Today we are looking at Aun’shi, one of the named Ethereals from the Tau codex. Click to read on, or check out the Tactics Corner for more reviews and strategies.
Overview
Aun’shi, being an Ethereal himself, shares most of his statline in common with them. 6″ movement, strength three and toughness three are all common factors, as is ballistic skill 4+. However, he does start to diverge from there- weapon skill 2+ is an improvement for sure, as is five wounds and five(!) attacks. However, being that he refuses to wear pants, his 7+ save is… not ideal, although other factors make it mostly not relevant. At 85pts he is noticeably more than a standard Ethereal, though he definitely gets a lot for the price.
Special Rules and Wargear
Aun’shi comes with the full suite of rules for an Ethereal, including Failure is Not An Option (to improve morale), Inspired to Greatness (for taking actions), and Leadership Caste, which allows him to be put in any kind of Tau detachment without breaking sept rules (even though he himself is Vior’la sept.)
However, he also comes with two unique rules of his own. The one you’ll notice most immediately is his Shield Generator, which gives him a 4+ invulnerable save- and considering how squishy normal Ethereals are, this is a huge upgrade. The second is Inspirational Defiance, which lets nearby Vior’la Core units either Set to Defend or Hold Steady when charged, which makes them a bit more dangerous on the defensive. It isn’t huge, but players from last edition will remember that overwatching on 5+s is no joke, so it shouldn’t be underestimated.
Like all Ethereals he also knows invocations, and as a super-fancy named one he starts with three and can recite two of them each turn on a 2+. This effectively means he has the Humble Staff rolled into his cost (albeit in points instead of CP), and considering that is considered an auto-take for most players one can hardly complain at all about having it.
Aun’shi comes with an improved version of the Ethereal’s close combat weapon, named Fidelity. Boasting an extra pip of AP and the ability to explode on 6s to hit, as well as losing the -1 hit penalty, Fidelity is actually a reasonably-dangerous weapon when backed up by Aun’shi’s statline. He isn’t going to be downing any Knights by himself, but if he gets the chance to crack back at someone he is going to cause some real damage and in a pinch he can even threaten Primaris marines (although I wouldn’t rely on him charging into a full squad.)
Aun’shi cannot take any additional options, including drones.
Uses
Basically everything said about Ethereals in their article applies here as well- Aun’shi gets you pretty much exactly what a basic Ethereal gets you, but without needing to take a relic and at some additional point cost. That typically is going to be a good deal, since ~25pts for 1CP is a very good rate for most armies. And since he doesn’t break sept rules, you’re free to take him in any kind of detachment you want without worry- though he obviously won’t benefit from his own sept bonus in those cases. (Note that this is true even with the new Matched Play rules because those only affect keywords that you choose– since you are not choosing Aun’shi’s sept keyword, he is unaffected.)
The real question is whether what you give up is worth it. What are you giving up, you ask? Well, we glossed over it a bit but you lose the ability to take drones and the hover drone on the Ethereal when you select Aun’shi, and while those are not huge losses, they do affect your board state somewhat. The hover drone means that a basic Ethereal is going to be faster than Aun’shi by a non-trivial amount, which makes keeping up with Crisis teams easier- as does the Fly keyword, which is very handy. Similarly, while Aun’shi does have his handy-dandy forcefield, the two Shield Drones you can buy for a normal Ethereal certainly go a long ways towards protecting them and can protect other units in a pinch as well thanks to Saviour Protocols.
While none of these losses are tremendous, these sorts of small details are the sorts of things between a good army and a great one. Aun’shi does have advantages of his own- the extra wound, the CP saved, the shield, and the melee combat, but these have to be weighed against whether you will get use out of them. If Aun’shi gets caught in combat, is he going to die even despite his 4++? Will it make a difference given the enemies you are likely to face at a tournament? Will the slower speed be relevant- how do you deploy your Ethereals, and how do you keep them safe? Do you use Saviour Protocols to protect your other units often, or is it largely a non-issue? None of these questions have strict right or wrong answers, but they require balancing different factors against each other.
Broadly speaking, however, I think that Aun’shi is a solid inclusion for most Tau armies that are thinking of running an Ethereal. For me, the deciding factor is the extra invocation known- this allows you to take Zephyr’s Grace as a third pick to use on a turn when you need to protect a Crisis team that is exposed and the enemy is going to shoot back. A standard Ethereal has no way to access this except via some heavy opportunity costs in a stratagem, but Aun’shi can just change his chants for the turn and go into defensive mode, which is an excellent option to have.
Final Thoughts
Aun’shi, although he clearly has advantages over a generic Ethereal, is not in any way an auto-pick, which I think is good design on GW’s part. He has a number of pros and cons as well as some unique factors in his favor; I do find myself wishing that his melee capabilities were a bit more impressive so that he could be a “real” combat character, but that is probably asking too much of such a cheap model and especially one that is a B-tier at best within the faction’s story. But considering he has been brought up from being one of the worst models in the faction into a strong contender for Best HQ, I don’t think Aun’shi and his fans really have much to complain about- he’s good, you can use him, and no one is going to give you any funny looks for doing so.
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