Warhammer 40,000: Tau Empire - Drone Harbinger (new unit)

TAU EMPIRE: DRONE HARBINGER (ELITES) The Tau Vehicle known as the Drone Harbinger has been first encountered by the Blood Ravens Space Marine Chapter during the Dark Crusade on the planet Kronus, where the Tau Commander Shas’O Kais and his Ethereal Aun’el Shi’Ores utilized these strange new crafts in the defense of the Imperial City Asharis, renamed to Or’es Tash’n by the Tau occupants. When Captain Davian Thule lead his Space Marines through the city streets, fighting off not only Tau, but Kroot and Vespid troops as well, he made little note of this new Tau craft, for he saw reclaiming the city and killing the Tau leader Aun’El as a higher priority at the time. However, during the hasty retreat the Tau Commander Shas’O Kais had ordered, thus carrying away the Ethereals dead body and withdrawing from the planet Kronus with as many troops as he can, the new vehicle designs have survived as well, but were still experimental for the Drone Harbinger had little time to prove itself in battle, however it did manage to keep of the Ork invasions into Tau territory, lead by Warboss Gorgutz ’Ead ’Unter, and they did stall the Blood Ravens assault into the city, if only a little bit. The Imperial Forces had seen very little of this tank, and had only nicknamed it ’’The Drone Harbinger’’. The Drone Harbinger has been used once more by Shas’O Or’es’Ka during the conflict of the Kaurava System. His troops were stationed on the planet Kaurava II and it’s moon renamed to Nan’Yanoi by the Tau. Commander Or’es’Ka was primarily experimenting with his new tactic which deviated from both Mont’Ka and Kauyon, naming it ’’Great Strength, Great Strike’’. However, he made little to no note of using this new vehicle type, but their usefulness was evident, as he battled both the Orks lead by Warboss Gorgutz and the Blood Ravens lead by Captain Indrick Boreale. Both factions had encountered this new experimental unit before, but Or’Es’Ka had still gained an upper hand over his enemies and the Tau were able to hold their ground on the Nan’Yanoi moon base. As much as he tried, he has failed, being swept away by the Imperial Guard 252nd Conservator Regiment under the leadership of Governor-General Vance Stubbs. The Drone Harbingers were able to hold back the waves of Guardsmen for some time, while defending the Ar’Ka Cannon. But no matter how many Gun Drones these tanks would spawn, there were simply more Guardsmen. When General Stubbs finally won at the Nan’Yanoi moon base and his men had pillaged the remains of their base and slaughtered the left over Tau resistance, Stubbs had acquired several Tau artifefacts and weapons and sent them to Segmentum Command for future study of Tau technology, it is rumored that among them are the scorched remains of a Drone Harbinger, thus the Imperium had finally started to take note of this new vehicle utilized by the usurping Tau forces as they further advanced into the Ultima Segmentum. Since then, there have been no future references to this new unit and seem to have made no appearences in any future conflicts with the Tau.

The Drone Harbinger by all regards resembles a Devilfish APC, except for one important thing that tells them apart. While the Devilfish is the work horse of the Tau millitary, carrying Fire Warriors and Pathfinders into battle, the Drone Harbinger instead stays behind the lines and produces a seemingly endless amount of Gun Drones. It’s deisgn is solely based upon the Devilfish, but it sacrifices cargo space for a miniature factory used to harvest raw materials and use them to make a swarm of Drones. Albeit, it is still an experimental unit and has had little experience on the field, it has proven to be a lethal weapon when used for the Greater Good and Tau. Armour Points BS Front Side Rear HP Drone Harbinger 160 3 12 11 10 3 Type: Tank, Skimmer

Unit Type: Vehicle

Weapons: Burst Cannon and a pair of Gun Drones. It is also equipped with landing gear. Options: The Drone Harbinger may be equipped with any of the vehicle upgrades specified in the Tau Armoury. The Gun Drones may be replaced by a Smart Missile System at a cost of +20pts.

Special Rules: Spawn Drones: A Drone Harbinger can spawn Gun Drones in the Tau movement phase before it has moved – even if it is locked in assault. If it does so, roll 2D6. Place a new unit of Gun Drones such that no model is more than 6’’ from the Drone Harbinger – the size of the unti is equal tot he total rolled. Models in this new unit cannot be placed in impassable terrain, or within 1’’ of enemy models. If you cannot place some of the models due to enemy proximity, impassable terrain or simply because you have run out of models, the excess is destroyed. The spawned unti may then move, shoot and assault normally. A unit spawned by a Drone Harbinger is identical in every way to a Gun Drone Squadron chosen from the Fast Attack section of the force organisation chart, and is treated as such for all scenario special rules. If any double is rolled when determining the size of a spawned unit, the Drone Harbinger has temporarily exhausted its supply of resources – the unit is created as normal, but the Drone Harbinger may not attempt to spawn further units for the rest of the game. Drone Rellay: All units of Gun Drones, spawned or otherwise, within 6’’ of a Drone Harbinger benefit from it’s Blacksun Filters and Targetting Array (if it has any), and the Counter-attack Special rule. Should a Drone Harbinger be slain, every Gun Drone Squadron, spawned or otherwise, within 6’’ immediately suffers a 3D6 Strength 3 AP- hits.