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Why the hate on the tau? I have found zero evidence that they suck although I haven't been playing that long. Perhaps people with more knowledge on the matter will enlighten me. Why do you think they suck? (discluding kroot and vespid... they are not really tau anyways)

2 reasons i think.

1) Ppl dont like anime styled armies

2) Ppl like grim dark macho close combat units,
Tau isnt very heroic and sit back to pew pew.

okay so tau aren't heroic. I guess your right. But isn't that kinda nice? If every army was as one dimensional as the space marines, being tough, racist manly men that blow crap up and pummel things smaller then them, wouldn't this game have no variety?

thedarkside69 wrote:okay so tau aren't heroic. I guess your right. But isn't that kinda nice? If every army was as one dimensional as the space marines, being tough, racist manly men that blow crap up and pummel things smaller then them, wouldn't this game have no variety?

I like Tau personally. Lack of variety yet have tons of tough manly man? (GW calls them Space Marine and their many variety of chapters lol)

My reasons for saying the Tau SUCK are:

1-they are so annoying and always foil my plans
2-they are such Deleted by mods, Orks will keep fighting because that is all they want in life, Marines never retreat due to Duty, Valour and Faith, Eldar will keep fighting for their survival, Dark Eldar will always be out to torture everyone, Tyrandids just keep on devouring anything in their path and the Guard will fight because they have to. But Tau will pull out once things go Pear-Shaped and will always rely on better weapons, stealth and armour to defeat their enemies.
3-Deleted by mods

Keep it polite. Dakka Rule #1. - Iorek

you can paint 100 ants multiple different colors but in the end they are still ants.

edit

wow just realized how bad of an example this was lol

I like the Tau. Which is good because I sometimes play them. I think they have a great visual style, a compelling background, and fill a role/style rule-wise that no other 40k army does. People don't like them, IMO, because they don't have the best written codex (which one is the best written is a matter of complete speculation) and can be hard to play if you're used to playing Orks or SM.

JubJubMarine wrote:My reasons for saying the Tau SUCK are:

1-they are so annoying and always foil my plans
2-they are such pussies, Orks will keep fighting because that is all they want in life, Marines never retreat due to Duty, Valour and Faith, Eldar will keep fighting for their survival, Dark Eldar will always be out to torture everyone, Tyrandids just keep on devouring anything in their path and the Guard will fight because they have to. But Tau will pull out once things go Pear-Shaped and will always rely on better weapons, stealth and armour to defeat their enemies.
3-they look like Homos!!!!

Yes , a perfect example of Tau hater! xD

I like the Tau. However IN GAME they leave a lot to be desired. To vulnerable to CC. Some non cost efficient options, well more then a few. Tend to be one of the worst overall armies in the game from a tourney stand point. I know one guy who uses them well and can beat quite a few people with them. However with his other armies he is a very difficult player to beat. So that is why most don't like them. Plus they tend to attract the anime kids and that brings its own problems. Still like them even if they are not very effective. But that would be my guess as to why SOME people do not like them.

The Tau fire warrior is required, and is 10ppm for a T3 BS3 unit. Far too much. They have a 4+ armor save, but every unit in 5th edition has a 4+ save in cover, if not better.

Their only saving grace is their S5 AP5 weapon. S5 may seem like a lot for an infantry weapon, but since tau crumble in CC that means they shouldn't rapid-fire, or will only get one rapid-fire per game and then die, meaning you get like 6 S5 hits max unless you're suiciding. Not impressive at all.

Tau crisis suits are decent, but expensive and are just MEQs. a Krak missile kills one instantly.

Broadsides are strong but are just 75-80ppm terminators that can't move and fire.

Hammerheads are 1-shot wonders, at BS4 that's 4 hits per game, average 2 pens against AV14.

Devilfish are half as useful as their counterpart, the wave serpent, for roughly the same points.

Markerlights are Heavy 1, they make the Tau a viable army, but can't move and shoot except on vehicles and stealth suits.

Kroot are actually pretty good, 7 points for a bolter on a unit that has a 3+ cover save in forests, can infiltrate and outflank, and is decent in CC is not bad at all.

So in your whole codex you have 3 decent units: Crisis suits, Stealthsuits, and kroot. and you HAVE to buy a squad of fire warriors that is either a free KP to the enemy, or 180 points to make the squad decent.

I never get why people dislike the Tau on a visual basis. Just because they look like/influenced by anime mecha shouldnt invalidate them more than any other race. I actually tried to get into 40k when I was much younger because of the slick look of the Tau. Conversely, I dont like the IG aesthetically cause Im not fond of WWII style armies.

Oh well, different strokes for different folks.

I dont get it either, I picked Tau as my first army because of their visuals, and the only anime i've ever watched is pokemon.

Canonness Rory wrote:
So in your whole codex you have 3 decent units: Crisis suits, Stealthsuits, and kroot. and you HAVE to buy a squad of fire warriors that is either a free KP to the enemy, or 180 points to make the squad decent.

i do agree that fire warriors suck but piranas(?) are very useful, a nice unit if the person knows how to use them

I picked them initially because of the look, and because they were the only alien race not already played by multiple people at the club. It's nice to have some variety...

Of course i occassionally get some light teasing about running away, when i use my suits' extra jump, and about me being inexperienced with assaults (as though i'm completely new to the rules of assaults).

Tau are quite good at tailoring their army to counter their opponent. Making a great all comers tourney list is slightly more difficult for us, i think, than it would be for most other races.

Canonness Rory wrote:The Tau fire warrior is required, and is 10ppm for a T3 BS3 unit. Far too much. They have a 4+ armor save, but every unit in 5th edition has a 4+ save in cover, if not better.

Good point forgot about cover saves being ridiculous in this edition.

I personally think that a 10 point model that has strength 5 and a range of 30 inches is good. And why are hammerheads considered one hit wonders? They have front armor 13, that's not half bad. Disruption pods for 5 points make so that it is obstructed which is quite amazing. I mean sure it's not as sturdy as a land raider but at least you can bring hammerheads to the table and not reek of cheese.

why have a hammerhead while broadside battle-suit equipped with rail guns are far superior?

A friend of mine had tried doing a tau army a few months ago but he eventually said the hell with it. he couldnt stand using an army that would just shoot and run lol. Plus I think what really sealed the deal was when we played a game of 1000 pts of tau vs my Anggrath and I utterly destroyed him and still had 4 wounds left lol.

Gutteridge wrote:why have a hammerhead while broadside battle-suit equipped with rail guns are far superior?

hammerhead has sub munition for anti horde. But it can also be used as anti tank, so in that way it is equipped to deal with different scenario's in the battle field. Plus one lascannon equals one dead broadside.

But yes I take broadsides in addition to hammerheads. And I do agree in an anti tank sense broadsides are far superior and more cost effective.

The Tau borrows many visual apsects of Animes such as Macross. But that mostly cause GW was trying to appeal to potential Eastern players.

IMO, they look more Star Wars-y, and they should borrow more from Gundam.

They suck for several reasons:

1. They have crappy troop choices. Kroot are alright, but firewarriors are junk. While a strength 5 gun is pretty good, the basic firewarrior has no way to deal with a tank or monstrous creature. In objective missions they cannot take objectives by themselves, requiring help from other places in the tau army.
Considering 2 out of 3 scenarios require objectives, this is painful for Tau.

2. Drones are extra kill points, making some units like fish with drones and piranahs not worth it.

3. With tougher vehicles and faster infantry and outflank, range and shooting have taken a huge hit. This game still favors hand to hand.

4. New terrain rules have kicked suits in the nuts. Once able to poke out, shoot something, and then jump to safety, but with true line of sight that is no longer true. Plasma took a huge hit as well, since everything has cover.

Fire warriors still have access to EMP grenades which each have a 50% chance of rolling on the damage table, assuming the vehicle didn't move. Devilfish can also take a SMS in place of drones, and as you've stated this would only be a problem in 1/3 scenarios. I don't think it's worth swapping them anyway. Not really sure what your point is in #4.

EMP's don't stop monstrous creatures and require you to move into assualt with a vehicle. If a vehicle is that close and your firewarriors are killing it that way, you've failed, and the contents inside the vehicle will destroy you. Nevermind the 3 points per emp you have to pay for.

Crisis suits suck in this edition compared to before. That was my point in #4. Not only is their shooting less effective, but they can't use move shoot move to take no damage in return. On top of that, everything in the game moves quicker, so it's easier to get to hand to hand against them.

Tau rekindled my affair with GW. It brought me back into the fold just as my annoyance with marines was pushing me away. I think they have a well thought out background and have a brilliantly elegant look and modus operandi. None of this barbaric in your face hitting of stuff, all problems are solved at a distance with precision

My biggest problem with them is that all the primary support weapons are concentrated on the battlesuits. Now this is fine in theory, however with the proliferation of anti-tank weapons in the game it makes them rather vulnerable to being instant killed.

I have a mate who plays Tau, and uses them well, thinkning ahead. I dont see where all the Tau hate coes from, and the one I like the least is "they run away".

I dont particualrily like Tau, but I have nothing against them. ANd they always give me a run for my money

My 2 Cents

thedarkside69 wrote:If every army was as one dimensional as the space marines,

Smurfs aren't one-dimensional at all; they can be built to work any number of different ways, and unless the list sucks you'll always find them tough opponents.

Tau don't suck, either. Alien Ninja-Commies with flying MBTs and little man-dog-birds that do the CCing for them. They're pretty cool. Not to mention they're devastatingly effective on the table.

pepl think tau suk cuz prolly more that half the pepl who play 40k play as spess marienz. you guys are right tau arent "heroic" but when they wipe the board clear of enemies from the super-blitz of fire power that doesnt matter. the only pepl who think tau weapons are weak/suck have never played a proper tau list on tabletop.

i think tau are the only ones who can put out as much firepower is my IG. yey IG.

Tau don't suck, people who play them suck. I've seen Tau devastate almost every major army out there list wise.

Tau can mechanize like nobodies business and have access to one of the best vehicle wargear in the game (disruptions 4+ invulnerable).


People keep stating the Broadsides are better , but a Hammerhead is cheaper has more options and can get a 4+ invulnerable.

Tau probably suffered more from the 5e changes than any other codex but they can still be competitive in the right hands.

Canonness Rory and a couple of other people summarised the problems.

If you want to see how to 'unsuck' Tau, there is a long "How To Fix Tau" thread in Proposed Rules.

Of course there are players who hate Tau because they are too young to appreciate the importance of contrast, or maybe their friends at school hate them and they are just going along.

I mean, it's a bit sad to hate a bunch of plastic parts and some fluff fiction.

Fire warriors aren't that bad because of their price. Back them up with enough broadsides and you don't have to worry about a mech list overrunning you before you get your shots in. The problem is that if your opponent makes it into cc with just about anything the whole line crumples.

One memorable game I had against them was with a very good Tau player. I was playing foot slogging orks. He had wiped out about 3/4s of my army before I made it into close combat with him. I think I managed to take out one unit of fire warriors with shooting. I tabled him in one round of CC.

You only get 3 units of Broadsides and each unit can only shoot it's Railguns at one target per turn, which means if someone turns up with more than 4 vehicles your Broadsides are a bit scunnered.

Fireknife Crisis Suits and Kroot are the answer. A unit of 10 Kroot costs only 10pts more than a unit of 6 Fire Warriors, and 10 Kroot will do a lot more good than 6 or 8 Fire Warriors, without sucking up precious points that you could be spending on nastier general-purpose stuff that's dangerous against more than AV11 and footslogging hordes with poor armour saves.