40k Tactics: Breaking Down the Tau Ghostkeel
The Ghostkeel rules dropped this week. Like I did with the Stormsurge I wanted to break down this new suit.
For starters, the legs of the XV95 legs look a little different than the other suits. They are more rounded at both the upper legs and the feet. I like it but to me it does stand out a little compared to the other tau mechs. Others have pointed this out but it looks a lot ‘tougher’ than other Tau suits, like it is a Riptide’s younger brother with something to prove.
The Ghostkeel is big. It comes on a big base and it fills it out nicely. Of the pictures we’ve seen so far I prefer the tan/standard Tau color scheme. I think I may be in the minority here.
The Rules!
Enough about that, on to the rules!
The battlesuit provides a 3+ armor save to the XV95. This does matter since the suit will find itself in close combat pretty often due to the short range of its weapons. It matters a lot less against shooting as this suit will almost always have a 2+ cover save. The Ghostkeel has a special ability that allows it to double the effects of stealth and shrouded against attacks greater than 12 inches away. In a world where Dark Angels and their plasma talons or grav guns in pods are a real thing this rule doesn’t make the Ghostkeel safe out in the open but it does really help against other long range threats like las cannons, battle cannons or whatever.
I pretty much hate that it has the 12 inch rule here. The weapon ranges on this thing basically means you will always be putting yourself in harm’s way and it is further mitigated by the number of deep striking armies you see now.
It is less of a factor because you can actually just ‘be’ in terrain and you’re still getting the effects of Stealth and Shroud (when you have it). I guess the main reason that I am not hotter on this seemingly powerful effect is that I just don’t think it does what the designers were expecting. As a player I don’t think I would be getting a lot of use out of it, so while it is a ‘rule’ and words on a paper that help fill out the unit entry in the codex…. It’s essentially wall paper; it just hangs there and doesn’t do much.
The suit comes standard with multi-trackers and black sun filters. I am not sure what the multi-tracker is going to do for this unit since it is a monstrous creature and only has access to two ranged weapons but I guess we’ll see. Maybe it will have some interaction with the Fire Team special rule.
The real interesting rule this suit has is the Holophoton Countermeasures. The Tau player can activate these countermeasures when they are targeted in the shooting phase. This forces the shooting player to make snap shots versus this unit. This can be powerful (and further wallpapers the need for double stealth/shroud). This means that things like D-scythes, blast weapons and ordinance weapons used to target a unit of Ghostkeels can basically be nullified for that round of shooting. This is huge. Sometimes this is all you need to force a little game momentum to go your way. I expect some full on shenanigans to happen with this rule. You can’t join HQ’s to this unit since they are monstrous creatures so that limits the overall reach/power of this rule but I still think it will be huge if these guys end up being a unit that can help force that momentum.
The XV95 comes standard with two MV5 Stealth Drones. These drones help further buff the cover save. I see where they are going with the theme here but these are some further sort of ‘do nothing’ entries.
It seems like they should have just given these battlesuits stealth and shroud and not made them monstrous creatures. Right now I just see these drones forcing leadership tests when they are removed as casualties. The drones are t5 so it doesn’t make the unit suffer from a mixed toughness value. More t5 ablative wounds doesn’t suck until you start having to take LD checks.
The XV95 and the Drones are Jet Pack Infantry.
This is interesting. This gives the unit a good amount of bonus rules and allows them to Deep Strike. If you are taking a unit of these giant models with their drones it may be difficult to pull off but it is still an option when you need it.
Jet Packs are also able to do a Thrust Move in the assault phase, even if they fired in the previous shooting phase or Deep Struck this turn. This gives the suit an additional 2d6 worth of movement. This can potentially allow you to position for some favorable shooting attacks and then to ‘jet back’ to help line up favorable Supporting Fire attacks.
There was a bit of speculation if Supporting Fire would make its way back into the new Tau Codex. The Ghostkeel has it so that should end any debate on that.
The suit come stock with a Fusion Collider. It is an 18 inch str8 ap1, Assault 1, Blast, Melta weapon. Its not bad. This weapon can be subbed out for a Cyclic Ion Raker.
The Raker has two modes of fire. It can be fired ‘Standard’ as a 24 inch str7, ap4 Assault 6 weapon or Overcharged as a str8, ap4 Large Blast Gets Hot weapon. I hate the fact that this is an AP4 weapon that gets hot. The str8 is nice because you have at least the potential to instant death walking character models . There may be some benefit to the Assault 6 with supporting fire and the str 7 will certainly effect a lot of the vehicles and flyers we see in the game right now but this suit is BS3. That means you’re going to have to get lucky to get value out of the non blast weapons.
If you made me choose in a vacuum how I would equip a squad of these guys I would likely take 1 Collider and 2 Rakers. I would want to be able to reliably do damage to Knights, by also subbing out my twin linked flamers for a twin linked fusion blaster) and not overly commit to having to hope my opponent fails their armor saves. Unfortunately we don’t really get that option here, we have to choose. There is something to be said about being able to operate at 24 inch range with the Ion Rakers. I reserve the right to backpedal on this configuration once we see the whole book.
The 24 inch range on the Rakers seems to be the best thing to be doing with these suits at the moment. This may allow you to whittle the opponent down some so your unreliable close combat attacks can finish the job.
The Ghostkeel is neat but unfortunately it is just ‘neat.’ Only looking at the spoilers we have right now I don’t think this is a power piece or that it will be the backbone of the tau army but it is only 130 points. At that point level I don’t expect it to be over the top. I would only expect that it be playable and it is.
You get a bit of value outside of the things we’ve talked about so far, kind of. The KV95 is a monstrous creature giving it ap2 and Smash in close combat (plus Fear, Hammer of Wrath, Move Through Cover and Relentless). The KV95 has 3 attacks but at WS2 you’re going to need to get lucky. If you’re in close combat you’re already expecting to try and get lucky so I guess that’s not terrible. At least you have that inherent ap2 as a backup. The MC rules for this model will cause some units to hesitate charging them and it also allows the tau player to be a little aggressive. The XV95 is init 2. That makes me sad.
Fighting against the Ghostkeel seems just like fighting all the other standard Tau. They are vulnerable to both close combat and psychic attacks. The armor save on this model is a detriment but it has some protection due to being t5 and a great cover safe. The Ghostkeel can take two support systems and it can benefit from the Bonding Knife Ritual. It is very possible that those two options may true up any gaps in this model’s capabilities.
What I do like about this model is that it has pretty much everything you would expect from a Tau suit. Its fast, has good weapons and looks like an anime mech. I think we can all agree on that!
We’re going to be talking about the tau releases and how they fit into the current tournament environment on my podcast Forge The Narrative.
What do you think?
