Tau Kor'or'vesh Commerce Protection Fleet draft rules for BFG

[lastspartacus]

That fluff is poo.  Sure tactical bombers will knock out lumbering warmachines.  But its 40k, where the old sacred shielded titans should have the advantage, cuz they are titans.  I choose to believe!

[Vaaish]

I was taking that directly from the Taros campaign in imperial Armor III, I don't have access to the the aeronautica books though to look it up.

[commander]

Yes, used its missiles to bring down the Warhounds shields (easy thing to do AV12) and than shot it with its guns, offcourse direct hit, penetration, rampaging damage and reactor going critical.
But yes, they have something to hurt a titan. How effective it would be, lasting effectiveness that is, is to be seen.

[Zelnik]

It was enough to break the offensive on Taros, and eventually won the planet. It's easy to say "oh lets see how they will do in the future", but if you actually read the rules and the book, they are forces to be reckoned with.

In Aeronautica, the Tigershark ax-1-0 is the principle tau bomber and can wreck a target with better accuracy and at better range then any other unit in the game. Just because it isn't a giant humanoid mecha doesn't mean it's effective.

[Vaaish]

It didn't actually break the offensive. The Titans and marines had already accomplished the objectives and they pulled back the titans to keep from losing any more for no tangible gain. I still think they were a bit too cautious with the titans though, just bring up some hydras and you're golden since it seems that it needed the missiles to take down the shields before the railguns were effective.

[Zelnik]

yeah.. I never understood that.. since a railgun off of a hammerhead or broadside is far greater in strength..

And back then the rules roll would be slightly different, since they still had the "titan killer" rule... which is WAY better then Strength D.

Either way, quit hating on the tau just because they won

[lastspartacus]

I mostly discount that fluff, because it seems to have been written by a Water caste member

But it is a good example of that while the Tau have not reached general IN levels, it is obvious that they have surpassed them in some fields.

I'm still awaiting a good response to my post calling the reasoning for the Kororvesh manouverability a pile of BS
Lookin at you Nate.

[Plaxor]

Some fields maybe. They do have a better version of the plasma gun! Otherwise, 40k stats aside, the standard firewarrior weaponry is worse than a bolter, (then again gauss flayers are better than bolters in the fluff).

[lastspartacus]

I know they are better on the tabletop, is it really mentioned that the bolter is actually stronger?

Its pretty obvious from looking at the two armies that the tau have alot of tech and much more freely than the Impies do.

[commander]

Yes, sometimes the writers get confused and forget to write consistent fluff. Books tend to make this even worse.
 

[Zelnik]

buddy, in every piece of fluff, and every set of rules, the pulse rifle outstrips a bolter in EVERY WAY. Don't even start with that! I would mention things like "small enough to carry as a rifle without power armor", "better strength and range", and "able to be given to all the fire warriors without issue", but that would be beating a dead horse. There ARE areas where the tau have surpassed the imperium, but they mostly reside in their agricultural, infrastructure, and ground combat areas. We all know and accept that the Tau have some ways to go before grasping a better technological grasp in space. It has been established in the fluff that the Tau's greatest hurdle is not warp travel (they have been gradually increasing the speed of the ether drive at an amazing rate), but power generation.  Several realms of fluff show that their generators struggle to power the massive weaponry on their ships, and a LOT of their resources go into finding more powerful sources of power generation.



But to get back to the point: Manta transports are in a league of their own. When used as manta bombers, each token counts as a single manta (when every other fleet has a token count for an entire squadron of attack craft to do the same job).  

I liked Horizon's idea of making them their own ship, if extremely small.  But if used as an assault craft, they are simply bigger, and has such a massive troop capacity that can be dedicated to boarding actions, that it would be absurd to consider it "just an assault boat"

The Thunderhawk, which is the space marine assault boat in the game, has a transport capacity of 30(30 space marines, 15 assault marines, bikes or terminators, 5 dreads)  in 40k, and a transport: 6 rating in Aeronautica.

The Manta transporter has a transport capacity of 188! and whats worse, a stealth suit has the same transport load as a fire warrior!! thats 188 stealth suits causing havoc in an already dark and ominous imperial vessel!  in 40k, and in aeronautica has the transport: 20 rating!

see my point here?


I just realized something though, The Farsight enclave are mercenaries, shouldn't they be listed with the mercenaries? A farsight explorer vessel with manta transporters would be an awesome surprise for an enemy fleet

[Zelnik]

Here is an idea:

Mercenary Farsight Exploer

The Farsight enclaves are known mercenary forces, trading their combat prowess for resources and money to the highest bidder. Unlike the greater Tau Empire, the Farsight enclaves focus on the arts of close quarter combat, just as much as they focus on ranged war. While their vessels are far fewer, and are all 'aquired' examples of the old second sphere expansion, they are still a force to be reckoned with...or paid for. 

A Farsight explorer cannot be purchased by Orks, Tyranids, Tau or Necrons.

Points: 250.
Battleship:12. speed 15cm, turns 45, armor 5+/4+ rear, shields 2, turrets 5.
Armament
Prow Rail guns st 6 FLR 45cm
Port Launch bays: Barracuda fighters/Manta transporters st 4
Starboard launch bays: barracuda fighters/ manta transporters st 4

Special rules:
Mercenaries: While many factions may purchase this vessel, or ones like it for a steep premium, they are not loyal to any faction but their own. if crippled, they will attempt to disengage every turn, unless they are fighting Orks, in which they will not attempt to disengage until they are reduced to 3 hits or less. This ship may not be taken if the opponent is Tau!

Grizzled Veterans: This vessel does not halve it's boarding value like normal tau ships, and gets a +1 to leadership when rolled.

Manta Transporters: Instead of loading the iconic Manta with the standard missile loadout, the Farsight Enclaves tend to not reduce their troop movement capacity, and use these instead of the more common Missile bomber varient.  Filled with fire warriors and stealth teams, they are trained for fighting in both narrow corridors, and large open areas which are common in many ships. The Manta transporter has a movement of 20, and counts as resilient.  When a squadron of manta transporters comes into contact with a vessel, the following happens:
After turrets have been fired, a boarding action immediately is initiated, and resolved in the end phase. each manta counts as having a boarding value of 2. (do not halve boarding value for being tau, nice try!). 
If an enemy ship is destroyed as a result of the boarding action, the player does not gain bonus victory points for the hulk (as the Farsight enclaves claim any vessel they have taken over, to be broken down for scrap and building components). 

[horizon]

Hi Zelnik,
you and the others are onto something. Perhaps it won't be in the draft but a Farsight fleetlist with funky additions like that would make a cool WR article.

Perhaps a competition? Coolest Farsight fleet list wins?

[Zelnik]

I just don't see the farsight enclaves having much OF a fleet.. if you know what i mean. They would spend most of their time fighting for other people

[horizon]

Hi,
in response to my mail at Forgeworld several years ago on what the weapons the Protector are Forgeworld mailed me this:

Hi

I just managed to catch the sculptor Will before he left the office.
Apparently the turrets are Ion cannons and the stubs on the front are Rail Gun batteries. He also told me that the large launch bay underneath is for ordnance and the little ones on the front are for shuttles etc and possibly Orca Drop ships.

Regards
Dean Winson
Forge World

(I had to post because of the all gunnery Protector idea).