40K TACTICS: Tau HQs Named Characters
Hey guys, I am Learn2Eel I’m here to talk in detail about our new Codex: Tau Empire. Lets hit it!
HQs – Special Characters
The Tau HQ units are varied and often dissimilar, with each fulfilling very unique roles in an army list; remembering the specific traits of each is imperative to successfully employing them in an effective manner, as comparing their straight up combat abilities given that many provide important support abilities is silly. I feel that all of them have a place in at least one form of competitive Tau army list or another; each provides some very handy benefits that one simply can’t ignore.
Commander Farsight – Perhaps the most famous of Tau special characters, Farsight – or O’Shovah, if you prefer – is one of a select few units in the codex that is actually at home in close quarters combat as much as at range; in a melee, he is very much the equal of many similarly costly commanders. Though this has been his most notable trait since the Tau’s inception, perhaps the most alluring reason to employ O’Shovah is his guaranteed Warlord ability; without the need for rolling, if he is your Warlord, he allows himself and his attached unit to deep strike without scatter. This ability, as well as his other notable traits, mean that building one’s army list around this Warlord Trait is an intelligent application for Farsight; a regular Commander or Shadowsun can otherwise perform similar roles if you don’t employ his deep-striking ability, and typically for less too. Aside from his signature ability, Farsight is a very strong commander; with an unusual Weapon Skill and Initiative of five for a Tau, he also wields the powerful Dawn Blade – a Strength as user (five) AP two melee weapon with the Armourbane special rule that strikes at Initiative – allowing him to engage high level commanders and most vehicles in melee quite reliably, especially owing to having four base attacks. The Dawn Blade is useful not only for assassinating characters and tearing through elite infantry, but also to provide a strong defence against walkers if O’Shovah’s unit is assaulted by one; often a death sentence for units such as Crisis Suits, the presence of O’Shovah is a deterrent to many dedicated melee units, particularly Terminators that lack either the Mark of Tzeentch or Storm Shields. Between a +3 armour save, a +4 invulnerable save, and four wounds at Toughness four, Farsight is quite difficult to kill for anything that doesn’t pack a large number of Strength eight or higher attacks; between shield drones and his Bodyguards though, the risk of losing Farsight to such instant-death causing wounds is relatively slim. His Jetpack move allows he and his unit – provided you attach him to a Battlesuit-armed unit – to perform the ever strong tactic of ‘Jump Shoot Jump’, or moving into range of an enemy, dealing significant damage with your ranged weapons, and then using the free Jetpack move in the Assault phase to either jump back behind cover or otherwise move out of range to prevent enemies from charging them or firing at them with any kind of significance. Sporting a Plasma Rifle, and owing to his Ballistic Skill of five, O’Shovah works very well as part of a unit performing this tactic; what is noteworthy is the boost he provides his unit against Orks, due to his Preferred Enemy (Orks) special rule. Against any enemy unit that doesn’t move twelve inches, can shoot without line of sight or sports long range weaponry, one can literally tag enemies along; if they ever get close, they have to deal with the strong melee presence provided by Farsight.
Another of Farsight’s unique abilities is that his inclusion allows you to take a much larger Crisis Bodyguard team than usual, sporting a maximum of seven members as opposed to two; this allows you to field the only true “death-star” configuration in the codex, one that I would typically avoid in favour of multiple smaller teams of Crisis Suits, owing both to their sheer cost and the importance of providing multiple fronts for an opponent to target. Aside from this, it must be said that whilst Farsight is a cost effective commander that can provide a strong deterrent to enemy assault units, the best reason to employ him is to utilise his Warlord Trait; he has it for a reason, and it is a suitably effective tactic to use. Deep-striking a three-strong Crisis Bodyguard (or regular Crisis suits) team with O’Shovah without scatter allows one to devastate one or more enemy units in a deadly alpha strike, following with a Jetpack move to reduce any potential risk of being assaulted or shot at with threatening weapons. That O’Shovah is so strong in melee at such a low cost means that many enemies may actually wish to avoid charging them, which can only ever be a boon for you. This tactic has a wide range of applications; equip your Crisis suits with a range of weapons, from flamers to fusion blasters and plasma rifles, to make use of the ability to get within melta or rapid fire range of an enemy without immediate reprisal – unless they have Interceptor weapons, of course. Against a mechanised Imperial Guard army, smart placement on your part and the congestion of your opponent’s forces can be exploited to deadly use with a few twin-linked fusion blasters; in such a situation, one should reasonably exploit to destroy two or more tanks in one go, making the unit’s points back almost immediately. A similar thought process can be applied to a particularly irritable horde unit or Devastator-equivalent squad; employ flamers, burst cannons and the like and chase them out of cover and into the hungry guns of your Fire Warriors. Elite Infantry advancing up the field can be similarly destroyed through the use of multiple plasma rifles – including Farsight’s own – and what allows all of these tactics to really pay off no matter how you write your army list is the optional Target Lock that any Battlesuit can take, allowing each member to fire at a separate unit. If you are willing to spend the points, you can feasibly arrive in the middle of a defensive formation and lay havoc to their heavy weapon units, long range tanks and artillery units in one swift strike; a mix of plasma rifles, missile pods and fusion blasters is probably the most useful configuration if you can spare the points, though burst cannons and flamers are similarly effective, though the latter does put your unit in charge range. Despite O’Shovah being such a good melee commander, one needs to be very aware of enemies that can still thrash his unit in combat; horde Orks and the like are very much capable of doing so.
That is truly O’Shovah’s defining trait; versatility, especially when combined with a unit of Crisis suits, bodyguards or no. Though one should be careful not to invest too many points into single units with an army that is so vulnerable in combat and prone to running away like Tau, O’Shovah can truly provide a strong outlet for units to get into range almost immediately and make their points back very quickly. The deep-striking trick can work in almost any situation, as the perfect scatter allows you to deploy anywhere that is necessary, allowing you to avoid any truly risky propositions caused by particular units. Provided you do some significant damage initially, or at least set yourself up in a position to do so in subsequent turns, O’Shovah’s unit will provide an immense target for your opponent to deal with, and one that, provided you make use of your Jetpack moves smartly, will be reasonably hard to remove. The melee threat of O’Shovah, in addition to the strong ranged weaponry the unit can sport, means they are a threat to a staggering array of targets. Another consideration against an enemy army where deep striking would be less than beneficial is that you can always advance up the field and employ standard Jump Shoot Jump tactics like any other Crisis team, with the added bonus that your unit is sporting a commander capable of scything through half a Terminator squad in one go with ease, or ripping apart Dreadnoughts. O’Shovah is exactly the kind of commander for a player willing to subscribe to the theory of high risks leading to great rewards; he is strong and provides devastating alpha strike potential for a Tau army, though he and his unit are quite susceptible to instant death, assaults from tarpit units or massed firepower. I feel that he is a very good option to use, particularly in a fluffy ‘Rebel Tau’ army list, and between an awesome model and very capabilities across the board, it is difficult to go wrong with the legendary Farsight.
Commander Shadowsun – The supreme commander of all Tau military efforts, Shadowsun is a deadly commander in the right hands; the strength of her abilities may not be immediately obvious, owing to conferring some very strong special rules upon any unit she joins. As far as her basic profile is concerned, she is very much similar to a weaker Commander; sporting a Weapon Skill and Initiative of four, with four attacks at Strength four and a middling Toughness of three and a trio of wounds. As should be noted, she is very much more vulnerable to instant death than regular Tau Battlesuit-armed Commanders; Strength six weaponry is all that is required to put her down, and given that such weapons aren’t exactly uncommon nowadays, this means that she appears to be quite easily killed. Between two Fusion Blasters that can fire at separate targets to each other, and any unit she joins – with the exception that least one of her weapons must fire at the same target as her attached unit – she is a serious threat to vehicles, monstrous creatures and elite infantry alike, especially owing to her high Ballistic Skill of five. Given the boosted range of fusion blasters, providing them with a far safer ‘melta’ range in terms of potential enemy assaults, Shadowsun can reliably destroy two vehicles in one shooting phase, then use her boosted Jetpack movement to jump herself and her unit to safety. As one might have guessed, she has the very useful guaranteed Warlord trait that provides a 3D6 jetpack move as opposed to a 2D6 jetpack move for both herself and any Jetpack type unit she joins – even Riptides benefit from this trait, humorously. Guaranteed Warlord Traits are always useful, allowing you to make use of them whilst you are writing up your army list – any Jetpack unit she joins benefits quite a bit from the added bonus to their Jetpack move, though the best application is with a unit that is darting in and out of cover or range of enemies, otherwise termed as ‘Jump Shoot Jump’. This works best with Crisis Teams and Stealth Teams, with either choice depending on which you feel provides the firepower you most want to get into your enemies lines quickly and safely; Crisis Teams with plasma rifles – or either unit with fusion blasters – and the like get a much needed boost from the added mobility she provides. Many may opt to use her in a Stealth Team though, not only because they share a similar aesthetic theme, but also owing to her special rule that allows her and her unit to automatically pass any Look Out Sir rolls, making Shadowsun incredibly hard to pick out of a unit for anyone save a Vindicare Assassin.
Though she is a useful commander even with just these abilities, one must wonder where the rest of her points allotment is spent; as I noted earlier, a cursory study would likely see one determine she is not worth it next to the minimally more expensive Farsight. To really understand just why she is such a strong unit to employ, one must realize the notable (and surprising) fact that the Stealth, Shrouded and Infiltrate special rules she possesses are conferred to any unit she joins. The first two are owing to her experimental battlesuit, which provide her with handy +3 armour and +5 invulnerable saves; given she either passes Look Out Sir rolls automatically or has a +2 save otherwise, she is reasonably difficult to kill even in the open. However, due to having both the Stealth and Shrouded special rules, she has a permanent +4 cover save in the open, and one that boosts to +2 in area terrain; against anything that isn’t a Strength six cover-ignoring weapon with an AP of three – the Baleflamer notable amongst them – this makes her incredibly difficult to kill, especially given her 3D6 Jetpack move which allows her to stay out of melee range or of units that would otherwise seriously threaten her. That she confers these special rules on any unit she joins is in my mind the real reason she is quite costly; that any unit she attaches to gains a permanent +4 cover save even in the open, which is thus boosted to +2 with almost any kind of intervening terrain or general obscuration, is absolutely incredible. This boosts the durability of Crisis Teams, Broadsides and the like dramatically; Fire Warriors and Pathfinders even benefit from these similarly, though Shadowsun should really be running up with mobile, constantly redeploying units such as Crisis Teams or Stealth Teams. Though Stealth Teams already have both Stealth and Shrouding and thus don’t require her inclusion, a Crisis Team with high cover saves makes them incredibly hardy against many of the weapons that would usually frighten them; their Toughness of four means that Baleflamers and their ilk don’t inflict instant death upon them, and the many Strength eight AP three weapons that are their bane – Battle Cannons and Missile Launchers – will simply be stopped harmlessly by +2 cover saves. This is also very useful against massed small arms fire, which can also be a high threat to Crisis Teams. Combine this with Jump Shoot Jump tactics, and the mere inclusion of Shadowsun not only grants a considerable anti-tank presence, but a foil that severely boosts the durability of her unit; abuse her boosted Jetpack moves, and you will have one of the nastier delaying units one can field. That she also grants Infiltrate to her unit – allowing them to deploy much closer to the enemy deployment zone – is an incredible tool for performing such tactics effectively, allowing the carnage and game of cat and mouse to begin on the first turn; take my word for it, enemies will hate you. You can also use this to Outflank her unit, though I would probably go against this tactic as being able to Jump Shoot Jump more effectively than any other unit from the beginning of the game is invaluable.
One of the more ridiculous tricks I have deduced is the possibility of attaching Shadowsun to – don’t laugh – the Riptide. Now, whilst most monstrous creatures can’t be joined by Independent Characters, the rules state that you can join a unit of them so long as they are able to take more than one model in their unit – or, to put it simply, if they are able to purchase additional squad members. As Drones count as additional squad members for all intents and purposes, that a Riptide can purchase optional squad members means that an Independent Character can attach to it; this is legal even if Drones are not purchased for the Riptide. Now, provided you don’t purchase more Drones for Shadowsun than for the Riptide, the unit uses the highest Toughness value – six – for majority Toughness. Between Toughness six against shooting attacks and +2 cover saves in any kind of terrain, this makes for a horrendously durable unit that is almost impossible to kill by conventional means; keep the Riptide up the front to soak up any potential Instant Death wounds – Shadowsun is still treated as Toughness three for the purposes of Instant Death wounds, though they do roll to wound against the Toughness value of six – and you will one of the game’s most sickeningly difficult to kill units. Did I mention that the 3D6 Jetpack move also applies to the Riptide? Jump Shoot Jump with the giant monster, and take advantage of its durability to get Shadowsun into effective range for her fusion blasters. If you want to Infiltrate them, go right ahead; though the Riptide works best in a support role and its weaponry is mostly ideal for long range engagements, providing your opponent with such a threat early in the game can severely influence the outcome of the game. Make sure to keep away from mobile melee units, abuse the expanded Jetpack move, and even combine – as unrealistic as it would be from a fluff perspective – with a deep-striking assault from O’Shovah and his bodyguard for a brutal one-two punch in the early turns, provided your reserve rolls aren’t shocking. Aside from this, Shadowsun also has the option to purchase up to three unique drones; one Command Drone, which allows one friendly unit within twelve inches to re-roll to hit rolls of one in the friendly shooting phase, and two special Shield Drones, providing a very handy +3 invulnerable save. Either of these options is costly, though worthwhile to add extra ablative wounds to her unit; the Command Drone can always be used on her own unit if no others are in range, leading to – essentially – two twin-linked fusion blaster shots at anything that isn’t hard to hit in each shooting phase. Not bad! Overall, Shadowsun is a very handy commander that works best with mobile, aggressive units that provide strong firepower as part of the mobile delaying and harassment tactics the Tau are famed for. That she grants Stealth, Shrouded and Infiltrate to any unit she joins can be used to brutal effect in multiple units; many combinations are possible here, though much like O’Shovah, you should make full use of such abilities if you plan on taking her. Merely pointing her at the enemy won’t work.
Aun’va – Previously considered by many as the worst special character in the game, Aun’va – alongside the rest of the Ethereal caste – has seen a complete revamp that places him amongst the most valuable commanders in the codex. Understandably, as a character with a low Toughness and a lack of Eternal Warrior or the ability to join units, justifying just how important Aun’va is in a Tau army isn’t exactly simple. Looking at his basic profile tells us that he is even more horrid in combat than a Fire Warrior, which is no mean feat; with but one attack at Initiative and Weapon Skill one, Aun’va is not intended to actively engage in combat. However, he is a good deal tougher than any other Ethereal; between four wounds and a +5 armour save, he can soak up a lot of small arms fire quite well. This doesn’t even account for his two Ethereal Bodyguards, models that share the exact same profile as a standard Ethereal with an Honour Blade – albeit with one higher Ballistic Skill and a +5 armour save themselves. In that sense, you are technically getting three Ethereals that are stronger and tougher than regular Ethereals for less than double the cost, which is an amazing bargain given that I haven’t even touched on Aun’va’s unique abilities. Firstly, Aun’va’s guaranteed Warlord Trait is a once-per-game ability that allows any friendly Tau unit on the battlefield that has gone to ground to get back up into the fight; this is highly useful, particularly in a tight game where either you need to go to ground for cover boosts or otherwise jump up and shoot at full effectiveness and move to the objectives. Much like a regular Ethereal, he can boost friendly forces within twelve inches with minor, but very useful, buffs; unlike a regular Ethereal, he can use two of these each turn, which is pretty swell when one considers you can broadcast Stubborn and Feel No Pain (+6) to all friendly units in that bubble simultaneously. If you thought that was great, he also, amazingly – and this is particularly so for a generally low Leadership army that lacks Fearless or And They Shall Know No Fear – allows any friendly Tau on the battlefield to re-roll all failed Morale, Pinning, Fear and Regroup tests, meaning your low Leadership bodies are far more likely to stay around in the fight. These amazing support abilities make Aun’va the ultimate buff character in the codex, and perhaps the game considering the Tau’s usual weaknesses; given that an Ethereal should be taken for these exact reasons, and that Aun’va is a much tougher and more cost-effective unit overall when one considers his two bodyguards, Aun’va is a fantastic unit that simply cannot be ignored.
This doesn’t even begin to mention his Paradox of Duality though. Despite his amazing buffs and the sheer number of wounds his unit has – eight all up – unless one uses cover, Aun’va would still seem quite a target for enemy high strength shooting. That he can’t join a unit and be hidden amongst more ablative bodies is a downer, as the four wounds from his bodyguards count for little against instant-death causing attacks. Given that, like other Ethereals, he provides an extra victory point for your opponent if he is killed – which can be a nasty blow if he is also your Warlord – protecting him is definitely a priority. Given how good he already is, his signature system may just be pushing it. The Paradox of Duality allows Aun’va and his Ethereal Bodyguards a special, separate save that may be taken after any other save, with no way to ignore it – though there is one exception. The way this save functions is that after an unsaved wound has been caused by a weapon, Aun’va and the Ethereal Bodyguards ignore the unsaved wound if they roll equal to or higher than the AP value of the weapon that caused the unsaved wound. In practice, this means that an AP two plasma gun that ignores the armour save of Aun’va’s unit is then ignored on a +2, whereas an AP five boltgun that also ignores the armour save of Aun’va’s unit is ignored on a +5. Weapons with an AP value of one are ignored automatically, and weapons with no AP value cannot be saved. Obviously, this makes Aun’va’s unit hilariously difficult to kill through most instant-death causing weapons; most with such a high Strength usually have an AP of at least four which, when taken after a cover save, has a low failure rate statistically. One of the more feared units in the game, the Heldrake, bounces harmlessly off of Aun’va and his Bodyguards on a +3; similarly, the brutal Vendetta is ignored on a +2. Obviously, this means that the best way to actually kill Aun’va, aside from piling up lots of high Strength weapon wounds that have a low AP – or none, in the case of the Tesla Destructor – is to fire massed bolters and the like at him. Even then, an AP of five affords Aun’va a +5 save after any relevant cover save – and I cannot stress this enough, keep them in cover! – which, if the cover save is also +5, provides Aun’va with the equivalent of a +3 armour save against such wounds. Melta weaponry and Plasma weaponry, favoured tools for hunting commanders and vehicles, will worry the Undying Spirit no more than a Boltgun. This amazing tool is what will serve to keep Aun’va alive, though you should always make sure to restrict Line of Sight and assaults to him – as the Paradox of Duality does not work in melee – as much as possible; his presence alone is invaluable, and can mean the difference in any game. For a character that was so maligned previously, I cannot praise the potential of his inclusion in the new codex enough; he is a phenomenal special character that you would be silly not to at least test one day.
Aun’shi – Given how much I gushed over Aun’va, one would suitably think that I would stick to the age-old formula and heap criticism upon his compatriot, but that isn’t truly the case here. I will preface by saying that given the purpose of Ethereals in a Tau army are to buff friendly forces, and also that our only effective melee commander works because of his mobility, Aun’shi definitely won’t appeal to everyone. At exactly twice the cost of a regular Ethereal armed with an honour blade, Aun’shi pays heavily for melee abilities which most Tau players likely won’t feel are necessary, making his inclusion into an army list somewhat unusual; that he is also more expensive than the ever impressive Aun’va who need not worry about fighting in risky melee battles – for any Tau unit that is – is quite strange, to say the least. Enough of that though; like a normal Ethereal, he allows any friendly Tau unit within twelve inches to use his Leadership of ten for any Morale, Pinning, Fear or Regroup tests they have to take, with the disadvantage coming from counting as an extra victory point if killed. He also provides one of four benefits each turn to any friendly Tau unit within twelve inches; these range from Feel No Pain (+6) to Stubborn or being able to fire Snap Shots after Running – though none of them are truly ground-breaking, they are nonetheless very useful for providing minor, helpful boosts to your forces. Generally speaking, Aun’shi’s inclusion is as beneficial as a regular Ethereal in terms of buffing your forces; in that sense, there is always a place for such a character. Where Aun’shi starts to differentiate from other Ethereals is in his admittedly impressive statline, though it must be noted that he does share the same weakness of Toughness three, making him quite vulnerable to Instant Death from Strength six or higher attacks; a problematic weakness given how costly he is. Between a Weapon Skill, Initiative and Strength of five – the last owing to his honour blade – with four attacks base, Aun’shi can definitely put the hurt on a lot of units, even despite lacking an armour-ignoring weapon. He also sports an extra wound over regular Ethereals, and with a shield generator to boot providing him a +4 invulnerable save, the aged warrior is quite a bit more difficult to kill than would be initially expected. His statline is very much befitting a melee character from other codices, and though he is still relatively fragile, attaching him to a unit of Fire Warriors or the like serves to make them a far safer proposition in the unfortunate event that melee must be joined; between Stubborn at Leadership ten and strong melee capabilities, Aun’shi can – and probably will – literally turn the tide of a specific engagement against anything that isn’t a dedicated melee unit. This is definitely his intended purpose, as Fire Warriors and the like absolutely crumble against any kind of enemy in melee; having Aun’shi nearby to join the fray can mean the difference between life or death for an entire unit, and he should be considered solely for this reason. Much like any other Ethereal, you need to keep him protected in a nice large unit, and having him nearby multiple units of Fire Warriors, particularly given his Ethereal abilities, should allow you to switch him into melee wherever necessary to hold the line.
The veteran warrior has one other specific special rule though, and one that serves to make him a good deal more effective in his stated role than would initially be deemed. In a very tasteful and awesome addition to his rules, Aun’shi can adopt a blade stance at the start of each Fight sub-phase if he is in a challenge; much like Castellan Crowe or the Brotherhood Champions of the Grey Knights, which goes a long way to showing just how remarkable a bladesman amongst the Tau the legendary Ethereal is. There are two of which to choose from, and both are suited to different situations; the first makes all of Aun’shi’s already powerful melee strikes gain the Rending special rule. Given his relatively high number of attacks with a good profile to back them up, these can be very handy in an assault against well armoured opponents such as Space Marines or any character that isn’t a killing machine. He has enough attacks that, against Weapon Skill four opponents, he should average one Rending wound in every second combat phase, which isn’t bad at all; those extra wounds can make a huge difference in a combat involving Tau. The second, and perhaps most interesting stance, is the more defensive of the pair; Aun’shi forfeits all of his blows in combat that round, but may instead re-roll any failed saving throws. Combine this with Feel No Pain (+6) and use it to hold up enemy characters in combat, or otherwise keep an entire unit occupied; a +4 re-rollable invulnerable save is very handy, even despite his Toughness of three, and even if he does take a wound, being able to re-roll a failed Morale check at Leadership ten means he will be staying there for quite a while. Against any unit that is forced to challenge you – Chaos Space Marines are notable here – or where the opposing player mistakenly accepts the challenge, you can then tarpit an entire unit for a long time – if not for the rest of the game – provided that character isn’t particularly nasty or sporting Strength six or higher weaponry. This is a very important consideration, given that tying up enemy units is a role that almost no other unit in the army can perform; given how important it is to keep your ranged units out of melee, this is an invaluable tool that makes Aun’shi a very interesting proposition, though perhaps not for the reasons one would expect. One need only read his new or classic background to understand that using Aun’shi in such a role does not actually break with the fluff; he is revered for his heroics as standing beside his warriors, protecting them from any foe with might, valour and skill. Though using a character – potentially a Warlord – that concedes a victory point if he dies in such a way may be seen as risky by many, I feel that it befits the fluff of Aun’shi; that of a hero that will never rest in the face of adversity. Aun’shi is back, and praise be, I am so joyous that it is so; though not the most competitive choice one can employ, he does make for a useful unit against any army that isn’t sporting dedicated melee units in abundance owing to his unusually strong tarpit potential.
Darkstrider – As the only special character chosen from the ranks of Pathfinders and Fire Warriors in the codex, it is fitting then that Darkstrider is allowed only to join those two units; given this limitation, one would hope that this lack of accessibility is a trade off for providing significant benefits at a good cost. Luckily, this is indeed the case; Darkstrider has a number of eye-popping special rules that really come to life when combined with particular variations of those units. In general terms though, his profile is roughly equal to that of a Cadre Fireblade for about forty percent more of the Fireblade’s total cost, with a weaker armour save that is thus ignored by bolters and the like; as well, he carries a Pulse Carbine rather than a Pulse Rifle – though the viability of both weapons is much more even than ever before – as well as a handy Blacksun Filter that grants both he and his unit Night Vision. That last one is very handy given the more common appearance of Night Fighting, meaning that advancing enemies won’t benefit from boosted cover saves against his unit; Dark Eldar and the like won’t be too happy when your Fire Warriors don’t afford them Stealth or Shrouded at long range. Though he lacks the boosted shooting for pulse weapons that a Fireblade provides, Darkstrider also grants his unit both the Scout and Outflank special rules, meaning that he can be used to tactically redeploy a unit as necessary, or deliver a firebase unit deep into enemy lines. Though the latter is arguably situational regarding Pathfinders and Fire Warriors on foot, using them in a Devilfish in this way is a far more interesting proposition, particularly if they are equipped with scatter-reduction wargear to help accurate deep strikes for friendly units such as Crisis Teams. However, Darkstrider’s worth becomes truly worthwhile when one considers his two unique special rules; the first is that after his unit has fired Overwatch, they can immediately consolidate D6 inches in any direction. To put this into perspective, let us use this example; you are carefully measuring to stay just within rapid fire range of an opponent with a squad of twelve Fire Warriors and Darkstrider. You unload on to a unit of Chaos Space Marines, hungry for a fight; with added Markerlight support, you kill six of them all up out of a total of fifteen. On their turn, they move forward, and though the charge range is nine inches, they have the Icon of Wrath and thus have a very decent chance of making it into combat. You fire Overwatch, killing another three models with the help of Supporting Fire from other Fire Warriors, meaning the Chaos Marines now need a ten on two dice with re-rolls. You then consolidate Darkstrider’s unit, rolling a three, back out of charge range. Essentially, you have just had a free shooting phase at the opponent with no chance of them catching you. Engage troll-face. Now imagine performing this game of cat and mouse throughout much of a match, and you will see just how amazing this ability is.
On top of that, Darkstrider’s unique signature system allows he and his unit to pinpoint the weaknesses in an enemy unit; then Darkstrider and his unit shoot at an enemy non-vehicle unit, they treat their Toughness as one lower for all intents and purposes – even instant death! Given that the minimum Strength of any gun carried by Fire Warriors and Pathfinders is five, this means that you will be wounding almost all standard Infantry in the game – including Space Marines – on twos that, with Markerlight support, can absolutely devastate entire squads if enough firepower is employed. Combined with a Cadre Fireblade, twelve Firewarriors sporting Darkstrider in the mix will absolutely annihilate most Infantry squads in the game at rapid fire range, period. Monstrous Creatures and the like suddenly become so much easier to wound, with Daemon Princes and the like now being wounded on threes by your lowly soldiers. Against enemies with a standard Toughness of three, you will be inflicting instant death upon them – an invaluable tool to deny Feel No Pain on Dark Eldar units – and combined with Night Vision and the consolidate move after Overwatch for his unit, this functions with Markerlights and Fireblades to shift a cheap Fire Warrior or Pathfinder squad into a literal hailstorm of death against anything that isn’t a vehicle. The real value of his Toughness reduction ability is mostly found with Pathfinders, notably because of the special weapons they can field; particularly the Rail Rifle. Now, we all know just how nasty a Paladin unit upgraded with an Apothecary is, and how ridiculously difficult it is to kill them; the same be said of Nobz and the like. Remember those rapid fire Rail Rifles that have a thirty inch maximum range the Pathfinders can take now for a very low cost? Strength six AP one is pretty good as is, but when used against multi-wound enemies – such as Paladins, Tyranid Warriors and Mutilators – in conjunction with Darkstrider, those units all of a sudden crumble into dust in the blink of an eye. Make sure to light them up with Markerlights from other Pathfinder units, and you can wipe out previously seemingly unassailable enemies with you cheap as chips scout units. Darkstrider is a versatile commander that mostly benefits one unit in particular, though he also sports a Markerlight to provide more tokens for the rest of your forces; what he does for that one unit is invaluable, and he makes for a great choice if you don’t feel like taking a Cadre Fireblade. His only real downside is that he is quite fragile with a Toughness of three and a trio of wounds backed by a +5 armour save, but seeing as he should be kept within a bulky squad, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue; he is very cheap, after all!
I hope you found my appraisal of the special rules helpful and considerate. You can read way more about Codex Tau Empire here, and we are open to any and all responses! So what’s your favorite named character and how do you run him/her?
