Kauyon: The 11th-Edition T'au Patient Hunter Detachment

Two clauses, both switching on in the third battle round and running to the fifth.

• During the third, fourth and fifth battle rounds, ranged weapons equipped by T'AU EMPIRE models from your army have the [SUSTAINED HITS 1] ability.
• During those same rounds, while a unit is a Guided unit, each time a ranged attack is made by a model in that unit that targets a Spotted unit, you can ignore any or all modifiers to that attack's Ballistic Skill characteristic and/or all modifiers to the Hit roll.

Two corrections, because both are widely repeated. There are no re-rolls anywhere in this detachment rule. Older write-ups describe Kauyon as a reroll payoff; it is not, and it never has been in this edition. And the second clause is a modifier-ignoring clause, not an accuracy bonus. That is a very different effect: it is worth a great deal against an army that stacks -1 to hit on you, and worth nothing at all against an opponent who applies no modifiers. Judge it by your local meta rather than by its wording.

The first clause is the one that always pays. [SUSTAINED HITS 1] on every T'au ranged weapon in your army, for three of five battle rounds, rewards volume of shots rather than a few big guns. That shapes the list: a Broadside firing a lot of shots benefits more per point than a single high-damage gun does.

The structural weakness is obvious and unavoidable. Battle rounds one and two, you have no detachment rule. Everything about building and playing a Kauyon list follows from that.

Six, and notably two of them are locked out during exactly the rounds when your detachment rule is also off, which is a deliberate piece of design.

• A Tempting Trap (1CP, your Shooting). Target one T'au unit that has not shot. The first time you use it you also nominate an objective marker outside your opponent's deployment zone as your Trap objective marker for the rest of the battle. Until the end of the phase, your unit's ranged attacks against enemy units within range of that marker add 1 to the Wound roll. Cannot be used in the first or second battle rounds. Choose the marker on the first use with real care, because you are stuck with it all game.
• Point-blank Ambush (1CP, your Shooting). One T'au unit that has not shot; until the end of the phase its ranged attacks against enemy units within 9 inches improve Armour Penetration by 1. Cannot be used in the first or second battle rounds.
• Coordinate to Engage (1CP, your Shooting). One T'au unit just selected as an Observer unit; until the end of the phase its own attacks against its Spotted unit improve Ballistic Skill by 1 and, if your unit has MARKERLIGHT, gain [IGNORES COVER]. Note this buffs the Observer, not the Guided units, which is the opposite of what most people assume.
• Combat Embarkation (1CP, opponent's Charge). Just after a charge is declared, one T'au INFANTRY unit that was a target and one friendly TRANSPORT within 3 inches with room for the whole unit; your unit embarks and your opponent picks new targets.
• Photon Grenades (1CP, opponent's Charge). Faction Pack v1.2 rewrote the timing to just after an enemy unit has selected its charge target. One T'au GRENADES unit that was selected; that enemy takes a Battle-shock test immediately and subtracts 2 from Charge rolls until the end of the phase.
• Wall of Mirrors (1CP, end of opponent's Fight). One STEALTH, GHOSTKEEL or COMMANDER SHADOWSUN unit not in Engagement Range; remove it and place it in Strategic Reserves.

The pattern tells you how to play: rounds one and two are defensive, and your available tools are Combat Embarkation, Photon Grenades and Wall of Mirrors, all of which are about not losing units. Rounds three to five are offensive, and A Tempting Trap and Point-blank Ambush unlock exactly then. Bank command points accordingly.

Four, and one of them directly attacks the detachment's weakness.

• Exemplar of the Kauyon (20 pts). T'AU EMPIRE model only, excluding KROOT SHAPER models. While the bearer is leading a unit, the Patient Hunter rule applies to that unit from the second battle round instead of the third. This is the fix: one extra turn of your detachment rule, for one unit. Put it on whichever block does the most shooting, and note that it only helps the led unit, not your army.
• Precision of the Patient Hunter (15 pts). T'AU EMPIRE model only. Each time the bearer makes a ranged attack, add 1 to the Hit roll, and from the third battle round add 1 to the Wound roll as well. The only enhancement here that buffs the bearer rather than its unit, so it wants a character with a gun worth firing.
• Solid-image Projection Unit (20 pts). T'AU EMPIRE model only. After both players have deployed, redeploy up to three T'AU EMPIRE units, and you can place them into Strategic Reserves regardless of how many units are already there. A pre-game tool, and the most reliable protection against being out-deployed before a patient plan can start.
• Through Unity, Devastation (30 pts). T'AU EMPIRE model only, excluding KROOT SHAPER models. Faction Pack v1.2 rewrote this one. While the bearer is leading a unit, each time that unit is an Observer unit, ranged weapons equipped by models in a Guided unit have [LETHAL HITS] while targeting their Spotted unit until the end of the phase.

That last one is the most expensive enhancement in the detachment and the only one that pays your whole army rather than one unit. It stacks with [SUSTAINED HITS 1] from the detachment rule on the same attacks. If you are building for damage, it is the pick; if you are building to reach battle round three at all, Exemplar of the Kauyon is.

(Points come from the Munitorum Field Manual and move with updates; confirm in the app.)

• Broadside Battlesuits are the archetypal Patient Hunter unit: they want to stand still and fire for five rounds, and [SUSTAINED HITS 1] rewards their volume of shots more than it rewards a small number of big ones.
• Riptide Battlesuit is the durable centrepiece that survives to the payoff turn, which is the hard part of the detachment. Faction Pack v1.2 rewrites Nova Charge and both Ion Accelerator profiles.
• Pathfinder Team is what the second half of the rule runs on, because it only applies to Guided units shooting a Spotted unit. The pack rewrites its Target Uploaded ability.
• Stealth Battlesuits and Ghostkeel Battlesuit are two of the three datasheets Wall of Mirrors names, so they are screens you can pull off the board rather than lose.
• Strike Team is the bait. Kauyon is a plan about where your opponent chooses to go, and cheap Fire Warriors on an objective are how you choose it for them.
• Devilfish is what makes Combat Embarkation possible, since it needs a Transport within 3 inches with capacity for the whole unit. The pack adds the FRAME keyword to it.

One omission to note: Longstrike, the Barracuda and the Tetras are all Warhammer Legends datasheets in 11th edition, so none of them belongs in a matched-play Kauyon list however much the older lists liked them.

Take Kauyon when you want a gunline that also has a Detachment Point to spend. It is one of only two T'au detachments that leaves room for a partner, and at 2 DP it is the most flexible strong option in the faction.

It suits patient players who are comfortable giving ground early and are good at board management. It rewards a list built around volume of fire rather than a few big guns. And it punishes the opposite temperament: if you find yourself pushing forward in round one, you are playing Mont'ka's game with Kauyon's rules.

Be clear-eyed about the weakness. You have no detachment rule for the first two battle rounds, which is 40 percent of the game, and the modifier-ignoring half of the rule can be worth nothing against the right opponent.

Sample gameplan, and our recommendation for a first 2,000-point T'au list: Kauyon (2 DP) + Advanced Acquisition Cadre (1 DP). The cadre's Expert Fieldcraft lets Pathfinders and Stealth suits shoot without breaking their hidden status, which is precisely the insurance a detachment that needs to survive to round three should buy. Take Exemplar of the Kauyon on the character leading your Broadsides so that block gets four rounds of the rule instead of three, spend rounds one and two on Combat Embarkation, Photon Grenades and Wall of Mirrors, and unload A Tempting Trap and Point-blank Ambush from round three.

The alternatives, both legal: Kauyon + Auxiliary Cadre for cheap board control that also becomes a [LETHAL HITS] beacon, and Kauyon + Experimental Prototype Cadre for characters that shoot from six inches further back. For the fundamentals, read the T'au Empire army guide.