Editing Skyray Missile Gunship (section)

==Tabletop==
The Skyray itself is a gunship—a classification the Tau have also given to the Hammerhead, since it's designed to be a support unit. It boasts surprisingly heavy armor (for a Tau vehicle), and has the natural ability of Tau vehicles to pack on a field and get a cover save. What truly sets it apart from other vehicles, however, is that its main weapon—seeker missiles—don't quite work like any other weapon in 40k.

Fans of the [[Imperial Guard]] have a love-hate relationship with the [[Hunter-Killer Missile]]. Whilst it can give a vehicle first-strike punch due to its unlimited range, it usually costs too much and is too wonky to be considered a serious anti-vehicle option. The Skyray gets around this problem by means of simply being a carrier for a large number of the Tau's nifty-swell precision-guided missiles—and is noteworthy in that it is not the source of its own missile attacks (usually).

See, when [[Tau]] Pathfinders or the like [[markerlight]] something, the markerlight counters are normally spendable on improving a unit's BS, or reducing an enemy's cover save. If you have a Skyray, you can spend a point launching one of the Skyray's seeker missiles at it. These missiles not only boast unlimited range as well as firepower equal to a Hunter-Killer missile, but they don't even need line of sight to drop a missile strike. In other words, the Skyray can provide long-range support and provide [[Indrick Boreale|multiple simultaneous and devastating defensive]] missile strikes as long as it has markerlight support. It's particularly effective at [[Rape|butt-fucking]] Tyranid monstrous creatures and light or medium armor that thought it had a helpless unit for prey, not realizing that the squad could call in a cruise missile from the Skyray.

In a pinch, the Skyray has 2 markerlights of its own—and yes, it can lock and fire its own missiles in said pinch. If that's not enough, it also can pack [[burst cannon|burst cannons]], [[gun drone|drones]], or a smart missile system (the latter being widely acknowledged as the better option) to deal with infantry units or <s>heavy infantry, respectively</s> S5, AP5 won't really cut it against heavy infantry. With its solid armor, the Skyray won't usually suffer for the change of pace, since no matter what action it takes—shooting its main weapons, dropping markerlights, or even parked in your deployment zone acting as a fuck-bus for a very bored Shas'ui—it's going to [[/tg/ gets shit done|get shit done, /tg/ style]]. And most likely, not during its own firing phase.

If all else fails, the Skyray can stand still for a turn, fire off its networked markerlights, then fire its seeker missiles as regular weapons; using this you can launch up to six missiles at BS6 instead of two missiles with Ignores Cover. Say goodbye to that Command Squad or group of Berserkers.