Monday, July 2, 2012

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.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for this!
    I am waiting for my rulebook still and have been wondering what to expect. Trying not to read into all the rumors and speculations that seem to be floating around.

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  2. Shooters in general seem to have gotten a boost. My favorite boost is that Nightvision is SO easy to get with Tau.... My new tau list is experimenting with putting Characters into my units... seeing if that Precision Shot makes much of a difference with shooting. I'll keep you posted.

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  3. Great summary but Team Leaders don't get Precision Strike unless upgraded to Shas'Vre.

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  4. Actually, according to page 2 of the Tau FAQ: "The Team Leader or Shas'vre is Infantry (Jetpack, Character)" so they do get Precision Strike.

    However, according to the FAQ, Commander Bodyguard Team members are NOT Characters, the same with regular Crisis Suits (obviously).

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