40K Online
The Armies of 40k => Tau Empire => Topic started by: Grizzlykin on May 11, 2018, 06:58:30 PM
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Good evening guy's,
It's a quick post from someone that is starting with Tau.
What is your opinion on the xv95 ghostkeel? I am finding that model absolutely awesome and am thinking about buying a couple for my armie, because I really like the modelem.
Therefor, do you think it's a good unit for Tau. I have yet to have any game under my belt with Tau and even less of an idea of cost for effectiveness for the unit.
Judging from wddyr(edit: sorry I butchered you name the first time) quick army by unit overview, it does seems okay. But I want to know, after you guy's played a few games, or not, think about that battlesuit.
Cordially
Grizz
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Now, this is the opinion of someone who has read many Tau Empire Codexes, including 8th Edition, but has never really played with them before. So take this with a grain of salt. I'm sure one of the Pros (Wddyr, Grimsqueaker, etc.) will lend their advice on the subject.
Now I don't have a Tau Empire army at the moment, but from what I've seen in both the index and the Tau 8th Edition Codex, the Ghostkeel is one of the not-egregiously point-costed Battlesuits. The weapon options are also far from lackluster (in my opinion), but I think you can only have one main gun and either some fusion blasters or something else. Couple these with certain Septs like Sa'cea or Bork'an, and you can give them some powerful advantages. Especially Bork'an as the extra 6" range can really help the Ghostkeel.
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The problem with Bork'an, unfortunately, is that the Ghostkeel weapons are all Assault (if memory serves) and therefore the Sept rules don't apply.
I'm not really sure what to make of Ghostkeels. They've got this weird niche of making Stealth Suits better (but...do Stealths need to be better?) and providing close fire support for an army *packed* with close fire support options that are cheaper.
For that reason, I've never actually used a Ghostkeel. I just haven't needed one and I don't like the model *enough* to go about buying and painting one.
I do think they can work just fine, though. I think they should probably be assisted by a couple teams of Stealth Suits, for sure, and at that point you're working off a theme. They basically work like close-range Broadsides or Crisis Suits and their aura effects make things slightly tougher against shooting. My primary concern would be keeping them out of assault, but since they can fly, who really cares anymore?
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I have been toying around with the idea of playing stealthish kind of list running two ghostkeel with a few stealth suit in the mix. I really like the bulky look of the model, I was even thinking about bringing in shadow sun even though I perfectly know she is overpriced as hell. But for now, one ghostkeel shall be enough. Maybe two if for some reason the ebay gods are with me.
Thanks for the answer and advice guys :)
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I quite like them. The special deployment can be very handy in objective based missions, or missions which require controlling parts of the table. Gotta be careful with it though, as it can be a trap. I wouldn't take loads of them, but I think one could be handy. Especially in ETC, or ITC style missions which are more about board control, then killing.
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One is more than enough. Two means you're designing your army around specific tactics and that just doesn't go well against open opponents.
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One is more than enough. Two means you're designing your army around specific tactics and that just doesn't go well against open opponents.
Is it? I do feel the ghostkeel in and of itself is a rather flexible unit. What kind of play style does it locks you into?
His main advantage are boosting stealth suit if they are beside it, but beside this whole thing being a death ball kinda group it's basicly a free unit from your main army is it not? So you still have your gun line in the back and your ghostkeel roaming around the field being a nuisance to the enemy.
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I've seen armies with two doing well in competitive play. They are good units, and their meltagun is really nice, as they can get close easily. With their drones, they can be hard to take down until you commit them.
I'd probably not take too many, as they are good tools, but not an ubiquitous unit that can do everything. But, they are something I seriously consider when playing against Tau in objective based missions. Same with stealth suits, they are super annoying to deal with.
If you're just playing kill points, they might not give you the same return on investment, but if you're playing objective based missions (like ITC, or ETC missions), they are good.
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Then, in that case, what would you experienced player play as a gun platform for Tau? What would you rather take instead of a ghostkeel?
Riptide? Stormsurge?
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Both are great. From what I've been hearing, top Tau players are thinking 3 stormsurges for competitive play.
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Three Stormsurges is rather filthy to pull on someone. If that's competitive play they're their own worse enemy.
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Three Stormsurges is rather filthy to pull on someone. If that's competitive play they're their own worse enemy.
At the last tournament I went too, many lists ran 2-3 shadowswords, so it's in the same theme. Very gross though, I agree.
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Three Stormsurges is rather filthy to pull on someone. If that's competitive play they're their own worse enemy.
Part of what made those lists so successful was that it was an etc team tournament format, so they had some choice over who their opponents were and could avoid the lists that would make them look like fools.
At the last tournament I went too, many lists ran 2-3 shadowswords, so it's in the same theme. Very gross though, I agree.