[Calaban]

In 2 recent games I played, I had a very anti-meq theme, that was Crisis heavy... but no it WASNT all fireknives!
http://forums.tauonline.org/index.php?topic=81639.0

It was 3 helios ('el+BG)
1 PR Deathrain (other el- with PosR)

.. And 2 teams of three suits... That I guess I'll call "Rifleman". Its basically a Burning Eye that replaces a twinlinked Plasma for a scope=

Crisis: Plasma Rifle, Targetting Array, Shield Gen

While being only a little over the price of a usual FireKnife or Helios setup, It does several things better that the mentioned suits can do. Its bs4- a bs4 that all three suits in a team can take, and its got an invulnerable save.

Now, while it may seem silly for a monat to wear a Rifleman setup... thats because that would indeed be silly- a suit jumping around throwing out one die in shots every turn over an entire game. The proper way to see this Rifleman is that he is never alone. 6 such Riflemen [as in my list]suddenly shifts its appearance to quite fearsome- and the Rifleman reveals itself in this situation to be a focused, disciplined Killer of Meqs. Or Terminators, or Mega Armored Nobs.

Mathammer may dictate that BS4 is statistically less likely to hit than twinlinked BS3- but I chose nat BS4 because it was less of a strain on my markerlight hit tokens- needing just 1 token to make the entire trio BS5, and leaving as many markerlight tokens as possible to reduce their cover saves as well. 8 pathfinders typically lay 4 tokens on a target, thats a nice fit for these riflemen squads often meaning "hit on 2s, and no cover for YOU!!" typically in my games. Such reassurances often warrants the risk of getting to within plasma rapidfire range, just to do as much damage with as much devastating affect as possible.

Nothing is more devastating and demoralizing to a Space Marine player than hearing repeatedly the Tau Litany of Twos: "ok, so: hits on 2s, wounds on 2s, AP2, And no cover saves, too.. 2 markerlights left? then 2 Seekers too" ;D

Other options for this RifleMan concept is to save 5 points by taking away the hardpoint shield gen, and replace that hardpoint with an old fashioned drone controller, and take a shield drone... but I found that such an arrangement didnt help the suits out much in large blast templates, or massed krak-missile fire. OR, for the same original price, the shield could be replaced by a drone controller with 2 gun drones- adding supplementary firepower and several meat shields- but this made for a big footprint, and the mixed armor saves were a headache. Thus, I stick with the shield gen hard mounted. I'll always get the invul, and the footprint remains tiny.

[hr]

So, there, thats the unusual crisis config.

Is is unusual? or not so much?
Do you see any problems with it?
Or other benefits and tactical uses?
Is it too expensive?
Is there a better overall package out there?
Is there a better or more fitting fit for an 8 pathfinder markerlight pool?
By all means: discuss!

[Shasel_Ahab]

Honestly, it's only unusual in the fact you have 2 support systems. And it's less effecient (for the same points as) than the true Burning Eye (TLPR+random support system).

Also, if you TL the PR, you don't need to spend Markerlight counters on it really at all. Or you could use one to make them hit on re-rollable 3's (which actually sounds scarier than 2's) and then strip cover like you do now.

[LiinSivi]

If you're looking for more accuracy out of your plasma shots for the same price as your paying right now you could just TL your Plasma and add a Sheild Gen. Same price but ~8% more accurate. Honestly though, with cover being so prevalent and all, paying for a 4+ save doesn't make a lot of sense. For cheaper you could make them more accurate and just watch your movements and you should never be without a save of some kind.

[Dangeresque Lee]

They do have a point. That said I personally have always had more luck with high ballistics skill rather than twin-linked. Stupid gun drones.

Setup does sound cooler than burning eye, at least in name. and the shield gen protects them from pie plates and the like, doesn't it? Or do only flamers deny cover saves?
I just cannot get the image of big oversized plasma rifles being carried in two hands by crisis suits. You know, like actual rifles. That would look cool.

[onlainari]

While it only takes 1 markerlight to increase him to BS5, it also takes 1 markerlight to increase the twinlinked version to BS4, and I'd rather twinlinked BS4 over BS5.

There is no reason to take a targeting array over twinlinking. Please drop the targeting array or the shield generator and twinlink.

[Calaban]

Originally Posted by onlainari

There is no reason to take a targeting array over twinlinking.

Well, Ive got a very real reason for ya: the other practical, real world problem with going twinlinked is that Id need... 22 plasma rifle bits to properly equip all of those 11 suits- who in the WORLD actually own 22 crisis/broadside kits to harvest from, really?! That was another determining factor in the design. Its easy enough to say "just twinlink them all" from this websites' and mathammer point of view- but in reality thats pretty unrealistic, given the sheer numbers involved.

But to those that hang tough to the Burning Eye configuration- please take note in my OP that this design is viewed in comparison with the BurningEye- and is BETTER that it in several factors. The twinlinked plasma adds 10 points, which is half the shields cost (thus its a discount shield- if the BurningEye took a TA, afterall), a stock Burning Eye that finds himself without markerlight support looks a bit more clumsy, a trio of Burning Eyes caught without cover look like Krak missile/lascannon instant deathbait, and a Burning Eye with a Shield hardpoint option OR a TA favors one aspect at the cost of the other.... see?? The Rifleman is the middleground; covers all aspects, mitigates drawbacks, and remains admirable in its performance and survivability- at the cost of nothing but supposed ~8% statistical accuracy (but dice rerolls and statistics never match), and about 9 points more than usual cost.

Personally I'm a fan. But dont let my opinions stop you from discussing it more!

[onlainari]

Alrighty I think you have a good reason to be using your unusual crisis config.

I think it's a terrible idea to recommend it to other people with reasonings such as "dice rerolls and statistics never match".

I assure you, dice rolls and probability statistics always match. It's just most people prefer to sum things up into numbers instead of functions, and numbers (such as an average) do not completely represent dice rolls. I have previously taken the time to work out the functions involved with shooting fire warriors at marines, and they do completely represent dice rolls.

[Shasel_Ahab]

Originally Posted by Calaban

Well, Ive got a very real reason for ya: the other practical, real world problem with going twinlinked is that Id need... 22 plasma rifle bits to properly equip all of those 11 suits- who in the WORLD actually own 22 crisis/broadside kits to harvest from, really?!

Bits stores mate .

You could also just proxy something. Honestly if someone won't let you proxy (out of tournaments), they're not worth playing.

And in my experience rerolls are more accurate than 2+ hits, touche . I always seem to roll 1's :P or 3+ 8) anyway. That's just me.