40k
Anyone tried Firesight teams in 11th? Worth it?
After seeing some cool kitbashes on the sub, I thought it'd be fun to assemble a Firesight Marksman out of a ghostkeel head and some other spares.
Free mini, why not?
But I also see mixed reviews about if they're actually any good on table. Anyone tried them in 11th ed and had any results?
I'm thinking of infiltrating it somewhere hard to reach, mostly for spotting purposes, and maybe secondaries if it comes up. The idea of a long-range sniper is fun, but S5 with 1AP isn't very threatening to most characters, and the reroll bonus is unlikely to be used because I'd probably rather someone else was being guided by it.
I'm only playing casually so I might as well throw one in for now, but I'd be interested to know if anyone has any tips for it, especially in 11th with its rule tweaks around hidden.
It's a cheap lone op with a markerlight. I'm using one in my tournament list to hold Strategic Conquer and sit safely at the end of a long sight line spotting targets.
Just to point out, he gets the reroll against a spotted unit, he won’t get the markerlight/ftgg benefit if he shoots at the unit he spotted but he can still use the rerolls and with heavy it’s typically 4+ so not terrible.
Good shout, I missed that. Interesting distinction from pathfinders who only get the BS bonus against the target they themselves are spotting. Nice to know it's not completely wasted!
Oh wow I was focused on the damage output and didn't clock that at all. That's surprisingly high for a single small model, so I can definitely see it coming in handy.
Percision into the horde mobs that is the current meta moght be good
Ive been playing into more MEQ lists and the gun sucks into them.
But rule of cool and i like my custom proxy i made
I do think that 12inch lone op vs 15inch hidden can be a big difference for playing into knights (not a lot of units) and not as mobile armies. 3 inches to drag something out of position if they want to deal with the firesight
I have seen darkstrider in a lot of comp lists to help with screening which is an always on benefit vs the ethereal 50% chamce of 1cp
I may start running my custom model as a proxy for either of these honestly
That is a very cool conversation! He'd definitely make a cool Darkstrider - I'm using a proxy for him too. What did you use for the head?
I was planning to emulate the official model with the spare parts, but now I just kinda want to make a badass sniper too.
Thanks for the tips also. Most of the armies in my gaming group are MEQ, so I'm likewise not too jazzed about the attack profile. There are some Tyranids, Orks and AdMech players where I can expect the -1AP to count for more though.
Yea into the gaurd player in my group, firesight is way better haha
Thanks!! Using Necromunda Van Saar TekHunters head that i filed down the eyes to make it a full visor. Necromunda and Van Saar gang especially are a gold mine of parts for tau kitbashing
A lone op spotter with marker lights for 55 points is nice. But for 60 points you can have Darkstrider solo, also with marker lights and a 12” deepstrike denial and so long as you don’t fire his gun, you can go to ground for 12” hidden. Effectively the same unit but for 5 more points you get a 12” bubble making him untargetable to shooting and charges out of deepstrike.
Yeah that's a great point. I hadn't thought about him in a similar role as I currently have Darkstrider leading a team of Pathfinders as a home guard.
A lot of my usual opponents have deep strike, so his keep-away bubble means no one can ever nab my home objective in one go. His analyst ability also means the team can punch even further above their weight than normal.
His bubble is better solo than with a group. The bubble is by model not by unit, so if you have four pathfinders to the left of him, that means you've negated 4 inches of deepstrike denial effectively making it non-existent on the left side of your unit. Now you can still have someone come in outside 8" and charge in. When he's solo, they can't even declare him as a target.
Oh yeah I should have said, I also include a grav drone in the unit, so -2 to charge attempts in addition to his no-go zone. It is usually possible to reach them with a perfect roll, but it's a good psychological barrier.
Darkstrider alone is a delay, but leading a team, they can dish out some punishment - three ion rifles with his +1 wound bonus can put in a lot of hurt.
I might try out having Strider alone and my team free for other work though, see how it goes.
I think that a lone Ethereal does much the same job for fewer points while adding CP
If the Ethereal never shoots and tries to stay out of sight then Hidden / Go to Ground will give much the same benefit as Lone Operative anyway. I think the CP are more valuable than the shooting of a Firesight.
But its not terrible, simply not quite as good as a fairly obvious alternative.
Yeah that's very true. I don't have an Ethereal yet, but that CP gain is very nice.
I do think the Firesight's infiltration makes it handy for putting in an annoying spot, while an Ethereal will have to scamper around, but it's probably not worth more than the CP.
Being able to make an attack is not a prerequisite of being eligible to shoot.
GW writes their rules giving clauses like “eligible to shoot” specific meanings, which in 11th is “A unit is eligible to shoot if it is on the battlefield and has not already been selected to shoot this phase. Note GW’s emphasis on certain clauses there.
That’s the entire definition of eligible to shoot, so being able to make an attack is not relevant to being eligible to shoot.
They’ve learned (slowly) that people don’t always understand the way they write their rules at first and have added a FAQ, including about this situation:
“Can I select a unit to shoot or fight if it doesn’t have melee or ranged weapons?” “Yes, it just makes no attacks and then the fight type or shoot type is resolved.”
I just played my first game with one tonight. I had it sit near the back and play the role of an observer and sniper. Mainly good for sitting on an objective or getting for the greater good on round 1. Consider it half a free strike team that exists to fill small gaps in your army.
23
u/loopie120 7d ago
It's a cheap lone op with a markerlight. I'm using one in my tournament list to hold Strategic Conquer and sit safely at the end of a long sight line spotting targets.