Tau Rumors...No more!

The truth has been set free.

First, a sigh of relief.  As a review the GW website in anticipation of the new models range, I notice good news. 

Broadsides:  TL Railguns STR 8 AP 1, Skyfire options, awesome new model.

They basically did this to make the Rail Cannon on the Hammerhead worthwhile.   Sigh. Still...  It now is.  The broadsides can now become missile platforms too instead of just herking Railgun dudes.  Easy conversion with older models.


The Cadre Fireblade and DarkStrider are new HQ's for Fire Warriors and Pathfinders respectively adding oomph to both units in addition to the Drone and weapon options they now have.  This will make a difference right away when you consider the lowered price of Fire Warriors.  And Overwatch from nearby units is going to make a nest of Fire Warriors a serious hedgehog.

What catches my attention though is that Aun'Shi is a model available for purchase still.  Now GW has told me on more than one occassion that they melt old models to make way once the Finecast stuff is released so the fact that he's metal still leaves it in doubt as to whether he will in fact be a prominently displayed character but it's worth mentioning that he's still there and overstock that old screams for new rules.  Aun'Va is now Finecast and still on the site and hopefully less points than a 5 man Terminator squad...oofta.

Back to Aun'shi though:  some may remember that Aun'Shi was a moderately combat capable character who was used to buff up the Tau melee presence a smidge by upping WS and initiative of his unit and allowing folks to re-rolll morale checks, successful or otherwise which let you fall back at opportune times.  But he was an old fart, last assignment seen going to the Farsight Enclaves, no doubt in an attempt to bring him back peacably into the fold...  And with the new Farsight model, could it be that Aun'Shi has returned reluctantly?  hmm...

They made the Riptide an elite and this is a good thing which is official now too.  he should very successfully compete for that slot and because he will, it begs the question of how they will make the other two suits better to make sure it's not so obvious a choice.  well BS2 Overwatch couldn't hurt and apparently there is (potentially built in?) wargear to allow just that.  I do note that the pics dont show Multitrackers on all the suits.  Makes one wonder if the command suit might coordinate firepower while he's alive?  Or if its just assumed?  Or perhaps just old pics that were thoughtlessly kept.

Kroot are definitely in and the supposition of them as allies into a separate allies codex seems to have been squashed, though i wouldn't rule out that they may be added to one later.  However... notice the slight change in fluff descriptions that mentions literal millions of them in Tau service.  From what I can see they seem firmly entrenched in the Tau fold.

Stingwings are finecast and they still appear under Fast Attack, so it seems that they also did not get separated out like some said, nor are they going to have a "bike option", although I suppose they could hang from Piranha's while they jet about.  Wouldn't count on that though.  =).

The Longstrike character for Hammerheads seems like a cool idea, but IG players often dont pay the points for Pask and Marine players often dont pay for Cronos.  It makes the singular tank too expensive most of the time.  Unless they gave him an EJECTOR option, it seems unlikely that a lot of players will use him right away.  As time goes by he may yet be used more but there's going to be a lot more points spent on HQ's in the near future in Tau lists, so i wonder if he won't get edged out at first.  Who knows though.  New shiny things do tend to see some testing.  Paying for the model hurts my feelings but I suppose I can easily convert something.

So from what I see, all of this is addition, not subtraction.  There's more toys, they are in the slots we figured they'd be in, and my only boo-hiss moment is that the planes had to be Fast Attacks.  Hey, what can ya' do.  If they can come in a squadron, that would be nice but i highly doubt that or GW wouldn't have missed the opportunity to sell a Squadron at a time.  And consider who the codex author is too...

Post your findings here!  Love to chat about this, my all time favorite army come back to prominence (or...  brutalized by unforseen matchup problems, but hey, where's the fun in thinking that way? Lol)