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Thanks to Duke for this
The Tau, as ever before, constantly seek to push the boundaries of their technological achievements onward, and nowhere is this more evident than on the field of battle. Fire Warriors seem to wield newer and deadlier weapons against their foes with alarming frequency, and unless something is done to curtail their ingenuity soon, the Tau Empire may quickly evolve beyond the Imperium's ability to stop them.
The latest weapon to be used against the armies of the Emperor has been classified as a Photon Cannon by the Adeptus Mechanicus (who, it must be admitted, are eager to capture one and examine its construction). Wielded by the elite jump-capable Battlesuits of the Fire Caste, these heavy cannons are easily capable of tearing through even the heavily-armored hull of a Land Raider without noticeable resistance.
Although the design of these weapons makes them slow and cumbersome to wield, many battlefield Commanders have reported that the Crisis Teams armed with Photon Cannons have even used them in close combat, often to devastating effect. If the Tau continue to design weaponry functional in close quarters as well as at range, then there may be no end to the heights which they may reach.
Tau Photon Cannons are devastating (if mercifully rare) weapons, with the operator often showing an unusual talent for wielding such an ungainly block of polymer compounds, even in the tight press of close combat. Thus far, the difficulty of manufacturing and maintaining such firepower has limited their production and distribution to only a few experienced Battlesuit pilots, but as is the way with the Tau, the number of the Photon Cannon encounters can be expected to rise exponentially in the near future.
Photon Cannons employ a tightly-focused beam of photonic energy, which somehow maintains cohesion for a greater distance than Imperial lasweapons. Once the outer range of the weapon is reached, however, the light particles dissipate extremely rapidly & the photon laser dissolves in a cloud of harmless prismatic light. Although the practical mechanics of the weapon are not yet understood by the Imperial Tech-Priests, the effects of the weapon are all too clear, as the photon laser beam punches through whole ranks of infantry & lightly-armored vehicles & defences, seemingly without resistance. An experienced Fire Warrior can sweep the beam across the front rank of an enemy squad & decimate the whole unit with a single slash of light.
Only Tau Fire Warriors in 'Crisis' Battlesuits, of Shas' Vre rank or higher, may wield a Photon Cannon. Ordinarily, no more than 1-Photon Cannon can be taken in a single army. However, if the army is led by both an Ethereal & a Shas'O Commander, then up to 3-Photon Cannons may be selected, though the Shas'O <bold>must<end bold> be armed with a Photon Cannon if more than one is selected.
A Photon Cannon costs +50 pts and uses up one Hard Point on a normal 'Crisis' suit. It cannot be twin-linked. The Photon Cannon has the following profile:
Range: 48" Strength: 9 AP: 1 Assault 2/Lance
When the Photon Cannon is fired at a non-vehicle unit, it inflicts 2D6+2 hits, rather than 2 as would normally be the case. This represents the photon beam slashing its way through the armor and bodies of the soldiers. Against vehicles, the Cannon inflicts 2 hits as normal.
In addition to the profile & rules given above, a Photon Cannon-armed model may use it in close combat. The model loses -1 Attack and -1 Initiative, but it strikes at Strength 9 and ignores Armor Saves.
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| Comment made by Dan the... Tau? on 18:03:45, 22 February 2008 |
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| Give the weapon two options: Concentrated: Str. 9, AP. 2, Heavy 1 Dispersed: Str. 4/5, AP. 4/5 As it is, it's far far too powerful. |
| Comment made by Harlequin2 on 12:07:59, 17 February 2008 |
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| Overkill, it shouldn't be allowed on a Battlesuit, maybe a tank, but not a battlesuit, it's just to overpowered! |
| Comment made by Eddy on 12:45:49, 24 January 2008 |
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| Cool weapon but to be fair id put ti to an insane 200pts!!! |
| Comment made by random man on 16:19:38, 9 January 2008 |
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| i really must say this is the coolest gun I\'ve ever seen. I\'m using it as the primary weapon on a home brew super heavy tank. |
| Comment made by Veteran3212 on 01:07:03, 29 December 2007 |
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| also, this be a good turret |
| Comment made by Veteran3212 on 15:16:30, 28 December 2007 |
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| some good alterations would be subtracting 1 WS in close combat and count it as two hard points. also, tone down the firing and mabye subtracting BS. also, lower ap to 3. and bump up the cost |
| Comment made by Veteran3212 on 12:50:42, 27 December 2007 |
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| people, this isnt cheesy taking in the fact the that game is based on luck and that the first thing they will shoot will be this, also this is for cris suits that can be taken down in one shot, sure, this is cheap but in the long run this is a good option, good work. also, tau use tech for everything. remember that tau have drawbacks that are serious so this a perfect option |
| Comment made by Jackoby the Circus on 15:01:17, 27 October 2007 |
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| Hmm. Good idea. Changes: 1) Make it Heavy 2. Maybe let the Crisis suit make *one* of its moves in the turn, but certainly not both. 2) Make it ONE PER ARMY. Three is SICK. 3) Maybe give it two firing modes? So maybe it does 2 hits at that profile against vehicles, but 2D6 hits at S6 AP3 against units. And that\'s still vicious. 4) Make it so it has to recharge for a turn after firing. 5) Lose the CC ability. 6) After doing all that, DON\'T change the points cost =D I think that keeps in spirit with the idea you had (which I do like) but makes it actually more balanced. It\'s very expensive and on one model that can potentially be killed quite easily (shield drones, maybe?) but it doesn\'t fire every turn and it\'s not *that* uber - it won\'t eat Terminators for breakfast, for example, like it would in its current ruleset. Don\'t get me wrong, even with the alterations I just suggested it\'s wickedly beardy... just less so! |
| Comment made by Germiantor on 04:33:50, 19 October 2007 |
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| I like the overall idea, though it is cheesy. And heres why i think so: I miss the drawback of it. Theres just no risk in using it. If there was some kind of overhating rule or something that makes the player think twice to use it, itd be fine. Also, remember that such enormous amounts of energy need to be gathered before you can shoot them. Also theyre hard to control. You see my point? Other than that nice work! |
| Comment made by Metalstorm on 02:35:22, 13 August 2007 |
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| Whoa! Thats so Mega-Uber-Cheesy you could open a cheese store! and sell Franchises, Jump-Shoot-Jumping suits are already a pain but an assault 2, lance, Ap1, Weapon with 14 shots would be insane. If you shot a tank it would be like You - I shoot with my (uber cheesy) Plasma Cannon at your Landraider, please remove it from the table. Opponent - But you haven't even rolled to hit yet! let me see that sheet (Looks at sheet, removes his miniatures from table, Then up turns table! Screaming incomprehendable sounds and profanities.) You hold the power of cheese in your hand as you can see from above - use it wisely. |
| Comment made by Extreme on 10:22:28, 26 July 2007 |
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| A Strength 9, 2-to-14 shot, on the move, armour munching CC weapon? Bloody joke. |
| Comment made by shaso kunas on 05:12:02, 17 July 2007 |
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| madly powefull and should definitely be on an XV88 variant also should be heavy1 and infilct D6+2 ish on units. pining is a good idea(see botom) a V good idea just needs some major tweaks |
| Comment made by Shasonan on 22:57:01, 15 July 2007 |
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| Very good but i thing maybe S:8 Ap:2 ??? |
| Comment made by Greater good or bust. on 15:42:59, 11 June 2007 |
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| I think that this weapon is way to over powered... an average of 9 strength 9 lance weapon shots is way to strong. |
| Comment made by Karashi Lissera on 19:46:13, 29 May 2007 |
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| Love it but & yes it is a little too powerfull but is seams correct for 50 points and only have like 1-3, man it would be funny to see my opponent face after turning one of his troops in to dust! |
| Comment made by urban1142 on 09:00:04, 6 May 2007 |
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| uber powerful <(^.^)> fear kirby |
| Comment made by balistafreak on 11:26:23, 24 December 2006 |
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| I don't know about you, but to me this just screams of fanboy. Too cheesy even for casual games. |
| Comment made by Grogalmighty on 17:31:16, 19 December 2006 |
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| Lance weapons are ONLY found in the eldar army. Feel happy with the railguns. |
| Comment made by Tony on 19:42:08, 14 December 2006 |
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| Too powerful for 2D6+2... It would wipe out entire squads on a lucky roll. |
| Comment made by big tau mech guy on 15:06:57, 8 December 2006 |
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| i think that i would love to use this in a match! amazingly cheesy its like.... "TARGET LOCKED " <*BOOM*> TARGET DESTROYED |
| Comment made by WH40K@1 on 15:08:20, 3 December 2006 |
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| Do they sell photon cannonsat all? If so where can I get one? |
| Comment made by KingofKlubs on 14:57:12, 29 October 2006 |
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| Agreed, the idea of a close/ranged weapon is intesting but strength 9 and AP 1 is going too far. However, I personaly would love to see the face of my opponent when he points to the weapon and asks what it is and I show him the stats. |
| Comment made by MalVeauX on 08:02:48, 18 October 2006 |
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| Nicely written and a fun idea, but it's so unbalanced that it shouldn't appear in a game of 40k. One might as well just have it state: "Select target unit. Target unit is destroyed." |
| Comment made by voiceofreason on 00:21:09, 31 August 2006 |
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| nice idea but way to powerful to include in games |
| Comment made by The Return of Commander Barbeque on 13:21:07, 5 August 2006 |
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| Photons are pure energy so sure any weapon that uses this tech would be powerful. However, this is taking the power way too far. To start with the rules for shooting a non-vechiles, 2d6+2 is madness for sure a powerful weapon, especially this is carried by XV8s rather than the more natural partner of the XV88s. I would merely cut the 2d6+2 rule out. If you saw a beam of energy waving across your squadmates, you'd duck, jump or run in a direction to avoid the sweep, so Pinning would be a better rules for this. 36" is a more beleivable range aswell, considering how rapidly this weapon disaptes from range. |