So, I am still working a bit on my NPC Tau Crisis Suit leader, Commander Coldsteel, and I was flipping through my Codex: Tau Empire, trying to figure out some good ways to pimp up his Crisis Suit. His story involves fighting Tyranids, back in the "regular" Tau space, and then getting sent to the Reach to aide his people against the Imperium, and their foolhardy Crusade. Since he has only recently left core Tau space, he has great access to the best of their gear, and is heading for a dangerous new field, where good testing can be conducted. To this end, I plan on his suit being at least as good as Flamewing's. So, I have decided he's going to sport a flamer, or maybe even a heavy flamer, and then I stumbled upon the Special Issue gear Shas'Os are permitted to field test. I want his suit to sport some more of these, but I am not sure how to convert their text to stuff DW actually uses, and thought it might be nice if some of the more well-informed folks could help me do a little converting. Thanks much in advance, here's what the book has:

Cyclic Ion Blaster - R 18" | S3 |AP 4 | Assault 5 -- Rolls to Wound of 6 become AP 1, regardless of target's Toughness.
This four-barrel ion gun is the one I probably care the most about. Along with being a weapon, rather than just a bit, it is cool yet tricky for me, and as a warrior who has made his mark fighting Nids, many of which are groups of little things, with crap for armor, and then moving up to Guardsmen, who are much the same, it seems very appropriate that he sport a gun that capitalizes on mass killing of light-armor shmoes.

Positional Relay - Something akin to Teleport Homer. Call 1 unit in from Reserve on 2+.
If Tau used teleporters, this would be really easy, but they don't, and I don't know what else I could make it do. This is one where even suggestions would be great.

Iridium Armor - Save becomes 2+ (so Terminator-grade), but 6" Assault move becomes 1d6".
I was thinking to cheese him up here, and say All 14 (All 12, if that just seems ridiculous, and he WILL have the Shield Generator) for armor, as he needs to deal with the likely result thaat some of the little guys will survive to close with him, but didn't know if I should just decrease his Flyer rating, or how to reflect his attempt at Slow and Purposeful.

Stimulant Injector - Gives the Pilot Feel No Pain.
I don't really plan on Coldsteel having this one, as it doesn't really fit with his "icy *******" persona, but I figured it's the only one left, as most of the special issue stuff is covered by Commander Flamewing, in Mark of the Xenos, or the regular suit, in the core book. Hoping some other soul will also find use in these, thus it's a base not left uncovered.

Okay, that covers it. With these, combined with the upgrades already fleshed out in the other books, I should be able to cobble together a true threat of a Commander, and one ready and able to kill all those who obstruct the path of the Greater Good. Thanks again.

Twin-Linked Missile pod, or MP and Plasma are the standard for Crisis. I would stick with those.

For weapon conversion here are some pre-RoB and pre-errata thoughts:
www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp

So I'd say for the blaster it's around: -/-/10 1d10+4E, Pen 5. Now how to model the rending effect? I would consider upping Pen by 1 per extra ion blast that hits a target and adding Tearing. If you really want to model the effect Rending attacks in 40K can have on monstrous creatures, you can add Felling(1) too but then it becomes good even against marines.

For the armour I'd go with All 12 or 13, Astartes armour should get a definite advantage of xeno tech unlike in the tabletop.

Alex

Well now, I think these are the numbers I am going to go with, at least for the upgrades I have decided on.

Cyclic Ion Blaster: --/--/10 1d10+4 E, Pen 6, Tearing, Special*.
*-When rolling Damage after a successful attack,if any die rolled results in a natural 9, there is a chance that the round will have Felling (1). Roll a second attack, with all the same modifiers included, as the first attack. If the second attack hits, the attack has Felling (1) (it is a prototype). This check only happens once per attack, regardless of the number of 9s rolled.

So, the Special trait for this weapon pretty much works like Righteous Fury, but on a different number, and it can only happen once per attack, thus preventing Felling (2+). It seems a nice occasional, and I think it well reflects the experimental nature of the weapon. Also, being on a different number, it hopefully won't stack in with Righteous Fury too often (assuming I say he has it, and I would). Otherwise, it has a nice rate of fire, coupled with the fact that Tau CS weapons don't use clips, so it can fire forever. My only worry is that Full Auto is a full round action, so I would guess he'll fall, or have to land to fire it. I chose to settle on Pen 6 because it is supposed to blast through carapace armor, and this way it pretty much does. I leave it in the Space Marine's hands to use their amazing damage mitigation to not die from it; that and the fact that, without markerlights, it might not hit oh so often. Not sure how well aiming, flying, and full-auto will juggle. Then again, FA adds to the BS test, so maybe it'll be fine.

Iridium Armor: All 13. -2 to Flyer trait. Cannot run or run flying. -10 suit Agility.

Well, it approaches Terminator Armor, as it kind of should, and squeaks past a Broadside. While I can see wanting to keep the Space Marine's better armor options better, I wanted to keep it close, to reflect the Tau's amazing technology, where the Imperium can fall dreadfully short. To this end, it brings several of the Termie armor's liabilities, since it too is heavy as all get out, but to a lesser extent, since it's more high-tech.

So, I am thinking that Commander Coldsteel will have his cheesy XV8 Crisis Suit, with these two upgrades, Ejection System, the Patient Hunter, shoulder-mounted missile pods, an arm-mounted heavy flamer, and the exp shield generator. This way, he's a cold, hard, remorseless badass, prepared to deliver justice to the vermin of the Imperium, after they foolishly decline to join the Greater Good. Flamewing can keep a few advantages (C&C Node, Multi-Tracker). Overall, I think I am very pleased. When I have his stat block done, maybe I'll post it here, so people can see how various things fit in. I might also give him a drone controller, with two gun-toting drones, so that he can have some "regular" fire power; I don't think it quite seems fair to mount two weapons on one arm, and the CIB and H. Flamer take up both spots. Or, he could have a shoulder-mounted plasma rifle, sort of ala Predator Plasma Caster, and forgo the twin-link on missiles. I'll have to give it a smidge of thought.

If he has Touched by the Fates, he has Righteous Fury, and campaign-important named characters like this tend to have Touched by the Fates.

Also, if you're looking to make everything sort of prototypical, check out the new close combat XV9 battlesuit

Yeah, I had seen the "I wish I was a gundam" battle frame, but I am not sure how everything flows together with it, and with some upgrades, it might become too powerful. I'll take a peak at it, again, and see what i think of it. Thanks for the reminder.

Well, I hunted down the suit stats, and really the only big difference is the twin-linked burst cannons, and +1 Toughness. It's also supposed to be given out only to Shas'vre, in order to limit the risk of catastrophic malfunction getting their best warriors killed, I surmise, and with Coldsteel being a Shas'O, that puts him out of the running. It looks cool, but I think I will hold onto it for a future thought. If I ever get a group to play DW, and I decide to make Tau their villain flavor of the day, they'll encounter Coldsteel. If they can pwn his XV8 modified suit, then maybe he'll upgrade to an XV9. I'm not sure how much I want to pile on experimental stuff onto the experimental suit, and I've already got my heart set on that stuff.

So, here's a beta thought (warning, my dossiers are long, and usually rather detailed):

Shas’O T’au Aloh Tak Mont’yr (“Commander Coldsteel”)
WS: 47 | BS: 54 | S: 50 (10) | T: 60 (12) | Ag: 38 | Int: 56 | Per: 55 | WP: 66 | Fel: 40
Movement: 10/20/30/ --
Wounds: 90
Skills: Acrobatics (Ag), Awareness (Per) +10, Command (Fel) +20, Common Lore (Tau Empire) (Int), Dodge (Ag), Forbidden Lore (Tyranids) (Int) +10, Logic (Int), Speak Language (Low Gothic, Kroot, Tau) (Int).
Talents: Air of Authority, Cleanse and Purify, Fearless, Hatred (Tyranids), Iron Discipline, Litany of Hate, Meditation, Paranoia, Rapid Reaction, Sprint, Target Selection.
Traits: Auto-stabilized, Dark-Sight, Flier (10), Size (Enormous), Touched by the Fates (3), Unnatural Strength (x2), Unnatural Toughness (x2).
Armour: Iridium-plated XV-8 Crisis Suit (All 13).
Weapons: Cyclic Ion Blaster ( 60m; --/--/10; 1d10+4 E; Pen 6; Arm Weapon Mounting, Tearing, Special), heavy flamer (30m; S/--/--; 2d10+6 E; Pen 6; Arm Weapon Mounting, Blast (1)), missile pod (90m; S/2/--; 2d10+6 X; Pen 5; Mounted (shoulder))
Gear: Exceptional Quality Xenos-crafted bionic arm, Exceptional Quality Xenos-crafted bionic eye, Crisis Battlesuit incorporating Experimental Battlesuit Shield Generator, Iridium Armor, Ejection System, micro-bead, xenos-crafted auspex.

Special Rules
Cyclic Ion Blaster: Developed to battle multiple, lightly armored enemies, this weapon generates a rapid stream of ion radiation, unleashing it through its four barrels. Though the rate of fire is stable, the ionization effect is variable. When rolling Damage after a successful attack, if any die rolled results in a natural 9, there is a chance that the round will have Felling (1). Roll a second attack, with all the same modifiers included, as the first attack. If the second attack hits, the attack has Felling (1) (it is a prototype). This check only happens once per attack, regardless of the number of 9s rolled.
Iridium Armor: Iridium is one of the hardest, most corrosion-resistant substances in the known universe, and the Tau have begun to attempt to make military applications of these properties, in the form of armor plating. The effort necessary to machine iridium is intensive, and the end result, while considerably durable, is also slower, and a bit ungainly, compared to the base line Crisis Suit. Armor (All 13). Decrease Flier trait, if possessed, by 2. Also, decrease the suit's Agility by -10, and the suit cannot Run, either on the ground, or while airborne.
Experimental Battlesuit Shield Generator: (see page 15 of Mark of the Xenos .)
The Patient Hunter: (see page 366 of the Deathwatch Rulebook.)
Ejection System: (see page 366 of the Deathwatch Rulebook.) Commander Coldsteel has a Strength of 42, Toughness 39, and 12 Wounds. He has a micro-bead, and a pulse pistol.

Shas’O Aloh, more commonly referred to as Commander Coldsteel, is an officer of the Tau Empire, a warrior of nearly peerless skill, and a veteran of battles against many of the most terrifying aliens the Tau, or anyone else, has fought. Much of his career, both as a foot soldier and a Crisis Suit pilot, has seen battle against the splinter fleets of Leviathan, when the Tyranids forced their way into Tau space. In these battles, he lost various soldiers, many friends, and became a cold, hard fighter; there is no negotiation with the Swarm. This character carried over to his current assignment, after his promotion to Shas’O, dealing with the Imperium in the Jericho Reach. While Humans aren’t fought the same way as Tyranids, he often looks at them in a similar light. Many Humans refuse to see the benefits of the Greater Good, and more than one has attempted to deceive the Tau by claiming to follow, while waiting for a chance to counterattack. It was one such incident that earned him his cybernetics. After wrapping up negotiations with one group of Humans, the appearance of an Ethereal prompted them to assault, hoping to cause the Tau to retreat at the loss of one of their most valued individuals. Aloh realized the intent, and intercepted the would-be assassin, saving the Ethereal, but not without receiving serious injuries; the loss of his left arm, and the wounding of his face, head, and left eye. Rather than accepting organic replacements, Coldsteel chose to retain his bionic additions; they would forever be a reminder of what can happen when one lowers his guard. This act has colored all of his following interactions with Humans; he views them as violent, stupid beasts, almost vermin, and personally questions the wisdom of “degrading” the Greater Good by incorporating such unworthy individuals into it. Still, his orders require that he make such an offer to those he encounters, so he does, and expecting a decline, he then eradicates his foes with cold efficiency. The weapons that once slaughtered Tyranids now seem equally well-equipped to kill those who resist the light of the Tau Empire.

Personality: As his nickname implies, Coldsteel is a cold, distant warrior. With his own men, he is much more personable, though he still rarely smiles or laughs. With outsiders, however, he is often brisk, curt, and to the point. He strongly questions the need to incorporate so many would-be foes into the Greater Good, and has spent a long enough time fighting those who have no intention of joining, that he is often reported as having asked just enough to justify it, and then mercilessly sweep across his foes, leaving little or nothing behind. Long spans of battling the Tyranids, followed by interaction with untrustworthy Humans, this which cost him his arm, has left him sullen and hard. Some of his fellows question his actions, or even his mental stability, but one thing is certain; he gets the job done.

Appearance: Coldsteel looks, for all intents and purposes, like your average mature adult, male Tau. His main distinguishing feature, what he got his nickname for, is the cybernetic modifications that he bears, his artificial limb that replaces his left arm, and another that covers a portion of his face and head, with a glowing red eye. His Crisis Suit, top of the line, is differentiated from others by shiny, silver plates that cover most of its surfaces.

Purpose: Coldsteel is my take on a slightly different sort of Tau Commander. Unlike most, he is less gregarious, and quicker to jump past the “join the Greater Good” stage, straight to the “then we have no choice but to eradicate you” stage, not wishing to weaken the collective with deceptive degener ates, and all to used to battling those who cannot be won over. He always gives the chance, but only once, and then he is without mercy.

Name: Coldsteel’s nickname is derived from both his personality, and from his prosthetics. After numerous battles with the Tyranids, his reassignment to the Achilus front seemed like a fair change, until a group of deceitful Humans attempted to assassinate the Ethereal his group was escorting. He saved his leader, and defeated the assassins, but at the cost of his arm and an eye. Rather than receive new organics, Coldsteel has opted to keep the mechanical devices, as a reminder of what a moment’s distraction might cost. His Tau name is derived from his Rank, followed by his sept of birth, followed by his given name, which translates to “coldwind”(Aloh), which is how he sweeps across his foes, and “machine” or “metal” (Tak), which is both his arm and his personality, ended with his designation as blooded.

Okay, so that long block is my Tau leader, complete with some history, personality (what passes for it, with him), and other stuff. Overall, I think he's very good, comparable to Flamewing, and with some stuff that sets him apart.

nicely thought out....thanx for the extra Tau npc!

I think battlesuits might better have been represented as vehicles, like Dreadnoughts. 90 Wounds is a little silly.

bogi_khaosa said:

The RPG battlesuits probably tracked the metagame of the wargame battlesuits, which are not vehicles but jump infantry. To me it makes sense. It's more like power armor than a true vehicle. The size of the pilot to the head is much smaller than, say, a guardsman and a Sentinel. Dreads are vehicles in the warfare too, which makes sense given how it's harder to kill vehicles in the war game without special weapons and how RF works on them.

how does 90 wounds compare to the amount a normal crisis/broadside has?

Kshatriya said:

Our "average" Crisis Suit is 90 Wounds (beefy). Commander Flamewing, in MotX continues that trend. Broadsides are only 30 Wounds (sad, even with the better armor, but at their potential range, no biggie), and Dreadnoughts are mostly 37 Armor, with 35 Structural Integrity (with their DR, they'll take a lot to kill, as they should). For a fun comparison, your average Carnifex is 100 Wounds (again, beefy!).

I often pondered if the battle suits were better served as vehicles or armor, and I think I prefer them as armor. In that way, I found them more survivable than, say, a Dreadnought, in TT. While my Eldar Wraithlord didn't have what I might have thought was a legitimate armor save (and the C'Tans were even worse), having multiple Wounds often served me better than dying from one penetrating hit, and my friend I played with could roll 6's like a champ, even with my dice. In the RP, I still like it more, so he isn't stowing stuff in the vehicle; it's just him, and a pulse pistol. Plus, it lets me have a shield, something I've never seen even the most revered Venerable Dreadnought mount. It would be cool for them to mount their Iron Halo, or a Rosarius if Chaplains can become Dreads, on a particularly fearsome old Dreadnought, sort of like Karamazov, in the Witch Hunters army, before Grey Knights said "no, Invul saves are the devil, and no Inquisitor should have them, unless they are Malleus, AND wearing Terminator armor."

Still, many weapons are 2d10+#, at best, so your average Dreadnought, with that nice armor covering most of its facings, is likely to survive amongst the longest, if only because few things will injure it. Even the mighty Carnifex will have to roll in the top ends of its damage output, just to scratch the paint. I do wonder, however, if the Carnifex could topple a Dreadnought? If it charged, battering ram style, while shouting "I'm the Juggernaut, bi...!", would the Dreadnought, being a Walker, be affected by Concussive? Several tons of impact, moving at decent speed, isn't something that should be ignored, even by a Dreadnought, and also, it isn't likely getting back up. I bet being a Vehicle gets it around that, having no Toughness score.

As an additional, either Crisis Suits or Broadsides can always choose to get a Drone Controller, and grab a Shield Drone, for a decent field of protection effect. To be silly, the second drone could sport a markerlight, and sight targets for its Broadside (full-round aim gets its BS to okay, while the Broadside does the same. Next round, even if the Broadside only half-action aimed, it could be sitting at BS 59 with marker, 69 with full aim.) Granted, that could put a Broadside much closer to a target than you might've wanted to need to be, and other units can cover markerlight duty, but it's an available option, something to consider if the enemy is rushing the Broadsides, and it's still 150m.

Kshatriya said:

A Broadside has 30 I think, there are no stats for a Crisis Suit in general as far as I know.

bogi_khaosa said:

General crisis suits are in the Core - they're the Tau master enemy.

Kshatriya said:

That suit is listed as "Tau Commander," who presumably as more Wounds and better stats.

bogi_khaosa said:

Ahh right. I'm inclined to think the unnamed Commanders are Shas'ui rank and named people are more likely Shas'vre or Shas'el with commensurately higher stats. All the suits are probably the same armor AP barring prototype gear like this. Iridiun armor becomes pretty common by 999.M41, so makes sense if it's being tested around 817.