VS Tau

[Red-beard]

Thanks. My opponent was swearing that he could. Where is it written that you can't go into ongoing reserves the turn you arrive? Is it in the Tau rules or the BRB (I couldn't find it in the BRB)?

[Morticon]

Thanks. My opponent was swearing that he could. Where is it written that you can't go into ongoing reserves the turn you arrive? Is it in the Tau rules or the BRB (I couldn't find it in the BRB)?

 

BRB under zooming flyers, if im not mistaken.

[Red-beard]

They are fast skimmers, not zooming flyers. 

[BadDice0809]

He knows. But in the main rulebook the situation in covered under zooming fliers, since before this formation, they were the only vehicle that could feasibly enter and leave the board in one turn. The ruling was probably designed to allow your opponent to get at least one turn of shooting before it left the field... or maybe avoid an untouchable bomber situation. ... for the same reason they disallow fliers from doing it don't let that stupid formation do it. Christ its not like Tau need the help.

[Red-beard]

“To represent its limited manoeuvrability, a Zooming Flyer can only make a single pivot on the spot of up to 90° before it moves. Thereafter, it must move directly forwards in a straight line. In a turn in which a Flyer enters the board from Reserve, it can do so facing any direction you wish, providing that the resulting move will not carry it off the board again. ”

 

That's the only reference I saw in the BRB. Maybe I missed one. If the above is the only reference in the BRB, I think applying this flyer rule to the Tau fast skimmer formation is a stretch. I know the local tournaments in my area aren't interpretting the rule like that. I guess if you're playng against this Tau formation, ask your local TO to rule on it. 

 

For reference, I believe the Tau formation special rule that permits this craziness is "Refuel and Rearm". 

[LutherMax]

Wait, you're saying these things can move on, deploy drones, then move off in their own shooting phase? Making them completely invincible to anything that doesn't have Interceptor..? Sounds highly dubious to me!

[Red-beard]

Yes, it is dubious, but it is RAW. I coudn't believe it either. The formation allows them to go into ongoing reserves automatically if they are within 6" of a board edge (it doesn't require a move action to do so). So they can arrive, disembark drones, and then use the formation ability to go back into ongoing reserves without making an addtional move. When they are in reserves, the formation replenishes their drones and any dead vehicles from the squadron. 

 

I'm hoping the ITC reigns it in with an FAQ.

[LutherMax]

Yes, it is dubious, but it is RAW. I coudn't believe it either. The formation allows them to go into ongoing reserves automatically if they are within 6" of a board edge (it doesn't require a move action to do so). So they can arrive, disembark drones, and then use the formation ability to go back into ongoing reserves without making an addtional move. When they are in reserves, the formation replenishes their drones and any dead vehicles from the squadron.

 

I'm hoping the ITC reigns it in with an FAQ.

There's RAW and there's exploitation of RAW.

 

There are SM Formations that allow a unit to avoid a turn of shooting by being able to assault on the turn of arrival, but that's just one turn, and they are suitably expensive. To be able to avoid it every turn seems a bit much to me... How much do these things cost?!

[Red-beard]

Piranhas are the cost of a power fist and a power sword combined. They each come stock with two drones. If you were to buy the drones separately elsewhere in the codex, they usually run the cost of a tac marine per drone. The list I played against in the tourney had 10 piranhas (20 drones). So my opponent was creating 20 drones per turn (the points equivalent of 20 tac marines). What makes it worse is that there is no dice rolling involved. So unlike daemon summoning where a person can perils or fail their psychic check, this Tau formation has no chance of failure for creating drones; it's automatic. The only disadvantage is that the drones all arrive within 12" of his board edge (6" piranha move + 6" disembark) and only have 18" shooting range. The drones are also non-scoring and do not give up kill points. 

 

Yes, it's broke; there is no question. But that's how people are playing it because it's RAW. When I played against it, I was able to win only because I kept my units away from his board edge and played to the objectives with my fast OS units. Our game went 5 turns. When the game ended, after subtracting what I killed from his army, my opponent had roughly 2400 points of models still on the table (he started with 1850).

 

Personally, I'm hoping for an ITC FAQ ruling. 

[Pendent]

It absolutely boggles my mind that someone at GW thought that formation would make for good gameplay for either player.