Tau: Unkillable Super Unit

[NehemiahD]

So I've been thinking of new ways to play Tau, I'm planning on an offensive Farsight super unit, All with target locks, so can each shoot independantly. Check it out!

Commander Farsight (1#: 170 Points)

Crisis Bodyguard Unit (7#: 654 Points)
-TL Fusion Blaster, HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-Flamer, TL Missile Pod, HW Multi-Tracker,HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-Flamer, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-TL Plasma Rifle, HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-TL Flamer, Missile Pod, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-TL Fusion Blaster, Missile Pod, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Targer Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.

This Squad puts out:
- 2 TL Melta shots
- 3 Flamers, one of which is TL
- 8 str 7 Missile Pod shots one of which is TL.
- 4 str 7 ap 2 Plasma rifle shots which are rapid fire, one of which is TL.
And has 31 wounds all of which I can do seperate allocation, 8 of which have invuln saves.
Every model can target seperate units, thanks to the Hard wired Targer locks.

So? What do you think of the Tau, Uber Unit? Do you think it will work.

[Fellend]

I think it'll be assaulted and then either bogged down for the rest of the game or overrun in round 2 or 3 without having done much to win back it's points

[NehemiahD]

I see your Points, but remember that farsight has 4 attacks base at str 5 ws 5 ignore armor. and the siuts together have 14 str 5 attacks, 21 on the charge, not to mention the drones, who strike at inititive 4.

[Quade_C]

It sounds like a super awesome unit, but yeah it will die horribly. Farsight is an IC. Therefore needs to be base to base with whomever he fights. Any assault unit will be higher init. So they attack last. If there are any suits left they get to eat power fists.

[Velium]

So, youre going to what, deepstrike these guys? slog them at me? 5 man TH/SS terminator squad goes 12 in their LRC, out 2 and assaults 6 inches and youve lost your whole terrible deathstar to 450ish points, farsight's power weapon or not.

[Nungunz]

824 points for that unit? Yeesh.

Drones can only soak up so many wounds before instant deaths start chewing up suits. Lascannons, meltaguns, battlecannons, missiles, demolishers, dark lances, bright lances, power fists, thunder hammers, etc are going to hurt a ton.

[slobulous]

I play mechanized IG and a friend of mine plays a suit heavy Tau list with a unit similar to this. I'll tell you from experience that it doesn't hold up to hard ordnance or other ways of scoring mass instakill wounds with low AP. A couple of good hits from my Demolisher squadron almost destroyed it entirely.

[slxiii]

It sounds like a super awesome unit, but yeah it will die horribly. Farsight is an IC. Therefore needs to be base to base with whomever he fights. Any assault unit will be higher init. So they attack last. If there are any suits left they get to eat power fists.

Not if he's with a retinue. Which is what this is. And he's Init 5 i think, quite good.

But yes, this unit is doomed to fail. 1000ish points to be as good as most army's assault elements isnt too hot.

[JxKxR]

I've tried it and like everyone else has said, it just doesn't hold up in reallity. Although if you still wanted to use Farsight for his close combat abilities then what I do is have him and two bodyguards both with burst cannons and twin linked flamers. I like to keep them back behind cover near my fire warriors so when anything comes too close they can jump out there and cut it down or at least sacrifice it's self. This unit is also great for killing regular space marines that have been shot down a bit so pick on the squads that are 6 or under.:)

[thecactusman17]

The issue here isn't that it's a complex unit, it's that the complex unit in question has no delivery mechanism. They are going to either deep strike (risky) or footslog (very risky), and in either case they simply won't be able to get off an assault and many of the weapons are too short range to provide covering fire against enemies at the back of the board in cover.

[Denzark]

Extract from Salamander Forward Observation Party vox-logs, 9th Necromundan Regt:

+++Yankee three-one Charlie, This is Yankee one one delta, Fire Mission Over+++

+++ One One Delta, Send Fire Mission Over +++

+++ three one charlie, small group of xenos at grid 5432 - 6543, Neutralise in 15 seconds for 2 minutes+++

15 seconds later...

+++ firing Now over +++

2 minutes later...

+++ Yankee three one charlie, this is Yankee one one delta, good shot, target stopped. You Basilisks cetainly made a mess of those tau degenerates...+++

[BS FADE]

So the problem with this unit is its really expensive and when you then start saying to yourself in order to make this unit work I need to kill that, that, that.... that.... that and that immediately or this super expensive unit wont have a chance of getting to do what it needs to do. You kind of need to rethink your list.

[jorz192]

Tau plasma rifles are S 6 ap 2 not S 7.

[Tynskel]

I see your Points, but remember that farsight has 4 attacks base at str 5 ws 5 ignore armor. and the siuts together have 14 str 5 attacks, 21 on the charge, not to mention the drones, who strike at inititive 4.

I have charged that unit with 5 thunder hammer assault Terminators. It didn't take long to wipe them out to the man.

[Hive Mind]

Ah, but was it a tactical or strategic charge?

[DAPHEEL]

You could always use them as "counts as" Thunderwolf cavalry (i kiiid, i kiiid).

Now, in all seriousness with the battlesuits, the plasma / rocket combo in bare bones squads (to keep them cheap) work really well against marines and their tanks. There's not much point taking a unit like that other then in apocalypse. Then mount them in a stormlord, Then laugh maniacally, grow an evil moustache, and twiddle it.

[lostinnm]

Or, how do you physically stop 40 marines in rhinos barreling across the table at that one unit. For what you paid for all of those crisis suits I can easily field 40 grey hunters in transports. I play Tau myself, and I can say with certainty that the second 10-15 grey hunters charge that unit, you will lose combat and have all 800+ points of that unit wiped out. Or 1 Land Raider with Assault terminators will turn the squad into mush in one round of assault. Any assault unit that comes for around 200-300 points against your "unkillable super unit" will win almost every time.

[Rapture]

Obviously assault terminators charging this unit would destroy it. Almost anything that assault terminators charge will be destroyed.

Obviously ordinance will destroy it. What doesn't ordinance destroy?

Drones and shield generators combined with would allocation will give you a chance of fighting your way into the sweet spot of fire output vs. getting assaulted.

Anyway, the way that I would outfit the squad would be:
1- plasma, missile pod, shield generator
2- plasma, missile pod, shield generator
3- fusion, missile pod, shield generator
4- fusion, missile pod, drone controller w/ 2 gun drones
5- plasma, missile pod, drone controller w/ 2 gun drones
6- plasma, missile pod, drone controller w/ gun drone and shield drone
7- plasma, missile pod, drone controller w/ 2 gun drones

Sprinkle in various gear for proper would allocation. Hit the closest threat hard enough to cripple it and then move on. Never assault unless victory is guaranteed or unavoidable. The real strength of crisis suits, even with Farsight, is their shooting.

The real question is whether it is better to run this as one unit or multiple units. The full retinue is better able to utilize markerlights, but looses its entire effectiveness if it is assaulted. Multiple units have less effective shooting, but one can be sacrificed to slow fast moving assaulters.

[Arien]

Ah, but was it a tactical or strategic charge?

That was a horrible thing to say, but it made me laugh so damn hard!

[clintb311]

Problem being that, at the Bugeater GT in Neb, a player had a similar unit loaded with shield drones and a round of shooting from arbites (IG vets w/shotguns & 3GL) caused 1 model to die and fail a Ld check. Thjis happened twice in the same game. Extremely unlikely, yes. But last time I checked, few plans survive contact with the enemy.

[DarkLink]

Multiple units have less effective shooting, but one can be sacrificed to slow fast moving assaulters.

Actually, multiple small units overall have more effective shooting. That's why you see so many razorspam type lists. Being able to shoot five lascannons at different targets is much better 95% of the time than having to shoot all five at the same target.

[heretic marine]

it is all how you play the list. you could if you play 2000pts take 2 squads of about 20 and if points willing other stuff for the kroots, then use kroots as a shield wall, and have 2 tanks, and have your super unit follow the kroots and have the tanks fire cover or support your flanks. then another option is just get with a friend and play about 50 battles to figure out the best tactics for them. the only problem with what i suggested is that a good deep strike will get those assault terminators right on your squad.

[gcsmith]

Problem being that, at the Bugeater GT in Neb, a player had a similar unit loaded with shield drones and a round of shooting from arbites (IG vets w/shotguns & 3GL) caused 1 model to die and fail a Ld check. Thjis happened twice in the same game. Extremely unlikely, yes. But last time I checked, few plans survive contact with the enemy.

Um with that many models u need to kill more than 1 to get a leadership check

[thecactusman17]

I need to change my earlier impressions of this unit.

It turns out, that when kitted well, this is possibly one f the toughest units in the game, with a survivability rivaling that of Nob Bikers or Thunderwolves (outside of close combat, at least). It also is extraordinarily versatile, bringing weapons that can realistically answer multiple threats including heavy armor, elite infantry, and hordes all at the same time.

The trick is combining all of the aforementioned items with multi-trackers, allowing the unit to plop down into the middle of several units, and open up on all of them at the same time. The unit can then assault-move to avoid the largest threats remaining or to reduce the potential damage of a large blast counterattack.

It's an expensive unit, but a friend played 'Ard Boyz this year and went through the entirety of the prelims losing only 3 drones. Other units (and the restrictions your HQ puts on those are significant) did get pretty beat up, but this unit was standing up to dedicated assault units, often gunning them and their transports down before they could become a significant threat. The large point format certainly helped them by providing a synergistic grouping of additional units to support them against threats that they couldn't (or just didn't want to) deal with, like vindicators.

Sometimes, the biggest downside of a brick is figuring out how to throw it...

[CrimsonTurkey]

Looks like ymgarl chow to me.

[Ordo Septenarius]

So I've been thinking of new ways to play Tau, I'm planning on an offensive Farsight super unit, All with target locks, so can each shoot independantly. Check it out!

Commander Farsight (1#: 170 Points)

Crisis Bodyguard Unit (7#: 654 Points)
-TL Fusion Blaster, HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-Flamer, TL Missile Pod, HW Multi-Tracker,HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-Flamer, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-TL Plasma Rifle, HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-TL Flamer, Missile Pod, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.
-TL Fusion Blaster, Missile Pod, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Targer Lock, HW drone controller, Gun Drone, Shield Drone.

This Squad puts out:
- 2 TL Melta shots
- 3 Flamers, one of which is TL
- 8 str 7 Missile Pod shots one of which is TL.
- 4 str 7 ap 2 Plasma rifle shots which are rapid fire, one of which is TL.
And has 31 wounds all of which I can do seperate allocation, 8 of which have invuln saves.
Every model can target seperate units, thanks to the Hard wired Targer locks.

So? What do you think of the Tau, Uber Unit? Do you think it will work.


You're making me wish I didn't sell off all my Tau.

[Panxer]

If you're going for Shas'O Farsight, kit him up with the full 7 Bodyguard, and either go with burst cannons and missile pods or plasma rifles and missile pods; THEN, fill your 3 elite slots with 3 more XV sets with the same loadout. Reason being- And I'm not a fan of 'mathhammer', but in this case the 'killing blow' demands it.

Why..?

Because with burst cannons and Missile pods you get 21 S5 AP5 shots and 14 S7 AP4 shots (if you went big with points, they'd be twin linked too) And a plasma shot from the leader.

OR, you can go with plasma and get 8-16 S6 AP2 plasma shots (depending on range) AND 14 S7 AP4 shots with the missiles.

THEN with the other 3 XV slots you get an additional 27 S5 AP5 Burst cannon shots or 9-18 S6 AP2 plasma shots in addition to 18 (6 of which should be twin linked if you're smart) S7 AP4 missile shots.

I don't know who's THAT lucky with the dice, BUT, chances are whomever you're shooting at (from odds alone) will be drastically out of their favor.

Of course this is before your opponent assaults or bombards you with AP2 or 3 template weapons. If you can stay out of reach, you should be able to whittle them down with oceans of fire.

[Lemt]

I want to see a Night Scythe death ray this unit. PEWPEW

[Dorsai]

A friend of mine actually tried something like this unit out against a local Templar player that runs a very assault heavy army. The unit did fairly well holding up against the Emp's champ and Chaplin for a few turns. But then he lost the entire unit in a sweeping advance when the Shas'o died. So yes, it can be very good for Tau, however, the sweeping advance is what kills them. A very broken rule that is favoring high initiative armies and raping armies like the Tau and Guard.

[The Twilight Fade]

A friend of mine actually tried something like this unit out against a local Templar player that runs a very assault heavy army. The unit did fairly well holding up against the Emp's champ and Chaplin for a few turns. But then he lost the entire unit in a sweeping advance when the Shas'o died. So yes, it can be very good for Tau, however, the sweeping advance is what kills them. A very broken rule that is favoring high initiative armies and raping armies like the Tau and Guard.

Whilst all sweeping advances make me cry there is nothing worse than a full squad of crons getting swept, especially now they lose their RP :(

[Dorsai]

Whilst all sweeping advances make me cry there is nothing worse than a full squad of crons getting swept, especially now they lose their RP

Yes, but he lost 7 multiple wound models in that sweeping advance. The way the rule is worded, there is no save they can take to try and escape with just taking a wound. Fourteen wounds wiped off the table simple because they have a low initiative. The rule should be destroying the unit, but instead should somehow cause wounds with applicable save allowed. The chance is still there to wipe out a unit, but then at least multi-wound models have a chance to escape.