The main issue the Tau list has suffered from over the years has been the desire to mimic the 40K Tau details in the E:A system. I think we all accept that E:A is a higher level of abstraction of the 40K universe. I was suggesting applying this kind of abstraction to 'Drones' as a generality in order to bring back one of the few things that IMHO define the Tau from other races. While I totally accept the description of the various types of Drone and understand the attachment many have for the minute 40K details, this is a way of adding the flavour of each of these in a single unit. 'Drones' could then be employed in a variety of ways in the E:A game bringing out one element of Tau 'flavour' while simplifying the number of units and special rules.

Yes, RST in their proper form are static - but you have got to ask how they got there in the first place if they have no intrinsic mobility. Personally I would have little problem with a formation of mobile 'Drones' being dropped by a/c ahead of the main army where they would act like a trip-wire force that could both delay the opposition and assist the long-range fire capabilities that have been somewhat restricted by the adoption of the ML/GM rule.

Stompazilla has got the correct idea about different costings for the unit depending on how it is used. So for example you could have :-
- Support formation of 4x Drones for 175. Restricted to 0-1 per cadre
- Formation upgrade of 4x Drones for 100
- Character upgrade of 1x Drone for 25 (which must be in B-B with the character's unit and takes the first hit that would be applied to that unit).

_________________
"Play up and play the game"

Vitai lampada
Sir Hemry Newbolt

I agree with your first point but not the second. Obviously the Tau would rather a Drone die in place of a Fire Warrior or Battlesuit, however I don’t see that the Tau are entirely unbothered by the destruction of their attendant Drones on the battlefield - the latter does not necessarily follow from the former.

They may be so piddly on an epic scale that we tend to forget, but Tau Drones are valuable pieces of battlefield kit, high-tech AI soldiers that fight alongside their comrades, not things so common and worthless they’re given away free to Fire Warriors in their cereal packets!

Imagine you have a unit of 8 Fire Warriors with 4 Gun Drone squads, which come under enemy fire and all 4 Gun Drone squads are destroyed. Is it really appropriate that the Fire Warriors should be brazen and gung ho enough to go ‘oh well, who cares, they’re only drones - they’re expendable!’ and continue fighting with just one blast marker, rather than the 5 the epic game system standardly gives a unit in these circumstances? They’ve just lost one third of their fighting strength and all their drone cover and they are clearly in a very dangerous place to be. They should feel that!

The Tau have fantastical guns and technology, but the background tells us that unlike many of the crazed armies in W40k they are sensible and tactically realistic in their battlefield ethos, akin to modern armies in many ways. The other thing the background tells us in that they are a small young empire, they don’t have the numbers or resources to throw troops in battlefield attrition without caring.

I can see that it’s a ‘cool’ sounding rule, that’s been floating about and makes them distinctive as units, but it’s simply not appropriate to how they should be represented. Obviously Epic is a different scale and more abstracted for W40k and we should not try to reflect every minutiae or change in the rules. However I do think it's preferable as much as possible to keep things in line with the background and the overall way that army and unit plays in W40k. If a unit is armed with incorrect weapons or plays much differently from how it should it in W40k, then to my mind that is sloppy work on behalf of the designers, which makes me think less of the list, even if as a list in it’s own right it is perfectly balanced.

Stompazilla has got the correct idea about different costings for the unit depending on how it is used. So for example you could have :-
- Support formation of 4x Drones for 175. Restricted to 0-1 per cadre
- Formation upgrade of 4x Drones for 100
- Character upgrade of 1x Drone for 25 (which must be in B-B with the character's unit and takes the first hit that would be applied to that unit).

RE: Glyn G

I played Tau in 40K for quite a long time too and were quite good with them.  From reading the Tau books i've never actually come across anything that says how Tau feel about their drones.  Although i agree that what you say has come to be widely accepted i get the distinct impresion that this was the internet's way of justifying GWs rules to the limited background available and not actually canon.

My theory is that GWs 40K rules were based on game balance issues, as drones not counting for the purposes of scoring and or Ld tests would have lead to some horrible abuse.

In the same vein epic drones rules are based on game balance.  Tau really do need expendable on drones IMO, otherwise they will just never get used.

Back to the fluff now, the Tau empire stretches across a whole sector of space and is extremely sophisticated with an all for one ethos (The greater good).  There's also the undertones that are present with the auxillary troops.  The Tau do have a dark side and if you look for it, you will notice that auxillery troops are not on an equal footing with Tau troops.  If there's a need for cannon fodder in a given situation (Not often and not blatent, like on an imperial scale but there are always situations....) then it nearly always falls to the aliens.  Kroot are most effective when used in a "Speedbump" fashion for exaple - slow the enemy down and give the Tau more time to shoot the snot out of them from a distance.  Surely this sets the scene for a race that is quite capable of producing quantities of war material (Whole star systems at their disposal!) fairly quickly and efficiently and probably wouldn't share too many tears over a few broken drones.  Hell, if i was in charge, i'd be carpet bombing an area with drones long before i commited a single troop to the ground.

Yep, I'd agree with that, except the 100 point formation for popcorn and power reasons. 150 is fairer, heck make it a larger formation if needs be, but avoid 100 point formation as much as possible.

Personally I rather like the old drone rules from 3.x/the FW list, where they count for half BM and half combat resolution. This shows the Tau don't consider them completely worthless, but they're less affected by their loss than that of their lving soldiers.

_________________
http://www.troublemakergames.co.uk/
Epic: Hive Development Thread

several days before I suggested idea of transporting drones in DFishes for free(1 unit per fish) like grots in ork vehicles. that rule at least could make drones upgrade for DFished FW worth slightly more then nothing

_________________
still newbie

From the views thread:

Hey, we've come under very heavy fire that's just taken apart 20 members of our unit - should we be concerned or retreat to somewhere less dangerous? - Nah! It's ok; we shouldn't feel at all threatened here - they're only drones!"

GlynG: "Hey, we've come under very heavy fire that's just taken apart 20 members of our unit - should we be concerned or retreat to somewhere less dangerous? - Nah! It's ok; we shouldn't feel at all threatened here - they're only drones!"

Dobbsy: Orks coming under heavy fire would feel exactly the same even if its only grots taking hits with this example. Just because the grots are getting hit doesn't mean the whole formation wouldn't be concerned about keeping their heads down.

Any single formation should be 6 strong to ensure it doesn't popcorn.

_________________
If using E-Bay use this link to support Tac Com!
'Abolish red trousers?! Never! Red trousers are France!' – Eugene Etienne, War Minister, 1913
"Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography."
General Plumer, 191x

Allow me to once again make the call for the old "half BMs and Combat Resolution for dead drones" rule from the 3.x/FW rules. It neatly solves both sides' concerns.

_________________
http://www.troublemakergames.co.uk/
Epic: Hive Development Thread