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| What Tau article would be complete without this pic? |
Ok so let's jump right in shall we? What better units to start with than the brave and fearless commanders and ethereals that lead the Tau to victory?!
Commander: First up we have the basic tau commander, I'm convinced at least a commander + bodyguard is the minimum amount of crisis suits any tau army should have! Even if you prefer to just put him in a regular crisis suit squad, which actually gives you an extra suit over taking a bodyguard just at the cost of the regular suits not being able to take signature systems. The commander is a good buy for his cost, just be careful of tacking on too much expensive wargear, although I do strongly recommend taking the Iridium armor on him as it now gives 2+ armor as well as +1 toughness to raise up that instant death thresh hold to S10! This works particularly good if he has a bodyguard since you can stick him out front to eat up all the S8 ap3 missiles and the bodyguards always allow him to pass look out sir rolls for when he you start failing to many 2+ saves. Another very good piece of equipment for one of his FOUR weapon/system slots is the drone controller, if you're going to take gun drones that is,4-12 BS5 twin linked S5 pinning shots is not too shabby(possibly more if you're going to be running farsight like I am). Other than those just arm him to compliment your army, him and his boys are pretty reliable at most tasks they set their mind(or guns) too.
Ethereal:I do believe they got much better from the previous codex, but I still find them ....MEH. Don't get me wrong they are a decent buy for their points and can be potent in game. They have 2 12" bubbles, one grants LD 10 for most Ld based tests, the other bubble grants any of the following chosen abilities at the start of each movement phase: Stubborn, +1 shot to all pulse weapons when firing at half range, 6+ feel no pain, and allow models to run AND still get to snap fire. Now most of these are pretty good as there are no restrictions such as Ld test or must choose a different one each round, Stubborn has its uses, but its nothing you look for on purpose in most Tau armies. All these bonuses also come with a risk, when the ethereal is slain he automatically grants +1 victory point to the enemy(so +2 if he's your warlord!!!)... I don't know about you but since the release of 6th Ed. Ive won/lost a handful of games on a single VP, and all that stands between the opponent and that extra point are 2 measly T3 wounds with no built in saves ( and of course any unit he's in but really what tau unit is resilient enough to survive a determined opponent?), so overall he's decent if you run a lot of Fire warriors and that +1 shot at short range would really be maximised, but otherwise I'll stick to other Hq's
Commander Shadowsun: Not a lot to say, kind of straight forward, she's a stealth suit commander and has 2 fusion blasters that can split fire if she wishes, she gets 3++ shield drones except she's only T3 so a strong wind can instant kill her once she starts taking saves, although if shes in a stealth suit unit she can auto-pass look our sir rolls if there is anyone left to pass it to... As long as she's not your warlord she makes a decent kamikaze.
Commander Farsight: I think he will be a very popular HQ, I myself will be running him with a full 7 suit bodyguard + and extra commander just to make sure the unit it over the top! He/unit doesn't scatter when deep striking, he's good in close combat if necessary, but at the cost of only having a single plasma rifle for shooting.
Aun'va/ Aun'shi: Basically beefed up ethereal's personally aun'va is the only decent one in my opinion as Aun'shi is meant for close combat... He's got a few tricks up his sleeves but will not fare very well in a challenge against most! Aun'va has a cool ability that allows him(and his unit) to make a special save versus every shooting attack that hits, having to roll equal to or above the ap of the firing weapon, which means dont fire your good stuff at him, it wont work!!! anything lower than Ap 4 and the unit effectively has a 3++ or 2++ and AP1 always fails, and ap- never gets a roll!!
In general the Tau HQ section has a wide variety of uses(some less useful than other..looks at Aun'shi) and I will leave you with a glimpse of my unfinished Tau paint scheme.
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| You Shall Not Pass!!! |
