[foxxpetronivs]

I know some people hate all the number crunching looking for the most effective figures, and while I'll admit it certainly doesn't take thngs like versatility into consideration, I do find it rather amusing...and occasionally surprising.

My biggest concerns are melee combat and +3 save armor.....assault marines, basically. with that in mind, I tried to figure out the most cost effective crisis suits, firing at 24" and 12" (adding 6" to weapon ranges for the "Tau Shuffle").

The most effective suits, I found, were a team leader suit with twin-linked plasma rifles and burst cannon with hardwired-multitracker, or a crisis suit with twin-linked plasma rifles and a multitracker or target lock.

My shas'o and shas'el usually have missile pods, and my hammerheads have railguns and ion cannons, so I usually have enough ranged power to take out light-heavy vehicles, so I'm thinking a couple of the monat team leader suits might fill a niche position on my Tau roster. It has the added bonus of being nasty against masses of troops as well, although that's not usually a problem for my lines of foot-slogging firewarriors.

I'll try them out in a tournament coming up in a few days and let you know how they work. Any predictions?

[monkeyking]

why have a twin linked plasma rifle and multitracker? the multi will do nothing for the suit as it doesn't have 2 guns to fire, just the one. And if a suit is by itself then target lock is fairly useless as well, since is not in a unit at all?

am just saying is all....

[foxxpetronivs]

I know it seems odd...I'd probably throw a flamer on it or something. Again, it's pure stats based on the scenario I presented, but adding another weapon doesn't help the guy fight marines, so the cheap 5 point additions, though meaningless, keeps the cost down to make the suits more cost-effective at killing marines. That's were the math has to gibe way to reality.

I was more interested in the team leader with all the gear, which is why I'm going to try a couple of them out. Under the 3rd edition rules, I would have been concerned about getting into range to fire the burst cannon on the first turn. With the new rules, the suit can move far enough to get into range quickly, even if he's moving in off the board edge. With the reduction in rhinos and other light-skinned transports, I think the missiles from my HQ and hammerhead fire will be enough for anti-armor, and these new crisis suits may be more effective at a bigger Tau problem...+3 save troops.

[monkeyking]

hmmm well the teamleader is fine, I had no problems with that......but you said that one of the better units you worked out was a crisi suit with twin linked plasma rifle and multitracker? that doesn't make sense since you have effectively wasted 5 points on a multi that does nothing?

what about a twin linked plasma rifle and fusion gun with hard wired multi tracker? the fusion is rapid fire isn't it (sorry no book on me) and so you move into 12" range and shoot off 2 shots and the plasma rifle then spring back 6" out of range of assault?

how do those figures run up?

[foxxpetronivs]

nope, fusion is assault 1, so it only gets one shot in...not worth the points for the gun, team leader upgrade and hardwired multitracker.

Like I said...the target lock and/or multi tracker is useless on the TL PR crisis, but because it is so cheap compared to other suits, it is effective points-wise against marines.

I'll just chuck-out my raw data, based on the two rounds of firing described originally. Results are number of marines killed/crisis suit cost.

Team Leader with TL PR, BC and HW MT .032
Crisis with TL PR, MT or TL .032
Crisis with TL PR, Flamer .031
Crisis with PR, BC and MT .031
Crisis with PR, MP and MT .028
Team Leader with TL PR, FB, HW MT .028
Team Leader with TP PR, MP, HW MT .028
Crisis with MP, BC and MT .027
Crisis with PR, FB and MT .026

I'm sure there are other combinations available, but those seemed to be the ones most likely to meet my goal of most efficient marine killer. The situation setup may unfairly help the burst cannon in some regards, as the 24" assumed range allows it to barely make the first round of fire after an assumed 6" move. However, anything beyond that raises the chance that the unit is behind some sort of terrain....and again, I'm trying to stop marines (assault, probably)....if they're farther than 24" away, I'll have many more options available.

[Wargamer]

One question: Which (fighting Marines naturally ) would earn its points back first?

[foxxpetronivs]

That's tough to judge, as you'll need to kill 4-6 basic marines to make up the suits cost, and none of them can do that in two turns of fighting. After that, it will depend on if every weapon will get to fire due to range and such.

If in range though, the plasma rifle is clearly the best with .052 marines killed per point in the hands of a normal crisis suit. The fusion blaster kills .035 per point, and the missile pod .020. The burst cannon surprised me, with .033 marines killed per point....very competitive with the fusion blaster due to its lower cost and high rate of fire. It does much better in my previous test due to it's getting an extra round of fire in at 24", but even at 12" it can hold its own. Against terminators in range, the fusion blaster start to pull ahead, however....although against orcs and tyranids the BC will be handy.

[The Orange]

Right now, im usually using the twin-linked PR, and flamer config. Wroks great aginst SMs (my most common opponint). I think you'd be better off with this config then with those target locks and multi-trackers, for tourniment purposes. Excelent 3+ killing power with the ability to deal with mass armies as well.
Though for a tournament i think the basic PR,MP,MT combo would be more versitile, and thus more usefull aginast so many different opponints.

[BlackLotusElite]

shaso / shasel

TL burstcannon / Flamer
hw multitracker

Shasvre/ team leader
TL misslepod/ Plasma
OTher Team Members
Plasma/ Burst/ Multitracker

those are best combos ive used em againtst many marines

[Orion]

Well for marines ive found out that its not so much quality of the ap as it is quality of the str.

Say plasma / burst thats 5 shots right there and almost a guaranteed 3 marine kills. now put 4 gundrones on him this effectivly makes this near 5 marines killed per shooting at a 24inch range including movement.

This is the best possible build for killing marines i have tested it and my entire gw store has tested it.

The great thing is that it isnt just good for marines its able to kill pretty much any army with this build.

2 str 6 ap 2 shots 3 str 5 ap 5 shots and 4 drones with str 5 ap 5 shots = alot of dead enemy this will not work very well vs terminators but you have railguns for that.