Tank-Plinking and Efficiency
I've been rethinking my Tau Empires armament. While it's effectiveness cannot be argued, I think I may be able to improve it. First off, let me explain what I've got right now, what my options are and how effective they can be. While I'm at it, I'd like to discuss efficiency and Tank-Plinking. Efficiency is typically getting the most bang for your buck. Basically comparing the cost of the weapon to it's effectiveness. If one weapon is twice as effective as another, but costs the same price, it's twice as efficient. Very simple. However, efficiency isn't everything. Tank-Plinking is a term that was invented during Desert Storm. It referred to dropping 500-pound laser guided bombs to kill tanks. Getting hit by a precision-guided 500-pound bomb not only guaranteed a kill, but it also made it quite obvious that the tank was dead (so they didn't have to send other munitions after it to make sure) and it made use of weapons and equipment already on-hand. While a 500-pound bomb was definitely overkill and would normally be "more expensive" than other anti-tank weaponry, it's availability and utility are hard to argue with. Now, what does that have to do with Warhammer 40k? In 40k, I would use the term Tank-Plinking to refer to any overkill situation. For example, using a railgun to shoot at enemy infantry. Sometimes this isn't more useful than a basic kill, but in certain situations, it can be much more effective. For example, during the tournament, I ran into 2 armies of Plague Marines, all of which had Feel No Pain. This gives them a 4+ save even if they miss their armor save, which makes them twice as tough against normal weaponry. The Railgun ignores this. They also have higher than normal Toughness and solid armor saves, which the Railgun also ignores. My third opponent was Necrons, which have the We'll Be Back special rule that is even tougher than Feel No Pain. However, being strong enough to double their Toughness, the Railgun ignores these saves as well. For that matter, it's high strength makes it an Instant Kill weapon against anything with multiple wounds and a Toughness of 5 or less. That covers almost all Space Marine and Chaos characters and almost everything except Monstrous Creatures. Having that kind of firepower on hand can cover a lot of bases, even if it costs a little more.

What I've got now
Well, going with my 1750 list from the Tournament, I've got ...

97 Shas’El Commander w/Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster, Target Array, HWMT
97 Shas’El Commander w/Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster, Target Array, HWMT

201 3x Crisis Suit: Plasma, MP, MT. Tm Ldr w/HWMT and TA
201 3x Crisis Suit: Plasma, MP, MT. Tm Ldr w/HWMT and TA
139 2x Crisis Suit: Plasma, MP, MT. Tm Ldr w/HWMT and TA

100 8xShas’La FireWarriors w/Pulse Rifles, Tm Ldr also has Markerlight.
100 8xShas’La FireWarriors w/Pulse Rifles, Tm Ldr also has Markerlight.
100 8xShas’La FireWarriors w/Pulse Rifles, Tm Ldr also has Markerlight.

70 Piranha Fusion Blaster, Target Array
240 3x Broadside, Advanced Stabilization.
240 3x Broadside, Advanced Stabilization.
160 2x Broadside, Advanced Stabilization.

1745pts

Okay, so I've got 10 Crisis Battlesuits and 8 Broadside Battlesuits. This translates into 2 BS5 Plasma Rifles, 3 BS4 Plasma Rifles and 5 BS3 Plasma Rifles. It's also 2 BS5 missile Pods, 3 BS4 Missile Pods and 5 BS3 Missile Pods, plus 8 Twin-linked BS3 Railguns. Here's how these work out efficiency-wise for killing Space Marines beyond 12"...

2 BS5 Plasma Rifles, 2 BS5 Missile Pods (Both Commanders)
Cost = 194pts. BS5 Plasma: 2 shots x 5/6 to hit x 5/6 to Wound (ignores armor saves) = 1.38 Dead Space Marines
2 BS5 Missile Pods: 4 shots x 5/6 to hit x 5/6 to Wound x 1/3 to penetrate armor saves = 0.926 DSM
2.31 DSM for 194pts. That works out to 83.9 points per DSM. That's our efficiency. This can help us determine which units or combinations or equipment will give us the most effectiveness for our points.

3 BS4 Plasma Rifles and 3 BS4 Missile Pods (all three Team Leaders)
Cost = 231pts. BS4 Plasma: 3 x 2/3 x 5/6 = 1.66DSM
BS4 Missile Pods: 6 x 2/3 x 5/6 x 1/3 = 1.11DSM
2.77 DSM for 231pts. 83.4pts per DSM. Just slightly more efficient than the Commanders, but only by a tiny fraction.

5 BS3 Plasma Rifles and 5 BS3 Missile Pods, representing the non-leader team members in Crisis Battlesuits.
Cost = 310pts. BS3 Plasma: 5 x 1/2 x 5/6 = 2.083DSM
BS3 Missile Pods: 10 x 1/2 x 5/6 x 1/3 = 1.39DSM
3.471 DSM for 310pts. 89.3 pts per DSM. Not as efficient as their leaders, but not by a large amount.

8 Twin-linked BS3 Railguns, all of the Broadside Battlesuits
Cost = 640pts. BS3 Railgun: 8 x 3/4 x 5/6 = 5 DSM
5DSM for 640pts. 128 pts per DSM. Definitely not as efficient as the Crisis Battlesuits, but the long-range capability and their Tank-Plinking abilities tend to make up for this lack of efficiency.

What are my options?
The Broadsides really don't have much in the way of other options, but the Crisis Suits do. Let's take a look at a few of the most effective combinations and how efficient they are. To cut down on length, I'll be focusing on the efficiency of the basic team members (the BS3 Crisis Suits) which are currently using the Fireknife configuration (which I'll list first for easy comparison

Fireknife (Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-Tracker) 62pts
0.417+0.278 = 0.695DSM or 89.3pts per DSM.

Firestorm (Missile Pod, Burst Cannon, Multi-Tracker) 50pts
0.278+0.333 = 0.611DSM or 81.8pts per DSM

Bladestorm (Plasma Rifle, Burst Cannon, Multi-Tracker) 58pts
0.417+0.333 = 0.750DSM or 77.3pts per DSM

Burning Eye (TL-Plasma Rifle, Target Array) 65pts
0.83DSM or 78.3pts per DSM

Deathrain (TL-Missile Pod, Target Array) 53pts
0.493DSM or 107.5pts per DSM

Hailstorm (TL-Burst Cannon, Target Array) 47pts

0.74DSM or 63.5pts per DSM

How effective are they really?
There are several configurations above that are much more efficient than the Fireknife. One thing to consider is that cover will be more common in this edition, which means that weaponry that cuts through armor (such as the Plasma Rifle) will be only about half as effective some of the time. This in turn means that those configurations that _don't_ involve the Plasma Rifle will be even more efficient in comparison. There are other things that can effect the final effectiveness of the configuration, as well. Range is pretty vital. At 12" or less, Plasma Rifles get 2 shots instead of 1. Beyond 18", the Burst Cannon is completely useless. Beyond 24", the only weapon that has any effectiveness is the Missile Pod. Strength makes a big difference as well. Burst Cannons can only effect vehicles with AV11, Plasmas can effect up to AV12 and Missile Pods can effect up to AV13.

What does all this mean? Well, with the advent of 5th Edition cover saves, the Fireknife may be waning. Configurations like Burning Eye may get some additional usefulness out of adding Shield Drones and being very aggressive to take advantage of their double-tap ability, but the armor-piercing weapons will have lost some of their edge. I will be taking a closer look at configurations like Firestorm (MP/BC) that offer more shots to make up for their lack of armor piercing.

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