Tau Heavy Drone Question

[LordGrise]

So I'm looking at adding a drone controller and a couple drones to my Crisis Suit team and the thought occurs: Can my Crisis Suit take heavy drones, and if so, for how many points?

Buying gun drones outright cost twelve points apiece; if strapped to a Crisis Suit, they cost ten points. A heavy gun drone, bought outright, is twenty five points, according to the release from Forgeworld that came down a few months back; you can swap out the TL burst cannons for a single burst cannon and a standard markerlight at no cost.

Here's where it gets sticky. Per the old codex, a markerlight drone (networked markerlight, and a targeting array granting +1BS) is thirty points; the only way to get one onto the field is with a drone controller. The markerlight tag generated may be used by the owning unit to improve BS vs that target for that round. But with a heavy drone, it's a standard markerlight, whose tag may NOT be used by the owning unit; the tag must be used by another unit, or used to call in a seeker missile, or to reduce leadership or cover saves.

Anyone know of a FAQ or other release that clarifies this? Failing that, what are the suggestions for point cost? Adding a standard gun drone to a crisis suit effectively straps on one wound and a TL pulse carbine shot at BS2 for ten points each. Adding a heavy drone would effectively add one wound and a TL Burst cannon to the Crisis Suit, or a wound, a markerlight (calling in a seeker missile, most likely) and a single burst cannon, albeit at BS 2, rather than the BS of the suit. Thoughts?

[Nabterayl]

No, there are no rules for adding heavy drones instead of "regular" drones via a drone controller. Are you asking for point costs on a house rule that would allow that?

[LordGrise]

I suppose I am. The fluff with the FW download indicates that Heavy drones have been sighted providing 'direct fire support' to Fire Warrior teams, which to me suggests the Fire Warrior team Shas'ui is using a drone controller - but I will be the first to admit this is subjective.

Of course, there is nothing out there specifically forbidding or contraindicating my contention either... ::grin::

[Zeshin]

Nothing in the rules allows you to buy heavy drones for a character with a drone controller any more than buying a Hammerhead for a character with a drone controller.

Fluff is fluff, but in comparison Apache gunships can provide direct fire support to infantry units without the sergeant controlling it with a remote control (though that would be fething awesome).

[Nabterayl]

From a house rule standpoint, I think the question you need to ask is whether you're going to go with what they're "worth" or whether you're going to go with a point cost proportional to the current costs. I think most people would agree that drones (especially marker drones) are overpriced, but it's a lot simpler to calculate what they would have been worth had they been included as drone controller slaves at the time the codex was written, in light of the other codex options.

In my opinion those two questions come out to pretty much the same math, but you might feel differently. Here's my take:

I think 25-30 points is actually pretty appropriate for a heavy drone, if you're going to house rule them as legal drone controller slaves. Remember that a heavy drone with markerlight is BS2 and not networked, compared to BS3 and networked for the standard marker drone. Yes, the heavy drone has a burst cannon in compensation, but that seems poor compensation to me - so "about as much as a marker drone" seems like a good ballpark for a house rule in my opinion.

Compared to a gun drone, a heavy drone with twin-linked burst cannon has three times the firepower but not the Pinning special rule - which usually causes no effect, but can really save your alien blue bacon when it works. So approximately three times the cost of a gun drone seems right to me, which is what a heavy drone already costs.

[LordGrise]

Thank you, Nabterayl!