9E Tau Codex Review: Elites- Firesight Marksman

Today we look at the Firesight Marksman and its accompanying drones. Click to read on, or check out the Tactics Corner for more reviews and strategies.

Overview

The Firesight Marksman has gone through numerous iterations over the years, but is now largely returned to its roots. It consists of a fairly unremarkable Tau infantry profile for the base model; movement 6″ is perfectly acceptable for a standard model, and weapons skill 5+ is what you expect from Tau. Ballistic skill 3+ is a significant boon, however, even if the Marksman can’t really leverage it. Strength and toughness three are likewise the standard, and three wounds for a baby character is right in the middle of the pack. Two attacks and leadership eight both round out the profile, along with a 4+ save. A Firesight Marksmen and their three drones (which we will detail below) come out to 70pts, not particularly expensive but generally a bit more than you would like to pay.

Special Rules and Wargear

Aside from the basic special rules common to Tau units, a Marksman comes with two rules of their own, both of which directly serve their main role. Drone Uplink lets them pick a set of Sniper Drones (almost inevitably the ones in their own unit) and give them BS3+ as well as the ability to ignore Look Out Sir and mortal wounds on 6s. It’s a little weird that they don’t have these innately, but I suppose Games Workshop wanted to ensure that the Marksman themself wasn’t just some ablative wounds in the squad. Secondly, the Marksman Stealth Field means that so long as they stand still, the unit cannot be targeted unless they are the closest target to the enemy or within 12″; this is pretty effective protection and will often mean that the Marksmen and drones simply can’t be interacted with, which is very nice to have. However, it isn’t an absolute defense, so you do still need to make sure they are screened out and that the enemy can’t close with them.

In terms of equipment, the Marksman is very basic- they carry a Markerlight and Pulse Pistol (12″ S5 AP0 Dmg1 Pistol 1), the latter of which you will almost never use. The Markerlight is as helpful as always, since you want to be standing still on a good firing point regardless, so it syncs well with the unit’s core strategy.

The squad also comes base with three Sniper Drones, which have the standard drone statline and are equipped with a Longshot Pulse Rifle (48″ S5 AP-2 Dmg1 Rapid Fire 1). These are pretty excellent weapons and combined with the Marksman’s abilities they allow you to threaten a reasonable number of shots into any character that is in LOS, or to chip some wounds off of a squad.

A Firesight Marksman cannot select any options.

Uses

The obvious main use for the Marksman and his retinue is to go sniping, of course- it’s right there in the name of the drones. However, they can serve purposes beyond that pretty easily, so it is best not to lock oneself completely into a mindset of just using them for shooting, or else you are wasting the unit’s potential.

This is especially relevant because the Drones aren’t particularly good at sniping. They aren’t bad at it; their guns have good reach and at most ranges where engagements will happen you are likely to get two shots apiece, which is enough to be at least vaguely threatening in combination with AP-2 and the chance at mortal wounds. However, on average you’re not going to kill anything but the most fragile of characters and most people will keep their characters hidden from your shots the majority of the game, as tables tend to be pretty dense with Obscuring terrain. It’s fine to take your shots and hope to get lucky with some 6s, but don’t expect to be downing Space Marines in one volley.

But that’s fine, because the Marksman can provide some utility outside of that arena even while doing their job. They have that all-important Markerlight keyword, which means you are basically getting a free token somewhere every turn (or for the team itself), which can be quite helpful as many sources of Markerlights are rather fragile. Since you’re likely to be perched somewhere anyways, hopefully you have a good survey of as much of the battlefield as possible, giving you plenty of choices for what to light up.

Moreover, even while not moving your Marksman can be doing some useful work; Tau can often struggle with objectives, for reasons most players are quite familiar with, and a Marksman sitting on a back objective somewhere can be extremely difficult to remove, as they effectively have the old character protection rule and thus mostly can’t be shot at- and if the enemy is charging your backfield as a Tau player, you are probably in trouble already. Having that singular Marksman back holding a home objective can free up a lot of other points in your list to try and push forward and control midfield, which is what most games come down to. Importantly, a Marksman is also Infantry and can thus perform a variety of point-scoring actions in a pinch, although obviously this isn’t what you want them doing all game long… although, to be honest, it’s not the worst unit you could dedicate to such a task, being one of the cheaper options from the codex.

Also, don’t forget that a Firesight Marksman actually is a Character, and thus can benefit from Look Out Sir. They don’t typically need it, but if the enemy closes to within 12″ of them they can be in some serious danger, as their durability on the base statline isn’t really anything to write home about. So having a unit nearby to keep them protected can add an additional layer to things if you are feeling threatened. It does somewhat waste their innate special rules to do it all the time, but you should keep it in mind as an option.

Overall, though, the Firesight Marksman is not a particularly enticing choice. 70pts is not breaking the bank, but neither is it exceptionally affordable and the thing they do- sit back on a home objective- is something that many Tau lists already have a unit filling in for, such as a Broadside or Hammerhead. Farsight lists in particular have very little use for them, and neither Kauyon nor Mont’ka synergize well with a Marksman, which is rather awkward considering they are your universal rules. Tau are a lot more crunched for points now with the increases to Crisis suits and weapons, and many lists are going all-in on plans in an attempt to compensate- and that leaves very little room for off-kilter choices like the Marksman.

Final Thoughts

The Firesight Marksman is a rather odd little unit, and one I feel may be destined for the trash bin due to not having gotten an updated sculpt and this still stuck in the sad, sad world of Finecast. However, it’s hard to know the whims of James Workshop, and perhaps we may see an updated incarnation, or see the unit somehow divvied up and recreated in another form. For the time being, however, the unit remains and it remains a fairly acceptable little piece that you could easily bring to a game and not feel bad about, even if it isn’t going to blow anyone’s socks off.

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