XV15 Stealthsuit - The XV15 Stealthsuit is one of the smallest and lightest of all the various T'au Battlesuit variants, and is designed for use in operations requiring a high degree of stealth. Squads of Fire Warriors wearing XV15 Stealthsuits operate as the "lone wolves" of a T'au army, specialising in covert operations such as infiltration, sabotage, reconnaissance and ambush. There are few more perilous and nightmarish battlefields than those created when a tangled cityscape is plunged into ruinous war. Yet it is amidst such conditions that the T’au of Sa’cea Sept excel. They make an art of fighting through half-collapsed cities, knowing just how to exploit this inimical environment to their advantage. Stealth Suits normally come armed with a Burst Cannon (18″ S5 AP0 Assault 4) on each model in the squad, which makes them a bit unremarkable; in other armies such a gun might be considered above par, but for Tau it’s really just two Pulse weapons strapped together, which isn’t a blowout. Still, it’s a fairly reasonable weapon, so we can’t complain about it too hard (although the short range is certainly vexing on what should be a skirmisher unit.) One model in every three can upgrade to a Fusion Blaster (18″ S8 AP-4 DmgD6 Assault 1) for +10pts, which gives the unit the rare capability of toting its own anti-tank weaponry- something almost unheard of in the Tau codex. I don’t think that it’s a blowout option, but for an army that can often struggle to bring anti-tank firepower in multiple slots, it’s very useful to have.

Allows Pathfinders to perform a free Dash Action as long as they’re within 6 inches of a kill zone edge, and they must end that action within 6 inches of a kill zone edge. Anything that provides extra actions or movement is good, but unfortunately it is Pathfinders only, and was migrated to the Pathfinder Kill Team. Once again, if you’re playing with Pathfinders you shouldn’t be using the Hunter Cadre rules. D Tactical Ploys Supporting Fire (1 CP) The real key with Stealth Suits is not to grant them undue importance. Yes, they can be annoying if they are harassing you from the flanks or rear, but they are generally going to be a lot less important than most other elements of the Tau army that you should be focusing on- as said, they have one of the lower firepower-per-point ratios for the army, since they pay quite a bit for their survivability. If you can safely ignore them, do so until other units are gotten rid of and you’re cleaning up the remainders of the little blue fishmen, at which point it shouldn’t be hard to finish the job. This piece of equipment is so bad that Games Workshop just decided to give it to the entire Pathfinder team for free! The difference between how Markerlights work for Hunter Cadres vs Pathfinders is night and day. F Photon Grenade [2 EP]VEHICLE and BATTLESUIT models with this tenet do not suffer the penalty incurred to their hit rolls for firing Heavy weapons at enemy units that are within Engagement Range of them. Yet the Earth Caste did not stop there. As the T'au Empire expanded across the stars, the Hunter Cadres encountered new and more deadly alien races, prompting the Earth Caste to develop new battlesuits to fulfill particular battlefield tactical roles or face certain foes. Add 4" to the Range characteristic of ranged weapons that models with this tenet are equipped with. Stealth Suits, as one might expect, come with the For the Greater Good rule, allowing them to fire overwatch in support of nearby units if they so choose. Like other battlesuit units they also have Bonding Knife Ritual, allowing them to automatically pass any morale test on a roll of ‘6’. The third factor in their usefulness is, of course, their ability to deploy virtually anywhere onto the field. This can be a double-edged sword in many cases, as it’s very easy to be too aggressive with them and deploy them in such a way that they are put in extreme danger (like getting charged on the first turn, etc.) However, if one avoids this pitfall it is very easy for a cheap little 78pt squad of Stealth Suits to spend the whole game hunkered down on an objective somewhere, all but immune to enemy firepower and able to get you your mission points with ease. In a best case this is generally how they will be used, but obviously very few opponents will make it this easy for you.

The Rail Rifle instead does 4 shots with 4 flat damage, AP1, Lethal 5+ and does 2 mortal wounds on a crit, making it a nasty way to push through damage (and a good target for markerlights). Her'ex'vre was then transcribed phonetically into Low Gothic as the designation "XV," which forms the foundational prefix of Imperial nomenclature for the different types of T'au Battlesuits. Numerical designators applied to a type of battlesuit generally consist of one or two numerals placed after the XV prefix. Only the greatest heroes of the Fire Caste stride to war in these mighty armoured machines, and they are the pride of the caste as well as one of the most important symbols of the T'au Empire. Battlesuits can easily lay down a withering hail of fire to destroy both infantry and armoured vehicles, and possess the resilience and speed to shrug off heavy fire. Though the armies of the T'au rely on their skimmer-tanks and the airborne gunships of the Air Caste for long range support, the battlesuits of the Fire Caste are considered to be the most efficient of all their many killing machines. We’ve established that a Stealth unit can provide some useful options for Secondaries, and we’ve also looked into the strong defensive capabilities of the models. Enter the Drones

An XV15 Stealthsuit after having just ambushed and destroyed an Imperial supply convoy during the Taros Campaign In addition, they have the Camouflage Field rule, which forces the enemy to subtract one from all hit rolls against them (including in melee combat) and the Infiltrator rule, allowing them to deploy onto the field anywhere that is outside of the enemy deployment zone and more than 12″ from enemy models. Regardless, Stealth Suits in 9th edition have some play, and I’d highly recommend any T’au player who hasn’t already done so to give them a try.