Sunday 18 July 2010

Forge world rules: Shas O' R'alai

Forge world have now released the rules for their Tau XV9 Character, rules are available Here. There are some interesting elements which Forgeworld have written into the rules. The most notable of these are the ammo options for the pulse sub-munitions rifle. The Ionic cluster shot providing a nice 5" rending shots for use against marines, the sabot round for light anti tank duty (up to armour 13), the EMP round for armour 14 (additional chances for glancing), while the standard round provides 2x3" templates that ignore cover (this is different to the usual Pulse sub-munitions round in imperial armour apoc 2.
The eclipse shield seems like a little bit of an oddity though. Counting as having a stealth field generator if you remain still that turn. However if you have joined a unit then the enemy could simply target the unit bypassing the shields bonus. The only way around this is to join a stealthsuit team. Or stay independent, which could prove disadvantageous if they manage to see you. 

11 comments:

  1. Well it would be odd for a shield designed to protect the character to hide the squad too... I think really it keeps his battlefield role to operating alone. Strike at isolated locations where you can kill something then the nearby units are hopefully not quite near enough... But throw him into the centre of a guard gunline and he WILL die.

    Like most Tau stuff, deadly, but to be handled with care.

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  2. How many times would you leave a character by himself? Not many admittedly. They don't last long, Especially with the drones making the 'units' average toughness a mighty 3. Personally I'd rather stick him with a unit of XV9s. Especially as he has to stand still to use the shield, tau also have to keep mobile to be effective. Given the average range of his gun, You cant isolate effectively, as most things will be able to hit you back. Bad news if you're standing there by yourself.
    Throw him down in the middle of a guard gunline with his XV9 buddies and drones and chances are they will survive.

    As for a shield that protects the unit as well, Ork kustom force field?

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  3. Character by himself? Marbo! If he does much the same lone hunter role, then it could work.

    I'd send him up a flank, pick off the nearest threat and hopefully stay away from further away enemy. However, having to remain stationary to do this does seriously reduce it's effectiveness.

    As for the kustom force field, the force field is projecting a force BARRIER, whereas the stealth thing is making one man harder to SEE. A barrier is a barrier no matter how many are behind it. A sneaky trick of the light camo effect is all very well... until you see there's a crowd of ten of them all together and say "waaaaiiiiit a minute... that's no barrel!"

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  4. hehe, I like the barrel reference. :-P.
    poor comparison with marbo though. marbo can reliably turn up anywhere and chuck a demo charge, devastating for his points and a real bargain for a guard player and with no negative drawbacks. this character costs nearly as much as a land raider. he should be on par with calgar. I think allowing the shield to hide the unit would have made him worth this cost. it already has the punitive side of having to remain stationary.
    also there are things out there with a similar effect, pathfinder stealth devilfish from the apoc formation eldar veil of tears on harlequins which are both a lot more effective. I do hope that GW continue the trend of using forgeworld stuff and making it better though in the normal codex, here's looking at you guard. because there are some brilliant ideas in his rules.

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  5. Marbo is great, and cheap. He's also an easy kill. I presume this guy has a better T and Armour save than Marbo by a long way. One squad of lasguns can reliably kill Marbo. He's a one shot weapon. With the ability to reduce incoming fire, your Tau commander will be a lot more survivable than Marbo. Not sure if he's 200 points more survivable admittedly... :oP

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  6. With a majority toughness of 3 for the unit (drones) a 3+/4++ save. Against marbos toughness 3 and if in cover 3++ or 2++ save (can't remember if it's +1 or 2 to his cover save. It's probably a lot closer then first impressions give. Admittedly once the drones are dead, then this guy has the advantage. However for his points cost the drones should really be T5.
    Either that or you put him with a unit of XV9s and forget about the shield because it's nearly pointless. Or Use him separately at the start of the game. Spread him out with his drones 2.5" in front of the XV9 unit. To make use of his shield if you don't get first turn. Then to fire at him, stealth check, unit behind gets a cover save. Then join them in the first turn.

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  7. So there you go you've come up with some good ideas already :oP

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  8. 225 is a lot of points but the ammo and the T5 make it worth it I think as you can have him on his own knowing that only a demo shot or another railgun can insta splat him. This better be how the new Tau codex is going. As for the stealth thing, it would be handy if after a round of combat you win and the rest of your oppos army cant blow you up, and its psycological factor too, if they think there is even a small chance they wont see you coz you didnt move last turn then the might opt not to shoot you. It has it possibilities and I bet they come up randomly when you least expect it

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  9. I think the character could be quite interesting to play. I just think that the shield should be a bit more useful, they should have just made it a 3++ save and left it at that.

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  10. A nice character, but I think he's too expensive. For this cost you could get 2 shas'el commanders or a squad of 3 XV9s.

    Rathstar

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  11. True, but be nice to try him out a few times, see if he is worth it.

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