Topic: XV88 Broadside Missile Battery

[Greg23]

I recently played Tau vs an Ork player 1500 points.

I took a 3 man Broadside team with HYMP, SMS, and EWO.

The Ork player brought two Dakkajets and Snikrot with his band of merry men.

The Dakkajets didn't come in early but Snikrot did come in with his 15 goons.  The Ork player decided to take my rear behind the Broadside team to take them out.

The Broadside team plugged Snikrot's gang full of lead the moment they landed.  After the dust settled, only Snikrot himself and two boyz remained.  Snikrot failed leadership and ran right off the table.

Realizing how brutal the Broadsides were with EWO and 24 twin linked shots, he decided to deploy the dakkajets at the opposite side of the table, far away from the Broadsides, when they did arrive.

I have busted on the new Broadsides before because of the railgun nerf.  I now fully apologize.

[Shas'La robo]

The Broadside team plugged Snikrot's gang full of lead the moment they landed.  After the dust settled, only Snikrot himself and two boyz remained.  Snikrot failed leadership and ran right off the table.

That must have taken quite a few turns of running...
Did they do anything else noteworthy??

But, yes Missilesides can and will be very effective, you just need to apply them against the right targets.
Light vehicles and light infantry being the obvious answer.

robo

[Blood Hawk]

Even the basic broadsides with the heavy rail rifle and smart missile systems I found still pull their weight.  I haven't got a chance to try out the missile broadside unit mainly because I don't have any of the new models.

I am really likely the secondary system though.

[Halollet]

I tested out the new missilesides and I found them, in my army at least, to be a little redundant. I found myself shooting at troops more then transports as my long range weapons had already taken care of them, or they hid the rhino behind the landraider.

I think the range of the railrifle is one of its strongest attributes.  Both for target choice and being able to set the broadside back further away from danger.

Mind you, I haven't ran into any flyers yet so that remains to be seen.

Thoughts?

[Plastikente]

I mathhammered this here. In short, from a statistical point of view HYMPs will strip off more hull points on any AV except 14 (which it can't hurt), but the Heavy Rail Rifle has more chance of instantly killing anything that isn't AV10 open-topped.  Against fliers, the stats are only valud if you bought a velocity tracker - for snap-shooting quantity will always be the way forward.  Personally, I also find the range of the Heavy Rail Rifle to be a big bonus.

EDIT: Corrected typo

[Greg23]

Missilesides with EWO aren't the greatest tank busters, true, but that's not the purpose of me taking them.  I'm playing footslog heavy Tau, and they can't afford a single enemy unit playing around in their backfield with the threat of assault.

So when an opponent plays  Ymgarl Genestealers, Sly Marbo, Drop Pod Marines, Scourgers, Snikrot + boyz, Sentinels, Warwalkers, etc..., the Missilesides are there to punch a serious hole into that unit.

Granted, the Missilesides don't have the amazing range of the railgun anymore.  But a 30"/36" bubble of 24 shot Interceptor TL death is more than enough to defend the back field.

For true tank busting ability, I would need to rely on fusion guns and the Hammerhead.

[Shas'Oink]

I think its going to take some getting used to that broadsides dont "NEED" to be your anti tank. The HYMP does make them into pretty effective infantry / walker / creature hunters. There are other places for anti tank...

If you still run all the same units then it is likely something might be redundant because our codex is quite lucky in that there are a number of options for each role.

I've not tried out the broadsides with missiles... and to be honest whilst I can see their potential I think that for now my lists will not see any broadsides in favour of some of those alternatives.

[Halollet]

I've not tried out the broadsides with missiles... and to be honest whilst I can see their potential I think that for now my lists will not see any broadsides in favour of some of those alternatives.

I'm on the same page with you there, I don't see anything the Broadside can do that the Riptide can't do better (besides anti-air).  I think I'm also going to drop mine because its the only thing that isn't mobile in my army.  I miss his A.S.S. 

[Idaho]

Broadsides with high yield missile pods are great anti infantry and reasonable against everything bar heavily armoured vehicles.

[Shas'Oink]

Broadsides with high yield missile pods are great anti infantry and reasonable against everything bar heavily armoured vehicles.

Very true, I don't think anyone will deny that at all. But they certainly aren't "must haves" for your army. There are thankfully very few must haves in our codex (for now at least a hammerhead with railgun seems to be a key one). I mean, our troops choices are superb anti infantry and our elites already cover anti infantry and everything up to heavy armour (and beyond considering they can also mount fusion blasters too).

The good thing for broadsides is they do provide you with options. missilesides mean you can be freer with your crisis suit set ups and not need to be shackled to missile pods on them, opening up alternative niches for your suits to fill. This is important if you don't want that hammerhead (or any tanks) and so can help give you a great suit based force whereby your heavy suits are primarily hunting infantry (and giving AA) whilst your elite suits are going up against the heavier tanks (and heavy infantry).

[Idaho]

Totally agree. No must haves means no limited army lists from previous editions.

I'm of the opinion that missile pods on Battlesuits are good but dual burst cannons with 2 Gun Drones each and a Commander with Drone Controller and 2 Markerlight Drones and 2 burst cannons is better! What's that, you've got Terminater armour? No I don't have plasma weapons on my Commander, I just have 32 shots a turn with his squad. Poor me!

[Greg23]

No must haves means no limited army lists from previous editions.

I agree in theory except for one item: markerlights.  For me 6th Ed Tau without markerlights is like vanilla Space Marines without a 3+ save.

As for raw firepower assault, I'm really liking my 12 man Drone squad.  It's a total beast, very point efficient, and very deadly when backed by markerlights.

Back on point, the missilesides w/ EWO defends the soft Tau backfield from shenanigans like drop pod assault, deep strike units, and outflank units.  This is important when I need my Firewarriors, Sniper Teams, and Pathfinders alive and supporting my more aggressive units like Crisis Suits and Drone squads with their precious markerlights.

6th Ed Crisis Suits and Gun Drone squads are too fast for just mere defense, these guys work much better at "seek and destroy" aggression, IMHO.

But the slow Missilesides are just perfect for zone defense, freeing up the Crisis Suits and Gun Drones for "seek and destroy".

[Halollet]

I agree in theory except for one item: markerlights.  For me 6th Ed Tau without markerlights is like vanilla Space Marines without a 3+ save.

Um.... no. Sorry.  I have no marker lights in my army and it felt more like Eldar with Heavy Bolters everywhere.  I have played marines, eldar, and guard and the new tau is a completely different beast.

But I think that's the beauty of the new dex is that there are more options now. You can have a static fire line, or a mobile force, or play nasty tricks on your opponent.  There's no one feel for the tau any more and I'm freaking loving it!

This is why were're having a discussion at all about the broadside in the first place because it seems to be really balanced and its up to each player to find out how to use em in their armies.  HYMP are great dakka while Railrilfes have a great punch and a longer range.  An easy skyfire upgrade sets it apart from hammerheads. Etc.