Tau Broadside Loadouts

[ElectricPaladin]

This is a thread for the discussion of Tau broadsides. Some say that they are defunct, but I for one don't credit it for a second. I still think there's a role for these little buggers... the question is, what is it, and how do we best use them?

Of course, some of the answers are obvious: you camp them in cover in your deployment zone and use their hideously powerful long-range weaponry to kill things from a distance.

The way I see it, the real questions are:

1) Plasma rifles. In the old codex, I never put much thought into putting plasma rifles on my broadsides. Really, what's the point? Plasma rifles want to get in close, broadsides want to stay away. XV8s are mobile and carry other short to mid-range weaponry. It always seemed to me that plasma rifles were a perfect fit for XV8s and the smart missile system was a perfect fit for broadsides. What I want to discuss is whether or not that's changed.

2) Heterogenous squads. We've all seen the possibility for all missile squads (36 missiles of various kinds per turn? Wow) and we've all seen the triple twin railgun squad (glance glance glance goodbye), but is there a place for a combined squad? Perhaps one missile fist with a target lock and two rail rifles with skyfire? A single squad that can take on infantry with tons of missiles and vehicles with significant railgins? What do you think?

3) Appropriate targets. No one will deny that broadsides took a hit when their inexplicably mini railguns became heavy rail rifles and dropped from Strength 10 to Strength 8. The question now is, in the context of Strength 8 blasts from ion weapons, Strength 7 missile spam, and the actual railgun still sitting on the hammerhead, what are the appropriate targets for rail rifle broadsides?

And, of course, any other issue related to broadsides that you'd like to bring up.

[Tynskel]

With the new supporting fire rules, Plasma Rifles are going to be more common place.

If you upgrade your Broadsides with 'Counterfire Defense System', all of the sudden, someone charging your firewarriors is on the receiving side of BS2 Twin-Linked Plasma and Railgun shots. That's a pretty high probability of getting 2 high powered wounds, per broadside, before your opponent can even attempt to move.

Even Fleeting Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield Terminators (Shrike's Chapter Tactics) cringe while trying to charge through that.

[DrLove42]

I've moved from 2 broadside squads and 1 hammerhead to two hammerheads in normal games, and add a Broadside unit to larger points.

I used to use some Plasma as it meant that if I had to move without stabilisation i could still shoot one gun at least. I still think theres a space for plasma as i don't have much AP2 (beyond the few failguns), but I got shredded by SMS on broadsides in my game against them last week. Sure Tau don't need to worry about cover so much thanks to markerlights, but I lost because my units couldn't just hide out of line of sight, or behind a defence line to live.

My squad will be three broadsides, one railgun with plasma, one railgun with missiles, one all missiles. All with AA upgrades. Or maybe the two with missiles with AA, the plasma with target lock....

[spaceman91]

Im sticking with my old list for the heavys. 2x hammerhead 1x broadside. Now though i am gunna take the missiles on the broadsides with the skyfire thingy. I think most flyers will think twice before heading my way. I also think that most tank would probably think twice before coming anywhere near that unit.

[Uncle Nutsy]

I went with two squads of three broadsides with the missile option + the missile pods for regular games to alphastrike the piss out of the enemy.

[marandamir]

I went with two squads of three broadsides with the missile option + the missile pods for regular games to alphastrike the piss out of the enemy.

What support system did you take? If spamming missile drone's i'm thinking the drone controller isn't a bad buy up the BS of the drones.

[Phototoxin]

I think 4 shots at S7 is better than 1 at S8. You still have to penetrate for the S8 to get the benefit of AP1. I'm tempted to go all the missiles.

[Sonikgav]

Im sorely tempted to build 3x Missile Boats for the sheer sake of Macross Missile Massacre and keep my older model suits as my Rail Gunners, mostly cos i love the new builds and dont wanna shelf my Forgeworld suits.

[gcsmith]

I think overall the missile sides will be the best all round unit, normal for anti termi and more reliable armour 13

[Sonikgav]

I think overall the missile sides will be the best all round unit, normal for anti termi and more reliable armour 13

Its the amount of Firepower that impresses me. Theres very few units with that kind of rate of fire, and even less that can do it at a decent Strength/AP.

Salvo-Sides (as my club are calling em), with a little Markerlight help can genuinely hurt anything from Hordes, Heavy Infantry (force Termies to make saves, they will start to fail) and Light armour. Theyre pretty much nasty for anything except AV14 vehicles.

[gcsmith]

Its the amount of Firepower that impresses me. Theres very few units with that kind of rate of fire, and even less that can do it at a decent Strength/AP.

Salvo-Sides (as my club are calling em), with a little Markerlight help can genuinely hurt anything from Hordes, Heavy Infantry (force Termies to make saves, they will start to fail) and Light armour. Theyre pretty much nasty for anything except AV14 vehicles.

Salvo sides are a nice name, personally call them Silosides myself.

[ElectricPaladin]

Personally, I'm going to have three salvo-sides. I had four broadsides before the new 'dex, all of them with railguns and smart missiles. I'm going to buy two broadside kits and assemble one with railguns, the other with missile fists, and tearing apart and rebuilding half of my broadsides. The goal is to have three of each so I have the right broadside for any and all situation.

[oink]

Expected kills vs infantry
Weapon vs TEQ vs MEQ vs GEQ
Heavy Rail Rifle 0.417 0.625 0.625
HYMP 0.417 0.667 2.5
SMS 0.333 0.667 2.5
Plasma Rifle 0.417 0.625 0.625
Plasma (rapid fire) 0.833 1.25 1.25

Vs GEQ you should, no surprise take High Yield Pods and SMS. Vs MEQ the HYMP and plasma set up has the edge (although do remember that SMS slightly outperforms plasma outside of rapid fire) and surprisingly against TEQ you can take EITHER primary weapon system plus plasma. So, looking at that a catch all set up would seem to be HYMP and plasma

Expected hull points stripped (ie. glances + pens) from vehicles
Weapon vs AV10 vs AV11 vs AV12 vs AV13 vs AV14
Heavy Rail Rifle 0.625 0.5 0.375 0.25 0.125
HYMP 2 1.5 1 0.5 -
SMS 1 0.5 - - -
Plasma Rifle 0.375 0.25 0.125 - -
Plasma (rapid fire) 0.75 0.5 0.25 - -

As far as primary weapons go, it looks like quantity wins over quality, with the HYMP expected to strip more hull points from anything except AV14, which it can't hurt. SMS beats plasma against AV10 and 11, but can't hurt 12. But there is a little bit more to the story than this, so the last set of figures gives the chance of getting an instant kill on a vehicle (ie. penetrate and then explode it).

Chance of an instant kill vs vehicles (OT = open-topped)
Weapon vs AV10 OT vs AV10 vs AV11 vs AV12 vs AV13 vs AV14
Heavy Rail Rifle 0.333 0.25 0.186 0.125 0.063 -
HYMP 0.5 0.25 0.167 0.833 - -
SMS 0.167 0.083 - - - -
Plasma Rifle 0.125 0.083 0.042 - - -
Plasma (rapid fire) 0.25 0.167 0.083 - - -

The most interesting thing is that the HYMP still win vs AV10, the smart missiles are also good here and because they ignore cover this makes them superb against light skimmers (think land speeders, vypers etc.) Thankfully, the Heavy Rail Rifle's better chance of insta-killing AV11+ vehicles, and it's potential to scratch AV14 stop it from becoming entirely overshadowed by all-missile suits. As for plasma, it's a better secondary system for heavier transports (Wave Serpents, Stormravens etc...), and better for toasting Marines and Terminators if you run out of vehicle targets.

So, the decision of what you fit with should really be catered towards what the rest of your force is built to deal with. There is a place for all of the weapons, and it is possible to build your force without needing the prodigious railhead tank - by taking fusion blasters on your other units and supplementing that firepower with railsides for example.

[Uncle Nutsy]

What support system did you take? If spamming missile drone's i'm thinking the drone controller isn't a bad buy up the BS of the drones.

Yes. It was the drone controller. I also have my commander out further forward in the field with his drone controller, joined to a unit of drones for markerlight support. Twenty four shots from Broadsides at BS5 with the target's cover stripped off is a scary thing.

[Gir]

Salvo sides supporting fire is really really scary. Took out two of my thunder hammer termies that where charging a riptide.

[Romwe]

I've been thinking about attaching a commander to a unit of broadside missile spam. He would have a drone controller, missile pod, and MSS, "something else", and maybe a couple shield drones. My local meta is pretty light on flyers, so I'm planning to put the early warning override on the broadsides instead of the velocity tracker. If you have a lot of flyers, maybe the velocity tracker fits better. He would make the missile drones BS5, and remove cover without the need for marker lights. So he buffs the broadsides nicely, while freeing up markerlights for other needy units.

Edit: Just read elsewhere that missile drones aren't eligible for drone controller support. Can't believe I missed that. That would nerf this a bit, and may not be worth doing.

[Panxer]

Broadsides, to me, are now nothing more than expensive AA platforms (ala missile broadsides). The heavy rail rifle is now moderate at best- S8 AP1 with no Melta or amorbane rule, I say meh... Yes, they are effective missile platforms, but for the points, I can buy skyrays and accomplish the same thing (with greater firepower) for less points.