Check it out - we've got a new Farsight coming. There's a few things I find interesting about this model and the text in this article. First off, the new sculpt is nice, and puts him halfway between the old blocky XV-8 chassis and some of the Forge World designs. I love the more dynamic pose as well. Second, check out the "power glaive", formerly the Dawn Blade. The power unit near the hilt looks like a standard plasma rifle power unit; is this being seen as Tau technology now instead of an artifact of dubious heritage? Finally, they seem to be playing down Farsight's rebellious history and the Farsight enclaves, instead just mentioning "doubts about his loyalties". Granted, this is just a promotional article and not the codex itself, but are we seeing hints at a partial Farsight retcon? It'll be interesting to see how this plays out in the book itself.
The plastic Pathfinders have a few interesting bits themselves. First off, new drone varieties - I'm very excited to see this being expanded beyond even what Forge World has done in the past. I'm hoping that these aren't going to be limited to just Pathfinder units but can be taken by other units as well. Also, check out the weaponry. Obviously, there's the classic pulse carbines, and a plastic rail rifle (finally!). Check out the first guy on the right page, as well as the close-up in the upper left of the middle block. Is that an Ion Rifle? Are we going to see more mixed-arms units in our Tau army? I see interesting times ahead. Oh, and the drone topping off that Devilfish is intriguing as well.
Obviously, the Riptide has the potential to be a huge truckload of awesomeness, but what I'm noting again is the pair of drones. If you look carefully at the text, you'll see that they are "Shielded Missile Drones", which claim to be able to take hits and return fire. A combo 4++ save and smart missiles? Yes please.
One hope, though, on all these new drones is that the drone rules get revised so that they don't count for casualties when it comes to morale checks. That was always one weakness of going remotely drone-heavy in the past, especially with small units/single "monat" suits. The first time someone loses one of those Shielded Missile Drones and the Riptide jumps off the table, there will be much rage. Let's hope that that has been addressed in the new codex.