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Skyray

The_Real_Chris

Post subject: Skyray

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 7:02 am

Brood Brother

Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 4:45 pm
Posts: 8139
Location: London

A couple friends who don't like chatboards (but do like MSN, go figure) but do like Epic have been trying out Tau with proxies. One is a dedicated Marine player (sad really) and the other tries all sorts.

They have tried Tau in a couple of small games and found the flak, especially the Skyray to be very cheap and powerful.

Comparing it to the other races they have experience with - Marines, Guard and Orks - they find it is better armoured, has more firepower of longer or equal range, is faster (I think they mean skimmer here as all the flak moves at 30cm) and has a better secondary weapon. All for either a small increase in points or equal (to the Hunter).

Unable to come to an agreement over changes bar one, which was why doesn't it have Devilfish not Hammerhead armour? I admit I was surprised to see it as the 4+ chassis instead of 5+, surely it has to carry a stack of reloads inside, how does it bolt on all the armour as well?
They had other ideas like changing price, weapons, to hit values (briefly agreeing on having guided AA missiles but then dissagreeing after thinking about how it would work in practice) etc and are probably still dissagreeing now.

Anyone else find this? I've never used them to date, prefering IonHeads, but I can see the attraction of 2x75cm shots hitting on 5+, with 2 seekers and a ignore cover 4+ backup weapon (better than a Hve Bolter

). Plus I get an intergral marklight for the Hammerheads its attached to, all for 75 ponts. Anyone out there use them much?

I should be home mid May so I'll get the chance to try them then hopefully.

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clausewitz

Post subject: Skyray

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 10:07 am

Brood Brother

Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 2:02 pm
Posts: 916
Location: Glasgow, Scotland

TRC, I have had good success with Skyrays. More recently attached to Mech FW cadres. Two reasons, firstly to spread my AA coverage (Ion HHs are already a high priority target) and secondly for the seekers (giving my FW cadre a decent 6 GM shots).

As for the balance of the Skyray, Tactica and I had long discussions about this in the past.

RE Hydra: the reduced cost and flexible availability keep the hydra competative with the Skyray.

RE Hunter: like most SM "armour" it suffers from being pricey. But the 4+ to hit and decent range make it a reasonably close comparison.

RE Armour: it has Tau "tank" armour because it is a Tau tank. Someone else can direct us to the appropriate background material, but suffice to say it has a "tank hunter" role, and therefore tank armour.

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CyberShadow

Post subject: Skyray

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 11:56 am

Swarm Tyrant

Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 6:22 pm
Posts: 9349
Location: Singapore

With all of those munitions on board, I would certain want the extra armour on it if I was driving! Anyway, I will have a second look at this in the 40K Codex to see how the Skyray armour compares with the Devilfish and Hammerhead (unless someone can post this before I get home).

The flexibility of the unit comes from the fact that it is missile based, and I would be unwilling to do too much with it (especially after the trouble we had getting to this stage). That said, I am prepared to review the points cost and look at it again. However, we have done this in the recent past and this was the result, so I actually think that it is reasonable balanced.

Yes, the Tau do have access to some excellent flak units, between the IonHead and the SkyRay.

However, considering flak attacks only, it does have just 2x5+ at 75cm, which is comparrible to a simple 4+, although I agree that it does have the edge.

Where the SkyRay suffers is against ground armour targets. The Hunter still gets its 4+, while the SkyRay just gets 2x6+(Guided). This makes the Hunter a much more flexible unit in the game, and therefore it should be marginally 'over priced' to provide this flexibility.

I would say that the Hunter actually has a better secondary weapons system.

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Tactica

Post subject: Skyray

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 3:45 pm

Brood Brother

Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 12:12 am
Posts: 2241

Skyray and Hammerhead have the same armor as a SM predator. They are both Tau MBT. Unlike the predator, both of these also have better range and the skimmer ability affording them more protection. Furthermore, the Tau vehicles have better tech to keep the vehicles moving and firing and to keep them protetcted better than any Imperial vehicle.

IA:3 and Tau Empires clearly define Skyray as a tank hunter with AA mount for unmatched AA. IG in Taros quickly learned to fear the dual roles of the vehicle.

Devilfish Transport is not a MBT. It has lessor armor than Skyray and Hammerhead. Its a Skimming IG chimera with better technology upgrades to make it survive longer on the battlefield.

The E:A Tau stats are dead on correct here.

Playtest continues, but so far so good on the ARMY playtest results. Looking for more bat reps though

Cheers,

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