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Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 11:01 pm
Posts: 1455
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I disagree with your assessment of MLSTs as being part of a foot-slogging formation.
(Imperial Armour 3: The Taros Campaign @ pg. 191)
QUOTE The Tau use the towers as an area denial weapon, making it difficult for the Cadian Chimeras to move without drawing immediate attack. In this way they acted much like a conventional minefield, slowing the enemy advance and making movement dangerous rather than being able to halt an advance on its own. Camouflaged to match the desert they were difficult to spot, and supported by fast-moving Piranhas, mounting Seeker missiles, the Tau were able to harry the Cadian columns and inflict losses far outweighing their own numbers.
[Emphasis added.]
By that, the number of MLST units should be limited by Piranha formations, although I would add Stingray formations to that list as well, since MLSTs (properly, Remote Sensor Towers) are effectively forward observers. (Well, Stingrays are my logical choice for backing up a RST picket line. They'll pound anything in the ML bubble to scrap on Sustain orders.)
In 40k, RST units are Troops choices for the Tau. I don't have to have any Fire Warriors at all, and can just take 6 RSTs, while the rest of my force is mobile (Crisis, Stealth, Piranhas, and Hammerheads).
So, 25 points for 3 RSTs (can we give them back Scout? The larger unit coherency is consistent with how the units are used in 40k), with no more units of RSTs than there are units of Piranhas and Stingrays combined. This would raise their effective price to at least 175, for a bare Piranha 'Contingent' (please, can we rename those to 'Mission Group'?); or 275 for a bare Stingray Contingent; averaging 225 minimum.
You know, I can still see this getting out of hand. 2 bare Piranha Contingents (150 ea), Stingray Contingent + Stingray and Skyray upgrades (450), plus 3x 3 RSTs (75). (Isn't 2 Piranhas and a Stingray Contingent + Skyray pretty standard for a 2700 Tau army, anyway?) If the RSTs are still required to be in units, that will keep me from blanketing half the board with markerlights, but if I can really spread them out... You are in deep doggie-doo when less than a Third of my force decides to light you up. Hang on, let's make that worse: Add a Pathfinder Upgrade to the Stingrays, so they're calling a Co-fire on you. Now, that's what I call 'Fire for Effect' (21 AT4+ shots, plus 12 AP3+, if Sustaining at Marked targets). Total formation cost, including Pathfinders, 925. With the RSTs in units, I can cover about 1/6 of the table, maybe more, in a Marker bubble.
In order to counter that, I think that we should add a line to the Remote Sensor Turret rule: "While Remote Sensor Turrets are bought as an Upgrade to either Stingray or Piranha Contingents [Mission Groups], they are not deployed as part of that Contingent, but are instead deployed separately." Most elegant phrasing for the limits, IMO. The only time RSTs would 'activate' is when they Teleport, so I don't think it it would be a big deal. A one-time cheap activation (which would probably be my first few activations of the turn) might cause some grief, though. If it does, we could also say that the RSTs activate (to teleport) at the same time their 'parent' Contingent [Mission Group] does. That puts an even bigger crimp in them the turn they teleport in, since the RST's MLs will not be able to help their 'own' formation in the turn they arrive (right?)
This may help the situation, or may not, since I can still Upgrade the Piranhas with Pathfinders. :evil grin:
As long as the RSTs have to stay in units, I don't see the complete coverage I have been talking about until we're playing games above 6k points at the lowest. It's so expensive to get the 9 formations of RSTs that allow you to blanket huge areas with markerlights (1575 points using bare Piranhas; 1875 for 6x bare Piranhas and 3x bare Stingrays, my preferred minimum formation; and 2775 for 3 of the uber-formations of doom that I mentioned above), that I just don't see it happening. Using a full third of your army to set up that big ML bubble? Probably not going to happen, but I might do it at 9k for amusement.
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"For the Lion and the Emperor!"
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I would prefer to go back to 50 points for 6. Bit of a waste of interesting discussion and possibilities but oh well...