My first real article of this blog dealt with a post from Warseer member Stinger989. We're going to head back to that rumor now, as we talk about some of murmurings regarding what I consider to be the most iconic Tau unit, the Crisis Suit.
Now, just as then, I'd like to start with a quick rundown of what his reported rumor entails. Firstly, Crisis Suits are retaining roughly the same stats they currently have, with the only noted change being a third wound. He follows this up by dropping a some what vague reference to their point cost, additionally telling us their squad size will now go up to five strong. Lastly, and easily the most cryptic part of his rumor, pertains to what we currently view as weapon and support system selection, or hard point selection. I'm going to add Ghosts of War's tidbit on shield generators to the lot, before rounding it out with Cypher871's offering on the subject from the more recent round up over on the Heresy Online forums.
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| The truth hurts, just ask this guy. |
One thing veteran Tau players will tell you about Crisis Suits, is that for all the damage they can cause, for their investment and role as an elite, they can be exceptionally fragile. Adding a third wound is a step in the right direction of keeping those costly mechs on the field, but I have to question, is it the right step? Often times it's not the number of wounds that dictates a model's survival but their toughness, this is something anyone running a pack of multi-wound models can tell you after a run in with a power fist. Right now our suits are sporting a modest 4 toughness, it's not terrible, but it's not great. If I had it my way, I'd cash that extra wound in on one more point of toughness, and sleep better at night knowing my Shas'Ui won't get instantly snuffed by a Lascannon through a window from across the field. As far as rumors go, this is as plausible as any other, and it's these kind of preferential balances that often most irk me about new releases, giving this one the sting of truth.
“Strength in numbers”, it's a concept as old as time, five armored soldiers all armed to the teeth must be better than three, right? If the Tau weren't such a sneaky bunch, I might be inclined to agree, but when I picture a group of five suits trying to jump shoot jump, the more modern concept of “less is more” comes to mind instead. We could get away with four, I think, and if push comes to shove, I'm sure five suits represents the upper cap, and not the mandatory number, so we can still cadre to a smaller squad mentality – the only problem here is the potential balancing a codex author might try to achieve with the potential of five suit teams being an option. It's almost like the designer parallel to Mathhammer and it's inability to provide real world results. To me at least, this one feels a little far-fetched, but maybe I'm just so conditioned by the three suit status quo that I can't picture anything else – Farsight commanders, please sit down, if the rest of Tau society cared about you, we'd have called by now.
I'm going to pull a direct quote from Stinger989, just for those who didn't want to check the source material – because this one is a tongue twister. “Come with every gun option and you can choose what weapon systems you fire every round." At first glance, it seems he's indicating a Chaps Obliterator like operation. Imagine a world where you didn't choose between taking a Fusion Blaster, a Plasma Rifle, a Missile Pod or a Flamer - you just point your Lawgiver in the direction of the enemy, and then -Bang!- the right tool for the right job, every time. That is a tantalizing thought, and already we have the Chaos Obliterators as a standing example that it's possible. But what about the cost, Granted, we're bound to see a re-budgeting of unit an wargear across the board, but when the end product materializes, will this kind of super unit be practical to field en masse? Furthermore, as amazing as these omni-weapons might be, I'd urge those drawn to such things to be careful what they wish for. Unlike the Obliterators of Chaos, Battle Suits are a defining element of our army, handing them this much versatility would detract immensely from the strategic element of the rest of the codex. Imagine what the other units would have to be capable of in order for you to consider them?
There is another interpretation of Stinger989's choice of words. Specifically, he mentions Crisis Suits, not Crisis Commanders - "every gun option" could pertain to the weapons hitherto considered "Special Issue", like the Airbursting Fragmentation Projector and Cyclic Ion Blaster. By this definition, our standard Shas'Ui's would get access to a pair of new weapons, and a handful of new support systems that already exist in our codex today. This is still a scenario that would require some editing, since those devices were balanced around strict limitations on their ability to be fielded. This scenario is almost more in agreement with existing lore, as these very same systems were, at the time of the last codex, undergoing field tests so that they might one day be rolled out across the whole of the Tau military. As to which interpretation is the closest to correct, well the only people who could tell us aren't talking.
A Land Speeder plus an extra "HB" (I suspect he mean Heavy Bolter) per model, Stinger989 tells us, will be the cost of our new suits. For those who don't have the Space Marine codex handy, that amounts to 60 points, making it about 5 points less than an average Crisis Suit in the ever popular Fire knife configuration. If this all sounds too good to be true, it's because it probably is, at least when taken as a whole package alongside the improvements to endurance and armament. Regardless, pricing is a wildly variable thing to predict, and is dependent on external factors, like what other units appear in the codex, and what might be considered to have more value in an upcoming rules edition. My opinion; something is amiss, getting all this for that, it feels like we're missing part of the puzzle, even with codex creep factored in. Not exactly a sagely opinion, considering how likely things are to change from what we hear in the rumor mill, to what makes it into production.
Later in the same thread, Ghosts of War chimes in about Shield Generators, supposedly now only equipable by Commanders. he compares it to the Dark Eldar's Flicker-Field, conveying a 2+ save, as well as Eternal Warrior, at least until the model fails it's save, upon which all benefits are lost. No offence Ghost, but that sounds as 'bout as much like the Flicker-Field as it does the existing Shield Generator! All the same, a very interesting piece of wargear, offering some much needed distinction between the Shield Generator, and Shield Drone of the current book. I twill be interesting to see if it is indeed only Commanders who will be able to make use of this item, or if the new codex's Team Leaders and Bodyguards will be able to do so in the same way they're able to make use of additional wargear and Special Issue systems now. If the latter proves to be the case, we could see an elegant work-around to the Toughness issue entirely, providing us with the "superior" HQ based suits, and the more traditional Elite based suit.
Cypher871 presents to us a contradicting rumor to Stinger989's, on that paints a clearer picture if nothing else. He describes the battlesuit weapon selection process as being "streamlined", where the messy business of hard points has been replaced by a system of choosing two guns, and what he describes as a "skill". Whether or not this is in his own words, or if skills will be the new way of handling support systems is unclear, but by definition, equipping your pilots with skills as opposed to wargear could make the incorporation of new USR's easier to implement and understand. He likens the entire business of choosing a Crisis Suit's load out to being a "plug-and-play" affair, and makes a mention of potentially interchangeable arms along the lines of Orkish Killer Kans - sadly he chooses to end this last sentence with a dubious question mark, leaving us to wonder whether or not if it was his own pondering, or if it was based on something he had heard elsewhere. Beyond this, his article sticks to it's round-up nature fairly well, quoting Stinger989's original post detail for detail, even including Ghosts of War's analogy of the new Shield Generator working like the Dark Eldar's Flicker-Field. Beyond a list of April 1st rumors he lists beneath the main body of his article (rumors apparently from Bell of Lost Souls, that have since seemingly vanished), he adds nothing else we haven't seen elsewhere. In summation of Cypher871's contribution, I'm left wondering if interchangeable arms are logistcally possible for our suits? Considering the number of combinations, twin-link possibilities, the shear volume of right and left armes needed to handle the potential load outs is daunting, especially when held in comparison to our current ability to simply fit the appropriate weapon to the desired arm - not that failing to provide appropriate wargear in the box standard has stopped GW in the past. As for the conversion of wargear into skills, well a positional relay by any other name would still bring in troops just as quick. Still, I'm sure others are irritated by the potential loss of control over our ability to kit our suits out to our exact specifications, but as far as I'm concerned, as long as GW develops a balanced unit, in a balanced codex, and delivers on our armies major themes, I can live with a compromise like this, especially one that would likely lower the barrier to entry for new players.
For my final thoughts on the subject, I'd like to close with an observation. When the Tau were first in development, over ten years ago now, the design team behind them struggled with the balance of Crisis Suits. Issues such as toughness, number of wounds, and squad-size were, ironically, chief among the statistics they experimented on to achieve a balance they would eventually become satisfied with. Now, a decade later, regardless of any rumors we've read, they may very well be looking at those same statistics, considering undoing the choices they made so long ago. I'm not saying it's wrong, codex creep is a very real thing, and by not reacting to it, they would only do their player base a disservice. Still, I can't deny, stepping back and taking in these potential changes, something just feels wrong. What do you think? Do you feel as I do, that at the very least we're missing some sort of key element, some sort of primer that would bring the big picture into focus? Or are you ready to dive right in, for better or worse? As I'm fond of saying, only time will tell, thanks for reading folks!
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| the Lawgiver Double Whammy |
There is another interpretation of Stinger989's choice of words. Specifically, he mentions Crisis Suits, not Crisis Commanders - "every gun option" could pertain to the weapons hitherto considered "Special Issue", like the Airbursting Fragmentation Projector and Cyclic Ion Blaster. By this definition, our standard Shas'Ui's would get access to a pair of new weapons, and a handful of new support systems that already exist in our codex today. This is still a scenario that would require some editing, since those devices were balanced around strict limitations on their ability to be fielded. This scenario is almost more in agreement with existing lore, as these very same systems were, at the time of the last codex, undergoing field tests so that they might one day be rolled out across the whole of the Tau military. As to which interpretation is the closest to correct, well the only people who could tell us aren't talking.
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| Chaos Obliterators cost well over 60 points each, is it reasonable to expect such a similar unit, for so much less? |
Later in the same thread, Ghosts of War chimes in about Shield Generators, supposedly now only equipable by Commanders. he compares it to the Dark Eldar's Flicker-Field, conveying a 2+ save, as well as Eternal Warrior, at least until the model fails it's save, upon which all benefits are lost. No offence Ghost, but that sounds as 'bout as much like the Flicker-Field as it does the existing Shield Generator! All the same, a very interesting piece of wargear, offering some much needed distinction between the Shield Generator, and Shield Drone of the current book. I twill be interesting to see if it is indeed only Commanders who will be able to make use of this item, or if the new codex's Team Leaders and Bodyguards will be able to do so in the same way they're able to make use of additional wargear and Special Issue systems now. If the latter proves to be the case, we could see an elegant work-around to the Toughness issue entirely, providing us with the "superior" HQ based suits, and the more traditional Elite based suit.
Cypher871 presents to us a contradicting rumor to Stinger989's, on that paints a clearer picture if nothing else. He describes the battlesuit weapon selection process as being "streamlined", where the messy business of hard points has been replaced by a system of choosing two guns, and what he describes as a "skill". Whether or not this is in his own words, or if skills will be the new way of handling support systems is unclear, but by definition, equipping your pilots with skills as opposed to wargear could make the incorporation of new USR's easier to implement and understand. He likens the entire business of choosing a Crisis Suit's load out to being a "plug-and-play" affair, and makes a mention of potentially interchangeable arms along the lines of Orkish Killer Kans - sadly he chooses to end this last sentence with a dubious question mark, leaving us to wonder whether or not if it was his own pondering, or if it was based on something he had heard elsewhere. Beyond this, his article sticks to it's round-up nature fairly well, quoting Stinger989's original post detail for detail, even including Ghosts of War's analogy of the new Shield Generator working like the Dark Eldar's Flicker-Field. Beyond a list of April 1st rumors he lists beneath the main body of his article (rumors apparently from Bell of Lost Souls, that have since seemingly vanished), he adds nothing else we haven't seen elsewhere. In summation of Cypher871's contribution, I'm left wondering if interchangeable arms are logistcally possible for our suits? Considering the number of combinations, twin-link possibilities, the shear volume of right and left armes needed to handle the potential load outs is daunting, especially when held in comparison to our current ability to simply fit the appropriate weapon to the desired arm - not that failing to provide appropriate wargear in the box standard has stopped GW in the past. As for the conversion of wargear into skills, well a positional relay by any other name would still bring in troops just as quick. Still, I'm sure others are irritated by the potential loss of control over our ability to kit our suits out to our exact specifications, but as far as I'm concerned, as long as GW develops a balanced unit, in a balanced codex, and delivers on our armies major themes, I can live with a compromise like this, especially one that would likely lower the barrier to entry for new players.
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| Early Crisis Suit Concept Art. Note the upside down Tau emblem. |
3 comments:
Apologies for the length. This was a very thought provoking post to respond to, and I wanted to do it justice!
In regards to your comment about swappable arms, I've done this with spare arms I had lying around from ForgeWorld XV-89s and standard Broadsides, and it took 20 arms to have three suits capable of fielding any configuration consisting of a pair of single weapons (with a permanent multi-tracker). It was a bit of a pain and I doubt very many tau players just happen to have 20 spare arm bits just waiting to be used up.
As far as the rumors go, it really would be nice to see some of the current special issue wargear become non-special issue while other special issue gear disappears (i.e. failing field testing), and introduce some new ones to replace them. Battlesuit Flechette Discharger, Iridium Armor improving toughness instead of armor save, Integrated Markerlight, etc.
Having a toughness of five on an XV8 seems to me a little too hopeful though. I've had one too many suit die from a lascannon than makes me happy, but if every one of our suits could be immune to sudden death from everything except a direct anti-tank shell, it seems a little overpowered, especially when paired with the current design of the shield drones/shield generators.
I also (probably too hopefully) doubt that Games Workshop would require us to rip support system WYSIWYG bits off of our already painted battlesuits by removing or limiting usage rules for something as common as the shield generator. The shield generator is pivotal to my current Tank/Terminator hunting suits
It would be nice to see some streamlining to the weapon selection however. When confronted with building a suit, I can never decide what two weapons I want, and then should I twin-link one, or add a support system instead, perhaps start off with a twin-linked, and then find a support system to supplement it? I find myself attempting to do maths and what-if scenarios in my head that invariably drive me crazy and fill me up with lingering doubts.
I can also see the increase in squad size to 5 as being plausible to allow tau to build a 'mechanized' or 'armor column' style army with a little more freedom. 15 battlesuits would come up to about 750-1000 points alone before factoring in the mandatory troop squads and a force commander, so you're quickly closing in on an Apocalypse size army which does away with the force organization chart anyway. What I don't want is some stupid reason to buy a dozen more suits simply to have five of each variant I currently have three of.
Whatever happens I have hope that any changes would be for the better in general. I have no doubt that there will be many things we will have to adapt to which will make a lot of us unhappy in the process. That said, much of what is mentioned here smells a little too like hopeful speculation and not enough like insider information.
Never apologize for length, I am clinically incapable of writing in short hand it seems, so I'd never hold the space needed to express one's opinion against them.
Even if they streamlined the system, Killer Kans have a small handful of arms, unless our Crisis Suits were indeed given Obliterator like omni-weapons (eliminating the need for separate arms entirely, really), I can't see them including anymore than four before the box just becomes a plastic/resin sink.
Perhaps asking for 5 toughness is too much. Still, I think I'll keep hoping for it, even if it is my dirty little secret.
However, if you need evidence of GW forcing players to tear apart their army to meet WYSISYG, you need look no further than any Tyranid release. Those poor bugs get their arms ripped off faster than a cornered spider in a kinder-garden classroom.
As for determining what kind of suit build to go for, magnets my friend - I wish I'd discovered them sooner. Still, GW could stand to grease the wheels a little bit from their end as well.
Since starting this blog, I get worked up less and less about the rumors I write about. It's not a bad thing though, if anything it just lets me look at them more realistically - I'll be excited when they start reaching the boiling point the Necron rumors seem to have gotten to.
Thanks so much to both of you.
simply fit
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