When I first started collecting Tau models, I stuck a few Carbines into my Fire Warriors because I liked the look of the weapon and because I felt that they could be useful. A shot at pinning a unit, plus keeping some range while moving, were great assets to have. Of course, I limited how many I assembled based on the supplies given in the box set, and due to the fact that the 3rd Edition Codex (before the Tau became an empire…) limited Carbine usage to half of the squad. Recently, especially right around the time that 5th Edition came out, I advocated including all Carbine teams in certain situations, most notably in my Saving the Fish of Fury article on ATT (ignore the “Fish of Furry” joke if you don’t know the back-story…), and I felt that this would be a good time to go into those ideas again.
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THE CASE FOR CARBINES
Within a squad of Fire Warriors, any number of the warriors may replace the Pulse Rifle with the Pulse Carbine at no additional cost. The “no additional cost” caveat is the first bonus. Since carbines are widely regarded as inferior weapons due to their general lack of versatility and killing power, trading for this weapon without having to stick more points into the unit is a great plus. Our codex is quickly getting outpaced by newer ones, and the high cost of all of our units is really hampering (especially when you also have to shell out for vehicles like I do…). Taking carbine warriors changes their role on the battlefield, and since they are a scoring unit (or a Kill Point), you really need to think about changing them around before you actually do.
So, what can carbine warriors do that rifle warriors can’t? For starters, reliably advance while still laying down firepower. Sure, you can argue that the rapid fire range of rifles is fine, plus the extra shot is nice, but think about this: when you’re in range to rapid fire, you’re definitely in range of being charged next turn. Suddenly the extra shots don’t matter when a scoring unit is being cut down in close combat. With carbines, you have a greater standoff distance, plus the potential for pinning, while slim, can help slow down advancing hostile units. My favorite trick is to keep firing while falling back (carbines are assault weapons). You keep the range, you can harass the pursuing unit, plus you can actually attack back! Try this with rifle warriors, and you’ll be disappointed.
Carbine warriors can also be used effectively in the EMP Commando mode. By sneaking into a rear position, the warriors can unload some pulse shots into the rear armor of a tank before charging in with EMP Grenades. You can’t assault after using rapid fire weapons, so you drop the effective potential of this unit greatly if they take the bulkier rifles. The weapon also looks more covert ops, so bonus points for coolness!
As mentioned briefly in my STFOF article linked above, these carbine warriors are great when used in addition to a rifle team, either for opponent destruction or objective holding. The added shots from the rifle team help make up for the low number of shots from the carbines, while the pinning ability can help protect the entire contingent. The carbines are also better at advancing into forward positions with a larger threat radius, helping to secure the eventual stronghold of the rifles.
Of course, I run fully (or almost fully) mechanized lists, so I’d be remiss without mentioning the benefits in these armies. When taken within a Devilfish, the common Fish of Fury attack gains six inches of range. That means that you don’t need to open up your unit to counter assault since you should be out of charge range (when accounting both for unit depth and the move-around added distance from the Devilfish’s footprint), increasing their life expectancy on the tabletop. Should that expensive Devilfish go down, your carbine warriors can still effectively advance to the objective and defend it until another Devilfish arrives; they can also simply fall back and either wait for evac or hold a “home” objective.
Yes, this is a pretty quick summary, but what do you expect from a college junior with finals coming up? You really need to simply try out carbines in your army (but don’t switch all of your Fire Warriors over immediately!) to figure out the perfect ratio between carbine and rifle teams, team sizes, etc. based on your opponents and terrain availabilities. Just don’t bring carbines to fight against Tyranids, in this edition or next…
Not this year. Since I’ll only be home for two weeks, I have to save my money (no gas or plastic crack), I didn’t want to make two trips down the stairs, I need to work on a research project, and since I’ll only be home for two weeks, I left all of my 40k stuff an hour away. Honestly, I probably could have even left my guitar and amp at the apartment as well, since only two weeks isn’t much time for practicing (although I am going to learn some Beatles songs for my mom…).
