Commander No’Va (Tau Empire)

Commander No’Va is a Tau Empire Battlesuit Pilot of the Fire Caste. In his custom Coldburst Battlesuit or directly on the field, he strives to capture the planet of Zeoturn from the robotic clutches of Overlord Zackeroth with the help of his allies in the No’Naga Sept.

Statistics
Commander No’Va is a single model in Coldburst Battlesuit equipped with 4 Missile Pods and a Low-Power Shield Generator. He may be accompanied by two MV51 Shield Drones or four Gun Drones.

Commander No’Va may replace his Missile Pods and Smart Missile Systems for a maximum of four items from the Ranged Weapons and Support Systems list. Commander No’Va may also replace his Low-Power Shield Generator with an item from the Support Systems list, but cannot be equipped with a Shield Generator.

Commander No’Va can also take the place of a Strike Team Shas’ui, where he is armed with a Pulse Rifle, Pulse Pistol and a Markerlight.

For The Greater Good, Master of War Faction Keywords: Tau Empire, 
 * Coldburst Thrusters - Once per round, during a Shooting Phase, Commander No’Va can move up to 6” if he is within range of enemy weapons. This doesn’t count as moving for the purpose of moving and firing heavy weapons.
 * Coldburst Battlesuit: Commander No’Va can move up to 70” in your movement phase, but his BS takes -1 for every 20 inches moved after 10 inches.
 * Coldburst Overhaul: Instead of moving during your movement phase, if Commander No’Va didn’t move for any reason during your last movement phase, Commander No’Va and up to 2  Drones within 2” of him can move anywhere on the field that is a straight line from where he was before moving that doesn’t move over or through enemy models.
 * Low-Power Shield Generator: A model equipped with a Low-Power Shield Generator has a 6+ invulnerable save.
 * Manta Strike: During deployment, you can set up this model and any accompanying Drones in the Manta hold instead of placing them on the battlefield. At the end of any of your movement phases, they can use a Manta strike to enter the fray - set them up anywhere on the battlefield more than 9” away from enemy models.

Keywords: Fly, Battlesuit, Character, Jet Pack, Commander, No’Va

History
Commander No’Va has a long history with Commander Battlestrike, and they successfully fought many battles together, with Battlestrike’s well-timed heavy attacks and No’Va’s speed and precision.

Much longer ago, No’Va was part of the five member kill team Versatility, and their combined effort was pivotal in the claiming of the Battlesuit factory world Ye’No’Rah. Together with this team, No’Va kept back the advance of several other Kill teams in their missions on Ye’No’Rah.

No’Va started his career in a 12-member fire warrior squad in active combat against an invading army from the Imperium of Man, taking to arms against vast tides of Astra Millitarum soldiers. Due to the collective success of swiftly-moving prototype Enforcer battlesuits on and around front lines, the collaboative infantry and high tech battlesuits lead them to victory.

Looking up to battlesuit pilots since that time, No’Va and those of his squad later passed the Trial By Fire, soon after being redeployed in high-stakes defense of battlesuit factory world Ye’No’Rah, fighting alongside the more common elite battlesuit pilots. Appointed leader of a small 7-member team after heavy casualties, No’Va reigned victorious through a number of crucial stealth missions against the enemy, eliminating artillerie buildings and strongpoints behind enemy lines.

Thereafter, No’Va made it through the ranks as he learned to pilot several different battlesuits, and becoming the commander of a small cadre of battlesuits and a number of drones, and went all-out in his first conquering assault against an Imperial world that had resisted diplomacy with violence.

Over time, the high-speed Vior’La-like battle style became second-nature to No’Va as he piloted an Enforcer battlesuit. For his next task in the name of the Greater Good, he was to use a full-size Hunter Cadre to capture the surprisingly uninhabited Zeoturn and surrounding worlds. Taking first an island off of the main continent, No’Va conquered a large portion of the planet with incredibly minimal resistance from Death Guard Plague Marines, whose straggled forces were easily picked off, as well as a small number of Tyranids who were vastly outnumbered by battlesuit firepower. Something seemed off, as the only resistance on Zeoturn was from incredibly small groups.