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Tau Drones

2021-01-03T04:49:03Z

2600:1700:E660:4760:87F:B175:5EFE:7485: /* Pulse Accelerator Drone */

[[File:Dronesquadronattack.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The bin lids of death.]]

{{Topquote|While their [[Xenos|repulsive appearance and outdated political views]] should prove fuel enough for the forges of your [[Exterminatus|fury]], it is important not to forget the [[Heresy|tech-heresy]] the [[Tau|T’au]] practice, releasing new versions of their war-machines helter-skelter, offering nary a prayer to the twisted [[Machine Spirit|machine spirits]] of their vehicles and dabbling in that most vile of the mechanical arts: the creation of Abominable Intelligences.|The Regimental Standard, regarding Tau Drones}}

'''Drones'''(AKA Kor'vesa in Tau Lexicon) are small, round, usually hovering robots used by the [[Tau Empire]] for various support tasks. Because the Tau have never had to experience a robot rebellion (''yet'') the way that the [[Imperium of Man]] did with their [[Men of Iron]], artificial intelligences are not only still permitted but widespread in society. Unlike [[servitor]]s, drones are capable of autonomous activity. They aren't very bright when they work on their own, but they can interconnect into networks and become more intelligent. Despite being common and mass-producible, drones are not regarded as expendable and are programmed for self preservation. The average player [[Tarpit|doesn't]] [[Grot|share]] [[Skaven|this]] [[Fury|sentiment]], and when it comes to saving valuable personnel's lives (like battlesuit pilots or squad leaders), neither do Earth caste engineers as they often program drones to jump at enemy bullets and missiles to save said lives, and some of the drone types are even specifically designed to be used as <s>meatshields</s> nano-crystalline alloy armored shields. This "saviour protocol" behavior is effectively Asimov's third law of robotics: a drone should self preserve, except in cases where it would have to disobey orders or allow harm to come to <s>humans</s> T'au to do so.

== Command-Link Drone ==
[[File:M2450412a 99810113004 CommanderShadowsunCFC 873x627.jpg|150px|right|thumb|A Command-Link Drone. Specially built to shout profanities over your underlings.]]
A Drone specifically built to be as much as a giant floating microphone to boss other Tau around.

These drones allow a commander to better direct the battle by networking them to squad leaders or if their leader is dead, a command over the Fire Warrior teams; thereby making that particular commander have fun in roleplaying as a DM. This capability allows Tau forces to mow down the enemy all the more effectively with relentless volleys of the [[Greater Good]].

It is controlled by a Drone Controller, which is an electronic device that can be used by the Tau to further enhance their connections and control over their robotic companions like killer drone toys. Basically Vidya Games taken to the [[Powergamer|EXTREME.]]

A Drone Controller acts as a hub of digital communications between the Drone's operator and any Drones that are nearby the user. It serves as an advanced interface between the operator and the artificial intelligence (AI) combat programs of the Drones, and is often used to direct the Drones’ firepower far more efficiently and with a level of accuracy far greater than would otherwise be possible on the battlefield.

Like most Drones, a Command-Link Drones consist of an advanced processor unit, which individually has only a basic intelligence which can be summed up as "Hey Boy! Shoot that thing!", and moves about by way of a small anti-gravitic generator and a much modified version of a Tau Jetpack so it can float and boop around the battlefield.

Commander [[Shadowsun]] uses this particular special drone with extra communication equipment to help direct her soldiers and it ''always'' stays within close proximity to her like some weeaboo obsessed robot, and can act as a form of robotic bodyguard if necessary, by getting in the way of incoming enemy fire or close-combat opponents during the course of a battle.

In-game, it used to project an 18" Ld10 bubble, but now it lets a unit re-roll To Hit rolls of 1 by virtue of giving the squad her targeting data and the like (because having [[Shadowsun]] shouting in your ear prevents that Heavy Burst Cannon from getting hot, or something).

It is by far the tallest mobile Drone due to its really elongated equipment. But it is not the largest. That goes to the Remora.

== Drone Sentry Turret ==
[[File:DroneTurret.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Drone Sentry Turret: How [[Tau]] hold ground.]]
'''Drone sentry turrets''' are probably the largest autonomous systems used by the [[Tau Empire]], used to secure perimeters without requiring Fire Warriors to be put in harm's way - this is because the Tau shun the concept of [[Imperial Guard|static fights]], so they let these drones do it. They are also a bit more [[Reasonable Marines|reasonable]] as unlike Imperial Tarantula sentry guns, the drone's intelligence can differentiate between friendly and enemy units effectively, choosing to ignore some targets in favor of others and capable of making independent targeting decisions. Although it calls into question about the Imperial's Tarantula turret more than the effectiveness of the Weeb's family friendly version.

As for why there are new Tau fortifications, that's because GW doesn't seem to communicate with FW, and even then, those fortifications aren't immobile. Back to the topic, these drones mount twin-linked [[burst cannon]]s, [[missile pod]]s, [[fusion blaster]]s, or [[plasma rifle]]s in a "pop-up" configuration, so that the entire turret stays as enclosed as possible until the moment the guns need to fire. Being considered vehicles, they also have access to vehicle systems.

Its smaller brother is the Tactical Support Turret.

==Earth Caste Builder Drone==
[[File:ECBuilder.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Earth Caste Builder Drone. Every construction worker's wet dream. Or worst nightmare.]]
Bob the Builder robots in SPESS.

Earth Caste Builders are drones used by the Earth Caste to erect structures and perform repairs on damaged buildings and vehicles. However, they are unarmed, and as such unable to defend themselves against an attack.

Builder Drones consist of an advanced processor unit, which individually has only a basic intelligence (approximately equal to that of a small animal such as a pterasquirrel), and moves about by way of a compact anti-gravitic generator and much modified variant of Tau Jetpack. This allows the Drone to hover over the ground and skim over most obstacles.

They are seen only in [[Dawn of War]] and it is the Tau's <s>main</s> only builder unit. It could have made sense for the Tau to use a Technical Drone, as it is more versatile and have similar functions. Seeing as relic likes to say "Screw established lore" though, this is what we got.

Despite their function, they are in no way related to the Technical Drones. <s>But they sound frickin cool, like any robot you would ever want.</s> {{BLAM|The Greater Good dictates that how a Kor'vesa sounds is completely unrelated to its description. Prepare for reeducation, Gue'vesa.}}

==Escort Drone==
[[File:Escort_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Escort Drone. The [[Lofn]] of Drones.]]
''Not to be confused with the [[Tyranid]] [[Escort Drone]] which are substantially larger.''

Escort Drones are a type of small drone that often accompany Tau Water Caste negotiators and incorporate both defensive as well as minor offensive capabilities. They are nimble, compact and thus, [[Lofn|smol.]] Escort Drones make use of small efficient anti-grav units which are similar in design to larger drones. They not only act as protectors for their charge but as tools for trade as they are programmed to record and deliver complex messages.

They are also used to guide prospective clients to the Water Caste negotiator and record every exchange that takes place and hope to hell that it does not suffer a catastrophic mistranslated mishap ala Google Translate. This information is then used for later study and dissection in order to better tailor to the individual in question. To serve them in their role, the escort drone makes use of a simple projector array that displays information on a flat screen. They are also equipped with twin Pulse Pistols which take up a majority of the space in the small drone. The Pulse Pistols are pretty good against the local scum bucket, but don't expect to do much to an angry [[Ultramarine|Smurf]], just ask [[Cato Sicarius]] and the Water Caste member that got [[Rape|squished]] in a 'negotiation' (To be fair, she had no Escort Drone and was asking for it. Not as if the Drone mattered in the first place).

== Exploratory Drone ==
[[File:Exploratory_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Exploratory Drone. [[Star Trek|To boldly go where no Tau has gone before.]]]]
'''DX-11 Exploratory Drones''' are basically Tau version of C.A.T. units in [[Space Hulk]] missions, and fit similar roles of scouting, exportation and locating targets valuable enough to send a Fire Warrior team.

These Drones basically bob around and look for anything interesting or suspicious. Most often than not, Tau Fire Warriors view these as an acceptable sacrifice when the need comes, cause who would want to stick their head inside a mysteriously dark room with blood splatters everywhere? No one I ask you.

They are fitted with limited complementary of weapons and an array of sensory and high-powered communications equipment to relay a consistent link with the Fire Warrior team. If threatened the drone is programmed to conceal itself via cloaking, transmit an emergency alert like a scared kitten, and await further instructions from the higher ups. The drone reserves its limited firepower only for moments of absolute necessity or when operating in direct support or defense of its operator.

If an Exploratory Drone is within close proximity to its master, it can act as a form of robotic bodyguard if necessary by getting in the way of incoming enemy fire or close-combat opponents during the course of a battle.

== Grav-Inhibitor Drone ==
[[File:Grav-Inhibitor Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|A Grav-Inhibitor Drone ruining a good charge.]]

One of the most annoying Drones ever built.

'''Grav-Inhibitor drones''' incorporate a "gravity wave projector" that slows down assaulting units and [[Troll|throws them back a considerable distance through a gravitic push,]] allowing the <s>cowardly and weak</s> intelligent Tau to blast the assaulting unit to kingdom come via overwatch. This allows Pathfinder Teams to move out of the way of an enemy assault and take the time to react to the assault in the most efficient manner.

Grav-Inhibitor Drones have to date only been deployed as part of Pathfinder reconnaissance teams during the Third Sphere Expansion. The quintessential troll machine to all assault orientated units.

Of course [[Pathfinder Team|these little shits]] think that it is the best thing since sliced bread and may overestimate the drone's own abilities against...lets say....a rampaging Dreadnought. Nevertheless, such tactics usually work unless the particular unit is a [[Terminator|persistent bastard]] and can survive just a little longer in the face of the Emperor's close-combat might.

Anyways, when the going gets tough, such as when the Drone thinks that the battle is deemed as beyond hopeless. These guys are known to get the fuck out of here. Courtesy of the Tau's [[Heresy|heretical]] ideas of strategic retreating and going back to fight another day. On the other hand, [[That Guy|certain Tau may take control of the Drone and use it as a moving <s>meat</s> junk shield.]] Pffft, motherfucking pussies.

All in all. <s>Fuck these Drones.</s> {{BLAM| The Ethereal caste does not support such atrocious lies against a Kor'vesa of the Tau Empire. All parties creating such libel against Tau military tactics shall be reeducated.}}

== Gun Drone ==
[[File:Gun_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|The Gun Drone. The quintessential killer robot.]]
'''Gun drones''' are the most common sort of drone encountered on the battlefield, armed with a twin-linked [[pulse carbine]]. The basic, floating A.I. driven attachment. These guys are the Swiss army knife of the Weebs, seriously they can be almost everything.

Despite their basic intelligence, the Fishfaces do not treat their Drones as expendable forces, but as another useful weapon in their armory. A strange behavior most Techpriests view as second only to them...[[/d/|for obvious reasons.]]

Most Tau units are accompanied by at least several Drones to assist in mundane tasks. Gun Drones aiding Tau squads will often provide additional firepower that can pin an enemy down due to the flashbang effect of the Photon Grenades fired by the underslung grenade launcher of their twin-linked Pulse Carbines. Gun Drones will also provide protection for their squads, by way sacrificing themselves to block enemy fire or close combat opponents.

They can be attached to squads of [[Fire Warrior]]s to add additional pew pews, or fixed onto vehicles as detachable turrets to mow down those pesky infantry at close range (most notably the Devilfish and Piranha), or even operate independently in squads of their own of around 4 to 12 of these <s>annoying bastards</s> helpful machines. Most other drones are built on the same chassis as the gun drone as expected of GW laziness.

== Heavy Gun Drone ==

[[File:Heavy_Gun_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|A Heavy Gun Drone, for when regular pulse weapons just don't cut it.]]

The '''heavy gun drone''' is, as it sounds, the big brother of the gun drone, and in fact is the second largest model of mobile drone used by the Tau, after the Remora. Basically, a giant looking dustbin along with the likes of the Gun Drone (But then again, <s>the Tau</s> Games Workshop <s>aren't</s> isn't known for their diversity in drone appearance).

Heavy Gun Drones due to being a further development of the basic Gun Drone are visibly larger with heavier construction than standard Drones. As such, due to their increase size and power, they carry twin-linked [[burst cannon]]s, and can swap one of them for a [[markerlight]] if it will need to call down and range ahead of the main Tau force; quickly pick out targets for destruction from the long-range [[seeker missile]]s.

They operate in squadrons of two to six Drones for sextuple the Dakka. In this role, they act as effective robotic artillery spotters. Heavy Gun Drones are relatively new additions to the forces of the Tau and most versions are still undergoing field trials.

Overall, other than carrying around heavier Dakka, their behavior still remained unchanged.

==Interceptor Drone==
[[File:InterceptorDrone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Interceptor Drone. Not quite Remoras.]]
Think of them as mini-Remoras.

Interceptor Drones are most often carried into battle as pairs, one in each of the wing cupolas of a [[Sun Shark Bomber|Sun Shark bomber.]] This benefits both the flyer and the Drones, as the former ensures the Sun Shark survives long enough to deliver its payload on target whilst the latter benefits from the Sun Shark’s speed in deployment.

Each Interceptor drone is armed with powerful twin-linked Ion Rifles, which can be overcharged to fire small blasts of energy at the cost of a chance of dangerous energy overloading. They can fly by themselves individually, but they aren't as fast and thus vulnerable to enemy fire. On the plus side, they are so goddamned small that there is a chance that enemy fliers may completely miss these guys.

== Marker Drone ==
[[File:Marker_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|The Marker Drone, essential component of [[Markerlight|cheesy tau commander builds everwhere]].]]
'''Marker drones''' are modified gun drones that carry [[markerlight]]s for their squad (why the lazy bums couldn't carry their own markerlights is anyone's guess). They're more expensive than [[Tau Pathfinder|Pathfinders]], but they can tag along with whoever is controlling them (which means, if they run with [[battlesuit]]s, they can <s>jump-shoot-jump</s> fall back from melee and still shoot as drones are basically independent [[jet pack]]s).

Unlike most Drones, Marker Drones aren't dumb. This is due to the feat of Earth Caste engineering.

The artificial intelligence of Marker Drones increases when they are networked together into squadrons, greatly increasing their processing speed and capability for independent action. This is to the point where a couple of Marker Drones can literally say, "I'm a strong, independent Drone who need no Tau!" and be completely right about it. Seriously. They are also capable of impressive tactical feats, and operating independently for long periods of time without the need for close supervision.

Marker Drones attached to a Tau Stealthsuit Team are always upgraded with stealth field generators, which allows them to operate without compromising the Stealthsuit Team's own ability to remain undetected.

Like the regular Gun Drone, the Marker Drone can be roided up and become even tougher. The '''Heavy Marker Drones''' are the same size as Heavy Gun Drones but, replace one of their Burst Cannons for a Markerlight.

Like the Grav-Inhibitor Drone, <s>fuck these guys too.</s> {{BLAM| The Ethereal caste tires of this consistent propaganda on this website. Such Kor'vesa shall not be insulted in this way.}}

Fun fact for the banal people: There are three variants: The stealth Variant, which has a more complex antenna and simpler markerlight (see above), the Line variant, which you will see in basically every box for T'au, and the Pathfinder variant, which has a slightly larger markerlight. There is no difference in stats otherwise.

== Missile Drone ==
[[File:Missiledrones.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Missile Drones grant even more missile firepower to Broadsides.]]
'''Missile drones''' carry [[missile pod]]s. Shocking.

What's ''really'' shocking is that the Tau only deploy them with [[XV-88 Broadside|Broadside]] battlesuits (well, [[Games Workshop]] ruled that they do). Apparently, swarms of S7 AP4 was too awesome for a [[xenos]] army. Nonetheless, if you want a swarm of light shooty artillery and anti-armor, these are the Drones for you.

A Missile Drone can be upgraded to be even tougher. The '''Shielded Missile Drone''' was born in a moment of brilliance, when Earth Caste engineers realized that they could stick two systems on a single drone. The brilliance was immediately canceled out when the Ethereals decreed that the new drones would only be used by [[XV-104 Riptide|Riptide]]s and their variants. [[FAIL|Bummer.]]

Kinda strange their missile racks are not vertical and twin-linked. Three missiles isn’t much though nothing to scoff at and it’d make the drones more cost-efficient. But, eh, the difference between realism and miniature wargaming.
<gallery>
File:Shielded_Missile_Drone.jpg|Shielded Missile Drones, the creme de la creme of Drones.
</gallery>

== Pulse Accelerator Drone ==

[[File:Pulse_accelerator_drone.jpg|right|150px|right|thumb|Pulse Accelerator drone - A great piece of boosting tech.]]

'''Pulse accelerator drones''' are drones that carry a pulse accelerator, which accelerates pulse rounds. Redundancy aside, it extends the range of pulse weapons.

How it extends the range of what is basically a plasma gun is unknown. But seeing as how most plasma weapons are fired using a gravitational bubble to envelope the plasma bolt, it could be safe to say that this Drone uses gravity to further strengthen the envelope for a greater maximum distance and lifespan per-bolt.

Pulse Accelerator Drones are one of the more recent Drones to be used by the Tau. They have to date only been deployed as part of Pathfinder reconnaissance teams during the Third Sphere Expansion.

Like most of these specialist Drones, the Pulse Accelerator variety is a very bottom heavy Drone and thus, pretty damn big despite being based on the chassis of a regular Gun Drone. This is due to its specialized equipment which requires more space and power to use.

Unfortunately, despite their specialized equipment, these Drones are still pretty damned [[Derp|dumb.]] You would think that the Tau would upgrade these specialized Drones carrying pretty expensive equipment around to have a sudden increase in tactical awareness right? But nope, its just a modified Gun Drone with a tinkered programming to behave slightly differently. <s>Maybe the Tau have perfected the art of 3d printing?</s> {{Blam|No that would just be broken}}. Bummer.

Only [[Tau Pathfinder]]s use them. [[Derp|Instead of units that specialize in long-range combat.]]

== Recon Drone ==
[[File:Recon Drone 1.jpg|150px|right|thumb|A Recon Drone, for when you need that extra firepower.]]
Drones specializing in...well...[[Derp|reconnaissance.]]

Yet another toy for Pathfinders, the Recon Drone takes the bold step of giving squads organic heavy weapons -- well, a [[burst cannon]] isn't any more powerful than a [[pulse carbine]], but it puts more shots downrange.

All Recon Drones are somewhat larger than standard mobile Drones in size, and this is primarily due to the specialist equipment they carry.

The Recon Drone also gets commended for its utterly [[Herp|silly way it looks]]. Seriously, it would have been far more cooler if it just mounted the burst cannon by itself, but the tau just had to add in the weird cylindrical object making it extremely bottom heavy and causing some to [[PROMOTIONS|say it resembles more like a butt plug.]]

It comes with some other toys for bringing in reinforcements, like a homing beacon and a positional relay (read: bubble of no-scatter for [[Deep Strike]]rs) letting Pathfinder units nearby it or a Devilish it is embarked on to ignore cover when shooting, in this way they are still able to use their support technologies whilst being transported during missions.

A Homing Beacon is a multi-spectrum homing device that, when activated, allow the Hunter Cadre's reinforcements to deploy with pinpoint precision, whilst a Positional Relay is a device that records detailed battlefield data and relays it in a tight-band, encrypted radio burst to Tau assets in orbit, allowing them to better coordinate forces operating in strategic reserve.

But seriously though, [[/d/|please don't actually use it as a butt plug.]] [[Slaanesh|Unless]] [[Emperor's Children|of]] [[Dark Eldar|course...]]

== Remora Drone Fighter ==

[[File:RemoraDroneStealthFighter.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Remoras. Obama's Drones.]]

The '''DX-6 Remora Drone Fighter''' is a drone flyer, the main body about the same size as the Heavy Gun Drone, but it has wings, larger engines to enable true flight (so it's the biggest drone), and more weapons, being able to carry a twin-linked long-barreled (36" Heavy 6) [[Burst cannon]]s, a networked [[Markerlight]], ''and'' two [[Seeker missile]]s at the same time. They're packed full of stealth technology so it can provide close air support [[Stealthsuit]] and [[Tau Pathfinder|Pathfinder]] teams.

They are very lightly armored, but they don't need to take enemy fire on the way to battle. Instead, they are often carried [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIH0FLsBCmM in large numbers] by a [[Manta]] or in pairs by a [[Tiger Shark AX-2-2]] (their wings can fold up and over the body like IRL naval aircraft), which will release them from high above the battlefield and control them from afar.

Real-life [[Wikipedia:Remora|Remoras]] are a kind of fish that hangs on to larger fish for transport and protection. Their secret life as artificially intelligent stealth fighters is as of yet unconfirmed, probably because they're stealthy as well.

== Remote Sensor Tower ==
[[File:Sensor_Tower.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Remote Sensor Tower. I can see right through your [[Bullshit]].]]
'''Remote sensor towers''' take the prize for the tallest drones used by the Tau -- when collapsed, they are twice as tall as a [[Fire Warrior]], and they are twice as tall again when fully extended. They carry twin-linked [[markerlight]]s and forward targeting data to nearby formations. They are often placed with sentry turrets to act as an autonomous defense line; if heavy anti-vehicle firepower is required, they can summon [[seeker missile]]-bearing [[Piranha]]s.

The Remote Sensor Tower resembles a smaller version of the Drone Sentry Turret, but instead of weaponry inside, it has a tall aerial which telescopes upwards to give the sensor equipment a high vantage point for scanning. It is constructed of the same nano-crystalline compound used by other Tau vehicles, albeit in far thinner layers. The Tau Empire use Remote Sensor Towers as area denial weapons, making it difficult for enemy units to move without drawing immediate attack. In this way, they act much like a conventional minefield, slowing the enemy advance and making movement dangerous rather than halt an advance on its own.

The tower mounts no weaponry, and as such is considered an expendable asset by the Tau Fire Caste. Of course, it is a static Drone and as such, requires quite the protection if you want your antenna of doom to survive.

== Shield Drone ==
[[File:XV15 stealthsuit Shas'uai.jpg|150px|right|thumb|A Shield Drone. These are your friends.]]
'''Shield drones''' are Drones that carry shields (duh) and usually accompany commanders and Battlesuits, although they sometimes accompany Fire Warriors and Pathfinders. The Drones carry shield generators for protecting high-value targets (read: 4++ invulnerable save to soak high-Strength and low-AP attacks). They are the most basic defense Drone of the Tau and when someone thinks of one, these are the Drones that usually pop up in their heads.

The latest version is the '''MV52''', which incorporates a 3++ save -- but only for Commander [[Shadowsun]] (which get kind of ridiculous in a unit that already has stealth and shrouded) and can be seen, fluff wise as capable of harmlessly blocking shots even from [[Bullshit|Imperial Battle Cannons.]]

These things were the bane of literally anyone in 8th, having a 4++/5+++, able to easily absorb damage from enemy guns onto your Riptide on a 2+, turn it into a single wound, and then proceed to ignore said wound. And they were only 10 points. EACH.
<gallery>
File:MV52.jpg|Shadowsun's personal Shield Drone.
</gallery>

== Sniper Drone ==
[[File:Sniper_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Sniper Drone Squad with controller. [[Men of Iron|What was it with synthetic and organic life not being able to co-operate]]?]]

'''Sniper drones''' are as its name implies. Sniper Drones operate in teams of three to nine, directed by a single Tau spotter equipped with a Pulse Pistol, Markerlight and Drone Controller. For best results, two to three of these teams will work together to provide pinpoint anti-personnel fire.

Most Drones require someone at the back or a computer to control, but these guys takes the cake for being the most 'hands-on' intensive of the Drones. Even though the Sniper Drones are equipped with impressive artificial intelligence. This is explained since despite the increased intelligence, Drones aren't known for their creative talents ([[Men of Iron|Well if you don't count ''some'' machines]]). Most of the work is done by the little Snatch Nose.

It is the Firesight Marksman, who is the brains behind the operation. He is the one who finds a suitable position to hide and fire, he is the one who assists and control what the Drone needs to do. He is the one who can target and fire specific individuals rather than going guns blazing. All the Sniper Drone has to do is <s>sit</s> float back and shoot.

On tabletop they carry a longshot pulse rifle They are put on a drone which means that the hit on a 5+ unless supported by a firesight marksman or a drone controller from a battlesuit that gives them +1 to hit, and these bonuses can stack. Getting marker light on a character is hard but with the [[T'au Septs|Sa'cea]] sept stratagem you can at least get 1 marker on the target. These units while expensive can also deal with (heavy) infantry quite well due to mortal wounds that they provide on 6+ to wound, and that they are 48" rapid fire pulse rifles helps too.

==Stealth Drone==
[[File:StealthDrone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Stealth Drone. For when you want to double your sneakiness.]]
Known as the '''MV5 Stealth Drone'''. As its name implies, these flying robots are an advanced Tau Drone used to generate cloaking fields over both itself and nearby forces. A pair is typically deployed by the XV95 Ghostkeel Stealth Battlesuit for thrice the sneakiness.

The dome of an MV5 Stealth Drone is studded with stealth field generators which match those found on an XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit's armor, and it carries an underslung stealth emitter. This projects a stealth field over itself and its attending XV95 Ghostkeel. A pair of these overlapping fields can make both the Drones and the Battlesuit virtually invisible in open terrain.

While some Drones are seen as expendable assets by the Tau, MV52 Stealth Drone pairs are invaluable to Ghostkeel Battlesuits, who often form an unnaturally strong bond with them while on extended missions behind enemy lines due to how indispensable they are. Seriously you do not want to lose any of these Drones, they are incredibly useful. If one of these Drones are spotted and destroyed, the Ghostkeel is effectively efed in his mission.

However, the Drone is unarmed and thus, vulnerable to being destroyed if found.

Shame it is only exclusive to the Ghostkeel. Imagine how [[Cheese|broken]] it would be if every Tau Fire Warrior gets access to these.

==Tactical Support Turret==
[[File:DS8.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Tactical Support Turret, the Drone Sentry Turret's kid brother.]]
Another variant of a Drone Turret.

The '''DS8 Tactical Support Turrets''' are a type of light Drone-operated Turret used by Fire Warrior teams. Basically smaller versions of the normal Drone Turret, the Tactical Support Turret is used when the available space is too small for a regular turret to be deployed or the situation requires a smaller profile to better protect itself from anti-armor weapons.

They are deployed rapidly to the field carrying in racks along the flanks of [[Orca|Orca Dropships]] and most commonly are armed with a smaller Seeker Missile pod. The Tactical Support Turret is programmed to self-destruct should their sensors register that the enemy could capture or tamper them.

Like their larger brothers, the Tactical Support Turret aren't as trigger happy as the Imperial Tarantula and would most likely cease firing their missiles if they see a friendly close to its line of fire.

Then again, it wouldn't entirely be in the Turret's fault if you are dumb enough to enter near its weapon's blast radius just to get a face full of plasma and shrapnel in the process. On the other hand, if these chumps are Pathfinders, then its A-Okay cause they are expendable!

== Technical Drone ==
[[File:TechnicalDrone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Technical Drones: The wet dream of any Tau converter.]]
'''DX-4 Technical drones''' are the only drones without rules of their own and are used by Tau commanders and Fire Warrior teams on the battlefield as a mobile engineering unit. In place of weaponry each Technical Drone carries repair and sensor equipment, and can be used to fix damaged or destroyed equipment in the field, sort of like a Imperial [[Trojan Support Vehicle|Trojan Support Vehicle]] but smaller.

They will also commonly be found assisting Fire Warrior combat engineer teams, especially during dense urban combat. Some Drone perimeter defense detachments also utilize specially outfitted DX-4 Drones to provide maintenance and support to other static Drone-controlled emplacements, such as Remote Sensor Towers and Drone Sentry Turrets.

They are by far the most rugged and stripped down Drone out there. Because of this, some have taken to giving them the moniker "floating [[Star Wars|R2-D2s]]" because they look like one and they behave like one.

DX-4 Technical Drones attached to a Tau Stealthsuit Team are always upgraded with stealth field generators, which allows them to operate without compromising the Stealthsuit Team's own ability to remain undetected.

[[Forge World]] suggests using them to represent certain stratagems in [[Cities of Death]] games, and there's an [[Apocalypse]] formation that uses them to repair drone sentry turrets, but for regular games of [[Warhammer 40,000]], they're really only good for decoration. Maybe they could be used by an [[Earth Caste]] who [[counts as]] a [[tech-priest]] or [[Techmarine]] from an allied detachment, or just homebrew a similar Tau unit.
* They have rules in 8e, letting them heal wounds on vehicles and battlesuits

==Guardian Drone==
[[File:Drone-guardian.jpg|150px|right|thumb|The Guardian Drone. The flying bubble shield, energy bubble, bunker, etc etc of the Tau Empire.]]
Also known as the '''MV36 Guardian Drone'''. This metal death bin was developed in response to the high number of casualties suffered amongst Fire Warrior Breacher Teams and is able to project a mobile, invisible force-field that forms a dome over the Breacher Team that the drone accompanies. Essentially, this is a mobile bunker for the Tau to use, unlike the more personal Shield Drones.

Because the shield has a large area of effect, it is not as powerful as that of a dedicated Shield Drone. However, footage exists of an MV36 Guardian Drone's shield turning aside shots from an Imperial Lascannon. Of course such statement is taken with a grain of salt knowing how reliable 40k's consistency is. The protective ability of the Guardian Drone is usually further bolstered and increased by the field amplifier relays worn by members of Fire Warrior Breacher Teams.

As most of these specialist Drones, the Guardian Drone is a ridiculously bottom-heavy Drone that makes it look ungainly as hell. This is not supported by the fact that as mentioned before, this shit is expensive. So it is a wonder why the Tau have not yet increased the Drone's intelligence for self-preservation. They already are capable of doing it, so why not these Drones?

On the tabletop, there have been some debates on the merits of choosing either a Guardian Drone or a simple Shield Drone. The most common answer to these conundrums is that, if you want something to protect a group of your special Weeaboos, you take the Guardian Drone as it is the most cost-effective. If you want to have something that protects a specific special character, you take the Shield Drone.

The difference can best be highlighted here. With Strike Teams, the Guardian lets you ignore AP over -2. With Breacher Teams, it lets you ignore AP over -1. Both of those uses don't offer ablative wounds. Shield drones let you ignore all AP values but one good hit removes this defense completely.

All in all, its a decent Drone for protecting your gubbinz.

==Hover Drone==
[[File:Hover_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Hover Drone. The lazy men's flying frisbee.]]
Basically the Tau's more family friendly and safer version of the [[Tzeentch|Tzeentchian]] Disc of Tzeentch. These machines are basically a Segway that can fly, for those too lazy to even fucking walk a few hundred meters.

Hover Drones are larger units used as anti-gravity transports. They are frequently used by Ethereals so they can fly around to inspire their troops faster 'cause these lazy sleazers can't be bothered to just do something as simple as walking up to a communications device and ''talking'' to his troops. Not to mention that there's no way for the pilot to even feasibly balance, much less pilot the thing. I mean seriously, try surfing on a garbage can lid, it's not that easy.

The only device lazier than this is the floating <s>Prophet's Gravity Throne</s> [[Hover Chair|Space Pope Throne]] of the biggest and wrinkliest of Ethereals.
{{Clear}}

== Gallery ==

<gallery>
File:Heavy Gun Drones.jpg
File:Sniper_Drones.jpg|A row of three sniper drones? [[Rape|Oh my...]]
File:Remora 1.jpg|An overview of the various parts of a Remora.
File:DX-4 Technical Drone.JPG|They're like [[Star Wars|R2-D2's]] stripped down cousin.
File:Drone_Sentry_Turret.JPG|Its like a literal wall of guns.
File:Gundrone.jpg
File:Gun droneschematic.jpg
File:Heavygundronesmarkerlight.JPG
</gallery>

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tau]]

[[Category: Skimmers]]

[[Category: Flyers]]

[[Category: Fortifications]]

{{Tau}}

Tau Drones

2021-01-03T04:47:44Z

2600:1700:E660:4760:87F:B175:5EFE:7485: /* Missile Drone */

[[File:Dronesquadronattack.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The bin lids of death.]]

{{Topquote|While their [[Xenos|repulsive appearance and outdated political views]] should prove fuel enough for the forges of your [[Exterminatus|fury]], it is important not to forget the [[Heresy|tech-heresy]] the [[Tau|T’au]] practice, releasing new versions of their war-machines helter-skelter, offering nary a prayer to the twisted [[Machine Spirit|machine spirits]] of their vehicles and dabbling in that most vile of the mechanical arts: the creation of Abominable Intelligences.|The Regimental Standard, regarding Tau Drones}}

'''Drones'''(AKA Kor'vesa in Tau Lexicon) are small, round, usually hovering robots used by the [[Tau Empire]] for various support tasks. Because the Tau have never had to experience a robot rebellion (''yet'') the way that the [[Imperium of Man]] did with their [[Men of Iron]], artificial intelligences are not only still permitted but widespread in society. Unlike [[servitor]]s, drones are capable of autonomous activity. They aren't very bright when they work on their own, but they can interconnect into networks and become more intelligent. Despite being common and mass-producible, drones are not regarded as expendable and are programmed for self preservation. The average player [[Tarpit|doesn't]] [[Grot|share]] [[Skaven|this]] [[Fury|sentiment]], and when it comes to saving valuable personnel's lives (like battlesuit pilots or squad leaders), neither do Earth caste engineers as they often program drones to jump at enemy bullets and missiles to save said lives, and some of the drone types are even specifically designed to be used as <s>meatshields</s> nano-crystalline alloy armored shields. This "saviour protocol" behavior is effectively Asimov's third law of robotics: a drone should self preserve, except in cases where it would have to disobey orders or allow harm to come to <s>humans</s> T'au to do so.

== Command-Link Drone ==
[[File:M2450412a 99810113004 CommanderShadowsunCFC 873x627.jpg|150px|right|thumb|A Command-Link Drone. Specially built to shout profanities over your underlings.]]
A Drone specifically built to be as much as a giant floating microphone to boss other Tau around.

These drones allow a commander to better direct the battle by networking them to squad leaders or if their leader is dead, a command over the Fire Warrior teams; thereby making that particular commander have fun in roleplaying as a DM. This capability allows Tau forces to mow down the enemy all the more effectively with relentless volleys of the [[Greater Good]].

It is controlled by a Drone Controller, which is an electronic device that can be used by the Tau to further enhance their connections and control over their robotic companions like killer drone toys. Basically Vidya Games taken to the [[Powergamer|EXTREME.]]

A Drone Controller acts as a hub of digital communications between the Drone's operator and any Drones that are nearby the user. It serves as an advanced interface between the operator and the artificial intelligence (AI) combat programs of the Drones, and is often used to direct the Drones’ firepower far more efficiently and with a level of accuracy far greater than would otherwise be possible on the battlefield.

Like most Drones, a Command-Link Drones consist of an advanced processor unit, which individually has only a basic intelligence which can be summed up as "Hey Boy! Shoot that thing!", and moves about by way of a small anti-gravitic generator and a much modified version of a Tau Jetpack so it can float and boop around the battlefield.

Commander [[Shadowsun]] uses this particular special drone with extra communication equipment to help direct her soldiers and it ''always'' stays within close proximity to her like some weeaboo obsessed robot, and can act as a form of robotic bodyguard if necessary, by getting in the way of incoming enemy fire or close-combat opponents during the course of a battle.

In-game, it used to project an 18" Ld10 bubble, but now it lets a unit re-roll To Hit rolls of 1 by virtue of giving the squad her targeting data and the like (because having [[Shadowsun]] shouting in your ear prevents that Heavy Burst Cannon from getting hot, or something).

It is by far the tallest mobile Drone due to its really elongated equipment. But it is not the largest. That goes to the Remora.

== Drone Sentry Turret ==
[[File:DroneTurret.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Drone Sentry Turret: How [[Tau]] hold ground.]]
'''Drone sentry turrets''' are probably the largest autonomous systems used by the [[Tau Empire]], used to secure perimeters without requiring Fire Warriors to be put in harm's way - this is because the Tau shun the concept of [[Imperial Guard|static fights]], so they let these drones do it. They are also a bit more [[Reasonable Marines|reasonable]] as unlike Imperial Tarantula sentry guns, the drone's intelligence can differentiate between friendly and enemy units effectively, choosing to ignore some targets in favor of others and capable of making independent targeting decisions. Although it calls into question about the Imperial's Tarantula turret more than the effectiveness of the Weeb's family friendly version.

As for why there are new Tau fortifications, that's because GW doesn't seem to communicate with FW, and even then, those fortifications aren't immobile. Back to the topic, these drones mount twin-linked [[burst cannon]]s, [[missile pod]]s, [[fusion blaster]]s, or [[plasma rifle]]s in a "pop-up" configuration, so that the entire turret stays as enclosed as possible until the moment the guns need to fire. Being considered vehicles, they also have access to vehicle systems.

Its smaller brother is the Tactical Support Turret.

==Earth Caste Builder Drone==
[[File:ECBuilder.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Earth Caste Builder Drone. Every construction worker's wet dream. Or worst nightmare.]]
Bob the Builder robots in SPESS.

Earth Caste Builders are drones used by the Earth Caste to erect structures and perform repairs on damaged buildings and vehicles. However, they are unarmed, and as such unable to defend themselves against an attack.

Builder Drones consist of an advanced processor unit, which individually has only a basic intelligence (approximately equal to that of a small animal such as a pterasquirrel), and moves about by way of a compact anti-gravitic generator and much modified variant of Tau Jetpack. This allows the Drone to hover over the ground and skim over most obstacles.

They are seen only in [[Dawn of War]] and it is the Tau's <s>main</s> only builder unit. It could have made sense for the Tau to use a Technical Drone, as it is more versatile and have similar functions. Seeing as relic likes to say "Screw established lore" though, this is what we got.

Despite their function, they are in no way related to the Technical Drones. <s>But they sound frickin cool, like any robot you would ever want.</s> {{BLAM|The Greater Good dictates that how a Kor'vesa sounds is completely unrelated to its description. Prepare for reeducation, Gue'vesa.}}

==Escort Drone==
[[File:Escort_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Escort Drone. The [[Lofn]] of Drones.]]
''Not to be confused with the [[Tyranid]] [[Escort Drone]] which are substantially larger.''

Escort Drones are a type of small drone that often accompany Tau Water Caste negotiators and incorporate both defensive as well as minor offensive capabilities. They are nimble, compact and thus, [[Lofn|smol.]] Escort Drones make use of small efficient anti-grav units which are similar in design to larger drones. They not only act as protectors for their charge but as tools for trade as they are programmed to record and deliver complex messages.

They are also used to guide prospective clients to the Water Caste negotiator and record every exchange that takes place and hope to hell that it does not suffer a catastrophic mistranslated mishap ala Google Translate. This information is then used for later study and dissection in order to better tailor to the individual in question. To serve them in their role, the escort drone makes use of a simple projector array that displays information on a flat screen. They are also equipped with twin Pulse Pistols which take up a majority of the space in the small drone. The Pulse Pistols are pretty good against the local scum bucket, but don't expect to do much to an angry [[Ultramarine|Smurf]], just ask [[Cato Sicarius]] and the Water Caste member that got [[Rape|squished]] in a 'negotiation' (To be fair, she had no Escort Drone and was asking for it. Not as if the Drone mattered in the first place).

== Exploratory Drone ==
[[File:Exploratory_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Exploratory Drone. [[Star Trek|To boldly go where no Tau has gone before.]]]]
'''DX-11 Exploratory Drones''' are basically Tau version of C.A.T. units in [[Space Hulk]] missions, and fit similar roles of scouting, exportation and locating targets valuable enough to send a Fire Warrior team.

These Drones basically bob around and look for anything interesting or suspicious. Most often than not, Tau Fire Warriors view these as an acceptable sacrifice when the need comes, cause who would want to stick their head inside a mysteriously dark room with blood splatters everywhere? No one I ask you.

They are fitted with limited complementary of weapons and an array of sensory and high-powered communications equipment to relay a consistent link with the Fire Warrior team. If threatened the drone is programmed to conceal itself via cloaking, transmit an emergency alert like a scared kitten, and await further instructions from the higher ups. The drone reserves its limited firepower only for moments of absolute necessity or when operating in direct support or defense of its operator.

If an Exploratory Drone is within close proximity to its master, it can act as a form of robotic bodyguard if necessary by getting in the way of incoming enemy fire or close-combat opponents during the course of a battle.

== Grav-Inhibitor Drone ==
[[File:Grav-Inhibitor Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|A Grav-Inhibitor Drone ruining a good charge.]]

One of the most annoying Drones ever built.

'''Grav-Inhibitor drones''' incorporate a "gravity wave projector" that slows down assaulting units and [[Troll|throws them back a considerable distance through a gravitic push,]] allowing the <s>cowardly and weak</s> intelligent Tau to blast the assaulting unit to kingdom come via overwatch. This allows Pathfinder Teams to move out of the way of an enemy assault and take the time to react to the assault in the most efficient manner.

Grav-Inhibitor Drones have to date only been deployed as part of Pathfinder reconnaissance teams during the Third Sphere Expansion. The quintessential troll machine to all assault orientated units.

Of course [[Pathfinder Team|these little shits]] think that it is the best thing since sliced bread and may overestimate the drone's own abilities against...lets say....a rampaging Dreadnought. Nevertheless, such tactics usually work unless the particular unit is a [[Terminator|persistent bastard]] and can survive just a little longer in the face of the Emperor's close-combat might.

Anyways, when the going gets tough, such as when the Drone thinks that the battle is deemed as beyond hopeless. These guys are known to get the fuck out of here. Courtesy of the Tau's [[Heresy|heretical]] ideas of strategic retreating and going back to fight another day. On the other hand, [[That Guy|certain Tau may take control of the Drone and use it as a moving <s>meat</s> junk shield.]] Pffft, motherfucking pussies.

All in all. <s>Fuck these Drones.</s> {{BLAM| The Ethereal caste does not support such atrocious lies against a Kor'vesa of the Tau Empire. All parties creating such libel against Tau military tactics shall be reeducated.}}

== Gun Drone ==
[[File:Gun_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|The Gun Drone. The quintessential killer robot.]]
'''Gun drones''' are the most common sort of drone encountered on the battlefield, armed with a twin-linked [[pulse carbine]]. The basic, floating A.I. driven attachment. These guys are the Swiss army knife of the Weebs, seriously they can be almost everything.

Despite their basic intelligence, the Fishfaces do not treat their Drones as expendable forces, but as another useful weapon in their armory. A strange behavior most Techpriests view as second only to them...[[/d/|for obvious reasons.]]

Most Tau units are accompanied by at least several Drones to assist in mundane tasks. Gun Drones aiding Tau squads will often provide additional firepower that can pin an enemy down due to the flashbang effect of the Photon Grenades fired by the underslung grenade launcher of their twin-linked Pulse Carbines. Gun Drones will also provide protection for their squads, by way sacrificing themselves to block enemy fire or close combat opponents.

They can be attached to squads of [[Fire Warrior]]s to add additional pew pews, or fixed onto vehicles as detachable turrets to mow down those pesky infantry at close range (most notably the Devilfish and Piranha), or even operate independently in squads of their own of around 4 to 12 of these <s>annoying bastards</s> helpful machines. Most other drones are built on the same chassis as the gun drone as expected of GW laziness.

== Heavy Gun Drone ==

[[File:Heavy_Gun_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|A Heavy Gun Drone, for when regular pulse weapons just don't cut it.]]

The '''heavy gun drone''' is, as it sounds, the big brother of the gun drone, and in fact is the second largest model of mobile drone used by the Tau, after the Remora. Basically, a giant looking dustbin along with the likes of the Gun Drone (But then again, <s>the Tau</s> Games Workshop <s>aren't</s> isn't known for their diversity in drone appearance).

Heavy Gun Drones due to being a further development of the basic Gun Drone are visibly larger with heavier construction than standard Drones. As such, due to their increase size and power, they carry twin-linked [[burst cannon]]s, and can swap one of them for a [[markerlight]] if it will need to call down and range ahead of the main Tau force; quickly pick out targets for destruction from the long-range [[seeker missile]]s.

They operate in squadrons of two to six Drones for sextuple the Dakka. In this role, they act as effective robotic artillery spotters. Heavy Gun Drones are relatively new additions to the forces of the Tau and most versions are still undergoing field trials.

Overall, other than carrying around heavier Dakka, their behavior still remained unchanged.

==Interceptor Drone==
[[File:InterceptorDrone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Interceptor Drone. Not quite Remoras.]]
Think of them as mini-Remoras.

Interceptor Drones are most often carried into battle as pairs, one in each of the wing cupolas of a [[Sun Shark Bomber|Sun Shark bomber.]] This benefits both the flyer and the Drones, as the former ensures the Sun Shark survives long enough to deliver its payload on target whilst the latter benefits from the Sun Shark’s speed in deployment.

Each Interceptor drone is armed with powerful twin-linked Ion Rifles, which can be overcharged to fire small blasts of energy at the cost of a chance of dangerous energy overloading. They can fly by themselves individually, but they aren't as fast and thus vulnerable to enemy fire. On the plus side, they are so goddamned small that there is a chance that enemy fliers may completely miss these guys.

== Marker Drone ==
[[File:Marker_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|The Marker Drone, essential component of [[Markerlight|cheesy tau commander builds everwhere]].]]
'''Marker drones''' are modified gun drones that carry [[markerlight]]s for their squad (why the lazy bums couldn't carry their own markerlights is anyone's guess). They're more expensive than [[Tau Pathfinder|Pathfinders]], but they can tag along with whoever is controlling them (which means, if they run with [[battlesuit]]s, they can <s>jump-shoot-jump</s> fall back from melee and still shoot as drones are basically independent [[jet pack]]s).

Unlike most Drones, Marker Drones aren't dumb. This is due to the feat of Earth Caste engineering.

The artificial intelligence of Marker Drones increases when they are networked together into squadrons, greatly increasing their processing speed and capability for independent action. This is to the point where a couple of Marker Drones can literally say, "I'm a strong, independent Drone who need no Tau!" and be completely right about it. Seriously. They are also capable of impressive tactical feats, and operating independently for long periods of time without the need for close supervision.

Marker Drones attached to a Tau Stealthsuit Team are always upgraded with stealth field generators, which allows them to operate without compromising the Stealthsuit Team's own ability to remain undetected.

Like the regular Gun Drone, the Marker Drone can be roided up and become even tougher. The '''Heavy Marker Drones''' are the same size as Heavy Gun Drones but, replace one of their Burst Cannons for a Markerlight.

Like the Grav-Inhibitor Drone, <s>fuck these guys too.</s> {{BLAM| The Ethereal caste tires of this consistent propaganda on this website. Such Kor'vesa shall not be insulted in this way.}}

Fun fact for the banal people: There are three variants: The stealth Variant, which has a more complex antenna and simpler markerlight (see above), the Line variant, which you will see in basically every box for T'au, and the Pathfinder variant, which has a slightly larger markerlight. There is no difference in stats otherwise.

== Missile Drone ==
[[File:Missiledrones.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Missile Drones grant even more missile firepower to Broadsides.]]
'''Missile drones''' carry [[missile pod]]s. Shocking.

What's ''really'' shocking is that the Tau only deploy them with [[XV-88 Broadside|Broadside]] battlesuits (well, [[Games Workshop]] ruled that they do). Apparently, swarms of S7 AP4 was too awesome for a [[xenos]] army. Nonetheless, if you want a swarm of light shooty artillery and anti-armor, these are the Drones for you.

A Missile Drone can be upgraded to be even tougher. The '''Shielded Missile Drone''' was born in a moment of brilliance, when Earth Caste engineers realized that they could stick two systems on a single drone. The brilliance was immediately canceled out when the Ethereals decreed that the new drones would only be used by [[XV-104 Riptide|Riptide]]s and their variants. [[FAIL|Bummer.]]

Kinda strange their missile racks are not vertical and twin-linked. Three missiles isn’t much though nothing to scoff at and it’d make the drones more cost-efficient. But, eh, the difference between realism and miniature wargaming.
<gallery>
File:Shielded_Missile_Drone.jpg|Shielded Missile Drones, the creme de la creme of Drones.
</gallery>

== Pulse Accelerator Drone ==

[[File:Pulse_accelerator_drone.jpg|right|150px|right|thumb|Pulse Accelerator drone - A great piece of boosting tech.]]

'''Pulse accelerator drones''' are drones that carry a pulse accelerator, which accelerates pulse rounds. Redundancy aside, it extends the range of pulse weapons.

How it extends the range of what is basically a plasma gun is unknown. But seeing as how most plasma weapons are fired using a gravitational bubble to envelope the plasma bolt, it could be safe to say that this Drone uses gravity to further strengthen the envelope for a greater maximum distance and lifespan per-bolt.

Pulse Accelerator Drones are one of the more recent Drones to be used by the Tau. They have to date only been deployed as part of Pathfinder reconnaissance teams during the Third Sphere Expansion.

Like most of these specialist Drones, the Pulse Accelerator variety is a very bottom heavy Drone and thus, pretty damn big despite being based on the chassis of a regular Gun Drone. This is due to its specialized equipment which requires more space and power to use.

Unfortunately, despite their specialized equipment, these Drones are still pretty damned [[Derp|dumb.]] You would think that the Tau would upgrade these specialized Drones carrying pretty expensive equipment around to have a sudden increase in tactical awareness right? But nope, its just a modified Gun Drone with a tinkered programming to behave slightly differently. <s>Maybe the Tau have perfected the art of 3d printing?</s> {{Blam|No that would just be broken}}. Bummer.

Only [[Tau Pathfinder]]s use them.

== Recon Drone ==
[[File:Recon Drone 1.jpg|150px|right|thumb|A Recon Drone, for when you need that extra firepower.]]
Drones specializing in...well...[[Derp|reconnaissance.]]

Yet another toy for Pathfinders, the Recon Drone takes the bold step of giving squads organic heavy weapons -- well, a [[burst cannon]] isn't any more powerful than a [[pulse carbine]], but it puts more shots downrange.

All Recon Drones are somewhat larger than standard mobile Drones in size, and this is primarily due to the specialist equipment they carry.

The Recon Drone also gets commended for its utterly [[Herp|silly way it looks]]. Seriously, it would have been far more cooler if it just mounted the burst cannon by itself, but the tau just had to add in the weird cylindrical object making it extremely bottom heavy and causing some to [[PROMOTIONS|say it resembles more like a butt plug.]]

It comes with some other toys for bringing in reinforcements, like a homing beacon and a positional relay (read: bubble of no-scatter for [[Deep Strike]]rs) letting Pathfinder units nearby it or a Devilish it is embarked on to ignore cover when shooting, in this way they are still able to use their support technologies whilst being transported during missions.

A Homing Beacon is a multi-spectrum homing device that, when activated, allow the Hunter Cadre's reinforcements to deploy with pinpoint precision, whilst a Positional Relay is a device that records detailed battlefield data and relays it in a tight-band, encrypted radio burst to Tau assets in orbit, allowing them to better coordinate forces operating in strategic reserve.

But seriously though, [[/d/|please don't actually use it as a butt plug.]] [[Slaanesh|Unless]] [[Emperor's Children|of]] [[Dark Eldar|course...]]

== Remora Drone Fighter ==

[[File:RemoraDroneStealthFighter.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Remoras. Obama's Drones.]]

The '''DX-6 Remora Drone Fighter''' is a drone flyer, the main body about the same size as the Heavy Gun Drone, but it has wings, larger engines to enable true flight (so it's the biggest drone), and more weapons, being able to carry a twin-linked long-barreled (36" Heavy 6) [[Burst cannon]]s, a networked [[Markerlight]], ''and'' two [[Seeker missile]]s at the same time. They're packed full of stealth technology so it can provide close air support [[Stealthsuit]] and [[Tau Pathfinder|Pathfinder]] teams.

They are very lightly armored, but they don't need to take enemy fire on the way to battle. Instead, they are often carried [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIH0FLsBCmM in large numbers] by a [[Manta]] or in pairs by a [[Tiger Shark AX-2-2]] (their wings can fold up and over the body like IRL naval aircraft), which will release them from high above the battlefield and control them from afar.

Real-life [[Wikipedia:Remora|Remoras]] are a kind of fish that hangs on to larger fish for transport and protection. Their secret life as artificially intelligent stealth fighters is as of yet unconfirmed, probably because they're stealthy as well.

== Remote Sensor Tower ==
[[File:Sensor_Tower.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Remote Sensor Tower. I can see right through your [[Bullshit]].]]
'''Remote sensor towers''' take the prize for the tallest drones used by the Tau -- when collapsed, they are twice as tall as a [[Fire Warrior]], and they are twice as tall again when fully extended. They carry twin-linked [[markerlight]]s and forward targeting data to nearby formations. They are often placed with sentry turrets to act as an autonomous defense line; if heavy anti-vehicle firepower is required, they can summon [[seeker missile]]-bearing [[Piranha]]s.

The Remote Sensor Tower resembles a smaller version of the Drone Sentry Turret, but instead of weaponry inside, it has a tall aerial which telescopes upwards to give the sensor equipment a high vantage point for scanning. It is constructed of the same nano-crystalline compound used by other Tau vehicles, albeit in far thinner layers. The Tau Empire use Remote Sensor Towers as area denial weapons, making it difficult for enemy units to move without drawing immediate attack. In this way, they act much like a conventional minefield, slowing the enemy advance and making movement dangerous rather than halt an advance on its own.

The tower mounts no weaponry, and as such is considered an expendable asset by the Tau Fire Caste. Of course, it is a static Drone and as such, requires quite the protection if you want your antenna of doom to survive.

== Shield Drone ==
[[File:XV15 stealthsuit Shas'uai.jpg|150px|right|thumb|A Shield Drone. These are your friends.]]
'''Shield drones''' are Drones that carry shields (duh) and usually accompany commanders and Battlesuits, although they sometimes accompany Fire Warriors and Pathfinders. The Drones carry shield generators for protecting high-value targets (read: 4++ invulnerable save to soak high-Strength and low-AP attacks). They are the most basic defense Drone of the Tau and when someone thinks of one, these are the Drones that usually pop up in their heads.

The latest version is the '''MV52''', which incorporates a 3++ save -- but only for Commander [[Shadowsun]] (which get kind of ridiculous in a unit that already has stealth and shrouded) and can be seen, fluff wise as capable of harmlessly blocking shots even from [[Bullshit|Imperial Battle Cannons.]]

These things were the bane of literally anyone in 8th, having a 4++/5+++, able to easily absorb damage from enemy guns onto your Riptide on a 2+, turn it into a single wound, and then proceed to ignore said wound. And they were only 10 points. EACH.
<gallery>
File:MV52.jpg|Shadowsun's personal Shield Drone.
</gallery>

== Sniper Drone ==
[[File:Sniper_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Sniper Drone Squad with controller. [[Men of Iron|What was it with synthetic and organic life not being able to co-operate]]?]]

'''Sniper drones''' are as its name implies. Sniper Drones operate in teams of three to nine, directed by a single Tau spotter equipped with a Pulse Pistol, Markerlight and Drone Controller. For best results, two to three of these teams will work together to provide pinpoint anti-personnel fire.

Most Drones require someone at the back or a computer to control, but these guys takes the cake for being the most 'hands-on' intensive of the Drones. Even though the Sniper Drones are equipped with impressive artificial intelligence. This is explained since despite the increased intelligence, Drones aren't known for their creative talents ([[Men of Iron|Well if you don't count ''some'' machines]]). Most of the work is done by the little Snatch Nose.

It is the Firesight Marksman, who is the brains behind the operation. He is the one who finds a suitable position to hide and fire, he is the one who assists and control what the Drone needs to do. He is the one who can target and fire specific individuals rather than going guns blazing. All the Sniper Drone has to do is <s>sit</s> float back and shoot.

On tabletop they carry a longshot pulse rifle They are put on a drone which means that the hit on a 5+ unless supported by a firesight marksman or a drone controller from a battlesuit that gives them +1 to hit, and these bonuses can stack. Getting marker light on a character is hard but with the [[T'au Septs|Sa'cea]] sept stratagem you can at least get 1 marker on the target. These units while expensive can also deal with (heavy) infantry quite well due to mortal wounds that they provide on 6+ to wound, and that they are 48" rapid fire pulse rifles helps too.

==Stealth Drone==
[[File:StealthDrone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Stealth Drone. For when you want to double your sneakiness.]]
Known as the '''MV5 Stealth Drone'''. As its name implies, these flying robots are an advanced Tau Drone used to generate cloaking fields over both itself and nearby forces. A pair is typically deployed by the XV95 Ghostkeel Stealth Battlesuit for thrice the sneakiness.

The dome of an MV5 Stealth Drone is studded with stealth field generators which match those found on an XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit's armor, and it carries an underslung stealth emitter. This projects a stealth field over itself and its attending XV95 Ghostkeel. A pair of these overlapping fields can make both the Drones and the Battlesuit virtually invisible in open terrain.

While some Drones are seen as expendable assets by the Tau, MV52 Stealth Drone pairs are invaluable to Ghostkeel Battlesuits, who often form an unnaturally strong bond with them while on extended missions behind enemy lines due to how indispensable they are. Seriously you do not want to lose any of these Drones, they are incredibly useful. If one of these Drones are spotted and destroyed, the Ghostkeel is effectively efed in his mission.

However, the Drone is unarmed and thus, vulnerable to being destroyed if found.

Shame it is only exclusive to the Ghostkeel. Imagine how [[Cheese|broken]] it would be if every Tau Fire Warrior gets access to these.

==Tactical Support Turret==
[[File:DS8.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Tactical Support Turret, the Drone Sentry Turret's kid brother.]]
Another variant of a Drone Turret.

The '''DS8 Tactical Support Turrets''' are a type of light Drone-operated Turret used by Fire Warrior teams. Basically smaller versions of the normal Drone Turret, the Tactical Support Turret is used when the available space is too small for a regular turret to be deployed or the situation requires a smaller profile to better protect itself from anti-armor weapons.

They are deployed rapidly to the field carrying in racks along the flanks of [[Orca|Orca Dropships]] and most commonly are armed with a smaller Seeker Missile pod. The Tactical Support Turret is programmed to self-destruct should their sensors register that the enemy could capture or tamper them.

Like their larger brothers, the Tactical Support Turret aren't as trigger happy as the Imperial Tarantula and would most likely cease firing their missiles if they see a friendly close to its line of fire.

Then again, it wouldn't entirely be in the Turret's fault if you are dumb enough to enter near its weapon's blast radius just to get a face full of plasma and shrapnel in the process. On the other hand, if these chumps are Pathfinders, then its A-Okay cause they are expendable!

== Technical Drone ==
[[File:TechnicalDrone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Technical Drones: The wet dream of any Tau converter.]]
'''DX-4 Technical drones''' are the only drones without rules of their own and are used by Tau commanders and Fire Warrior teams on the battlefield as a mobile engineering unit. In place of weaponry each Technical Drone carries repair and sensor equipment, and can be used to fix damaged or destroyed equipment in the field, sort of like a Imperial [[Trojan Support Vehicle|Trojan Support Vehicle]] but smaller.

They will also commonly be found assisting Fire Warrior combat engineer teams, especially during dense urban combat. Some Drone perimeter defense detachments also utilize specially outfitted DX-4 Drones to provide maintenance and support to other static Drone-controlled emplacements, such as Remote Sensor Towers and Drone Sentry Turrets.

They are by far the most rugged and stripped down Drone out there. Because of this, some have taken to giving them the moniker "floating [[Star Wars|R2-D2s]]" because they look like one and they behave like one.

DX-4 Technical Drones attached to a Tau Stealthsuit Team are always upgraded with stealth field generators, which allows them to operate without compromising the Stealthsuit Team's own ability to remain undetected.

[[Forge World]] suggests using them to represent certain stratagems in [[Cities of Death]] games, and there's an [[Apocalypse]] formation that uses them to repair drone sentry turrets, but for regular games of [[Warhammer 40,000]], they're really only good for decoration. Maybe they could be used by an [[Earth Caste]] who [[counts as]] a [[tech-priest]] or [[Techmarine]] from an allied detachment, or just homebrew a similar Tau unit.
* They have rules in 8e, letting them heal wounds on vehicles and battlesuits

==Guardian Drone==
[[File:Drone-guardian.jpg|150px|right|thumb|The Guardian Drone. The flying bubble shield, energy bubble, bunker, etc etc of the Tau Empire.]]
Also known as the '''MV36 Guardian Drone'''. This metal death bin was developed in response to the high number of casualties suffered amongst Fire Warrior Breacher Teams and is able to project a mobile, invisible force-field that forms a dome over the Breacher Team that the drone accompanies. Essentially, this is a mobile bunker for the Tau to use, unlike the more personal Shield Drones.

Because the shield has a large area of effect, it is not as powerful as that of a dedicated Shield Drone. However, footage exists of an MV36 Guardian Drone's shield turning aside shots from an Imperial Lascannon. Of course such statement is taken with a grain of salt knowing how reliable 40k's consistency is. The protective ability of the Guardian Drone is usually further bolstered and increased by the field amplifier relays worn by members of Fire Warrior Breacher Teams.

As most of these specialist Drones, the Guardian Drone is a ridiculously bottom-heavy Drone that makes it look ungainly as hell. This is not supported by the fact that as mentioned before, this shit is expensive. So it is a wonder why the Tau have not yet increased the Drone's intelligence for self-preservation. They already are capable of doing it, so why not these Drones?

On the tabletop, there have been some debates on the merits of choosing either a Guardian Drone or a simple Shield Drone. The most common answer to these conundrums is that, if you want something to protect a group of your special Weeaboos, you take the Guardian Drone as it is the most cost-effective. If you want to have something that protects a specific special character, you take the Shield Drone.

The difference can best be highlighted here. With Strike Teams, the Guardian lets you ignore AP over -2. With Breacher Teams, it lets you ignore AP over -1. Both of those uses don't offer ablative wounds. Shield drones let you ignore all AP values but one good hit removes this defense completely.

All in all, its a decent Drone for protecting your gubbinz.

==Hover Drone==
[[File:Hover_Drone.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Hover Drone. The lazy men's flying frisbee.]]
Basically the Tau's more family friendly and safer version of the [[Tzeentch|Tzeentchian]] Disc of Tzeentch. These machines are basically a Segway that can fly, for those too lazy to even fucking walk a few hundred meters.

Hover Drones are larger units used as anti-gravity transports. They are frequently used by Ethereals so they can fly around to inspire their troops faster 'cause these lazy sleazers can't be bothered to just do something as simple as walking up to a communications device and ''talking'' to his troops. Not to mention that there's no way for the pilot to even feasibly balance, much less pilot the thing. I mean seriously, try surfing on a garbage can lid, it's not that easy.

The only device lazier than this is the floating <s>Prophet's Gravity Throne</s> [[Hover Chair|Space Pope Throne]] of the biggest and wrinkliest of Ethereals.
{{Clear}}

== Gallery ==

<gallery>
File:Heavy Gun Drones.jpg
File:Sniper_Drones.jpg|A row of three sniper drones? [[Rape|Oh my...]]
File:Remora 1.jpg|An overview of the various parts of a Remora.
File:DX-4 Technical Drone.JPG|They're like [[Star Wars|R2-D2's]] stripped down cousin.
File:Drone_Sentry_Turret.JPG|Its like a literal wall of guns.
File:Gundrone.jpg
File:Gun droneschematic.jpg
File:Heavygundronesmarkerlight.JPG
</gallery>

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tau]]

[[Category: Skimmers]]

[[Category: Flyers]]

[[Category: Fortifications]]

{{Tau}}

Farsight

2021-01-02T23:22:33Z

2600:1700:E660:4760:87F:B175:5EFE:7485: /* 163 years later */

[[File:Farsight.jpg|300px|right|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.]|thumb]]

{{Topquote|Any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.|Jack Churchill, or "Mad Jack", British Army officer during WWII}}

'''Shas'O Vior'la Shovah Kais Mont'yr''', better known as '''Commander Farsight''' or '''Da Red Komet''', is owner of the longest (xeno) name in the galaxy (and that's without his redundant civilian designations), as well as the closest thing the Tau have to a stone-cold badass. This is largely due to being the only known Tau to opt for a bloody great sword and shield over the clinical ''sub-atomic-pulse-plasma-ion-rail-blaster-rifle-cannons'' his race are famed for. His fearsome reputation is most widespread among the [[Orks]].

He is also a [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharClone clone of the Gundam character Char].

Farsight most resembles some sort of hybrid of Char Aznable (Red Battlesuit, separatist philosophies, arch-rivalry with a [[Shadowsun|White Battlesuited ace pilot]]), Oda Nobunaga (Ruthlesss pragmatism, scorched earth tactics, close range firearms tactics), Hojo Tokimune (Rallying the troops against an unstoppable horde of barbarians), Big Boss from the [[Video games|Metal Gear]] series (having had to kill his mentor at the behest of his leaders, and now leading a resistance group against said leaders) and Kambei Shimada (Get it? The Eight? Seven Samurai?).

==Once upon a time, there lived a Tau who literally had the word "hot-blooded" in his very name...==
From the beginning, Farsight was a fiercely independent thinker and tactical genius who managed to get three years ahead of his fellow pupils with nothing but determination and planning; in fact, he was such a bright spark he ended up embarrassing his instructors, which led to a lot of them getting replaced. Though this led to some [[Butthurt|bad blood]], Farsight moved past it, becoming a famed commander in his own right. However, Farsight's personal gut instincts and a desire for close, aggressive combat put him at odds with the Empire's battle doctrine. Farsight sucked it up and continued on as best he could, and finally was promoted to a battlesuit piloting role that he took to with gusto.

Back during the halcyon days of the major conquests of the [[Tau|Tau Empire]], the majority of the army's victories could be attributed to a single commander: [[Commander Puretide|Puretide]]. Puretide was a legendary genius who wrote the book on Fire Caste tactics, and shaped the military for years to come. He was basically Sun Tzu 40k to the point where O'R'myr actually quotes Sun Tzu in the Taros Campaign book and it is attributed to Puretide. Puretide's many pupils were all famous warriors in their own right, and Puretide himself was so valuable that before he died of old age, the Earth Caste actually scanned his brain and encoded portions of his brilliance into what they called Puretide engram neurochips in order to help train future commanders. Farsight trained directly under Puretide, learning even more about battlefield tactics and strategy, and became one of his top pupils along with [[Shadowsun|Commander Shadowsun]] and [[Shas'o Kais]] (who may or not be the same Kais from [[Warhammer_40,000:_Fire_Warrior|Fire Warrior]] and/or [[Dawn_of_War|Dawn of War]]). After studying with Papa Puretide himself, Farsight was made the leader of a massive Tau fleet and sent out to do the Empire's bidding. In his first deployment as mission commander, he performed amazingly, trouncing the [[Orks]] singlehandedly with skill and cunning. As he fought, the young Tau realized that aggressive, up-close combat was the key to defeating the Orks, and as a result became more comfortable with the idea of close quarters combat. Though he was unhappily reassigned to another battle zone before defeating the Orks completely, Farsight met with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi Ethereal Aun'Shi], on whom he modeled a style of close-combat battlesuit fighting which he applied for years afterwards.

Farsight's next big deployment was at Dal'yth during the [[Damocles_Crusade|Damocles Crusade]]. A branch of the [[Imperium|Imperium's]] forces had launched a steamroller attack on the sept world, knocking over colonies, shelling planets and smashing fleets to get there. Though the attack was clumsy, the sheer grit and numbers of the [[Imperial Guard]] meant that the Tau were completely on the back foot, and only Farsight and Shadowsun's combined tactics managed to hold Dal'yth together. During this battle Farsight became aware of the unsettling power of human [[Psykers|psyker]] and [[warp]] technology as well as their incredible fanaticism, and began to recognize an element of the latter in his own doctrines. In addition, some of his fellow commanders were implanted with Puretide engram neurochips by the Ethereals to make them as tactically capable as Puretide; however, Farsight found this horrifying when it turned his soldiers into robots with no will of their own and made them completely useless when psykers were involved (since Puretide had never encountered them). Finally, after a long and bloody war, the Imperium of Man had to pull out when the [[Tyranid]] [[Hive Fleet Behemoth]] reared its grotesque head in the Eastern Fringe and headed straight for [[Ultramar]]. While the rest of the Tau Empire was celebrating, Farsight was the only one who noticed that the Imperium would have won the war of attrition, and wondered if something else had cause them to pull out. After the war, Farsight discovered to his additional alarm that when the engram chips were removed, they left the commanders brain-dead. You can probably see where this is going.

However, the neurochip business was not enough for the Ethereals, who decided that some of Puretide's students should be cryogenically frozen so that they could be useful far beyond their meager lifespans. Puretide's three top pupils (Farsight, Shadowsun and Kais), all aggressive commanders with a bitter rivalry between them, were chosen for this. It was decided that the three would work in decades-long rotations, with one awake and two asleep at all times, kind of like the three vampire lords in ''Underworld'' were supposed to preside over the coven in turns. Of the three, Farsight was chosen to remain active first while Shadowsun and Kais were frozen to be brought back into service in the future, making him, for a time, the sole military hero of the Empire.

==Farsight Enclaves==
{{Infobox 40k Nations
|name=Farsight Enclaves
|image=[[Image:Farsight_Enclave_Banner_Flag.PNG|160px|center]]
|bgcolor=
|fgcolor=
|Capital=Vior'los
|Official Languages= Tau Lexicon
|Power=Emerging Minor Power
|Size=4 Systems
|Head of State=Commander Farsight
|Head of Government=Commander Farsight, The Eight
|Governmental Structure=Libertarian Stratocratic Federal War Council
|State Religion/Ideology=Modified version of the [[Greater Good|Tau'va]]
|Demographic=[[Tau]]
|Military Force=[[Tau]] Forces, The Eight
}}
[[File:2013-07-12 13.36.35.png|300px|thumb|left|The modern Farsight, armed to the probably-non-existent-because-they-rotted-away-due-to-age teeth.]]
After the Damocles Crusade, Farsight was tasked with rebuilding a series of lost colonies that had been overrun by Chaos forces. So Farsight set out with another huge fleet and a trio of Ethereals to repair the damage and take back planets. He set up a series of worlds that would become known as the Farsight Enclaves. Along the way he was attacked by Space Marines, who he managed to defeat by climbing in an original Coldstar suit (yes, it has a female AI and yes she's a tsundere), and at the direction of a Daemon-possessed Water Caste member, flew towards and boarded the Space Marine ship throught the grotesquely huge barrel of a gun because the whole book is mocking the GW tropes with the intention of disabling their Gellar Fields. Luckily the single suit didn't trigger the turrets and Space Marines forgot to deploy their fighters for no reason so Farsight was able to accomplish his mission, but gets briefly knocked out in doing so and has a few visions of the future. Because you know, newtype Tau or something. Luckily he's still able to come to and leave when the ship begins getting overrun with Daemons, as for some reason the ship never fully left the warp when it began its attack on the Tau. We also learn the Tau [[wat|have drones the size of thumbs that are powerful enough to vaporize large daemons in a single shot]] (don't think about it too much, they never show up again). On the way back to the Tau he's attacked by a Heldrake because BUY THE NEW MINIATURES! and is nearly killed, only to be saved by the Imperials fleeing their doomed ship as they blow it up in a way that doesn't destroy the suit it's ripping apart. From there he decides it's best to just never speak of 'those weird xenos' that showed up out of nowhere and vanished into smoke just as quickly, good thing not warning anyone else about this sort of thing [[Horus Heresy|never comes back to bite anyone in the ass later.]]

Shortly after that however, his new territories became overrun by a huge WAAAAAGH of Orks. Said Orks were made up of survivors from his previous campaign, and they came both for revenge and the opportunity to loot all that fancy Tau dakka (They called it the War of Dakka. No seriously.) Although the Ethereals wanted him to keep conquering worlds from the Imperium, Farsight wisely refused as he knew all too well that the Ork menace would only get worse if he didn't deal with them. The Orks actually came up with a pretty kunnin' plan; Launch an attack against a world across the Gulf to send "Da Red Runt" (Again, seriously. Subtle Phil Kelly strikes again) after them, and then strike the worlds of the Enclaves while he's off dealing with them. The plan worked at first, Farsight stopped their initial attack, but came home to find all the worlds being besieged by Orks. Against such overwhelming odds, the <s>Tau </s> Orks never stood a fucking chance. Farsight proceeded to enact what could only be described as Ork genocide, the likes of which would make Yarrick proud. He accomplished this by weaponizing the terrain of all the worlds, setting off Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Dust Storms and Tsunamis to weaken the Orks before the Tau finished them off. This WAAAAAGH was eventually stopped when Farsight killed their warboss, [[Awesome|by punching through his battlewagon and vaporizing him with his fusion blaster]]. The Orks that weren't killed fled from him.

Though they were running scared away from the Enclaves, Farsight refused to let them escape alive, and set about hunting down the remaining Orks which conflicted with the Ethereals' primary objective of capturing more worlds and created tension between them and Farsight. During this drawn-out campaign against the Orks, Farsight and his Ethereal advisors ended up on the dead planet of Arthas Moloch, where a swarm of [[daemons]] was summoned after blood was spilled on a strange altar. The Daemons proceeded to wreck shit up, and put Farsight into critical condition. In this costly battle Farsight discovered an ancient sword called the Dawn Blade, as well as statues bearing hexagram medallions that somehow repelled entities of [[Chaos]] (Interestingly, this was the same symbol he used to exorcise the Daemon from the water caste). The Ethereals tried to use his nearly fatal injuries as a justification to just quarantine off the planet and leave it behind. Farsight however defied their orders yet again, and despite being on the brink of death he climbed into his Battlesuit for what he assumed would be the last time. Although the Ethereals were made aware of this suicide mission, they agreed to let him go (Since he was proving way too rebellious to keep alive any longer) as long as they went down to the planet to investigate the creatures... which one of them [[fail|accidentally named in a slip of the tongue]], revealing to to Farsight that they had known about the ancient evil of Chaos, but lied to the Tau public about its existence for the sake of the [[Greater Good]], kind of like [[Imperial Truth|what the Emperor did]] in the [[Great Crusade]]. This is similar to the Empra's plan although it is equally (if not more) stupid, since the Tau are able to be possessed by Daemons and do not have the ability to detect this possession themselves. The existence of daemons, though, could negate a lot of their highly secular teachings. Farsight figured out that the medallions were anathema to Chaos, and chucked as many as he could find into the portal, causing it to collapse in a huge explosion. During the fight, however, the daemons singled out and killed his Ethereals, it seems their curiosity got the better of them.

When the dust settled, O'Shovah was one foot in the grave, his injuries were already life threatening and the battle had only aggravated them. His battlesuit AI advised him to return to the Manta and enter into stasis for that incredibly slim chance that he might be healed. But he looked at his scanner and discovered that there were less than 30 Orks on the surface. AKA: Too damn many. Farsight then leapt into the fray, knowing it would spell his doom, but he would not die until after the Orks did. However during the battle something unusual happened; As he chopped up the Orks, his vital signs began to stabilize and even heal. Cutting them down even gave him a strange invigorating thrill, one he noticed was absent when he killed them in other ways. Finally, the last Ork was cleaved in two and Farsight knew his task was finished. When he got back to the Manta however, not only did he notice that his injuries were completely gone, but he had actually regressed in age back to his prime.
[[File:FE_Map.jpg|500px|right|thumb|Star Systems under the Enclave.]]
===Gotta Go Your Own Way===
After the events on Arthas Moloch, Farsight understood the terrifying menace of the [[Warp|Immaterium]] and Chaos and the massive dickery of ethereals, which to him explained a great deal of what he had seen during his exploits. As he continued to ponder, it became obvious to the Commander that the T'au Empire's [[Inquisition|leadership was not benign]], or at the very least woefully ignorant or in denial regarding the true perils of the galaxy. The Farsight Enclaves thereafter severed their ties with the T'au Empire and began to govern themselves. Farsight quietly left his battlesuit in a museum and went to be a hermit, fearing that [[Horus Heresy|a second Mon'tau]] would occur if what he learned ever reached the Empire. Which makes a degree of sense. The Tau believe the Greater Good has enabled them to be on par with and even surpass all the major galactic powers. The truth is that they are nothing in comparison even though everyone has no Greater Good or Ethereals. Which would mean their beliefs are meaningless and unnecessary.

===The Dawn Blade===
The Dawn Blade is made of chronophagic (Greek for "time eating") alloys, so whenever Farsight kills something with it his life is extended as the blade [[Vampire|steals the life]] force of its victim and adds it to the wielder's. Considering he killed a lot of Orks (who are biologically immortal) and daemons (who are truly immortal) with it, it's safe to say Shovah is practically immortal right now. Farsight does not know this, but he has his suspicions, and if he were to find out that his suspicions are correct he would most likely kill himself upon realizing that he's been unwittingly sucking the life out of his enemies. He also found multiple [[D6|six sided medallions]] with [[Culexus|anti-Warp properties]] in the same place he found the Dawn Blade. [[Trazyn_the_Infinite|Trazyn]] probably lost some of his collection or something. But seriously, based on its age and eldritch abilities, the Dawn Blade is most likely a [[C'tan]] artifact or leftover technology of the [[Old Ones]]. Considering the old fluff it might actually be one of the 99 blades of Vaul, the ones that drained the enemy of life force to sustain the bearer (and the one that was normal made the line crumble and vaul getting wrecked for his deceit)
{{Template:40k-Governments}}

==163 years later==
{{Topquote|The life of a soldier is the only one I know. That's why I can never settle down.|Char Aznable}}
The Tau Empire, having lost contact with the Farsight Enclaves, believed Farsight himself to be long dead and the Enclaves lost. One day, though, a [[Anal Circumference|probe]] discovered that the Enclaves were still there and flourishing, and had changed their sept markings and become Ethereal-free. Learning this, the Tau Empire branded Farsight a traitor and renamed the Enclaves the "Forbidden Zone", smashing all his statues throughout the Empire and trying to wipe him from public memory. This didn't sit well with everyone, especially members of the Fire Caste, and contacts within the Empire soon began secretly supplying the Enclaves with new weapons and hardware.

Over a hundred years later, the Enclaves came under threat from a [[Tyranid]] splinter fleet. Unsure of what to do, the leadership of the Enclaves suddenly got a message from a museum where an aged Farsight had suddenly shown up out of nowhere to demand his old battlesuit be removed from its display case and returned to him. Donning his armor once again, the Commander took over the defense, and thanks to some smart Earth Caste bio-engineering, managed to hold off the Great Devourer long enough to poison the fleet (Yeah, seriously, leave it to the Tau to poison a fleet that literally lives on toxins) which ended up destroying it in its entirety, making the Tau [[wat|better at creating viruses than Nurgle's daemons]] as they tried and were unable to do this. Some may remember the Imperium did this, too, but that was actually a mutagen whereas this was a poison. Meanwhile [[Shadowsun]], Farsight's old rival, was awakened from her cryogenic stasis in the Empire and sent back to war, and Farsight assembled a new team of elite battlesuit pilots, The Eight, to defend the Enclaves and stand opposed to the mysterious power the Ethereals held over their brethren. They would later reinforce the T'au Empire in the last campaign of the Third Sphere of Expansion.

At some point in the early 42nd Millennium, Farsight made a journey back to Arthas Moloch alone. He stays there for 30 days before returning to the Empire to summon a war council. And...that's all we've heard from the Enclaves in 8th Edition. Considering the dangers that the [[Death Guard]]'s assault on the Tau Empire represents, it's very possible that Farsight is preparing a relief force to deal with [[Nurgle]]'s armies. Also, the reaction of the Ethereals after being rescued by a renegade would be really interesting to see, maybe putting their credibility on the line, or just trying to cover everything up, angering many in the Tau army. Maybe this is the last straw for the Tau Empire to enter a full civil war between Farsight and the Ethereal Caste...

==The Eight==
[[File:Farsight7.jpg|850px|thumb|center|The Eight. From left to right: Torchstar, Ob'lotai, Sha'Vastos, Farsight himself, O'Vesa, Bravestorm, Brightsword, Arra'kon]]
Farsight's band of battlesuit aces. Think [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Samurai ''Seven Samurai''], except with [[mecha]] and one more samurai. The Eight consist of:

#'''Sub-Commander Torchstar''', a Tau Empire deserter and the youngest member of the team, this [https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Pyro volatile pyromaniac female] Tau has flame tattoos on her body and pilots a XV-8 Crisis suit. She even fights with dual flamers and a couple of marker drones. A blue-skinned [[Chandra]] in a mecha Hot enough for ya?
#'''Shas'vre Ob'lotai 9-0''', an AI-controlled XV88 Broadside battlesuit armed to the teeth with twin-linked smart missile systems, twin-linked, high-yield missile pods, two missile drones, and a seeker missile. Based on the brain of Farsight's long-dead superior Ob'lotai. Is killed twice, the first is when he [[bullshit|flies directly through a battle barge's void shields at over 200 kph, isn't picked up by Imperial sensors or shot down (either by the ship or its fighter craft), flies directly into the barrel of a battle-barge's cannon and then shoots the warhead inside to blow up the entire battle barge.]] This also ends up wiping out an entire Space Marine chapter. Funnily enough too the novel that this happens in establishes well before this point that all of this would be impossible, and that if anyone were to try doing exactly what he did they would have the same result as a fly hitting a windshield (and doing this also kills the electronics that don't get crushed, which would have destroyed him as well). The second time he gets destroyed was in the events of Mont'ka, but being an AI they just slapped his engram in a new XV88 body. Also gains the ability to wirelessly transmit himself from one battlesuit to another in Farsight: Crisis of Faith, presumably because Phil Kelly forgot that he needed his chip to be plugged into a suit to control them and that he couldn't survive without his chip. Can also be considered a troll, screenshotting marines with no helmets taking a missile to the face. And then proceeding to send said picts to Farsight as memes.
#'''Commander Sha'vastos''', an old comrade of Farsight and one of the commanders who was forcefully equipped with a [[Commander Puretide|Puretide]] engram neurochip. It was a prototype, however, and rapidly began to degrade, damaging Sha'vastos' mind, so Farsight put him in stasis and smuggled him out of the Empire. Years later his scientists finally managed to remove it safely, and in gratitude Sha'vastos fights alongside his friend and leader in his XV8 Crisis battlesuit outfitted with a plasma rifle, a flamer, and two gun drones.
#'''Farsight''', leader of the Enclaves. Has very dark and cracked skin thanks to exposure to heat and flames, as well as a mechanical replacement leg. He pilots an XV8 Crisis battlesuit equipped with his trademark Dawn Blade, a high-intensity plasma rifle, and a shield generator mounted on one arm. Before finding the blade he used to mount a twin-linked fusion gun. Farsight's battlesuit is notably an archaic design, as it is [https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/5th_Edition_Tactics/Tau over a hundred years old], but constant upgrades and crafty Earth-Caste maintenance keep the suit on par with current sleeker battlesuit designs of the rest of the Tau Empire. Why can't we field him in a Coldstar suit is a mystery, because he was literally the first one ever to pilot such a suit.
#'''Honor-Shas'vre O'Vesa''', less of a Fire Caste warrior and more of an old Earth Caste mad scientist kept alive by microdrones, given the honorary title of "Shas" to denote his position as a warrior. Pilots a massive [[Riptide]] with excellent targeting arrays, an [[ion cannon|ion accelerator]], a [[Twin-Linked|twin-linked]] [[fusion blaster]], and a pair of [[Tau drone|shielded missile drones]].
#'''Commander Bravestorm''', a very old Tau who has been burned and scarred á la [[Star Wars|Darth Vader]] and cannot leave his iridium-plated (2+ Save) XV8-02 Crisis battlesuit after taking down dozens of Imperial tanks with an experimental weapon. This gets changed to "can leave his suit after all, but pretends he can't" in Farsight: Crisis of Faith. Incredibly brave (duh) and fights with the last remaining Tau power fist-equivalent, the Onager Gauntlet. Too bad we don't actually know what it looks like and his official image doesn't depict it... Also uses a plasma rifle, a [[flamer]], and a pair of gun drones. (Re)Built to last, he also has a shield and stims injectors. His life support seems to have given him extended life, as he saves Farsight in Mont'Ka. At one point he's nearly killed by Space Marines as they tear his battlesuit apart, but he tricks them by not moving and pretending he's dead after they rip his suit open but before they attack him. It's just as retarded as it sounds, because marines won't stop beating a xenos even if it's a dead xenos. Because fuck logic.
#'''Commander Brightsword''', supposedly a generational pilot who inherited the title from the previous Brightsword, but actually a clone of him. Possesses a scarred and pock-marked XV8 Crisis battlesuit that was also passed down, and fights with two fusion blades, which are melta swords that can also be twin-linked fusion blasters, and a shield drone.
#'''Commander Arra'kon''', a Tau born in the Enclaves who served as supreme military commander during Farsight's hermetic absence. An expert strategist, and damned good in a fight, especially against infantry. He pilots an XV8-05 Enforcer battlesuit armed with a plasma rifle, a cyclic ion blaster, an airbursting fragmentation projector, and two gun drones.
[[File:The_Eight.png|850px|thumb|center|The gang posing for action]]

==Possible Psyker?==
Phil Kelly's Farsight novels have been revealing quite a lot of details about the Tau empire, including this rather...odd implication. In previous lore, his name came about due to him studying Ork psychology to an extreme degree, to the point where he could predict their psychological reactions to everything. This then carried over to the Imperium when he studied the Codex Astartes and was able to predict Imperial strategy because of it. However in the Kelly books, Farsight's demonstrated multiple instances where he literally sees the future and what his opponent will do. Yes by the way [[wat|this shows up '''before''' he found the Dawn Blade.]] Implying that he might be the first Tau psyker, a [[Anime|"New type"]] of Tau if you will. This is...confusing to say the least. There's no precedence for this and the Tau are a race with very little warp presence, how in the hell do they suddenly jump from that to "manipulate the very warp itself with mere thought"?! To make matters worse, this only appears in the books, he has '''no''' psychic abilities on the tabletop, nothing seems to have come out of it and it's contradictory based on what happens in those books as this would also mean he gets all of the benefits of being a Psyker, [[Mary Sue|without having to put in any of the work or deal with any of the downsides,]] such as being detected by other psykers and also being extremely vulnerable to both Daemons and [[enslavers|other denizens of the warp.]]
Or he's just Char, one of the best <s>Gundam</s> mobile suit pilots who develops newtype abilities. Considering the idea of entire humanity becoming psy race in space has been copied from Gundam series it's nothing fancy.

==Quotes==
{{topquote|Learn to shorten your reach! If your foe can come close enough to negate your striking power, all stratagem is lost, and when all stratagem is lost, the battle is lost.|Codex: Tau (3rd Edition)}}
{{topquote|Each must find their own way. If those in our heartland had witnessed the savageries of the void as have we, they would know this. The hand of each of the great starfarers is turned against the other; none will join their strength together just to see their ancient enemies prosper. Neither should we.|Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition)}}
{{topquote|I've seen things you wouldn't believe — entire worlds in flames, chains of supernovas on the edge of nothingness, the great hole in space. I am changed, an outcast now...|Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition). Geez, replicant much?}}

==That's the [[fluff]], here's the [[crunch]]==
[[File:Farsight Model.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The old and new Farsight models.]]
While popular fluff-wise even among non-Tau players for his badassery and generally cool backstory, Commander Farsight wasn't actually all that useful on the tabletop at first because he came with a shit ton of limitations, like no auxilaries, 0-1 tanks or [[Pathfinder]]s and so on, and his massive bodyguard blob was [[Deathstar|too expensive and risky]]. The limitations got removed as of the 6th edition codex, however, and Farsight can now even bring Ethereals with him (even though fluff-wise Aun'Shi is the only Ethereal he'd associate with). On top of that, Farsight, along with his retinue of samurai—uh, I mean battlesuit aces, is now a beatstick. He can bring a unit of <s>seven</s> '''NINE''' (It's 7th ed Shas'la) non-scattering bodyguards with him and give them all meltas, plasma rifles and target locks to allow the squad to fire at several tanks with meltas or blast the enemy [[MEQ]]s and [[MEQ#TEQ|TEQs]] on turn 2. Moreover, Farsight can now be taken in a game of any size. Although with 7th ed he isn't needed for a massive blob of mechas to rain from the sky, he merely provides the means of entry, and beacons can do the same already.

Farsight is one of very few Tau units who you actually want to be in an assault as opposed to shooting. So few everyone else will be hard pressed to keep up with him. His Tau-standard plasma rifle and BS5 are merely supplements meant to soften the enemy up before he charges in (or, rather, jetpacks in) to get to slicing and dicing with the Dawnblade, which is pretty easy with WS5, S5, I5 and 4 attacks. He's also pretty durable; basically a [[Space Marine]] captain with an extra wound: T4, W4, 3+ Save and a 4++ Invulnerable with his shield generator. Surprisingly, despite having a sword that eats souls and adds their would-be lifespan to Farsight's, he doesn't have eternal warrior, leading to him getting his face smashed in by anything with Str 8. He's not meant to be a one-man (or one-Tau) badassery show, though; have him work together effectively with his elite battlesuit brethren for [[Rape|best results]].

Additionally, the Tau Empire has a whole Farsight Enclaves Supplement now, where you can take battlesuits as Troops AND his own crazy retinue of special characters! Surprisingly, Farsight himself is rarely taken in Enclaves armies, mostly because his giant Crysis deathstar really benefits from the standard Tau <s>relics</s> systems.

Welcome to the future! With the latest codex a Farsight Enclave army can actually take the standard Tau systems together with their own!

=== 8th Edition ===
[[File:The_Eight_battle.png|300px|thumb|right|They are quite possable tbf]]
[[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Tau(8E)#Special_Characters|Here's the Tactics page.]]

He's the only unit so far with the {{W40kKeyword|FARSIGHT ENCLAVES}} keyword (aside from the Eight who are now a Lord of War choice, although of course you can pick Farsight Enclaves as your wildcard Sept for most other units), and buffs the melee abilities (and, if they're targeting {{W40kKeyword|ORKS}}, shooting too) of all nearby Farsight Enclaves units. He's also still a beast in melee, although he's not much good against larger targets - his sword may be AP-4, but he's only got <s> 5 Strength to swing it with. </s> Strength 8 now! His incredible accuracy (WS2+ with reroll 1s) and decent number of attacks will see him happily carving up lower-Toughness units whether they're armoured or not though, and if he gets in over his head he's always got the ability to Fall Back while shooting thanks to being able to {{W40kKeyword|FLY}}. Limitations on Commanders, no ethereals, and lack of units that can keep up with Farsight <s>drag his sept down in comparison to others though. No one said going your own way was easy.</s> Are you nuts? Coldstar Commanders with Fusion Blades in melee with him can wreck some serious havoc against characters and vehicles. Rerollable 1's to wound with an Y'vahra and Breacher Teams are nothing to sneeze at, and a stratagem that actually makes Crisis Suits accurate (with or without markerlights) really helps you get the most mileage out of them. Until you realize Y'vahra with any sept except for Borkan is an overpriced statue Sure you have to play them as a high risk high reward Deep Strike heavy army that likes to get up close and personal... but chances are you were going to do that anyways if you play FSE.
All in all he is fluffy, but in modern meta high risk isn't compensated with high reward, because for reasons unknown crisis bodyguards are still short-sighted and look like downgraded aggressor primarines on jetpacks

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tau]]

[[Category: Vehicles]]

{{Tau-Characters}}

Farsight

2021-01-02T23:18:57Z

2600:1700:E660:4760:87F:B175:5EFE:7485: /* Gotta Go Your Own Way */

[[File:Farsight.jpg|300px|right|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.]|thumb]]

{{Topquote|Any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.|Jack Churchill, or "Mad Jack", British Army officer during WWII}}

'''Shas'O Vior'la Shovah Kais Mont'yr''', better known as '''Commander Farsight''' or '''Da Red Komet''', is owner of the longest (xeno) name in the galaxy (and that's without his redundant civilian designations), as well as the closest thing the Tau have to a stone-cold badass. This is largely due to being the only known Tau to opt for a bloody great sword and shield over the clinical ''sub-atomic-pulse-plasma-ion-rail-blaster-rifle-cannons'' his race are famed for. His fearsome reputation is most widespread among the [[Orks]].

He is also a [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharClone clone of the Gundam character Char].

Farsight most resembles some sort of hybrid of Char Aznable (Red Battlesuit, separatist philosophies, arch-rivalry with a [[Shadowsun|White Battlesuited ace pilot]]), Oda Nobunaga (Ruthlesss pragmatism, scorched earth tactics, close range firearms tactics), Hojo Tokimune (Rallying the troops against an unstoppable horde of barbarians), Big Boss from the [[Video games|Metal Gear]] series (having had to kill his mentor at the behest of his leaders, and now leading a resistance group against said leaders) and Kambei Shimada (Get it? The Eight? Seven Samurai?).

==Once upon a time, there lived a Tau who literally had the word "hot-blooded" in his very name...==
From the beginning, Farsight was a fiercely independent thinker and tactical genius who managed to get three years ahead of his fellow pupils with nothing but determination and planning; in fact, he was such a bright spark he ended up embarrassing his instructors, which led to a lot of them getting replaced. Though this led to some [[Butthurt|bad blood]], Farsight moved past it, becoming a famed commander in his own right. However, Farsight's personal gut instincts and a desire for close, aggressive combat put him at odds with the Empire's battle doctrine. Farsight sucked it up and continued on as best he could, and finally was promoted to a battlesuit piloting role that he took to with gusto.

Back during the halcyon days of the major conquests of the [[Tau|Tau Empire]], the majority of the army's victories could be attributed to a single commander: [[Commander Puretide|Puretide]]. Puretide was a legendary genius who wrote the book on Fire Caste tactics, and shaped the military for years to come. He was basically Sun Tzu 40k to the point where O'R'myr actually quotes Sun Tzu in the Taros Campaign book and it is attributed to Puretide. Puretide's many pupils were all famous warriors in their own right, and Puretide himself was so valuable that before he died of old age, the Earth Caste actually scanned his brain and encoded portions of his brilliance into what they called Puretide engram neurochips in order to help train future commanders. Farsight trained directly under Puretide, learning even more about battlefield tactics and strategy, and became one of his top pupils along with [[Shadowsun|Commander Shadowsun]] and [[Shas'o Kais]] (who may or not be the same Kais from [[Warhammer_40,000:_Fire_Warrior|Fire Warrior]] and/or [[Dawn_of_War|Dawn of War]]). After studying with Papa Puretide himself, Farsight was made the leader of a massive Tau fleet and sent out to do the Empire's bidding. In his first deployment as mission commander, he performed amazingly, trouncing the [[Orks]] singlehandedly with skill and cunning. As he fought, the young Tau realized that aggressive, up-close combat was the key to defeating the Orks, and as a result became more comfortable with the idea of close quarters combat. Though he was unhappily reassigned to another battle zone before defeating the Orks completely, Farsight met with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi Ethereal Aun'Shi], on whom he modeled a style of close-combat battlesuit fighting which he applied for years afterwards.

Farsight's next big deployment was at Dal'yth during the [[Damocles_Crusade|Damocles Crusade]]. A branch of the [[Imperium|Imperium's]] forces had launched a steamroller attack on the sept world, knocking over colonies, shelling planets and smashing fleets to get there. Though the attack was clumsy, the sheer grit and numbers of the [[Imperial Guard]] meant that the Tau were completely on the back foot, and only Farsight and Shadowsun's combined tactics managed to hold Dal'yth together. During this battle Farsight became aware of the unsettling power of human [[Psykers|psyker]] and [[warp]] technology as well as their incredible fanaticism, and began to recognize an element of the latter in his own doctrines. In addition, some of his fellow commanders were implanted with Puretide engram neurochips by the Ethereals to make them as tactically capable as Puretide; however, Farsight found this horrifying when it turned his soldiers into robots with no will of their own and made them completely useless when psykers were involved (since Puretide had never encountered them). Finally, after a long and bloody war, the Imperium of Man had to pull out when the [[Tyranid]] [[Hive Fleet Behemoth]] reared its grotesque head in the Eastern Fringe and headed straight for [[Ultramar]]. While the rest of the Tau Empire was celebrating, Farsight was the only one who noticed that the Imperium would have won the war of attrition, and wondered if something else had cause them to pull out. After the war, Farsight discovered to his additional alarm that when the engram chips were removed, they left the commanders brain-dead. You can probably see where this is going.

However, the neurochip business was not enough for the Ethereals, who decided that some of Puretide's students should be cryogenically frozen so that they could be useful far beyond their meager lifespans. Puretide's three top pupils (Farsight, Shadowsun and Kais), all aggressive commanders with a bitter rivalry between them, were chosen for this. It was decided that the three would work in decades-long rotations, with one awake and two asleep at all times, kind of like the three vampire lords in ''Underworld'' were supposed to preside over the coven in turns. Of the three, Farsight was chosen to remain active first while Shadowsun and Kais were frozen to be brought back into service in the future, making him, for a time, the sole military hero of the Empire.

==Farsight Enclaves==
{{Infobox 40k Nations
|name=Farsight Enclaves
|image=[[Image:Farsight_Enclave_Banner_Flag.PNG|160px|center]]
|bgcolor=
|fgcolor=
|Capital=Vior'los
|Official Languages= Tau Lexicon
|Power=Emerging Minor Power
|Size=4 Systems
|Head of State=Commander Farsight
|Head of Government=Commander Farsight, The Eight
|Governmental Structure=Libertarian Stratocratic Federal War Council
|State Religion/Ideology=Modified version of the [[Greater Good|Tau'va]]
|Demographic=[[Tau]]
|Military Force=[[Tau]] Forces, The Eight
}}
[[File:2013-07-12 13.36.35.png|300px|thumb|left|The modern Farsight, armed to the probably-non-existent-because-they-rotted-away-due-to-age teeth.]]
After the Damocles Crusade, Farsight was tasked with rebuilding a series of lost colonies that had been overrun by Chaos forces. So Farsight set out with another huge fleet and a trio of Ethereals to repair the damage and take back planets. He set up a series of worlds that would become known as the Farsight Enclaves. Along the way he was attacked by Space Marines, who he managed to defeat by climbing in an original Coldstar suit (yes, it has a female AI and yes she's a tsundere), and at the direction of a Daemon-possessed Water Caste member, flew towards and boarded the Space Marine ship throught the grotesquely huge barrel of a gun because the whole book is mocking the GW tropes with the intention of disabling their Gellar Fields. Luckily the single suit didn't trigger the turrets and Space Marines forgot to deploy their fighters for no reason so Farsight was able to accomplish his mission, but gets briefly knocked out in doing so and has a few visions of the future. Because you know, newtype Tau or something. Luckily he's still able to come to and leave when the ship begins getting overrun with Daemons, as for some reason the ship never fully left the warp when it began its attack on the Tau. We also learn the Tau [[wat|have drones the size of thumbs that are powerful enough to vaporize large daemons in a single shot]] (don't think about it too much, they never show up again). On the way back to the Tau he's attacked by a Heldrake because BUY THE NEW MINIATURES! and is nearly killed, only to be saved by the Imperials fleeing their doomed ship as they blow it up in a way that doesn't destroy the suit it's ripping apart. From there he decides it's best to just never speak of 'those weird xenos' that showed up out of nowhere and vanished into smoke just as quickly, good thing not warning anyone else about this sort of thing [[Horus Heresy|never comes back to bite anyone in the ass later.]]

Shortly after that however, his new territories became overrun by a huge WAAAAAGH of Orks. Said Orks were made up of survivors from his previous campaign, and they came both for revenge and the opportunity to loot all that fancy Tau dakka (They called it the War of Dakka. No seriously.) Although the Ethereals wanted him to keep conquering worlds from the Imperium, Farsight wisely refused as he knew all too well that the Ork menace would only get worse if he didn't deal with them. The Orks actually came up with a pretty kunnin' plan; Launch an attack against a world across the Gulf to send "Da Red Runt" (Again, seriously. Subtle Phil Kelly strikes again) after them, and then strike the worlds of the Enclaves while he's off dealing with them. The plan worked at first, Farsight stopped their initial attack, but came home to find all the worlds being besieged by Orks. Against such overwhelming odds, the <s>Tau </s> Orks never stood a fucking chance. Farsight proceeded to enact what could only be described as Ork genocide, the likes of which would make Yarrick proud. He accomplished this by weaponizing the terrain of all the worlds, setting off Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Dust Storms and Tsunamis to weaken the Orks before the Tau finished them off. This WAAAAAGH was eventually stopped when Farsight killed their warboss, [[Awesome|by punching through his battlewagon and vaporizing him with his fusion blaster]]. The Orks that weren't killed fled from him.

Though they were running scared away from the Enclaves, Farsight refused to let them escape alive, and set about hunting down the remaining Orks which conflicted with the Ethereals' primary objective of capturing more worlds and created tension between them and Farsight. During this drawn-out campaign against the Orks, Farsight and his Ethereal advisors ended up on the dead planet of Arthas Moloch, where a swarm of [[daemons]] was summoned after blood was spilled on a strange altar. The Daemons proceeded to wreck shit up, and put Farsight into critical condition. In this costly battle Farsight discovered an ancient sword called the Dawn Blade, as well as statues bearing hexagram medallions that somehow repelled entities of [[Chaos]] (Interestingly, this was the same symbol he used to exorcise the Daemon from the water caste). The Ethereals tried to use his nearly fatal injuries as a justification to just quarantine off the planet and leave it behind. Farsight however defied their orders yet again, and despite being on the brink of death he climbed into his Battlesuit for what he assumed would be the last time. Although the Ethereals were made aware of this suicide mission, they agreed to let him go (Since he was proving way too rebellious to keep alive any longer) as long as they went down to the planet to investigate the creatures... which one of them [[fail|accidentally named in a slip of the tongue]], revealing to to Farsight that they had known about the ancient evil of Chaos, but lied to the Tau public about its existence for the sake of the [[Greater Good]], kind of like [[Imperial Truth|what the Emperor did]] in the [[Great Crusade]]. This is similar to the Empra's plan although it is equally (if not more) stupid, since the Tau are able to be possessed by Daemons and do not have the ability to detect this possession themselves. The existence of daemons, though, could negate a lot of their highly secular teachings. Farsight figured out that the medallions were anathema to Chaos, and chucked as many as he could find into the portal, causing it to collapse in a huge explosion. During the fight, however, the daemons singled out and killed his Ethereals, it seems their curiosity got the better of them.

When the dust settled, O'Shovah was one foot in the grave, his injuries were already life threatening and the battle had only aggravated them. His battlesuit AI advised him to return to the Manta and enter into stasis for that incredibly slim chance that he might be healed. But he looked at his scanner and discovered that there were less than 30 Orks on the surface. AKA: Too damn many. Farsight then leapt into the fray, knowing it would spell his doom, but he would not die until after the Orks did. However during the battle something unusual happened; As he chopped up the Orks, his vital signs began to stabilize and even heal. Cutting them down even gave him a strange invigorating thrill, one he noticed was absent when he killed them in other ways. Finally, the last Ork was cleaved in two and Farsight knew his task was finished. When he got back to the Manta however, not only did he notice that his injuries were completely gone, but he had actually regressed in age back to his prime.
[[File:FE_Map.jpg|500px|right|thumb|Star Systems under the Enclave.]]
===Gotta Go Your Own Way===
After the events on Arthas Moloch, Farsight understood the terrifying menace of the [[Warp|Immaterium]] and Chaos and the massive dickery of ethereals, which to him explained a great deal of what he had seen during his exploits. As he continued to ponder, it became obvious to the Commander that the T'au Empire's [[Inquisition|leadership was not benign]], or at the very least woefully ignorant or in denial regarding the true perils of the galaxy. The Farsight Enclaves thereafter severed their ties with the T'au Empire and began to govern themselves. Farsight quietly left his battlesuit in a museum and went to be a hermit, fearing that [[Horus Heresy|a second Mon'tau]] would occur if what he learned ever reached the Empire. Which makes a degree of sense. The Tau believe the Greater Good has enabled them to be on par with and even surpass all the major galactic powers. The truth is that they are nothing in comparison even though everyone has no Greater Good or Ethereals. Which would mean their beliefs are meaningless and unnecessary.

===The Dawn Blade===
The Dawn Blade is made of chronophagic (Greek for "time eating") alloys, so whenever Farsight kills something with it his life is extended as the blade [[Vampire|steals the life]] force of its victim and adds it to the wielder's. Considering he killed a lot of Orks (who are biologically immortal) and daemons (who are truly immortal) with it, it's safe to say Shovah is practically immortal right now. Farsight does not know this, but he has his suspicions, and if he were to find out that his suspicions are correct he would most likely kill himself upon realizing that he's been unwittingly sucking the life out of his enemies. He also found multiple [[D6|six sided medallions]] with [[Culexus|anti-Warp properties]] in the same place he found the Dawn Blade. [[Trazyn_the_Infinite|Trazyn]] probably lost some of his collection or something. But seriously, based on its age and eldritch abilities, the Dawn Blade is most likely a [[C'tan]] artifact or leftover technology of the [[Old Ones]]. Considering the old fluff it might actually be one of the 99 blades of Vaul, the ones that drained the enemy of life force to sustain the bearer (and the one that was normal made the line crumble and vaul getting wrecked for his deceit)
{{Template:40k-Governments}}

==163 years later==
{{Topquote|The life of a soldier is the only one I know. That's why I can never settle down.|Char Aznable}}
The Tau Empire, having lost contact with the Farsight Enclaves, believed Farsight himself to be long dead and the Enclaves lost. One day, though, a [[Anal Circumference|probe]] discovered that the Enclaves were still there and flourishing, and had changed their sept markings and become Ethereal-free. Learning this, the Tau Empire branded Farsight a traitor and renamed the Enclaves the "Forbidden Zone", smashing all his statues throughout the Empire and trying to wipe him from public memory. This didn't sit well with everyone, especially members of the Fire Caste, and contacts within the Empire soon began secretly supplying the Enclaves with new weapons and hardware.

Over a hundred years later, the Enclaves came under threat from a [[Tyranid]] splinter fleet. Unsure of what to do, the leadership of the Enclaves suddenly got a message from a museum where an aged Farsight had suddenly shown up out of nowhere to demand his old battlesuit be removed from its display case and returned to him. Donning his armor once again, the Commander took over the defense, and thanks to some smart Earth Caste bio-engineering, managed to hold off the Great Devourer long enough to poison the fleet (Yeah, seriously, leave it to the Tau to poison a fleet that literally lives on toxins) which ended up destroying it in its entirety, making the Tau [[wat|better at creating viruses than Nurgle's daemons]] as they tried and were unable to do this. Meanwhile [[Shadowsun]], Farsight's old rival, was awakened from her cryogenic stasis in the Empire and sent back to war, and Farsight assembled a new team of elite battlesuit pilots, The Eight, to defend the Enclaves and stand opposed to the mysterious power the Ethereals held over their brethren. They would later reinforce the T'au Empire in the last campaign of the Third Sphere of Expansion.

At some point in the early 42nd Millennium, Farsight made a journey back to Arthas Moloch alone. He stays there for 30 days before returning to the Empire to summon a war council. And...that's all we've heard from the Enclaves in 8th Edition. Considering the dangers that the [[Death Guard]]'s assault on the Tau Empire represents, it's very possible that Farsight is preparing a relief force to deal with [[Nurgle]]'s armies. Also, the reaction of the Ethereals after being rescued by a renegade would be really interesting to see, maybe putting their credibility on the line, or just trying to cover everything up, angering many in the Tau army. Maybe this is the last straw for the Tau Empire to enter a full civil war between Farsight and the Ethereal Caste...

==The Eight==
[[File:Farsight7.jpg|850px|thumb|center|The Eight. From left to right: Torchstar, Ob'lotai, Sha'Vastos, Farsight himself, O'Vesa, Bravestorm, Brightsword, Arra'kon]]
Farsight's band of battlesuit aces. Think [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Samurai ''Seven Samurai''], except with [[mecha]] and one more samurai. The Eight consist of:

#'''Sub-Commander Torchstar''', a Tau Empire deserter and the youngest member of the team, this [https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Pyro volatile pyromaniac female] Tau has flame tattoos on her body and pilots a XV-8 Crisis suit. She even fights with dual flamers and a couple of marker drones. A blue-skinned [[Chandra]] in a mecha Hot enough for ya?
#'''Shas'vre Ob'lotai 9-0''', an AI-controlled XV88 Broadside battlesuit armed to the teeth with twin-linked smart missile systems, twin-linked, high-yield missile pods, two missile drones, and a seeker missile. Based on the brain of Farsight's long-dead superior Ob'lotai. Is killed twice, the first is when he [[bullshit|flies directly through a battle barge's void shields at over 200 kph, isn't picked up by Imperial sensors or shot down (either by the ship or its fighter craft), flies directly into the barrel of a battle-barge's cannon and then shoots the warhead inside to blow up the entire battle barge.]] This also ends up wiping out an entire Space Marine chapter. Funnily enough too the novel that this happens in establishes well before this point that all of this would be impossible, and that if anyone were to try doing exactly what he did they would have the same result as a fly hitting a windshield (and doing this also kills the electronics that don't get crushed, which would have destroyed him as well). The second time he gets destroyed was in the events of Mont'ka, but being an AI they just slapped his engram in a new XV88 body. Also gains the ability to wirelessly transmit himself from one battlesuit to another in Farsight: Crisis of Faith, presumably because Phil Kelly forgot that he needed his chip to be plugged into a suit to control them and that he couldn't survive without his chip. Can also be considered a troll, screenshotting marines with no helmets taking a missile to the face. And then proceeding to send said picts to Farsight as memes.
#'''Commander Sha'vastos''', an old comrade of Farsight and one of the commanders who was forcefully equipped with a [[Commander Puretide|Puretide]] engram neurochip. It was a prototype, however, and rapidly began to degrade, damaging Sha'vastos' mind, so Farsight put him in stasis and smuggled him out of the Empire. Years later his scientists finally managed to remove it safely, and in gratitude Sha'vastos fights alongside his friend and leader in his XV8 Crisis battlesuit outfitted with a plasma rifle, a flamer, and two gun drones.
#'''Farsight''', leader of the Enclaves. Has very dark and cracked skin thanks to exposure to heat and flames, as well as a mechanical replacement leg. He pilots an XV8 Crisis battlesuit equipped with his trademark Dawn Blade, a high-intensity plasma rifle, and a shield generator mounted on one arm. Before finding the blade he used to mount a twin-linked fusion gun. Farsight's battlesuit is notably an archaic design, as it is [https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/5th_Edition_Tactics/Tau over a hundred years old], but constant upgrades and crafty Earth-Caste maintenance keep the suit on par with current sleeker battlesuit designs of the rest of the Tau Empire. Why can't we field him in a Coldstar suit is a mystery, because he was literally the first one ever to pilot such a suit.
#'''Honor-Shas'vre O'Vesa''', less of a Fire Caste warrior and more of an old Earth Caste mad scientist kept alive by microdrones, given the honorary title of "Shas" to denote his position as a warrior. Pilots a massive [[Riptide]] with excellent targeting arrays, an [[ion cannon|ion accelerator]], a [[Twin-Linked|twin-linked]] [[fusion blaster]], and a pair of [[Tau drone|shielded missile drones]].
#'''Commander Bravestorm''', a very old Tau who has been burned and scarred á la [[Star Wars|Darth Vader]] and cannot leave his iridium-plated (2+ Save) XV8-02 Crisis battlesuit after taking down dozens of Imperial tanks with an experimental weapon. This gets changed to "can leave his suit after all, but pretends he can't" in Farsight: Crisis of Faith. Incredibly brave (duh) and fights with the last remaining Tau power fist-equivalent, the Onager Gauntlet. Too bad we don't actually know what it looks like and his official image doesn't depict it... Also uses a plasma rifle, a [[flamer]], and a pair of gun drones. (Re)Built to last, he also has a shield and stims injectors. His life support seems to have given him extended life, as he saves Farsight in Mont'Ka. At one point he's nearly killed by Space Marines as they tear his battlesuit apart, but he tricks them by not moving and pretending he's dead after they rip his suit open but before they attack him. It's just as retarded as it sounds, because marines won't stop beating a xenos even if it's a dead xenos. Because fuck logic.
#'''Commander Brightsword''', supposedly a generational pilot who inherited the title from the previous Brightsword, but actually a clone of him. Possesses a scarred and pock-marked XV8 Crisis battlesuit that was also passed down, and fights with two fusion blades, which are melta swords that can also be twin-linked fusion blasters, and a shield drone.
#'''Commander Arra'kon''', a Tau born in the Enclaves who served as supreme military commander during Farsight's hermetic absence. An expert strategist, and damned good in a fight, especially against infantry. He pilots an XV8-05 Enforcer battlesuit armed with a plasma rifle, a cyclic ion blaster, an airbursting fragmentation projector, and two gun drones.
[[File:The_Eight.png|850px|thumb|center|The gang posing for action]]

==Possible Psyker?==
Phil Kelly's Farsight novels have been revealing quite a lot of details about the Tau empire, including this rather...odd implication. In previous lore, his name came about due to him studying Ork psychology to an extreme degree, to the point where he could predict their psychological reactions to everything. This then carried over to the Imperium when he studied the Codex Astartes and was able to predict Imperial strategy because of it. However in the Kelly books, Farsight's demonstrated multiple instances where he literally sees the future and what his opponent will do. Yes by the way [[wat|this shows up '''before''' he found the Dawn Blade.]] Implying that he might be the first Tau psyker, a [[Anime|"New type"]] of Tau if you will. This is...confusing to say the least. There's no precedence for this and the Tau are a race with very little warp presence, how in the hell do they suddenly jump from that to "manipulate the very warp itself with mere thought"?! To make matters worse, this only appears in the books, he has '''no''' psychic abilities on the tabletop, nothing seems to have come out of it and it's contradictory based on what happens in those books as this would also mean he gets all of the benefits of being a Psyker, [[Mary Sue|without having to put in any of the work or deal with any of the downsides,]] such as being detected by other psykers and also being extremely vulnerable to both Daemons and [[enslavers|other denizens of the warp.]]
Or he's just Char, one of the best <s>Gundam</s> mobile suit pilots who develops newtype abilities. Considering the idea of entire humanity becoming psy race in space has been copied from Gundam series it's nothing fancy.

==Quotes==
{{topquote|Learn to shorten your reach! If your foe can come close enough to negate your striking power, all stratagem is lost, and when all stratagem is lost, the battle is lost.|Codex: Tau (3rd Edition)}}
{{topquote|Each must find their own way. If those in our heartland had witnessed the savageries of the void as have we, they would know this. The hand of each of the great starfarers is turned against the other; none will join their strength together just to see their ancient enemies prosper. Neither should we.|Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition)}}
{{topquote|I've seen things you wouldn't believe — entire worlds in flames, chains of supernovas on the edge of nothingness, the great hole in space. I am changed, an outcast now...|Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition). Geez, replicant much?}}

==That's the [[fluff]], here's the [[crunch]]==
[[File:Farsight Model.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The old and new Farsight models.]]
While popular fluff-wise even among non-Tau players for his badassery and generally cool backstory, Commander Farsight wasn't actually all that useful on the tabletop at first because he came with a shit ton of limitations, like no auxilaries, 0-1 tanks or [[Pathfinder]]s and so on, and his massive bodyguard blob was [[Deathstar|too expensive and risky]]. The limitations got removed as of the 6th edition codex, however, and Farsight can now even bring Ethereals with him (even though fluff-wise Aun'Shi is the only Ethereal he'd associate with). On top of that, Farsight, along with his retinue of samurai—uh, I mean battlesuit aces, is now a beatstick. He can bring a unit of <s>seven</s> '''NINE''' (It's 7th ed Shas'la) non-scattering bodyguards with him and give them all meltas, plasma rifles and target locks to allow the squad to fire at several tanks with meltas or blast the enemy [[MEQ]]s and [[MEQ#TEQ|TEQs]] on turn 2. Moreover, Farsight can now be taken in a game of any size. Although with 7th ed he isn't needed for a massive blob of mechas to rain from the sky, he merely provides the means of entry, and beacons can do the same already.

Farsight is one of very few Tau units who you actually want to be in an assault as opposed to shooting. So few everyone else will be hard pressed to keep up with him. His Tau-standard plasma rifle and BS5 are merely supplements meant to soften the enemy up before he charges in (or, rather, jetpacks in) to get to slicing and dicing with the Dawnblade, which is pretty easy with WS5, S5, I5 and 4 attacks. He's also pretty durable; basically a [[Space Marine]] captain with an extra wound: T4, W4, 3+ Save and a 4++ Invulnerable with his shield generator. Surprisingly, despite having a sword that eats souls and adds their would-be lifespan to Farsight's, he doesn't have eternal warrior, leading to him getting his face smashed in by anything with Str 8. He's not meant to be a one-man (or one-Tau) badassery show, though; have him work together effectively with his elite battlesuit brethren for [[Rape|best results]].

Additionally, the Tau Empire has a whole Farsight Enclaves Supplement now, where you can take battlesuits as Troops AND his own crazy retinue of special characters! Surprisingly, Farsight himself is rarely taken in Enclaves armies, mostly because his giant Crysis deathstar really benefits from the standard Tau <s>relics</s> systems.

Welcome to the future! With the latest codex a Farsight Enclave army can actually take the standard Tau systems together with their own!

=== 8th Edition ===
[[File:The_Eight_battle.png|300px|thumb|right|They are quite possable tbf]]
[[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Tau(8E)#Special_Characters|Here's the Tactics page.]]

He's the only unit so far with the {{W40kKeyword|FARSIGHT ENCLAVES}} keyword (aside from the Eight who are now a Lord of War choice, although of course you can pick Farsight Enclaves as your wildcard Sept for most other units), and buffs the melee abilities (and, if they're targeting {{W40kKeyword|ORKS}}, shooting too) of all nearby Farsight Enclaves units. He's also still a beast in melee, although he's not much good against larger targets - his sword may be AP-4, but he's only got <s> 5 Strength to swing it with. </s> Strength 8 now! His incredible accuracy (WS2+ with reroll 1s) and decent number of attacks will see him happily carving up lower-Toughness units whether they're armoured or not though, and if he gets in over his head he's always got the ability to Fall Back while shooting thanks to being able to {{W40kKeyword|FLY}}. Limitations on Commanders, no ethereals, and lack of units that can keep up with Farsight <s>drag his sept down in comparison to others though. No one said going your own way was easy.</s> Are you nuts? Coldstar Commanders with Fusion Blades in melee with him can wreck some serious havoc against characters and vehicles. Rerollable 1's to wound with an Y'vahra and Breacher Teams are nothing to sneeze at, and a stratagem that actually makes Crisis Suits accurate (with or without markerlights) really helps you get the most mileage out of them. Until you realize Y'vahra with any sept except for Borkan is an overpriced statue Sure you have to play them as a high risk high reward Deep Strike heavy army that likes to get up close and personal... but chances are you were going to do that anyways if you play FSE.
All in all he is fluffy, but in modern meta high risk isn't compensated with high reward, because for reasons unknown crisis bodyguards are still short-sighted and look like downgraded aggressor primarines on jetpacks

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tau]]

[[Category: Vehicles]]

{{Tau-Characters}}

XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit

2021-01-02T23:08:04Z

2600:1700:E660:4760:87F:B175:5EFE:7485: /* 9th Edition */

[[File:Xv8 crisis enforcer tau cover.jpg|thumbnail|right|400px|You may as well bust a move while you slaughter the enemies of the [[Greater Good]].]]
The '''XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit''' is the main [[battlesuit]] of the the [[Tau|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 ==
[[File:9cc4.jpg|thumb|left|350px|Death in six different tastes dropping in from above!]]
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 the hands 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, but the "Enforcer", Coldstar, and commander variant can support up to four. The most common loadout for Crisis suits is two weapons and one support system, although builds exist that employ all hardpoints for either weapons (Gunship crisis) or support systems (Buffmander). The suit also comes with jump jets that allow it to bypass dangerous/impassable terrain to quickly shoot at enemies and jump back to safety before the enemy has any time to react, a tactic known as Jump-Shoot-Jump. 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 (“Lone Hero”). Having to [[Warhammer_40,000:_Fire_Warrior|face a greater daemon]] can cause a [[Shas%27o_Kais|similar behaviour]]. 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 [[Dreadnought|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.

Unlike the Imperium, Tau tech actually goes forward, thus Crisis in more recent editions come stock with Multitrackers (akimbo), Blacksun filters (those eagle-eye glasses) and can control drones without needing an outdately-named Drone controller (which now provides ''enhanced'' control), freeing a lot of hardpoints. It's also interestingly that formerly experimental weapon often gets into wider production as more general use options such as the Airbursting Fragmentation Projector or Stimulant injectors as one of the few times fluff and crunch line up. [[Games Workshop|Disregarding the fluff a little]], a Crisis team can be 10-tau strong, and cannot eject anymore due to not having access to that item in the codex. But they get yet more guns and stuff.

== Tactical Properties==
[[File:XV8 15.jpg|300px|right|thumb|EVERYBODY DO THE CONGA!]]
===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. Standby for Titanfall indeed.

===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 Squad|Tactical Marines]] or [[Terminator Squad|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 [[Imperial Guard|Guardsmen]] and [[Ork Boy|Ork Boyz]]. However, WS2 and I2 means they're dead against heavier assault troops, but then again, so are many things. Keep in mind though that a single [[Space Marine|Marine]]-wielded [[Power Fist|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===
[[File:XV8_Battlesuit.JPG|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}
The basic suit. Nothing in the galaxy quite like it. All of them are constructed from a nanocrystaline alloy armour which covers everything save the joints and servos, giving the suit superior protection while keeping weight at a minimum. While the armour provides superior protection against most small arms, anti-tank weapons could punch through them like [[Flak Armour]].

Think of the [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|Leman Russ]], and how it works (or better yet check out its page). 27 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. Generally purchased as the Crisis Battlesuit Team. The old and new kits are mostly the same, although the newer kits have more radical poses than the old ones which mostly just stood up straight with arms bent.
===XV81 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV81.jpg|left|230px]]
{{Clear}}
A bulkier Forgeworld variant of the Crisis Suit, it has an integrated Smart missile system, but this system also costs it a bit of customization. Due to this, it is only given to Tau Commanders and armed with the aforementioned shoulder-mounted Smart Missile System filling one of its three hardpoints.

Its use is a bit limited when you have the much more dakka Broadside Battlesuits in production. That said, these missiles are handy in granting the Tau ranged bombardment and provides the Tau with a more mobile artillery platform (as if that was ever something they were in dire need of). Tabletop wise, the XV-81 (Along with the XV-84) are identical in statline to an XV-85 Commander. An 8″ movement (and the Fly keyword) give them pretty decent mobility, and with six wounds and 3+ armour they don’t go down easily. Strength and toughness five give them a strong baseline to work from, and ballistic skill 2+ makes them excellent shooters. Their weapon skill 3+ and four attacks surprisingly makes them decent combatants, although you still don’t want to take on any “real” combat units. An XV-81 costs 76pts base (the same as an Enforcer does).

In 9th Edition, this is basically the commander in an XV8 Battlesuit with a mandatory Smart Missile System weapon and only 2 remaining slots for Weapons/Support systems. An ok choice if you want a commander with a weapon that ignores cover and fine with him only to having fewer customization slots than usual.

===XV8-02 Iridium Suit===
[[File:XV-8-02.png|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}
An alternate build in the Crisis Battlesuit Team set. A refinement of the XV-89, this is a rare prototype of an advanced defensive system. It's made of its namesake, an [[Iridium Armour|experimental Iridium alloy armour,]] granting it greater defensive properties than the normal Crisis suits without losing any agility like the XV-89 did. This variant is rarely seen on the battlefield, and more commonly given to a commander for enhanced survival, or to one of his bodyguards to aid them in their job of catching bullets with the face.

IRL, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium Iridium] is a very hard, dense metal (surpassed in density only by osmium) that is extraordinarily resistant to both heat and corrosion; it is too brittle to be used as a pure metal, but its properties make it a valuable alloying agent as well as an important component in spark plugs and high-temperature crucibles. Iridium is very rare in the Earth's crust, but is commonly found in meteorites and the impact craters they leave behind. “Rare” relative to a freaking planet. Spark plugs aren’t exactly rare.

In 9th Edition, this is basically an armour upgrade rather than a model; you could add Iridium Armour without using a Signature System slot to do so, giving them a shiny 2+ armour save.

===XV84 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV84.png|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}
AKA the markerlight suit. This Forgeworld variant gets integrated target locks and networked [[markerlight]]s. So if you wanna know what that goofy looking periscope of doom is, now you know. Like the XV81, the XV84 is made for Tau Commanders.

These suits are basically meant to be targeters for their teams, using these systems to aid with assaults. They are used when your in a situation where your pathfinders prove to be just too fragile, or where you have literally ran out of pathfinders due to a severe case of death. On the tabletop, the XV-84 is slightly more expensive at 80pts than the XV81. The XV-84, at least, has a bit more purpose. Although it functionally has only three “slots” (two open ones and a forced-pick Target Lock), it essentially has a fourth weapon in the form of its “markerlight”, which auto-tags anything the other guns shoot at.

While this is probably not the best use of a Commander’s weapon slot, it does have some advantages- since it’s not actually a Heavy weapon the way regular Markerlights are, it will be hitting on 2s and if you have a multishot weapon (like a Missile Pod) any one of the hits connecting is good enough to put a token on the enemy. In 9th Edition, this is another variant of the XV8 Battlesuit with rules. Comes with a markerlight, target lock and still has two more customization slot left.

===XV8-05 Enforcer Suit===
[[File:XV85.jpg|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}
A Crisis variant piloted by 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 it is a tad bit larger and more well protected, as well as having an extra hard point for weaponry and support systems such as [[Plasma Rifle]]s, [[Fusion Blaster]]s, [[Airbursting Fragmentation Projector]]s, and [[Cyclic Ion Blaster]]s.

Some people who didn't like [[Finecast]] (or were really cheap) used a regular suit in the place of the old kit since it was basically the same except the Enforcer has some flashier bitz and articulated fingers on the hand as well as being slightly taller. The new plastic model kit has much more aesthetic differences also grants the option of making a Coldstar Suit (you most likely don't).

In 9th Edition, the suit is the same as the regular commander in a normal XV8, but has 1 more wound instead of access to [[Iridium Armour]]. Only 4 points more than the standard Commander, so you may as well use him if you don't plan to give your Commander the [[Iridium Armour]] upgrade, saving you 6 points.

===XV86 Coldstar Suit===
[[File:Coldstar.png|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}

The XV86 is covered in fins which streamline it, allowing super-fast movement across the theatre of battle, dealing with enemies in sharp shocks from its burst cannon. The on-board Holophoton Countermeasures and telemetry suites feed the Coldstar and its Commander pilot a massive variety of information that would overwhelm the untrained mind - instead, in this case, it allows the Coldstar Battlesuit to fly over its foes with such speed and agility that enemy targeting systems simply [[Derp|goes full retard.]]

While mentioned in codices previously, it's got rules and a model now. It looks like your normal Enforcer (it's based on the same kit), but with a large jetpack and dozens of control fins sprouting from it. For 60 Points you can upgrade your Commander to a FMC without Smash, Vector Strike or Fear, but with all the other good stuff like Jink and Swoop so no one can hit it, as well as a 6-shot TL Burst Cannon and a Missile Pod as fixed weapons. It has two support slots (for a total of four hardpoints), and it can take drones but they get left behind when swooping, and cannot take signature systems. In the book it engages in dogfights with the imperials, and is easily capable of both reaching low orbit and surviving re-entry.

In 9th Edition, the Coldstar commander has Ludicrous Speed - Movement 20", and Advancing adds another 20" instead of D6" for a total of 40" movement. No longer restricted to specific loadouts (save for being unable to take a cyclic ion blaster, and can only take a high-output burst cannon in a pair with a missile pod), so feel free to use your four hardpoints however you want.

TL;DR It’s the Tau’s very own Freedom Gundam. Must be painted red, white, and blue.

===XV89 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV89.png|left|230px]]
{{Clear}}
[[Fluff]]-wise, this one is meant to have increased protection but was really bulky and hard to move around in, eventually being scrapped for the [[Iridium Armour]]. It was for all intents and purposes, an experimental prototype meant more for stress testing than actual warfare. It still retains three hardpoints to attach other equipment however.

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]], so it could be used to denote some important model or for variety, if you feel lazy with the green stuff and want to spend more money. Other than the cosmetic change, there isn't really a point for this model. Most of these suits were decommissioned and scrapped after the field testing phase in Taros in favour of the better designed XV8-02.

===Shas'o R'Myr's Battlesuit===
[[File:Shas'o R'Myr.png|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}

Shas'O R'myr (known as Commander Longknife), is a Tau Commander best noted to follow the [[Commissar Yarrick]] of pimping his own ride. Being the teacher's pet, Longknife was gifted his own experimental Battlesuit during the Third Sphere of Expansion.

Another Forgeworld character variant to the XV-8, outfitted with all sorts of top of the line gear such as a flechette discharger, a double barrelled plasma rifle, and a strengthened shield generator. This battlesuit is a one of a kind, basically every MC's personal Gundam. His bodyguard is made up of the other Forgeworld Crisis Suits just so he could tell the others that his baller.

In 7th Edition, this is a nasty little suit. Its Double-barreled Plasma rifle (Assault 2 Twin-linked with 24" range) and Target Lock is built to take down heavy infantry / monstrous creatures without needing to get into Rapid fire range like others (so his squad should have missiles). The Flechette launcher nicks the attacker for a S3 hit at I10. Depending on how you interpret the word 'any,' the flechette launcher may not be one use anymore. His enhanced shield generator has a 4++ against shooting attacks and a 3++ against close combat. His flechette discharger is a nasty surprise for swarm armies thinking they have just trapped the expensive tau HQ unit in CC...and they kinda have, because even guardsmen have a decent chance to survive S3 AP- flechettes, so put him in a squad that also has a Repulsor Impact field and other assault trinkets so their effects stack. A good choice, especially against Imperial Guard due to Preferred Enemy against them. If you want a Commander with double plasma, you'd be out of your mind not to take him: R'myr is cheaper than a similar Commander by 20 pts, but is using the equivalent of 5 hardpoints, his shield is better, allows for Repulsor Field stacking and thus can do his job both at close and long range.

==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.

===Optimized Monster Hunting===
To put it simply, run 3-man squads of Crisis suits with a Twin Linked Plasma Rifle, and a Plasma Rifle. The general gist of this is that without twin-linked weapons, you need 7 markerlights to reach BS10, '''but with twin-linked that number goes down to 2'''. Now with your pathfinders infiltrating into ideal positions, use your markerlights to boost your chance to hit to 100%, and go after big shit like D-Knights and silver baby carriers, all while playing the Jump Shoot Jump game in cover.

Ideally you should also have a riptide [[rage|or three]] to deal with hordes, while this monster team deals with any major threats to the riptide.

===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.

Alternatively, in 8E you can run a Coldstar with 4 Fusion Blasters for maximum melta with its 40" movement. If you are a Farsight Enclaves player you can use your Sept exclusive relic to upgrade two of those blasters to the kickass Fusion Blades to pretend you are a gundam.

===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 CARNIFEX|distraction Crisis suit]].)

===The Ninja===
Give a Shas'vre an XV-84 for the Smart Missile System and/or Airburst Fragmentation Projector, and Neuroweb System Jammer. You now have a unit that can launch missile or pie plates from outside LOS, and ignoring cover, while simultaneously granting Gets Hot! to the same or another unit. This single suit runs around 70-80pts depending on what options you take, but can maul a GEQ squad during its shooting phase then cause them to blow themselves up on theirs. Before using this setup, practice your trollface.

=== The Scalpel ===

A dedicated anti-infantry/anti-heavy infantry/anti-vehicle unit that excels at inflicting heavy losses on the enemy's side. Two XV-8s are loaded with two Plasma Rifles and Target Locks and the third is loaded with two Fusion Blasters and a Target Lock. All of the Suits take two Gun Drones. A buffmander with a Drone Controller and two Gun Drones is attached to the squad and is usually held in Deep Strike Reserves. With this unit, you can dump 2 BS3 S8 melta shots, 8 BS3 S6 plasma shots, and 16 BS5 S5 pulse carbine shots, all twin linked and ignores cover, at different targets allowing you to optimize your target selection for the unit. Unless there your targets have an invulnerable save, you are most likely going to gut them.

== 8th Edition ==

=== The Beginning ===
To be frank, 8th edition Crisis were a joke. With the changes to how the T'au fundamentally operate as an army, Crisis were in an odd spot. They act like a gunline, and the expensive price for them made them prohibitively expensive. The only units you would take were usually the Enforcer, Crisis, or Coldstar Commander for the purposes of Buffmanders or suicide anti-tank units. It also didn't help that their Melta equivalent cost 18 points each. However, not everything is bad. After all, the way that fly worked in 8th edition, they were highly viable for deepstriking using a variety of different methods, then charging into melee to shut down a tank or some shooty infantry, and then retreating from said melee to shoot again, or even as expensive objective holders.

=== The End ===
But holy crap, this went out the window fast. After Chapter approved 2020, many units got a substantial point decrease, including the Crisis suit chassis, and the Fusion Blaster. This made them less of a burden and more of a boon, especially after the T'au Psychic Awakening book dropped, which gave substantial buffs to the T'au, several of which directly benefited Crisis suits. This made them officially part of the Meta when players discovered it was possible to take Farsight Enclaves Crisis, Upgrade them with the Veteran Cadre rule for 1 cp, and then spend another cp to give them 5 markerlights, effectively BS2+ rerolling 1's to hit and wound. Add some shield drones and you have units that border being outright broken, if not a pain in the butt to deal with.

== 9th Edition ==
The new rules for 9th have dropped, and god help the Crisis suit, they just can't catch a break. One of their biggest boons, the fly keyword, has been nerfed to ignoring terrain, but not allowing retreat and shoot shenanigans. But be honest, that keyword needed a nerf. Now Crisis suits are in an awkward spot, as they are not a Monster or a Vehicle, which both have received buffs. To be fair, the edition is fairly early on and the Codex hasn't even dropped yet. We'll have to wait to see how much worse or better they get. This sounds like a time for faction-specific keywords so modifications can be made without screwing each other over.
[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tau]]

[[Category: Vehicles]]

[[Category: Walkers]]

{{Template:Tau}}

XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit

2021-01-02T22:54:42Z

2600:1700:E660:4760:87F:B175:5EFE:7485: /* XV86 Coldstar Suit */

[[File:Xv8 crisis enforcer tau cover.jpg|thumbnail|right|400px|You may as well bust a move while you slaughter the enemies of the [[Greater Good]].]]
The '''XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit''' is the main [[battlesuit]] of the the [[Tau|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 ==
[[File:9cc4.jpg|thumb|left|350px|Death in six different tastes dropping in from above!]]
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 the hands 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, but the "Enforcer", Coldstar, and commander variant can support up to four. The most common loadout for Crisis suits is two weapons and one support system, although builds exist that employ all hardpoints for either weapons (Gunship crisis) or support systems (Buffmander). The suit also comes with jump jets that allow it to bypass dangerous/impassable terrain to quickly shoot at enemies and jump back to safety before the enemy has any time to react, a tactic known as Jump-Shoot-Jump. 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 (“Lone Hero”). Having to [[Warhammer_40,000:_Fire_Warrior|face a greater daemon]] can cause a [[Shas%27o_Kais|similar behaviour]]. 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 [[Dreadnought|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.

Unlike the Imperium, Tau tech actually goes forward, thus Crisis in more recent editions come stock with Multitrackers (akimbo), Blacksun filters (those eagle-eye glasses) and can control drones without needing an outdately-named Drone controller (which now provides ''enhanced'' control), freeing a lot of hardpoints. It's also interestingly that formerly experimental weapon often gets into wider production as more general use options such as the Airbursting Fragmentation Projector or Stimulant injectors as one of the few times fluff and crunch line up. [[Games Workshop|Disregarding the fluff a little]], a Crisis team can be 10-tau strong, and cannot eject anymore due to not having access to that item in the codex. But they get yet more guns and stuff.

== Tactical Properties==
[[File:XV8 15.jpg|300px|right|thumb|EVERYBODY DO THE CONGA!]]
===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. Standby for Titanfall indeed.

===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 Squad|Tactical Marines]] or [[Terminator Squad|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 [[Imperial Guard|Guardsmen]] and [[Ork Boy|Ork Boyz]]. However, WS2 and I2 means they're dead against heavier assault troops, but then again, so are many things. Keep in mind though that a single [[Space Marine|Marine]]-wielded [[Power Fist|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===
[[File:XV8_Battlesuit.JPG|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}
The basic suit. Nothing in the galaxy quite like it. All of them are constructed from a nanocrystaline alloy armour which covers everything save the joints and servos, giving the suit superior protection while keeping weight at a minimum. While the armour provides superior protection against most small arms, anti-tank weapons could punch through them like [[Flak Armour]].

Think of the [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|Leman Russ]], and how it works (or better yet check out its page). 27 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. Generally purchased as the Crisis Battlesuit Team. The old and new kits are mostly the same, although the newer kits have more radical poses than the old ones which mostly just stood up straight with arms bent.
===XV81 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV81.jpg|left|230px]]
{{Clear}}
A bulkier Forgeworld variant of the Crisis Suit, it has an integrated Smart missile system, but this system also costs it a bit of customization. Due to this, it is only given to Tau Commanders and armed with the aforementioned shoulder-mounted Smart Missile System filling one of its three hardpoints.

Its use is a bit limited when you have the much more dakka Broadside Battlesuits in production. That said, these missiles are handy in granting the Tau ranged bombardment and provides the Tau with a more mobile artillery platform (as if that was ever something they were in dire need of). Tabletop wise, the XV-81 (Along with the XV-84) are identical in statline to an XV-85 Commander. An 8″ movement (and the Fly keyword) give them pretty decent mobility, and with six wounds and 3+ armour they don’t go down easily. Strength and toughness five give them a strong baseline to work from, and ballistic skill 2+ makes them excellent shooters. Their weapon skill 3+ and four attacks surprisingly makes them decent combatants, although you still don’t want to take on any “real” combat units. An XV-81 costs 76pts base (the same as an Enforcer does).

In 9th Edition, this is basically the commander in an XV8 Battlesuit with a mandatory Smart Missile System weapon and only 2 remaining slots for Weapons/Support systems. An ok choice if you want a commander with a weapon that ignores cover and fine with him only to having fewer customization slots than usual.

===XV8-02 Iridium Suit===
[[File:XV-8-02.png|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}
An alternate build in the Crisis Battlesuit Team set. A refinement of the XV-89, this is a rare prototype of an advanced defensive system. It's made of its namesake, an [[Iridium Armour|experimental Iridium alloy armour,]] granting it greater defensive properties than the normal Crisis suits without losing any agility like the XV-89 did. This variant is rarely seen on the battlefield, and more commonly given to a commander for enhanced survival, or to one of his bodyguards to aid them in their job of catching bullets with the face.

IRL, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium Iridium] is a very hard, dense metal (surpassed in density only by osmium) that is extraordinarily resistant to both heat and corrosion; it is too brittle to be used as a pure metal, but its properties make it a valuable alloying agent as well as an important component in spark plugs and high-temperature crucibles. Iridium is very rare in the Earth's crust, but is commonly found in meteorites and the impact craters they leave behind. “Rare” relative to a freaking planet. Spark plugs aren’t exactly rare.

In 9th Edition, this is basically an armour upgrade rather than a model; you could add Iridium Armour without using a Signature System slot to do so, giving them a shiny 2+ armour save.

===XV84 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV84.png|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}
AKA the markerlight suit. This Forgeworld variant gets integrated target locks and networked [[markerlight]]s. So if you wanna know what that goofy looking periscope of doom is, now you know. Like the XV81, the XV84 is made for Tau Commanders.

These suits are basically meant to be targeters for their teams, using these systems to aid with assaults. They are used when your in a situation where your pathfinders prove to be just too fragile, or where you have literally ran out of pathfinders due to a severe case of death. On the tabletop, the XV-84 is slightly more expensive at 80pts than the XV81. The XV-84, at least, has a bit more purpose. Although it functionally has only three “slots” (two open ones and a forced-pick Target Lock), it essentially has a fourth weapon in the form of its “markerlight”, which auto-tags anything the other guns shoot at.

While this is probably not the best use of a Commander’s weapon slot, it does have some advantages- since it’s not actually a Heavy weapon the way regular Markerlights are, it will be hitting on 2s and if you have a multishot weapon (like a Missile Pod) any one of the hits connecting is good enough to put a token on the enemy. In 9th Edition, this is another variant of the XV8 Battlesuit with rules. Comes with a markerlight, target lock and still has two more customization slot left.

===XV8-05 Enforcer Suit===
[[File:XV85.jpg|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}
A Crisis variant piloted by 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 it is a tad bit larger and more well protected, as well as having an extra hard point for weaponry and support systems such as [[Plasma Rifle]]s, [[Fusion Blaster]]s, [[Airbursting Fragmentation Projector]]s, and [[Cyclic Ion Blaster]]s.

Some people who didn't like [[Finecast]] (or were really cheap) used a regular suit in the place of the old kit since it was basically the same except the Enforcer has some flashier bitz and articulated fingers on the hand as well as being slightly taller. The new plastic model kit has much more aesthetic differences also grants the option of making a Coldstar Suit (you most likely don't).

In 9th Edition, the suit is the same as the regular commander in a normal XV8, but has 1 more wound instead of access to [[Iridium Armour]]. Only 4 points more than the standard Commander, so you may as well use him if you don't plan to give your Commander the [[Iridium Armour]] upgrade, saving you 6 points.

===XV86 Coldstar Suit===
[[File:Coldstar.png|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}

The XV86 is covered in fins which streamline it, allowing super-fast movement across the theatre of battle, dealing with enemies in sharp shocks from its burst cannon. The on-board Holophoton Countermeasures and telemetry suites feed the Coldstar and its Commander pilot a massive variety of information that would overwhelm the untrained mind - instead, in this case, it allows the Coldstar Battlesuit to fly over its foes with such speed and agility that enemy targeting systems simply [[Derp|goes full retard.]]

While mentioned in codices previously, it's got rules and a model now. It looks like your normal Enforcer (it's based on the same kit), but with a large jetpack and dozens of control fins sprouting from it. For 60 Points you can upgrade your Commander to a FMC without Smash, Vector Strike or Fear, but with all the other good stuff like Jink and Swoop so no one can hit it, as well as a 6-shot TL Burst Cannon and a Missile Pod as fixed weapons. It has two support slots (for a total of four hardpoints), and it can take drones but they get left behind when swooping, and cannot take signature systems. In the book it engages in dogfights with the imperials, and is easily capable of both reaching low orbit and surviving re-entry.

In 9th Edition, the Coldstar commander has Ludicrous Speed - Movement 20", and Advancing adds another 20" instead of D6" for a total of 40" movement. No longer restricted to specific loadouts (save for being unable to take a cyclic ion blaster, and can only take a high-output burst cannon in a pair with a missile pod), so feel free to use your four hardpoints however you want.

TL;DR It’s the Tau’s very own Freedom Gundam. Must be painted red, white, and blue.

===XV89 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV89.png|left|230px]]
{{Clear}}
[[Fluff]]-wise, this one is meant to have increased protection but was really bulky and hard to move around in, eventually being scrapped for the [[Iridium Armour]]. It was for all intents and purposes, an experimental prototype meant more for stress testing than actual warfare. It still retains three hardpoints to attach other equipment however.

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]], so it could be used to denote some important model or for variety, if you feel lazy with the green stuff and want to spend more money. Other than the cosmetic change, there isn't really a point for this model. Most of these suits were decommissioned and scrapped after the field testing phase in Taros in favour of the better designed XV8-02.

===Shas'o R'Myr's Battlesuit===
[[File:Shas'o R'Myr.png|left|200px]]
{{Clear}}

Shas'O R'myr (known as Commander Longknife), is a Tau Commander best noted to follow the [[Commissar Yarrick]] of pimping his own ride. Being the teacher's pet, Longknife was gifted his own experimental Battlesuit during the Third Sphere of Expansion.

Another Forgeworld character variant to the XV-8, outfitted with all sorts of top of the line gear such as a flechette discharger, a double barrelled plasma rifle, and a strengthened shield generator. This battlesuit is a one of a kind, basically every MC's personal Gundam. His bodyguard is made up of the other Forgeworld Crisis Suits just so he could tell the others that his baller.

In 7th Edition, this is a nasty little suit. Its Double-barreled Plasma rifle (Assault 2 Twin-linked with 24" range) and Target Lock is built to take down heavy infantry / monstrous creatures without needing to get into Rapid fire range like others (so his squad should have missiles). The Flechette launcher nicks the attacker for a S3 hit at I10. Depending on how you interpret the word 'any,' the flechette launcher may not be one use anymore. His enhanced shield generator has a 4++ against shooting attacks and a 3++ against close combat. His flechette discharger is a nasty surprise for swarm armies thinking they have just trapped the expensive tau HQ unit in CC...and they kinda have, because even guardsmen have a decent chance to survive S3 AP- flechettes, so put him in a squad that also has a Repulsor Impact field and other assault trinkets so their effects stack. A good choice, especially against Imperial Guard due to Preferred Enemy against them. If you want a Commander with double plasma, you'd be out of your mind not to take him: R'myr is cheaper than a similar Commander by 20 pts, but is using the equivalent of 5 hardpoints, his shield is better, allows for Repulsor Field stacking and thus can do his job both at close and long range.

==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.

===Optimized Monster Hunting===
To put it simply, run 3-man squads of Crisis suits with a Twin Linked Plasma Rifle, and a Plasma Rifle. The general gist of this is that without twin-linked weapons, you need 7 markerlights to reach BS10, '''but with twin-linked that number goes down to 2'''. Now with your pathfinders infiltrating into ideal positions, use your markerlights to boost your chance to hit to 100%, and go after big shit like D-Knights and silver baby carriers, all while playing the Jump Shoot Jump game in cover.

Ideally you should also have a riptide [[rage|or three]] to deal with hordes, while this monster team deals with any major threats to the riptide.

===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.

Alternatively, in 8E you can run a Coldstar with 4 Fusion Blasters for maximum melta with its 40" movement. If you are a Farsight Enclaves player you can use your Sept exclusive relic to upgrade two of those blasters to the kickass Fusion Blades to pretend you are a gundam.

===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 CARNIFEX|distraction Crisis suit]].)

===The Ninja===
Give a Shas'vre an XV-84 for the Smart Missile System and/or Airburst Fragmentation Projector, and Neuroweb System Jammer. You now have a unit that can launch missile or pie plates from outside LOS, and ignoring cover, while simultaneously granting Gets Hot! to the same or another unit. This single suit runs around 70-80pts depending on what options you take, but can maul a GEQ squad during its shooting phase then cause them to blow themselves up on theirs. Before using this setup, practice your trollface.

=== The Scalpel ===

A dedicated anti-infantry/anti-heavy infantry/anti-vehicle unit that excels at inflicting heavy losses on the enemy's side. Two XV-8s are loaded with two Plasma Rifles and Target Locks and the third is loaded with two Fusion Blasters and a Target Lock. All of the Suits take two Gun Drones. A buffmander with a Drone Controller and two Gun Drones is attached to the squad and is usually held in Deep Strike Reserves. With this unit, you can dump 2 BS3 S8 melta shots, 8 BS3 S6 plasma shots, and 16 BS5 S5 pulse carbine shots, all twin linked and ignores cover, at different targets allowing you to optimize your target selection for the unit. Unless there your targets have an invulnerable save, you are most likely going to gut them.

== 8th Edition ==

=== The Beginning ===
To be frank, 8th edition Crisis were a joke. With the changes to how the T'au fundamentally operate as an army, Crisis were in an odd spot. They act like a gunline, and the expensive price for them made them prohibitively expensive. The only units you would take were usually the Enforcer, Crisis, or Coldstar Commander for the purposes of Buffmanders or suicide anti-tank units. It also didn't help that their Melta equivalent cost 18 points each. However, not everything is bad. After all, the way that fly worked in 8th edition, they were highly viable for deepstriking using a variety of different methods, then charging into melee to shut down a tank or some shooty infantry, and then retreating from said melee to shoot again, or even as expensive objective holders.

=== The End ===
But holy crap, this went out the window fast. After Chapter approved 2020, many units got a substantial point decrease, including the Crisis suit chassis, and the Fusion Blaster. This made them less of a burden and more of a boon, especially after the T'au Psychic Awakening book dropped, which gave substantial buffs to the T'au, several of which directly benefited Crisis suits. This made them officially part of the Meta when players discovered it was possible to take Farsight Enclaves Crisis, Upgrade them with the Veteran Cadre rule for 1 cp, and then spend another cp to give them 5 markerlights, effectively BS2+ rerolling 1's to hit and wound. Add some shield drones and you have units that border being outright broken, if not a pain in the butt to deal with.

== 9th Edition ==
The new rules for 9th have dropped, and god help the Crisis suit, they just can't catch a break. One of their biggest boons, the fly keyword, has been nerfed to ignoring terrain, but not allowing retreat and shoot shenanigans. But be honest, that keyword needed a nerf. Now Crisis suits are in an awkward spot, as they are not a Monster or a Vehicle, which both have received buffs. To be fair, the edition is fairly early on and the Codex hasn't even dropped yet. We'll have to wait to see how much worse or better they get.
[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tau]]

[[Category: Vehicles]]

[[Category: Walkers]]

{{Template:Tau}}

XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit

2021-01-02T22:47:15Z

2600:1700:E660:4760:87F:B175:5EFE:7485: /* XV8-02 Iridium Suit */

[[File:Xv8 crisis enforcer tau cover.jpg|thumbnail|right|400px|You may as well bust a move while you slaughter the enemies of the [[Greater Good]].]]
The '''XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit''' is the main [[battlesuit]] of the the [[Tau|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 ==
[[File:9cc4.jpg|thumb|left|350px|Death in six different tastes dropping in from above!]]
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 the hands 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, but the "Enforcer", Coldstar, and commander variant can support up to four. The most common loadout for Crisis suits is two weapons and one support system, although builds exist that employ all hardpoints for either weapons (Gunship crisis) or support systems (Buffmander). The suit also comes with jump jets that allow it to bypass dangerous/impassable terrain to quickly shoot at enemies and jump back to safety before the enemy has any time to react, a tactic known as Jump-Shoot-Jump. 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 (“Lone Hero”). Having to [[Warhammer_40,000:_Fire_Warrior|face a greater daemon]] can cause a [[Shas%27o_Kais|similar behaviour]]. 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 [[Dreadnought|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.

Unlike the Imperium, Tau tech actually goes forward, thus Crisis in more recent editions come stock with Multitrackers (akimbo), Blacksun filters (those eagle-eye glasses) and can control drones without needing an outdately-named Drone controller (which now provides ''enhanced'' control), freeing a lot of hardpoints. It's also interestingly that formerly experimental weapon often gets into wider production as more general use options such as the Airbursting Fragmentation Projector or Stimulant injectors as one of the few times fluff and crunch line up. [[Games Workshop|Disregarding the fluff a little]], a Crisis team can be 10-tau strong, and cannot eject anymore due to not having access to that item in the codex. But they get yet more guns and stuff.

== Tactical Properties==
[[File:XV8 15.jpg|300px|right|thumb|EVERYBODY DO THE CONGA!]]
===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. Standby for Titanfall indeed.

===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 Squad|Tactical Marines]] or [[Terminator Squad|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 [[Imperial Guard|Guardsmen]] and [[Ork Boy|Ork Boyz]]. However, WS2 and I2 means they're dead against heavier assault troops, but then again, so are many things. Keep in mind though that a single [[Space Marine|Marine]]-wielded [[Power Fist|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===
[[File:XV8_Battlesuit.JPG|left|200px]]
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The basic suit. Nothing in the galaxy quite like it. All of them are constructed from a nanocrystaline alloy armour which covers everything save the joints and servos, giving the suit superior protection while keeping weight at a minimum. While the armour provides superior protection against most small arms, anti-tank weapons could punch through them like [[Flak Armour]].

Think of the [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|Leman Russ]], and how it works (or better yet check out its page). 27 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. Generally purchased as the Crisis Battlesuit Team. The old and new kits are mostly the same, although the newer kits have more radical poses than the old ones which mostly just stood up straight with arms bent.
===XV81 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV81.jpg|left|230px]]
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A bulkier Forgeworld variant of the Crisis Suit, it has an integrated Smart missile system, but this system also costs it a bit of customization. Due to this, it is only given to Tau Commanders and armed with the aforementioned shoulder-mounted Smart Missile System filling one of its three hardpoints.

Its use is a bit limited when you have the much more dakka Broadside Battlesuits in production. That said, these missiles are handy in granting the Tau ranged bombardment and provides the Tau with a more mobile artillery platform (as if that was ever something they were in dire need of). Tabletop wise, the XV-81 (Along with the XV-84) are identical in statline to an XV-85 Commander. An 8″ movement (and the Fly keyword) give them pretty decent mobility, and with six wounds and 3+ armour they don’t go down easily. Strength and toughness five give them a strong baseline to work from, and ballistic skill 2+ makes them excellent shooters. Their weapon skill 3+ and four attacks surprisingly makes them decent combatants, although you still don’t want to take on any “real” combat units. An XV-81 costs 76pts base (the same as an Enforcer does).

In 9th Edition, this is basically the commander in an XV8 Battlesuit with a mandatory Smart Missile System weapon and only 2 remaining slots for Weapons/Support systems. An ok choice if you want a commander with a weapon that ignores cover and fine with him only to having fewer customization slots than usual.

===XV8-02 Iridium Suit===
[[File:XV-8-02.png|left|200px]]
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An alternate build in the Crisis Battlesuit Team set. A refinement of the XV-89, this is a rare prototype of an advanced defensive system. It's made of its namesake, an [[Iridium Armour|experimental Iridium alloy armour,]] granting it greater defensive properties than the normal Crisis suits without losing any agility like the XV-89 did. This variant is rarely seen on the battlefield, and more commonly given to a commander for enhanced survival, or to one of his bodyguards to aid them in their job of catching bullets with the face.

IRL, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium Iridium] is a very hard, dense metal (surpassed in density only by osmium) that is extraordinarily resistant to both heat and corrosion; it is too brittle to be used as a pure metal, but its properties make it a valuable alloying agent as well as an important component in spark plugs and high-temperature crucibles. Iridium is very rare in the Earth's crust, but is commonly found in meteorites and the impact craters they leave behind. “Rare” relative to a freaking planet. Spark plugs aren’t exactly rare.

In 9th Edition, this is basically an armour upgrade rather than a model; you could add Iridium Armour without using a Signature System slot to do so, giving them a shiny 2+ armour save.

===XV84 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV84.png|left|200px]]
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AKA the markerlight suit. This Forgeworld variant gets integrated target locks and networked [[markerlight]]s. So if you wanna know what that goofy looking periscope of doom is, now you know. Like the XV81, the XV84 is made for Tau Commanders.

These suits are basically meant to be targeters for their teams, using these systems to aid with assaults. They are used when your in a situation where your pathfinders prove to be just too fragile, or where you have literally ran out of pathfinders due to a severe case of death. On the tabletop, the XV-84 is slightly more expensive at 80pts than the XV81. The XV-84, at least, has a bit more purpose. Although it functionally has only three “slots” (two open ones and a forced-pick Target Lock), it essentially has a fourth weapon in the form of its “markerlight”, which auto-tags anything the other guns shoot at.

While this is probably not the best use of a Commander’s weapon slot, it does have some advantages- since it’s not actually a Heavy weapon the way regular Markerlights are, it will be hitting on 2s and if you have a multishot weapon (like a Missile Pod) any one of the hits connecting is good enough to put a token on the enemy. In 9th Edition, this is another variant of the XV8 Battlesuit with rules. Comes with a markerlight, target lock and still has two more customization slot left.

===XV8-05 Enforcer Suit===
[[File:XV85.jpg|left|200px]]
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A Crisis variant piloted by 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 it is a tad bit larger and more well protected, as well as having an extra hard point for weaponry and support systems such as [[Plasma Rifle]]s, [[Fusion Blaster]]s, [[Airbursting Fragmentation Projector]]s, and [[Cyclic Ion Blaster]]s.

Some people who didn't like [[Finecast]] (or were really cheap) used a regular suit in the place of the old kit since it was basically the same except the Enforcer has some flashier bitz and articulated fingers on the hand as well as being slightly taller. The new plastic model kit has much more aesthetic differences also grants the option of making a Coldstar Suit (you most likely don't).

In 9th Edition, the suit is the same as the regular commander in a normal XV8, but has 1 more wound instead of access to [[Iridium Armour]]. Only 4 points more than the standard Commander, so you may as well use him if you don't plan to give your Commander the [[Iridium Armour]] upgrade, saving you 6 points.

===XV86 Coldstar Suit===
[[File:Coldstar.png|left|200px]]
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The XV86 is covered in fins which streamline it, allowing super-fast movement across the theatre of battle, dealing with enemies in sharp shocks from its burst cannon. The on-board Holophoton Countermeasures and telemetry suites feed the Coldstar and its Commander pilot a massive variety of information that would overwhelm the untrained mind - instead, in this case, it allows the Coldstar Battlesuit to fly over its foes with such speed and agility that enemy targeting systems simply [[Derp|goes full retard.]]

While mentioned in codices previously, it's got rules and a model now. It looks like your normal Enforcer (it's based on the same kit), but with a large jetpack and dozens of control fins sprouting from it. For 60 Points you can upgrade your Commander to a FMC without Smash, Vector Strike or Fear, but with all the other good stuff like Jink and Swoop so no one can hit it, as well as a 6-shot TL Burst Cannon and a Missile Pod as fixed weapons. It has two support slots (for a total of four hardpoints), and it can take drones but they get left behind when swooping, and cannot take signature systems. In the book it engages in dogfights with the imperials, and is easily capable of both reaching low orbit and surviving re-entry.

In 9th Edition, the Coldstar commander has Ludicrous Speed - Movement 20", and Advancing adds another 20" instead of D6" for a total of 40" movement. No longer restricted to specific loadouts (save for being unable to take a cyclic ion blaster, and can only take a high-output burst cannon in a pair with a missile pod), so feel free to use your four hardpoints however you want.

===XV89 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV89.png|left|230px]]
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[[Fluff]]-wise, this one is meant to have increased protection but was really bulky and hard to move around in, eventually being scrapped for the [[Iridium Armour]]. It was for all intents and purposes, an experimental prototype meant more for stress testing than actual warfare. It still retains three hardpoints to attach other equipment however.

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]], so it could be used to denote some important model or for variety, if you feel lazy with the green stuff and want to spend more money. Other than the cosmetic change, there isn't really a point for this model. Most of these suits were decommissioned and scrapped after the field testing phase in Taros in favour of the better designed XV8-02.

===Shas'o R'Myr's Battlesuit===
[[File:Shas'o R'Myr.png|left|200px]]
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Shas'O R'myr (known as Commander Longknife), is a Tau Commander best noted to follow the [[Commissar Yarrick]] of pimping his own ride. Being the teacher's pet, Longknife was gifted his own experimental Battlesuit during the Third Sphere of Expansion.

Another Forgeworld character variant to the XV-8, outfitted with all sorts of top of the line gear such as a flechette discharger, a double barrelled plasma rifle, and a strengthened shield generator. This battlesuit is a one of a kind, basically every MC's personal Gundam. His bodyguard is made up of the other Forgeworld Crisis Suits just so he could tell the others that his baller.

In 7th Edition, this is a nasty little suit. Its Double-barreled Plasma rifle (Assault 2 Twin-linked with 24" range) and Target Lock is built to take down heavy infantry / monstrous creatures without needing to get into Rapid fire range like others (so his squad should have missiles). The Flechette launcher nicks the attacker for a S3 hit at I10. Depending on how you interpret the word 'any,' the flechette launcher may not be one use anymore. His enhanced shield generator has a 4++ against shooting attacks and a 3++ against close combat. His flechette discharger is a nasty surprise for swarm armies thinking they have just trapped the expensive tau HQ unit in CC...and they kinda have, because even guardsmen have a decent chance to survive S3 AP- flechettes, so put him in a squad that also has a Repulsor Impact field and other assault trinkets so their effects stack. A good choice, especially against Imperial Guard due to Preferred Enemy against them. If you want a Commander with double plasma, you'd be out of your mind not to take him: R'myr is cheaper than a similar Commander by 20 pts, but is using the equivalent of 5 hardpoints, his shield is better, allows for Repulsor Field stacking and thus can do his job both at close and long range.

==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.

===Optimized Monster Hunting===
To put it simply, run 3-man squads of Crisis suits with a Twin Linked Plasma Rifle, and a Plasma Rifle. The general gist of this is that without twin-linked weapons, you need 7 markerlights to reach BS10, '''but with twin-linked that number goes down to 2'''. Now with your pathfinders infiltrating into ideal positions, use your markerlights to boost your chance to hit to 100%, and go after big shit like D-Knights and silver baby carriers, all while playing the Jump Shoot Jump game in cover.

Ideally you should also have a riptide [[rage|or three]] to deal with hordes, while this monster team deals with any major threats to the riptide.

===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.

Alternatively, in 8E you can run a Coldstar with 4 Fusion Blasters for maximum melta with its 40" movement. If you are a Farsight Enclaves player you can use your Sept exclusive relic to upgrade two of those blasters to the kickass Fusion Blades to pretend you are a gundam.

===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 CARNIFEX|distraction Crisis suit]].)

===The Ninja===
Give a Shas'vre an XV-84 for the Smart Missile System and/or Airburst Fragmentation Projector, and Neuroweb System Jammer. You now have a unit that can launch missile or pie plates from outside LOS, and ignoring cover, while simultaneously granting Gets Hot! to the same or another unit. This single suit runs around 70-80pts depending on what options you take, but can maul a GEQ squad during its shooting phase then cause them to blow themselves up on theirs. Before using this setup, practice your trollface.

=== The Scalpel ===

A dedicated anti-infantry/anti-heavy infantry/anti-vehicle unit that excels at inflicting heavy losses on the enemy's side. Two XV-8s are loaded with two Plasma Rifles and Target Locks and the third is loaded with two Fusion Blasters and a Target Lock. All of the Suits take two Gun Drones. A buffmander with a Drone Controller and two Gun Drones is attached to the squad and is usually held in Deep Strike Reserves. With this unit, you can dump 2 BS3 S8 melta shots, 8 BS3 S6 plasma shots, and 16 BS5 S5 pulse carbine shots, all twin linked and ignores cover, at different targets allowing you to optimize your target selection for the unit. Unless there your targets have an invulnerable save, you are most likely going to gut them.

== 8th Edition ==

=== The Beginning ===
To be frank, 8th edition Crisis were a joke. With the changes to how the T'au fundamentally operate as an army, Crisis were in an odd spot. They act like a gunline, and the expensive price for them made them prohibitively expensive. The only units you would take were usually the Enforcer, Crisis, or Coldstar Commander for the purposes of Buffmanders or suicide anti-tank units. It also didn't help that their Melta equivalent cost 18 points each. However, not everything is bad. After all, the way that fly worked in 8th edition, they were highly viable for deepstriking using a variety of different methods, then charging into melee to shut down a tank or some shooty infantry, and then retreating from said melee to shoot again, or even as expensive objective holders.

=== The End ===
But holy crap, this went out the window fast. After Chapter approved 2020, many units got a substantial point decrease, including the Crisis suit chassis, and the Fusion Blaster. This made them less of a burden and more of a boon, especially after the T'au Psychic Awakening book dropped, which gave substantial buffs to the T'au, several of which directly benefited Crisis suits. This made them officially part of the Meta when players discovered it was possible to take Farsight Enclaves Crisis, Upgrade them with the Veteran Cadre rule for 1 cp, and then spend another cp to give them 5 markerlights, effectively BS2+ rerolling 1's to hit and wound. Add some shield drones and you have units that border being outright broken, if not a pain in the butt to deal with.

== 9th Edition ==
The new rules for 9th have dropped, and god help the Crisis suit, they just can't catch a break. One of their biggest boons, the fly keyword, has been nerfed to ignoring terrain, but not allowing retreat and shoot shenanigans. But be honest, that keyword needed a nerf. Now Crisis suits are in an awkward spot, as they are not a Monster or a Vehicle, which both have received buffs. To be fair, the edition is fairly early on and the Codex hasn't even dropped yet. We'll have to wait to see how much worse or better they get.
[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tau]]

[[Category: Vehicles]]

[[Category: Walkers]]

{{Template:Tau}}

XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit

2021-01-02T22:37:58Z

2600:1700:E660:4760:87F:B175:5EFE:7485: /* Description */

[[File:Xv8 crisis enforcer tau cover.jpg|thumbnail|right|400px|You may as well bust a move while you slaughter the enemies of the [[Greater Good]].]]
The '''XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit''' is the main [[battlesuit]] of the the [[Tau|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 ==
[[File:9cc4.jpg|thumb|left|350px|Death in six different tastes dropping in from above!]]
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 the hands 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, but the "Enforcer", Coldstar, and commander variant can support up to four. The most common loadout for Crisis suits is two weapons and one support system, although builds exist that employ all hardpoints for either weapons (Gunship crisis) or support systems (Buffmander). The suit also comes with jump jets that allow it to bypass dangerous/impassable terrain to quickly shoot at enemies and jump back to safety before the enemy has any time to react, a tactic known as Jump-Shoot-Jump. 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 (“Lone Hero”). Having to [[Warhammer_40,000:_Fire_Warrior|face a greater daemon]] can cause a [[Shas%27o_Kais|similar behaviour]]. 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 [[Dreadnought|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.

Unlike the Imperium, Tau tech actually goes forward, thus Crisis in more recent editions come stock with Multitrackers (akimbo), Blacksun filters (those eagle-eye glasses) and can control drones without needing an outdately-named Drone controller (which now provides ''enhanced'' control), freeing a lot of hardpoints. It's also interestingly that formerly experimental weapon often gets into wider production as more general use options such as the Airbursting Fragmentation Projector or Stimulant injectors as one of the few times fluff and crunch line up. [[Games Workshop|Disregarding the fluff a little]], a Crisis team can be 10-tau strong, and cannot eject anymore due to not having access to that item in the codex. But they get yet more guns and stuff.

== Tactical Properties==
[[File:XV8 15.jpg|300px|right|thumb|EVERYBODY DO THE CONGA!]]
===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. Standby for Titanfall indeed.

===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 Squad|Tactical Marines]] or [[Terminator Squad|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 [[Imperial Guard|Guardsmen]] and [[Ork Boy|Ork Boyz]]. However, WS2 and I2 means they're dead against heavier assault troops, but then again, so are many things. Keep in mind though that a single [[Space Marine|Marine]]-wielded [[Power Fist|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===
[[File:XV8_Battlesuit.JPG|left|200px]]
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The basic suit. Nothing in the galaxy quite like it. All of them are constructed from a nanocrystaline alloy armour which covers everything save the joints and servos, giving the suit superior protection while keeping weight at a minimum. While the armour provides superior protection against most small arms, anti-tank weapons could punch through them like [[Flak Armour]].

Think of the [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|Leman Russ]], and how it works (or better yet check out its page). 27 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. Generally purchased as the Crisis Battlesuit Team. The old and new kits are mostly the same, although the newer kits have more radical poses than the old ones which mostly just stood up straight with arms bent.
===XV81 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV81.jpg|left|230px]]
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A bulkier Forgeworld variant of the Crisis Suit, it has an integrated Smart missile system, but this system also costs it a bit of customization. Due to this, it is only given to Tau Commanders and armed with the aforementioned shoulder-mounted Smart Missile System filling one of its three hardpoints.

Its use is a bit limited when you have the much more dakka Broadside Battlesuits in production. That said, these missiles are handy in granting the Tau ranged bombardment and provides the Tau with a more mobile artillery platform (as if that was ever something they were in dire need of). Tabletop wise, the XV-81 (Along with the XV-84) are identical in statline to an XV-85 Commander. An 8″ movement (and the Fly keyword) give them pretty decent mobility, and with six wounds and 3+ armour they don’t go down easily. Strength and toughness five give them a strong baseline to work from, and ballistic skill 2+ makes them excellent shooters. Their weapon skill 3+ and four attacks surprisingly makes them decent combatants, although you still don’t want to take on any “real” combat units. An XV-81 costs 76pts base (the same as an Enforcer does).

In 9th Edition, this is basically the commander in an XV8 Battlesuit with a mandatory Smart Missile System weapon and only 2 remaining slots for Weapons/Support systems. An ok choice if you want a commander with a weapon that ignores cover and fine with him only to having fewer customization slots than usual.

===XV8-02 Iridium Suit===
[[File:XV-8-02.png|left|200px]]
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An alternate build in the Crisis Battlesuit Team set. A refinement of the XV-89, this is a rare prototype of an advanced defensive system. It's made of its namesake, an [[Iridium Armour|experimental Iridium alloy armour,]] granting it greater defensive properties than the normal Crisis suits without losing any agility like the XV-89 did. This variant is rarely seen on the battlefield, and more commonly given to a commander for enhanced survival, or to one of his bodyguards to aid them in their job of catching bullets with the face.

IRL, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium Iridium] is a very hard, dense metal (surpassed in density only by osmium) that is extraordinarily resistant to both heat and corrosion; it is too brittle to be used as a pure metal, but its properties make it a valuable alloying agent as well as an important component in spark plugs and high-temperature crucibles. Iridium is very rare in the Earth's crust, but is commonly found in meteorites and the impact craters they leave behind.

In 9th Edition, this is basically an armour upgrade rather than a model; you could add Iridium Armour without using a Signature System slot to do so, giving them a shiny 2+ armour save.
===XV84 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV84.png|left|200px]]
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AKA the markerlight suit. This Forgeworld variant gets integrated target locks and networked [[markerlight]]s. So if you wanna know what that goofy looking periscope of doom is, now you know. Like the XV81, the XV84 is made for Tau Commanders.

These suits are basically meant to be targeters for their teams, using these systems to aid with assaults. They are used when your in a situation where your pathfinders prove to be just too fragile, or where you have literally ran out of pathfinders due to a severe case of death. On the tabletop, the XV-84 is slightly more expensive at 80pts than the XV81. The XV-84, at least, has a bit more purpose. Although it functionally has only three “slots” (two open ones and a forced-pick Target Lock), it essentially has a fourth weapon in the form of its “markerlight”, which auto-tags anything the other guns shoot at.

While this is probably not the best use of a Commander’s weapon slot, it does have some advantages- since it’s not actually a Heavy weapon the way regular Markerlights are, it will be hitting on 2s and if you have a multishot weapon (like a Missile Pod) any one of the hits connecting is good enough to put a token on the enemy. In 9th Edition, this is another variant of the XV8 Battlesuit with rules. Comes with a markerlight, target lock and still has two more customization slot left.

===XV8-05 Enforcer Suit===
[[File:XV85.jpg|left|200px]]
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A Crisis variant piloted by 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 it is a tad bit larger and more well protected, as well as having an extra hard point for weaponry and support systems such as [[Plasma Rifle]]s, [[Fusion Blaster]]s, [[Airbursting Fragmentation Projector]]s, and [[Cyclic Ion Blaster]]s.

Some people who didn't like [[Finecast]] (or were really cheap) used a regular suit in the place of the old kit since it was basically the same except the Enforcer has some flashier bitz and articulated fingers on the hand as well as being slightly taller. The new plastic model kit has much more aesthetic differences also grants the option of making a Coldstar Suit (you most likely don't).

In 9th Edition, the suit is the same as the regular commander in a normal XV8, but has 1 more wound instead of access to [[Iridium Armour]]. Only 4 points more than the standard Commander, so you may as well use him if you don't plan to give your Commander the [[Iridium Armour]] upgrade, saving you 6 points.

===XV86 Coldstar Suit===
[[File:Coldstar.png|left|200px]]
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The XV86 is covered in fins which streamline it, allowing super-fast movement across the theatre of battle, dealing with enemies in sharp shocks from its burst cannon. The on-board Holophoton Countermeasures and telemetry suites feed the Coldstar and its Commander pilot a massive variety of information that would overwhelm the untrained mind - instead, in this case, it allows the Coldstar Battlesuit to fly over its foes with such speed and agility that enemy targeting systems simply [[Derp|goes full retard.]]

While mentioned in codices previously, it's got rules and a model now. It looks like your normal Enforcer (it's based on the same kit), but with a large jetpack and dozens of control fins sprouting from it. For 60 Points you can upgrade your Commander to a FMC without Smash, Vector Strike or Fear, but with all the other good stuff like Jink and Swoop so no one can hit it, as well as a 6-shot TL Burst Cannon and a Missile Pod as fixed weapons. It has two support slots (for a total of four hardpoints), and it can take drones but they get left behind when swooping, and cannot take signature systems. In the book it engages in dogfights with the imperials, and is easily capable of both reaching low orbit and surviving re-entry.

In 9th Edition, the Coldstar commander has Ludicrous Speed - Movement 20", and Advancing adds another 20" instead of D6" for a total of 40" movement. No longer restricted to specific loadouts (save for being unable to take a cyclic ion blaster, and can only take a high-output burst cannon in a pair with a missile pod), so feel free to use your four hardpoints however you want.

===XV89 Crisis Suit===
[[File:XV89.png|left|230px]]
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[[Fluff]]-wise, this one is meant to have increased protection but was really bulky and hard to move around in, eventually being scrapped for the [[Iridium Armour]]. It was for all intents and purposes, an experimental prototype meant more for stress testing than actual warfare. It still retains three hardpoints to attach other equipment however.

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]], so it could be used to denote some important model or for variety, if you feel lazy with the green stuff and want to spend more money. Other than the cosmetic change, there isn't really a point for this model. Most of these suits were decommissioned and scrapped after the field testing phase in Taros in favour of the better designed XV8-02.

===Shas'o R'Myr's Battlesuit===
[[File:Shas'o R'Myr.png|left|200px]]
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Shas'O R'myr (known as Commander Longknife), is a Tau Commander best noted to follow the [[Commissar Yarrick]] of pimping his own ride. Being the teacher's pet, Longknife was gifted his own experimental Battlesuit during the Third Sphere of Expansion.

Another Forgeworld character variant to the XV-8, outfitted with all sorts of top of the line gear such as a flechette discharger, a double barrelled plasma rifle, and a strengthened shield generator. This battlesuit is a one of a kind, basically every MC's personal Gundam. His bodyguard is made up of the other Forgeworld Crisis Suits just so he could tell the others that his baller.

In 7th Edition, this is a nasty little suit. Its Double-barreled Plasma rifle (Assault 2 Twin-linked with 24" range) and Target Lock is built to take down heavy infantry / monstrous creatures without needing to get into Rapid fire range like others (so his squad should have missiles). The Flechette launcher nicks the attacker for a S3 hit at I10. Depending on how you interpret the word 'any,' the flechette launcher may not be one use anymore. His enhanced shield generator has a 4++ against shooting attacks and a 3++ against close combat. His flechette discharger is a nasty surprise for swarm armies thinking they have just trapped the expensive tau HQ unit in CC...and they kinda have, because even guardsmen have a decent chance to survive S3 AP- flechettes, so put him in a squad that also has a Repulsor Impact field and other assault trinkets so their effects stack. A good choice, especially against Imperial Guard due to Preferred Enemy against them. If you want a Commander with double plasma, you'd be out of your mind not to take him: R'myr is cheaper than a similar Commander by 20 pts, but is using the equivalent of 5 hardpoints, his shield is better, allows for Repulsor Field stacking and thus can do his job both at close and long range.

==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.

===Optimized Monster Hunting===
To put it simply, run 3-man squads of Crisis suits with a Twin Linked Plasma Rifle, and a Plasma Rifle. The general gist of this is that without twin-linked weapons, you need 7 markerlights to reach BS10, '''but with twin-linked that number goes down to 2'''. Now with your pathfinders infiltrating into ideal positions, use your markerlights to boost your chance to hit to 100%, and go after big shit like D-Knights and silver baby carriers, all while playing the Jump Shoot Jump game in cover.

Ideally you should also have a riptide [[rage|or three]] to deal with hordes, while this monster team deals with any major threats to the riptide.

===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.

Alternatively, in 8E you can run a Coldstar with 4 Fusion Blasters for maximum melta with its 40" movement. If you are a Farsight Enclaves player you can use your Sept exclusive relic to upgrade two of those blasters to the kickass Fusion Blades to pretend you are a gundam.

===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 CARNIFEX|distraction Crisis suit]].)

===The Ninja===
Give a Shas'vre an XV-84 for the Smart Missile System and/or Airburst Fragmentation Projector, and Neuroweb System Jammer. You now have a unit that can launch missile or pie plates from outside LOS, and ignoring cover, while simultaneously granting Gets Hot! to the same or another unit. This single suit runs around 70-80pts depending on what options you take, but can maul a GEQ squad during its shooting phase then cause them to blow themselves up on theirs. Before using this setup, practice your trollface.

=== The Scalpel ===

A dedicated anti-infantry/anti-heavy infantry/anti-vehicle unit that excels at inflicting heavy losses on the enemy's side. Two XV-8s are loaded with two Plasma Rifles and Target Locks and the third is loaded with two Fusion Blasters and a Target Lock. All of the Suits take two Gun Drones. A buffmander with a Drone Controller and two Gun Drones is attached to the squad and is usually held in Deep Strike Reserves. With this unit, you can dump 2 BS3 S8 melta shots, 8 BS3 S6 plasma shots, and 16 BS5 S5 pulse carbine shots, all twin linked and ignores cover, at different targets allowing you to optimize your target selection for the unit. Unless there your targets have an invulnerable save, you are most likely going to gut them.

== 8th Edition ==

=== The Beginning ===
To be frank, 8th edition Crisis were a joke. With the changes to how the T'au fundamentally operate as an army, Crisis were in an odd spot. They act like a gunline, and the expensive price for them made them prohibitively expensive. The only units you would take were usually the Enforcer, Crisis, or Coldstar Commander for the purposes of Buffmanders or suicide anti-tank units. It also didn't help that their Melta equivalent cost 18 points each. However, not everything is bad. After all, the way that fly worked in 8th edition, they were highly viable for deepstriking using a variety of different methods, then charging into melee to shut down a tank or some shooty infantry, and then retreating from said melee to shoot again, or even as expensive objective holders.

=== The End ===
But holy crap, this went out the window fast. After Chapter approved 2020, many units got a substantial point decrease, including the Crisis suit chassis, and the Fusion Blaster. This made them less of a burden and more of a boon, especially after the T'au Psychic Awakening book dropped, which gave substantial buffs to the T'au, several of which directly benefited Crisis suits. This made them officially part of the Meta when players discovered it was possible to take Farsight Enclaves Crisis, Upgrade them with the Veteran Cadre rule for 1 cp, and then spend another cp to give them 5 markerlights, effectively BS2+ rerolling 1's to hit and wound. Add some shield drones and you have units that border being outright broken, if not a pain in the butt to deal with.

== 9th Edition ==
The new rules for 9th have dropped, and god help the Crisis suit, they just can't catch a break. One of their biggest boons, the fly keyword, has been nerfed to ignoring terrain, but not allowing retreat and shoot shenanigans. But be honest, that keyword needed a nerf. Now Crisis suits are in an awkward spot, as they are not a Monster or a Vehicle, which both have received buffs. To be fair, the edition is fairly early on and the Codex hasn't even dropped yet. We'll have to wait to see how much worse or better they get.
[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

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[[Category: Tau]]

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