BA Today

[Panzer]

Played a Tau list last week. Haven't played Tau in a LONG time.

 

He brought Stealthsuits, Pathfinders, Ghostkeels, 2x Devilfish packed with Breachers, and 3x Coldstar Commanders.  Stealthsuits are the hidden gem of that Codex. -1 To Hit in both Shooting and Fight phases, and are T4 2W 3+ before cover. PLUS they get drones to shunt wounds onto. Annoyingly resilient for sure, and they can deploy anywhere that is 12" away from one of your units in the Deployment phase.

 

Coldstars have to get nerfed. They are simply OP. I don't even say that in a whiny way, it's just a fact on paper. Even the hard limit of 0-1 per Detachment is no biggie (my opponent simply took 3 Detachments). Having a 20" base movement, plus four weapons that shoot on 2+ and character protection is almost game breaking. Not to mention when you run them with the CT-equivalent that lets you advance and shoot with no penalty. Now they are moving 40" and shooting 4 melta guns on a 2+, which can not be blocked because they are not Deep Striking. It is DIRTY. GW should downgrade them to two weapons and up their points cost and then they'll be back down into the stratosphere.

 

Anyways, I haven't played as much as I'd like, but I was harshly reminded about "having a plan and executing it flawlessly." I strung out my SG and the Sanguinor on one flank while castling up my Capt + LT + Ancient to buff my Devs. I spread myself too thin and didn't really do anything. Didn't help that Captain Blender (Capt, 2x LC, Jump Pack, DVoS) whiffed his re-rollable charge, thus letting my scout spam eat TAU overwatch. But at the end of the day, you need to stick to your guns (or swords, in our case) and not let distractions pull you away. Back to basics Winning 101.

Aye, Stealth Suits are awesome. Loved them before 8th and I'm very happy they're finally useful.

Don't forget they also have the Infantry keyword for easy cover.

 

Coldstars are sick since they got weapon options. Especially all Burst Cannon ones and all Fusion Blaster ones. However Commander are limited to 1 per detachment now so it's not like T'au can really spam them. Taking 3 Coldstars is a pretty competetive choice, but not broken imo. There are always people who take things in normal games that seem over the top but are actually okay on tournaments.

Just you wait until you face Bork'an Y'vahra with their 14" Heavy 2D6 S6 AP-2 D3 flamer on the drop. 3D6 in the following rounds if they Nova charge. And yes they're Riptides with their typical T7 Sv2+/5++ (4++ against attacks from within 12") and Battlesuit keyword for Drone protection of course.

Edited April 4, 2018 by sfPanzer

[Indefragable]

@sfpanzer:

 

See, for me, the difference with that Y'vahra you just mentioend is that it's still a Deep Strike unit. It takes a fundamental core of the game and ratchets it up, but it still plays "within the rules", so to speak. A unit that can move 20" with almost no downsides, and has character protection is NUTS.

[Pendent]

@sfpanzer:

 

See, for me, the difference with that Y'vahra you just mentioend is that it's still a Deep Strike unit. It takes a fundamental core of the game and ratchets it up, but it still plays "within the rules", so to speak. A unit that can move 20" with almost no downsides, and has character protection is NUTS.

My brother, have you heard the good word about Mephiston, Chief Librarian of the Blood Angels?

[Panzer]

@sfpanzer:

 

See, for me, the difference with that Y'vahra you just mentioend is that it's still a Deep Strike unit. It takes a fundamental core of the game and ratchets it up, but it still plays "within the rules", so to speak. A unit that can move 20" with almost no downsides, and has character protection is NUTS.

I honestly don't see the difference between a unit deep striking and shooting something to death and a unit moving fast and shooting something to death from a "fundamental core of the game" point of view. Both act perfectly fine within the core game mechanics, just differently. One is obviously stronger but is also much more limited than the other.

 

I'm not saying that the Coldstar isn't super strong. I'm just saying that I don't think it's that broken. Taking 3 is just about as much of a :cuss move as previously spamming some other super strong unit.

I play my Commander as Coldstar since 7th edition where it was trash and I keep using him now. So far no one in my group thinks he's broken and needs a harsh nerf. Just that he's strong (we're not even playing super competetively).

[Paladin777]

 

@sfpanzer:

 

See, for me, the difference with that Y'vahra you just mentioend is that it's still a Deep Strike unit. It takes a fundamental core of the game and ratchets it up, but it still plays "within the rules", so to speak. A unit that can move 20" with almost no downsides, and has character protection is NUTS.

My brother, have you heard the good word about Mephiston, Chief Librarian of the Blood Angels?

I have heard about this good word, and though powerful, it can be denied like any other psychic power.

[Indefragable]

 

@sfpanzer:

 

See, for me, the difference with that Y'vahra you just mentioend is that it's still a Deep Strike unit. It takes a fundamental core of the game and ratchets it up, but it still plays "within the rules", so to speak. A unit that can move 20" with almost no downsides, and has character protection is NUTS.

My brother, have you heard the good word about Mephiston, Chief Librarian of the Blood Angels?

I have heard about this good word, and though powerful, it can be denied like any other psychic power.

 

 

Exactly. That's kind of where I am going with it. Again, I'm not trying to gripe or cause issues, but to compare those two, psychic powers are never a gaurantee on their own, can be denied, and potentially suck yourself into the warp for trying. A better comparison would be Necron C'Tan powers which are literally "pick an enemy unit in 24 inches. That unit suffers x mortal wounds..."no rolls, no denials, no missing, nothing. The thing that keeps C'Tan powers somewhat grounded is that none of them are standout good. You have 6 different ways of auto-dumping D3 MW on a unit.

[Panda_Saurus_Rex]

 

 

@sfpanzer:

 

See, for me, the difference with that Y'vahra you just mentioend is that it's still a Deep Strike unit. It takes a fundamental core of the game and ratchets it up, but it still plays "within the rules", so to speak. A unit that can move 20" with almost no downsides, and has character protection is NUTS.

My brother, have you heard the good word about Mephiston, Chief Librarian of the Blood Angels?

I have heard about this good word, and though powerful, it can be denied like any other psychic power.

 

 

Exactly. That's kind of where I am going with it. Again, I'm not trying to gripe or cause issues, but to compare those two, psychic powers are never a gaurantee on their own, can be denied, and potentially suck yourself into the warp for trying. A better comparison would be Necron C'Tan powers which are literally "pick an enemy unit in 24 inches. That unit suffers x mortal wounds..."no rolls, no denials, no missing, nothing. The thing that keeps C'Tan powers somewhat grounded is that none of them are standout good. You have 6 different ways of auto-dumping D3 MW on a unit.

 

 

 

I see the drawback is that they have to get close to be able to really shoot you. Yea they can move 40-60" in a turn and then light something up but they will get isolated and shot themselves and then probably charged while doing so. I haven't personally had a huge problem with Commanders since the nerf, mostly the problems I am having are smart players who screen their armies with empty Devilfish.

[sockwithaticket]

Been making some headway on my first terminator:

[Damon Nightman]

Impressive as always sock!

[Buggane]

Been making some headway on my first terminator:

 

Lovely, what did you make the bullet scared wall with?

[sockwithaticket]

Cheers, brothers.

Buggane - It's a couple of chunks of Gale Force 9 basing slate that I've taken clippers and various sizes of drill bit to.

[Jolemai]

Trying to decide if I want a Termite.

 

Pros:

• Epic model revamp
• It's a Drop Pod that has levelled up
• I can also use it in 30k
• In 30k I can give it two assault cannons :O

Cons:

• It's ruled like a Drop Pod in 8th edition
• It's another "Drop Pod" for my collection
• It's £75 and it's six points north of 100 :/

[Indefragable]

 

Trying to decide if I want a Termite.

 

Pros:

• Epic model revamp
• It's a Drop Pod that has levelled up
• I can also use it in 30k
• In 30k I can give it two assault cannons

Cons:

• It's ruled like a Drop Pod in 8th edition
• It's another "Drop Pod" for my collection
• It's £75 and it's six points north of 100 :/

 

 

On a scale of 1-10, how much satisfaction will you receive when yelling "Suprise, :cuss -ers!" when you pop a bunch of stabby dudes out of the thing in your enemy's back lines?

Edited April 6, 2018 by Indefragable

[Xerxus]

Be aware that the rules as written don't allow you to disembark your units from the Drill until the turn after it deepstrikes.

[Jolemai]

It all depends what is it's ideal cargo:

• Twelve DC?
• Ten man squad plus characters?
• Two squads of MM-devastators?

 

Regardless, it still has the drawback of having to "deep strike" and outside of an alpha strike, I'm really not a fan of deep strike and it's ilk this edition.

 

Be aware that the rules as written don't allow you to disembark your units from the Drill until the turn after it deepstrikes.

 

Indeed, so close-combat squads may not be ideal. Perhaps Sternguard or some other fire support? Tacticals? TBH if you dont use it's special rules you might as well take a Drop Pod instead. So what best meshes with that?

Edited April 6, 2018 by Jolemai

[Damon Nightman]

I will be getting one just because of how cool it is if that helps!

[Charlo]

It's kind of perfect for something like 2 Multi-Melta Dev Squads, Captain + Leiutenant to really push those re-rolls.

[Panzer]

 

Be aware that the rules as written don't allow you to disembark your units from the Drill until the turn after it deepstrikes.

 

Indeed, so close-combat squads may not be ideal. Perhaps Sternguard or some other fire support? Tacticals? TBH if you dont use it's special rules you might as well take a Drop Pod instead. So what best meshes with that?

 

Actually I think it works pretty well for melee units. It's very unlikely you get the 9" charge off anyway, so you stay a round inside and be protected by T8 Sv3+ and then you disembark 3", move 6" and then do your charge (~16" threat range) or the enemy either pulls all his stuff away so nothing is within 16" of the drill ... which means you just claimed about 32" diameter zone for yourself without doing anything lol

[Deathwalker]

 

 

Be aware that the rules as written don't allow you to disembark your units from the Drill until the turn after it deepstrikes.

 

Indeed, so close-combat squads may not be ideal. Perhaps Sternguard or some other fire support? Tacticals? TBH if you dont use it's special rules you might as well take a Drop Pod instead. So what best meshes with that?

 

Actually I think it works pretty well for melee units. It's very unlikely you get the 9" charge off anyway, so you stay a round inside and be protected by T8 Sv3+ and then you disembark 3", move 6" and then do your charge (~16" threat range) or the enemy either pulls all his stuff away so nothing is within 16" of the drill ... which means you just claimed about 32" diameter zone for yourself without doing anything lol

 

The only problem with that viewpoint is that you are certainly in range of your vehicle being mobbed and killed with no room to disembark 10-12 models by weight of numbers.

I'm personally very iffy about the 9" range restriction on DS TBH, it makes no sense to me to allow a unit -designed- to do a thing have less than a 50/50 chance to actually either do it for a payoff, or fail and die horribly. 

[Slothysaur]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be aware that the rules as written don't allow you to disembark your units from the Drill until the turn after it deepstrikes.

Indeed, so close-combat squads may not be ideal. Perhaps Sternguard or some other fire support? Tacticals? TBH if you dont use it's special rules you might as well take a Drop Pod instead. So what best meshes with that?

Actually I think it works pretty well for melee units. It's very unlikely you get the 9" charge off anyway, so you stay a round inside and be protected by T8 Sv3+ and then you disembark 3", move 6" and then do your charge (~16" threat range) or the enemy either pulls all his stuff away so nothing is within 16" of the drill ... which means you just claimed about 32" diameter zone for yourself without doing anything lol

The only problem with that viewpoint is that you are certainly in range of your vehicle being mobbed and killed with no room to disembark 10-12 models by weight of numbers.

I'm personally very iffy about the 9" range restriction on DS TBH, it makes no sense to me to allow a unit -designed- to do a thing have less than a 50/50 chance to actually either do it for a payoff, or fail and die horribly.

If that ends up being a serious problem swapping out the storm bolters for heavy flamers is always an option. It's meta dependent, but at least in my area, anything that's going to exceed 10 man squad size is not going to like getting hit by heavy flamers.

[Panzer]

 

 

 

Be aware that the rules as written don't allow you to disembark your units from the Drill until the turn after it deepstrikes.

 

 

Indeed, so close-combat squads may not be ideal. Perhaps Sternguard or some other fire support? Tacticals? TBH if you dont use it's special rules you might as well take a Drop Pod instead. So what best meshes with that?

 

Actually I think it works pretty well for melee units. It's very unlikely you get the 9" charge off anyway, so you stay a round inside and be protected by T8 Sv3+ and then you disembark 3", move 6" and then do your charge (~16" threat range) or the enemy either pulls all his stuff away so nothing is within 16" of the drill ... which means you just claimed about 32" diameter zone for yourself without doing anything lol

The only problem with that viewpoint is that you are certainly in range of your vehicle being mobbed and killed with no room to disembark 10-12 models by weight of numbers.

I'm personally very iffy about the 9" range restriction on DS TBH, it makes no sense to me to allow a unit -designed- to do a thing have less than a 50/50 chance to actually either do it for a payoff, or fail and die horribly.

Very valid point, but I think the Heavy Flamers like Slothysaur said would help quite a lot here.

[Pendent]

Just won a 5+ hour long game against Death Guard. It was fun and relatively close but far, far too long. Death Guard are just stupidly hard to chew through sometimes.

[Deathwalker]

@ SF and Slothy, all they have to do is get 8.1 inches away and then charge, then your flamers won't do squat as they start out of range when the charge is declared so no shooting of them, but they alter the charge roll required in their favour. It also means you are changing the entire purpose of your DS unit to be reactive, rather than pro-active.

[Panzer]

@ SF and Slothy, all they have to do is get 8.1 inches away and then charge, then your flamers won't do squat as they start out of range when the charge is declared so no shooting of them, but they alter the charge roll required in their favour. It also means you are changing the entire purpose of your DS unit to be reactive, rather than pro-active.

That's okay, a 8“ charge is far less likely to succeed than a 7“ or less charge. ^^

[Karhedron]

 

@ SF and Slothy, all they have to do is get 8.1 inches away and then charge, then your flamers won't do squat as they start out of range when the charge is declared so no shooting of them, but they alter the charge roll required in their favour. It also means you are changing the entire purpose of your DS unit to be reactive, rather than pro-active.

That's okay, a 8“ charge is far less likely to succeed than a 7“ or less charge. ^^

 

Yup, odds of making an 8" charge are only 42% (assuming no rerolls or modifiers).