Fire Warrior Team Archetypes

Ahh... the compulsory Fire Warriors. Light weight and reasonably versatile they make up the core of our armies. But what good are they other than footslogging and objective controlling? Let's take a look at some common team configurations and their potential uses.

Gunline
The Fire Warrior Gunline is a set of Fire Warriors that set up around an objective or critical area, hunker down, and open fire on anything that comes in range. Pulse Rifles are most common in this unit due to their longer range and multiple shots at shorter range. Unit size depends on play style but for those serious about their firepower will often be a twelve-warrior team.

A team leader is not uncommon, and has many options that benefit his team including a marker light to bring in a seeker missile against enemy armor. A target lock allows the same action while the rest the team lays down fire on an opposing unit. Drone controllers are also popular to bring a few extra guns and wounds to the table. Marker Drones would be nice here, but if the gunline is under attack that 30 points is going to go to waste a lot faster than the twenty from the TLs markerlight.

Transport for the Gunline is optional. I find a gunline is best used on objectives close to your deployment zone, so if you can put your troops on it early you may not need a dedicated transport - at the worst hitch a ride from another unit's Devilfish.

When you do get them on the table, spread them in line to avoid blasts and templates stacking them at worst two-rows deep. An alternate spread is to spread them so that each model is contesting the objective at all times, hopefully denying any space to contest.

EMP Commandos
One of my personal favorites the EMP Commando Team can be quickly & cheaply put together with Fire Warriors (though they can be done quite well with pathfinders). Team size is up to the player and can work well with six going all the way up to twelve units. Its best to equip them with Pulse Carbines so they can lay down some fire on a vehicle before going in to try and kill it in assault with EMP Grenades. The only reason to take a TL for the EMP Commando unit is the Bonding Knife. The EMP Commandos are too mobile to sit still and paint a target with a markerlight and drones would be better spent on more commandos.

Because of their need for speed, I recommend attaching them to a well equipped Devilfish.

Objective Tag
Vehicles cannot control an objective - but the team of fire warriors mounted inside of it can. The "60 point Devilfish Upgrade" of Fire Warriors mounted in a Devilfish. The Devilfish should be upgraded as much as you need, and is mandatory for this unit. It's important to note that unless something happens to the Devilfish these warriors should never disembark from the vehicle.

Powering Through

Updates of a sort

Two Devilfish and one hammerhead are painted on the interior. I've got a little more work to do on the modeling for the exterior, dry fit to ensure things actually work, and then I can start painting the whole army.

Priorities? Why sure:

1. Devilfish A
2. Devilfish B
3. 8 Firewarriors
4. Hammerhead
   
5. Crisis Suit
6. More Crisis Suit Weapons
7. All Kroot
8. Stealth Suits
9. Assemble & Paint Pirhana
10. Assemble & Paint remaining Firewarriors
    

A DIY Life Saver

I'm re-blogging this so I don't forget it. It's a low cost measuring device from Sholto on Incunabulog.

The long and short is that it's a 6" ruler on one side, on another it's 2" wide for unit coherency. Then a 4" side for vehicle squadron coherency made out of some sturdy plasticard.

Yeah - I plan on making this.

I Love You... But...

So I'm assembling my Devil Fish and Hammerheads (slight revision to last post: I was assembled as far as I could before I had to paint the inside) and I notice something:

There is way to much detail on the inside of a model that no one will really see.

Like there's a door, handle, buttons by the door, and get this: on the hatch, by the door that opens there are buttons. The side hatches glue in - there's no way to see these buttons!

What the hell man?

Kais'shi Sept Fluff

The Kais'shi sept is centered around around two the only two habitable stellar bodies in a small section of space conquered in the third-sphere expansion. The primary planet in the systems of the Kais'shi sept is the planet Ter'shi with its habitable moon Kor'kais.

Ter'shi is a largely temperate planet with roughly 60% of its surface covered with ocean. Polar regions are arctic. Moving towards the equator is mostly deciduous forest. The equatorial regions are largely jungle or grasslands. Ter'shi is mostly used for food production as well as habitat for a large population of Kroot. The Tau of the planet mostly center around the twenty large cities scattered around the planet, including two undersea complexes and one city that floats on the ocean.

Kor'kais spends roughly two-thirds of the solar year in the shadow of Ter'shi. At the surface gravity is roughly equivalent to that on most planets but as as you leave orbit opposite of Ter'shi gravity pull drops quickly, making the planet an ideal launching point for vehicles. Life on Kor'kais is uniquely adapted to the darkness of the moon. Plants can photosynthesize from even the most scant starlight and much of the native wildlife has strong night vision.

The Kais'shi sept has two major color schemes. Units that are primarily based on the planet have dark green armor with brown highlights. Units based on the moon or on the bases throughout the system tend to mostly black with silver highlights.

Update: Modeling Maniac

It's been quiet, but I've still been active in my WH40K endeavors.

The Shi'Vesa
I've been working diligently on my army builder. The only problem is this is the largest application of its scale and I didn't do a lot of the little things that they (and I) teach students when you're programming: chart it out, decide your variables before you code, etc. So I'll do something like the Crisis suits then go back and re-vamp firewarriors. The revamp breaks something on the displays and... yeah...

The Army
The Kais'shi military is developing nicely. I've assembled twelve more kroot, ten more firewarriors (in addition to the 6 I've modeled so far), a new crisis suit (bringing me to two), three XV 25s, two Devilfish and a Hammerhead. I've got a Piranha, another Firewarrior team, and a lot of drones to assemble on top of that.

I'm hanging onto the drones so that I can try and scrape up a spare $30+ and order a few things from GW including the Hammerhead Weapons (so I can put SMS on the Devilfish) and the shield drone bits. I've decided while I like my mod it's going to be easier to just pay the $9.

Magnetic Personality
My crisis suits have all been successfully magnetized and one is ready for battle. The second suit needs to be painted and I need to magnetize several more weapons. I'm also looking at magnetizing the Piranha and a bit on the Devilfish and Hammerhead as well.

Getting Organizized
I recently decided to clear out my beloved uniques collection from my Mage Knight days to make room for the new addiction. No I didn't throw anything out - that would be silly. Instead I cleared out the two (very nice) tackle boxes that connect back-to-back into another, crowding the MK figures and making myself a very nice bitz box. I hope to really organize the box to the point of "firewarrior arm set 1" labeling but hey - that's down the road.

That's it for today. More as I can.

Radio Silence

Yeah I've not posted much lately. Birthday, work, and illness have all conspired against me.

First a lesson learned: It is far better to assemble then paint rather than paint then assemble. I've painted my first firewarrior team (mostly) and begun assembling last night. However I discovered that attempting to glue together two painted figures. I discovered that anywhere there was paint the figure did not bond. I did discover it will pull the paint off, allowing a second application work. So I hope that I finish the other units I can scrape the paint off with my knife then paint.

Second I got some 3mm x 2mm disc magnets from a student at work in trade, and I was able to set them into my XV-8 Suit. I hope to magnetize the weapons soon.

Finally my warhammer collection looks as follows:

1. 30 firewarriors
2. two devilfish
3. two XV-8 suits
4. one hammerhead on the way
5. one stealth team
6. 10 kroot
7. one pirhana
8. goddess knows how many gun drones.

Finally the Tau world has been abuzz with the announcement of the Crisis XV-9. While I would like to get my hands on one - especially if they give it some nicer weapon choices - there are far too many other pieces of equipment there I'd love to get my hands on.

Ah well. Hopefully more soon.

But Dude - Why do you play Tau?

This is covered by our profile posts but consider this an expanded rant on the subject.

Today I was visiting my in-laws who gave my by birthday presents early (a devilfish and a piranha). I was speaking with my brother-in-law goes "But dude - why do you play Tau?"

The initial answer was simplistic and focused on answering that I like playing high maneuverability and the sleek design that looks military without being clunky. But the question bothered me.

Why do we play Tau?

We may have been drawn to the Tau because he remind us of Transformers, or Gundam, or some other Japanese robot. But that's why we MODEL Tau - not play.

We play Tau because we know that standing still can have as much strategy as moving around. We only sit and wait for the enemy to approach us because it's more fun to let him run full tilt into the range of our rail guns. When they get close we move around the board, flying past obstacles and firing away at targets of opportunity. We don't play Tau because they're the biggest nastiest thing out there. We understand that three Crisis suits can do more damage to our opponents than one Terminator can. We play Tau because we enjoy the strategy and tactics that such a challenging race can bring. Are we weak at assault? Yes. Is that a flaw? No - it means we just do not let you assault us.

We play Tau because we know what they can offer, and what we offer them. We stand by and roll the dice just as diligently as any other race and take our losses with honor - because we just took another step to defeating you. Every Firewarrior, Crisis Suit, Hammer Head and Kroot you advance on just ticks away towards our next strategy. Every marker light that guides our is a beacon that says:

We will not give up. We will find the way to beat you. Our forces work together and our strategy will be refined to defeat you. We are the Tau Empire and we will bring peace and prosperity to the universe for the Greater Good.

Tau'va!

Shield Drone Project

If I'm lucky I'll get photos up this week but I did complete the mod to change two gun drones into one shield drone. Here is an overview of my DIY Shield Drone:

1. I took a drill bit (you can use the Games Workshop Hobby Drill) that was the same size as the hole in the bottom of the gun drone disc that will be the bottom disc of the shield drone. I then drilled the hole all the way through the gun drone disc. I did this to ensure the drone would sit level on its flight stand
2. Next I took the center bit that normally joins the gun drone disc to the guns and snipped off the nub that would normally be inserted into the gun drone using my plastic snipers.
3. I dropped a dab of glue into the hole that the flight stand normally is inserted into, then pressed the nub into the hole to fill it.
4. I took the "top" gun drone disc and dropped a dab of glue into the hole underneath it.
5. I inserted the center bit into the disc aligned so the "teeth" on the bottom of the center bit facing the rear of the drone.
6. I smeared a bit of glue on the free nub of the center disc and then pressed it into the bottom, taking care to ensure the discs were lined up as mirrors of each other.
7. I snipped the aerials from the sprues and glued both of them on top of the new shield drone. By this point I was able to verify that new shield drone can sit on a flight stand.
8. That's it! Now I just have to paint the blasted thing.
   

The Frugal Warhammer Player: Tau Empire Battleforce

I am still eagerly saving up my pennies to buy the Tau Empire Battleforce. Technically I have enough money right now to buy one of these. Well - technically right now I have it, but my itchy wallet says go to to Louisville Game Shop this weekend and BUY BUY BUY and... well... they don't have it in stock.

Anyway - this thing is not only the best "entry" into the game as a Tau player it offers some incredible versatility.

HQ
My only issue here is the HQ slot. I believe Games Workshop intends for you to use the standard XV-8 in this slot but as I've said before that just feels weird to me. Either remodel it or spring for an extra $30 and buy the Crisis Commander and you'll be set. Optionally you can stick the XV-8 as a Bodyguard or move him down to Elites.

Elites
If you're like me and don't like using the standard XV-8 in this slot and/or have a Commander, the XV-8 can fall in here along with that nice Stealth team and their Markerlight Drone.

Troops
Far better than the 300-point army list I posted previously this gives you the option of fielding a team of Fire Warriors and a team of Kroot. To make things nicer you can mount your Fire Warriors in your Devilfish by taking the Gun Drones out of the squad (more on that in a bit).

The Gun Drones
I'm not a big fan of Gun Drones so far, but I do see their uses. In this set you get a whopping six - count 'em - six gun drones, including ditching the two on the APC in favor of using that spot on the model with a Smart Missile System.

So your options then become using them either as a fast-attack Gun Drone squad or you can mod them into shield drones. I'll have details on my plan for that up soon. I hope be experimenting with this mod over the next week so if I'm lucky I'll have photos up soon.

Overall this thing is a fantastic deal for the money. MSRP is $90 for the set, where as you can expect to pay that much for just the two troop choices and the XV-8. On top of that I've seen this thing online for about $72. Not a bad way to get started.

The Frugal Fieldable Tau Army

I was tinkering with my first thread on Advanced Tactica and started thinking about the lowest cost (in terms of money) army that can be put together which got me thinking: what would be the lowest cost army that can be fielded but still leave flexibility as your collection expands.

So the rules are:

1. Must contain all three of your +1 troop choices
2. Must round off to 100 points
3. Since war gear does not have to be represented on the model, use war gear where possible to avoid locking yourself into any given configuration.

HQ: Tau Crisis Battlesuit Commander (MSRP: $30)
Note: I know that technically you can get away with using a standard XV-8 Crisis Battle suit it feels a little ganky to me, plus this way you get some extra wargear bits you don't normally have access to.

Configuration: Shas'el with Cyclic Ion Blaster, Plasma Rifle, Targeting Array, Hard-wired Multi-Tracker, Stimulant Injector, Hard-Wired Black Sun Filter, Hard-Wired Target Lock. Total Points: 118

Troops: Tau Fire Warrior Team (MSRP: $35)
Note: As far as I can tell, just because it's on the model it does NOT mean you have to actually have that equipment. So when assembling the troops I recommend having two models holding the marker light so you can use it later at higher point level games.

The Tau Fire Warrior Team can be used to build two six-man teams. Make two models (one per team) Team Leaders. I like making the two teams identical:

• Shas'Ui Team Leader with: Bonding Knife, Hard-Wired Drone Controller, One Gun Drone
• Five Shas'la Fire Warriors.
• All six models in the team with Photon Grenades.

Total Point Cost: Two teams of 91 points each (182 points total)

Variant:
If you want extra survivability on your commander you can drop the Targeting Array and one drone to get the Shield Generator.

Tactics:
The XV-8 is there to hammer at as many targets at a distance as you can. Jump-Shoot-Jump is the order of the day. Use your troops to to lay cover fire so the XV-8 can fall back if needed but largely use them to grab and hold objectives.

Twin-Linked Weapons on the XV-8

Many weapons in the Warhammer universe have the ability to be twin-linked, allowing you to re-roll your attacks if you miss. While I am a fan of not missing and I do tend to roll badly, I am not a fan of twin-linking. Here's why:

Twin-Linking Only Covers Your Hit Roll
The lowest-end XV-8 trooper has a 50% chance to hit assuming no modifiers to his BS. Re-rolling a miss still has a 50/50 chance to miss, but of course it does have a 50/50 to hit. As an example you could either twin-link a fusion blaster for just six more points or you can purchase a Targeting Array for 10 to bump your odds of hitting up to about 66%. and you still have a hard-point open for an additional option. Of course the converse to this is a twin-linked fusion blaster with a targeting array to give you a 66% chance with a re-rolled miss, or on a Shas'el to give him a 83% with a re-roll.

Twin-Linking Does Not Re-Roll Saves
Just because you hit does not mean you damage. Armor, cover, and invulnerability all can stand in the way of your extra investment. To me this factor is the biggest argument against twin-linking weapons.

More Shots Equals More Hits
While I definitely see the value of twin-linking and probably will have one or more suits twin-linked in the future I feel that the basic XV-8s are better suited to sporting more weapons or support systems. Higher-ranked XV-8s are better served by hard-wiring in extra support systems and equipping one twin-linked and one standard weapon but for the brunt of my army I will likely shy away from it.

Warhammer 40k link dump

I need to remember this for when I start tinkering with the XV-8 crisis suit again.

http://www.advancedtautactica.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=9754

gurps space campaign notes

Average TL 9
Xenophobic TLs will be will be between 6-9. No current civilization using TL 10+
The Ancients: TL 12. Mostly artifacts - may require a lot of work to get things working.

Drives:
Reaction drives are common espescially for inner-system transport.
Reactionless drives are in common use as well.

Jump Gates: The most common form of travel is through Jump Gates - space stations surrounding giant rings that create artificial wormholes between each other. To get a Jump you must do the following:

1. Pay a Jump Fee of 500 credits or 1 credit per 10 cubic yards, whichever is more. This fee will only be refundable if you cannot get a jump on your desired date if scheduled less than two weeks ahead of time. Military jumps have priority over others, and if your jump is canceled due to a military jump you will be offered an alternate date with a 5% refund or completely canceled with a full refund, with your choice. Jump requests made with less than a two week notice are not refundable, nor are requests that are canceled due to a hit during a criminal background check.
2. Submit a Jump Request with the the ship's name, hull size, registration ID, and complete manifest of all crew, passengers, and cargo. Crew and passenger manifests must include some sort of ID, preferably issued by the organization that owns the origination and destination jump points.
   
3. A check will be run on the manifest by both the origination jump point and the destination jump point. If cargo is banned at the destination or there is a criminal is on board, the offending item/person must be removed. Checks may take up to three hours to run. (1d6 * 30 minutes)
   
4. If all this passes a Jump Ticket is issued. Jump Tickets have a report-in time and a jump time. Report-in times are 1 hour prior to jumps.
   
5. At report time, your ship may be subject to an inspection. Inspections always occur if a manifest had a criminal or contraband from step 3. Otherwise they occur randomly depending on the level of security at the origination jump points.
6. Prior to jump time you will receive a coded signal from Jump Gate Control. You will be given a time frame to approach the gate.
   
7. Navigate to the jump gate and respond to the coded signal.
8. A final signal will be issued by Jump Gate Control when the jump is ready. You will have 5 minutes to jump from this signal.
9. When you pass through the jump gate your ship will be in a specialized hyperspace conduit for a short period of time. When it emerges it will be at the destination gate.
10. It is less likely that on destination gate will perform a cargo and personnel check. Roll two security check rolls. If both come up check, a check is performed.
    

Homebrew Terrain

Kinda stashing this here so I don't forget

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=449

Heterodox: Damage

OK. Firearms in the game are a bit overly damaging the way they are now. Three shots and you drop. A medium pistol at average damage will drop most people in just two hits. So do I make guns less deadly or people more resilient?

So here's what I'm thinking about for hit points: Toughness times three for HP. So average people will have about 15-18 HP. Mad tough people will have about 27-30.

Now if I want to aim for medium pistols on average kill average people in 3 hits, then the damage needs to average 5-6 points per hit. Light pistols should take twice as long say 2-3 per hit. Heavy pistols then would be 10-12 damage on average.

Light Pistol/SMG: 1d6 (3)
Pistols in this category are more designed to annoy an attacker and slightly deter than actually kill. Granted a critical hit will do 12 points of damage. If you were lucky enough to make that a called shot to a vital area then yeah you'd have killed them. SMGs are a little more popular in this class because while you would have to hit someone with about 6 to 10 rounds to kill them. Easy enough on the full auto setting.

Medium Pistol/SMG: 2d6 (7)
Medium firearms fall in the 9mm and 10mm range for ammunition. They are considered the standard for most criminals and anyone with a serious mind for self defense. Submachine guns in this class are of course incredibly deadly and are often employed by most security forces.

Heavy Pistol/SMG: 3d6 (11)
Employed by most street hitmen and as a sidearm for military & security forces. The SMG is used by black-ops teams and special forces units, or mounted onto powered armor.

Assault Rifle: 4d6 (14)
Employed by military forces as the main weapon for troops. It is designed to severely wound with one hit, and kill easily.

Battle Rifle: 4d6+6 (20)
Formerly used by most militaries, it has been replaced largely by the assault rifle in combat due to its excessive fatality rate. The assault rifle provides a larger drain on resources and morale.

Anti-Material Rifle: 4d6+12 (26)
Designed to aid in the destruction of vehicles and buildings it is generally considered a war-crime to use a weapon in this class against anyone in less than medium armor.

Mastery System: Skills and Mastery

Starting to work on Heterodox again, and tried to think of away for people (like me) who roll so badly that their characters fail their rolls - constantly. Came up with a Mastery die system and was about to write one set of rules until I looked back at my older notes. The two systems at first seemed to conflict but then I had an epiphany.

Stats range from 1-10.
Skills range from 1-15.
Die roll for skill checks are 3d6.

Thus a nearly impossible skill check would be something with a difficulty of 43.

Mastery Level
By default you are a novice at all skills - even ones you have 15 ranks in! However for every four points in a skill you may purchase a Mastery level in the skill for 10 character points multiplied by the mastery level, up to three mastery levels. Mastery levels add extra dice to your rolls during your skill checks for each level. You simply choose the best three dice to count as your 3d6.

Example: GSS#27 has Pistols 8 with mastery 2. When making attacks he rolls 5d6 with the following results: 6, 5, 3, 1, and 1. GSS#27's "official" roll would then be 6, 5, and 3.

Automatic Hit, Automatic Miss, and Criticals
When making a check and you roll two ones you automatically fail regardless of your skill level but ones ignored due to Mastery dice are ignored. Three ones are critical failures something devastating happens - up to the GM's discretion. For combat, it is typically a gun jamming or slipping and falling. On the upside two sixes are automatic successes. Three sixes are critical successes: maximum damage in an attack or some other beneficial event.

Error 42: 4E Reviews On Hold

Life is getting a bit too hectic for me to sit down and read through this mass of text. The 4E reviews are on hold until I get time to care about it.

Placeholder Domain

Back in the good ol' days of Mage Knight when 2.0 debuted we had Domains. In tournaments you had one round you could play no domain. So as to throw of my opponents I used a card printer to create a "placeholder domain." The flavor text on the back was a textbook example of how I played: psychological warfare.

"Any changes in the weather?"

"None sir."

"What about the battle field?"

"It is exactly as we planned it to be, sir."

"His troops! How do they seem to fair?"

"They looked hard pressed and ready for battle, but no more than our own force, sir."

Khurgan sighed and dismessed the scout. All of Lodin Caine's other opponents would report some twist of luck - favorable terrain, good weather, or even that there was a higher power on his side. But now now. If Caine did have some sort of luck, some sort of favor, why did he not use it now? Was it that his luck had run out? Or did Khurgan plan carefully enough to outwit his opponent?

As Caine's troops engaged Khurgan's forces, then answer was clear: Against Caine, Khurgan's army just wasn't worth it.

PHB 4E: Chapter 1

The first thing that strikes me about the Fourth Edition PHB is the artwork. The level of the artwork is far above anything I've seen in any RPG I've perused. Gone is basic line art or even the classical artwork of 3E. This artwork is of high quality and high caliber although I must admit it feels a bit like a cartoon. A good cartoon mind, but a cartoon none the less.

The chapter's contents begins with the basic "This is a roleplaying game" overview of roleplaying. There is a bit of trumpet blowing with lines such as "D&D invented the roleplaying game and started an industry" but that is no fallacy. Basic concepts such as diplomacy, role-playing, decision making, leveling and dying are all skimmed on.

The campaign setting, points of light in a world of darkness, appeals strongly to my own preferences for post-apocalyptic settings. The chapter then goes on to describe the roles of the varying elements of an RPG. What I already find vaguely disturbing is the half-veiled requirement that you have official D&D Minis and maps to play. Of course you don't need them - but you will find them "useful."

We wind into the core mechanic - roll a d20, add your modifiers, and pray for the best. They also go ahead and cover rules contradictions and rounding. We also run into yet another cross-selling of D&D Insider for "a nominal subscription." Granted the features it offers sound fantastic but still... feels wrong to do this early in the book.

So all in all not a bad mix. I can understand the urge to try and make more money but to be honest seeing it in the introductory chapter for the first roleplaying game many will play is cheap. The quality of the rest the material so far is pretty good.

Tune in latter for Chapter 2: Making Characters. And let's be honest - it's the first chapter that REALLY matters, yeah?

D&D Fourth Edition: A bit-by-bit review

I've recently gotten a hold of the newest edition of the most beloved roleplaying game in history: Dungeons and Dragons. The irony is that while D&D is the RPG flagship it is despised and detested by scores of gamers everywhere. So I've decided to sit down and look at the game page by page, chapter by chapter, and book by book. I'm going to try and approach this as novice as a roleplayer as I can though I will often pepper my review and reports with my own RPG preferences and experiences as well as the thoughts I'm experiencing as I go through the chapters.

So time for me to sit down and roll.

Great Gaming

Java Settlers - Java knock off of Settlers of Catan
Btech-Online and MegaMek - Web based BattleTech games

Of Halfbreeds and Templates featuring Mr. Cuddles

I was doing some world building last night with a D&D 3.5 base and I began to ponder PC-races and lands they tend to populate. And I'm genuinely pumping in nearly everything in the official WoTC book. And I started thinking...

Aasimar: half human, half celestial, Tiefling: half human, half fiend, Genasi: Half elemental, Half-elves, half-orcs... man humans will stick it in anything (or let anything stick it in them). Even half dragons...

Wait... half dragon is a template not a race. Any race can be a half dragon. Even a cow...

WELL the official monster manual does not have a stat block for cows, but they do cats. So I present to you Mr. Cuddles - the half dragon/half cat.

Mr. Cuddles
Tiny Dragon (half-red dragon, half-cat)
Hit Die: 1d8 (5 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +4 Natural), touch 14, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +0 / -12
Attack: Claw +4 melee (1d2)
Full Attack: 2 claws +4 melee (1d2) and bite -1 melee (1d3)
Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft. / 0 ft.
Special Attacks: 30-foot line of fire (6d8 damage, Reflex Save DC 11 for half)
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent, immune to fire
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +1
Abilities: Str 11, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 4, Wis 12, Cha 9
Skills: Balance +10, Climb +6, Hide +14*, Jump +10, Listen +5, Move Silently +8, Spot +5
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Environment: Temperate plains or warm mountains
Organization: Domesticated or solitary
Challenge Rating: 3
Advancement: ---
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Level Adjustment: ---

Cats have a +4 racial bonus on Climb, Hide, and Move Silently checks and a +8 racial bonus on Jump and Balance checks. They user their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Climb and Jump checks.
*In areas of tall grass of heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus rises to +8

Ready to Roll

Let's see if I fumble this blog. Part of me thinks I should be more profound. We'll see latter.