The two burst cannons offer eight strength 5, AP-1, damage 1 shots at 18″ and the cyclic ion raker offers six strength 7, AP-2, damage 1 shots at 24″. It’s such a fantastic sculpt, and it would be great to see more variety on the tabletop. For 176 points the Ghostkeel gets T’au players two burst cannons and a cyclic ion raker.Let’s dig a little deeper into these shooting options. The T'au (Imperial binomial classification: Tau tau), also spelled Tau in older records and pronounced "TOW," are a young, humanoid and technologically-advanced intelligent species native to the Eastern Fringes of the Milky Way Galaxy. This means that if we lose a turn or two of shooting, we haven’t lost too much.With it’s respectable defensive capabilities, the Ghostkeel can take a punch or two and keep on going, so T’au players should leverage this in order to turn off an opposing unit’s shooting and charging. T’au Commanders (Various) These guys are pure awesomeness, and every T’au Empire Detachment is going to want one! Let’s take a more detailed look at the Ghostkeel, and how to use it in the new edition.Everyone knows that T’au in 8th edition really only had one competitive list — Riptides, Commanders, and Drone spam — and while it’s too early in the edition to predict how a competitive T’au army is going to look, I want to make the best case for taking some of the lesser-seen models in the codex.The Ghostkeel is in an interesting place at the moment. Making the ability native to the model itself would give T’au players a strong incentive to take one or two Ghostkeels in their armies. With the native -1 to hit, and a 4++, the Ghostkeel starts to look more appealing as a defensive asset than an offensive one.With toughness 6, a 3+ save, a 4+ invulnerable save, and a native -1 to hit, the Ghostkeel can be quite a pain for opponents to remove.And what’s more, nearby Drones can use the savoir protocols ability to intercept incoming firepower.Granted, consistent, high-quality firepower will certainly take it off the table, but at the very least this unit forces opponents to think twice when deciding what firepower to employ. It won’t, however, be able to do so on it’s own. It doesn’t offer T’au players much in the way of offensive output, but it does offer some useful utility in other areas of the game.
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The ability to block out areas of the board in which the opponent cannot place his reserve units is very strong.Who knows what the next T’au codex will do for the Ghostkeel. Tau are an army ill-suited to getting stuck-in, so any offensive actions will halt just at the edge of the Tau's maximum range, and the Tau forces will fall back from an enemy counter-attack. In 9th edition, games are won and lost on the objectives, and the Ghostkeel can be useful tool in contesting and capturing mid-board objectives. But as a mobile, mid-board harassment unit, there’s something to be said for it. Drone support will help to keep it alive for longer and a couple of units will help with overwatch. But it’s the third suggestion that I think could be really cool.It’s a great ability, but there are other very strong T’au relics, so it’s not at all surprising that we so seldom see it on the tabletop. Moreover, it would only apply to one Ghostkeel. With toughness 6, a 3+ save, a 4+ invulnerable save, and a native -1 to hit, the Ghostkeel can be quite a pain for opponents to remove. This is certainly possible, and towards the end of this article I’m going to make a couple of suggestions that would bring the Ghostkeel into line with similarly-priced units in other codex books.With this in mind, let’s begin with a comparison. The two ironhail heavy stubbers offer six strength 4, AP-1, damage 1 shots at 36″; the heavy bolter offers three strength 5, AP-1, damage 1 shots at 36″; the twin ironhail autocannon offers six shots at strength 7, AP-1, damage 1 at 48″; and the fragstorm grenade launcher offers D6 blast shots at strength 4, AP0, damage 1 at 18″.As shooting goes, this is respectable output for a model of this points cost. Note that I’m presuming that the T’au players takes the advanced targeting system for an extra point of armor piercing. The T’au player can overcharge the CIR for an extra point of strength and D3 damage at the cost of mortal wounds on 1s to hit. It’s quick, and with the correct support systems it’s tough enough to get stuck in with a variety of enemy units.The Ghostkeel, then, will reward more aggressive play.
With the native -1 to hit, and a 4++, the Ghostkeel starts to look more appealing as a defensive asset than an offensive one.
For the points cost, this is quite underwhelming.There are a handful of other comparisons to similarly-priced options in a variety of other factions, but the Ghostkeel seldom comes out looking good.And I accept that comparing two units in a vacuum has significant drawbacks. It is this support system that makes the Ghostkeel an interesting option, but we’ll come to that in a moment.In this loadout, the Ghostkeel will threaten some light to medium infantry, but will struggle to do much work against most other targets.
There is a lot more to both Space Marines and T’au that can improve these two units, but as a simple, broad-brush comparison I think there is at least some use in this comparison.But it’s an unfortunate fact of this model: the Ghostkeel simply doesn’t offer much bang for its buck.Before we get too negative, I mention above that T’au players can equip their stealthy lad with a shield generator.