Tuesday 17 May 2011

Blog wars army list part 1

Given my recent kicking at the ASMOH tournament. I'm still of the opinion that my Tau army list needs revisiting. However the following army list isn't much changed list mainly due to the fact that I won't have the models to update my army with for quite some time yet alone have them painted. So I have instead made a couple of little tweaks here and there as it were.
Blog wars requires that your army include a special character, although for Tau they have stated that you don't necessarily have to take one, I thought it beat to take one, saves any arguments later also keeps my army to the same sort of theme as others then. Although the Tau codex doesnt have any givens when it comes to special characters such as marbo (boy does that guy get around, seen in every guard list this side of catchan) So let's look at the contenders.
First up. Farsight.
pros:
Everyone who can access the armoury gets free bonding knifes. Saving a total of 15 points off my army list. Woot.
Preferred enemy against the entire ork player that's gonna be there.
Has a plasma rifle,
Dawn blade giving better chance of punching through vehicles in combat and might scare a lonely marine squad that has no powerfists or melta guns in.
Cons:
Ludicrously expensive for what he brings to the table.
Takes away loads from the table when you actually pay the points for him. Total restriction on available unit choices.
You get confused into thinking he is a combat monster just because he has a power weapon. He isn't.

So Farsight, is pretty bad to be honest. Totally restricting your force options while giving precious little in return.

Shadowsun
Has fusion guns and the ability to target them at 2 different units a turn. Unfortunately being short ranged weapons this generally means that you need to get close to the enemy to use them. The command link drone is nice. Allowing units within 18" to use her leadership for morale and pinning checks. The stealth field is a nice benefit. However, most enemies are going to be closing on you pretty quickly and won't matter past the first two turns of the game. That's pretty much where the good stuff ends. Now for the bad. 175 points!! Not and independent character till her drones expire, but given she's toughness 3 a lucky burst of fire from an assault cannon could do for her entire unit. Surprising high odds (around 10%). So she wouldn't last much beyond the last drone regardless.

So too much for what she can do. A suicide crisis with twinlinked fusion and a targeting array could accomplish the same for far less points.

And finally Aun'Va plus guard.
Pros:
Erm. Well I guess he could die. And your entire army passes it's low morale checks, gains furious charge and preferred enemy (improbable)
Cons: 205 points, please I could nearly have another 3 broadsides for that.
No shooting ability
Sucks in combat.
He dies your army runs away. (probable)
No real use apart from to help your opponent.

Okay, not really much to say here. But the guy is going to cripple your army far more the farsight does. While approaching land raider costs, space wolves get Logan grimnar, angels mephisto, tau? Get this guy? Come next codex I'd be expecting someone in a dreadknight esk battlesuit with 10 railguns. I think it would have been better if his wheel chair could shoot mega death lasers like the prophets from halo and he came free if you took a second squad of firewarriors. Might have been worth gluing together at that point.

So for my list I will be playing Farsight as my special character. Not because I think he's awesome. Mainly because I think he's the lesser of 3 evils. Although I do think my conversion is pretty awesome.

12 comments:

  1. blah blah blah, this stuff is crap this is even worse and then (quote) "Although I do think my conversion is pretty awesome" (not that I don't agree) but LOL

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  2. I think that this reason "Preferred enemy against the entire ork player that's gonna be there." should count as two given that that entire Ork player is me... :oP

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  3. Dimmy K: Frankly, I do think that the Tau special characters leave a lot to be desired. Even when compared to the older codexes they were a little lack lustre. Compared to the newer codexes they really are quite bad. In most cases a basic Shas El is a better choice. However if you disagree then I'm more then willing to hear your perspective. The main reason I initially did a Farsight conversion is for an apoc game where his free bonding knifes would have been handy and his restriction on max 1 units ignored due to apoc special rules. Making him not a bad choice in apocalypse.

    Gonge: It does as last time we played I forgot about it. Might even remember to make use of it this time. Although doubt we will end up playing against each other.

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  4. Sorry my last post seemed a little confrontational at first, that's the problem with trying to write a response on my phone using a foreign wifi connection.
    I like the Tau special characters, from a fluff perspective I think farsight is brilliant and his rules fit his fluff. However I don't think they are competitive. :oP Won't stop me taking them though. Also I love my Tau army, they are incredibly challenging to play and I relish the challenge.

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  5. Thanks for entering into the spirit of the special character thing. As a Tau player I was really disappointed when I tried out the SCs in that book. I agree that I expect some 10 railgun beast in the next book but I ain't holding my breath!

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  6. I like the fluff for the Tau special characters. Just wish they were a bit more in line with the newer characters. Hell if Farsight didn't have so much of a negative impact on my army he'd be in every list just because I like the fluff
    I'm really looking forward to Blogwars. Not too bothered about winning games. The opportunity to meet and beat a few fellow bloggers will be reward enough in itself.

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  7. For my money, the one thing farsight needs is a way to boost his retinue's CC.

    I mean, he;s wicked, and his fluff too, and he's a CC mnonster, and you can take 8 bodyguards.. all great

    except the bodyguards suck in CC so it kinda dilutes his point a bit.

    i do agree hes probly the best of a bad lot, though shadowsun has her uses.

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  8. I find it kind of ironic that when upgrading a crisis suit to a shas'vre they get slightly better in combat rather then shooting. Seems odd that after an additional 4 years of shooting bad guys they don't improve in that area.
    I'd rather have BS 4 suits. Plasma guns are better then fists.

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  9. Have to agree with you on this +1 to WS & I isn't really worth the extra points most of the time. Nice to see you are taking a SC for T'au though makes me look like a chump for not :)

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  10. I think it would be worth it for an extra point of BS and Ld, However the +1 WS and initiative makes no real difference in game terms, puts you on par with a guardsman as far as combat prowess in concerned.

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  11. Firewasp, I completely agree with you, I just find it funny how with tau it always comes down to crisis suits and what you think looks cool

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  12. I think the reason it always comes down to crisis suits is due to the lack of utility elsewhere in the army, firewarriors not being able to take heavy or special weapons, having transports with no fire points or heavy weapons (Justification from a fluff perspective is they use seeker missiles, which would be great if it worked as an in game mechanic, unfortunately it is a 40 point 1 shot missile needing 2 to hit rolls). This leaves crisis and broadside suits to do the heavy lifting in the army, just a shame the die easier then 2 marines and cost so many points.
    Although I do think they look cool, different to most other armies almost completely in play style as well.

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