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OK, here is a general list of the changes made for the current version of the list, along with the occasional justification... or at least rationale behind my thoughts.
Special Rules and Force Structure
The restriction on embarking/disembarking on the first turn of a support craft drop has been... dropped!
Also, added the Mantas self planetfall note.
The Networked Drone rule has been dropped and folded into the organisational list and model notes. One special rule gone.
Changed the drone rule to drop the ability to shield AT hits, making drones infantry protection only, but not getting any blast markers for destroyed drones. Added the drone rule to heavy drones and sniper drones.
This is a fairly large change from the previous version. However, since the initial reason for this was to protect the infantry and not the tanks, this now only impacts on the Broadsides. And, this has drastically cleaned up the rule and clarified it.
Cant combine the Tau Supreme Commander and Coordinated Fire rules.
There was a suggestion to combine Tau Supreme Commander and Co-Ordinated Fire rule into a single rule set. However, since there are units which have Co-Ordinated Fire but are not Supreme Commanders (the Shas'El) this is not possible.
Clarified Sentry Turret deployment.
Clarified the Jet Pack move - not into an enemies ZoC. Additional changes to the Jet Pack rule have not been made as the discussion is ongoing.
Changed the alien auxiliary formation to one per Fire Warrior Cadre. Limited the Ethereal to FW Cadres only.
Added a brief note on Tau firefight values. I welcome feedback on this.[QUOTE]
I will be adding more 'designers notes' as they come up. Feel free to let me know your comments on this note, and other notes that could be added. I also want to play around with the introduction section and general look of the list.
[QUOTE]Force structure - to reiterate, while there is a case for the 'pick and mix' Tau force by the background, I simply dont think that this is a viable option for the Epic game. I will need some serious convincing to change the current organisation and force list.
Unit Stats and Details
I have not changed the cost of the Devilfish. They are currently sitting at Chimera equivalent level, and are costed at the same grade. I have not added the SMS to this vehicle. Every time I look at the potential stats with an additional SMS, it seems to have more anti infantry power than many MBTs.
Have not created a mechanised formation with the FW, giving the player the choice Human Auxiliaries have changed to 7+1 units for 150 points, with no further units possible.
This puts a significant restriction on the Human Auxiliaries, since they are now more fragile. Lists with more alien auxiliary/Human auxiliary units will need to be more specialised and specific lists will need to be written for them later.
Crisis Suits
- dropped MW small arms FF from Plasma Rifles
- merged the plasma rifles and fusion blasters into a single 15cm MW4+ strike
This may not put me on a lot of Christmas card lists!  I have slightly downgraded the Crisis suits. The MW FF attack was removed as if we have a theme of no assaults, we should try to reinforce it as much as possible. Even after this, the stat line for this was too busy, having three attacks for an infantry unit. I looked at the viability and presidence of MW for the Fusion Guns, and found that both Fire Dragons (with a very similar weapon) and Wraithlords get MW attacks. Therefore this is justified.
The loss of the 30cm strike should (I hope) make the unit have to decide between holding back and remaining flexible, or jumping forwards to take out tougher targets such as heavier tanks, relying on those jump packs to get them out of danger again. If so, I think that this reflects their background well. Besides, both Plasma Rifles and Fusion Guns are short ranged in 40K.
Note that I have not changed the points cost of this unit at this time. By eye, the points remain about right, but feedback will prove or disprove this.
Changed RailHead to AP5+/AT3+ and IonHead to AP4+/AT4+ (also Swordfish IonCannon changed).
Broadsides at 300 points for 6.
Tetra - left at LV, not changed to infantry.
This is one of those things where I would love to go back and change. If I could start from about four years ago, so that people didnt have to rebase, and persuade FW to change their packs, I would have Tetra as Infantry. However, I will just base mine as LV, but in pairs and move on.
Sniper drone armour increased to 4+.
Orca - objective note in unit stats, increased transport capacity to 12, one per cadre.
The issue of the Orca and objectives can be summarised in three points:
- Orca cannot capture objectives
- transported troops must disembark to capture objectives
- Orca can contest objectives
The aim here is to make them an annoyance to the enemy, but one which doesnt have the ability to end the game by capturing objectives.
Transport capacity has been increased.
While I have to say that I dont like it, I have made the Orca limited to one per Cadre. I would rather have this than forcing them to begin the game loaded, and I agree that they are otherwise open to problems.
Dropped Sentry Turret armour to 5+.
Hunter missiles reduced to 60cm on Skyray and Scorpionfish.
Stingray submunitions halved, support group of 4 reduced to 225 points.
I did this rather than dropping the Seeker missile, to keep the unit flexible. I did consider changing the submunitions to 2xAP6+ to decrease it, but went with the reduced dice instead.
Barracuda - no changes.
I will revisit the thread started by Chris comparing the Barracuda and TigerShark. However, it seems to me that the conclusion of this is that the Barracuda is better for AA missions, while the TigerShark is better for ground attack, although neither seem too far pushed in either direction. This actually seems exactly what we are looking for.
OK. So those are the general changes. Please feel free to let me know your feedback and comments on this.
Thanks.
_________________ https://www.cybershadow.ninja - A brief look into my twisted world, including wargames and beyond. https://www.net-armageddon.org - The official NetEA (Epic Armageddon) site and resource.
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), and plugging the holes.
