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Well, let's look at the comparable transport aircraft: Eldar Vampire Raider and Marine Thunderhawk.
Vampire Raider (200 points)
WE-Aircraft, Bomber, 5+sv, 6+cc, 4+ff
2x Vampire Pulse Laser: 45cm AT4+ Pulse, Fixed Forward Arc
Scatter Laser: 30cm AP5+/AT5+/AA5+ Fixed Forward Arc
Notes: Damage Capacity 2. Planetfall. Reinforced Armour. May transport eight of the following units: Autarch, Farseer, Guardian, Striking Scorpions, Howling Banshees, Fire Dragons, Dire Avengers, Swooping Hawks, Warp Spiders, Dark Reapers, Heavy Weapon Platform, Support Weapon Platform, Wraithguard, Rangers.
Critical Hit Effect: The Vampire?s control surfaces have been damaged and it is destroyed.
Thunderhawk (200 points)
WE-Aircraft, Bomber, 4+sv, 6+cc, 4+ff
Battle Cannon: 75cm AP4+/AT4+ Fixed Forward Arc
2x Twin Heavy Bolters: 30cm AP4+/AA5+ Fixed Forward Arc
1x Twin Heavy Bolter: 15cm AP4+AA5+ Right Arc
1x Twin Heavy Bolter: 15cm AP4+AA5+ Left Arc
DC2, Critical=boom.
Notes: Planetfall, Reinforced Armour, Transport (may carry eight of the following units: Space Marine Tactical, Assault, Devastator , Scout, Bike, Terminator or Dreadnought units. Terminators and Dreadnoughts take up two spaces each.)
They both transport 8 stands of pretty much any non-vehicle unit in the army. They both carry a good array of weapons and decent armor, as they're intended to go into harm's way.
Now, let's look at the Orca:
Orca Dropship (100 points)
War Engine Aircraft, Bomber, 4+sv, 6+cc, 6+ff
Twin-linked Burst Cannon: 15cm AP4+/AA6+
Twin-linked Missile Pods: 45cm AP4+/AT4+ Forward Arc
Aircraft Seeker Missiles: 45cm AT6+ Guided Missiles
Damage Capacity 2. Critical Hit Effect: The Orca?s control surfaces are damaged. The pilot loses control and the Orca crashes to the ground. The Orca and all models on board are destroyed.
Notes: Planetfall, Transport (may carry up to ten of the following units: Fire Warriors, Pathfinders, Stealth, Gun Drones, Heavy Drones, Kroot Carnivore Squads, Crisis, Broadsides; Crisis and Broadsides take up two spaces each)
Orcas come out of the 1/3 Air/War Engine support points, as does the Vampire. Thunderhawks (and Landing Craft) come out of regular army points. Eldar and Marines use Air Assaults to combat drop into engagements. The Tau largely use the Orca to deliver broadsides to firing points (a much less effective attack method than simply engaging), or to drop large numbers of Kroot and/or Fire Warriors into combat. I've never used Orcas to Air Assault troops, I use them to deploy Broadsides. I'm not convinced that Air Assaulting Kroot or Fire Warriors is an effective means of using them. What's everyone else's experience been?
As regards your first note, cheap activations, Orcas are competing with Morays, Barracudas, and both Tiger Shark variants for space. I certainly make sure that I have my air cover before I add transports to the list. In a typical 'Tournament' game of 2700 points, that's 900 points of support max. Now, I always take at least one formation of Barracudas, so there's 650 points left (=6 Orcas, with some left over). That still leaves some serious weakness in the list, so I usually take a couple Tigersharks. There's 350 left. Take an AX10 for Superheavy/Titan-busting, and there's just enough points left for the one Orca my Broadsides need, with 25 points left. Alternately, replace the AX10 with a Hero and Tracer salvo.
Maybe that's a problem in larger games, but I don't see the activation problem happening in 3k (+/-500 points) games. It could also be that I play Tau very differently than you do, so I just don't see why someone would build an army that way (IMO, if you want to air assault like that, play panzee Eldar or Beakee Marines, not Tau).
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"For the Lion and the Emperor!"
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