Tau marker lights hitting the wall.

[Jimothy]

Now it has been discused that Tau Marker lights should be affected by covers saves. WOAH PEOPLE! CALM DOWN! give me a chance to finish before the replys start. Anyway While i do think that this would go against the feeling behind Marker Lights.... The rules make pretty clear that Marker Lights SHOULD be blocked by cover. Also, and this is most important. Common sense says ducking behind a wall makes a laser pointer lose sight of you.... i mean seriously.. the rules in questiong are as follows. OH! Also number two. it doesn't say that it ignores cover where as weapons that do ignore cover say so.

Cover Saves
A position in cover Shields troops against flying debris and enemy shots, enabling them to get their heads down or crawl amongst the rocks and (hopefully) avoid harm. Because of this units in or behind cover receive a cover saving throw. The great thing about cover saving throws is that they are not affected by the armour piercing value of the attacking weapon, so units in cover will normally get a saving throw regardless of what's firing at them.

Marker Lights
Range Str AP Type
36" n/a n/a Heavy 1
A markerlight is a hand-held device that projects a simple beam upon a target, and it is used to guide other weapons to it with unerring accurace. Models use a markerlight as a weapon with the above profile. (it continues but the important thing is that its considered to be a ranged weapon.)


"Yes i saw. You were doing well until everyone died."

[Andrew]

We ruled it at our last tournament that units get cover saves against marker lights, so yea. It's logical to be consistent.

The precedent against this is with enemy psychic powers. You only get cover saves from them if they cause wounds.

[Leudast1215]

You realize by establishing this no Tau player at our club will ever use marker lights again competitively because they've been needlessly and totally nerfed by this precedent? A surprising amount of Tau effectiveness relies on these little guys in 1000+ games. They never got cover saves before, so why now the issue? I really don't think that was the intent behind them when they were designed.

[Jimothy]

so i was at onboard games today and had John mentioned that models do not get cover save when marker lights are used. The reason he gave was that cover is not rolled for until after the wound. marker lights give no wound so you never get to the step for rolling cover. As such i say we get rid of cover saves for marker lights since I am pretty sure John is right about them.

[Andrew]

Yep, my professional consult agrees. Answered in the club FAQ.