Tau Shield Drone Squad

[Scalphunta]

Good Afternoon,

What would be a tactical reason to use a shield drone squad? I realize ICs can join the unit for protection, but how else could they be used?

[Carrelio]

String them up like a 24" impassable fence for opponent's in choke points around the board to serve as a road block against close combat units and non-skimmer transports and tanks.

[DEF Knight]

or seek out and assault their deathstars and tarpit like it's nobody's business.

[Carrelio]

Unless the deathstar is based on quantity of close combat attacks rather than quality... in which case avoid them like the plague (a 8 T4 4+ save doesn't mean anything against 40 wounds).

[Arguleon-veq]

They are great for tarpitting things like assault termies or big monsters, they dont have too many attacks, still need 3's to hit you and your getting a 4+ save against them, make sure you have an ethereal nearby and they should stick around for most of the game.

Still a bit of a waste of points though as kroot can do it way better.

[InsaneTD]

Protect an ethereal in the middle of a gun line maybe?

[Kur'os]

I read a tactic earlier about using them as a bubble around an objective; spaced out so that they surround the objective and prevent an opponent from controling / denying said objective.  Even if the drones are assaulted, the combat won't move any closer to the objective. 

Otherwise, they work as a mobile screen to give cover (XV-25s work well in this case).  Or a means to provide different characters with protection should they require it at different times / locations. 

-Kur'os

[knightperson]

Hmmm, maybe to grant a cover save to your gunline without granting one to the enemy? Have a line of shield drones in front of your shooting units. They can move behind the crisis suits or whatever in the movement phase, the crisis suits can shoot unobstructed, then in the assault phase they jump back in front to provide cover.