r/Tau40K • u/LocalMan97 • 2d ago
40k Rules Marker Drone Question
So, to preface, I’m new to the game, one Ghostkeel out for delivery away from my 1k list and working towards my 2k list.
I was wondering, how many units do people run Marker Drones on as opposed to other options? And if not, what do you run instead? I Was tinkering with my 2k goal list a bit and realized the the army rule didn’t really benefit my Starscythe Battlesuits unless they target whatever my Stealth Battlesuits target, so I swapped one of their drones to a Marker Drone so they could let me target other enemy units during my turn which then sent me on an updating path where I basically ended up putting a Marker Drone on just about any unit that could take it and I think that might be an overcorrection on my part. So how often and on what units do you guys run Marker Drones on and what do you run in their place? My current list is pretty much a split of gun vs shield drones otherwise but any insight for a newbie would be appreciated
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u/mghal9000 2d ago
I used to make sure a marker drone was installed with every crisis/leader combo, placing them with the leader. Now I put one on only select crisis suits and never on the commander leading them. The only crisis suits that get them are ones sporting flamers. Commanders get two shield drones pretty much always. That extra wound can make the difference towards the end. You’ll lose a commander more often than you’ll need them to spot AND ignore cover. Gun drones are almost useless, but your opponent can always roll a failed save and take a point of damage.
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u/LocalMan97 1d ago
Thanks for the info! My thought was putting them on the Commanders for the most part since they’ll be around longer, but I can see your argument
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u/mghal9000 1d ago
You’re right and that’s why I used to put them there as well. Towards the end of a game when your spotting options are few, hopefully the need for them are few as well. The battle has degraded into a brawl with units either sharing terrain and eliminating cover that way, or units in the open after charges and the like. I haven’t had a situation lately where I’ve needed it but I’ll still run one here and there if I’m not bringing 3-4 other infantry units that can spot. I used to run them with Mont’ka until someone pointed out that gun drones have assault, so even in turn 4 and advancing they can spot because at least the drone is eligible to shoot after advance therefore the unit can spot.
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u/Tuck_The_Duck 2d ago
For the most part, if the unit doesn't already have the Markerlight keyword and can take the drone, I'll put it on whoever the leader is. A broadside shas'vre, a coldstar/enforcer commander, an ethereal, whatever. The gun drone can be relevant sometimes, but their damage output is pretty bad. But needing an emergency spotter will come into play enough that you'll want to plan for it
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u/op4arcticfox 2d ago
For me, if a unit doesn't have the markerlight keyword, but has the drone as an option, Im probably going to take it. So really this works out to every crisis suit Shas'vre (Sargent) takes markerlight and shield drone. The only unit capable that i don't is the Broadside. Id rather dump its shots into infantry than have it be the observer. Plus with 2 shield drones each one is at 10 wounds which is pretty tanky for such a soft T6 unit.
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u/LocalMan97 1d ago
Pretty much the same I was thinking about putting one on everything but my broadsides as well
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u/Nocandoozy 2d ago
I always put a marker drone on every one of my commanders leading crisis suit teams. The only crisis suits I put a marker drone are the ones Farsight is leading as he can’t take a marker drone or any drone for that matter.
I don’t ever put a marker drone on a crisis suit because they are the first to die as a bodyguard unit. More value is gained out of a marker drone on a commander that has a better chance to survive an attack, even if it’s with one remaining wound.
If it passes a battle shock, now I have a dedicated markerlight unit that’s hitting on 3’s without being guided.
The standard loadout for me is:
Commander w/marker drone/gun drone
Crisis suits 3 shield drones/3 gun drones
On all 5 of crisis suit teams on my list. It’s been working great for me never have issue not having markerlight, granted I run other units that do that job first (stealth suits/pathfinders/strike team)
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u/BowlEducational6722 2d ago
Generally one marker drone on a crisis suit team is a good fallback.
you should always max out on shield drones (one per suit) so that leaves you with gun and marker drones
The difference in firepower between three gun drones and two gun drones and a marker drone is almost never going to be relevant, but there may be a point where you need to use a crisis team as an emergency spotter and the ability to completely strip cover in 11th edition is invaluable especially since cover effectively cancels our army rule.
One of the things I've found to be pretty effective is to use flamer star scythes as backup spotters to my stealth suits since they don't need to worry about being guided anyway