TAU rules question (I know, right?)

[Paul]

Alright, here's a weird rules situation.

1) A Devilfish (Devilfish A) is chosen as a dedicated transport for a Firewarrior troops squad.
1a) Therefore the Devilfish is in the Troops FOC slot.
2) The Gun Drones disembark from the Devilfish.
3) As per the new FAQ, the Gun Drones can contest objectives.
4) These Gun Drones are from the Troops slot, and are Infantry models.
Conclusion: The Gun Drones score.

Which premise is wrong?

Also note that Mech Tau are largely unaffected by the death of the Ethereal as they are no longer required to take the test if they're in a transport.

[Gir]

Transports are taken outside of force org, and do not count as troops.

[Paul]

Transports are taken outside of force org, and do not count as troops.

I can see that reasoning; that means that the resulting Drone Squadron is also outside of the FOC and doesn't count as troops.

Then I stumble over the "transport is a troops unit" problem in Dawn of War deployment, and sadly realize that yes, a Transport is in the Force Org Chart...otherwise, it couldn't be deployed in DoW at all.

[Lerra]

A drone that's attached to a Fire Warrior squad is a scoring model. I don't see why a drone from a Troops Devilfish wouldn't be scoring.

Troop Dedicated Transports aren't scoring because no vehicles are scoring, but they still count as troops. Drones aren't vehicles, so if they are purchased as part of a Troops choice, I don't see how they could be restricted from scoring status.

Relevant section of the BRB, page 87:

Dedicated transport vehicles sit outside the Force Organisation structure, as they are attached to the unit they are bought for. When this distinction if called for (for example in some missions or deployment tyles), dedicated transport vehicles count as being from the same force organisation category as the unit they were bought for. For example, a Rhino bought for a Space Marine Tactical Squad (Troops) counts as a unit of Troops, but if it was bought for a unit of Veterans (Elites) it counts as Elites.

Just a note: Units that don't take up an FoC slot can still be scoring, like Lesser Daemons.

Another BRB excerpt (page 90):

An army's scoring units are all the units that come from its Troops allowance. The presence of other units may deny an objective to the enemy, but only Troops can control it. There are a few exceptions, however, when a unit of Troops does not count as scoring:

* If it is a vehicle

* If it has the Swarm special rule

* If is has a special rule specifying it never counts as a scoring unit

[Mikey87]

Also Drones that disembark from a DF will function as a Gun drone squadron which is a Fast Attack unit...

[Sonikgav]

This is actually covered in the FAQ update.

Drones count as scoring units and can capture objectives AFTER they have deployed from their devilfish. It does however make no mention of Devilfish taken for troops, elite or fast attacks units etc.

[JMichael]

This is actually covered in the FAQ update.

Drones count as scoring units and can capture objectives AFTER they have deployed from their devilfish. It does however make no mention of Devilfish taken for troops, elite or fast attacks units etc.

I don't anywhere in the FAQ that allows gun drones to be scoring. Sure they can contest (which is nothing new) but the what overrides the codex entry that states they will never count as a scoring unit p30.

[wkz]

I don't anywhere in the FAQ that allows gun drones to be scoring. Sure they can contest (which is nothing new) but the what overrides the codex entry that states they will never count as a scoring unit p30.

I knew the Tau codex itself said something about this...

A vehicle can contest. However, the same vehicle, even if it is a troop choice (dedicated to a troop unit) can still never capture objectives. (at least if we're not playing one of the expansions)

The drones basically are these: non-scoring contesters of objectives, just as above vehicles. All the FAQ did is repeat the obvious... otherwise the FAQ would say "Can the drones capture (not contest) objectives? Yes."

Case closed I think.

[Tynskel]

I disagree. The drones are non-vehicle troop choices. There's nothing in the rulebook that states they cannot claim. The FAQ does not state they cannot capture.

The implied meaning in the FAQ from kill points to contesting is that they are a separate unit.

[Wildeybeast]

P30 Tau Codex

Drones "will never count as a scoring unit". Seems pretty clear cut to me.