Greetings, honoured gue’la, and welcome to the next instalment in our Faction Focus series. This time, we get the latest strategic developments from the T’au Empire. For the Greater Good!
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Advanced Acquisition Cadre
As a faction focused heavily on ranged combat, the new hidden rules have a big impact on the T’au Empire’s modus operandi – both when firing at enemy units and when keeping their own gun line safe. Their dedicated stealth and reconnaissance specialists have lots of tools for taking advantage of these new rules when part of an Advanced Acquisition Cadre, including the ability to remain completely undetected while firing.
The best defence is not being shot at all, isn’t it? Pathfinder Teams will be especially fond of the Expert Fieldcraft ability, as their ion rifles and rail rifles have the range to stay well outside the standard detection range of 15”, and taking a Pulse Accelerator Drone can even get their pulse carbines up to 26”.
Of course, being that far away doesn’t help much if they can’t shoot hidden units in return, and that’s where the Unmasking Suite enhancement comes in. Up to three of your recon units – including the mighty Ghostkeel Battlesuit – can reveal their own targets, increasing all but the most furtive of units to a detection range of 24” until their attacks are finished.
Being hidden isn’t a foolproof defence, though, and enemies who get close enough can still shoot at your relatively fragile troops. A spot of Autoreactive Camouflage can increase their survivability significantly, and even boosts Stealth Battlesuits up to the coveted 2+ Save.
Auxiliary Cadre
T’au Empire armies love the mix-and-match detachment system, as their alien auxiliaries can flex all kinds of interesting abilities without giving up dedicated support for your favourite battlesuits or vehicles. The new Auxiliary Cadre works great with the Advanced Acquisition Cadre by further enhancing Stealth and Ghostkeel battlesuits while having them support your Kroot and Vespid.
Units of Kroot placed ahead of your firing line can now help them see into hidden enemy groups by extending their detection range, and as they can do it at any point in the Shooting phase, it can help reveal targets you want to spot with the For the Greater Good ability – which needs its target to be visible.
While Vespid can simply Deep Strike close enough to spot their target, Kroot need a little more legwork to get up the board… unless your Shaper has the Student of Kauyon enhancement. Dropping three units of 20 Kroot Carnivores out of nowhere is a good lark, and since they’re exceptionally good at grabbing objectives with their Fieldcraft ability, it’s a tactically sound move too.
Then, when you’ve got your Kroot and Vespid all nice and close, you can hit one of your shooting units with the Guided by Unity stratagem to really put the hurt on. You’ll have your Stealth Battlesuits nice and close already, and Lethal Hits loves the fire rate of a burst cannon.
Experimental Prototype Cadre
Fire Caste commanders in battlesuits are a time-honoured T’au Empire favourite, and the new Experimental Prototype Cadre detachment is all about improving them specifically.
Extra range helps to keep them and the units they lead away from the threat of enemy charges, and when they’re leading a Crisis Sunforge Battlesuit team, it’ll ensure their fusion blasters can be inside their Melta range after a Deep Strike.
The T’au Empire is rightly known for the relentless pace of its technological advancement, and prototype weapon systems are constantly being shipped out to experienced pilots for testing. The Supernova Launcher enhancement, for instance, turns a commander’s airbursting fragmentation projector into a deadly plasma bomb launcher.
Prototypes even extend to the detachment’s stratagems. Injecting Experimental Ammunition into a unit’s weapons can help them scythe down a particularly tough target even from long range, although a little too much spice in the tubes can have dangerous consequences.
You definitely go for the Hazardous option every time, right? Sure, you have to make a hazard roll for each weapon you fire, but battlesuits have loads of Wounds and it’s all for the Greater Good anyway. Go all-in.
These detachments can be combined in all sorts of ways, as each of them only costs 1 Detachment Point, and most of those found in Codex: T’au Empire only cost 2. In a 2,000 point game,* you could mix the Advanced Acquisition Cadre with Kauyon to help keep your troops safe into the late game, where many of their detachment abilities start to shine.
All of these new detachments are fully Ethereal-approved, so you’ll be able to get your ideal Hunter Cadre going as soon as the new edition launches. Come back tomorrow for the next Faction Focus, where the shining champions of the Adeptus Custodes show us how the Emperor’s finest creations tackle a new era of war.
* Which gives you 3 Detachment Points to spend.