DE > I think a DE CG is again to large, a CA/BC is a better option
Hey Pat, finally joined the Conversation.
A CA/CB is essentially a cruiser with more weaponry, meaning that it would have 6 hits in the world of DE. By definition an 8 hit cruiser would be a CG. CA/CBs in other fleets have the same number of hits as their standard cruisers.
Eldar/Dark Eldar Examples of each ship class:
Battleship: CE Void stalker 10hits
Grand Cruiser: CWE/CE: Flame of the Asuryan w/8 hits
Battlecruisers: CWE: Dragonship (has better weapons than a wraithship) 6 hits
Cruisers: CE: Shadow & Eclipse, CWE: Wraithship, DE: Torture, all have 6 hits
Light Cruisers: CE: Aurora & Solaris Both have 4 hits.
Eldar ships are two hits behind IN equivalents for number of hits.
Tau leave AS IS
What's wrong with the Tau mods? They are done to make it more versatile of a fleet. Everyone buys the extra hits on a Merchant, but the model is big enough to have 6 hits as is, and people don't buy merchants save to get heros. To make them more viable they were made this way, with an upgrade to give them more hits (thereby fulfilling the fluff of a larger variety). Also they were upped to make them more appealing without the need to buy them to get heros.
Then the Hero, which is a bit too powerful for 180 points had its weaponry reduced slightly. Since this makes it less valuable, we decided to remove the restrictions on it. This was done partially for fluff reasons, and partially because a Hero could blow any similar class of vessel out of the water.
It is unlikely that we will do any other changes to Tau, as the other proposed things are very... out there.
Also there are a lot of things being tossed around for fluff reasons, however that doesn't incorporate the scope of this project, in this case fluff<gameplay, but some can be incorporated if it makes sense for gameplay reasons.
These two things that were done, will make the Tau fleet not necessarily look like: Explorers+Merchants=Heros, and will make the Merchant a viable CL on its own. The ship is widely considered underpowered, and rarely taken in favor of explorers.
Of All fleets the Tau probably have the fewest things 'wrong' with them.