I'm just wondering, if anybody uses Krootox out there? Sorry, if this has been discussed already, but I'm new to the board.
Welcome to the Boards Professor.
Just some quick advice for general forum use, make sure to always browse stickied topics, which appear just above the normal threads, in their own little box. There, you will find one, on every board almost, that is called
Important Topics. There's quite a bit in these topics, especially here at the Tau board. If all else, if you really want to find things quickly to browse, check out the
Search Feature. And to make it even better, use the Advanced feature, so that you can limit your search to the Tau board, and then search for something that interests you (such as Krootox in your case). You will be given a long list of topics that all include that theme you'd like to know more about, both older and recent ones alike, based on relevance to your search. Give it a shot, you may find what you need much faster that way.
Now, as it is, you will find an overwhelming amount of information which points to the Krootox being the ultimate waste of points in the Tau army list. You will find many things that show them as being the worst possible purchase for a Tau army and that they simply are too weak for what we have to do to get them. First of all, let's look at just what makes them the black sheep that they are:
1 - They're a heavy support choice
(That means, they deny us Hammerheads & Broadsides in their place)2 - They must be attached to a Troop selection of Kroot
(That means, we must pay for another unit just to even get this unit, taking up two selections)3 - They cripple the Kroot's abilities
(That means, you just lost infiltration, which is one of the key reasons to have Kroot, which means it's hard to get cover early)4 - They're expensive
(You pay big cash, and big points to field them, while they add very little to your army, other than looks, compared to a Tau unit)There are positive arguments for them, but they will be much more difficult to find, and much more difficult to truly validate from many players, however, here's some examples:
A - They're good combat support in small games
(Strength 6 in combat can be handy)B - The Kroot Gun is still a long range, decent strength dakka weapon, buried within a warm mass of Kroot for protection, and you can have several.
C - Cool looking model
(Sometimes, for theme's sake, it's just cool to see them)Now - if you follow some of the rumors on the new Tau codex, which is coming out soon, you may find a few things that may interest you. One of these rumors, is that the Krootox will stop taking up heavy support when they're attached to a Kroot troop. That means it will be more like a unit upgrade and not subtract in a bad way from the rest of your army's force organizational chart. That simple change will eliminate many of the negative points of the Krootox and make them a rather attractive and simple unit to have. If this rumor proves true, I would expect to see Krootox sells go up, as people want more and more massed Kroot Guns (which are basically autocannons, but they're rapid-fire) and these will be useful for stationary squads that can spend time in cover, and act as light anti-tank support, or mowing down infantry or harassing high toughness creatures from afar. For a troop selection in the Tau army to suddenly have long range higher strength weapons, it will be something worth exploring. But again; this is based on a rumor - so we must wait to see.
Personally though; I'm picking up a few before stores raise the price on them if the demand suddenly shows up (since store stock on them are usually low due to zero sales on Krootox models). Around me, they're cheap because no one wants them. If you don't mind potentially wasting money, it could be an interesting little investment for the future.
Cheers!
