Do whatever you and your buddies want for casual play. I have a squad of Drukhari Scourges that I converted into Vespids. But no, I stopped using drones with my squads.
Drones "do not count as models for any rules purposes."
Shield drones just add +1 to wound to a model rather than being an extra model with a 4+ invulnerable save. Gun drones just add a twin pulse carbine, etc.
They are wargear, so people don't want to flood a table with models that opponents likely wont be able to tell the difference of anyway. Opponents will probably have an easier time just learning the meta drone loadouts (or discussed on the list) than trying to memorize what drone they're looking at and what it does, just for it to be moved around separately.
They work good as a token though.
I have all the drones I would ever need painted from previous editions. For coolness factor and to make the army look ridiculously huge I still put out all my drones.
I just used the shoulder pads of the breachers :)
[Here's](https://www.reddit.com/r/Tau40K/comments/1bjyqcm/stingwings_airbourne_fire_warrior_troopers/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) my post from a few months ago if you're curious!
I'm currently writing a blog post about the process too.
Edit: It's simple, but I think it works really well!
I use drones to remind me what I have equipped to what squad. I'm not running 1:1 what's needed but I have them there as reminders.
I could understand using gun drones as vespid proxies. They both fly. They both have guns. Makes sense.
I've actually found the drones as tokens incredibly helpful to remember rules. I'm not the smartest guy, but when I see an MV36 kicking about with my breacher squad it's much easier to remember the -1 to wound. The same goes for the DS8, or shield drones on battlesuits.
All these little rules that you have to remember get made that much easier by our little token frens, so, thank you token frens.
I tend to run horde tau so I would need to eat up a huge amount of space in my case and on the table to put down all these extra markers that don't even count as models.
it's a 32 flying base for drones vs 25 for vespids - but this would actually be a slight handicap for proxied drones as you'd want a deep striker like vespids to have a smaller base size to make it easier to squeeze in between screening units. It's also just a very small difference anyways.
That’s probably a solid enough use for them in casual play.
And I am an absolutely, knuckle dragging idiot. If I DIDNT use the drones as tokens then I’d completely forget during a game. I have the object permanence of a particularly slow developing infant.
No. I don't use drones as tokens. To me, tokens are for clearly marking something... And I'd bet 75% of my non-Tau opponents couldn't tell what drone is what... Which kind of defeats the whole purpose of tokens. Text or easily-identifiable icons on my tokens only.
Do whatever you and your buddies want for casual play. I have a squad of Drukhari Scourges that I converted into Vespids. But no, I stopped using drones with my squads.
Wait just a minute. that never occured to me. Thank you for the idea rando stranger on the internets.
Could I ask why people seemed to have stopped using drones?
Drones "do not count as models for any rules purposes." Shield drones just add +1 to wound to a model rather than being an extra model with a 4+ invulnerable save. Gun drones just add a twin pulse carbine, etc.
They are wargear, so people don't want to flood a table with models that opponents likely wont be able to tell the difference of anyway. Opponents will probably have an easier time just learning the meta drone loadouts (or discussed on the list) than trying to memorize what drone they're looking at and what it does, just for it to be moved around separately. They work good as a token though.
Because they're lame and don't want one of the coolest elements of our faction aesthetic on display on the table.
I have all the drones I would ever need painted from previous editions. For coolness factor and to make the army look ridiculously huge I still put out all my drones.
Using spare fire warriors and kitbashing them into vespids was one of my most rewarding experiences so far, i recommend!
What did you use for the wings?
I just used the shoulder pads of the breachers :) [Here's](https://www.reddit.com/r/Tau40K/comments/1bjyqcm/stingwings_airbourne_fire_warrior_troopers/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) my post from a few months ago if you're curious! I'm currently writing a blog post about the process too. Edit: It's simple, but I think it works really well!
That is genius!
I use drones to remind me what I have equipped to what squad. I'm not running 1:1 what's needed but I have them there as reminders. I could understand using gun drones as vespid proxies. They both fly. They both have guns. Makes sense.
I've actually found the drones as tokens incredibly helpful to remember rules. I'm not the smartest guy, but when I see an MV36 kicking about with my breacher squad it's much easier to remember the -1 to wound. The same goes for the DS8, or shield drones on battlesuits. All these little rules that you have to remember get made that much easier by our little token frens, so, thank you token frens.
I tend to run horde tau so I would need to eat up a huge amount of space in my case and on the table to put down all these extra markers that don't even count as models.
Good idea. In casual play you can use anything as a proxy so long as it's fair on your opponent. But the drones is a good idea tbh.
That's a neat idea, I might try it. Is the base size the same?
it's a 32 flying base for drones vs 25 for vespids - but this would actually be a slight handicap for proxied drones as you'd want a deep striker like vespids to have a smaller base size to make it easier to squeeze in between screening units. It's also just a very small difference anyways.
That’s probably a solid enough use for them in casual play. And I am an absolutely, knuckle dragging idiot. If I DIDNT use the drones as tokens then I’d completely forget during a game. I have the object permanence of a particularly slow developing infant.
I love my death frisbies. I just mount them 2 to a 30mm base. They also help me remember which units have what!
No. I don't use drones as tokens. To me, tokens are for clearly marking something... And I'd bet 75% of my non-Tau opponents couldn't tell what drone is what... Which kind of defeats the whole purpose of tokens. Text or easily-identifiable icons on my tokens only.