[TauGamer]

Hey Guys, Im wondering if getting a sniper Drone Team will be a good investment. Can you give me some Pros and Cons for them?

[razgriz_cipher]

Pros

BS 4 markerlight

rail rifles

pretty cheap

stealth field

Good range

Cons

static

not scoring

easy kill point

takes up a heavy support slot

relatively weak if the enemy spots them.

Wound allocation if the spotter dies all the drones will die.

metal models.

They can be useful if you are fighting things like marines. The markerlight is helpful The heavy slot lost means you cannot take as many hammerheads or broadsides. The rial rifles can make short work of marines and they are cheaper than pathfinders with rail rifles per rail rifle. The stealth field can help against long range weapons though. The markerlight is good.

The problem is with kill points for killing 4 guys your enemy gets an easy kill point. Stealth field can be nice against shooty opponents. I think if you shot at guard heavy weapons teams with them it would be crazy as it is instant death although they would be in cover and you are long ranged. Yet they can still be great although fast assaulters could be a problem.

[TauGamer]

Ok Thanks.

[Mandalorian]

metal models.

Or you can use bitz and make the sniper drones like I did. **** that; paying what $30 for that? They look better good though and now all I need is two medium size bases and two heads for my headless spotter "haha".

[HighHubris]

yeah you don't really ever have to buy drones, gun drones come almost in every box and with barely any work at all you can make halfway decent conversions, and with just a lil more effort you can make awesome ones.
i'd just proxy them with gun drones and a terminator base.
converting the spotter... a kneeling dude from firewarrior box, then mess around with the gun a little bit and ur good.

[leatherback]

Well, Sniper Drone Teams fall into the category of what I like to call "personality units", along with Vespid, Ethereals, and Skyrays. By the majority of Tau players, these units aren't taken. However, some people (including me) swear by them.
In the end, its a matter of taste. But taking SDT's does mean less railguns for your army.

As to making the SDT's out of other pieces, surprisingly, the rail rifle pathfinder works fairly well, as it has the same weapon, equipment, and stats. Of course, its still a metal model and you will need to make a Spotter, but the system woks fairly well.

[Infernal Shotgun]

A couple of unmentioned advantages are that every model in a Sniper Team can aim at a different target (albeit, most Tau users find this of no advantage), that a Sniper Team is the perfect size to fit into a Devilfish with a Pathfinder Team, and that you can get up to 3 units from 1 force organization slot.

[leatherback]

A couple of unmentioned advantages are that every model in a Sniper Team can aim at a different target (albeit, most Tau users find this of no advantage), that a Sniper Team is the perfect size to fit into a Devilfish with a Pathfinder Team, and that you can get up to 3 units from 1 force organization slot.

1. Then you can't benefit as well from the markerlight
2. You can't have more than one unit in a transport
3. 3 times the kill points

[Infernal Shotgun]

Originally Posted by leatherback

2. You can't have more than one unit in a transport

Oh dear, you're right. Thanks for the catch.

[TipTop1987]

There's also the whole thing that you can take 3 teams as one slot on the FOC. Makes them rather threatening if you set up fire lines with them, leaving two stationary while you move another into position. And on a plus side, they cause pinning, too.