Thursday 21 June 2012

Unit Analysis: Sniper Drone Team

The sniper drone team.  One spotter, three drones.  3 of them for one heavy support slot.  This is, in my opinion, an underused unit because it is faced with one crippling problem: it competes with broadsides and hammerheads for heavy support slots, and you NEED those slots for railguns. Their qualifications, however, include a stealth field generator, rail rifles, a networked markerlight and targeting arrays on everything.  A 36" range weapon paired with the SFG means that only 1/36 times will the enemy be able to shoot them if you position them well.  Really, they are only good for anti-meq and (in a pinch) anti-AV10.  They are, however, a good harassment unit, with a chance to pin.



Without further ado, the pros and cons.

Pros:
-Great range
-Markerlight
-Pinning
-Stealth Field Generator
-3 units to a FOC
-Small footprint
-AP3

Cons:
-Fairly expensive
-Competes with broadsides and Hammerheads
-Delicate
-Only one type of unit in the game they can put any hurt on (Meq)
-If the spotter dies, they ALL die
-Can't move and shoot

Generally, I'd only take them in a stealth themed list or as a fun harassment unit.

UPDATE: Now that the 6ed stealth field generator rules are in place, these are an extremely good unit.  The ability to have the entire unit get a 2+ cover save without going to ground or anything is amazing, as well as the fact that you can have the BS4 spotter fire quad guns or what have you.  Also, they can now pose a decent threat vehicles, what with the new hull points system, and they are better at killing marines due to cover saves now being (normally) 5+.  But the best part? They don't have to compete with the other heavy support options as much now, as the Force Organization Chart doubles at 2000pts, and even below that the demand for broadsides has decreased, now that missiles pods and plasma have a fair chance of wrecking vehicles.

Friday 15 June 2012

Unit Analysis: Tau Manta


This thing is a BEAST.  The first problem with fielding one, before we even get to it's rules, is that the kit costs 1500$ and is almost a meter across.



Anyways, this thing has always been beautiful, but now, as of the second edition of Imperial Armour Apocalypse, it is so much better.  It's heavy railguns are no longer twin-linked...twice as much destruction upfront.  It's long barreled ion cannons rest the same, being three in number and twin-linked.  This update tells us that the sixteen long barreled burst cannons just got a whole lot better, having twice as many shots, higher strength and lower AP.  The missile pod now also fires blasts. The total transport capacity was also upgraded to 200, which is good...I guess...

That's it for how it's changed recently, let's REALLY look at it now.

It has AV13, 4++, ten structure points and a monstrous transport capacity, including infantry, tanks, battlesuits and beasts (hounds).  It can fire two Str D AP1 shots a turn.  That means that any vehicles caught in the blast are automatically penetrated and and +2 to their damage table roles for it being ap1 ordinance primary weapon and destroyer.  That means that normal vehicles are destroyed with ease and superheavies are picked apart with relatively high chance of success! Take that, landraider!  Due to being destroyer, any troops it hits are dead, with only inv. saves being valid, and it causing ID (not that you should fire solid shots at infantry, ever).

Alternatively, you can fire a 10" S7 AP3 blast, truly terrifying for troops and hordes.  Or, both, since you can have two railguns!  But really, a 10" blast that can only scatter 2" maximum is god damn terrifying. Two's even worse.  At bs5 (with the manta's networked markerlight...yeah, it does that too) scattering a max of 1"...you simply won't miss. Anyways you know what's great? One-shotting a Baneblade.  Really.  Having the +2 means that on a 4+ it suffers a chain reaction, pretty much any result forces permanent damage (none of this "gun crew shaken" crap). And being able to fire twice at BS5 due to your markerlight, you almost cannot miss.  So you can kill two baneblades in a turn. And then fire 16x6 LB burstcannon shots, 9 TL Ion Cannon Shots, 2 missile pod blast shots, 1 networked markerlight shots and, with markerlight support, ten seeker missiles.  Something to note, the burst cannons are drones controlled which, I am assuming since it is not clarified, means BS2. Oh well, it also has a blacksun filter.

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Unit Analysis: Vespid Stingwings

Vespid stingwings...I dislike them nearly as much as Aun'va.  True, they are fast and have low AP guns, but I personally cannot see the benefits outweighing the liabilities.  They have mediocre BS, WS, S and Sv, the same as guardsmen for those categories, and terrible Ld (6 on a standard vespid, albeit not that bad considering Ld9 on a strain leader).  They are also outrageously expensive.



Pros:
-Their Shots wound marines on 3+, with no armour save (except termies/artificer armour)
-They're very fast (jump infantry, fleet, re-roll failed dangerous terrain tests)
-They have a respectable T4
-Leadership 9 with a strain leader, and while he's alive they can benefit from markerlights.
-High initiative, striking before marines.

Cons:
-Paper-thin 5+ armour
-Don't fare well in assault (despite being designed for it...we'll touch on this in a minute)
-Their guns are only assault 1 and will likely only get to shoot once.
- Ballistic skill 3 largely wastes that one shot
-Monstrously expensive, costing  70pts for four of them
-Usefulness only decreases further when their target is in cover
-Weapon skill 3 makes them vulnerable in assault.
-If wound allocation kills the strain leader, you can no longer benefit from markerlight hits and only have Leadership 6

Now, vespid seem to be designed to target a marine squad with their neutron blasters then follow up with an assault, but there are several problems with this.

-Their guns, even with a full squad of vespid, will average 4.5 marine kills. 2.25 if they're in cover (they will be)

-For them to be able to assault after, they have to be 6"> away from the target, and even with their 12" movement, means they started the turn 18" away.  That means the marines would have been shooting at them the turn before.  Assuming a Flamer/ML loadout, that's 8 bolter shots and a frag missile, about 8 hits, about 4 dead vespid.  Even fewer dead marines.

-If they were 24" away and zoomed in to 12", they would still have had a round of shooting from 24" from the marines, and would end their turn without being able to assault, but with rapid fire and flamer range.  Or, the marines could fire pistols and charge.

-A full unit of 11 vespid charging marines is 22 attacks (assuming none died) 11 hits, 3.6 wounds, one dead marines. A unit of 8 marines and a PF sergeant (because one died) gets 9 attacks, 6 hits, 2.5 dead vespid (accounting for two attacks being PF, of course).

-Vespid can't fleet and shoot in the same turn.

-If the marines assault, you kill half a marine, and they kill 5 vespid (account for .5 marines being dead).  Without them shooting.
And, most importantly

-Since the marines WILL be in cover, they will get a 4+ save, and you will strike second (if you assault).

Now, in literally ideal circumstances:

Marines are out of cover and you have markerlight support. 11 shots at BS5

Shots x To hit chance x To wound chance x To penetrate armour chance

11 x5/6 x4/6 x6/6 = 6 marines dead, assault means one more marine dead, the three remaining marines only kill 1.5 vespid (accounting for PF sarge) Then you lose combat by one, stick around anyways and eventually wear the unit down.  You will lose a lot of vespid over a very protracted, but under ideal circumstances with and ideal target who is poorly positioned didn't shoot at you and with outside help from markerlights, vespid can kill a unit and make back most of their points, but not any other unit in the game.

By the way, full unit costs 182, more than a transport-less tac squad (usually)

I'd leave them at home...always.

Sunday 10 June 2012

Character Analysis: R'alai

Commander R'alai.  The most beautiful HQ we tau have.  The most shooty HQ from ANY faction.  He used to be kind of meh, but since the update, he is golden.



First off, he is the only XV9 commander we can get, which is reason enough to take him.

His stats are also amazing.  Basically a Shas'O, but with T5 and I4.  So already, lascannons, missiles and Meltas cannot ID him, and he get to smack stuff better in CC.  Also, he only costs 190 points.  yeah.

His equipment is:
-XV9 armour
Always nice to have, assault move after deepstrike is sick, defensive grenades are helpful.

-Experimental pulse submunitions rifle
We'll touch on this in a second.

-Vectored retro thrusters
Can be exploited.  Hide from shooting.

-Blacksun filter
Not a big deal, but helpful.

-Drone controller+2 markerlight drones with built in blacksun filters.
Whoa! Where did this come from? Suddenly he is a markerlight unit with ablative wounds too?

-Eclipse shield generator
4+ Invuln save, 3+ from 12"+ away.  Basically the opposite of r'myr's shield which encourages you to get close.

Stubborn.

Now his gun. The standard shot is an assault 2 blast with the stats of a bolter and the bonus of ignoring cover.  What makes this so good? The special ammunition.  He has three more ways to fire it.  One is assault 2 counts-as emp grenades, amazing vs. AV14 as it is almost as effective as a railgun.  Almost. Another is an assault two lascannon, albeit with the AP slightly poorer, so it is anti-MEQ, not anti-TEQ. The final way is similar to the first one, but it is AP4, large blast, rending.  All the firing modes except the first one are Gets Hot!

SO you can see he's amazing, right?

Ways I to use him: Give him two XV9 bodyguard.  Get some markerlight support (wait he already has that!). Shoot the ever loving hell out of a unit, being careful not to completely destroy it.  Then, provided it's not like THSS termies or anything, assault it.  You now have a place to safely hide, then you can hit-and-run out of combat after his turn, leaving his unit open for shooting. 

Not to your tastes? Yeah I'm not a fan of it either, I do it for the sake of it, because it is one of the only times tau can viably assault.  Normally, throw him with some fusion cascade bodyguards and go tank hunting.  Melta dakka+emp shots+assault 2 lascannon=vehicle hurt.  Also, monstrous creature hate not getting armour saves and being wounded on a 2+.  ID Space Marine characters, massacre hordes in cover, rend some terminators to death...unlimited potential.

Take him if at all possible, ever.

Character Analysis: R'ymyr

To start off, R'ymyr is a forgeworld unit, and you should always inform your opponent of his use before the start of a game.

Anyways, he has the same stats as a standard Shas'O, and costs 160 (with his equipment included, however).

He has fairly unique equipment, so we'll start there.

-Double barreled plasma rifle
An assault 2 version of the plasma rifle, decidedly useful, otherwise identical to the standard version.

-Shield Generator
Same as the standard one, with the exception of it granting him a 3++ in close combat.

-Flechette Discharger
Not something you usually see on a battlesuit, absolutely rapes hordes.

-Ejector System
Same as standard, useful for kill-points denial or boosting the Ld of a firewarrior squad once he escapes.

-Hard wired drone controller
Not sure why they force you to take drones, but I would probably do it anyways so it's no big deal.

-Hard Wired Target Lock
It's free? Cool.

Now, on to special rules.  He and his unit (drones and bodyguards) are fearless against Imperial Forces (so basically they're fearless because 8 out of 14 armies are Imperial, and this includes all the most common ones). 

His bodyguard can consist of commander suit variants including XV-81 (+20 points for a Smart missile system, occupies one hardpoint) XV-84 (+15 points includes a markerlight and a target lock, has three open hardpoints) and XV-89 (+25 points iridium armour suit, without iridium being special issue).  Really, I can only see the XV-81 having a place within the bodyguard, as the dakka is good, a pair of bodyguard with it and missile pods get 6 shots each per turn, killing hordes on 2+.  The problem with the others is that XV-89 is more expensive than iridium armour, and that XV-84 markerlights aren't networked.

Anyways, assuming his equipment costs the same as the non-boosted versions in the codex, you are paying a 15 point premium for having his plasma rifle upgraded, his shield generator upgraded and his special bodyguard/fearless rule.

One problem I have with him is that he doesn't quite seem to know his role, having an upgraded shooting weapon that's meant to kill MEQ/TEQ, and yet he seems to be kitted for CC, against hordes.  His I3 also limits his CC against MEQs, especially paired with no power weapon.

I think that R'ymyr abilities are meant to keep him alive until he gets into CC with a horde, with some shooting to boot.  I think what needs to happen is he targets a powerblob.  2 XV-81 w/ BC and MT bodyguard.  A unit of 8 Pathfinders shoots the blob (presumably in cover) scoring four markerlight hits. now you ignore their cover and have BS4 bodyguard.  The three suits open fire, bodyguards kill 7.66, R'ymr kills 1.38.  40 Guardsmen, down to 31.  Then, you charge.  15.5 Flechette discharger wounds, 10.23 guardsmen dead.  Then the six drones make their attacks (they should all have drones) meaning twelve attacks, six wounds, four dead.  The four sergeants and the commissar (there's always a commissar...) get a total of twelve attacks, 6.5 of which hits (the commissar is WS4), 2.15 wounds, one shield drone dead.  Then you have 16 regular guard attacks, 8 of which hit, 2.64 wounds, almost one dead shield drone.  Then R'ymyr and his bodyguards attack, commander has 5 attacks, 3.3 hits, 1.8 dead.  Bodyguards get 6 attacks, 3 of which hit, 2.5 wounds, 1.65 dead.

Guard lose combat by 21-22, have a 97% chance to flee, 66% to be swept (majority I4 from drones) and can't regroup even if they escape and bam, 400 points of guard infantry, for the cost of a shield drone, in one turn.

A very good choice all things considered, though that was optimal circumstances right there.

Friday 8 June 2012

The mines of Kel'tyr [Fan Fiction] (originally posted by me over at ATT)

C&C very much welcome, I am looking to improve my skills as an author as much as I can!

“Prepare to fire on my word! We hold them here, for the Greater Good!”
Shas’ui’Sa’cea’Cal’Doran’s words went largely unheard amongst the deafening pounding on the shrine doors, the horrific shriek of metal being torn apart under monstrous forces.

The survivors of fire warrior teams Vre’Var and B’Kak, arrayed in a neat firing line behind Cal’Doran, flinched with each reverberating clang. Fingers tensed on triggers in uneasy anticipation.

As Cal’Doran checked his ammo gage for the third time, a particularly vicious blow tore off one of the massive vault door’s hinges, leaving it askew. Natural light broke into the shrine, along with the foul stench of the be’gel’mont’he.

For the first time, doubt entered his mind. How could eleven fire warriors hold the eastern approach? He regained his composure quickly, the iron discipline of the Sa’cean fire caste more than adequate to sweep these thoughts aside.

Finally, the massive door fell in with a groan of protesting metal. The greenskin brutes swarmed in, trampling those too slow to keep up, not even taking time to remove their ram from where it was unceremoniously dropped.

“Deploy photon grenades on my mark!” called Cal’Doran, waiting for the longest handful of heartbeats in his entire life.
“Mark! Deploy grenades and dim visors!” His shout was met with the whoosh of grenades being launched from carbines, followed shortly after by the fizz-crack of their detonations.

“Shas’la of Vre’Var and B’kak, fire at will, for the Tau’va!” yelled Cal’Doran, opening up with his pulse carbine on full auto. The front rank of orks was decimated, washed away in a sea of electric blue plasma pulse, the smell of charred flesh, muscle and fat offensive in it’s potency.

But it would not last. As potent as the tau’s weaponry was, the orks were tougher, and more numerous. As the fire warriors clips ran dry, one by one, the powerful barrage slowly became something more piecemeal, struggling to fit the fresh cartridges in quick enough to revive the volley.

By the time the firing line was ready again, it was too late. The greenskins were barely a dozen paces away, and even fully automatic pulse fire wasn’t going to save them.

“Five of you fall back and lay down suppressing fire, we’ll cover you for now!” barked Cal’Doran. He leapt out of the way of the nearest orks’ cleaver, calmly side-stepping and drawing his pistol in one fluid motion, ending the wretched creature.

“No”, called a calm, powerful voice behind him “we will hold them here. There is no alternative”. And with that Aun’shi, seemingly materializing from nowhere, stepped up to the line and thrust his blade forward, impaling the nearest greenskin through the throat, leaving it’s head clinging to it’s body by little more than limp flesh.

“I thought you were leading the defence of the western entry, is it not so, your ethereal majesty?” queried Cal’Doran, frantically ducking a blow that would have bisected him quite handily.

“The greenskin menace was repelled and extinguished on that front, respected shas” replied Aun’shi, as he twirled his blade faster than the eye could follow, removing the legs of the greenskin the dared attack him.

“This is good at least. What reinforcements of my caste do you bring from that gate?” Cal’Doran asked breathlessly, noticing the rapidly dwindling number of warriors under his command, and slipping his last pulse cartridge into his pistol.

A sudden melancholy seemed to pass over Aun’shi as he replied “I am the lone survivor, I held the penultimate assault without support”. As he spoke these words, a massive greenskin, easily identifiable as the leader of this assault, reach the tau lines. A single massive sweep of it’s club claimed the lives of two fire warriors, pulping the skull of the first and pulverising the entire torso of the second.

Aun’shi advanced towards the beast, cutting down the three greenskins who stood in his way. As he reached the great beast, the other orks seemed to lose interest in him, perhaps realizing that to interfere with the personal combat would draw the wrath of their leader.

The warboss grinned and threw his club at the ethereal, who narrowly avoid it, ducking only just in time. When he regained his stance, the charging warboss filled his vision, intending to gore him on it’s massive tusks. Aun’shi planted his feet, and when the warboss was in striking distance, he thrust the honour blade with all the strength he could muster into the greenskin’s leg.

The beast charged on, barely seeming to notice the twelve inches of steel that penetrated its leg. Aun’shi was forced into a clumsy dive to avoid the charge, drawing his symbols of office in an incongruously calm movement once he’d stood back up.

The ork bellowed in rage at being denied it’s kill and turned around, furiously searching for the ethereal. Finally locating him, it walked ponderously towards him, blade still impaling its leg. The puddles of blood spread across the stone floor from the ongoing battle rippled with each step it took, such was it’s mass.

Stealing the initiative, Aun’shi charged his opponent despite being outweighed twelve to one. Leaping at the last second, Aun’shi landed on the shaft of the honour blade protruding from the monster’s leg and thrust both his hand weapons into the beast’s barrel chest, sliding them in up to the hilt.
The beast, however, was almost indifferent. With a snort that could have been a chuckle, it swatted Aun’shi from his perch, one of the two hand weapons remaining embedded in it’s flesh. Now armed with only the one short blade, he knew he’d have to make his next moves count.

Again taking to the offensive, Aun’shi ran at the creature, rolling between it’s legs as he closed with it. Coming up from his roll, he struck out, blindingly fast, and cut the beast’s left hamstring at it’s midpoint. With a terrible roar of rage, the beast collapsed to a knee. Aun’shi moved around to the front, to look his bested opponent in the eye before executing it.

“I am Shas’Aun’Shi, ethereal of the tau empire, friend to the fire ca-” suddenly he found him self lifted off the ground by the massive hands of this primitive creature. Arms pinned against his side, he could feel the life being crushed from him. He resolved to die an honourable death, not screaming or crying as many gue’la seem inclined to do.

Just as suddenly as it came, the hand retracted. Wondering why the creature chose to spare him, Aun’shi quickly realized that it wasn’t because of some sense of mercy embedded in the creature, but rather because it was distracted. Leaving what remained of his cobbled together squad, Cal’Doran had shot the creature numerous times in the flanks, prompting it to turn as best it could. The bold sergeant was now pressing the attack with his bonding knife drawn, though Aun’shi could tell that close combat was not something the sergeant was practiced in.

The beast reached out with a meaty paw towards the stubborn Shas’ui, but he impaled it’s hand with his bonding knife. Withdrawing its hand, and the bonding knife with it, the creature reached out with its other hand, hauling Cal’Doran into the air. With an air of infinite rage it crushed his right leg to a pulp and tossed him across the chamber, thankfully behind the 4 remaining firewarriors rather than into a mass of orks.

Capitalising on the brave squad leader’s bold attack, Aun’shi ran at the beast and wrenched the honour blade from its leg. Now properly armed, the ethereal swung his blade in a wide arc, leaving the warboss’s good leg in a state of ruination with a strike precisely aimed at what appeared to be the foul be'gel's artery.

Now down on both knees, the beast was eye-level with the ethereal. Aun’shi went about the complete deconstructing of his foe with his characteristic calmness, removing first the monster’s good arm with a flurry of strikes that were powerful enough to cut through even thick orkish musculature, next the removal of its tusks, and finally a piercing slice deep into the chest.

Now thoroughly crippled, the ork let loose a defiant yell, and more than a little spittle, in the ethereal’s direction. “I am Shas’Aun’Shi, ethereal of the Tau Empire, friend to the Fire Caste, and I will be your end”. With that, the ethereal thrust his blade up under the creature’s chin and into it’s brain, instantly extinguishing it’s life.

Finished with his duel, Aun’shi calmly removed his blade from the gargantuan corpse of the one ton be’gel, and rejoined the pair of shas’la who remained alive, protecting the now comatose form of their shas’ui. Blade moving faster should be possible, he calmly removed the arm of the greenskin who dared attempt to bar his way.

The situation, however, was dire. The shas’la were out of ammo and had resorted to bludgeoning the greenskins with their carbines, which was not working out well against fighters so well versed in the art of the brawl. Even worse, every time a be’gel went down, two took it’s place. They couldn’t hold out.

The two shas’la went down in quick succession, as the orks were eager to prove themselves the ‘ardest in battle and fill their late leader’s vacant position. Aun’shi was left alone next to the prone form of the scarred veteran, desperately fending off dozens of blows. He could only hope the other three approaches would hold.

One blow got through his defences and clipped his leg, but he would not cry out. He would bear the pain stoically, for the Greater Good. Instead, his only reaction was to strike out at the offending be’gel, slicing along the length of it’s belly, spilling it’s entrails out across the cold stone floor.

Attempting to sidestep a heavy blow that would otherwise mean his death, he slipped in the blood, now covering his ankles. He fell onto his back, accepting that his death was at hand. The shadow of his killer-to-be loomed large over him, casting a dark shadow across him, massive cleaver held high, ready to strike.

Suddenly, a score of be’gel exploded, including his would-be killer, followed a second later by a deafening whip-crack. Aun’shi seized the opportunity and sprang to his feet, letting his blade swing out and lacerate the nearest enemy he could find in a dozen places.

Hearing two metallic thuds behind to him, Aun’shi turned about to see the unmistakable, towering forms of two crisis suits land next to him. They both inclined their ‘heads’ to him, before opening up with their burst cannons and plasma rifles, sawing through the mass of orks. On the sides of the cavern, stealth suits de-cloaked and started tearing into the horde with their own burst cannons as well as with fusion weaponry.

Another whip-crack sounded and seeing it’s deadly results, Aun’shi noticed broadsides standing in the shrine doorway, and could hear the distinctive hum of hammerhead anti-grav platforms outside. Knowing the battle against the feral orks was as good as over, the warrior ethereal turned towards the prone form of the crippled Shas’ui. Speaking into his comm.-link, Aun’shi called for a medic drone and attempted to staunch the bleeding, fashioning a tourniquet of his outer robe.

“Live, brave Shas’ui, for the Tau’va” implored the battered and wearied ethereal. “Kel’tyr has held”.

***************

“Assembled Shas of Sa’cea, hear me. This day, our most despised enemy, the be’gel, redeploys from their current stronghold to march on the gue’vesa city of Hope’s End. We cannot let this happen. We have an arrangement worked out with the humans, and so they must be protected. We will strike them at the mid-way point between their fortifications and their destination. We bring with us battlesuits of terrible power, tanks as swift as the dawn and discipline forged of iron, but do not underestimate the brutes. They are fierce and they are tough. We deploy in 5 decs, I suggest you prepare yourselves now”

And with that, Shas’El’Sa’cea’Cal’Doran’Lar turned and walked away, mechanical leg clanking slightly on the Gal’leath’s tiled floor.

Note: All tau terminology is authentic
http://forums.tauonline.org/tau/37435-definitive-tau-xenolexicon.html (source for tau terms)

Character Analysis: Aun'va

Where to start? Not taking him seems like a good way to lead off.

Basically, you get two S5 T5 guards with three non-PW attacks each and a 4+ cover save (wait, what?) as well as two wounds, they're also WS4.  However, S6 still causes ID and they're initiative three.  With them you also get the worst unit in all of wh40k.  WS1 BS3 S2 T3(5) W4 I1 A1 Ld10 Sv4+ (cover).  He has no great abilities to speak of, other than the re-rollable 4+ cover save and the T5.  He makes tau units stubborn (why would we want that?) and still causes half your army to run if he dies.  Which he will.  So how much does this crap-tacular unit, with no ranged attacks and shitty CC, cost?  Why, more than Lysander, of course! Yes, you heard me.  205 wasted points.  Let's look at pros and cons.

Pros:
-A cover save that protects better than marine PA (75% chance to work) and can't be removed like an invul. save (Suck it, shieldbreaker!) which is even better when they go to ground (re-rollable 3+ cover save=89% chance of success, if I did my maths rights).
-Bolters wound on 5+

Cons:
-Monstrous points cost
-Does nothing
-Does not fulfil 1+ commander
-Instant death from S6
-No save of any kind against flamers and ignores cover shots (keep away from sternguard and TFC)
-Let him die and watch your army RUN

As you can see, the pros are greatly outweighed by the cons.  I have thought up exactly one situation in which he may be useful: A hardcore version of the regicide principal, in an apoc game.  You see, any tau that is inside a vehicle at the time of his death automatically passes the leadership test, and they benefit form preferred enemy and furious charge.  You can actually beat guard in combat for the rest of the game, which is pretty cool.  Unfortunately, he still costs as much as three barebones broadsides, and does way less.  Even for apoc, I'd leave him at home on the store shelf.

Monday 4 June 2012

Character Analysis: Commander Shadowsun

Commander Shadowsun is an interesting option.  "Pop two tanks a turn, wow!" you may think, but we'll examine it all in detail.  First of all, the stat line.  She is basically a shas'O crossed with a stealthsuit.  Take a commander profile, subtract 1S 1T and 1W and add 1I.  You now have shadowsun stats.  Now, what you DO get is two, non twinlinked BS5 fusion blasters that can fire at different targets, two shield drones, a command link drone, a shield generator and a stealth field generator.  Sounds like a lot right?  So you basically get a heavily upgraded multi-tracker/targetlock combo, a bonding knife, a shield generator, two shield drones, her bonus drone and two fusion blasters.  What you trade is 100 points, 1S (who cares?) 1T (TERRIBLE for ID) 1W (who cares? it's S6+ that's gonna take her down).  Worth it? Let's look at the pros and cons.

PROS:
-She can potentially take down two tanks a turn, or can get an almost-guaranteed kill against one (even AV14).  I put so much stress on potentially because you're probably only getting into 6" melta range of one per turn, and S8 AP1, even at BS5, can only do so much without the melta rule.  It would take an extremely lucky deepstrike to make that happen.
-stealth field generator can keep her alive a turn or two longer than normal.  Also means non-assault units attack after her, which could make a difference in very specific circumstances
-Pretty good for sniping Space Marine non-eternal warriors, as two BS5 AP1 ID shots is always nice.
-Her command-link drone is useful as it boosts morale but only when you choose.  This means that if you want a unit to flee and get swept in the advance, you can, and that if you want them to hold until your opponent's assault phase then die, you can keep them in the fight too.
-Two shield drones

CONS:
-Very expensive.  Comparable in cost to Lysander or Kantor, who are just so much better than she is.
-Can only deal with TEQ and tanks, no anti-infantry/horde capability whatsoever.  
-Can face ID from Plasma, grenade launchers, autocannons, acid spray, brainleech worms, flesh hooks, ripper tentacles, flamestorm etc. that weren't a problem before.


There are two primary ways to employ her:

Firstly, you can deepstrike her (preferably with a PF devilfish with LoS) next to an expensive vehicle and try to get your points back in one turn.  Risky, but awesome when your opponent sees this little white armoured mecha-princess drop from the sky and toast his land raider.

Secondly, use her in a support role rather than a combat role.  Use her huge 18" LD10 bubble to keep an entire gunline on the table.  Would be awesome if it effected kroot.

Is she worth it? Personally, I leave her at home, but she's not so bad that she's unusable per se.