The recently released Tau Hammerhead Railgun 40k rules have really got people up in arms, but they may not be as bad as we think.
First, the real problem comes in the fact we get these rules in a vacuum potentially on purpose to get people talking. So while it looks insane, there are a lot of factors we don’t know. That means it might be the most destructive and effective anti-tank weapon we’ve ever seen, or it might be too high costed and fragile to ever matter.
Still, just looking at the rules gives some players a (justified) amount of fright. Because if you play certain armies and can’t get first turn, full cover, or whatever, these could eliminate your heavy firepower in one turn. Maybe the scarier thing than all this is the fact they said: this isn’t the most powerful weapon in the Tau Codex!
Let’s check out what we don’t know about the new Tau Hammerhead 40k rules, and what could be.
Rules from Warhammer Community Memes by the one any only Sepulcher of Heroes.
To be fair when you look at this on the surface, it’s really scary… As it will on average deal 11 wounds, with a built-in re-roll, and no saves. Basically, one shot can kill any light vehicle and two can more or less cripple even the biggest models.
Then, with this free re-roll, they might not be missing much. Especially when you consider the fact they say Markerlights are being upgraded. However, there are still a lot of things we don’t know.
Why the Hammerhead Railgun 40k Rules May Not be as Bad as We Think
- Points. We’re not saying it will happen, but if this doubles or triples in points, it won’t be an issue. If it goes to 450 (that seems really high but who knows) it would have to kill 3 150 point models to be cost-effective.
- Ballistic Skill. If they hit on a 4+, even with a reroll, they will have some issues, especially considering there are units that can give minuses to hit. We just don’t know yet.
- Survivability. If they are as easy to kill now, it might turn them into an army that needs first turn. It would be annoying if the game all comes down to the first turn, but that’s for another day.
- Markerlight Changes. We also don’t know how these will change, could either make them better or the changes might hurt somehow hurt a big one-shot type gun.
- Overall Army Rules. We don’t know about the book yet to know how they will actually fit into lists.
- List Restrictions. Who knows, they might end up doing something like one per detachment?
- Availability. This is a bit of a different idea, but if they are super powerful and popular, they might actually be hard to get from GW and other places. So even if you want it, you might have to pay the price.
So while the profile is insane, we just don’t know everything yet and maybe we shouldn’t get too worried… yet. Or who knows? Maybe all the rules come out and they are better than we think now…
Here’s all the latest on the upcoming rules updates and points changes for Warhammer 40k.
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What are your thoughts on the new Hammerhead Railgun 40k rules?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Joined: 2019
Socials: @paschbass
Bio: Dark Eldar Dracon and Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the third edition in 1998. He also loves camping because you can only paint so much! He joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been our lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his Ad Mech models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
