Thursday, May 7, 2009

Something different? - Anti-Imperial Guard Fun-ness, and a Poll!

Given that the pathfinders, burst cannons on Hammerheads, twin-linked flamers, and the Ion Cannon did reasonably well in the last game, I've come to the realization that I may have a few too many pre-concieved notions as to what works best for a Tau army. My current lists (as well as those I've played in the past) always focus on Railguns, Devilfish, and Crisis suits, almost to the exclusion of everything else (save fire warriors in varying degrees).

On that note, I've been considering looking over the limited-yet-available units in the Tau arsenal that could prove to be a usefull inclusion in my Tau collection. Rather than simply buy more fire warriors and battlesuits and call it a day, I've made up my mind to make a servicable Apocalypse battleforce, though it'll take years. From my equally limited Apocalypse experience, having a vast array of different weapons, vehicles, and combinations is far more interesting (and still almost as effective) as having a horde of railguns, battlesuits, and fire warriors to provide those tried-and-true tactics that make Tau reasonably effective. If its more amusing and just as good, why not go for the more interesting options?

Here's what's brought this on - after a recent converstaion/challenge, Max from the Defending Humanity blog (a friend and frequent 40k opponent of mine) and I have decided to gear up for an amusing "Tau vs. iGuard" battle, where we focus on something neither of us have done before - Tailored Lists. He's making an Imperial Guard list designed to kill Tau, and I'm doing the same with a new and interesting list to kill Guard. I'd call it a grudge match for the slightly amusing feeling of the phrase, but its more in line with just doing something new and just-for-fun.

So, here's a list of the "new" things in the Tau codex that I've never/barely used before that I think would make for a fun anti-Guard list. I'll put a poll up, and we'll see what my limited scope of readers think would be a fun idea -

1). Vespids - these cute little insectoids are often met with either intense praise or severe distaste from all Tau players I've read/talked to - there's no middle ground here, oddly enough. They're incredibly fast (jump infantry and 'Fleet of Wing', giving them a ~24" assult if they want it), and, like kroot, excel at assaulting most units, especially after laying into them with S5 AP3 Assault 1 Neutron blasters. Unlike kroot, they actually have an armor save (a T4 5+, but its something), and their ability to re-roll dangerous terrain rolls makes them some of the hardiest jump infantry in the game. While not as incredibly hard-hitting in combat as Kroot (as well as hideously expensive for the Tau list), Vespids seem like they could hold their own in combat against most things, and their blasters seem ideal at dealing with MEQs (Marine Equivalents). The speed alone makes me really want to consider them.

2). Etherial - there's not much love for this fluffy-centerpoint to the Tau list, as 5th edition's take on infantry combat has left made him more of a liability than a usefull addition. Re-rolling moral checks for all Tau-model infantry within line of site is nice, although in most mechanized lists fairly useless, but the price of his 50pt butt dying easily overrides the first advantage. Fire warriors (the principle beneficiaries of pretty much all his abilties) shouldn't be in combat no matter which way you look at it, so giving everyone the 'prefered enemy' special rule (as well as having to take a moral test or run screaming) if he dies is less of a good thing than ever. However, he does have one good point - at WS4, 3 attacks, and the ability to take a +2 str Honor blade or +1 attack (so 4 attacks, 5 in CC), he is actually the ONLY good CC Tau available. I can see him being a great focus for the rarely seen Kroot Combat List, as if he kicks it, non-Tau (i.e. Kroot and vespid) aren't affected. Either way, he's still not worth it, but I'll put it up anyway.

3). Sniper Drone Team - since I normally reserve my Heavy Support choices for Hammerheads and Broadsides, I've never seen much place for these guys. At 80 pts for 3 36" S6 AP3 shots + networked markerlight, its hard to justify these guys as better than a broadside - namely because they aren't. Sniping infantry is a touchy subject in 5th ed, as most special characters worth anything are normally immune to instant death, and those that aren't are just as efficiently taken out by solid-shot twin-linked railguns, or massed fire. Against Guard, where the officers often make the unit, this is a whole different story, and being able to slowly pick off each and every exposed character/command model could be incredibly useful. at BS3/4 and with a markerlight, I could easily see 3 of these teams making up their points pretty quickly against iGuard.

4). Piranahs - this is another unit that is either praised or disregarded completely among Tau players. The incredible speed, improved save, ability to outflank, and the possiblity to carry up to 2 seeker missiles to the rear armor of an enemy tank is a nice incentive, but being open-topped and still a little too big to effectively hope to hide from massed fire means these little buggers are without a doubt the most fragile vehicle the Tau have. To put it simply, their a huge gamble that can either pay off nicely with some tank killing or (in a pack of 3) infantry wiping, while at the same time 1 failed save will generally do them in . They proved effective seeker-caddies in the last Apocalypse game, but survived I think purely based on the fact that there were bigger fish to fry. The jury's out, but I could see a place for at least 1 pack of Piranahs in an anti-guard or Apocalypse list.

5). Stealth Suits - I'm putting this up here just for the sake of completeness - there's going to be a 5-6 man(Tau?) unit of these fellas in my anti-guard list. The sheer annoyance of stealth jump infantry with burst cannons is the reason for the old axiom a friend of mine uses - "every time Tau stealth suits fire, one of my Guard units dies." 24 S5 AP5 attacks on survivable stealth armor will do most squishy guard in pretty quickly, and their mobile enough to avoid most combat and shooting that has a chance of penetrating their stealth field. If I bumped my 1500pt list up to 1750, my 6 stealth suits would be the fist thing I included. I'm even thinking of finding a place for them in my current 1500pt list, though I'm having trouble figuring out what to cut...

6). Krootox/Kroot Hounds - anything that's described as armed with "their ferocious fangs" gets an A+ on my amuse-o-meter, and that's the reason I already own 6 Kroot Hounds. slightly more deadly than normal kroot on the assault (and 1 pt cheaper), kroot hounds are definitely a good addition to any Kroot carnivore squad that's not geard towards self-sacrificing oblivion. The mighty Krootox, however, is a different story - the 48" rapid firing kroot gun isn't going to take down a lot of tanks by itself, but against infantry and especially in combat, the S6 krootox can deal a murderous amount of damage against those big combatty guys. More expensive than I'd like, but still within the range of possibility. Both are good choices, and may involve me getting a seperate unit of kroot for each, and seeing who does better (my money's on the hounds).

7). Kroot Shaper - again, here for the sake of completeness, as I will not use this thing. I'm not just saying that - no matter what way you look at it, he's not worth his points. Of his 3 "bonuses", a 6+ save is useless, the +1 Ld bonus isn't worth his cost, and giving him a pulse carbine/rifle is pointless when I can just buy fire warriors. Despite several conversations a while back with friends, we couldn't find a single good point to this absurdly over-costed "leader", and I find it a lot better to just take 4 normal kroot than bother with him (yes, his points cost is exactly that of 4 normal kroot - he 'boosts' a normal kroot to a shaper for an extra 3x its cost). He's out.

So there we have it - I'm not including the Skyray because, honestly, I still don't like the thing, even after giving it a good try - an Ion Hammerhead is actually a lot better, cheaper, and more reliable.

Vote for what 2 would be good additions that I should try out for my anti-Guard army, and I'll likely pick one or both.

No comments:

Post a Comment