Firewarriors vs. Kroot in 6th Edition

So I've finally been able to play a few games in 6th edition with my Tau and like most shooty armies I think they have gotten a slight boost.   Overwatch can help, especially with twinlinked weapons.    One major boost that has actually played into a few games is Tau's easy access to Nightvision for basically everything but Kroot.   This leads me to the subject of this post:

Are Kroot mostly useless now in 6th edition?

Sure, Kroot are pretty much our only answer for Close Combat.   They have a decent WS and amount of attacks, also the hounds have a good Initiative.  But, as opposed to 5th edition, I NEVER want to charge with my Kroot anymore.   Any overwatch wounds will auto kill because Kroot's optional 6+ armour save just isn't worth the points.    With the new edition, I'd much rather have my Kroot sit tight and rapid fire anyone who charges them.  

But, if this is the case now, wouldn't Firewarriors do a much better job?  They have better armour saves, better guns with a longer range, and because blacksun filters are pretty much mandatory now, the firewarrior team leader gets a boost in Ld saves.   They can also benefit from markerlights and if you want, you can give them bonding knifes so they can always regroup.   Not to mention you can give them EMP grenades that are VERY effective against vehicles (though a bit pricey, in my opinion).

I usually ran 10 Kroot with 5 hounds for 100pts in my lists.   For that amount you can get 10 firewarriors and for 13pts more you can get black sun filters for that unit.   It seems now that firewarriors seem to be the better option with 6th edition.

What do you guys think?   Do you find Kroot less useful now that close combat units have been nerfed a bit with Overwatch?   Do you have other uses for Kroot that I haven't addressed?

Turn 8 Podcast: The Aquila Has Landed

Here's the new podcast from Turn 8.   This week we talk about the new 6th edition;  what we like and what we don't like.  Also, we go over the movement rules.

http://turn-8.com/2012/podcast/episode-23-the-aquila-has-landed/

"It’s 6th Edition baby!  Everything old is new again, including podcast episode titles, hooray!  Anyway, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, this is our first episode officially covering 6th edition of Warhammer 40000.  We’ve got a full crew this go ’round with Andy, Mike and Dave joining us to give first impressions on the new rules.  Plus our signature Battle Report this episode covers a lot of new features, including allies!  Not to mention the triumphant return of the Rules of Engagement.  We’re going back to basics with this one and starting simple, with movement.  P.S.  I apologize if it sounds like some of us are standing in a wind tunnel during this episode.  It’s been well over 90 degrees here (33 for you Celsius folks) and the A/C’s are on overdrive.

Plus don’t forget the usual great content including This Random Time Period in 40k …"

• 00:00:00  Episode 23 Intro and Contents
• 00:02:00  The Round-up: What Have We Done Since Last Episode?
• 00:21:12  This Random Time Period In 40k! – Finecast and Chaos rumors, new Forgeworld and Black Library
• 00:34:29  First Impressions: 6th Edition
• 01:23:05  Battle Report Info
• 01:34:39  Battle Report – Tyranids vs. Space Marines with Blood Angel allies
• 01:53:35  Stratagem and Post Battle Discussion
• 02:11:00  Rules of Engagement: Movement
• 02:17:49  Thanks for Listening!

Tau Buffs and Nerfs with the new 6th Edition Rules (and FAQs)

OK, so 6th edition is finally released (as well as the new codex FAQs).  I've done a preliminary "analysis" of the new rules with how it benefits/hinders Tau in mind and here is a list of interesting changes.  Keep in mind I have NOT based this on any played games yet, so this is purely theory from my reading of the rules.   Actual play experience judgments will come with time and playing many games.    If you find any errors in interpretation or just plain disagree with my opinion, please post in the comments below!

Buffs:

1. Black Sun filters grant Nightvision (ignore night fighting) to entire squad even if only one model has it! All Missions potentially have Night Fighting rule (FAQ) so this will be a boost to Tau shooting, especially against Necrons!
2. Rapid fire is now 15 inches for 2 shots and you can move and shoot… but still can’t assault after shooting. (Rulebook)  Rapid Fire weapons will be great in Overwatch because they'll mostly get two shots off per model.
3. Stealth Teams have Stealth and Shrouded USRs now.  Get +3 to their cover, a 4+ cover save in open ground, 2+ cover in most terrain. (FAQ) Stealth suits are still expensive and have crappy weapon selection, but I'm thinking of making a markerlight focused stealth team in the future... we'll see.
4. Skimmers get Jink USR and a 5+ cover when moving.  4+ when moving Flat Out (Rulebook) Same as Disruption pods now, and better if moving flat out.
5. Bonding Knife can always attempt to regroup using unmodified leadership value. (FAQ)
6. Seeker Missiles can fire on Flyers at Ballistic Skill 5 (not BS1 Snap Shot) when fired via markerlight (FAQ) This one is tricky and you basically have to roll 6s for your markelights to hit Flyers now, but this is the only "bonus" Tau get against flyers now
7. Team Leaders and Independent Characters benefit from Precision Shots and Strikes rule that allows them to allocate wounds on To Hit rolls of 6s (Rulebook) Team Leaders may become standard in most Tau armies
8. Railguns (AP1) get +2 to Vehicle Penetration chart now
9. Overwatch benefits all Shooting units in Tau army especially Rapid Fire weapons which will be firing twice when assaulted (Rulebook)
10. Our Weapons are Useless rule can benefit tarpitted units and open up the ability to break and allow friendly units to fire at powerful enemy.  Good for Kroot stuck in combat before players turn?
11. Slow and Purposeful always can move 6” in movement phase but may not run.  Broadsides can move reliably now (Rulebook)
12. Squadrons – Immobilised squadron models no longer count as Destroyed, they just separate from the Squadron.  Good for Piranhas (Rulebook)
13. Warlord Traits – Command and Strategic traits seem most beneficial to Tau, in general.  Personal Traits seem to close combat focused for tau, 5 and 6 are only useful traits. (Rulebook)  Some Traits I find most useful to Tau are:   Command - Inspiring Presence, Target Priority    Personal - Tenacity, Immovable Object   Strategic -  Night Attacker (used with Black Sun Filters), Divide to Conquer, Princeps of Deceit
14. Allies – Space Marines and Eldar are Battle Brothers.  Space Marines could add resilient objective holders (terminators?) or assaulters. (Rulebook)

Neutral Changes:

1. Jump Shoot Jump in Assault phase is now 2d6” (Rulebook)
2. All Tau vehicles except Piranha have 3 hullpoints.  Piranha only has 2 hull points. (Rulebook)

Nerfs:

1. Target Lock does NOTHING for battlesuits.  Broadsides take BIG hit and can no longer split fire. (FAQ)  I'm pretty pissed about this, especially for my Broadsides.  My Crisis Suits always use to have target locks on their Team Leaders too. 
2. Assault Charge is 2d6” now, apparently the average charge is now 7" and 8" for Fleet/Jump Pack units... playing keep away could potentially be harder to do
3. Assaulting Vehicles is versus WS1 of the vehicle if it moved and WS0 if it didn’t... vehicles in general seem weaker in this edition
4. Disruption Pods only give 5+ cover saves now... as if vehicles weren't weakened enough... There is little point to these now with the Jink rule for Skimmers

So what do you guys think?   Did I miss anything?  Am I completely wrong on any of these points?   In general, I'm pretty excited about 6th but I really hope that rumored Tau flyer comes sooner than later because I don't know how I'm gonna handle flyers right now other than fortifications.