Ron over at From the Warp asked some of us Bloggers to talk about our "Must Have Unit". I am currently playing Tau, so will answer the question from that perspective.
I have always been first and foremost a Space Marine player, all the way back to 1st edition. However, about 3 years ago, when Laertes and I started talking about playing 40k again, I decided I wanted to try something new - the Tau caught my eye. I really liked the anime style to this army, but what really got me hooked was the battle suits. At the time, I didn't know anything about the Tau. It had been years since I played 40k, and I had never seen a 3rd edition Tau Codex. But I could tell from the images I saw on the web that these battle suits were a very versatile weapons platform!
Once I picked up the 4th edition codex, and started reading the army list, I was excited to field as many battle suits as I could! Unfortunately, after having 5 games under my belt with Tau (between 4th and 5th edition), I still have not successfully utilized them. My beloved suits have been the first to fall in every game!
The problem is, I apparently don't know how to use these guys on the battlefield... I think it is because of how I categorize the units in my head. In Space Marine terms, they look like a dreadnought and are fielded like terminators - but they are a far cry from either! I also suspect that the versatility of their loadout is making it difficult for me to focus on what their role should be in a particular battle.
So, maybe I should try to conquer my failing by fielding an all-suit force. Laertes and I are planning on one more 750 point battle before we up the points limit of our games. Here is a first try at a 1000 point battle suit themed force.
HQ (104 pts)
1 Commander Shas'el; Fusion Blaster; Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Hard-wired Target Lock)
Troops (140 pts)
6 Fire Warrior; Pulse Rifle
1 Devilfish; Burst Cannon; 2 Gun Drones
Troops (140 pts)
6 Fire Warrior; Pulse Rifle
1 Devilfish; Burst Cannon; 2 Gun Drones
Elite (150 pts)
3 Crisis Battlesuit; Burst Cannon; Missile Pod; Multi-Tracker
Elite (162 pts)
3 Crisis Battlesuit; Fusion Blaster; Missile Pod; Multi-Tracker
Heavy Support (300 pts)
3 Broadside Battlesuit; Twin linked Railgun; Smart Missile System; Drone Controller; Shield Drone x2
The list that I have fielded in my last to games is posted in their respective battle reports <here> and <here>.
My initial thoughts for this new list are that there wont be enough targets for the opposition, and the suits are still gonna fall fast.
It is hard to tell from this post how you use your crisis suits, so I will have to base this on the list itself.
ReplyDeleteYour troops choices are fine for a mech tau build, although you want to put disruption pods on those devilfish. 5pts for a 4+ cover save is too good to pass up.
At 1000 points, three broadsides might be too many. How many times will you want or need to fire three twin-linked railguns at a single target? Most of the time that will be overkill. I would go with two broadsides, and give the TL a target lock. That should take care of your enemy heavy armour.
You don't say what support system you have given your hammerheads. Most take ASS, but I recommend targeting array.
The shield drones are a good choice, but at 1000 points you might get away with just one.
I would actually take a hammerhead at this points level, but I know you want all suits, so I won't go into that as an option.
You have got six crisis suits each with missile pods, so that is 12 shots per turn against enemy transports or MCs. Should be lethal at this points level.
However, your other weapon choices do suggest a confusion in your own mind about what these suits are meant to be doing. The ones with fusion blasters, for example, will not be using 51 points of their wargear for the first couple of turns and, worse still, will be tempting you to get them within 12" of enemy infantry or within 6" of enemy vehicles. Suits die anywhere the enemy can assault them, so unless you pick your opponent apart one unit at a time and he is not mobile enough to stop you, you are risking losing your suits to assault.
The burst cannon is a decent weapon and, between 12" and 18" is a better choice than a plasma rifle. I prefer the AP2 of a plasma rifle, however. I am tempted into rapid fire range, but unlike the fusion blasters there is a good chance I will wipe out whatever I am shooting at.
Your commander can only fire two of his three weapons at once, so I suggest you save some points and ditch a weapon. I suggest the fusion blaster.
In general, I try and avoid deep-striking my suits. I start them on the table, keep them in cover, JSJ out from behind tanks to take shots and then back again and avoid getting charged as much as possible. Your devilfish are key in this - perfect mobile cover.
Thanks Sholto! This list is a new approach for me. I agree that a plasma is a better choice then both the fusion and burst on the 2 units of crisis, but I couldn't afford it. However, I like your suggestion of dropping a broadside, and that should afford me the points to upgrade some weapons on the crisis suits, and to add disruption pods to the fish.
ReplyDeleteI am going to retire the hammerhead for a bit... In my last 2 games, it took 4 and 5 turns respectively to hit its target. Fortunately the opponent had similar results targeting my tank.
At this point level, and with dropping a broadside, what about running the remaining 2 as separate units?
I would consider scrapping the two elite teams.
ReplyDeleteTake one Shas'o HQ suits with a bodyguard.
For 301 points you have a 3 suit team with 14 wounds and 4+ invulnerable save.
Loadout is as follows;
Shas'o; with TL plasma rifles, HW Drone controller, Target Lock, Shield Drone, Gun Drone.
Bodyguard suit; TL Fusion Blasters, HW Drone controller, Targeting Array, 2x Gun Drones
Bodyguard suit; TL Missile Pods, HW Drone controller, Targeting Array, 2x Gun Drones
The gun drones are great for attempting pinning tests, but they mostly exist for ablative wounds. Each bodyguard suit has 2 wounds and the Shas'o has 4 wounds. That means you can absorb 10 wounds (x5 gun drones, x1 wound from each bodyguard suit, 3 wounds from the Shas'o suit) before you lose your 4+ invulnerable save by sacrificing the shield drone on the 11th wound.
After that you will lose one suit for each wound taken, for the remaining three wounds.
The twin-linking allows you to almost never miss and the weapons load out gives you a mix of long to short ranged firepower.
Granted, you are giving up numbers in exchange for survivability. As it stands your two elite suit teams only have a total of 12 wounds between both of them. In this instance you free up two force organization slots, gain two more wounds overall (14 vs. 12)while only giving up four suits overall (7 vs. 3). Looking at your list and removing your two elite and one HQ selection (416 points); replacing it with the HQ as outlined above (301 points); saves you 115 points that can be sunk into another unit.
Try it. I think you will be surprised by the amount of energy your opponent will have to devote to destroying those three suits. While your broadsides and HQ team rip him apart.