Editing Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Kill Team(9E) Xenos (section)

==Pathfinders (Chalnath)==
===Why Play Pathfinders===
*'''Pros'''
** Markerlights do a ton more than they do for compendium Tau
** All your guns have full range. No pistols for you!
** Your guns remain pretty powerful.

*'''Cons'''
** Your armor is very light, requiring you to stick to cover.
** Aside from a few options, your melee remains laughable.

===PF Special Rules===
*'''Art of War:''' When a {{W40kKeyword|Shas'ui}} operative triggers this, you pick between one of the following rules for the turn:
**''Mont'ka:'' Any operatives with the Engage order can make a free dash action, letting them move into position and then let loose their volleys.
**''Kauyon:'' When shot at while behind cover, your operatives can retain another save as an automatic save.
*'''Artificial Intelligence:''' Drone rule 1. This pretty much is why they aren't useful as anything besides a wall of wounds. They can't use any mission actions and count their APL as 1 lower in regards to capping objectives. LoS is also drawn from any point on the top rim of the drone rather than the base or body. The other massive downside is that the drones can't retain any saves thanks to cover.
*'''Savior Protocols:''' Drone rule 2. Any time a non-{{W40kKeyword|Drone}} operative is shot, they can use a {{W40kKeyword|Drone}} operative within 2"/circle of them to take the fire for them, even if they'd normally be out of range. This pretty much turns your drones into floating walls of wounds for your more important Tau.

===PF Campaign Additions===
<tabs>
<tab name="Tac Ops">
*'''Mark Enemy Movements:''' Score 1 VP for every turn where you manage to markerlight at least half the enemy kill-team. This might be a bit of a hassle to pull off since it forces you to sacrifice shooting, but it's not impossible, especially with plenty of cover.
*'''Patient Hunter:''' Score 1 VP for each turn where you scored more VP from the main objective than the enemy as well as having more than half your team use the Conceal order. This particular Tac Op is specially-made for a team more focused on special actions and capping rather than shooting.
*'''Killing Blow:''' Score 1 VP at the end of any turn where you kill enemies with more total wounds than the total wounds of any units you lose that turn. Again, you need to prioritize cover and protection in order to maximize your odds of scoring. Killing Space Marines might help as well.
</tab>
<tab name="Spec Ops - Mark for Strike">
''Note - This counts as the Elimination Spec Op for terms of repeating''

#''Track Enemy'': Finish five games where you scored VP from the Mark Target, Mark Enemy Movement, or Vantage Tac Ops. All of these pretty much require you to stick out from cover to mark the enemy, so you'll need to rely on cover in order to ensure that this doesn't end up with you getting shot up.
#''Institute Strike'': Finish one last game where you win VP through the Plant Signal Beacon Tac Op.

Completing this Spec Op scores 1 RP and the operative that accomplished the final objective gets 5 XP. In addition, you get the option to either grab a piece of rare equipment or increase your asset cap by +1. 
</tab>
<tab name="Spec Ops - Philosophy of War">
''Note - This counts as the Purge Order Spec Op for terms of repeating''

#''Kauyon'': Finish five games where you scored VP from the Patient Hunter, Protect Assets or Hold the Line Tac Ops.
#''Mont'ka'': Finish one last game where you score VP from the Killing Strike or Execution Tac Op. You've probably had your fill of dancing about by this point, so now you can cut loose.

Completing this Spec Op gives you 1 RP and 5 XP you can spread across all of your operatives. In Addition, you get the option to either grab a piece of rare equipment or increase your asset cap by +1. 
</tab>
<tab name="Battle Honors">
#'''For the Greater Good:''' This operative can use markerlights twice a turn, which has uses if you can't shoot. It also comes with an extra trick that lets an operative who's about to die slap on a sacrificial markerlight on an enemy they're engaged with.
#* This all sounds nice, but it comes with the caveat that you can actually perform the Markerlight action. That means for Marksman and Weapons Experts are wasted upon this, as are most of your drones.
#'''Reliant Support:''' The Supporting Fire ploy costs nothing for this operative to use, which is just as well considering its importance in protecting your foes.
#'''Cunning Hunter:''' Whenever this operative shoots on a turn where they haven't moved in any way, they can score one auto-hit, though can't stack with Merciless Hunter below. Practically an auto-take on the rail rifles.
#'''Mercliess Hunter:''' Any time this Operative shoots at an enemy within 6"/pentagon, they can score one auto-hit. Whereas Cunning Hunter (which this cannot stack with) is more for your rifles, this sees more use on your carbines and is better suited for mobile pathfinders.
#'''Martial Philosopher:''' Allows this operative to pick its own Art of War when your Shas'ui triggers the ability.
#'''Capable Under Fire:''' Whenever this operative is both using the Conceal order and hidden behind light cover, they cannot be targeted by anyone with a vantage point, offering extra protection from enemy snipers.
</tab>
<tab name="Requisition">
*'''Exemplar of the Greater Good (1 RP):''' Whenever a non-{{W40kKeyword|Drone}} operative suffers a Battle Scar, you can trigger this to gain an instant 3XP. While this sounds awesome, you can use this on each operative only once, putting this more into the role of a desperation button for some spare XP while you focus on healing their scars.
*'''Repair Damaged Drones (1 RP):''' A multi-faceted requisition focused entirely upon your drones. Any {{W40kKeyword|Drone}} operatives that are incapacitated can roll an extra d6 for their recovery checks and pick the better one. If they fail their casualty tests though, you can immediately use the Operative Assigned Requisition for free to replace them with another drone.
*'''Shas'vre (1 RP):''' Whenever an operative reaches Revered rank, this provides you a special Battle Honour that lets them count Battle Philosophy as permanent after you call it. This can stack particularly well with Martial Philosopher, letting you reap all the benefits with none of the drawbacks.
</tab>
<tab name="Assets">
*'''Aerial Surveillance Drone:''' Once per turn you can forego activating an operative for the ability to slap a markerlight on one target anywhere on the board. Helpful in freeing up an operative so they can finish another assignment.
*'''Remote Sensor Tower:''' During your Scouting Phase, you gain 1 CP if your enemy uses the Infiltrate or Recon action. In addition, you can add +1 to your initiative roll once per game.
*'''Tidewall Barricade:''' Your barricades provide a 4++ invuln save for any of your operatives hiding behind them. Note that this specifically calls out {{W40kKeyword|Pathfinder}} operatives, so nobody else can turn this against you...unless you have a mirror match.
</tab>
<tab name="Rare Equipment">
#'''Experimental Pulse Ammunition (2 EP):''' One pulse weapon gains an extra shot and the P1 rule. Wasted on the Weapon Expert and Marksman as they already have AP1.
#'''Honour Blade (1 EP):''' Shas'ui Pathfinder only. This improves their bonding knife, giving +1 to WS and both Damage stats, making it a respectable melee weapon.
#'''Advanced Cogitation Chip (1 EP):''' {{W40kKeyword|Drone}} operatives only. This removes a lot of the downsides of being a drone, allowing it to operate independently without needing to be shepherded by the Drone Controller. 
#'''Shield Generator (2 EP):''' Grants a 4++ save, an easy and powerful safeguard.
#'''Markerlight Grenade (2 EP):''' Gives you a single-use grenade. When you throw it, roll a d6 for any enemies within 3"/square of the target zone (-1 if they're not visible, -1 if they're over 6"/pentagon away from the bearer). On a 2+, they get a markerlight.
#'''Projection Field (2 EP):''' Once per game you can use this to swap off the bearer's order, letting you strike and fade.
</tab>
</tabs>

===PF Wargear===
*'''Climbing Equipment (1 EP):''' The bearer becomes a bit less burdened by climbing and dropping. Climbing up any distance up to three circles will always count as 1 circle/2" for movement and they don't require being right next to the terrain in order to climb. In addition, any drop distance they take counts as half that for movement and can drop to any level they want.
*'''Drone Repair Kit (2 EP):''' Gives the bearer a special action in order to restore d3 wounds to a nearby {{W40kKeyword|Drone}} operative. Stick this onto your drone controller in order to guarantee a full 3 wounds.
*'''EMP Grenade (2 EP):''' The tau equivalent of the frag grenade is equally capable of handling crowds, but the EMP rule adds an additional edge: It counts as Lethal X with X being the target's save - needless to say that this will hurt for any space marines you fight, but killing isn't a certainty.
*'''Fusion Grenade (4 EP):''' Essentially a krak grenade, but its crits deal plenty of mortal wounds in order to guarantee the death of most guardsmen and the like.
*'''High-Intensity Markerlight (2 EP):''' Like the marker drone, any time the bearer will slap an enemy with two markerlight tokens whenever they use the markerlight action. Whether it's to replace taking that drone or just to supplement, there's not much this won't be useful for.
*'''0-1 Orbital Survey Uplink (3 EP):''' Pick an enemy operative. That target, as well as anyone within 1"/triangle of them that isn't covered by any overhanging terrain now counts as having a Markerlight, making it an excellent way to exploit those who crowd around a central model.
*'''Photon Grenade (1 EP):''' Rather than a weapon, this grenade is used to inconvenience the enemy. When used, target an enemy and roll d6, subtracting 1 if the target's beyond 6"/pentagon and if the enemy's not within the bearer's LoS; on a 2+, the target loses 1 circle/2" of movement and becomes unable to dash. This can help you snatch away an objective.
*'''Target Analysis Optic (2 EP):''' When shooting a target with at least one markerlight, the bearer will count them as having an additional markerlight token for some additional benefits.

====Markerlights====
Unlike with the Compendium pathfinders, your markerlights remain the major menace they're meant to be in the big game. While applying them remains the same, their effects are now cumulative with how many markerlights you stack on, though each tatget loses a markerlight token each turn. Note that these don't work on EMP and Fusion Grenades.

# Re-roll one hit die when shooting.
# The weapon gains the No Cover trait when shooting.
# The BS of this attack is improved by 1.
# You can target an otherwise-obscured enemy.
# You can target a concealed enemy as if they had the Engage order unless they're hiding behind Heavy obstacles.

===PF Units===
Your Recon fireteam is composed of 12 of the following:
* 1 Pathfinder Shas'ui
* 11 of the following
** 0-11 Shas'la Pathfinders
** 0-1 Blooded Pathfinder
** 0-1 Drone Controller Pathfinder
** 0-1 Assault Grenadier Pathfinder
** 0-1 Medical Technician Pathfinder
** 0-1 Transpectral Interference Pathfinder
** 0-1 Communications Specialist Pathfinder
** 0-2 Weapons Specialist Pathfinder
** 0-1 Marksman Pathfinder
** 0-1 MB3 Recon Drone (Counts as 2 selections)
** 0-1 MV31 Pulse Accelerator Drone
** 0-1 MV33 Grav-Inhibitor Drone
** 0-1 MV1 Gun Drone
** 0-1 MV4 Shield Drone
** 0-1 MV7 Marker Drone

*'''Pathfinder Shas'ui (Marksman, Scout):''' A slightly better pathfinder, still carrying markerlights. Interestingly, they don't use their guns to fight, but instead wield their bonding knives like in [[Fire Warrior]], giving them something as strong as a guardsman's chainsword and with Balanced. Not only can they trigger an Art of War once per game, but they can also provide a Holographic Readout, allowing a friendly non-{{W40kKeyword|Drone}} operative perform objective actions at a 1AP discount. 
*'''Shas'la Pathfinder (Marksman, Scout):''' The base pathfinder's pulse carbine is more than a match for a lasgun and can even outfire a bolter. If you're just looking to fill up an open spot on your kill team and don't need a specialist, the basic shas'la won't let you down.
*'''Blooded Pathfinder (Staunch, Marksman, Scout):''' A curiosity among your lot, but this guy can act as a forward scout. Their pulse carbine is suppressed, granting it the Silent rule so you can hide this guy in cover and then open fire upon the enemy. Their melee prowess isn't too bad either, as their prosthetic hand hits about as hard as marine's fist.
*'''Drone Controller Pathfinder (Staunch, Scout):''' If you ever felt like your drones don't do enough, this is the guy to turn to. When you set them up, you can also set up a drone with the Conceal order within 6"/pentagon of your table edge and more than 6"/pentagon of the enemy's edge and over 3"/square of any enemy operatives. In addition, they can spend an AP to either activate a readied drone (freeing them of a lot of the handicaps dealt by Artificial Intelligence) or give an activated drone an extra Dash or Shoot action (though shooting takes a -1 BS penalty).
*'''Transpectral Interference Pathfinder (Marksman, Scout):''' A saboteur of a pathfinder, using their visor to shoot otherwise-obscured enemies. Their special action robs a visible enemy of 1 AP for the turn as they manage to jam their systems somehow (The less said about how you could possibly try this on a tyranid or daemon, the better).
*'''Assault Grenadier Pathfinder (Staunch, Scout):''' The Demo-Tau. This particular pathfinder manages to have all three grenade options for free, giving you plenty of EP to spare for other gear. While less notable, the grenadier's helmet also lets them ignore any changes APL, WS, and BS. This means that you can keep firing under any circumstance, even when they're at death's door and needing a medic.
*'''Communications Specialist Pathfinder (Scout):''' This opetative works like any other Comms operative in that they have an option to share an AP with nearby allies. Seeing that the team is almost entirely primed for shooting, this doesn't really run into any issues of playing keep-up. Also helpful is the fact that they can still help even without being within support range by throwing markerlights.
*'''Medical Technician Pathfinder (Staunch, Scout):''' Your medic, here to keep your pathfinders alive, but not your disposable drones. As with the ones given to the veteran guardsmen and novitiates, this guy can restore a nearby tau to 1 wound and then send them packing, spending 1 AP for both the medical officer and the patient. You can also heal 2d3 wounds for an operative if you didn't resurrect anyone.
*'''Pathfinder Weapons Expert (Marksman):''' While lacking the markerlights that other pathfinders get, the guns this guy get are more than useful enough to compensate. The ion rifle gets P1 on a crit, but you can overcharge it to risk Hot for better damage and AP1. The rail rifle comes with AP1 by default, but Lethal 5+ allows it to easily score mortal wounds on a crit.
*'''Marksman Pathfinder (Marksman):''' Your true sniper, though lacking with the markerlights. Rather than a pulse carbine, the marksman gets a pulse rail rifle, which is essentially the weapons expert's rail rifle but able to use another type of ammo and doesn't degrade BS when using overwatch. This second ammo type is weaker than the basic ammo type and lacks Lethal, but it gains Silent to allow you to hide the sniper.
*''' MB3 Recon Drone (Staunch, marksman, Scout):''' Counts as two selections. A beefier drone that comes with a burst cannon for serious heavy fire. By itself, this lends pretty well to making it a tank drone. However, it also has some additional perks. In the scouting phase you can use this drone to give you the Recon option as well as whatever you were planning to pick (this won't let you game the Initiative if you'd have lost with your default choice) for an extra edge. They also have an action that marks an enemy and nearby ally, letting the ally re-roll all hit dice when shooting the designated target.

*'''MV1 Gun Drone (Marksman):''' This drone is little more than a pulse carbine with Relentless, giving you some practically guaranteed hits and little else. While it can be used as a bullet shield, you're going to be sacrificing a gun to do so. 
*'''MV4 Shield Drone (Staunch):''' One of the drones better suited to being a bullet sponge, this one comes with a 4++ save as well as a 5+ FNP, which will be a very useful combination in protecting your pathfinders from bullets. This makes the shield drone better for being a dedicated bodyguard for a certain operative.
*'''MV7 Marker Drone (Staunch, Scout):'''  With this entire team being pathfinders, you'd expect the marker drone to be reduntant - WRONG. Any time this drone uses the Markerlight action, it slaps two tokens upon the enemy, granting an immediate No Cover for your next operative. Stacked with other markerlights and you can make for some ridiculous plays.
*'''MB31 Pulse Accelerator Drone (Staunch, Scout):''' This drone is excellent for supporting any member of your kill-team as it boosts all pulse weapons within square/3" of it. This makes one shot the pulse weapon makes a guaranteed hit (not a crit tho), which is already helpful enough.
*'''MB33 Grav-Inhibitor Drone (Staunch, Scout):'''  Made to piss off any offensive acts. Anyone who charges or dashes within pentagon/6" of this thing will suffer a loss to their additional movement. In addition, it can spend an AP to set up a grav-wave that makes it easier for friendly operatives to fall back, a very necessary action considering your obvious weaknesses.

===PF Ploy===
<tabs>
<tab name="Strategic Ploys">
*'''Bonded (1 CP):''' When an operative shoots, they can re-roll one hit die when they're within 3"/square of a friendly non-Drone operative. While bubbles aren't the most helpful when dealing with grenades or flamers, this can provide you some help in guaranteeing a hit.
*'''Daring Tactician (2 CP):''' Triggered on the turn after your {{W40kKeyword|Shas'ui Pathfinder}} uses their Art of War ability. This allows you to keep it in effect for another turn, but its range is reduced to an aura of 6"/pentagon around them. This means that operatives can only get their free Mont'ka dash if they activate it within that distance, and so will the cover perks from Kauyon. Considering how major these boosts are, there's not much surprise how this can be considered 2 CP.
*'''Recon Sweep (1 CP):''' Operatives within 6"/pentagon of a table edge can immediately Dash, but they must end that move within 6"/pentagon of a table edge that isn't your own.
*'''Take Cover (1 CP):''' Any time a non-{{W40kKeyword|Drone}} operative is shot at from behind cover, you can use this to improve their save by 1. Cover is your singular means of protecting yourself, so you should always be sure to employ it to protect your 5+ save tau.
</tab>
<tab name="Tactical Ploys">
*'''A Worthy Cause (2 CP):''' Once per game at the start of the firefight phase if you don't have, you can trigger this to make one of your non-{{W40kKeyword|Drone}} operatives within 3"/square of the enemy or within 2"/circle of an objective activate immediately. This can allow you to steal the initiative from an opportunistic enemy, but the 2CP cost the Q1 2022 dataslate saddled this with makes it a lot less of an auto-take.
*'''Reposition (1 CP):''' [[Meme|RUN AWAY!!!]] You can make an operative Dash on out of a fight, allowing them to run across engagement range of an enemy without triggering overwatch but they can't end their turns there. Even with your two operatives with some melee prowess, you're still tau and thus shit in melee.
*'''Supporting Fire (1 CP):''' An operative can now fire into enemies within 6"/pentagon that are in combat with a friendly operative. When firing, your target won't get any cover from your friend for the sake of designating a target, but they will count as cover in regards to rolling for saves.

</tab>
</tabs>

===PF Strategies===