Farsight Enclaves Why?

[Panxer]

I recently got a copy of the Farsight Enclaves, and other than the obvious advantages of having XV8's as troops, I'm really wondering why this type of force would be fielded as a stand alone, and can't see any practical use for the army as anything other than an allied detachment in support of a Tau main force... Why?

The Cons: Lackluster and expensive Signature Systems, mediocre Warlord Traits (though arguably some are better than the standard codex), No Onager Gauntlet or XV8-02 (unless you take IC's from the 8), inflexibility as to unit options and wargear ("the Eight"), vague and oddly worded rules as to which options and wargear you can take or can't take from which codex you're using, and the fact that if you play as Codex Tau, you can use Farsight and Aun'Va or Shadowsun, BUT if you play as Farsight enclave, you can't... Huh?

The Pro's: Playing as a Warlord Riptide HQ IC that can take Signature Systems, the Warscaper Drone, That node that makes all terrain within 36" of the warlord difficult/dangerous for the enemy, the Melta Blades (though the system short out rule was kind of jinky), wall of death overwatch rule, and XV8's being troops (obviously).

What I don't get: You can use units from Codex Tau, but signature systems (and does that include wargear *because there is none listed) can only be used from one or the other codex except for special rules XYZ as listed in the supplement. Confusing right from the start.

Solution?: Allied Detachment only?

[DarkLink]

Yup. Pretty much. Take your Tau army, use your second HQ and all your Crisis Suit teams as Farsight, and that's about it.

[SaveModifier]

its for people who want to play as the farsight enclave, with loads of suits. its not always about any mechanical advantage, its about fluff.

[DarkLink]

But that's the fluff. The actual rules provide no real benefit other than allowing you to exploit Crisis Suits as troops, similar to how the only real benefit the Black Legion supplement brings appears to be a 4th Heldrake.

[Joe TwoCrows]

So DE can take them as desperate allies, in some out of the way spot of the board, and skyfire at hellturkeys.

[SaveModifier]

[HTML][/HTML]

But that's the fluff. The actual rules provide no real benefit other than allowing you to exploit Crisis Suits as troops, similar to how the only real benefit the Black Legion supplement brings appears to be a 4th Heldrake.

You don't have to have a benefit, it's a rules to allow you to represent fluff. Not everything has to be "better"

[Garradh]

[HTML][/HTML]

Not everything has to be "better"

Exactly, it's supposed to be "different." Not everyone has the same playstyle for an army. Welcome to 6th Edition.

[SaveModifier]

I guess some people liked the cookie cutter armies of 5th editon, I am loving all the options GW are throwing at us now, between new codexes every few months, allies and now suppliments, there are just so many new narrative things to explore.

[D6Damager]

I recently got a copy of the Farsight Enclaves, and other than the obvious advantages of having XV8's as troops, I'm really wondering why this type of force would be fielded as a stand alone, and can't see any practical use for the army as anything other than an allied detachment in support of a Tau main force... Why?

The Cons: Lackluster and expensive Signature Systems, mediocre Warlord Traits (though arguably some are better than the standard codex), No Onager Gauntlet or XV8-02 (unless you take IC's from the 8), inflexibility as to unit options and wargear ("the Eight"), vague and oddly worded rules as to which options and wargear you can take or can't take from which codex you're using, and the fact that if you play as Codex Tau, you can use Farsight and Aun'Va or Shadowsun, BUT if you play as Farsight enclave, you can't... Huh?

The Pro's: Playing as a Warlord Riptide HQ IC that can take Signature Systems, the Warscaper Drone, That node that makes all terrain within 36" of the warlord difficult/dangerous for the enemy, the Melta Blades (though the system short out rule was kind of jinky), wall of death overwatch rule, and XV8's being troops (obviously).

What I don't get: You can use units from Codex Tau, but signature systems (and does that include wargear *because there is none listed) can only be used from one or the other codex except for special rules XYZ as listed in the supplement. Confusing right from the start.

Solution?: Allied Detachment only?

Competitvely, you're right. You will probably only see Enclaves as a detachment to a Tau primary.

That being said the crisis suit unit is one of the most flexible units in the book. Putting 18 scoring suits with bonding ritual on the table with various loadouts/drones could be competitive IMO. I doubt that many have fully explored the possibilities yet in actual gameplay.

[DarkLink]

You don't have to have a benefit, it's a rules to allow you to represent fluff. Not everything has to be "better"

I don't mean benefit as in being good enough to spam. I just mean benefit in such a way that they're worth taking in their own right. As poorly thought out as the last couple of supplements have been, the only reason their rules seem to exist is to allow you to ally with yourself to either make Crisis Suits scoring or to get a 4th Heldrake. The rules seem specifically designed to promote exactly those two netlists, and nothing more.