Goatboy’s 40k: StormSurge – It’s What Plants Crave!
The Tau Stormsurge is here – but is it worth it? Goatboy here again and we finally have something new to talk about with 40k.
Finally we have something new that isn’t some kind of expensive piece of resin from a side company. Today I want to go in depth on the new Tau Suit Monster and try to see if it is any good. Of course since we are just looking at it in a vacuum it will be heavily reference to the only other non FW GC there is out there – the Wraith Knight. With that – lets break down its basic rules real quick and my thoughts.
The name is OK when compare to other models out there. It still sounds a little like a bargain basement soda flavor but what do you expect for the Tau right? Maybe we could have called it the MissileShark or some other fish name. The random suit number fits the normal tau naming field and makes you wonder if there were other versions of this in the Tau Fluff. Maybe the other one had T-Rex arms to help complete the look? Also what does it do when it falls over?
The Stats
It’s stats are within the normal range for a giant Tau Suit. The Ballistic Skill of 3 means the Tau are not going to get a massed upgrade like some of the other armies have (Scouts, Guardians, etc). That is probably due to how young the race is when you compare it to a super solider and an ancient being that just practices being a douche bag all its pointy earred life. It only has a 3+ armor save and it makes me think the Riptide might change over to that if it ends up being a GC like this guy. Speaking of it as a Gargantuan Creature it does get 2 special rules that we should worry about – FNP and Stomp. It has a laughable amount of attacks you don’t care about and sits on top of a pile of 8 wounds. Overall it isn’t going to win any groan awards with its statistics but it still can do work especially when rolling hot on making wine out of death stars. The interesting thing is it can survive a D hit roll of a 6 due to having so many wounds. It makes me wonder if they did test this a bit.
I do think the Toughness 6 is a real low score for a GC. That is what is going to kill it in the end – as bolters and other basic weapons will just pepper it in wounds. Thought this does make me wonder if other “mc” in other books will end up getting the GC rule. It adds lot to their power, gets around the whole shoot only 2 weapons (unless your area is all RAW RAW RAW), and gives the ability to give it a low amount of attacks but still make it feel like an MC. I wonder if other things could be given a keyword in order to give it a bunch of extra rules. Man if the Bloodthirster was an GC it would let him become the true combat killer it should be.
Points & Tactics
Point wise this model seems to run higher then the other GC we think about in normal 40k. It feels like it is costed correctly as there are a lot of unknown options for it that could ramp up its cost. The ability to take a unit of up to 3 of them is pretty interesting as I see a use for them as a Death Star threat as they can move in, start stomping and most likely survive the counter attack if there is more then one giant suit in there. We don’t know the Signature system costs and it is interesting to see a lack of the Blacksun Filter on the wargear list for the model. Is that a system you have to pay for now? If so I can expect the power of Blind to go up as a way to deal with the shooting. The other options just change out is weapons and I don’t expect them to be taken. One removes the D shot and has a much less exciting blast. This guy is going to go barebones unless the Sig Systems are just too good to give up. We’ll see in 3 weeks when the Tau book finally comes out.
Damage wise this guy does throw out a lot of shots. It has an ability that allows it to lock itself into place and shoot double the next turn. The rule is written in a way that actually makes sense and gives you an out if you have to move the next turn by letting you pull up in your movement phase and not lose any of your movement. This is good as even though you are sacrificing some things if you buckle down – it really makes you plan out your turns and bring a little bit of tactics to the game for you. It has 2 set of chest missiles that shoot 4d6 each. It sounds like a lot but you will have those games where you roll only 5-7 shots each and get sad at its weak strength value and AP (5/5). Plus with a BS of 3 it gets harder to use other rules to help make it better (marker lights, sig systems) as they cost points/army potential and that can be something hard to fit in with its elevated point cost. Its D gun is only D for 10 inches so while deadly it is not nearly as scary as some of the other D shots in the game. I actually like its mid range shot as it fits into the proper distance threat range (within 24 inches) and shoots at least twice (double if you are locked down) with a large blast at strength 10 AP 1. The Blast helps deal with its lower BS and lets you not have to waste Marker lights on that target. It has 4 Destroyer missiles which are single shot, Str 8 and AP 1. That is one of the weaker gun options on this as BS 3 and single use means that you will most likely never get any use out of them. If they were only Twin Linked, or Melta. I guess you could blow all of them to pop through the VSG shields especially if you wasted some Marker lights on the units you initially targeted.
The weird thing I see with this model is that it has lost a lot of wargear that was normally common on any Suit option. It doesn’t need the upgrade to allow it to shoot more guns as it has the GC unit type (I don’t care what RAW says – it makes sense this thing is supposed to shoot everything like a super heavy walker/vehicle) but missing the Black Sun Filter is a big deal. Blind is a frustrating thing (Necron Players know this) so if they are not an upgrade for the unit it might mean a big shift in army building/design by utilizing either some kind of blinding shield (Wraith Knight) or other units that can easily cause blind. Watch out for those dirty Warp Talons deep striking in and blinding you with their rarity on reaching the table top.
The Verdict?
This all ends up with the question – is it any good? When you compare it to the undercosted Wraith Knight it just seems too expensive for what it wants to do. But again – if you look at it from the perspective of the old Tau Codex it actually looks pretty good. It does give you an assault answer to death stars as Stomp is always a great equalizer. It shoots ok and can do damage to multiple targets which is a good thing. If it has rules/upgrades that make it shoot better then its value shoots up. It seems pretty survivable with its large amount of wounds and GC status. The signature systems are where this thing might shine as it could give its weapons a massive upgrade. Overall I am not scared of it for my army but see it is a good option for the Tau player to use. It does make me wonder if the Riptide is going to get a change as this guy doesn’t look too much “bigger” then a Riptide and giving the Tide a GC status would help clean up some of its Rules. It does make you wonder if the ITC needs to change up their one GC limit in order to accommodate the new shift in big monsters for GW games.
Overall Rating: 2.5 Hooves out of 5.
Depending on the systems and the overall changes to local events will keep this model’s use in the dark. I love the idea of having a unit of stomps but with only one GC allowed at a lot of events this guy might sit at home. If the Riptide goes GC then don’t expect this guy so much as that suit is just better with its stronger weapon options. Unless of course they completely gut the Riptide and its rules.
~Who knows – we all can’t have an Eldar codex for our army. Sometimes we have to work it to win it.
