Forge World New Release - Tau Battlesuit

Forge World has released an ass kicking new Battlesuit!

Farsight Encalves Supplement Released!

Farsight Supplement is finally out.  And there is a limited edition version that is quite nice.

Forge World Tau Riptide

Forge World has not forgotten 40K while releasing ridiculous amounts of Hours Heresy models!

Forge World New Tau Riptide Variant

Forge World has released the first Riptide variant, and it will be available for the first time at Games Day UK.

Farsight Sighted!

The Digital version of the Farsight Tau supplement comes out the 20th, while the hardcover comes out much later.

New 40K Releases - GW and more.

The new Tau Farsight Supplement will be released July 13th.  It will be released digitally through the Black Library.  You can find all their digital decisions here.

While I think the digital versions of the codex are very overpriced (I would like to see a package deal where, when you buy the print version you get the digital version for a small additional charge), I love the whole supplement idea.  It gets players more information and ability to game with specialized armies. 

Puppets War has a new release, an Ork flyer called the "Flying Coffin".  You can find it here.

Hope everyone is having a great Fourth of July weekend!

Loken

Imperial Armour - The Taros Campaign Tau Video

Imperial Armour 3 gets a re-write and a video!

Enjoy!

Loken

Forge World Taros Campaign Gets Revision

Just released by Forge World, the updated version of Imperial Armour 3.

From Forge World:

Imperial Armour Volume Three – Second Edition: The Taros Campaign

When the industrial world of Taros falls secretly under the sway of the expanding Tau Empire, its mineral resources are diverted to the factories of the Tau and away from the ever-hungry Forge Worlds of the Imperium.

The Imperial response is brutal and direct with the full force of the Emperor’s military might being unleashed against the upstart xenos. The bitter war that follows involves two Adeptus Astartes Chapters, as well as thousands of Imperial Guardsmen from the famed regiments of Elysia and Tallarn. This record chronicles the war from its inception to its dire conclusion.

Imperial Armour Volume Three – Second Edition: The Taros Campaign is the definitive reference for using Forge World’s extensive range of Tau Empire armoured vehicles and battlesuits in games of 6th Edition Warhammer 40,000. This book includes profiles for each and every Tau Empire unit in the Forge World range, from the humble Heavy Gun Drone to the super-heavy Manta, including those units deployed after the bloody conflict on Taros such as the potent XV9 Hazard Close Support Team and our Kroot Auxiliary units.

In addition to this wealth of Tau content, the book contains a fully updated 6th Edition Elysian Drop Troops army list, and expansion rules for fielding Tallarn Desert Raiders using Codex: Imperial Guard, as well as updated 6th Edition rules for Tallarn Mukaali Riders.

This 276-page hardback book is packed with artwork and colour profiles for the forces of the Tau Empire, the Tallarn and Elysian Imperial Guard regiments, and the Avenging Sons and Raptors Space Marine Chapters. It also contains unique scenarios to allow the bitter engagements of the Taros Campaign to be refought on the tabletop.

 

These were available at the Horus Heresy Weekender and are now available through Forge World mail order.

Loken

TAU FAQ Released!

The hope that Tau Missile Spam was the wave of the future died a silent death before even being born, as Games Workshop released a FAQ before the Tau codex even streeted!

From Kirby at 3++

Since I’ve seen this all over with people screaming for joy…

pg68 Tau Codex – “All Gun Drones, Marker Drones and Sniper Drones in the same unit…”

No Missile Drones kids. Edit: Not to mention, the Day 1 FAQ just released restricts Missile Drones to Broadside armor only. Fail. 

Otherwise, Tau have arrived with even more Missiles – not the lovely S8 AP3 with small blast alternate fire of the Imperials, but the rapid firing (not to be mistaken for Rapid Fire…) but S7 missile of the Tau. This means Tau missiles are very good at hull point stripping and can annoying infantry/MCs without relying on a good scatter/the enemy to be bunched up. They lack increased punching power against higher AVs (13/14) but enough missiles will strip away hull points even from AV13 vehicles.

What was the issue with the last Tau codex – S6/7 firepower was stuck with Crisis Suits, has largely been solved. Ion Weapons, Missile Drones, Broadsides, etc. have brought that sort of firepower into every single slot. This is huge as it means Crisis Suits are not a must, are not as easy a target to pick for your opponent and can use their awesome platform to bring in other weapons without hurting the army (i.e. Plasma Rifles, Fusion Blasters).

Let’s look at some math then across the BS levels and importantly, what Tank Hunters does and what Skyfire does. One of the biggest changes we’re seeing is the Broadsides main gun dropping in strength. It sucked yes, but what do we have to play with now? See the pretty table below (the numbers represent number of TWO shot missile pods fired at the target to strip it of Hull Points not taking into account damage results or cover).

Normal	3HP AV10	3 HP AV11	3HP AV12	3HP AV13	3HP AV14
BS2	6.75	9.00	13.50	27.00	0
BS3	4.50	6.00	9.00	18.00	0
BS4	3.38	4.50	6.75	13.50	0
BS5	2.70	3.60	5.40	10.80	0
Tank Hunters	3HP AV10	3 HP AV11	3HP AV12	3HP AV13	3HP AV14
BS2	5.06	6.00	8.10	14.73	0
BS3	3.38	4.00	5.40	9.82	0
BS4	2.53	3.00	4.05	7.36	0
BS5	2.03	2.40	3.24	5.89	0
Twin-linked	3HP AV10	3 HP AV11	3HP AV12	3HP AV13	3HP AV14
BS2	4.05	5.40	8.10	16.20	0
BS3	3.00	4.00	6.00	12.00	0
BS4	2.53	3.38	5.06	10.13	0
BS5	2.31	3.09	4.63	9.26	0
TL + TankH	3HP AV10	3 HP AV11	3HP AV12	3HP AV13	3HP AV14
BS2	3.04	3.60	4.86	8.84	0
BS3	2.25	2.67	3.60	6.55	0
BS4	1.90	2.25	3.04	5.52	0
BS5	1.74	2.06	2.78	5.05	0

So we see that tank hunters is the most effective at higher BS levels and twin-linking the best at lower BS levels (and there are wargear options and psychic allies for this). We’re also seeing pretty low numbers across the board at the higher BS levels but this becomes insane when we throw in Tank Hunters and/or Twin-linked.

So – Missile Drones aren’t too flash at BS2 without some markerlight support. Just one bump really helps reduce the numbers a lot but they’re still going to be quite good at pinging off final hull points, etc. Edit: the two places they can be taken – Riptide and Broadsides; silly FAQ as this means Fire Warriors no longer have heavy weapon options. The damage difference comparing BS3 twin-linked to BS3 is basically an exact mirror of their points costs so twin-linking or buying an extra gun works out to be the same initially but once you add external twin-linking or markerlights, the relationship starts to favor more guns.

Tank hunters also makes missiles insane at higher BS levels (or with twin-linking). This is really important against AV12 when we look at Broadsides with Skyfire (remember to divide everything else again by TWO for number of Broadsides). At BS3 – 1.8 Broadsides with High Yield Missiles will drop an AV12 flyer without cover. That’s pretty friggin awesome though we of course need to compare to Railguns here to see if that works at all… Also, in case you haven’t figured out yet, the nanochip is a great piece of wargear for 15 points.

Regardless, this should begin to give you some ideas on how effective missile drones will be, how effective having missiles all across your army will be and what sort of support you should be looking at (i.e. markerlights, twin-linking, wargear and psychic allies). And whilst it’s great to have lots of missiles, other anti-infantry is going to be needed and stripping Hull Points leaves vehicle wrecks, not explosions.

The hope that Tau Missile Spam was the wave of the future died a silent death before even being born, as Games Workshop released a FAQ before the Tau codex even streeted!  Still, I see the Tau as the ultimate shooty army.  I want some!

Loken

Tau Codex hits the Net

From the Fang, a great little blog, has info from the Spanish version of the Tau Codex.

If you want to have a look yourself they should still be visible here
Crisis Suits
Appear to cost 22pts each now but can still only be taken in units of 3. No longer have the option of making them a team leader but rather you now just pay 10 pts to make them a Shas'vre. Makes sense to me as hardly anyone bothered to pay the extra 5 for shas'vre status. Shas'vre now boosts them to Ld 9 but loses 1pt of WS (I think we'll cope). Otherwise the stats are the same, no toughness boost like some rumours suggested. Get army wide special rule Supporting Fire which is the ranged overwatch assistance thing. Also they're "Very Bulky" although it sounds better in Spanish (muy corpulento!). The options are what will make these good or bad though. Difficult to look at upgrades though as they're on a chart rather than in unit entry like the other new codexes.
Riptide (Cataclismo in Spanish - again sounds better)
Base cost of 180pts with a pretty impressive statline notably toughness 6 with 5 wounds. It's basic gun appears to be the heavy burst cannon which is S6 and EIGHT shots. Seems like the Nova Reactor will allow you to make this 12 shots too at the risk of Gets Hot. Not sure on the Spanish but looks like it rends too when Nova'd. Comes with an SMS which is pretty much the same as it was but can be swapped for a twin-linked fusion blaster or plasma rifle (which are again the same). The heavy burst cannon can be swapped for an ion cannon thing which starts at S7 AP2 with three shots but can be overcharged to S9 AP2 large blast.
Fire Warriors
Still have a six member minimum but are 9 pts for essentially the same stats but now get Photon Grenades for free. Their gun is stil S5, 30" rapid fire. They can all take the "Ritual of Ta'lissera" rule for 1pt each which if memory serves from the old book, relates to bonding knives so presumably is leadership related (that page is nearly impossible to read even if I understood Spanish). Can still take a devilfish which are still 80pts and pretty similar. Difficult to tell much else without translating it all.
With the addition of Fireblade they can fire an extra shot with their rifles or carbines if they stand still.
Kroot
Get 10 by default as before and can buy another 10 but they're now 6 pts each and come with 6+ armour. They're now S3 but retain their WS4 and the hounds are still I5 and are 5pts each. They can now take some sort of special precision ammo for 1pt per model which make their guns sniper rifles and hence Heavy. Hounds have Acute Senses and the whole squad can infiltrate meaning more precise Outflanking which is interesting. They've still got Stealth in forests and the kroot ox is pretty much the same but now 25pts.
Flyers
Unfortunately they appear to be AV 11/10/10 but with 3 HP. Bomber starts at 160pts and fighter at 145pts.  Aside from the Vehicle Upgrades (no sign of what they are or how much they cost) the fighter can take a missile pod instead of the burst cannon for 5pts. The quad ion cannon is S7 AP4 but can be boosted to S8 large blast which is obviously not much use against other flyers but good for ground vehicle hunting. With 6 S7 shots and two seeker missiles it doesn't look too bad for 150pts though. The bomber can twin-link it's missile pod for 5pts but otherwise will be better against ground targets as you might expect. Despite still being BS2 the fighter drones have S7 AP4 twin-linked guns which isn't bad at all when they appear to have interceptor too. They also seem to have afterburners (whatever they do).
Have to decide when I read the English book but at the moment they both look fairly viable. At least they're better than the DA ones already (which isn't hard of course).
Broadsides
They're now 65pts each and still a max squad size of 3. Their twin-linked railguns are now S8 AP1 as was rumour but the missile pods they can swap them for are S7 AP4 with 4 shots. Their SMS are now twin-linked too which is pretty cool. They're then able to take various other options from the wargear table and still seem to get one support system each. They can take a seeker missile for 8pts which seems to be the standard cost of them now.  The shas'vre is now Ld 9 which should help reduce the number of times they run off the board like they used to!
Pretty happy with these. If they do get the option of Skyfire as has been rumoured then they're going to be the goto anti-air for pretty much any army in the game. S10 would've been ridiculous so the S8 makes sense.
HQs
Ethereals are 50pts and Fireblade is 60pts. There doesn't seem to be any option to take them in multiples as squad leaders unfortunately but for dirt cheap HQ to spend your points on something else then you can't complain. Better than the minimum 100pts a lot of armies have to spend.
O'Shovah/Farsight is 165pts and is still equipped the same. He still has Preferred Enemy (Orks) and can be joined by 7 crisis suits in his bodyguard. Sadly this seems to be the only FOC swapping that can be done.
Conclusion
That's about as much as I can be bothered to translate/work out. The codex really isn't that far away but I wanted to get an idea of what this leak told us. Hopefully some people found it helpful. 

Tau Special Rules

From BoLS and translated by Fran M.

 

Fire Burst: If the unit doesn't move in the movement phase they can fire an extra shot with their induction rifles and carbines in the next shooting phase.

Hammerhead Ace: Sha'ng's Hammerhead has BS5. He dies if the Hammerhead is destroyed but doesn't give extra victory points.

Adquired Target: Markerlight don't cause wounds and there are no saves against them. Place a token close to the unit for each hit. Before any unit shoots, if the target has any token you can spend them to gain the following abilities. A Unit can't use the tokens of their own markerlights:
- Precise +1BS for each spent token (can spend several)
- Strafe (Cost 2 tokens) The shots gain Ignore Cover rule
- Seeker Shoot a seeker missile for each spent token.

High Speed Deployment: Can disembark during movement even if Swooping. A Solarshark that moves before their drones disembark can still move immediately.

Defender of the Greater Good: The Stealth Shas'ui and Shas'vre of O'Shaserra unit gain Oathbound Protector (all Look out Sir rolls for a independent character joined to a unit with this rule automatically succeed)

Failure is not an option: All Tau units with a miniature withing 12 use the Ethereal's leadership for Fear, Morale, Pinning and Regroup checks. Killing the Ethereal gives an extra victory point.

Infantry Warrior: Can only join Firewarrior or Pathfinder units.

Great Invocation: Aun'Va can invoke two elemental powers per turn.

Invoke the Elements:
At the beginning of the Movement Phase, choose one of the four elemental powers. The ethereal and all non-vehicle friendly Tau Empire units gain that power until the next movement phase of the Ethereal. The power ends if the Ethereal dies:
-Calm tide: Stubborn.
- Firestorm: All induction weapons get an extra shot against targets closer than half their range. Doesn't affect induction bombs.
- Stone Toughness: Feel no Pain (6+)
- Zephyr's Grace: Can make snapshots after running.

Supreme Loyalty: As long as Aun'Va is alive, all friendly Tau Empire units can reroll any Fear, Morale, Pinning and Regrouping failed tests.

Blade Master: In a challenge, Aun'Shi must choose an style each turn before any rolls are made: - Patient Blade: reroll any missed saves, - Lethal Blade: Rending

Afterburners: Can use Turbo Boost as if it was a jetbike.

Oathbound Protector: all Look out Sir rolls for a independent character joined to a unit with this rule automatically succeed

Nova Reactor: Declare your use of the Nova Reactor at the beginning of each movement phase. If you use it, roll a die. 1-2 the Riptide suffers a wound without saves. On 3+ you gain one of the following benefits (your choice) until the next movement phase:
-Nova Shield: Invulnerable save 3+
-Propulsor: Can move 4d6
-Chain fire: Can fire the twin-linked fusion blaster, twin-linked plasma rifle or twin-linked missiles twice
-Nova charge: Can use the nova charge profile of its weapons.

Tactical Fall-Back: Shi'Vre and his unit can consolidate after firing Overwatch.

Drone Turret: Recon Drones embark on a Devilfish as a passenger but they don't count for the transport capacity.

For the Greater Good

Loken

Tau Codex Available on ITunes

Go to ITunes to get the new Tau Codex on digital download.

Tau are Up on Pre-Order

The Tau are up on the GW pre-order page.

Tau Rules Hit the Net.

Rules are leaking out from those with access to the White Dwarf or the codex.

Tau White Dwarf Photos and Pricing

Advanced orders go up March 30th
Street date is April 6th

Product	Detail	Price (USD)
Codex: Tau Empire (English)	104p Full Color Hardcover	$49.50
XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Team	9 minis	$65.00
Pathfinder Team	13 minis	$35.00
Hammerhead Gunship	1 mini	$60.00
Sun Shark Bomber	1 mini	$65.00
XV104 Riptide Battlesuit	1 mini	$85.00
XV88 Broadside Battlesuit	3 minis	$50.00
Cadre Fireblade	1 mini	$20.00
Tau Empire Battleforce	30 minis	$120.00

 

Tau Video, Photos and Pricing

The Tau are coming.  The new video:



Images from upcoming White Dwarf:

 

US Prices converted from Euro pricing:

Codex Tau: $50.24
Crisis suits,(3): $64.41
Pathfinders, (8): $32.20
Hammerhead: $57.96
Flyer kit: $64.41
Riptide: $83.73
Broadside: $51.52
Fireblade Cadre: $19.32
Crisis suit commander: $42.51
Farsight: $50.24
Shi´vre (Finecast) $20.61
Sha´ng (Finecast): $16.75

I am a bit sad that Games W0rkshop didn't re-do the Crisis suits.  With all the cool Forge World suits, and with the Tau cosntantly updating their tech, we were due some new suits.

For the Greater Good!

Loken

More Tau Photos and Rules

Just for the record, I love Giant Robots!  Even if they have scrawny Tau in them.  The latest Tau rules and pics from Kirby's 3++ are out and we will be seeing the Tau in two weeks!

Tau Photos and details

 "Sun Shark Bomber"/"Razor Shark Fighter" combo kit

Tau are coming April 6th.  A new flyer combo kit and an enormous XV-104 Riptide Battlesuit.

via neko over on Warseer 


Looking at the double spread:
- The flyer on the left is a gunship. The chin-mounted burst cannon you can see, but the main weapon is actually mounted on the underside of the tail, and is some sort of turreted array of ion weapons. My first thought is that this should make the flyer easier to use, as you don't need to be pointing at the target. It also has 2 pop-up seeker missiles.
- The flyer on the right is the bomber. It doesn't actually carry any bombs, but instead has a generator for forming bombs out of plasma as they're needed. It also has a detachable drone fighter in each wing for defense.
- Below the bomber, you should be able to make out a lot of white missile tips. These all belong to a Broadside model. The uppermost bundle of missiles is a shoulder-mounted pod, whilst a bit lower you can see 2 more bundles of missiles in arm mounted pods. Also, to the right of the shoulder pod you may be able to make out a seeker missile pointing straight up - this is the suit mounted seeker I mentioned.
- To the right of that you have the XV104 Riptide. You should be able to make out an ion cannon of some sort on its right arm, and a shield on its left. 

- Here we can see the box art for the XV104, this time armed with some sort of uber-burst cannon. On this shot you might be able to make out the twin support weapons mounted under the main gun. It also comes with 2 shielded missile drones.
- And another picture of the bomber.

- Pathfinders. You can't really make out the new experimental weapons I'm afraid, but you can certainly see that one of the drones is beefier than the rest. If I understand right, this drone can sit in place of the cupola on the devilfish, and grant some sort of C3 bonuses.
- Broadside suit. In this shot you can see it built with the twin heavy rail rifle (the rifle you can see is actually 2 heavy rail rifles side by side).
- Crisis team. It's just the current suits repacked into boxes of 3.

Redone plastic Pathfinders Kit (10 Pathfinders, 3 drones)
Broadsides in a single-model plastic kit (1 suit, 2 drones)
Crisis Suits in a three-model plastic kit (3 suits, 6 drones)

Another tidbit not shown:
- The XV8 variant is a finecast commander's varient. It looks similar to the XV8 (maybe with longer limbs?), and may well have the same rules, but is posed with the hand units deployed. 

A much needed upgrade for Tau and some cool new kits.  Sadly, the Crisis suits arent being redone.  I think they needed all to be redone as Forge World style suits.

Loken

Are Tau coming in April?

A pre-release copy of the new Black Library novella "Shadowsun" is on eBay right now and rumors are all over about Tau being the April codex release.  

RUMORS

shaso iceborn on Warseer posted this:
  *There will be no new races (no Demiurge after all).  *Kroot will be expanded,  *New Vespid were play-tested I am awaiting confirmation as to whether or not they made into final print. *There are multiple fliers and and new units. 
This post is intentionally vague until I can gain confirmation of units.


Shaso Iceborn also left a comment on Faeit 212:

For Tau lovers, I wouldn't worry about a backache in April as your wallet might just become a lot lighter.

Shaso seems to be a credible source and  I would tend to believe this rumor.  Call it wishful thinking maybe!
 

THE EBAY AD

Braden Campbell SHADOWSUN 1st/HB MINT Warhammer 40K Tau Novella Pre-Release
Jizzlefinger brings you SHADOWSUN by Braden Campbell. Published in 2013 by Black Library. MINT condition, brand new and unread. A nice surprise to find this 128 page Tau Hardback Novella sitting on the table at the 2013 Black Library Live! event. I can't find any other details about this book yet, all I know is it's a pre-release and have found vague mentions of it being out as a general release sometime in March, but have found no mention of it yet on the Black Library website. I'm guessing it will be released as a direct exclusive much like Yarrick : Golgotha Unchained and Flesh Of Cretacia. 

THE BOOK

SHADOWSUN - The Last Of Kirku's Line

Commander Shadowsun, child of the famed Kiru and protege of the legendary Commander Puretide, is destined to lead the next phase of the Tau Empire's expansion... if she can survive the trials before her. Crash-landed on an enemy-held planet, with foes all around and a seemingly impossible mission to complete. Shadowsun is determined to achieve victory, even at the cost of her life. But when she receives a message that tears her world apart, Shadowsun must make a choice unthinkable to most Tau; to abandon her duty for the sake of family, or continue to fight for the Greater Good.


So there you go.  I know there are a lot of Tau players who will be very happy when the new codex comes out.  And I especially hope that GW pushes the Tau along fluff wise, giving them new technology, as it is cool to have a race that is constantly evolving (well, besides the Nids!).  Crisis Suits are due for a replacement as the Forgeworld models have been cooler for about 7 years now!

Loken