A Taste of Things to Come?

Hey guys, just as a quick preface to this article, I wrote this sometime ago, as in before any of the 6th Edition Leak business, so it's written with out any thought given towards that. The reason we're getting this instead of a 6th Ed unit inspection is because I had a fairly major hard drive hiccup that wiped out a ton of my in-progress files. Their back-ups, the whole thing just got plucked off my hard drive and replaced with empty files. Needless to say it was a fairly major set-back, and because these 6th Ed articles are so damn huge, it's going to take a little while to get back to where I was. So I hope you enjoy this for now, and we'll be talking again soon.

I'd like to think that I steep myself in the rumors, the facts, and the community enough to have a good idea of what could happen, so with that in mind I want to share with you my vision of the future. Be warned, this isn't a rumor I've heard from a “reliable source close to the development team” or any such non-sense. It's a logical construct of long circulated rumors, opinion, and good old fashioned wish-listing. Please treat it as such.

Shas'O Kais as he appeared in the Dawn
of War Franchise. Let's hope he bought
a multi-tracker.

It starts with our HQ's, as all good armies should, and in this potential future, the rumor of HQ Dependant Troops has more or less come true. But there's a twist; the rumor as it is now, states, that if you take a Crisis Commander it will unlock Crisis Suits as a Troop Choice. Now if you're like me, that's something that's never sat right, Crisis Suits just feel too Elite to ever be a Troop Choice. No, in my future, Tau Commanders will come in two flavors, XV8's being the norm, unlocking nothing if chosen, and XV2's, which would unlock as troops, well, XV2's.

My justification? Well first, the XV8 Commander doesn't need to unlock anything – the XV8 platform is already strong enough on it's own, simply getting another squad of them is reason enough to take them. Bell of Lost Souls recently put out a poor batch of rumors which included the tidbit that an XV8 Commander would make a single unit of XV8's scoring, and while that's more reasonable, their recent rumors have been as wishlisty as this article is in my opinion. Getting back on topic, the Tau are a stylish army, and GW has been releasing absolutely gorgeous sculpts this past year, so an army that encourages mono unit spamming just seems backwards to me. It's not to say that taking the XV8 Commander won't or shouldn't convey some sort of bonus to the rest of the army – I just don't feel like any of the possibilities discussed so far fit the bill, and this is perhaps a topic we could explore better on another occasion. In the end this will make the XV8 Commander our base-line HQ, the Space Marine Captain equivalent, the standard by which the other HQ's of the codex are judged and balanced by – it will give us our vanilla.

Note that in the original concept art,
the XV25 had Twin Burst Cannons.

Secondly, this all hinges on the XV2 being a unit in the next codex at all, so with that in mind, lets build the frame work for what we could expect something like that to behave like. What we shouldn't expect, is to see the XV22 as it appears in the current codex show up as a line suit. Frankly the XV22's current role is so niche it boarders on overkill, and including a squad of multiple XV22's would just be ludicrous. No, the XV2 would have to be streamlined, and I think we can use the XV25 as a solid basis for it. We don't want to give them stealth systems, because we're obviously not looking to edge the XV25 out, but we will take their stat line, FOC position, and min/max squad size. Lets limit them to a handful of weapons from the XV8 arsenal, as well as a single optional wargear support system, but nothing experimental, save those for the XV8's. Finish them off with a Jet Pack for JSJ manoeuvres, and we have the recipe for a unit that does for the Fire Warrior, what the Terminator has done for the Space Marine.

Dawn of War concept art showing different
load-outs. I think a Rail-Rifle would be the
perfect fit.

As an alternative armament, lets consider Twin-Linked Rail-Rifles. We've all read the Sniper Suit rumors by now, and this would be a handy way to deliver on that. The addition of the Jet Pack would let them fire those heavy Rail-Rifles on the move, and the specialized armament would ensure it steals none of the XV8's thunder. We'd be left with something I'd be comfortable dubbing the XV28, and something that would make for a very nice addition to the team – Troop choice or not. With the future of both other Rail-Rifle carrying units in question, this could well be the de-facto Rail-Rifle unit of the next codex.

Then again, so did the concept art for
the original XV22, and it ended up with
two Fusion Blaster's capable of firing at
completely different targets.

The XV22 prototype as piloted by Shadowsun is an awesome unit, and deserves to survive into the next codex in some form or another. It's also a logical step for an empire looking to escalate it's ability to wage war while protecting it's soldiers, and unless the lore takes a dramatic an unexpected turn, this is the natural evolution for the XV2, from prototype, to line production. The XV2 as I've laid it out here plays well with many of the circulating rumors, especially those revolving around new potential transports. It adds a balanced, versatile, and mobile unit to our roster, that bridges the gap between the standard Fire-Warrior and our iconic Crisis Suit, and not just tactically, but visually on the table-top as well.

So what do you think? Could you see yourself using a unit like this? Do we want the same things? Do you think Games Workshop is riding a similar train of thought? Let me know, and as always, thanks for reading!

Broken News: FAQ Updates

He everyone, just touching base real quick - looks like some new GW FAQ's just hit. Nothing on the Tau or the Black Templar in there, so consider that more fuel for the fire.

The legitimacy of the 6th Edition Leak continues to be debated, and to be honest I've seen so many good and bad arguments for both sides that I'm just losing interest in following the conversation. It's a circular argument! The believers say it's too convincing, too much effort, too much detail, etc., etc., and they're right. The debunkers say everything can be faked, and they're right too. No element of this leak is beyond forging, given a mind dedicated enough to the task. But there is an end in sight, someone pointed out that the leak makes mention of a "zeal pistol" (the things I say when talking about this hobby...), which is as I understood it, going to be a Black Templar weapon. So! if we see this "Zeal Pistol" appear in the BT codex, we should have our answer.

However, if you're like me, and more interested in talking about what was in the leak rather than if the leak was legit, you can check out Frontline Gaming, as well as Beast's of War. Both are having some very positive discussions about the rules themselves that I've found entertaining.

Other than that, everything has been quiet on the home front, so stay-tuned, and I'll keep you up to date on anything I hear.

Where Are We Now?

The Tau are going to be the next codex! No, wait – sorry, it's Black Templar. Hold on, now I'm certain it's going to be Black Templar, Chaos Legions, then the Tau! Or was it Chaos Legions, then the Black Templar? Eldar...? Maybe.

Does this look familiar? Rumors have always been sort of a shell game, you never quite know where to place your money, and even if you follow along with a careful eye you're just as likely to be wrong as if you had shut your eyes the whole while and just guessed. I originally started this blog to talk about rumors, but I find it's the discussion of what could be, to be most interesting. Rumors give us a direction for that discussion, but as I've tried to show with my more speculative articles, they're not the only source of that direction.

The face of things to come?

Not since the Tastyfish round-up (which continues to be the 'go-to' source for raw Tau rumors), have we seen any legitimate shift in Tau information, not until the recent leak anyways. Of course we've had some bad reporting courtesy of Bell of Lost Souls, and some trolling care of 3PlusPlus, but there's been no legitimate movement. We have heard a lot about other armies though, specifically Black Templar, and it's now almost a certainty that they'll be next. But you know what? I'm okay with it.

I've already explained why I think the recent 6^th Ed leak is legitimate in my last post so I won't dwell on that subject further – you either buy it or you don't, and there are plenty of arguments for both. And while a new Tau codex might not be in the cards until 6^th Edition is in our hands, I think it'll be better for us in the long run. The leak shows a changing landscape, one that the Tau are uniquely positioned to thrive in. Shooting has been made a much less cumbersome, more lethal affair. Close combat is going to be less of a sure bet, the vehicles that once dominated the battlescape are going to be increasingly vulnerable (though still a vitally strategic component), and wound magic will be a thing of the past. To those who would cry foul, that the game would be made too complex, I have this to say; As an old school nerd, I've seen D&D go soft, I've seen classic video game franchises get streamlined, and I've even seen Black Wing Lair get nerfed – for once I'm relieved to see a franchise embrace it's complexity.

There are clues about our Tau in there too, and I mean more than just obvious updates to the rules. Along with the Rule Book leak, there was a document for Codex Updates as well. Inside was an update for every codex, save two – the Necrons, and the Black Templar. More over, the entry for the Tau was written in reference to the existing codex's wording. All of which paints a picture of a post 6^th Edition launch for our boys in blue, but also that it will indeed be the BT that are next up, just like the rumor mongers have been saying. As a counter-point however, within the rule-book itself are references to Tau equipment that do not fit the current profiles of the codex. Now, to me this looks like a rule book being prepared for the end market (and the products that will be in it), and a resource to help those play testing it now, use it with existing armies. Which could mean a Tau 5^th Edition release, or a very, very early 6^th Edition release. But this is all speculation on my part.

Information trafficking remains a dubious pass-time, but if you're like me, and you're irresistibly drawn to these things, I have four pieces of advice for you. Look for the source – in the end it doesn't matter where the rumor comes from (because lets face it, on the internet everyone is equally credible), but it lets you trace it's origin so that you know you're not chasing echoes. Look for corroborating sources, the more independent of one another the better. And when something really sticks out, see if you can justify it with established trends or themes. But above all, and as cheesy as it sounds, go with your gut.

Or, you could just stick with me! Thanks for reading folks!

Broken News: 6th Edition Leaked

We've got a major story breaking tonight. It's a very convincing 6th Edition Leak, with an accompanying piece for Codex Updates. Brought to us from the Dakka Dakka forums, I doubt the link will be up for long. I'm just barely scraping the surface with what I've read so far, but I've seen enough to be convinced. There's going to be a hot bed of debate and discussion about this one folks, so fasten your seat belts, the next couple of days should be interesting.

Update
The community has burnt the midnight oil on this one. The general opinion right now is that it was an early draft (though some disagree), which is going to mean two things. First, this gives us a very clear picture of what's to come, but (and second), this has likely gone through multiple edits since it's conception, and will likely go through many more from wherever it is now in the development process. So all those imbalances you're seeing, the majority will get ironed out.

Why do I believe it? The production value is simply too high. The product is entirely consistent with official Games Workshop books. It delivers on foreshadowed trends we've been following for well over a year, yet still takes into account details that have only cropped up in recent months. Furthermore, if this were a hoax, the attention to detail it's received - things like the files creation date, and formatting, would be nearly unattainable by amateurs. In short, it's doing too much right, and we just don't see forgeries of this quality from our community - the level of effort required isn't worth the pay-off.

So here's what I'm planning on doing; as often as I can (because I'm loathed to commit to a schedule), I'm going to grab a unit from our current codex and do up an article on just how these new rules might affect it. It'll be a lot to cover, but I think it'll be a good way of examining these new rules, while still keeping our Tau focus. So keep an eye out for that! Talk to you soon.

Update
I just wanted to touch base real quick for anyone stopping in looking for a little help making heads or tails of all this. If you don't have a copy for yourself, or even if you do, and you just want to see a coles notes version, head over to Blood of Kittens, they have a fantastic point-form summary going on over there.