Hi!
I have been thinking about how the Grenadiers get their Mechanised Infantry and Russ companies, Valks+Vultures and super-heavies from the fleet to the surface, since a Chimera, Russ or Valkyrie may not fit into a Manta (plus I want to kee pthe Manta out of the Gue'senshi list), let alone a Baneblade!
This seems a point for the T'au list too, as the Narwhal and Dragonet (my thought for a name for the Dragonfish - it's another way of saying the fish's name anyway) aren't planetfallers, and it's questionable whether Mantas are used to ferry AVs (and Tetras and Piranhas, for that matter) 4 at a time to the surface - although perhaps that's intentional, that the Tau would use the current planetfalling setup to establish a beach-head, then gradually ferry down the rest of the force using Mantas (this still doesn't explain the WEs, though)
The way I see it, there are a few options. For Hunter Cadres:
*Assume that the Tau land Courier transports, or some other larger starship(like the cargo lander which was modified into the Kass'l escort from the metal fleet), to offload those T+Ps, AVs and WEs onto the surface.
*Assume that the Narwhal and Dragonet are dropped from orbit, but only after a beach-head has been established, not into active combat situations (hence the lack of Planetfall in the Epic rules) and the AVs need to be landed 4 at a time per Manta.
*Assume that there is some sort of starship-to-surface lander that the Tau use to land heavy units onto the surface - a modified Manta or Moray, perhaps with a giant grav clamp or two underneath to carry the WEs, or space ordinarily taken up by things like infantry, those big Railcannon (and maybe the Ion Phalanxes too) given over for vehicles.
In the third one, I'd say the Moray would only really suit carrying Tetras and Piranhas (You could perhaps fit 6 Tetras and 4 Piranhas into each ship if you drop the Railcannon/Ion Phalanx) and the Manta could take 2 superheavies in its main bay, or grav clamped below the main hangar bay, and if we gut the heavy weapons we could make room for 10 or 12 AVs on board, enough for a HH Cadre + extra, or maybe - not to mention 10 Leman Russes, or 4 Stingrays with 4 Valkyries and 4 Vultures!
We can assume that the infantry would be sitting in the Devilfish/Chimerae/Valkyries during the drop.
So, we could include a third option for the Moray which would turn it into a drop craft for a Tetra Contingent with 4 added Piranhas in place of the heavy weapon options.
Also, for the Manta we can drop the Heavy Railcannon - and probably the two Ion Phalanxes to boot - and add room for two Orca-size (or three Baneblade size) superheavies and 12 AVs.
Thoughts?
Gary
_________________ Gue'senshi: The 1st Kleistian Grenadiers v7.3 pdfHuman armed forces for the greater good.
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