Vector'O Assault Written by T0nkaTruckDriver, Edited by T0nkaTruckDriver One of the most difficult opponents for any Tau army to defeat is a full-on shooty army. Whether Marines, IG, or Eldar, a dedicated shooty force is often more than we can handle. Properly supported Devistator squads, Reaper squads and Heavy Weapons teams all have the durabilty to take a pounding and give back as much as they got, and in the end their numbers will likely win them the day. As other more assault-capable armies have known for a long time, the best way to counter a shooty force is to tie them up in assault. This not only keeps their expensive heavy weapons from earning VP's, but rarely is it that these shooty squads have any close combat upgrades. Unfortunately for us, we don't have any effective close combat force that can safely cross the table and tie up Heavy Weapons teams in this manner... or do we? The answer is... maybe. Let's take a look at this guy: Shas'O   [weapon #1, weapon #2, HW Multitracker, Vectored Thrusters, Stim Injectors] The weapons are largely irrelevent to the tactic and should be chosen to support the remainder of your army composition. The important part here is the wargear. The Shas'O's IC status will allow him to advance up the table unmolested under the cover of an empty Devilfish or infiltrated Kroot. He won't make it to his target Heavy Weapons team until turn 2 or 3, so your army will likely need to weather a few turns of fire. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, since those 2-3 turns will give your opponent time to move their (limited) assault elements forward and out of the way in an effort to engage the remainder of your army. Once you get within assault range, the fun begins. On your turn, move up, shoot, and assault in. With your I4, you'll likely be striking first or at least simultaneously, depending on your target. You've got 5 WS4 S5 attacks on the charge and will hopefully inflict a wound or two. Things get a bit more tricky against Marines, but even if your dice abandon you, all isn't lost just yet. Against their attacks back you've got WS4, T4, a 3+ save, AND a 4+ Feel No Pain save to protect you. Assuming your target squad doesn't have any power weapons/fists, you should have no trouble avoiding being wounded. Assuming the losers passed their morale check, you're going to remain locked in combat for another turn and fight it out again during your opponent's assault phase. Again, if we can win combat and run them down, great, but likely we'll either draw combat or win and they'll pass their Morale check. Now the tricky part. After the assault is over, you declare you're going to use your Hit and Run ability to jump 3d6" out of combat. With any luck, you'll roll 12" or less for your flee distance; however, even if you roll slightly higher, you can probably guess which direction your opponent is going to consolidate... so be sure to flee in that direction so their consolidation helps close the gap between the two of you. Then in your turn, move 6" in, fire with the Shas'O and whoever else might be available, and assault again. As long as your opponent doesn't respond with a counter charge, you can safely repeat this process all game long. Flee at the end of their assault phase and you're free to move, shoot and assault again in your turn. It'll probably take you the entire game to finish off the squad, but your 130 odd point Commander is likely going to kill twice his cost and live to tell the tale. While perhaps not apparent at first, this tactic has several advantages over the standard "Assault Squad going after the Devistators". Because the Tau don't have power weapons/fists of our own, fighting 3+ saves in close combat is a tedious affair, and even with 5 attacks on the charge you'll be hard pressed to finish off an 8 man Devistator squad in 4 turns. However, the advantage here is that you can shoot at the Heavy Weapon squad in your turn. This is a huge deal! The Vectored Thrusters allow you to tie them up in assault during their turn, but jump out to blast them to bits during your turn, then dive right back in again. Not only is this Shas'O adept at tying up isolated enemy Heavy Weapons teams, he's also deceptively fast. With a 3d6" hit and run move followed by 6" move and 6" assault in your turn, you can really cover some serious ground with this guy. If 3d6 + 12" isn't enough for you, consider assaulting a nearby vehicle at the end of your turn. Throw some futile attacks at it and then use your Hit and Run ability again to grab another 3d6" of movement. Hopefully with 6d6 + 12" movement you can find some terrain to hide behind to keep yourself safe from return fire. So while this Commander config is a severe departure from the way most players use their IC's, his extreme tactical utility can open up a number of options that otherwise would be unavailable. Keep in mind that although equipping him with Vectored Thrusters allows him to be used this way, it by no means forces you to use him this way. Against an assault army or vehicle heavy army, feel free to use him as you would any other Shas'O. This added functionality costs you but a handful of points and only adds to the tactical utility of your Commander.