Frankie wrote a T’au faction article for NewHammer 40k! Check it out, here.
Sounds pretty awesome! What do you all think?
Frankie wrote a T’au faction article for NewHammer 40k! Check it out, here.
Sounds pretty awesome! What do you all think?
I see a Keyword on the Tau Drone… is this the first indication of “Chapter Tactics” for Tau? Might we see this on other races? Necron , Ork , Tyranid ?
Considering AoS has a focus in each of the new Battletomes for different Subfaction groups (Stormcast Chambers, Sylvaneth Groves, Bonesplittaz Clans, etc), I think it’s pretty likely that Space Marines won’t be the only ones getting customization rules for the different groups.
Farsight is already proof of that.
Sounds like they’re going to be using the Septs the same way Marines do Chapters
Please give me Blood Axe Klan roolz.
GREGG RULEZ OKAY
Can’t supportive fire psychic powers. Checkmate, Tau communists.
Also I feel like Tau must have gotten a price increase is unlimited overwatch and now global supporting fire is a thing.
I’m taking it you didn’t notice the spam marines are cheaper now by a point…
I’m not sure how I feel about the mention of marker lights re-rollings 1s, I’d rather have the +1 bs, hopefully that’s still an option but I’m doubting it.
The mention of 10 weapons is interesting, I wonder if the destroyer missiles will not be one shot anymore, which would be great.
Personally I’m hoping markerlights can increase the ap or damage.
It sounds like Tau are still going to brutal to play against (especially if you ever planned on surviving a charge against them).
So I’m glad they got their “raise your BS to infinity and beyond” re-worked a little bit.
To be fair, given the universal split fire, the old rules for markerlights would never work. So they had to simplify it – i.e. ANY unit shooting at a enemy with a markerlight gets to use it. This was kinda a necessary change but +1 BS would have just been broken if it stayed that powerful. I hope more markerlights given better bonuses, otherwise yeah it will be a bit disappointing.
I think you will be plenty happy with the damage output your army will be capable of =)
Lol running away from combat and still shooting isn’t enough?
These teases are making it very hard to wait for the new edition. SO many more units that could use some help just to ensure they may get used again. Reese did you guys get to test any forgeworld stuff??
As they mentioned in the video we did indeed playtest FW stuff, too. I can’t give up any specifics but we had a chance to give feedback, yes.
Hoping the rules make it where I can run my supremacy suit without being “that guy” lol
Dude, you and me both! We want folks to use all of their models but sometimes the FW stuff is just OTT.
Brass Scorpion *cough* Harridan *cough*.
I have wanted to buy a Harridan for awhile, but since I can’t field it…
Also a curiosity for me- How will FW handle he Hierodules? They are so much worse than a knight now.
Have to wait and see on the really big models =)
Although to be honest with anything able to wound anything that alone changes it’s supreme durability of toughness 9 (since str 4 or less couldn’t hurt at all)
Assuming it has the same stats =) We’ll have to wait and see what it gets.
Remember, GW has explicitly said that points for units will be listed separately so that they can update the points without invalidating old books or producing new ones. In theory they could update points costs quite frequently..
I get the feeling that their master plan is to make every unit effective by buffing stats/rules and then iteratively refining the points cost as a way of balancing things. IMO it could be one of the best long-term changes for the game.
Great preview as always guys.
I love all the info inside of them, gradually giving us a more clear picture of how stuff will be.
Sounds like Tau, or “T’au” i guess, will still be good in the new edition, maybe even better.
Really glad Crisis suits got covered, wasn’t sure how those would be with how many options they had in 7th. Sounds like they get even more, which is cool. Flamer and 2 weapons is a brutal combo, curious how many points that will be.
The new markerlight change is huge, but I like it.
Waiting for Wednesday now. Peace.
Some nice changes here:
1) Drones can be ablative wounds without having to worry about the direction of shots.
2) Shooting while falling back
3) Every unit benefits from markerlights without having to worry about who’s using what.
4) Suits firing all three weapons.
Having said that, pretty disappointing that stealth is now just -1 to hit, I hope stealth suits get something more effective than that.
It’d also be nice to see battlesuits and the like with a better BS (3+) since they are supposed to be veterans and without upping BS from markerlights T’au are only average at shooting. T’au can hardly be called the “kings” of ranged warfare if half the other factions in the game (astartes/chaos astartes/eldar/mechanicus/necrons) are natively better shots).
I understand your feelings on the BS thing, but remember their shtick is Marker Lights. That’s where they get the force multiplication.
And -1 to hit is REALLY good. Trust me on that one.
True, so I guess we won’t know until we’ve seen the full rules for markerlights. Here’s hoping there’s still a way to up the BS of T’au units then (markerlights or otherwise).
I trust your judgement on the -1 BS. But knocking the likes of marines to hitting only on 4+ on the face of it doesn’t seem as good as the current reliable 3+ or 2+ cover save for stealth units. But as you’ve said before though, there’s more we don’t know about yet.
There’s some pluses and minuses to whether you want +1 to your armor save (how terrain cover is going to work in 8th) vs -1 To Hit but to me it just makes more sense.
If you’re hiding behind something like a concrete wall that should increase your armor save because it can stop the bullets and, at the same time, powerful weapons should be able to negate that bonus because they’re just going to go through the wall before they go through you as well.
On the other hand, units like Stealth drones are simply hard to see. In that case it makes a lot more sense to be -1 To Hit because it symbolizes how stealthy they are. It wouldn’t really make sense for a lascannon or a meltagun to make them worse at being stealthy so it doesn’t make as much sense to roll it into an armor save.
I really like thematically how they split cover into two distinct categories based on whether it affects hit rolls or armor saves. And I also like the gameplay implications of whether that helps your armor save (vs is just useless if a weapon doesn’t pen your armor) and whether a strong weapon can just blast through cover.
I totally agree, fluffwise/mechanic wise it makes a lot more sense. It’s just quite a shift in usefulness since most armies won’t care too much about being knocked down from 3+ to 4+ to hit.
I’m also hoping the stealth unit rules will be different since the “unless it’s the closest unit” condition doesn’t gel very well with stealth suits since they’re weapon ranges mean they are usually the closest unit to the enemy.
Yeah, it all depends on exactly what is hitting you. Generally against small arms fire you’d rather have the +1 to armor instead of -1 to hit. But if you’re already standing in area terrain now you get both! Armor save increase and you’re harder to hit. Which makes you really resilient.
Or if you’re getting hit by high penetration weapons (like say a plasma gun) then the -1 To Hit is actually more powerful regardless of whether the person shooting you is BS4 or BS3.
Well, we also know that Heavy Weapons are -1 to hit if they move, and perhaps there are other things like this, too? You could have situations here all of a sudden things are hitting on 5’s or 6’s or perhaps not at all. There’s still a lot of information not yet available to us.
Oooh, that would be really cool. Like photon grenades actually following the fluff and acting like futuristic flashbangs? Any unit hit takes -1 BS for a turn? Or Necron solar pulse dropping BS on anything in range for a turn.
Proactively reducing an enemy unit’s WS/BS could be really interesting in shaking up the tactics and meta of some units.
Hey Reece, didn’t the article say marker lights are reroll 1’s. Not -1 to hit? Or have I misunderstood your above comment?
He’s referring to my comment about stealth changing from a +1 to cover to a -1 to hit for enemies targeting the unit.
He’s talking about a different piece of wargear.
AoS has shown me that to hit penalties are king. That giant clan eshin rat daemon might as well have invisibility all the time. Really reduces incoming damage.
Yeah, it really does.
So not giving anything up as would be expected, could you at least provide what your favorite unite was to use in playtesting? Same for Frankie? Not asking for stats or anything else just your favorite unit that you played with? (from any faction)
Great stuff btw, can’t wait to see some battle reports again for the new edition!!
Crisis Suits are awesome, so is the Commander.
Also, no spotters for sniper drones now? Haha so we apparently have some of the best snipers… with sub-par accuracy.
– “Keep your head down sir! Those T’au snipers could kill you if they hit you!”
– “Exactly soldier, ‘if'”
I suppose it could be for balance reasons given the whopping 48″ range.
It is entirely possible that there is more to this than what you are seeing here =)
Haha, you’re right, I have to keep reminding myself of that. Credit to GW, this drip-feeding information is great for building interest and curiosity.
It really is!
We do know from the earlier post about Characters that Drazhar has a special rule that helps Incubi. We also know some units that used to simply be upgrades (I.E. – Kroot Shaper) are now separate characters.
For all we know the Tau Drone Spotter will now be a character who has a special rule that buffs units with the keyword “MV71 Sniper Drones” that are within x” of him.
In addition to many upgrade characters being separate characters the detachments we were shown seemed tp have a higher number of HQ slots both compulsory and optional which to me indicates that those upgrade characters will probably now move to take HQ slots.
I think this is cool, as I have always wanted things such as small detachments of so far being led by an search or other similar things.
Auto correct…
I meant small detachments of eldar being led by exarchs or other similar things.
I didn’t think of that at the time, but that would make sense why the three detachments we’ve seen have had more HQs than we’re used to seeing in a standard CAD. Personally I think it’s kind of cool that these guys that are a bit above a standard sergeant but a bit below a primetime HQ would still get their own separate (relatively cheap) entry.
Awwww Reecius, lol I expected a totally different unit from you, but I see you are really trying to not break any rules. I bet you two are just bursting to the seams on WHAT you want to tell everyone. Kinda like knowing everyone’s Christmas presents and you have to wait another month till they open them!!! Any unit(s) you loved not mentioned yet.
Yeah, it’s a challenge but we have to play by the rules. There is seriously so much to talk about, though!
Fall back and fire… my zombies are moaning and groaning over this… (more than usual)
lol
I’m liking the d3 wounds rating on the missile pods. Probably gonna continue to be my go to, especially with ap -1 now.
I like the new drone interception. Finally matches the fluff, rather than a crisis team losing 3 drones to boltguns and everyone jetting off the board.
Safe to buy crisis suits and equip as per 7th like dual plasma? Or wait till 8th?
I’d wait till you see all the rules, personally.
You really should be magnetizing all your Crisis anyways. They’re too versatile not to.
Will Crisis Suit armies be a thing? Like straight exo-squad armies of smaller suits?
Gosh I hope so. It’s basically the Farsight Enclaves main gimmick.
Interesting that the Sniper Drone listing doesn’t have the Firesight Marksman (or whatever he gets called) mentioned at all, considering that he’s part of the box they come in.
Ten weapons on the Stormsurge also makes me curious, because that doesn’t match up with its current loadout. Looked at on the physical model itself, you have the main Pulse cannon, teh two SMS pods (which are currently twin-linked), two “halves” of the Cluster missiles, the two parts of the secondary weapon (Flamer, AFP, Burst) that are twin-linked, and the four Destroyer Missiles. I think it’s hard to rationalize the secondary weapon into being separate rather than TL, which means that unless they are somehow pulling a weapon out of nowhere the Cluster and SMS weapons will be split into two weapons each.
Supporting Fire/For the Greater Good will likely have some limitations on its use, given what we know about Overwatch. Of course, with a lot of potential for unit speeds and charge ranges to increase, that may not be necessary.
People have mentioned it elsewhere but it seems, like in AoS, the ‘mini characters’ like the sniper drone marksman will be separate characters that have specific effects. So it’s likely a cheap character with a markerlight that can hide in the back and an ability that benefits a keyword sniper drone unit within range or something similar 🙂
Arrgh, just when I thought my Tyranids would finally catch up, Tau key units gets Fall Back and shoot and keeps army wide Supporting Fire. Can’t see how I will make it over the table in this edition either 🙁
You’re completely right, I looked over the entire 8th edition Tyranid rules, and they got nothing.
(Don’t you think complaining is a bit premature before you know literally anything about your army in the new rules?)
Yeah, I suspect Tyranids will get near universal increases to the movement speed of their units that were restricted to 6″ last edition (Monstrous Creatures and standard infantry) as well as way more wounds for a lot of their MCs. Plus all the little things they can do like altering points costs and statlines. I would be very shocked if Tyranids didn’t get some love and a power increase across the board.
The problem, at this moment at least, is the order in the faction focus articles. They started with some topdogs (daemons, eldars, tau) and left most underdogs specting some news for their armies. Right now we almost know nothing about ‘nids (and other actual low tier factions), which is scary, as those factions are the ones that hopes to catch the power level of higher tiers in 8th.
Of course, we just need to whait a little more, as we will be able to see the full picture soon.
Be patient, my swarm friends. We’ll get nothing of being worried right now. Keep calm and ready your teeth.
If I’m doing my math right, and crisis are stil ld8, a three man team doesn’t have to worry about morale. That’ll be awesome, leadership has been the bane of my existence since I started this game.
The leadership system was totally reworked. And, as an example, we know Tactical Marines and Rubric Marines got their leadership lowered from 8 to 7. So I would not be too sure that crisis teams retained LD8.
Darn. Because the max number of casualties a 3 man team can suffer, and still survive, is 2; so even with a roll of 6 for the morale test a ld8 unit would be aok
It is possible that veteran or sarge type models in a unit may provide leadership buffs still, too.
A lot of units will benefit from this change. It is honestly one of the best changes in the game, just makes it more fun when your dudes aren’t running away all the time.
Hey Reecius, just wondering. It’s looking like movement and assault will be more important than ever this edition. Making assault faster to get to and generally more deadly. Will that T’au have any way of affecting the movement of enemy units? Or of avoiding assault other than simply falling back once they’re already in it?
Obviously not looking for specifics, just a yes or no on whether they’ll have some way of avoiding assault other than running away. E.g. Seismic fibrilator node.
Sorry Matt, I can’t divulge that type of information, yet. =(
T’au have lots of tools to compete in a game where assault got ramped up a lot, though. I can say that.
Haha, I thought so, but saw no harm in asking. I appreciate you sharing what you legally can though! That’s a big relief 🙂