40K: Classic Crisis Suits in the New Codex
The new Tau codex reshaped the entire world of Crisis Suits and their use. Lets see who the winners and losers are:
Bladestorm (Burst Cannon/Plasma Rifle)
Still one of the highest ROF configurations out there, though limited somewhat by the plasma rifle’s range (you need to get within 12” to enjoy both the burst cannon’s Assault 4 and the plasma rifle’s Rapid Fire double-shot). This is a good configuration if you want your crisis suits to be able to take on both light and heavy infantry, as the plasma rifles high Strength and AP 2 will allow the suits to threaten squads of MEQs and TEQs, while the burst cannon’s Assault 4 will allow the crisis team to assist massed shooting (ie. fire warriors) in taking down hordes. Don’t send the crisis suits in alone against hordes, however, because even the full six shots per suit (18 shots total for a three-suit squad) is not really enough to scare a bunch of Ork boys or Tyranid gaunts.
Burning Eye (Twin-Linked Plasma Rifle)
Took a hit, like all twin-linked configurations, because they lost the points advantage of not needing a multi-tracker… but hey, plasma rifles are one of our best weapons, so twin-linking them is great. I imagine that this configuration is best if you know you’re going up against MEQs – especially small squads of MEQs – and want your crisis suits to be able to harass them. This configuration operates best at 12”, but can harass with less power at 24”.
Deathrain (Twin-Linked Missile Pod)
We all agreed that deathrain has taken a serious hit in the new codex, because it a) became, comparatively speaking, less of a bargain and b) there are so many ways to get 7/4 shooting on the table that it lost a lot of its uniqueness. However, it’s still the most versatile and mobile platform for 7/4 shooting, so it’s not like deathrain will vanish altogether. It’s just not our only tool in the box anymore.
Fireforge (Fusion Blaster/Missile Pod)
The go-to anti-vehicle configuration, with missile pods for light vehicles and fusion blasters to melta heavy vehicles. They also work well for deep striking because even if they deviate too far to melta their original target, they are probably still in range of a secondary target with their missile pods. That tactic, in general, got a boost from the fact that crisis suits can now still do their 2d6” assault jump after deep striking.
Fireknife (Missile Pod/Plasma Rifle)
I firmly believe that the days of fireknife supremacy are gone. The fireknife used to be great because it combined two of the strongest, longest range weaponry that crisis suits could field. However, the focus of the weaponry was split, because the plasma rifle was at its most useful at 12”, which wastes 24” of the missile pod’s range. I don’t think fireknives are bad now, but I think there are better and more focused ways to use our crisis suits.
Firestorm (Burst Cannon/Missile Pod)
This one’s always been an odd duck of a suit, though I guess it’s still good at killing light infantry and light vehicles. Actually, doesn’t that make it an ideal suit for fighting guardsmen? Pop the chimarae from a distance with the missile pod, then jump in close at zot the guardsmen with six shots per suit? Not a bad idea, actually.
Anyway, this one is also kind of a split suit, but not bad.
Heatwave (Twin-Linked Flamer)
Seriously?
I guess I can see it on a suit that’s getting a command and control node (suit sacrifices its shooting to twin-link the rest of the squad’s weapons), so it can still contribute 1d3 automatic hits in Overwatch, twin linking the roll-to-wound. But with so many higher Strength weapons in the Tau arsenal, and markerlights to ignore cover… I just don’t see it.
Helios (Fusion Blaster/Plasma Rifle)
I think this is my new favorite suit. It operates well in three different range bands (one shot at 24”, two at 18”, and three at 12”), but the ranges are relatively close together, so you aren’t sacrificing a huge swath of one weapon’s range to use the other. All the shots are AP 1 and 2, so its great at hunting MEQ and TEQ, which pretty much every army struggles to kill.
Soulfire (Flamer/Fusion Blaster)
It used to be that this split-purpose suit benefited from not really needing a multi-tracker. Fusion for the vehicles, then jump away, then jump back and flame the dudes inside. I think that the tau army has better ways to do this now.
Sunforge (Twin-Linked Fusion Blaster)
Great for deep striking crisis suits to kill high AV vehicles – not so great for anything else.
Sunstorm (Burst Cannon/Fusion Blaster)
This one is also a kind of an odd split-purpose suit because of the radically different statlines of the two weapons – 5/5 and 8/1. However, it works similarly to the bladestorm, with two different weapons for two different purposes, so you can use the suits as all-purpose troubleshooters. However, I think that the bladestorm is better because those two jobs – killing MEQs and GEQs – are closer, so the suit is better at both. This suit’s two jobs – killing vehicles and TEQs – are so different that the two weapons don’t really contribute to each others’ purposes.
So how are you running your Crisis Suits in the new era of the 3rd Expansion?
