Welcome back to Vantage Point, the Kill Team tactics series that flips your strategic knowledge from Conceal to Engage. By now, many of you will have Kill Team: Chalnath in your hands, and you may be wondering how best to use your new operatives. Kill Team Designer Elliot Hamer is back to offer up more words of wisdom, this time on the T’au Pathfinders.
The Pathfinder kill team performs better when its operatives are working together for the Greater Good, and so a lot of the tips for the Veteran Guardsman kill team will also apply here. Pathfinders are still T’au though, with a very strong preference for ranged warfare, so here are some ways you can ensure they always fight on their terms.
Find the Path
With better-than-average ranged weapons, it may be tempting to ‘castle up’ with a gunline and blast away. However, movement is the most important aspect of Kill Team – getting to objectives, using cover, controlling the table, drawing a bead on the enemy, and so on. Pathfinders have a few neat tricks for moving around the killzone, so embrace their moniker. This will allow you to get into position early, so you can spend precious AP on the
Markerlightaction instead.
Recon Sweep allows you to Dash around the edges of the killzone, fantastic for getting early ground and setting up crossfires on the enemy.
The SHAS’UI PATHFINDER’s Mont’ka Art of War allows you to Dash into position before shooting, or even Shoot then Dash back behind Heavy terrain.
There are also a number of operative-specific movement tricks you can employ, such as using the Reposition Tactical Ploy to escape from a sudden close combat ambush.
Tactical Gunfights
Pathfinders are very capable in a gunfight thanks to their high-damage weapons and markerlights. However, with just 7 Wounds and a 5+ save, they are more fragile than average, so use cover when trading fire to keep the gunfights in your favour.
The Take Cover Strategic Ploy and Kauyon Art of War are indispensable when you’ve got to dig in and out-shoot your opponent, and a well-placed MEDICAL TECHNICIAN PATHFINDER can keep key operatives alive.
Root Them Out
The Pathfinders’ ranged potential is offset by their poor close-combat capabilities, and a clever opponent won’t look to fight on your terms. Instead they’ll sneak forward on Conceal orders, get into your lines, and fight you in combat where you’re weakest. To prevent that, here are some key tricks to bring your guns to bear against Concealed operatives:
The aforementioned Movement rules allow you to push flanks and open up new lines of fire across the killzone.
Grenades have the Indirect rule, allowing you to target a Concealed enemy. The ASSAULT GRENADIER PATHFINDER is great for this, as they come with multiple grenades for free and can use them all twice.
An enemy with enough Markerlight tokens can be targeted as if it has an Engage order, so look to stack them on key enemy operatives. This may at first seem costly using the Markerlight action so many times, but if you can’t target with a Shoot action anyway, there’s no loss. You can also use equipment to maximise your Markerlight actions, such as a Target Analysis Optic, High-Intensity Markerlight, and Orbital Survey Uplink.
Layer Your Defence
Pathfinders are some of the bravest warriors in the T’au Empire, pushing forward beyond positions of safety to take key ground for the Greater Good. With lots of operatives, Pathfinders can be great for this in Kill Team, giving you board control and objective dominance.
You can also layer your defence, making sure the enemy has to go through the bravest of your operatives before they can get to the heart of your team. Be mindful of enemy charge distances, and use Photon Grenades, the TRANSPECTRAL INTERFERENCE PATHFINDER and the Grav-inhibitor Drone to slow the enemy down and protect your lines of defence. This can effectively stall your enemy and keep them away from your key operatives.
Drone Support
Drones are more specialised than regular Pathfinders. You’ll lose out on an operative that can Shoot, Markerlight, or interact with objectives all at once, but the right drone in the right place can boost your other operatives exponentially. Just remember to focus them on their purpose – a drone flying around and not doing its proper job is a big waste.
The SHIELD DRONE with Saviour Protocols can soak up fire against your MARKSMAN or WEAPON EXPERT PATHFINDERS, keeping them alive after they’ve changed to Engage and fired.
The Pulse Accelerator drone can boost a group of Pathfinders through proximity alone. If you pair this with the Bonded Strategic Ploy, you can create a reliable shooting core with any Pathfinders.
The Marker Drone has a High-intensity Markerlight, getting you two markerlights for one. Pair this with a MARKSMAN or WEAPON EXPERT PATHFINDER with a Target Analysis Optic, and a single Markerlight action turns one key Pathfinder into an all-out assassin.
Thank you for your insight, Elliot! You can jump into the battle for the Vedik System right now with Kill Team: Chalnath, the first expansion for Kill Team’s new edition. Before we go, we’ve seen one more Pathfinder sneaking around the edge of our vision, and we managed to catch a quick snap of them. Who could this be?
Our intel suggests that all will be revealed on Warhammer Community in the not-too-distant future... Join Vantage Point again soon as we recite a few quick litanies and get to grips with the hot-headed new Sisters Novitiate.