Tau FAQ and the new weapon configurations.

[Uncle Nutsy]

After reading it and realizing they've given us the ability to take dual weapons, instead of them auto-twinlinking.. what's become your favourite loadout?

On my commander, I've gone with a dual missile pod/dual plasma setup if I need a lot of punch at various ranges, or a dual fusion with drone controller setup for the in-your-face type of fighting. Most of my XV8's have received the dual burst cannon configuration for most situations.

[rpricew]

Most of my XV-8's are modeled with two Plasma rifles & either two Burst Cannons or two Missile Pods (recently picked them up from eBay). So I'm going to go with WYSIWYG for now, and then start changing them up.

I did just order a bunch of Paulson games dual laser rifle arms since they look like awesome conversions for TL Plasma.

[ElectricPaladin]

The configurations that most appeal to me are dual burst cannons and dual plasma rifles. These configurations are both set to get around the factor that limits the effectiveness of crisis teams: low ROF. Consider that a squad of four crisis suits (a team of three and a commander), each with dual, rather than twin-linked, plasma rifles is putting out eight 6/2 shots at 24'' and sixteen at 12''. Assuming that your target is MEQs (or even TEQs), with twin-linked weapons a squad like that would be forced to play a dangerous game of harassment, jumping in and out of cover and out from behind blocking terrain. With dual weapons, they can jump in close and stand a good chance of wiping them out.

Let's get math-hammery. I don't think that math-hammer is the solution to all problems, but it does make the utility of dual over twin-linked weapons clear.

Against MEQs:
• 8 shots at BS 5 (because these are the Tau; you're a chump if you ever shoot a hard target at BS 3) = 7 hits
• 7 hits = 6 wounds
• 6 wounds = 6 dead (cover could be a factor if your markerlight support fails; again, when you play Tau, if you let them take cover saves, you've done something wrong).

That's enough to decimate a tac squad or some pesky sternguard. Two rounds of this - hiding behind terrain to avoid reprisal - will completely wipe them out. This configuration would do about as well against TEQs - 5 dead instead of 6, 3 if you're dealing with 3++ TEQs.

Given that multi-trackers now come standard, I could also see this as an excuse to include a flamer on each XV8. That's potentially as many as 4d3 autohits in Overwatch if the squad is charged.

That said, dual weapon suits are very expensive. We're talking about 120 points a suit. Whether 360, plus whatever the commander costs, is worth it to kill a ten-man squad of MEQs or TEQs in two turns is worth it depends on the rest of your army and your personal tactical style.

Despite the cost, however, this may spell the end of twin-linking. Twin-linking on crisis suits has always been a weird choice. The advantage of twin-linking is reliability. However, the Tau don't really need to make their shooting more reliable with twin-linking; that's what markerlights are for. What you usually do with twin-linking is reduce your army's reliance on markerlights so you can save them for the units that always need them, like massed fire warrior shooting, removing cover for your XV88s, or making your hammerhead's single railgun shot really, really count. The thing is that, as troubleshooters intended to go after hard targets - XV8s are almost always putting your firepower where it really needs to be... which is exactly where you want to use your markerlights, anyway.

[apahllo]

i really think this change brings a lot of purpose to the dual missilepods and intercepter, like a more mobile version of broadsides. multi tracker is standard and nobody leaves home with out markerlights so twinlinked is now the weaker of the two options like electric said.

it also makes the target lock a way way better option, with something like a 3 man squad having 4 burstcannons and 2 fusionblaster/targetlock a neet way to add some anti armor. the dual weapon option really increases the lethality of crisis suits by a good margin. best errata Ive seen in 6th.

[Diagnosis Ninja]

The configurations that most appeal to me are dual burst cannons and dual plasma rifles. These configurations are both set to get around the factor that limits the effectiveness of crisis teams: low ROF. Consider that a squad of four crisis suits (a team of three and a commander), each with dual, rather than twin-linked, plasma rifles is putting out eight 6/2 shots at 24'' and sixteen at 12''. Assuming that your target is MEQs (or even TEQs), with twin-linked weapons a squad like that would be forced to play a dangerous game of harassment, jumping in and out of cover and out from behind blocking terrain. With dual weapons, they can jump in close and stand a good chance of wiping them out.

Let's get math-hammery. I don't think that math-hammer is the solution to all problems, but it does make the utility of dual over twin-linked weapons clear.

Against MEQs:
• 8 shots at BS 5 (because these are the Tau; you're a chump if you ever shoot a hard target at BS 3) = 7 hits
• 7 hits = 6 wounds
• 6 wounds = 6 dead (cover could be a factor if your markerlight support fails; again, when you play Tau, if you let them take cover saves, you've done something wrong).

That's enough to decimate a tac squad or some pesky sternguard. Two rounds of this - hiding behind terrain to avoid reprisal - will completely wipe them out. This configuration would do about as well against TEQs - 5 dead instead of 6, 3 if you're dealing with 3++ TEQs.

Given that multi-trackers now come standard, I could also see this as an excuse to include a flamer on each XV8. That's potentially as many as 4d3 autohits in Overwatch if the squad is charged.

That said, dual weapon suits are very expensive. We're talking about 120 points a suit. Whether 360, plus whatever the commander costs, is worth it to kill a ten-man squad of MEQs or TEQs in two turns is worth it depends on the rest of your army and your personal tactical style.

Despite the cost, however, this may spell the end of twin-linking. Twin-linking on crisis suits has always been a weird choice. The advantage of twin-linking is reliability. However, the Tau don't really need to make their shooting more reliable with twin-linking; that's what markerlights are for. What you usually do with twin-linking is reduce your army's reliance on markerlights so you can save them for the units that always need them, like massed fire warrior shooting, removing cover for your XV88s, or making your hammerhead's single railgun shot really, really count. The thing is that, as troubleshooters intended to go after hard targets - XV8s are almost always putting your firepower where it really needs to be... which is exactly where you want to use your markerlights, anyway.

How are you spending 100 points on upgrades for a single suit? If I try really hard, I can make them cost 77 each at most.

[ElectricPaladin]

How are you spending 100 points on upgrades for a single suit? If I try really hard, I can make them cost 77 each at most.

85 points per suit.
+ ~20 for weapon 1
+ ~20 for weapon 2
=115 points.

[ElectricPaladin]

85 points per suit.
+ ~20 for weapon 1
+ ~20 for weapon 2
=115 points.

As you can see, the key is to misrecall how much suits cost. Once you do that, it's easy to make them cost that much. :-/.

Actually, you're right. 22 points per suit + 40 in weapons is a lot more manageable.

[Panxer]

What I wanted for Tau Xmas...
I'm liking almost the same loadouts I used to use. XV8 teams Shas'Vre: Missile pod+Melta, Shas'Ui:Burst Cannons+Missile pods. Commander: Cyclic ion blaster (maybe)+ TL Missile pods, Bodyguard: Plasma/Meltas + Missile Pods(TL or no).

I miss the ejections system for commanders. I like the T5 XV8-02, but I really wish we'd have some cheese in the form of an ejection system to boot. I also miss the cyclic ion profile from the last codex. I miss the gamble of it. AP1 on a 6+ was pretty nice. Oh! And the Target array...BS+1 is sorely missed.

I also would've liked a XV compatible rail rifle like the pathfinders have. Even if it was 30pts, it still would've been worth it.

[Uncle Nutsy]

nothing stopping you from adding in those toys in a game with friends.

[Chris*ta]

I also would've liked a XV compatible rail rifle like the pathfinders have. Even if it was 30pts, it still would've been worth it.

Technically, doesn't the Broadside have an XV compatible rail rifle