Hey guys,

i've some questions regarding the tau battlesuits. Maybe I'm just missing something...

1. Most of the battlesuits have multiple weapons mounted on arms and/or shoulds...so how many can they fire in one round? Do i just use the rules for two weapon fighting? Does a shoulder mounted weapon count as "usable by one hand" ? Or do the battlesuits have some special rules that i'm missing? The Broadside Suit from Mark of the Xenos for example doesn't even have the two weapon wielder talent...so it can fire only one weapon system?

2. Melee...yeah Can they do anything besides an unarmed attack? Do the arm mounted weapons count as pistols?

3. XV-46 Vanguard Battlesuit from Rising Tempest: The suit has 3 weapons..are they mounted somewhere? It is able to fire two weapons per round, or? It has Gunslinger Talent, why? Count any of it weapons as Pistols?

Thanks for you help and sorry for my english

1: Tau suits do not allow for attacking with multiple weapons. This is not an accident though. Even in the tabletop, crisis suites can not fire two weapons unless they equipped an upgrade: the multi-tracker. The Tau Commander has two talents which require the TWW talent and the ambidextrous talent. It is likely these are talents granted by the suit, specifically a Multi-Tracker. Under certain circumstances (enemy stat entries being one such circumstance), characters can have a talent without its prerequisite (for instance: all space marines have bulging biceps even if their Strength is less than 40). So the commander can use Dual Shot and Independent targeting without TWW but suffers a -20 to hit with both weapons (would be -30 but the suit gives him ambidextrous).

We also see Shas’Vre Tsu’Malor Ren’A's battlesuit in Rising Tempest also includes Dual Shot, Independent Targeting, and Ambidextrous but not TWW. So it is reasonable to assume a Multi-Tracker provides a battlesuit with those three talents. Incidently Shas ’O Vior’la Aisulu Mai has these talents as well, so he also has a Multi-Tracker, but he also has TWW; not suprising for a Tau "hero" (besides look at those stats! He's the boss, literally, as in boss level).

The Broadside's railguns are twin-linked meaning they both fire as if 1 gun, gain +20 to hit and can possibly get more than 1 hit. The same goes for the Twlin-linked plasma guns. The missile pods are a single weapon system (not 2). The pilot must choose to fire either the TL railguns or the missile pod/TL Plasmas.

2: No, while the weapons are mounted (normally only possible with pistols) they are still basic weapons and therefore may not be used as thus. Read the Recoil Suppression trait on page 161 of the core rulebook for further detail.

3: I found no mention of an XV-46 suit in Rising Tempest. Are you certain it isn't from another book. On the aside, All Tau Battlesuit weapons are Mounted (as in the weapon upgrade, though they use the profile listed: do not decrease the range 30%). Usually a suit will mount the weapons on the arms or shoulders.

There is however a precedent for Tau melee capability on their battlesuits suits. As of the latest codex, the Farsight Enclave can make use of a weapon named fusion blades, which is essentially the blaster of the same name but with the energy blades from Halo bolted onto the end of it. It's essentially plasma suspended into the same shape of a blade through some Tau witchcraft science, probably similar in concept to how lightsabers work in that its a stream of plasma contained within an energy field. In relation to their damage, these are quite potent from what I recall, easily being on par with Imperial Power swords however due to their construction are very temperamental. Another option would be an onager gauntlet. The best way to describe it is "Tau battlesuit version of a Power fist". Not many of them exist, in fact I think they are down to their last few but it is there as an option.

Also the XV-46 Vanguard suit is in Ark of Lost Souls (p123). Most current suits have four hardpoints for the mounting of major utilities and weapons, one on each arm and one on each shoulder. How you choose to arrange them is up to you as the GM however just for aesthetics I'd say the flamer and fusion torch go on the arms with the shoulder mounted burst cannon.

A caveat, the farsight enclave is an extremely deviant sub sect of Tau culture. A sub sect which tore itself apart from the ethereals and are thus condemned by Tau society at large. The likelihood of this sub sect being within the Jericho reach is incredibly small, as is the possibility of their doctrines and equipment (which is at incredible odds to standard Tau structures) in use by Tau forces there either.

This is of course assuming that they are basing their campaign in the Jericho reach. Although really they could base it anywhere, say that the tech has leaked out of Farsight hands etc...creative licence and all. But yes you are correct. Limited if you go by book but rules are made to be broken. For example the campaign I'm working on has another radical defection which integrates Xenos tech into their suits like Imperial adamantium, stolen necron blades etc

Thanks for your help!

I still have some more questions

1. the tau commander was corrected in the errata, he gains the TWW talent, but loses Dual Shot. Would you say he can use the Multiple Attacks combat Action to fire both weapons, Plasma Rifle and Missle Pod?

The Broadside Battlesuit has another entry in Rising Tempest, there it owns the TWW talent. So woul you say it can use both weapons with the Multiple Attacks combat Action. Or would you argue against it, because one weapon is mounted on the arms and the other weapon ist mounted on the shoulders?

So the commander can use Dual Shot and Independent targeting without TWW but suffers a -20 to hit with both weapons (would be -30 but the suit gives him ambidextrous).

Sorry i dont get it As far as i know, Dual Shot only works with pistols and there isn't a battle suit with any pistols. And Independent targeting is just an upgrade to the Multiple Attacks combat Action (for wich you need the TWW talent).

And the -30, where does it come from? When you attack with the Multiple Attacks combat Action you suffer -20, or -10 with ambidextrous.

Or do i missunderstand something?

3. Yeah sorry, it is Ark of Lost Souls

Thanks again for your help!

1: The TWW talent allows a character to use/fire a second weapon, as long as both weapons can reasonably be held in one hand. The Multiple Attacks Action allows a character to use Swift/Lightning attack with only a single weapon.

Battlesuit weapons are always mounted, and thus count as being wielded in one hand.

When attacking with ranged weapons you may NOT use multiple attack action to fire the same weapon more than once.

When making attacks with weapons in each hand (Called Two Weapon Fighting see page 246 and read it 3 times) a character suffers the following penalties.

1: -20 for attacks with non dominate secondary hand (off-hand), UNLESS he possesses the Ambidextrous talent then it is +0.
2: -20 for both weapons for using Two Weapon Fighting, UNLESS he possesses the Ambidextrous talent then it is only -10

Two Weapon Fighting received an errata which was retroactively migrated to all the Dark Heresy based systems. This errata allows any character to use Two Weapon Fighting without the talent. Such a character makes his Two Weapon Fighting attacks at a -30 (instead of -20) +the penalty for secondary hand attacks, IF the character has the Ambidextrous talent this penalty drops to only -20. A character still requires the talent to purchase normally, other talents which require it as a pre-requisite.

An NPC character can have and use a talent even if he does not have the normal pre-requisite needed to take the talent, as long as the talent appears in his entry. You are correct, Dual Shot does not work with the battlesuit weapons though.

The broadside (definitely veterans), can make attacks with both sets of weapons (TL railgun and Smart Missiles), but does so at -20 to both attacks since that entry doesn't include Ambidextrous (which it probably should) (we can assume a piloted battlesuit doesn't have a non-dominate hand, so no penalties for secondary hand).

Thank you!