Should drones be modeled on their own stands?

[beefeb]

Pardon my ignorance, I'm a tau noob, having admired them for a long time i only really started getting an army progressed built and painted recently.  My question regarding drones is this....drones attached to vehicles....these can only detach themselves from their vehicle if you use the stratagem, which affects only that specific vehicle, not the whole army.  

 

So i understand that, no problem, but if that's the case, is there any point to modelling the drones separate on their own stands?  

 

I ask, because i keep dropping the darn things off the vehicles when i move them and break their antennas etc.  I was thinking that i can model additional drones on stands separately should I decide to detach them with the stratagem, but otherwise there seems no reason/advantage to being separate.

 

Obviously the ones in units that aren't docked remain on stands, thats straightforward enough for my brain, but in the interests of saving fragile model, do I lose anything rule wise or violate any rules from just gluing them on?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

[Guest Triszin]

Have you tried to magnetize the drone attachment?

 

Otherwise I would just glue the drone to the model.

[beefeb]

Have you tried to magnetize the drone attachment?

 

Otherwise I would just glue the drone to the model.

 

 

thanks....yeah i magnetise lots of my various models....couldnt figure out a way to get the drones on with magnets without massively changing its profile.  Im thinking the vehicles drones may just get glued in place....i have plenty of free standing drones if i need to proxy them out and mobile. 

[Galron]

They also drop off if the vehicle dies after rolling to see if they die like any other transported passenger.

[beefeb]

They also drop off if the vehicle dies after rolling to see if they die like any other transported passenger.

 

I thought docked drones die automatically when their transport dies?

[Focslain]

 

They also drop off if the vehicle dies after rolling to see if they die like any other transported passenger.

 

I thought docked drones die automatically when their transport dies?

 

 

They are as per the Docked Drone rule.

[Galron]

Oh wow, didnt see that change. GW didnt bother putting the entire rule in the unit entry and put it somewhere else. That makes them next to useless then. 

[Focslain]

Oh wow, didnt see that change. GW didnt bother putting the entire rule in the unit entry and put it somewhere else. That makes them next to useless then. 

 

I'll double check the printed version, I know the Docked Drone rule is on all the vehicle datasheet in the app. So it's there. If anywhere it would be just before the drone stat lines at the beginning of the data sheet section.

[Galron]

The docked drone thing is listed along with a blurb about them starting the game already docked and is in each vehicle section that has them. And there is a strat that lets you undock them. Then in a completely different section of the book is another docked rule section where it says they get destroyed. So yeah, pretty dang useless. I have improperly used them once for negligible results and the other time I actually properly spent the point to disengage for behind enemy lines. I just didnt know about the destroyed part which goes against 20 years of how they normally work.

[AenarIT]

I have glued drones to every Tau vehicle I have.
In case I need to detach them during a game, I have some identical drones modeled on their own bases to use in game. 
At a certain point you have more drones than you'll ever need, as they come in almost every kit.

[Dark Legionnare]

The docked drone thing is listed along with a blurb about them starting the game already docked and is in each vehicle section that has them. And there is a strat that lets you undock them. Then in a completely different section of the book is another docked rule section where it says they get destroyed. So yeah, pretty dang useless. I have improperly used them once for negligible results and the other time I actually properly spent the point to disengage for behind enemy lines. I just didnt know about the destroyed part which goes against 20 years of how they normally work.

I've used them in a 1500 tourney to pop off and follow their parent devilfish around like lost puppies, sucked up a Dark lance each time with the stratagem.  CP heavy for the result, but in a small game, seemed worth it, kept the fish alive to keep giving nearby strikes and pathfinders re-rolls against the closest dangerous target.

 

Realistically, if they modified the drone intercept strat to have an addendum "This costs 0 for any drones undocked from a parent vehicle (using the drone disembark strat) that are used to protect that same vehicle they disembarked from."  Would be fluffy, and useful as a 1CP overall investment to have to bodies to protect from a dangerous shot per shooting phase for two shooting phases, rather than 3CP.

 

That'd make too much sense and be too fun though.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Dark Legionnare

[Focslain]

 

Realistically, if they modified the drone intercept strat to have an addendum "This costs 0 for any drones undocked from a parent vehicle (using the drone disembark strat) that are used to protect that same vehicle they disembarked from."  Would be fluffy, and useful as a 1CP overall investment to have to bodies to protect from a dangerous shot per shooting phase for two shooting phases, rather than 3CP.

 

That'd make too much sense and be too fun though.

 

Think that is keep it expensive incase you take gun drones on Hammerheads. That would be a cheap shield against other big guns aiming to take yours out. 

[Dark Legionnare]

 

 

Realistically, if they modified the drone intercept strat to have an addendum "This costs 0 for any drones undocked from a parent vehicle (using the drone disembark strat) that are used to protect that same vehicle they disembarked from."  Would be fluffy, and useful as a 1CP overall investment to have to bodies to protect from a dangerous shot per shooting phase for two shooting phases, rather than 3CP.

 

That'd make too much sense and be too fun though.

 

Think that is keep it expensive incase you take gun drones on Hammerheads. That would be a cheap shield against other big guns aiming to take yours out. 

 

True, but as a trade off vs burst cannons dmg output, a bonus in survivability? And keep in mind, it can only be used once per turn across the entire army. (Same with the drone undocking) So, stopping one shot of one gun, could be clutch against other railheads, Castellans (though those have multiple high dmg shots), proportionally, but I feel it would be fair, especially considering it's fighting for use with anything else that may want to use the intercept strat like Kheels, riptides, etc...

 

Not to mention that the drones are a separate unit, so, like 8th ed drones. AKA, can be picked off with basic guns before laying in with the bigguns'. Part of what makes my 3CP use above even more ludicrously unlikely to normally work out like it did.

 

Just my two cents. :)

Edited March 10, 2022 by Dark Legionnare