Hammerhead Gunship
Content by Azraphael99 and T0nkaTruckDriver, Written by Azraphael99 and T0nkaTruckDriver, Edited by T0nkaTruckDriver
This thing is a workhorse and an absolute beast. With a Railgun, it's one of the most powerful tanks on the battlefield, and with an Ion Cannon it simply terrorizes power armor in a way that's difficult to explain until you've seen it. Both secondary systems are anti-infantry (as a general rule) and should be selected based on points values and utility for your own army - the main gun makes the tank, in this case.
I cannot reccomend Hammerheads enough. Their power and capability are far in excess of anything short of a Land Raider, and if you're putting down two Hammerheads that Land Raider's in trouble. These things are mean. The only real choice is how many to bring and what guns to mount.
Railgun
Listed first because it is by far the more popular choice. With 72" range and S10 AP1, there's not much explanation necessary. The fact that it's the longest range, high strength, AP 1 weapon weapon in the game makes it the premiere tank buster in the Tau army. However, with Broadsides being cheaper, more accurate and (with Shield Drones) more durable, the added mobility afforded by the Hammerhead chassis seems of questionable benefit... until you factor in the Submunitions option. This ability, unique to the Hammerhead-mounted Railgun, allows this dedicated anti-vehicle weapon to excel at swarm killing as well. The ability to move and fire combined with the power to select the proper munitions for the job makes this gun an excellent buy for 50 points.
Ion Cannon
Although not sharing the popularity of the Railgun, the Ion Cannon has it's place in a Mech Tau army. Being one of only three AP 3 weapons available to us (the other two being Rail-Rifles and Seeker Missiles), the Ion Cannon excels at killing power armored troops. Furthermore, with its relatively high strength and multiple shots, it's actually better at killing AV 10 and AV 11 vehicles than the Railgun! That being said, its valuable AP 3 rating essentially forces it into an anti-infantry role most turns. Equipped with 2 Burst Cannons, the Ion-Head is essentially the Land Raider Crusader of the Tau list, able to put out 9 shots in a single turn.
Smart Missile System
Its 24" range combined with the fact that it doesn't require line of sight makes this secondary weapon a popular choice. Often the extra 6" is significant when determining whether or not your secondary weapon has a target within range. Furthermore, line of sight blocking terrain can be used to shield your Hammerhead from the bulk of an enemy's forces while the Railgun pounds isolated heavy targets and the SMS takes pot shots at approaching infantry on the other side of the terrain. Another hidden benefit of the SMS is the immunity it gives you to 18" weapons. Any time you use the Burst Cannons on your Hammerhead, you necessarily put yourself within 18" of the enemy and open yourself up to Meltaguns (6" move + 12" range) and Assault Marines with Melta Bombs or Powerfists (12" move + 6" assault).
2 Burst Cannons
Boasting additional shots and reduced cost at the expense of reduced range and requiring line of sight, the Burst Cannons are an attractive option against horde armies and for those Commanders who like to get up close and personal with their tanks. Remember that these Burst Cannons are two separate weapons, so a Hammerhead equipped with Burst Cannons and a Target Lock can fire at up to 3 different targets. Since the Hammerhead is so valuable, many players prefer to protect their investment by hanging back as far as possible (perhaps using a Disruption Pod as well) and pounding away with their main weapon from maximum range. If this is what you intend to use your Hammerhead for, chances are you'll never have range with either of the secondary weapons systems and therefore bringing the Burst Cannons makes sense on account of its lower cost.
Hammerhead Vehicle Upgrades
Listed below in order of generally accepted usefulness.
- Decoy Launchers: For 5 points, the Decoy Launcher increases the survivability of your vehicle by 11%, reducing the chance of a glancing hit destroying it from 33% to 22%. Because it will save your vehicle 1 out of 9 times and costs 5 points, is worth taking on vehicles which cost over 9 x 5 = 45 points... which is all of our vehicles. The sheer cost/benefit of this upgrade makes it essentially standard on every vehicle in a Tau Army. Don't leave home with out one!
- Multitracker: Since the durability of our vehicles relies on moving > 6" each turn, we lose the ability to fire our main weapon unless this upgrade is purchased. Again, for this reason the Multitracker is essentially considered 'standard equipment' on Hammerheads. Note that both the secondary weapon options are < S6 thereby classing them as 'Defensive' meaning that a Hammerhead with a Multitracker can move 12" and fire both its primary and secondary weapons.
- Target Lock: Since the Hammerhead (both variants) often find themselves in an anti-vehicular role, equipping this upgrade allows you to shoot your secondary weapon at infantry or another light vehicle. It's generally not difficult to find a better target to shoot your secondary weapons at, often making this a useful upgrade.
- Disruption Pod: Since enemy anti-vehicle weapons generally have ranges of 36-48", this upgrade is most useful on vehicles that operate ~42" from the enemy. If you're a good guage of distances, it's possible to lure an opposing commander into thinking his weapons are in range before reminding him that you've equipped your tank with a Disruption Pod. Our tanks are durable, but a crew stunned/shaken result is a lot more frustrating when scored on a Hammerhead than it is on a Devilfish. The best way to keep your tanks safe is to keep them out of range. Not generally effective paired with a Target Lock since if you're operating at ~42" range to take advantage of the Disruption Pod, it's unlikely you'll be within range to fire your secondary weapon.
- Blacksun Filter: In scenarios that use Night Fight, this upgrade can really be a game winner. Unfortunately the relatively low incidence of Night Fight rarely makes it an option in generic 'take all comers' lists. However, if you know the scenario ahead of time and you know Night Fight will be a factor, seriously consider spending the 5 points on this upgrade.
- Sensor Spines: The introduction of Castellan Missiles in the new Space Marine Codex has given this upgrade new life. Also (marginally) useful for dectecting Tyrannid Lichtor and Catachan secret deployment.
- Target Array: Comes for free included in the price of the vehicle.
Primary (with Railgun) - Heavy Armor shooting AND Anti-Infantry shooting
Primary (with Ion Cannon) - Medium Infantry shooting AND Light Vehicle Shooting
Secondary: Anti-Infantry AND Light Vehicle Shooting
Broadside Battlesuit
While generally avoided in Mech Tau armies due to their lack of mobility, they're mentioned here because they can offer the clever Mech Tau commander some interesting tactical options. With its T4, 2+ save and 2 wounds, anti-vehicular weaponry is really the only effective way to deal with Broadsides. Furthermore, with the increased efficiency and versitility of Tankhunting Missile Launchers over LasCannons, the LasCannon is being seen less and less in 4th ed lists effectively increasing the survivability of the Broadside against Marine opponents. But the main reason to field one, is the fact that it's the cheapest, most accurate, and longest range S10 shot in the game.
A growing number of Mech Tau players have found the Monat Broadside to be an effective unit in medium (1000-1500) sized games. At this point level you will rarely have the option for fielding 3 Hammerheads, leaving a Heavy Support slot free for the taking. Furthermore, with ~3 skimmer chassis on the table, your opponent will likely (and correctly) perceive these as the greater threat and direct his limited heavy weapons at them instead of your insta-killable Broadside. Even if your Monat does see some LasCannon fire, parking him in or behind some 4+ cover can greatly enhance his durability. Each BS4 LasCannon (or equivalent) has only a 28% chance of killing a Broadside in 4+ cover. In this capacity, he is durable enough (2+ armor, 4+ cover), cheap enough (75 points), and not enough of a threat that most opponents will ignore him for the first turn or two while they attempt to deal with other more pressing targets. Fortunately for you, this is usually just enough time to eliminate the few LasCannons he's brought which are the only real threat to this 2+ armored behemoth.
While the nerfing of Shield Drones and screening in 4th edition has made Broadsides less useful, there are a few significant changes which have made them more useful in a few select instances. The biggest of these is the introduction of size classifications for area terrain. Since Broadsides are classed as infantry (size 2) and vehicles (their primary target) are classed as size 3, placing your Broadside directly behind a piece of size 2 area terrain will prevent enemy infantry from drawing LoS to the Broadside, but will keep LoS clear to enemy vehicles. Furthermore, even if those vehicles carry LasCannons and elect to shoot at your Broadside, you can claim a cover save from the size 2 area terrain you are directly behind. Once any enemy vehicle threats are effectively eliminated, you can either take a step forward into the area terrain to begin putting Railgun shots on enemy infantry on the other side, or switch to the SMS as your primary weapon and commence plinking away at the enemy foot sloggers which have likely advanced to within 24" of your position by this point in the game.
Primary - Heavy Vehicle and Heavy Infantry shooting
Secondary: Anti-Infantry AND Light Vehicle shooting