I've stated before I think marine scouts could do with a price increase but no one listens . As they fit with my style of play and in my army I make great use of their abilities then yes I would pay extra for them.

My question was serious not a dig at you in any way, if the price dropped to say 125 points and 3 formations were taken instead of 2 wouldn't they still be targeted ASAP by opponents and you'd still have turn 3 with no recon formations. Even changing the composition (2 separate formations have been mentioned) wouldn't make them any more survivable once the opponent hits them.

Opponents are going to target what they see as the most serious threats and as you have stated these have the ability to add a serious firepower increase to all your formations.


The testing we've done so far has shown marker-lights are a massive boost as well as a necessity to making Tau work and personally I can understand the 175 points price tag on them (doesn't mean it's right).

I'm not going to try to give any advice on how to use them as although you asked how to keep them alive in the opening post you made it clear you don't want it turning into a strategy discussion.

Dptdexys makes a very good point here. Along with Death Strikes and Storm Serpents, these units form an integral part of a Tau strategy and will therefore tend to be a priority target.

The crux of the issue is rather what approach is adopted to preserve them, and that really depends on a lot of other considerations.