you also forgot the auto-LD 9, and the choice between torpedo's and strike craft.
we cannot "drop prices" so easy, the Bastion is a battlecruiser by all accounts, so sitting at 255, while a little high, is by no means the most expensive.
For the Tau, it fills a vital position that neither the Hero, nor the Protector can fill. It also is the only ship aside from the Stronghold that gives Tau access to assault boats. It's pricey for a reason 
No, I didn't forget either of those things. The LD bonus is self-balancing, since it goes down as you take damage. And while the ordnance output is more varied it is also weaker, so this balances too. Also, while there are more expensive CBs out there, they (Styx/Mars) are themselves overpriced and can combine their "extra" firepower with their broadside and have long range fire. They also don't run away when they're crippled and you can hide them in squadrons with other, cheaper ships.
Hi Sigoroth! This point is yet another reason the Citadel was created- hiding Bastions behind cheaper ships that also have a larger footprint. Also, the Styx was overpriced but play-tested comparably at 275, its current official point cost. The Mars seems to do really well for 270, and the targeting matrix for +15 points is far below what the refit would cost normally. I obviously can’t speak for your experience with it, but I routinely use it as my fleet flagship, to the point that my son’s unofficial sub-plot for every game I use Imperials is “Kill the Imperious!â€
While the broadside lance range upgrade compared to a Lunar is nice, it isn't sufficient to allow us to start this ship abeam and rely on long range fire like we would a Chaos ship such as a Carnage or Devastation. The prow weaponry is nice, but it's really quite hard to utilise that cutting beam at only 15cm range, the more so at anywhere near full power. The torps being able to fire any arc is nice too, but since the prow weaponry doesn't combine with the side weaponry then this is pretty much like having a CB (it is the torps that combine instead of the weaponry). If the decision of whether to disengage and when was left to the player I could see paying 250 pts for this ship. Hell, even 255 would be doable. But with that auto disengage ... It really isn't worth taking. The Stronghold, on the other hand, is more reasonable but the Bastion is a good 25 pts overpriced. Too much.
There are a few things to take into account here. You can’t take slide-rule profiling into account for a ship that is so outside the mainstream of the fleets it gets immersed with. First of all, all-around torps is supposed to be REALLY expensive- no other fleet can do this trick period! Another thing is that while the broadside and prow weapin fits are different, the prow weapon fit is significant enough that with the all-around torps, it behaves as a third broadside even more so than Space Marine capital ships. This is a rare and unique capability that can be a real game-changer when used with particular fleets.
Also keep in mind the unique capability of its shields. While navigation shields that ignore blast markers can be purchased as a refit in a campaign, only Demiurg shields not only ignore BM’s but actually make them go away, absorbing them to fuel a weapon system to boot! Once again, this is a capability that comes with a premium that goes beyond its weapon fit.
I agree that for all its neat gimmickry, the cutting beam is junk because it’s a 15cm weapon on a ship that moves 15cm; any idiot can avoid it. We tried to fix it by giving it an option for longer range because otherwise it’s a point sponge that does absolutely nothing for the ship, which was never the intent for this weapon.
Also, I feel it should be pointed out that this is not a Tau only ship. Many races have access to it. In fact, this ship pre-dates the Tau. As for being "pricey for a reason", well yes, that's true. Unfortunately the reason is that the person who pointed it at 255 was a dingbat
Dingbat- guilty as charged.
However, the profile for this ship was based on careful play-testing and taking to account not only how the Demiurg’s unique capabilities (aside from its weapons) are quite special in and of themselves, but the fact that this ship also changes the dynamic of how an entire fleet can play. Take for example Chaos. Now a Chaos fleet of fast, mobile ships has within it this slow, plodding turtle that comes with an armored prow, torpedoes and some long-hitting weapons, with an even bigger bite if you get too close to it. It gets left behind as the rest of the fleet maneuvers, which means it’s free to toss its torpedoes around in any arc and forcing the enemy to split its fire or work its way between the Bastion and the maneuvering Chaos fleet.
I’ll tell you one thing I did NOT take into consideration when building this profile. When I was tasked by Andy to put a cruiser profile together based on his Stronghold, I had absolutely no idea the model was going to be so tiny! My Citadel profile was an attempt to correct this when I finally got my hands on some pre-production examples of the model, but by then the Bastion profile was lined up for printing in BFG magazine and it was too late to change it. Because there was little noise about the Bastion after the fact and the model was apparently selling well, the profile was never changed for Armada.
- Nate
