XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit
The XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit is the main battlesuit of the the Tau Empire. Seen in every campaign the Tau have been involved in, the XV-8 Crisis suit is piloted only by those who have reached the rank of Shas'ui, but is ubiquitous enough that it is commonly used by many commanders in the Tau Empire as well. The suit itself is highly customisable, capable of carrying a wide variety of weapon load-outs and specialist equipment, including rare signature systems.
Description
The XV8 is the Tau's general-purpose workhorse battlesuit. It's big enough to fit the pilot in its chest and tough enough to sustain punishment that could kill a Space Marine. It has four hard points (two on each hand and two on the shoulders) that can be used to install a dazzling variety of weapons and/or support systems, although most suits only have the reactor output and computing power for three systems; the "Enforcer" commander variant can support up to four. The most common loadout for Crisis suits is two weapons and one support system, and it's almost unheard of for players to take three guns or three systems. It also comes with jump jets that allow it to bypass dangerous/impassable terrain and quickly shoot at enemies and jump back to safety before the enemy has any time to react. Crisis suits are usually deployed in teams of three, known as Ta'Ro'Cha, which are usually composed of close friends who have served together since they were Shas'la. Occasionally a pilot who has lost both his comrades can become a solitary warrior, or Monat. Depending on how the death of his fellows affected him, he can become either a Rambo or a Kamikaze.
The XV8 was created during the First Sphere of Expansion, but was only used very sparely because the energy generators at the time were too weak to power the heavy suit for longer than an hour or so at a time. On top of that, the anti-gravity drive wasn't invented yet, so it was a ponderous piece of junk. Later, the XV8 got both a powerful internal generator and a gravitic drive, and its reputation among Tau military technology climbed until it became the mainstay battlesuit of the Tau Empire.
Tactical Properties
Just Dropping In
Tau battlesuits all have the ability to Deep-Strike onto the battlefield (except for the Broadside and R'Varna models, as they lack jetpacks). Crisis suits can make the best use of this ability as they have the greatest level of tactical variety, given their wide choice of weaponry and support systems. As long as you have a properly prepped Crisis suit team held back in reserves, you can adapt to anything your opponent throws at you.
Jump-Shoot-Jump
Jetpacks man, just, fucking jetpacks. Roll 2D6, move anywhere you want within that distance, and you only check for terrain if you land in a bad place. In addition, jetpack infantry status confers the Relentless special rule. Enjoy shooting heavy weapons on the move. Optionally, double-tap those plasma rifles into a squad of Tactical Marines or Terminators, and leap behind an obscuring wall to escape return fire (or charge what's left of the Tactical Squad if you're feeling ballsy. Just don't charge the Terminators).
Melee
No, you still don't want it to happen even with battlesuits, but if you run out of options, Crisis teams actually aren't half bad in an assault. They have two base attacks at S5, which can pretty easily take out light infantry such as Guardsmen and Ork Boyz. However, WS2 and I2 means they're dead against heavier assult troops, but then again, so are many things. Keep in mind though that a single Marine-wielded power fist or any other S8 attack means instant death for the T4 Crisis suits, so only try this against light or injured foes where a piss poor initiative and weapon skill are largely irrelevant. Assaulting tanks with a rear AV of 10 (which is almost all of them) is fine and reasonable, because a) they don't fight back, b) you hit them on 3+ with your S5 attacks, which against AV10 means 2 hull points off on average, and even against AV11 (Necron Barges and Arks) you'd statistically deal 1 HP of damage. The only time you would really need to do this though is if your battlesuit team was outfitted with only anti-infantry weaponry and didn't have any fusion blasters, missile pods, or other guns that would do the job much more effectively. Or if the tank in question is still standing with one or may be two HP after getting shot by said guns, and you really want it dead before it could shoot back.
Crisis Suit Variants
XV-8 Crisis Suit
The basic suit. Nothing in the galaxy quite like it. Think of the Leman Russ, and how it works (or better yet check out its page). 22 points base, but tooled up with the most expensive options it will break 80, so try not to go overboard. Its strength is its versatility; you can outfit it to handle literally any foe.
XV-81 Crisis Suit
A bulkier variant of the Crisis Suit, it has an integrated smart missile system, but this system also costs it a bit of customization. That said, these missiles are handy in granting the Tau ranged bombardment (as if that was ever something they were in dire need of).
XV-84 Crisis Suit
This variant gets integrated target locks and networked markerlights. These suits are basically meant to be targeters for their teams, using these systems to aid with assaults.
XV-89 Crisis Suit
Fluff-wise, this one is meant to be really bulky and hard to move around in, eventually being scrapped for the iridium armor. The issue with this is that crunch-wise, it's essentially identical to the basic Crisis suit save for a slightly curvier head and pauldrons. Most suits of this series were decommissioned and scraped after the field testing phase in favor of a better designed XV-8-02.
XV-8-05 Enforcer Suit
A Crisis variant piloted by Tau Shas'el and Shas'o commanders on the battlefield. It's mostly the same as a basic Crisis suit; the only real difference between them is that the Enforcer has some flashier bitz and articulated fingers on one hand, as well as an extra hard point for weaponry and support systems. It's also slightly taller than a standard Crisis suit. If you don't like Finecast (or are really cheap) you could always use a regular suit in its place; just be sure to tell your opponent which is which.
XV-8-02 Iridium Suit
A rare prototype of an advanced defensive system, the "Iridium" suit is made using an experimental iridium alloy, granting it greater defensive properties than the normal Crisis suits. This variant of the XV-8 is rarely seen on the battlefield, and more commonly given to a commander or his bodyguards to aid them in their tasks.
XV-8-06 Coldstar Suit
No rules or images for this suit exist; it is only mentioned in the fluff. It is designed for combat in the vacuum of space and carries a whole lot of unique support and weapon systems.
Useful Weapon and System Combinations
Fire Crisis
A combination of dual flamers and vectored retro-thrusters as a support system. This allows you to throw down 2 templates before darting away in the Assault Phase and will keep you up close and personal with the enemy's infantry, while the vectored retro-thrusters allow you a chance to escape from melee, even if at Initiative 2. A whole squad of three XV8s with this configuration is able to dish out a genuine HELL on the battlefield, eating hordes of light infantry like there's no tomorrow, and even Terminators wouldn't charge them lightheartedly. And for an extra bonus, they're cheap too, with the team coming in at 111 points in total (37 points per suit).
- Getting a chance to test this one out in a 500 pointer vs. Tyranids. Only piece I didn't get was the retro-thrusters, but I'll put up how many points I manage to earn with this setup.
- Managed to strip 5 wounds off of a Carnifex and take out a Tyranid Warrior over the course of 2 games, but they kept fire off of my Stealth Suits while they wiped from the other side. So they didn't earn their points, but they presented enough of a threat to let my other units do their thing relatively unmolested. Tactically sound, but leave the vectored retro-thrusters at home if you're not taking drones or up against Imperial Guard, and be prepared to lose them early against anyone else.
Field of Fire
A combination of 2 burst cannons and a target lock. This allows you to have a group of three Crisis suits threaten three separate enemy units at the same time with eight S5, AP5 shots EACH (24 total). Keep in mind that only two of the suits need a target lock; just remember to designate which suit doesn't have one, and then it counts as the main squad, while the other two fire at separate targets. This allows you to free up a few points and give the one suit a drone controller and marker drones, so the target lock suits can keep fire off of your marker's back while he marks up the important targets and makes all those burst cannon shots count. You see, Tau victories are about synergy!
Tank Wrecker
A Crisis suit Shas'vre with dual fusion blasters and an Onager Gauntlet. This unit spells DOOM! in one turn for any light vehicle with 2 hull points, and stands a decent chance at dealing with vehicles with 3 hull points in one turn. You can exchange the Onager Gauntlet for a velocity tracker to make a short-range anti-air unit that can force your opponent's air transports to take the long way around or risk dealing with this.
Commander Dakka
Take a Crisis suit Shas'el or Shas'o (using up one of your few HQ slots) and outfit him with 2 burst cannons (add in a neuroweb system jammer if you're feeling fancy). Each turn you'll be putting out as many shots as a heavy burst cannon, even if they are weaker, but without the risk of Gets Hot and at BS5. And you'll usually be close enough to an opponent's unit to make the best use of the system jammer as they move in closer to try and put the hurt on "Commander Dakka". Add the drone controller and two drones at your own discretion (highly recommended if you really want the dakka). To make sure your enemy cries you can even put the commander in a squad of gun drones for a grand total of 36 S5, AP5 shots at BS5 per turn on a highly mobile and pretty tough unit.
Utility is the Best
A commander with a drone controller, a target lock and two missile pods goes into a squad with the same configuration. Then give all of them 2 marker drones each, and suddenly you have a squad with a lot of range and mobility that can threaten light vehicles or infantry from a safe distance while shooting markerlights everywhere! The icing on the cake is that every Crisis suit in the unit can fire against a different target, making this squad incredibly versatile. Put the commander in a squad of bodyguards if you are really afraid to lose him.
The Indomitable
An Enforcer suit commander equipped with a drone controller, a stimulant injector, a shield generator, iridium armour, and a weapon of your choice (a cyclic ion blaster might be fun as Gets Hot has a very low chance of hurting someone with all these saves), then bubble-wrap him in shield drones and laugh as you've got something that can only be insta-killed by S:10 AP2/1 weaponry and will soak up anything else like a sponge. Expensive? Yes. Hilarious? Hell yes. (Also counts as a distraction Crisis suit.)