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Good day everyone! I'm super exited to start my Tau army! I almost have my first battleforce of Tau fully painted (I'm going to finish my 3 crisis suit either tonight or tomorrow night ). I'm currently building for 1250-1500 points list, but currently, with that battleforce painted, I might get 1 or 2 games under my belt this weekend. This would be a 500 points game due to models restriction obviously. There is not much space for change unit wise, but I was wondering if my upgrade were good (it would be my first Tau game so I'm a noob). Here it is:I'm playing against my little brother so I might face: 25ish cultist, 10 Chaos Marine, 1 Helldrake, 5 Chosen, No psycher.

ps: It's a friendly game, but I want to make sure I understand what are the 'good' choice because I usually play semi-competitive at my FLGS.

 PandaHero wrote:
Good day everyone! I'm super exited to start my Tau army! I almost have my first battleforce of Tau fully painted (I'm going to finish my 3 crisis suit either tonight or tomorrow night ). I'm currently building for 1250-1500 points list, but currently, with that battleforce painted, I might get 1 or 2 games under my belt this weekend. This would be a 500 points game due to models restriction obviously. There is not much space for change unit wise, but I was wondering if my upgrade were good (it would be my first Tau game so I'm a noob). Here it is:

Spoiler:

---HQ---
+Commander (2x Plasma Rifle, 2x Bodyguard) 115pts
+2x Bodyguard (4x Plasma Rifle) 124pts

---TROOPS---
+6x FireWarrior 54pts
+6x FireWarrior 54pts

---ELITE---
+3x Stealth Suit (Target Lock, Fusion Blaster) 100pts

---FAST ATTACK---
+1x Tetra 50pts

TOTAL: 497pts

I'm playing against my little brother so I might face: 25ish cultist, 10 Chaos Marine, 1 Helldrake, 5 Chosen, No psycher.

ps: It's a friendly game, but I want to make sure I understand what are the 'good' choice because I usually play semi-competitive at my FLGS.

#1 - The Battleforce comes with a Piranha and not a Tetra. The Tetra is a Forgeworld model. Be sure you have the correct one.

#2 - That Heldrake is going to Kill Crush you. You have almost no way to hurt it and with it's AP3, Ignores Cover template weapon, your Crisis Suits will die very quick deaths.

Try this instead...

HQ - Commander w/Target Lock, 2x Plasma Rifles, Drone Controller, 1x Gun Drone
Troops - 6x Fire Warriors
Troops - 6x Fire Warriors
Elites - XV8 Crisis Team (1 Suit) w/2x Missile Pods, Early Warning Override
Elites - XV8 Crisis Team (1 Suit) w/2x Missile Pods, Early Warning Override
Fast Attack - Piranha
Fast Attack - Drone Squadron (7x Gun Drones)
500 points exactly

The Fire Warriors grab some cover somewhere, or try to hoof it to an objective. Their 30" range guns let them out range everything in your opponent's army.

The Commander deploys with the Gun Drone Squadron. His Drone, the 7 in the Squadron plus his Drone Controller means the Drones can put out 16 S5 AP5 Twin-linked BS5 Pinning shots per turn. His Target Lock lets him fire his 2x Plasma Rifles at more heavily armored troops while the Drones chew through Cultists.

The Crisis Suits are deployed as lone units to avoid taking a casualty and having to make a Leadership test (since that would be 50%). The Early Warning Overrides let them Snap Shot when the Heldrake comes onto the board. Doesn't seem like much, but with a little luck, a couple of those S7 shots will get through. If the Heldrake isn't in play, you can force lots of saving throws on the Marines or Chosen.

The Piranha is bait. Split the Drones off as early as possible to have another small, harrassing unit. Just fly the Piranha around and try to draw fire. Use Jink to try and keep it alive.

I know the Pirahna is what is include in the battleforce. But I magnetize the wing and the gun of the pirahna, so it can easily be a proxy for a tetras. (apart from the little top on the tetras, there is not much difference between the 2 to be honest)

Good thinking with the gun drones! Will definitly try this

 PandaHero wrote:
I know the Pirahna is what is include in the battleforce. But I magnetize the wing and the gun of the pirahna, so it can easily be a proxy for a tetras. (apart from the little top on the tetras, there is not much difference between the 2 to be honest)

Good thinking with the gun drones! Will definitly try this

In that case, yeah, I think the Tetra is probably a better fit. The High Intensity Markerlight is more useful than a Burst Cannon. You'd most likely want to use it to improve the BS of the Crisis Suits. If you go Tetra, put the Suits together to maximize the benefit of the Markerlight hits.

edit: Removed my comments, I had a mistake in my excel sheet

Yeah, you're definitely going to want some more AA coming with you. I'd recommend either a Sky Ray or an ADL for your FW with a decent AA weapon tacked on.