Time to grab another beer and read-up the new Tau codex. I've been gone for a few days so I apologize for not updating the blog. We now get to the newest in a line of $50 codexes. GW has apparently decided to release a codex every 15 seconds for 6th edition without proofreading or playtesting to see what the author has done so it's up to us players to run the gamut, question the decision making and generally tear apart every new 'Dex. Here goes!
Bonding Knife Ritual
This would be nice if you had Stubborn as well but what this really does is allow your 1 man unit to continue to annoy the enemy. Fine for the Tau player but it's annoying and slows the game down when a single Kroot makes it to the board edge then laughs and charges back into battle turn 4. This just makes it harder for your opponent to get kill points off your unit if they don't totally destroy it (which they might if they get into CC). So in the end, good rule but you'll find your opponents more annoyed with you afterwards so don't expect to win.
The counter to this is pretty easy though: kill everyone to death. Seriously, it's not much worth it unless your have an opponent who constantly switches targets haha.
So in the end you can expect a bit of kill point denial when you have some jet pack unit get out of range running away before regrouping but other than that this is a rule you probably won't spend extra on unless you have some points lying around.
Supporting Fire
Very nice rule. Let's you stop assaults in their tracks if you have a few units in range. With some other combos you can get 3 pulse shots for each firewarrior if you have an Ethereal in range. This is a pretty tactical rule that requires a lot of proper layout. The problem you'll still have is that Overwatch is BS 1 so getting a ton of shots off won't be game-breaking or insanely good. It's also hard to get flamers in the mix due to short range so don't expect supporting fire to wipe an errant charging unit.
Warlord Traits
(They finally let you re-roll if the power is useless!)
Precision of the Skilled Hunter
All of these traits are gonna be a mouthful aren't they? -_- Regardless this trait is pretty nice when you get in close and are able to snipe out HQs from meat shield squads and leave behind some useless bolters or lasguns. The problem is you still have to roll 6 for it (or 5 with equipment) so it only comes up every now and then. It's like the Dark Angels trait that gives you D3 points when your Warlord kills the enemy Warlord. It's a rare situation that you want but may you end up miss-aligning your army trying to get it.
Through Unity, Devastation
All friendly units within 12'' get Preferred Enemy once. It's a good trait, no doubt. There are several units who get this for free in other codexes (Vect & Drazhar, Wolf Standard, etc.) but it's not a bad option to have for your army. This could help you take down a flyer or some larger blob with the re-rolls. Definitely nice with the Ethereal Elemental power that gives a bonus shot to all pulses. Could wipe several units with this.
A Ghost Who Walks Among Us
This power lasts for the whole game which is awesome. You're averaging 10.5'' on each of your jumps. This is especially great with a big-ass Crisis suit unit (with Farsight even better). You can deep-strike into the back-line, fire everything! (a la Nero in Star Trek), and then jump into cover. Very nice. Sucks if you don't have a jet pack Warlord.
Exemplar of the Selfless Cause
Semi-useful? If a unit of firewarriors has decided to go to ground you can pop this immediately and they can blow away whatever unit just punched him into leaving. The problem is I've never really had more than 2 units of troops gone to ground at a time. Being able to recover your cowardly yet expensive unit before it runs away crying is extremely useful though.
Predator of the Skies
Neato power! But only if your Warlord is in a unit. This power will be awesome with allies, place your IC in a unit with say Multi-meltas and use split-fire to blow two stupid planes out of the sky. Still, great power even if you're using the poor nerfed Broadsides as the anti-air but sucks if you have an Ethereal Warlord (why, in the hell, do you have an Ethereal Warlord?)
Also, obviously, this trait is useless without enemy fliers. What can ya do?
Through Boldness, Victory
This trait is 1 part stupid 1 part brave. Your Warlord doesn't scatter, nice, but how are you going to utilize that to your advantage? 2 words: Kamikaze Flamers. Honestly I love this power just because of the idea of putting down a huge bodyguard unit behind a blob and just unloading twin-linked flamers all day. I'd love even more to get missile pods and land behind some artillery like Griffons and blow up 2 wagons in one drop. This power is really nice but only if you're Deep Striking. Don't feel forced to Deep Strike even if your Warlord can though. There is a possibility of escape however, let's hope you roll lucky on 2D6.
Drones
Why do they have their own section before the army? Is GW trying to tell us something? Subtly implying that the drones truly lead over all and that the entire society is run by sentient machines without the knowledge of the masses? Probably not, just GW's usual weird layouts. The drones all have poor stats and good equipment. The drone rules themselves are convenient and make sense which is really cool. I'm confused why it says drones do not have the Bulky rule though, does it say that elsewhere? They also have their own unit entry in fast attack. It is a sweet deal, a slightly more expensive meat shield that has pretty good guns. I'd probably go with the flyer instead.
The drones are nice, you're going to want some but not a lot. It's a little bit expensive to blow MEQ points on bad units that are just there to die. Gun drones do, on average, .12 wounds versus marines, which means if you take 4 you'll probably get an extra MEQ or two per turn but burning 48 points is a hard sell when the nearly the same amount will get you an extra Crisis suit with a twin-linked Burst Cannon (49 points). In the end, I think you'll find something else to spend your points on other than a few markerlights and a few shield drones.
So that wraps up part 0. I'll be breezing through the rest of this codex as not a lot has changed honestly. Coffee will help.
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