The Ethereal

First off, I know he sucks.

I have decided for the 40K Radio Motivational Challenge [January] to paint one of my two ethereals that I own. Why do I own two ethereals you may (and should) ask? Well, I own the old Aun'shi model from 3.0, and have the limited edition one that came with the 4.0 box. I had the 3.0 limited edition that crossed his arms, but I sold that army.

I am not painting the Ethereal with any real thought as to running him. I am interested in painting him for completeness. I've had the model since 2005... it's about time.

Now, in honesty, let's talk about the Ethereal.

ETHEREAL

With Toughness 3 and no save they are generally fire magnets on the table, especially since they force your entire army to make a morale check. Sticking them with a group of fire warriors or upgraded fire warriors is also not useful, as I think everyone can agree that a fire warrior squad in the open is going to get wiped off the face of the earth.

His ability to make his squad Fearless is an attractive option, meaning that if you attach him to broadsides then there will be no chance of that bad morale roll which makes them walk (slowly) off the table. However, a couple of str 6 shots and the ethereal can be forced to make an individual save, killing him instantly, so this is a no go.

Sadly, in 3rd Edition I actually used the Ethereal a great deal. I ran a hybrid gun line, and the ability to control morale in hand to hand was quite a benefit. Oddly enough they made his rule not as good (It went from All Tau on the Table, to All Tau in Line of Sight) in the 2nd Tau Codex in 4th edition, but then the system himself upgraded the rule for 5th edition with the true LOS rule. At this point it is fairly difficult NOT to see him.

For 50pts he has quite a remarkable rule, however at the same time, his downside is SO powerful as to make him unusable. One can only hope that in the next iteration of the Tau Codex we see a change in him. What are some idea to fix him. What do you think? Here are some thoughts of my own:

• First, make him (like Guard) able to use his rule from a Transport. This simple change, and the survivability of Tau Vehicles would give the Ethereal the possibility of living long enough to be worth it.
• Give him a series of squad upgrades, rather like an Inquisitor or a Command Squad. Tau Air Caste, Tau Water Caste and Tau Earth Caste advisors. Perhaps even aliens (Niccassar perhaps).
• Let him have the ability to purchase some type of suit. There are several pictures of Ethereal with flight packs of some type. Let it upgrade his toughness to 4. This way the high amount of str 6 shots that come in wouldn't instant kill him, and instead would do a wound. That is not so bad. It should also give him an armor save.
• Perhaps allow him to purchase several types of abilities, as opposed to the one he has.

Well that is it. I will take some (probably poor) pictures after I finish him and post them up here tomorrow.