 30 Warp Charge Tokens, the rest can be usual units for a more rounded list, or you can carry on with Fateweaver or more heralds as the 2nd HQ.  Are Tzeentch Daemon Princes heavy support ?

With so many Warp Charges a normal army with 3-8 warp charges wouldn't have a chance of getting many spells off (if any), plus they run the chance of perils, while the daemon army suffers nothing for throwing 12+ dice at a Deny the Witch test.

Now the downside is that all the Daemon troops aren't doing much but generating warp charges, as you need the warp charges from 2 units to have slightly better than a 50:50 chance of casting one of the Conjuring powers, however by conjurering further psykers (eg, 10 horrors or lvl 2 tzeentch heralds) by turn 2 you could generate a massive army to supplement you.

After discussing this with my mates on Sunday, that evening I saw that Frontline Gaming had a battle report trying out a similar list (premise was the same but they used units of 11 horrors, giving 2 warp charges each).

Here's a link to their battle report.  A comment in the report that another 2k army was generated by the end of turn 2 is scary.  Also the daemon player said it would have been over very quickly if it wasn't for the Imperial Knight, as it held up loads of daemonettes, when he should have generated plague bearers to go against it, as they have a Rust ability that means they Glance vehicles on a 6 and 2 units of plague bearers should have seriously hurt it (if not killed it).



Balance

I normally go to a few of the tournaments each year that use mild comp (eg. no triples of a unit outside Troops, a limit on Fliers/FMC, a limit of 3 Henchmen units if you have Corteaz etc).  , so what would I do if I were them.

Basically I would limit detachments to one primary and one other.  I was going to say only one primary detachment, but I wanted to give Tyranids some love (GW doesn't :) )

I would limit the total number of Warp Charge counters allowed, say something like 18 a turn, however I appreciate playtesting would be needed to see if this was a fair limit.

On the 2+ rerollable saves and FMC Jinking I thinking changing that would go too far in actually rewriting the rules, as opposed to mild limiting in some areas.  I also think the FMC Jinking while gliding, although probably not intended is nowhere near as game breaking as the other 2.

What would you do if you ran a tournament ?  What type of tournaments would attend or not attend, ie. only comped ones or any (because this is all being blown a bit out of proportion) ?  I'd loved to see you opinions, so let me know in the comments section.

Overall though I think GW have done a good job with 7th, and I think playing any army that used 3 or less detachments and didn't go overboard on loads of psykers (and I mean more than 5 or 6 cheap characters/units) would be a fun interesting game.  What more can you ask for ?

Rathstar


Until next time, Happy 7th :)

Tau & Dark Eldar in 7th Edition - Small Rule Changes to be aware of (Updated 30 May)

Hi,

I've only had the new 7th edition rulebook for just over 24 hours now, and I'm now getting to the stage where I'm coming accross very small rule changes that can easy go under the radar compared to the more dramatic changes from 6th edition.

Now most of the big changes were all over the web weeks before the book was released, eg. the psychic phase, changes the flying monstrous creatures, charging through difficult terrain, however below are my top 3 small changes that affect the two main armies I pay with:


Smash

Exchanging your attacks to hit at double strength is more costly as it has changed from losing half your attacks (rounding up) before the charge bonus to only being able to make a single double strength attack.

This has huge implications for my Tau.  Many occasions a tough vehicle would be giving me problems until a helpful Riptide would smash it with 3 Str10 smash attacks on the charge (ie. only sacrificing 1 attack to double it's strength).  Now it will only have 1 attack, which combined with the fact that an AP2 attack will require a 6 rather than a 5 to now explode a vehicle, means I may have to reconsider putting more fusion in the army.

With smash reduced in effectiveness and vehicles being harder to destroy, has the age of the melta (or fusion for Tau) returned ?


Sniper

Snipers have lost true rending to be replaced by the same getto rending  that Eldar shuriken weapons get, ie. 6's to wound at AP2, but no benefit against vehicles.

To offset this they now are classed as str4 rather than str3 against vehicles.  What this means is that if a 6 is rolled for armour penetration my total is 10, where as in 6th edition it was an equal chance of a score betwee 10, 11 or 12.

No longer can my Sniper Drone team threaten av11 at all.  Not a big change but a shame never the less.

[Update:  Marjamhew has pointed out (in the comments section) that the Sniper USR has also lost Pinning.  This affects both the Long Shot Pusle Rifle and the generic Sniper Rifle from the Imperium.]


Poison

Poison now only gives rerolls to wound if the strength is greater (rather than equal to or greater) than the targets toughness.  My Dark Eldar wracks accompanied by my Haemonculus now do a 1/3rd less damage against marines on the charge.  In 6th (as together they had 2 pain tokens for Furious Charge) they would wound marines on 4+ with a reroll, now it's no reroll because Furious Charge will only make them the same str (4) as the marines toughness.  It's a harsh drop in effectiveness moving from going against toughness 3 (wounds 89% of the time) to wounding 50% of the time against toughness 4 (a very common toughness value they will be facing on the battlefield.

Again not a huge hit, and one I can live with for all the benefits that 7th edition beings to my two main armies.


It's still extremely early in 7th edition, and although 7th edition is more a tweak to 6th edition I'm sure there are other small changes that are being missed, so please leave a comment to let me and the community know of any small rule changes you think are still below the radar.

Rathstar

Update 30/05/14:

A few couple of extra rule changes that particularly affect my Tau & Dark Eldar armies


Haywire

Although it seems like a bit of a nerf I think Wyches will love the changes to Haywire.  Haywire itself hasn't changed, however because it does not have an AP value it means that Haywire can never explode a vehicle, only wreak them by stripping hull points.

Now Wyches in combat with a vehicle do not want the vehicle to explode for 3 reasons:

• The Wyches will take damage (which is now str4 in 7th edition) from the explosion
• An exploded vehicle is removed from the table and replaced with (if the opponent has one, which most people don't) a crater.  This would leave the Wyches high and dry in the open ready to be shot at.  A wreak leaves the vehicle in place to give at worse a cover save and possibly Line of Sight blocking terrain.
• If the vehicle is surrounded and it is wreaked all the occupants automatically die, however if it explodes all survivors are able to be placed within the area that the vehicle occupied, leaving them free to shoot and charge the Wyches that just exploded their vehicle.

No more will I roll on the damage table, praying I don't roll a 6 :)


Jink

Jink has now changed to being declared before To Hit rolls are made, however you don't have to have moved to be able to get Jink saves (so they can be used first turn even if your opponent goes first), plus it has increased to a 4+ cover save.

To offset this, if a unit Jink's it can only Snap Fire on the following turn.

This change is excellent for Raiders transporting combat troops (such as Incubi, Wyches or Wracks) because the Snap Firing penalty is not too much of a disadvantage.  Like wise the Tau Skyray waiting for flyers to arrive on turn 2 has the option to Jink to better survive so it's missiles are available when flyers arrive, plus once it's missiles are expended (I prefer a turn 1 or 2 alpha strike into a key target) it can sit on an objective or provide mobile cover for other units while Jinking for better survivability.

Reaver jetbikes also benefit, because they get to Jink before they start moving, and in most cases do a lot of their damage from bladevaning, however if they want to shoot without Snap Firing they will have to risk not Jinking.