Exceptionally hard to kill Tau Commander

[L30n1d4s]

I have been going over all the rules from the new Tau Codex and there are so many possibilities that it is hard to take them all in (which is a good thing, I think, since these options are well-integrated with the theme/fluff, instead of being “all over the place”).

 

 

One area that has surprised me is the many ways that the new Codex has provided durability buffs to the army, even while dropping the largely broken Savior Protocols from the old 8th edition Codex. In particular, they have really provided multiple ways to make Tau Commanders, if you want to, into VERY tough characters who can absorb tons of damage all by themselves.

 

 

For example, consider the following Tau Commander build:

 

 

<Bor’kan Sept> -- (+4” range to shooting weapons and vehicles/battlesuits cause ranged attacks of S7 or less to have -1S when shooting against them)

 

 

-Enforcer Battlesuit (comes with built-in +1W, 2+ save, and -1 Dmg rule)

 

*Equipment: Shield Generator, Fusion Blaster, 2 x Cyclic Ion Blaster, 2 x Shield Drones

 

**WL Trait: “A Ghost Walks Among Us” (-1 to hit the Warlord and auto-advances 6”)

 

**Relic: Be’gel Hunter Plate (gives +1 Armour Save and a 5+++ FNP)

 

**Prototype System: Alternating Fusion Blaster (reduces FB to 12” range, but makes it always do Dmg D6+2 and also gives you the ability to draw a line between the target you hit and your model; any unit that lines passes over is also hit)

 

 

 

So, what does this all give you? Well, defensively, you have a model with T5 7W and a 1+/4++/5+++ profile that is always -1 to hit and has -1 Dmg for attacks against it (if you put him in Light Cover, then he has a 0+ save, so he would effectively ignore AP-1/-2). Additionally, any attacks of S7 or less are -1S, so S6 weapons are wounding him on 4+s, S5 weapons are wounding him on 5+s, and S3 weapons are wounding him on 6+s. Just to put this into perspective, it would take (378 !!!) BS3+ S4 AP-1 Bolt Rifle shots to kill this Enforcer Commander, with average rolling. If you used BS3+ S8 AP-3 Dmg2 Overcharged Plasma shots, then it would take an average of 63 shots to kill this Enforcer Commander. Finally, you have to chew through his two Shield Drones before you can even begin killing him, so that makes this unit even tougher to get rid of and, of course, he is a character with less than 10W, so you can always protect him from shooting with Look Out, Sir! as well.

 

 

 

The beauty of this, I think, is that he is not just about durability… despite being an Enforcer Battlesuit (which reduces his base movement to 8”), he still has Fly and auto-advances 6”, giving him basically the same mobility as a Custodes Bike Captain (i.e. 14” Move, ignoring intervening models and terrain), since he can use Mont’ka to move and shoot without any penalties turns 1-3 (or, he can just fire his Assault Weapons at -1 to hit, but then use a Markerlight to bring him back up to hitting on 2+s, as per usual). Finally, like all Tau Commanders, he can Deep Strike from Reserves, with no CP cost, thanks to his “Manta Strike” rule, which give you even more mobility options for this Enforcer Suit build.

 

 

 

In terms of damage output, all of his weapons gain +4” range (this includes the “Alternating Fusion Blasters” Prototype System, bringing its beam range back up to 16”) and he can use the Bor’kan unique Strat to make a single weapon ignore Invuls (very powerful with that 16” range Alternating Fusion Blaster, since it is base AP-4 and all units hit by it will get little to no saving throws of any type against it). He also has another 6 x S8 AP-2 Dmg2 shots (which he can easily get up to AP-4, via Mont’ka and a 1 CP Stratagem), enabling him to deal with elite infantry and medium vehicles alike.

Edited February 13, 2022 by L30n1d4s

[Galron]

I like it. Ridiculously expensive though and being that close, he is going to eat smites so will require body guards and/or drones. 190 points for a guy that just wont die. I would drop 10 points and take a plasma instead of one of the CIBs and make him slightly cheaper and take the nova surge plasma gun instead of the souped up fusion for another 5 points of savings. you lose the constant +2 damage but you have two weapons that using the Bork Bork strat can ignore invuls and  you save another 5 points. 

[Malakithe]

As a fan of Bork Bork I really like this. Been a toss up between the Enforcer and Crisis. I like the Crisis Commanders ability to give fall back and shoot but at the same time a super durable Enforcer could be really good

[Guest Triszin]

I like ghost walks among us and the solid image projections on a coldstar (ghost star).

 

But that bagel hunter is great for foot slogging.