Codex: Tau Empire 5th Edition....

[artemi]

I think a points drop across the board should be in order.

The Kroot need to have their ability tweaked to apply to ALL Cover, not just forests. Maybe they could have the Shaper give them a +1 Cover bonus, perhaps. Maybe give them Fleet or Feel No Pain or something once they eat something? That could be a really fluffy change.

While I like the idea of the Pulse Rifle getting Heavy 2, thats not going to happen due to that being their main troop gun, which seems to be mostly Rapid Fire. Maybe give them a squad leader upgrade that gives them +1 shots, or something. Could also see the Pulse Carbine be Assault 1, Small Blast.

Markerlights need re-worked. The idea is sound, but it's really book-keepy, which is a fine idea but doesn't seem to keep the 'simpler, faster play' feel of 5th. I honestly am not sure how I would change them, though. Maybe make the abilities per squad, and not per individual weapon.

Vespids need... something. Maybe make them able to better Deep Strike, like Divine Intervention but with shooting, or something?

[Lux]

Markerlights need re-worked. The idea is sound, but it's really book-keepy, which is a fine idea but doesn't seem to keep the 'simpler, faster play' feel of 5th. I honestly am not sure how I would change them, though. Maybe make the abilities per squad, and not per individual weapon.

How about something along the lines of the SoB's faith point system- applying so long as the contributing units are on the field? Each squad with a marker light adds 1 to the pool. A drone adds 2. Pathfinders with markerlights add 1 per guy. A player would have a pool of marker lights that he/she could choose how to spend each turn. As things with markers die the pool decreases. You'd only need 1-2 dice to track it all.

For their points, Kroot probably ought to have fleet, assault 2 guns, and 2 attacks base.

Vespid need an 18" range on those guns. By the time they can shoot now, they're getting assaulted. With the amount of cover nowadays, Assault 2 wouldn't be uncalled for either.

No fast vehicles. That would make the Tau simply a shooty eldar force. Instead, drop the points on the vehicles.

Drop the points on firewarriors to maybe 7-8pts per guy.
Make suits BS4.
Either give the Skyrays more ammo or simply give them ROF 3 or ROF 4.

If you want a CC special character, why not a Kroot?

As for new units, I could see kroot knarlock riders being added in fast attack, with a great knarlock in the heavy support list.

Lux

[HsojVvad]

You want BS 4 for Fire Warriors go play SM then. Why would a Tau Fire Warrior be geneticaly enhanced? Then they would be called Space Marines then. Is that what you want?

I always thoguht a Fire Warrior would be the IG equivilent. I would say their Battlesuits be BS 4 or even 5 if they pay for enhanced targeting systems and it would cost alot if they did. But seeing how 5th edtion is simplier, less rules I do not see BS 5 but maybe BS 4.

[magnus]

I do feel that basic fire warriors should have BS 3 as they are still new to warfare (having only fought up to 4 years fluff wise). That being said.
- Shas Ui should all be BS 4.
- Do away with the Shas' El or make it so the two have different roles. An example could be that that a Shas' O is a HQ choice and a Shas' El would be a unit upgrade, like a Commissar.
- I would like to see Combat Ethereal's. Something that when taken as a secondary HQ they grant possibly a "null field" or another form of psychic defense. Also make it so the army doesn't just run at their death as they would be "prepared for the great beyond".
- A form of battle suite that is suited more towards combat. Forge World has a great example of this. WS4 with T5, W3, 2+ Armor and Feel No Pain as well as Vectored Retro Thrusters included. I think it was called the "Urban Suppression Unit". Pts heavy but still something that can provide a stop gape. New combat rules mean that Kroot do not count for CC anymore in my opinion.
- Greater use of drones. If CC will not be an even mediocre aspect for the tau, and to be fair should remain limited, then the use of large expendable units of drones should be encouraged. I do think drones should be remade in such a way that they would no longer count for mission objectives. Similar to spore mines. (would love to make use of 12 or so drones in a squad with 2s strait across the board, with possibly a 6+ save. Have them just fly around and be really annoying to my opponent and have him glare when I tell him they do not count for more then the effort to pick them up off the table)
- Tau Ships are known for their travel that does not involve warp. Close orbit rail gun shots (similar to the Orbital Bombardment of the Space Marines) would be appropriate but I would like to see something more to the idea of a "line of death" representing a beam shot a short distance but highly focused. No blast template but a unit lets say in its path take a random number of hits (representing guys moving around) and a vehicle would take a side armor hit (we will assume top armor is a bit higher then rear). Strength would be 10 ap 1 though, maybe less if you wanted a longer line. You would use a coin or something to place the shot "targeting" and then roll scatter (a hit will still scatter) and 2d6 - marker light strikes devoted to "ranging in". Beam then goes 8 inches in a direction nominated by the player, again possibly longer but weaker.
Just some random ideas : )

[AArdvark85]

I play Tau. I like that fact that is a finesse army that takes unique thinking and tactics to play successfully. I don’t think that Tau need a total redo. I had some of these ideas that I think would make them more durable in the 5th ed.:

- Make everything cheaper, troops, transports, Shadow Sun, Battle suits, Kroot Ox, Hammer Heads and special weapons.

- Make Pathfinders, Sniper Teams and Drones Squadrons troops.

- Drop the requirement for Pathfinders to take a transport.

- Give the Sky Ray different weapon options maybe a dual twin linked burst cannon model or give seeker missiles a frag option.

- Give Kroot 5+ armor save like Orks or IG. I really like Kroot the way they are the just need a small boost to make them playable in a roll other than fodder.

- Let Kroot tweak their special abilities with the purchase of a shaper. Nothing too crazy like one for furious charge, one for wings like jump troops, one with feel no pain and a 5+ save. This would be balanced by price of the shaper and the fact you could not take Kroot hounds.

- Keep the Rail guns just as they are.

- Some type of anti-psyker ability maybe a drone, Kroot shaper or Ethereal.

I think thats about it. None of those changes are earth shaking or game breaking in my opinion. It keeps Tau in the roll of a shoot and move army. Gives them a little bit of flexibility for close combat.

[isotope99]

Total Wishlisting:

• Cheaper marker lights that help to combo attacks somehow rather than being just a unit upgrade as I like the idea of combining fire with different units being more deadly (any marked unit gets no cover save when any other Tau unit fires at it for example) this would help counter the massive number of cover saves available in 5th.
  
• Markerlights free for stealth suits and pathfinders.
  
• Great knarlocs (in plastic like the stegadon kit with some mounted gun options) that are cheap enough to act as flank guards/speed bumps to protect Tau from all the outflanking/deepstriking nastiness in fifth; tough but not too many attacks.
  
• Skyrays to get a pie plate attack for cluster warheads on their missiles or an indirect seeker missile attack (small blast) on marked units.
  
• Sniper drones to slow enemy units (count as moving through difficult terrain).
  
• New plastic battlesuits that look more like the FW versions (Pack of three like killa kans with at least one plastic broadside upgrade). Upgrade to allow them to outflank.
  
• At least one special character that allows battlesuits to be troops for a themed army.
  
• Fire warriors to remain essentially unchanged but get the now standard points drop for core troops. Maybe also some more drone options, like a markerlight drone.
  
• Vehicles to mostly stay not fast, except the Barracuda (an alternative new centrepiece model to the Greater Knarloc). Can fire its main gun when moving at any speed giving the Tau player incentive to keep it going at full speed but not close enough to get assaulted/melta-gunned. Sort of flyer-lite rules.
  
• Agree with Artemi, Kroot abilities should not be specific to forests, as these are still not very common terrain in 40K. (maybe just replace with move through cover and stealth)
  
• Make the Ion cannon something like Heavy 2, Blast to make it a more viable alternative to the railgun.
  
• Make the ethereal have some sort of effect on reserves. Like the IG advisors (+1 your reserves, -1 to enemy reserves) and/or adding an extra D6 to deepstrike scatter for any units landing within 18" of him. I think they should remain non-combatants.

New Kits:

Plastic battlesuits (inc broadside option)
Barracuda and/or Great Knarloc
Plastic pathfinders (inc rail rifle options)

[Dr. Doctor]

- Some sort of wargear for stealthsuits that allows the unit to be able to deep strike like Swooping Hawks

-Alternate weapons for broadside suits like something akin to a Cyclone Missile Launcher or an Ion Cannon.

-Tau Fast skimmer/flyer thing I'm thinking Mini-Manta

[Diehard]

I put these in my blog a couple of weeks ago - [url]http://thegamersworkbench.blogspot.com/2010/07/threat-range.html[/url]

Free defensive weaponry. Grenades are nice but for some reason Tau has to pay for them separately while everyone else gets them free. Even when taking carbines that have grenade launchers on them they still have to pay for regular ones. Talk about an early date with the foam box. They should be passing these things out like beads at Marti Gras.

New units that add protection. For a group that is supposed to rely on technology so much the Tau need to actually start doing it. They have stealth fields and disruption pods why not put them into a drone. A disruption drone that shields troops like a disruption pod does for ships. This was the intent of the shield drone but really it isn't doing its job. That 12" buffer no target zone would actually mean that they could get a shot off now and then.

Extended rapid fire range. This is a big one. Pulse Carbines need to be able to rapid fire at longer ranges. These guys are the best of the best shooters. They should be able to write 'For the Greater Good' across a space marines chest at any range like some '20s gangster with a Tommy gun. Ideally give them it at 18" instead of 12". The fluff behind it is pretty simple too, if the 'we can't change a light bulb without saying a 30 minute prayer' marines can have weapons that are smart enough to tell friend from foe why not let the Tau have tech that improves their shooting other than marker lights.

Mine layers or drop barriers. This is one that I just don't get. Tau are masters of the air on par with the Eldar. They have airdropped gun emplacements that while limited, make since. Why not expand on this and give them a drop minefield or barricade like a bastion defense walls. Both are perfect ways of not totally stopping a charge but taking some of the bite out of it.

Drone sacrifice. Give Them the option of sacrificing their drones and allow them to move d6 inches away. This is the classic war movie tactic and would fit the Tau better than standing there and getting punched in the face. They see that charge coming and setup a couple of drones as the first line so they can still return fire. The d6 distance doesn't put you way out of range but at least stops the assault and since it is a one time thing it allows you to hopefully avoid the inevitable.

[MightyOrang]

Idle thoughts ...

1. BS4 for the FW and XV8s

2. Power weapons for some - an ork nob with pfist equivalent for the Kroot, for example

3. Stingwings shooters go to 18" range, but become AP4

4. Devilfish @ 50pts each

5. Hammerheads in squadrons IF they dial it back a bit on the Rail Gun - drop them to S8 AP1 or something -- no squadrons of those terrors if they're still S10

6. Some sort of heavy close assualt suit -- like an XV88 but equipped with flamers and burst cannons and a S6 dread CCW

7. Ethereals - cut them out altogether.

8. Introduce a new race that's part of the collective with some psychic powers

9. Fix markerlights

10. Organic special weapons in the FW squads

11. Indirect fires artillery -- a basilisk / griffon equivalent - specialized munitions

12. Introduce a 'network' feature in the army -- something similar to synapse creatures -- when in range of select command suits / vehicles, then units like FW and XV8 suits would see their BS, I, and LD all go up (this would contravene my point 1)

13. Suit units of 5 max

14. Smart mines ... give the Tau player the ability to lay down a set area on the board, that could then shift 4" per turn or something

15. Keep disruption pods and flechette dischargers -- but boost their costs to 25 pts each

[Dr. Doctor]

- Fire Warriors have the ability to perform a Tactical Advance, during the movement phase the player may announce that he is performing a tactical advance, the fire warrior unit then is subject to the Slow and Purposeful USR.

Being able to do this would allow FWs to maintain constant volleys of pulse fire and keep with the fluff's description of the Tau being a mobile shooty army.


-Remove the mandatory Devilfish from the pathfinder entry and give them infiltrate instead.

- Have two settings for the Hammerhead Ion Cannon the S7 AP3 Heavy 3 setting for taking out heavy infantry and a S8 AP2 Heavy 1 Lance option for knocking down tanks.

-A drone that is equipped with a Land Speeder Storm style jamming beacon that can help take some of the sting of a massed deep strike assault.

-Rapid Fire on Pulse Rifles is 15" instead of 12"

-Kroot when lead by a Shaper may select a genetic adaptation for a set number of points per model (like say Eldar gene code that allows the Kroot to have +1 Initiative