Warhammer 40K: The Terrible T’au Units
These poor T’au units just don’t get any love. Hopefully the Greater Good will help these 5 units out.
With all the Shadowsun Hype thanks to the New Years Open Day we got to thinking about the T’au. They have a pretty large pool of units in their codex – it’s not Space Marine sized but it’s respectable. Especially when you start considering those off-meta choices that don’t get any love. With Psychic Awakening: Greater Good on the way we’re hoping that these Terrible T’au Units get their time to shine…or at least hit with the review board’s flashlight.
For the record, we’re talking specifically about T’au – we’re ignoring Kroot and Vespid units…just like a good T’au army should.
Sniper Drones
It’s not often we get to say that a T’au Drone is bad, but these take the cake. No, not the Firesight Marksman and Drone Team setup – I mean the actual Sniper Drones themselves. Sure, their guns are long range and can do a mortal wound on a 6+ but they are just …bad. The only thing they are even remotely good for is filling up your Heavy Slot for some rando detachment/CP bonus boost and even that is debatable. Sniper Drone aren’t Shield Drones and that’s the problem. Maybe if their gun had an AP they’d be considered, but probably not.
Sky Ray
Ya – the Sky Ray! You remember, it looks like a Hammerhead but with a missile rack instead of the big gun. It’s supposed to be the anti-air option with its velocity tracker and heavy 4 strength 5 shots. But with no AP, it’s not really doing that. At least it can fire outside of LoS and targets don’t get the benefit of cover vs that AP 0 missile. It’s also in the heavy slot so it’s competing with …Broadsides? Look, you’re better off spending the points on pretty much anything else not on this list that doesn’t have the Kroot or Vespid keywords.
Razorshark Strike Fighter / Sun Shark Bomber
Did you even know that there were 2? I’m sure someone out there knew that. Also the T’au have two Flyers! Surprise! Why are these flyers so bad? Well, the main reason is that their BS is 4+ and gets worse as the get damaged. It’s honestly just an unimpressive amount of shooting/damage for the points cost. Plus they have pretty light armor and are only T6. Both of these are just a bad combination of factors. There is a reason you don’t see these pop-up on the tabletop in the meta (aside from the fact they aren’t Riptides and/or Shield Drones).
Hammerhead
Oh the Hammerhead. The Railgun used to be one of the scariest weapon in all of 40k. Now? If you rolled max damage with it’s single shot it can do 9 damage. Which is still not enough to kill a Rhino in one hit. Not that we see a lot of Rhinos these days from non-heretic Astartes. And that’s if you roll perfect. There is always the chance you’ll miss your shot or low-ball the damage if you do hit. Eh, if the Railgun had two shots then maybe this hover tank would make a come back, but I’m not holding my breath.
Devilfish
Look, this one really isn’t the Devilfish’s fault. At least not entirely. Transports in the current edition are in a bit of a rough spot. And the Devilfish suffers from that. On top of all the other problems it has. Folks would rather take more drones or more suits these days. And suits don’t ride in this ‘Fish. I’m not sure there is a fix for this one that doesn’t require an overhaul of some overall game mechanics. There is always the “make it cheaper or give it more firepower for the same cost” options. Is there a stratagem fix? Eh. Put a drone on it.
That’s a lot of stinkers in the heavy slot. Let’s hope the Greater Good does something about it.
