Pathfinder Team
This page is for Tau infantry unit. If you are looking for the page about the Roleplaying game made by Paizo, please see Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Tau Pathfinders are Tau infantry teams with long range reconnaissance capabilities. They sneak in ahead of a Cadre to relay strategic information and guide armies in battle. They use their markerlights to assist Fire Warriors on the ground and to call in seeker missile strikes. They are often deployed in a Devilfish for mobility and assisted by Remoras and Piranhas for protection. They can sometimes be seen using rail rifles and ion rifles, but their standard weapon is the trusty pulse carbine.
Pathfinders tend to be younger and more zealous defenders of the Greater Good, who have no gripes with offering their life in support of the Empire. They have a sole function in their Cadre, which is to point their Markerlights at nearby troops who then either are blown into chunks or gets butchered like fish in a barrel. No, carrots in a barrel. They are some of THE most devoted Tau infantrymen, who would gladly sit tight while Tyranids advance on their location, just so their little laser lights can support someone else in the Cadre. That's loyalty that even Imperials can get behind, and earns Pathfinders a pair of Fio'tak balls compared to the paper thin balls of their strike team brethren.
The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer states that they are 'runtish and diminutive' and have a 'very low survival rate', which is partly true for the latter, and might serve to inspire Guardsmen to hunt the Pathfinders without having to actually teach them the tactical importance of it.
Overview[edit]
Pathfinder teams range far ahead of Hunter Cadres in search of enemy forces. They maintain a watch on the foe while remaining hidden, reporting details of the enemy’s nature and disposition by way of encrypted and undetectable communication systems. Pathfinder teams are also deployed in the role of aggressive patrol groups, maintaining dominance over a wide area around a stationary Hunter Cadre and detecting any enemy forces that attempt to approach. Occasionally, an entire Hunter Cadre of Pathfinders is tasked with a mission, such as exploring a newly discovered planet and ascertaining if it is suitable for colonisation.
Pathfinders are equipped with a range of specialised equipment to aid in their mission. Every member of the team wears Recon Armour and carries a Markerlight, a laser designator device attached to his firearm that projects an almost invisible, highly focused beam of light at a potential target. The Markerlight is networked to a support weapon platform such as a Hammerhead gunship, and transmits precise targeting information in order to guide the fire of such units. When used to guide the armour-piercing Seeker Missiles carried as additional weapons on many Tau tanks, the Pathfinders are able to remain hidden as they call in devastatingly powerful and unerringly accurate fire right onto the target. Many Imperial troops have come to fear the small, red dot of light that appears on the body of those about to be slain, and some refer to it as the "Valkyrie’s Mark." Pathfinders are called to sacrifice themselves more often then their basic Fire Warrior counterparts, though recklessly wasting lives is always anathema to the Tau. However during the early days of the Great War of Confederation, Pathfinder teams sustained casualty rates of 84% or higher. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Fire Caste academies are overflowing with volunteers wishing to be Pathfinders.
The Devilfish troop carriers used by Pathfinder teams are fitted with a larger variant of Markerlight technology called a Marker Beacon. This is used to designate a position to which jump troops and orbital insertion craft can be guided, allowing units such as battlesuit-equipped Crisis Teams to drop directly onto their target. Each individual Pathfinder is equipped with a Pulse Carbine, which is fitted with an underslung Photon/EMP grenade launcher. The grenades are used by the Pathfinders when they react to sudden and unanticipated contact with their enemies, and they are adept at rapid deployment using their anti-grav carriers. Some Pathfinders replace their carbines with Rail Rifles, sniper weapons as accurate and deadly as any similar weapon the Imperium is capable of fielding. Others use experimental Ion Rifles.
On several occasions, Pathfinder teams have held back while observing an infiltrating force, only calling in fire when their enemy is too far forward to extricate safely. When facing Tau forces likely to be accompanied by Pathfinder teams, the Deathwatch takes exceptional care to ensure mission security, equipping Kill-teams with all manner of sensor and countermeasure devices.
On the Tabletop (7th)[edit]
The Pathfinders have the exact same statline as the standard Guardsman, bearing a Leadership of 8, and are outfitted with the standard Pulse Carbine, which is a simple S5, AP5, Assault 2, Range 18" weapon, but what most will notice right away is the cost: 11 points. That is a lot for a model significantly weaker than a Fire Warrior, a Troop choice that's 2 points cheaper and equipped with better armor and the more deadly Pulse Rifle, everybody's favorite plasma sniper rifle. So what is the deal with these blue dudes?
Well, first of all, Pathfinders are not there to deal damage or weather attacks, and if you use them for such things you will be gravely disappointed. They are there to use their markerlights. Each Pathfinder not outfitted with a rail rifle or ion rifle has a markerlight fitted on his pulse carbine, which they can use to light up other units for the rest of the Cadre, and as a unit of Pathfinders can have as much as 10 Pathfinders, this amounts to a relatively high amount of markerlights. The tradeoff is both unit durability, as the Pathfinders are ridiculously easy to wipe out (T3 and 5+ Saves—they're Imperial Guardsmen) and they tend to be placed in areas where they can see the entire battlefield, and mobility, because markerlights count as heavy weapons, so the unit must snap fire (i.e., at BS1) if they want to move and use them in the same turn. Otherwise they have to stay put. That said, they are still one of the most universal units of the Tau Empire, simply because of the amount of other units who can use their support. They also have the Scouts rule, which might help out with those mobility problems.
When fielding them, consider how much you need their abilities. Though markerlights are very important to most Tau forces, you can get them in various other ways, like Marker Drones, which can be added to Crisis Suits squads and have better toughness and armour saves, or the Tetra, a small vehicle with an extra powerful markerlight. If you value versatility over volume of markerlights, you can use the Skyray, which, though a bit maligned by the community, can support troops and blow up someone else with missiles while it's at it. Also consider if you're going to be able to keep them alive; if not, then you might want to pick something else, as most players know to target and cripple the markerlights, as it can often jeopardize the entire battle for a Tau player.
8e/9e[edit]
8e[edit]
Pathfinders still have the Guardsmen Statline, barring the better leadership and worse WS. They carry 18" Pulse Carbines, with no AP and 1 damage each, as well as a markerlight. These days, you'll have to choose if you're shooting either a markerlight or the Carbine (pro-tip: Always shoot the markerlight.) Squads can also take any of the three drone variants (Marker, Shield, Gun) or the special Drones.
The Special drones are fun little guys to play with, but that's for another page. Look for Recon, Grav-Inhibitor, and Pulse Accelerator Drones on this page for more information.
Anyways, Pathfinders can replace three of their squadmates with Gunners, who can choose between the Rail Rifle and the Ion Rifle. The Rail rifle is popular for its Range and ability to wreck Heavy Infantry, dealing D3 wounds with a -4 AP, each 6 dealing a mortal wound. The Ion Rifle is...considerably less powerful, being a Tau plasma weapon. It does 1 damage, overcharged grants you an additional point of damage and strength. It also, unlike Imperial Plasma, gains the heavy keyword, d3 shots when it overcharges, which is both good and bad. Mostly bad. It never gets more than 1 AP, meaning that most stuff will be shrugging it off unless it's save is a 5 or 6+, in which case Why the heck are you shooting an Ion Rifle at it? Pulse fire will get through just as well.
9e[edit]
Games Workshop realized no one was buying these last edition, so they changed the rules to make them more useful. The Pulse Carbine is now marginally better, being given 4" of range for Assault 2 22" S5, but no AP so Marines will laugh it off. However, the Pulse accelerator Drone now gives you an extra point of AP for pulse weapons, so you'll need one to make them useful rear line defenders (note that this will still do diddly squat to marines because of Armor of Contempt. Thanks GeeDubbs!). Recon Drones can strip cover for the squad, which also helps, and the Gravity Accelerator Drone to defend against charges, which are now relevant threats again.
The special weapons have been marginally improved as well. The Rail Rifle is still way more useful, given it deals a mortal wound automatically with AP-4, though you can take Ion Rifles if you want to pretend to have Plasma. The new Fusion/EMP grenade launcher is also a pretty good offensive and tactical tool, doing both decent damage and giving pathfinders a way to weaken non-TITANIC VEHICLE by halving their effective wounds for the purpose of wound brackets. The Recon Sweep stratagem will allow them to throw a markerlight token onto a faraway target and then jump into cover.
Makeup of a Pathfinder Team[edit]
Thanks to Kill Team Chalnath, the Pathfinder Team is further broken down to their specialist units. And they have a metric shit-load of them. These are:
Shas'ui Pathfinder[edit]
The leaders of a Pathfinder Team.
Shas'ui Pathfinders are veteran squad leaders who have fought in many battles, making them the most experience member of the lot. These veterans have survived their fair share of being target practice the scouts of the Tau, so they know the best tips and tricks in not getting their heads blown off. Unfortunately, it can't be said the same for their underlings who are probably too gung-ho to listen to any dangers and then promptly getting their heads blown off.
Because of their seniority, they get equipment signifying their office in their team. Outside of their Recon Armour and standard-issue Pulse Carbine with Photon/EMP Grenade launcher, they are given the "honour" of a Bonding Knife, which, if you have read the weapons' page, is fucking lame. The only use for this thing is fending off against the occasional Grot, and even then...
On the tabletop, they are slightly better pathfinders still carrying markerlights. Interestingly, he doesn't use a gun butt to fight, but instead wields a bond knife like in Fire Warrior, giving them something as strong as a guardsman's chainsword and with Balanced. Neat attention to fluff is always appreciated. Not only can trigger an Art of War once per game, but also provide a Holographic Readout, allowing a friendly non-Drone operative perform objective actions at a 1AP discount.
Shas'ui Pathfinders are categorised under Marksman and Scout.
Blooded Pathfinder[edit]
Second in seniority in the team.
Blooded Pathfinders are the more harass members of the Pathfinders who has survived just as much as their Shas'ui boss but not as accomplished. They are bearers of the title Mont'yr or Blooded, which signifies that these experienced warriors have been wounded in battle and sport bionic replacements.
Outside of any bionic replacements, their status as veterans means that they are entrusted with specialist weapons such as suppressed Pulse Carbines, which means that even amongst the already scout-like status of a Pathfinder, these guys are one step higher. The uber scouts if you will. The literal first guys to enter a clusterfuck.
Their non-Tau counterparts would most likely be the Hardened Veteran and the Gnarlscar.
On the tabletop, Blooded Pathfinders are a curiosity among your lot, but this guy can act as a forward scout. Their pulse carbine is suppressed, granting it the Silent rule so you can hide this guy in cover and then open fire upon the enemy. Their melee prowess isn't too bad either, as their prosthetic hand hits about as hard as a marine's fist.
Blooded Pathfinders are categorised under Staunch, Marksman and Scout.
Shas'la Pathfinder[edit]
The mooks of the mooks.
Shas'la Pathfinders are the lowest ranked Pathfinder and the first ones to get shot like an idiot due to how hot-headed and overly-enthusiastic they are. They are incredibly green and they are just there to catch bullets.
Because of their low rank, their equipment is standardised. Recon Armour for all alongside a Pulse Carbine with an underslung Photon/EMP Grenade launcher. Don't expect them to last too long in a mission, so they are often used by their seniors provide covering fire.
On the tabletop, Shas'la Pathfinders are your mooks. Decent mooks despite being bullet catchers though. Their base pathfinder's pulse carbine is more than a match for a lasgun and can even outfire a bolter. If you're just looking to fill up an open spot on your kill team and don't need a specialist, the basic shas'la won't let you down.
Shas'la Pathfinders are categorised under Marksman and Scout.
Drone Controller Pathfinder[edit]
The RC guy of the team.
Drone Controller Pathfinders are pretty self-explanatory, these are the guys who are in charge in controlling a Pathfinder's Drone fleet, making him one of the more important fellas in the group.
As such, they are often tech experts that provides many of the maintenance and fixing of a Pathfinder's drone. If he is removed, it can prove debilidating for the overall well-being of a Pathfinder team. Since, whilst the team can still operate the drones without him, over time, they would start losing them, and without anyone with the knowledge to fix or maintain their drones, a Pathfinder team would soon be left without any drones. A dangerous scenario for the survival of the entire team.
He wears standard-issue Recon Armour with a Pulse Carbine. He also, due to his profession, carries a specialised remote controller with complementary heads-up display goggles.
Their Imperial counterparts would be a combination of the Navis Surveyor and Navis Void-Jammer.
On the tabletop, if you ever felt like your drones don't do enough, this is the guy to turn to. When you set him up, you can also set up a drone with the Conceal order within 6"/pentagon of your table edge and more than 6"/pentagon of the enemy's edge and over 3"/square of any enemy operatives. In addition, they can spend an AP to either activate a readied drone (freeing them of a lot of the handicaps dealt by Artificial Intelligence) or give an activated drone an extra Dash or Shoot action (though shooting takes a -1 BS penalty).
Drone Controller Pathfinders are categorised under Staunch and Scout.
Transpectral Interference Pathfinder[edit]
Another Tau unit with an obnoxiously long name.
The Transpectral Interference Pathfinder are your EW specialists. These guys are asked with jamming enemy communications and are great in spoofing and disrupting C&C on a local scale.
Due to their highly-specialised mode of warfare, they are equipped with signal scramblers that can also be tuned-in to disrupt enemy drones as well. Said signal scramblers act as an over-barrel attachment to their Pulse Carbines, turning it into a anti-drone gun. Outside of their specialist equipment, being Pathfinders, they still wear their standard-issue Recon Armour.
Their Imperial counterparts would be the Navis Void-Jammer.
On the tabletop, they are the saboteur of the pathfinders; using their visor to shoot otherwise-obscured enemies. Their special action robs a visible enemy of 1 AP for the turn as they manage to jam their systems somehow (The less said about how you could possibly try this on a tyranid or daemon, the better).
Transpectral Interference Pathfinders are categorised under Marksman and Scout.
Assault Grenadier Pathfinder[edit]
The equivalent of the heavy weapons guy for the Tau.
Assault Grenadier Pathfinders are the most hot-blooded of their kind, yes, even more so than the pretty green and hot-headed Shas'las. Being the guys holding the big stuff, they are tasked with carrying out dangerous attacks with EMP, Photon, or Fusion Grenades.
Outside of carrying 10 kilos worth of explosives, they are also fitted with advanced and reinforced helmets that render them immune to enemy efforts to stun them in turn. Nevertheless, they still wear Recon Armour and armed with a Pulse Carbine, however, so don't expect them to last as long as other factions' heavy weapons guy.
Their non-Tau counterparts would be the Navis Grenadier, Demolition Veteran, Kasrkin Demo-Trooper and Traitor Brimstone Grenadier.
On the tabletop, they are the Demo-Tau. This particular pathfinder manages to have all three grenade options for free, giving you plenty of EP to spare for other gear. While less notable, the grenadier's helmet also lets them ignore any changes APL, WS, and BS. This means that you can keep firing under any circumstance, even when they're at death's door and needing a medic.
Assault Grenadier Pathfinders are categorised under Staunch and Scout.
Communications Specialist Pathfinder[edit]
Another Tau unit with an obnoxiously long name.
A Communications Specialist Pathfinder is the direct opposite of the Transpectral Interference Pathfinder. Whereas the latter is more focused on EW and C&C interference, the Communications Specialist Pathfinder is...well...it's literally on the name. They are the C&C guys who connect their teams to others and vital support assets.
Because of their role, they carry a large, weebified walkie-talkie with enhanced communication equipment on their Recon Armour. They defend themselves with their standard-issue Pulse Carbine.
Their Imperial counterparts would be the Comms Veteran and Kasrkin Vox-Trooper.
On the tabletop, this opetative works like any other Comms operative in that they have an option to share an AP with nearby allies. Seeing that the team is almost entirely primed for shooting, this doesn't really run into any issues of playing keep-up. Also helpful is the fact that they can still help even without being within support range by throwing markerlights.
Communications Specialist Pathfinders are categorised under Scout.
Medical Technician Pathfinder[edit]
ANOTHER TAU UNIT WITH AN OBNOXIOUSLY LONG NAME. Geez, you would expect they could just shortened it into the Medic Pathfinder right?
Like the Communications Specialist Pathfinder, the Medical Technician Pathfinder is pretty on the nose on what they do. Serving as nothing more than combat medics, making them a valuable asset for the casualty prone Pathfinder team.
Due to their medical role, they are equipped largely with medical appliances. Largely stim-injectors and healing pastes. They aren't defenceless in combat either, as they do sport the standard-issue Pulse Carbine.
Their Imperial counterpart would be the Medic Veteran, Novitiate Hospitaler and Kasrkin Combat Medic. Whilst their Chaos counterparts will be the Traitor Corpseman.
On the tabletop, they are your medic, here to keep your pathfinders alive, but not your disposable drones. As with the ones given to the veteran guardsmen and novitiates, this guy can restore a nearby tau to 1 wound and then send them packing, spending 1 AP for both the medical officer and the patient. You can also heal 2d3 wounds for an operative if you didn't resurrect anyone.
Medical Technician Pathfinders are categorised under Staunch and Scout.
Weapons Expert Pathfinder[edit]
The other heavy weapons guy in the team.
Whilst the Assault Grenadier is to blow shit up, the Weapons Expert Pathfinder is there to employ suppressive firepower at the enemy. As such, they are important in dealing with enemy armour, depending on their loadout.
Speaking of loadouts, they wield heavy weapons such as Rail Rifles and Ion Rifles. Both weapons being excellent for popping Termies. Ironically enough, despite being the heavy weapons guy number#2, they don't have any weapons to deal with swarms of light infantry compared to their contemporaries which depend more on the latter in a role reversal. Meaning that a Pathfinder is going to be overwhelmed, A LOT.
On the tabletop, while lacking the markerlights that other pathfinders get, the guns this guy get are more than useful enough to compensate. The ion rifle gets P1 on a crit, but you can overcharge it to risk Hot for better damage and AP1. The rail rifle comes with AP1 by default, but Lethal 5+ allows it to easily score mortal wounds on a crit.
Weapons Expert Pathfinders are categorised under Marksman.
Marksman Pathfinder[edit]
Pretty self-explanatory on what they do.
Marksman Pathfinders are the sharpshooters of the team. Even amongst a race of sharpshooters, Marksman Pathfinders stand apart from the rest of the plebians.
Since they are specialist snipers, they equip themselves with advanced HUD goggles that act as support sights for their scoped-Pulse Rail Rifles. Surprisingly, you would expect them to be accompanied by Sniper Drones, but they are non-existent in a Pathfinder team.
Their non-Tau counterparts will be the Sniper Veteran, Kasrkin Sharpshooter and Traitor Sharpshooter.
On the tabletop, they are your true snipers, though lacking with the markerlights. Rather than a pulse carbine, the marksman gets a pulse rail rifle, which is essentially the weapons expert's rail rifle but able to use another type of ammo and doesn't degrade BS when using overwatch. This second ammo type is weaker than the basic ammo type and lacks Lethal, but it gains Silent to allow you to hide the sniper.
Marksman Pathfinders are categorised under Marksman.
Recon Drone[edit]
For more information, see here: Recon Drone
Gun Drone[edit]
For more information, see here: Gun Drone
Shield Drone[edit]
For more information, see here: Shield Drone
Marker Drone[edit]
For more information, see here: Marker Drone
Pulse Accelerator Drone[edit]
For more information, see here: Pulse Accelerator Drone
Grav-Inhibitor Drone[edit]
For more information, see here: Grav-Inhibitor Drone
