Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Tau (section)

====Special Characters====
*'''Aun'Va, Master of the Undying Spirit:''' The popestick got a huge buff! Roll equal to or over a weapon's AP to ignore wounds? That is an auto-pass against AP1,  so enemy railguns/death rays/tachyon arrows/meltas can eat shit and die. And since it technically doesn't count as a save, even ''fucking Destroyer weapons'' are ignored!  However, you can't roll against AP- so Tesla will still ruin your day (You only have a 5+ normal armour save) and it has no effect on models that ignore armour but have no AP value (leaving him entirely without a save), a Culexus Assassin for example will fuck him up royally (just like in the fluff). Only 100pts? Vetock, you are a god. OK, so the bodyguards are still meh but they're better than they used to be. 5+ saves combined with the Paradox's [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Newtonian_fluid harder-you-hit-it-harder-it-is] "fuck you save" gives the whole unit a variable amount of protection. He also gets 2 Ethereal bubble abilities per turn, which either give Stubborn, FnP(6+), +1 pulse weapon shot in half range or snap shots after running. His massive, multiple buffs are just awesome. He also provides a table wide re-roll for any morale checks, anything in Tau codex. That shit is money. Unfortunately, he is ridiculously vulnerable, not being able to join a unit because of his lack of IC, not to mention the fact that he can't get a transport. The best he can do is cower behind a building or a METAL BOX to block LOS and pray to Tau'va nobody gets around the corner.

*'''Aun'Shi:''' Brought back from 3rd edition into 6th. Shi is essentially a close combat HQ, albeit a modest one, in an otherwise shooty army (i.e.: he's a blue Kroot-pope). Costs twice as much than a regular Honor Blade Ethereal, but at least he comes with a better saving throw: a 4+ invul save to boot. Always use Patient hunter in CC, because re-rollable 4++ is hilarious. Being WS5 I5 he could do alright dueling sgts, but the fact that he can melee doesn't mean he should - he still gives a VP by getting killed, he just dies a little slower. He is basically an Ethereal with the weaknesses removed for the price of yet another one - so make good use of those elemental invocations - but beware of anyone with strength 6 or over, because you'll be insta-killed if you botch it.

*'''Aun'Do (Burning Dawn):''' Ethereal with Honour Blade, Homing Beacon, and a Hover Drone. Although it isn't listed in his wargear, the 5+ armor save in his statline indicates he comes with Recon Armor as well. He costs 5 points more than a similarly equipped generic Ethereal. For that 5 points, you lose the ability to purchase drones or a blacksun filter, gain an extra wound, gain Fearless in place of Stubborn, and should you choose to make him your warlord you gain a guaranteed Exemplar of the Selfless Cause warlord trait. He's also only able to slot into one [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Tau(7E)#Dataslate_Formations|formation]], Infiltration Cadre Burning Dawn. Since a purchased drone would give you an extra wound anyway, you get to decide if Fearless and a guaranteed warlord trait beat an Etheral with two pieces of wargear and a drone that could be taken in another formation.

*'''O'Shovah ([[Farsight|Commander Farsight]]):''' The l33t renegade commander of the Fire Caste, Farsight is odd in the fact that he's specced for assault in an army meant for shooting. His Dawn Blade is very nice and got one hell of an upgrade to what is essentially a Necron Warscythe (AP2 Armourbane). Due to changes to Crisis teams, his bodyguard is no longer exclusive to him and they are forced to take a slot, but it is still a devastating tactic to deepstrike with up to NINE bodyguards, especially with his "no scatter" WT, negating one of the difficulties of deepstriking such a large unit. Preferred enemy is quite useful against Orks, although given Tau are near top-tier and Orks are somewhere slightly above unplayable, it's pretty much kicking a dead horse.
**He has lost some of his appeal, now that "Farsight bombs" aren't exclusive to him - arguably a normal Commander could do it better because Signature systems can be placed on him to make them immune to precision fire, and you can reroll undesirable traits/get beacons for no scatter. Still, you could take him for what he is: your ''WS5 <b>AP2</b> '''I5''''' melee response against anyone expecting easy melee from the Tau...lol JK, you still need to bring Battlesuits because he can't do it alone and Farsight bomb is pretty much the only viable tactic with him - that's not a bad thing by all means, that is one hell of a tactic and no-scatter is glorious, so it has its own section [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Tau(7E)#The_Farsight_Bomb|HERE]].
**''But I can't field that many Crisis suits''. Good grief, he has an army of his own, so go read [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Tau(7E)#Farsight_Enclaves|Farsight Enclaves]] and see if it *puts on Blacksun filter* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR3jnW2kcUs ''suits''] your style.

*'''O'Shaserra ([[Shadowsun|Commander Shadowsun]]):''' Commander Tsundere herself, she wears an experimental next-gen XV-22 stealth Battlesuit, which gives her a 3+/5++ save, and she has Shrouded and Stealth (duh) as well as two non-TL Fusion Blasters that can fire at different targets, great for cover-camping and jump-shoot-jump close-range tank killing, which in turn makes her much better on dense battlefields than in open ones (like Cities of Death), where she can put some hate on vehicles while being all but invulnerable to return fire...if they ever get line of sight on her because of her 3D6" Jump move (when she's the warlord). If she joins a Stealth suit squad they'll act as bodyguards, auto-passing Look Out, Sir! rolls, great for preventing instant-death (which is pretty common when you are T3). And on top of that she can buy buffed shield drones (3++) and a Command-link drone to let a unit within 12" re-roll to hit rolls of 1.
**Let us reiterate what her Command-link drone does: ''Any one unit within 12" of the drone gets to re-roll any 1s on its to-hit roll''. And she can do this ''every'' turn. Hilarious when [[Derp|a drone does it as well as a Warlord]] Trait, right? [[Games_Workshop|ALWAYS BUY IT]]. You know how that Riptide's Nova-charged Heavy burst cannon is almost as dangerous to itself as the enemy? Not anymore under Shadowsun's drone gaze. Just think about how much [[dakka]] you can (relatively) safely put out from the two of them on a continual basis...
**Attaching Mrs. Tsundere to a Stealth team may be everybody's first thought, but she does damn fine with just any kind of Battlesuit squad. Because Stealth and Shrouded is conferred to the entire unit by her presence, Shield generators and Shield drones become sort of redundant due to 4+ cover save in the open and [[Troll|2+ in any terrain]] (unless facing artillery), so that's some (hard)points you can use for other things. ''But Stealth teams are her bodyguards''. Crisis teams are better damage sponges thanks to their T4 and 2W, never mind they have more hardpoints and dakka. You could take proper Bodyguards, but you'd be taking them because Signature systems are a great addition to a [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Tau(7E)#The_Farsight_Bomb|Shadowbomb]]. After all, isn't passing Look Out Sir! rolls on a 2+ good enough already? And with her 3D6" move, where Farsight makes CC more manageable, she outright makes it ''never'' happen. Note that she cannot join Riptides and share the hax. Yeah, that would've been too cheap.
**In fact, the Stealth + Shroud + Command drone combo is great for almost any of your squads (Sniper Kroots now don't need any cover, Pathfinders reroll some markerlights, etc.)...but not placing her in a Jetpack squad is kind of a waste.

*'''[[El'Myamoto (Sub-commander Darkstrider)]]:''' The second Tau commander to piss off the Ethereal elites, Darkstrider is a powered up Pathfinder - he fights on foot, so he can only join Firewarriors and Pathfinders. His selling point is his Structural Analyzer, which lowers the Toughness his target for him and his unit (and it counts for Instant Death) which works best with Railrifle equipped Pathfinders. Can be very troll-y. See that crazy powerful Paladin or Meganob? A single Pathfinder in this guy's squad just sniped him. Also works on T5 (Nob bikers, Ogryns, Thunderwolf, Harpies, Daemon Prince, etc.) with Ion Rifles in overcharge. Furthermore, he allows his unit to consolidate D6" in any direction immediately after firing their overwatch and BEFORE the charging unit rolls for charge distance. Stick him in a Pathfinder squad with a Grav Inhibitor drone and they become one slippery unit.
**Because he has Scout and Outflank he does great with Breachers in a Devilfish, easily getting them into range to wreak havoc, while he gets a 6++ (you ARE taking the drone right?), meaning those point blank Pulse blasters now ID those pesky Nids and Astartes characters, all at sweet AP3. U MAD? Just be prepared for the assault, cause their weapons are so short ranged that his consolidation move will not get you out of charge range.

*'''O'R'myr (Commander Longknife) (FW - IA3, 2°E):''' Dread Pirate R'myr, who inherited the name from four previous commanders, is a decent suit that seems to want to be charged. With a Double-barreled Plasma rifle (Assault 2 Twin-linked with 24" range) and a Target Lock, he looks built to take down heavy infantry / monstrous creatures without needing to get into Rapid fire range like others (so his squad should have missiles). His Signature Wargear is the XV89-02 Battlesuit, which contains a Flechette launcher that 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 [[Fail|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.
 
*'''O'Ra'lai (Commander O'Rly) (FW - IA3, 2°E):''' O'Rly is a monster of a unit; he is your [[Commissar Yarrick]], your [[Abaddon|Failbaddon]], your [[Mephiston]], your [[Swarmlord]], your [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka|Ghazghkull]], with BS5, T5, I4, and the power of the XV-9 Battlesuit. The main difference he has compared with the above heroes is that he is primarily a ranged fighter whereas most uber-HQ characters tend to be close combat oriented. O'Rly's main strength is his versatility, allowing him to be effective against almost everything in the game because of his access to four different ammo types for his Experimental Pulse Sub-Munitions Rifle, though every munition except for his default has Gets Hot!. Keep him away from TEQs though, as none of his shots get better than AP3. Against MEQ's, blobs, cover-campers and Tank armies, however, you've got yourself a certifiable nightmare of a tau, with access to Ignore Cover, Haywire or huge-area Rending on one weapon depending on the specific ammo used. Of note is O'Rly's ability to make vehicles melt, with the choice of BS5 Haywire shots at 24", or 36" S9 AP3 shots, allowing him to decimate anything with an AV (although he can't make anything explode). Oh, and all of his weapon profiles are Assault 2, thus going from ''"Baby's First Lascannon"'' to ''"What the fuck, he has an assault 2 Lascannon?!"''. A real nightmare to just about any army, he's now the best HQ unit the Tau have.
**His marker drones are T4, which means you're losing that awesome T5 bonus until one of them dies. He USED to be able to join guys, but the special rule 'Lone Warrior' prevents him from joining units, despite being an IC. However, he can leave his drone unit and let him be majority toughness 5 while you get 2 markerlight drones for free, though they drop from BS 5 to BS 2 without his drone controller, but at least they have blacksun filters of their own.
**He can take as much pain as he can dish out, as his shield upgrades to a 3+ invuln save if shot at from farther away than 12". Having four T5 wounds, 3+/3-4++ saves, defensive grenades, I4, Hit & Run, and JSJ, he is an absolute bastard to kill without S10 or Instant death weapons. 
**His Warlord Trait, '''The Assassin''',  gives him Preferred Enemy (Independent Characters). This does translate into Preferred Enemy against the unit an Independent Character is attached to.