Unfortunately it's also for a Battlecannon, not the Hammerhead Railgun. The Railgun's disrupt would be representative of some kind of 'fear factor', rather than physical disruption.

It was a two part charge like an artillery shell, so had a slower rate of fire and was a lot bigger, meaning less ammo inside. The MBT doctrine means your tanks are primarily tank killers, not general purpose beasts like this. Note the British kept on with it with their rifled barrels, so can do a lot more than other nations, however we will probably switch to smoothbore as well to cheapen logistics and because tank launched rockets and missiles have improved to almost equal the ability of the rounds you can fire from a rifled barrel.

So it evens ouut. The Demolisher has a higher probability to do damage and the Railgun has a higher probability to do more damage IF it penetrates.

FYI: The size of weapons doesn't matter. IIRC it wa sin 2nd edition wich explained that the bigger weapons on vehicles doesn't represent more damage output but that the weapon itself is more sturdier and better protected against damage (hence the armour values of vehicles).

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In some ways I don't disagree E&C. The 'sniper' suggestion was intended to demonstrate the increased power of short-range (15cm) Tau weaponry, Disrupt has a similar but subtly different effect. Irrespective, the intention was to provide a slight increase in the FW firepower at least in part to answer the critisisms leveled at the list.

Also, which version of the FW do people take, and why? Logic suggests they ought to be more effective in Devilfish, but the reduction in numbers would seem to have a significant impact on their shooting capabilities - hence my other question on what tactics people use.

For example, do people ever use Orca dropships to land and shoot FW, with another to land and recover them?
What other tactics are employed to support the FW?

My word, a lot has happened here!

If we're wanting to boost FW shooting without actually increasing it, how about having disrupt x2 for the carbines (or rifles... both would be too much)

FW's are good as is, no power ups required (IMHO).

Uhhh... unless I've missed something, a Demolisher cannon still hits 2/6 times (2 'hit's on the scatter die), and scatters the rest. 2d6-4 (marine scatter) is an average of 3" off target, enough to miss completely. Rolls of 2-4 on the 2d6 don't scatter at all, 5 is close enough to not miss, and 6 is probably close enough to still hit the target, and that's a 9/36 chance of hitting on a scatter. Effectively, any ordnance weapon hits at roughly BS4 (guard are about BS3.5, Marines about BS4.5), same as a railgun.

A railgun has a slightly better chance of killing a tank, but isn't as good against infantry, when you compare it to a Demolisher cannon. That would be a good case for AT3+/AP5+, but what about the Markerlight effect? Do you really want a "can't miss a marked tank on Sustain" situation? As it is, AT3+ is deadly even when Doubling (assuming the target is marked).

Remember, the Broadsides *already* have a different weapon name, so we can tweak the Hammerhead as needed, up to and including having the same AT numbers if we really need to. I think AP5+/AT4+ Disrupt might be enough, and I certainly don't want to go to AT3+ on the Hammerheads unless it's absolutely necessary.

If they gain Disrupt I would say keep their cost at 250 for 4

So let's imagine Fire Warriors were shooting at a Scout formation.
The first Scout is 14cm away. The second is 34 cm away. The third is 54 cm away. The last is 74cm away.
The Fire Warriors have LOS to all the Scouts and a Skyray in the formation. In effect, this is going to mean that Pulse Carbines have a 90cm range as even though the Tau formation has no AP attacks past 30cm, they will be able to hit and kill the Scout that is 74cm away with a 15cm AP5+ attack.

That is... odd to say the least.
I will try explaining this to the local players but I think they will all have the same thoughts that I have.

All that said, there are only a few times when this mechanic would've made much difference in games and it certainly doesn't adress my main concerns about the present list.

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That's just cracked!

I don't want to get into it, but the statistics as I remember them always put the scattering guns solidly behind the Railgun. The the odds are never as good as flat BS4 shots. It's irrelevant

Also to your worry about 'can't miss' - you always miss on a '1', regardless. The only difference between 1+ and 2+ to hit is if the target is in cover or has some other to-hit modifier.

Realistically, the Hammerhead should be AT2+ like the Vanquisher and Fire Prism. It's in that 'class' of tank. But with the way markerlights work, AT3+ is most appropriate. Same as the Broadside, in this case.

Being able to ignore cover modifiers by sustaining on a marked target... I'm ambivalent on that. Broadsides can already do it.

Giving Disrupt is going to be exceptionally powerful. On the order of 'one coordinated fire away from breaking a Superheavy Tank Company/Tank company/basically any armored target'. I may not know a lot about this game, but that seems exceptionally strong. Far more than an extra pip of AT. I don't even know what that ability would be worth. It's intriguing and unique... but man. The more I consider the situations it just goes way out of anything the list could actually sustain. If I'm understanding right, 2 cadres of 6 Hammerheads would statistically break a /Warlord/, potentially in one activation. I can see many 'none-too-pleased' looks on opponents when that starts to happen.

I think we should balance Hammerheads and Broadsides against their unique abilities respective to one another, and have them keep the same basic anti-tank output.

Armored Vehicle vs Light Vehicle <--- Resilience
4+ Armor vs 4+ Reinforced Armor <-- Resilience
35cm vs 15cm move <--- Speed
Skimmer vs Walker <--- Mobility
x2 AP5+ vs 1 AP5+ (Hammerheads have 1 long range shot) <-- Versatility

The major factor that swings thing to the Hammerhead is the Seeker Missiles. Basically, something that Broadsides don't have. But, Broadsides can garrison and start the game on overwatch, which is something the Hammerhead can't do.

You guys tell me. I think that is what the choices should be, based more around the individual abilities more than the AT rating. Do you want offense? Defense? A mixture of both? You have the same anti-tank either way.

See what I'm getting at? These two units carry the iconic 'biggest gun in the land' that the Tau are known for. Their unique abilities should be the deciding factor, not the AT rating of the big gun. Offense or defense. Mobility or Resilience. Etc.

Could we dispense with the +1 to hit ML and make it that it only grants the ability to hit stuff out of LOS instead? Buildthe to hit stats into the weapons directly.

At 4+ to hit though you still have a 50% miss chance so the "break a SHT coy with co-ord fire" isn't an auto-win button. Remember the SHT coy is only broken. It's not killing the tanks, more a suppressive effect. It gives the Tau a chance to slow the enemy somewhat which to me seems much more Tau-like. Your not gaining any more hits you just gain more BMs.

In your above example, with a 6 HH formation odds are you'll put 4 BMs (3+1 for firing) on that Coy. With 2 formations in co-ord of HHs you'll get 8 BMs. In comparison that changes versus a LR company of ten to fourteen tanks. Thats means once rallied it'll still be fighting fit but it gains the Tau a hit and run effect so they can apply their firepower elsewhere for a turn. Besides the fact you just used up two or three activations trying to just "break" the SHT coy....

Warlords are also fearless so all that firepower you've just put on the Warlord means it doesn't need to move and damage may be negligible. In the end phase it rallies etc. and it's still sitting there.

The more I think about this the more I like 4+ Disrupt for the Railhead. It's not overly super-gunned but it helps the Tau buy time - something this list needs given it basically falls over after turn 2 if they haven't smashed stuff by then. Like I mentioned previously I'd rather play out a game than know ahead of time that I may as well go home after turn 2. Disrupt gives the Rail head a definite role versus the Broadsides too.

Quite.

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@Onyx: Odd or not that is what the rule is and how its intended to be played. It has a massive effect on the Tau list as it greatly decreases how many enemy units can engage you and therefore reduces the risk of shooting.