O’Kakaushi
Shas’o Ar’sho Ka’kaushi Ken’soo
Commander of the Ar’sho Sept, Immense Strike Full of Patience, Artful Leader
Having spent many of his younger years piloting a Broadside battlesuit, Kakaushi earned his first name from his impecable patience lying in wait for a target of opportunity and dishing out precision strikes at extreme range. He continued on to become student of the Puretide hologram, and earned his second name through his stoic stature and masterful battlefield situational awareness, laying out careful plans and adjusting them smoothly during the heat of battle.
O’Kakaushi is a single model equipped with a Burst Rail Rifle and two Missile Pods. Only one of this unit may be included in your army.
Stats
Point Cost: 210*
*includes all wargear and accompanying units
Abilities
None yet. Definitely needs one.
Models
| Unit | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | A | Ld | Save |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O’Kakaushi | 20” | 2+ | 2+ | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 3+ |
Equipment
Darkstar Prototype
It’s a Coldstar with special equipement.
Lighteater Shield Array
The experimental shielding of the Darkstar can invert its normal functionality, absorbing many forms of energy - including light, which earned it the Lighteater name and the Darkstar its distinctive appearance while active.
O’Kakaushi has a 4+ invulnerable save.
At the beginning of your movement phase you may activate the Lighteater Shield Array. O’Kakaushi gains +2 to his toughness characteristic, adds +2 strength to his Burst Rail Rifle, and loses the invunerable save of the Lighteater Shield Array until it is deactivated.
At the end of your next movement phase the Lighteater Shield Array deactivates. Upon deactivation, for each model within 4” of O’Kakaushi, roll 1 D6 for each Lighteater Shield Charge. For each 2+, that model must subtract 1 from its hit rolls until the end of its next turn. For each 5+, that model suffers 1D3 mortal wounds.
The Lighteater Sheild Array automatically deactivates if O’Kakaushi is killed.
Wargear
| Weapon | Range | Type | Shots | S | AP | D | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burst Rail Rifle | 30” | Rapid Fire | D3 | 7 | -3 | D3 | On a wound roll of 6+ the target unit suffers one mortal wound in addition to the normal damage. |
| Missile Pod | C | C | C | C | C | C | See 8th Edition Tau Codex |
Discussion
Lighteater Shield Array
So I really wanted to call this Coldstar mod the Darkstar… Which is simple enough if you paint a Coldstar black. That seemed like such a cop-out though. So the functionality was worked backwards from the appearance, which would be like beams of blackness stretching out to eat the surrounding light. I haven’t the slightest fricken clue how I’m going to model that on a shield generator, but hey.
Fluff-wise, the +2T is from the Lighteater shield “sucking up” any lower-strength weapons that aren’t too much for its rate of absorption. The +2S to the Burst Rail Rifle is excess energy channeled to that weapon. The charges release all the stored energy (kinetic, acustic, photonic) in a massive concussive burst of force and light, easily dissarraying enemies (like a massive photon grenade) and causing a wave of damage around him. Also he’s the perfect fluff unit for the new Burst Rail Rifle, as he’s a former Broadside ace and a big fan of the rail platform.
(Okay, fine… I really just wanted a commander with a rail weapon. Bite me.)
Pros
- Great close-range damage rolls
- +2T and +2S on his primary ranged weapon
- Sweet-ass wargear name
Cons
- If you die with it activated, it might blow up on your own units
- If you don’t get out of Dodge before it deactivates, it might blow up on your own units
- It’s very short range. Anything left alive by it is going to charge your ass
- Vantablack is basically impossible to get on the open market
Weapons loadout
I gave him two missile pods. I very seriously considered making it airbursters instead (personally like them), but liked this in keeping with the 1 burst and 1 missile motif of the Coldstar. 2 missile pods might be overkill though, as the Burst Rail Rifle already counts as two weapons for everyone else.
So I’m considering making it just one missile pod. I’m also considering giving him a melee weapon akin to the Onager, though probably not that insanely strong.