Ethereal:
Content by Spooky and T0nkaTruckDriver, Written by T0nkaTruckDriver, Edited by T0nkaTruckDriver
When thinking about bringing an Aun, there are two things a Mech Tau commander must consider. First, how will I use the Ethereal to my advantage? The Aun has many special rules which at first glance seem complicated; however, in the right circumstances they can be very powerful. Depending on how you plan to use the Ethereal will then dictate the wargear that you buy for him. If you've decided that the potential benefits outweigh the potential risks and have included one in your army list, you must next decide where to put him. Losing an Aun is serious buisness, and all care should be taken to insure his survival.
What Role will the Aun Play?
In general, there are 5 uses for an Ethereal.
Inspiring Presence: This allows you to re-roll morale checks and is one of the most common uses for the Ethereal. When considering bringing an Aun for this purpose, there are a few things you should remember:
- Inspiring Presence only applies to Tau units not Kroot, Drone Squads, or Human Auxiliaries.
- The re-roll only applies to morale checks. This does not include shooting tests, psychic "Mind War" type tests, or other leadership based tests.
- Inspiring Presence allows you to re-roll all morale checks, even passed ones. Therefore, if you lose combat and feel it would be to your advantage for a unit to fall back, you can decide to re-roll a passed morale check in hopes of failing it. This is a risky maneuver since units that are caught when fleeing are wiped out! Even so, if the unit has already lost most of its numbers, this might not be such a big deal. Keep in mind that if you remove casualties such that there are no models in base to base contact with your unit, and you subsequently fail your morale check (perhaps with the help of a re-roll), your opponent can only consolidate and you automatically get away.
Add Protection to a Squad: Since the Aun can take hardwired wargear, bringing him with a Hardwired Drone Controller and 2 Shield Drones and joining him to a squad not only makes the squad fearless, but adds some serious protection against enemy heavy weapons. Since squads of Shas'la are rarely the target of heavy weapons, this is of most use in teams of Battlesuits. However, since the Aun can't keep up with the Crisis Suit's jet pack, the only place this really works is with Broadsides... which generally aren't seen in Mech Armies. Therefore, Ethereals are rarely brought for this purpose.
Provide Leadership: Although you won't be taking any Panic checks since the squad the Ethereal joins is Fearless, there are other Leadership based tests which the Ethereal's Leadership of 10 can help out with. First among these is the targeting test. In this role, the Ethereal joins a unit with a particularly crucial battlefield role that must be able to target far-away units in order to be most effective, often Pathfinders or Broadsides.
Close Combat Punch: With his high Weapon Skill, Initiative, and number of attacks, combined with his ability to bring the Honor Blade (+2 Strength) and make the unit he joins fearless, the Ethereal is an interesting choice if you fancy the occaisional Close Combat engagement. Even a unit of Firewarriors, who have admittedly poor Close Combat stats, become a modest assault team. Don't have any grand ideas with this squad though, your Ethereal is still Toughness 3 with no armor! If you're considering using the Ethereal in this role, consider bringing Aun'shi.
Where Should I Stand Boss?
Once you've decided that there's a place for an Aun in your army, you need to decide where to put him and what wargear to bring. Sometimes this will be easy, depending on what role you intend him to fill. Other times you will have some flexibility with your choice.
If you intend to use your Ethereal to hold a firing line or to add protection to a squad, you must attach the Aun to that squad. Simple! If you intend to use him for some close combat punch, you must attach him to the squad you intend to assault with. However, you don't need to do this until you assault with them... which might not be until late in the game. Therefore, you could potentially hold a firing line until the squad is whittled down below their level of being combat effective, and then run the Aun over to an assault squad and charge them into combat.
If you're bringing the Aun for his Inspiring Presence, you have some options on where he can go. A popular strategy with more static armies is to place the Ethereal exactly in the corner of the board, behind a large rock. This protects him from direct fire completely, and 75% of any deviation will take indirect fire weapons off the board. This tactic doesn't really fit with the Mech Tau fluff and is generally discouraged, although it is presented here for completeness. A better place is to leave room in a Devilfish for your Ethereal to join a squad of Firewarriors or Pathfinders. Here he is protected by an AV12 fast-moving skimmer. If the APC does crash, the Aun will likely come out unscathed thanks the the majority armor save rules.
Conclusion
Tau are hard to use already, and Mech Tau is generally harder still, and taking an Ethereal makes it even more likely for things to go disastrously wrong. But he can be useful, not just for the cruel sacrificing of squads to let you shoot at their killers, but any morale test you need to take can be boosted by a lot (24% more at LD7 or 19% more at LD8) which means the more you need to take, and the more troops you have, the more mileage you get out of the Ethereal.
As for recommendations, most Mech armies tend to be slightly non-Mech in practice, and taking one in these armies might make sense. In smaller battles, or purely Mechanised armies, you might be better off leaving him in the foam where its nice and safe.
Primary: Tau Army Support
Secondary: Anti-Infantry Assault
Commander:
Content by T0nkaTruckDriver, Written by T0nkaTruckDriver, Edited by T0nkaTruckDriver
Mounted in a Crisis suit and boasting improved stats and Independent Character (IC) status, a Commander is a valuable addition to any army. He can operate on his own, or join squads to lend his leadership and provide some extra shots. With 3 Hardwire points available to him, he is even more versitile than an ordinary Crisis Suit, if that's even possible.
To 'O or not to 'O?
The decision to use a Shas'el or Shas'o is often one of personal preference and fluff. The Shas'el obviously makes more sense in small games of around 500 points; however, the choice becomes less obvious in games of 1000 to 1500 points. According to the number crunchers, the Shas'el is always more efficient on a per-point basis, but this shouldn't stop you from fielding an 'O if you like the fluff. Furthermore, the number crunchers don't factor close combat into the mix, so if you fancy assaulting with your HQ, it usually makes sense to run with the 'O due to his better close combat stats and extra wound.
You Can Be My Bodyguard...
Although the Bodyguard is generally shunned in popular internet circles, it can make sense in certain circumstances. Their unpopularity stems from the fact that they're all Shas'vre, meaning you pay +10 points for additional close combat stats and the ability to Hardwire 1 support option. While the ability to Hardwire is nice, most Tau generals do everything within their power to avoid close combat, making the extra Weapon Skill and Initiative all but useless. Furthermore, the act of bringing Bodyguard negates your HQ's IC status. While tough in their own right, Las Cannons and Missile Launchers still insta-kill them, meaning that a Commander with Bodyguard is often restricted to J-S-J actions around a piece of LoS blocking terrain in order to avoid obliteration by enemy heavy weapons teams. Alternatively, a lone Commander is un-targetable and free to roam the battlefield applying his firepower exactly where it's needed most. This combined with his high BS makes him one of the most effective models on the table.
There are, however, a few situations where Bodyguard are useful. Many Mech Tau players often find themselves wishing for an extra Elite slot. If you've just got to have one more Crisis Team, it's possible to move a squad of Crisis Suits into the HQ section by bringing a Shas'el and a few Bodyguard. Although expensive (+20 for the Shas'el and +10 for each Bodyguard), you can 'fudge' an extra Elite slot or two in this manner. The other time the Shas'vre Bodyguard really makes sense is with the Ork-Fighter Upgrade in a Farsight army. In this role, they have the Initiative (4) to strike simultaneously with Marines and have the Weapon Skill (4) to force them to hit on 4's.
Instead of bringing Shas'vre as Bodyguard, a popular tactic is to join your Commander to a unit of 8 Gun Drones. If you give the Commander a Drone Controller and 2 Gun Drones, you now have a 10 wound meat shield not to mention a unit that can dish out some serious pain. Equipping your Commander with Fusion Blasters and a Target Lock and Deep-Striking him attached to a unit of Gun Drones can give your opponent major headaches!
Just like with Crisis Suits, in order to be truly successful on the battlefield, you must choose a role for your Commander and force him to stick to it. Due to the greater variety of Hardwired Support Systems available, you can usually equip him to be slightly more versitile. However, nobody likes seeing a 170 pt model die to a stray Las Cannon shot. Pick a task, equip him to succeed, set him to it, and walk away. No, you don't need to fill up all those Hardwire points. Yes, that's right, step away from the Army Builder.