Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So, I'm new to 40K and I'm hooked. I plan to start entering tournaments at the hobby shop in my area and I’m in need of some veteran advice. I already play casual with them and have come to realize there is a descent amount of cheese in this game, which I do not possess much of any in comparison. As of now, I play strictly Tau, but thinking of branching off into Eldar. I’ve heard it’s a good combo. I will be facing practically anything available as long as it falls into the tournament rules, which I’ve listed below:

1850 POINT TOURNAMENT

Missions!
Mission 1:The Scouring on Dawn of War. Changes to this mission include the objectives being preset by the TO and Fast Attacks not being worth a victory point.

Mission 2: Crusade on Vanguard Strike

Mission 3 Modified Relic: Relic worth 3 Points, Table Quarters worth 1 point each, Secondary objectives each worth 2 points.

Restrictions and Modifications: Any roll of 6 on to wound with a D weapon receives a -1 to the roll.

White Dwarf Rules are allowed
Only Battle forged armies
Players are Limited to 2 Detachments (Detachments may be from the same Faction)
Formations count as a detachment
40k Approved Stamped Forgeworld is Allowed Provided it is not super heavy or Gargantuan.
Data Slates are Not allowed.
No Gargantuan Lords of War

Some people play tons of flyers (flying gc's too) and Imperial Knights where others are a little more creative, but still throw some cheese combos. I don’t want the most cheese, but I want to be competitive with these people. Getting tabled is no fun for anyone in my opinion. I’m open to any type of suggestion as long as it involves Tau in the mix, but this is what I have currently came up with:


Tau CAD - Farsight Enclaves (1340 Pts)

HQ
- Commander (2x Marker Drones, Drone Controller, 1x Fusion Blaster, Target Lock) [137 Pts]
- Ethereal (Homing Beacon) [55 Pts]

Elites
- XV104 Riptide (EWO, Velocity Tracker, Earth Caste Pilot Array, Heavy Burst Cannon, TL Fusion Blaster) [235 Pts]

Troops (Setup for Deep Strike)
- Fire Warrior Team (9x Firewarriors (Devilfish w/ Two Gun Drones, Blacksun Filter, Disruption Pod)) [186 Pts]
- Mandatory XV8 Crisis Suit Team (3x Crisis Suits w/ Bonding Knife Ritual, 1x TL Fusion Blaster) [129 Pts]

Fast Attack
- 4x Marker Drone [56 Pts]

Heavy Support
- Sky Ray Missile Defense Gunship (Blacksun Filter, TL SMS) [116 Pts]
- XV88 Broadside Team (3x Broadsides w/ EWO, TL HYMP, TL SMS, Bonding Knife Ritual) [213 Pts]
- XV88 Broadside Team (3x Broadsides w/ EWO, TL HYMP, TL SMS, Bonding Knife Ritual) [213 Pts]

Eldar Formation Detachment - Craftworlds (440 Pts)

Crimson Death Formation
- Crimson Hunter (Exarch, Pulse Laser, Two Bright Lances) [160 Pts]
- Crimson Hunter (Pulse Laser, Two Bright Lances) [140 Pts]
- Crimson Hunter (Pulse Laser, Two Bright Lances) [140 Pts]

Fortification
- Aegis Defense Line (Comms Relay) [70 Pts]

TOTAL POINTS: 1850

I can't say much for Eldar, but your Tau list looks as solid as any I've seen.

Thanks. I really hope I can get some good input from several Dakka members.

Actually, why not turn your Broadsides and Riptide into a FBSC? It wouldn't cost you anymore points and it would be a lot better than just taking them as is.


Nevermind, dataslates not allowed. Missed that, sorry.

Is your AA in your Eldar list? Because there doesn't appear to be any in your Tau list.

Also, what is that Riptide doing without Ion Accelerator equipped?

The riptide is cool. It's got earth caste on it.

But you need at least one unit of 3 crisis suits with bonding knife on them all.

 Kholzerino wrote:

But you need at least one unit of 3 crisis suits with bonding knife on them all.

Ah yes, I always space it on that one

Replying to the last few post.

1. I figured it would be fine to equip the Riptide with the Heavy Burst Cannon as long as it is also equipped with an Earth Caste Pilot Array, otherwise, I would equip it with an Ion Cannon only.
2. My AA is mostly made up of the Fast Attack (Flyer Units) found in the Eldar list. This plus the number of shots the Tau can put out along with Psychic Power perks from Eldar should compensate enough, or at least that is my thinking.
3. Again, my inexperience in mind, why is a full unit of Crisis Suits with Bonding Knife Ritual so important? It seems to me if I remove any other models I’m losing out on more, or will miss out on the requirements for the CAD’s.

Thoughts?

gsnurr3 wrote:
Replying to the last few post.

1. I figured it would be fine to equip the Riptide with the Heavy Burst Cannon as long as it is also equipped with an Earth Caste Pilot Array, otherwise, I would equip it with an Ion Cannon only.
2. My AA is mostly made up of the Fast Attack (Flyer Units) found in the Eldar list. This plus the number of shots the Tau can put out along with Psychic Power perks from Eldar should compensate enough, or at least that is my thinking.
3. Again, my inexperience in mind, why is a full unit of Crisis Suits with Bonding Knife Ritual so important? It seems to me if I remove any other models I’m losing out on more, or will miss out on the requirements for the CAD’s.

Thoughts?

In order to field a FE Detachment you must have a unit of 3 Crisis Suits and all units that can take BKR must take BKR.

 the_kraken wrote:

gsnurr3 wrote:
Replying to the last few post.

1. I figured it would be fine to equip the Riptide with the Heavy Burst Cannon as long as it is also equipped with an Earth Caste Pilot Array, otherwise, I would equip it with an Ion Cannon only.
2. My AA is mostly made up of the Fast Attack (Flyer Units) found in the Eldar list. This plus the number of shots the Tau can put out along with Psychic Power perks from Eldar should compensate enough, or at least that is my thinking.
3. Again, my inexperience in mind, why is a full unit of Crisis Suits with Bonding Knife Ritual so important? It seems to me if I remove any other models I’m losing out on more, or will miss out on the requirements for the CAD’s.

Thoughts?

In order to field a FE Detachment you must have a unit of 3 Crisis Suits and all units that can take BKR must take BKR.

Really? I use Battlescribe for creating rosters and it has been very reliable, so far. It does automatically equip units with BKR that can take it, but it doesn't bark at me for not having a full unit of Crisis Suits. As long as two spots under troops are filled in and I have an HQ, it doesn't seem to mind. Is this an error on Battlescribes part?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I see the requirement in the FE CAD Troops section in Battlescribe, for the Crisis Team. I never noticed that before, but I've updated my roster accordingly and thank you. Any other thoughts anyone?

OK,

Where does the ethereal sit? What's his job? It looks like he's giving you nothing at 50 points.

You can use those points, increase one of the jetbike squads to 4. I assume you're going to attach the jetseer to a bike unit. Add him to a 3 man unit and one casualty is a leadership check, at least if you add him to a unit of 4 then then it requires 2 casualties.

You can use the last remaining points to upgrade a flier to an exarch. But what I think you need is to try and find the points for an autarch. You currently have over 400 points in reserve and absolutely no reserve manipulation.

The Ethereal would join a Broadside Unit and remain within proximity of both Broadside Units. I’d hate to lose a Broadside and then see the rest run off the table.

If I did get rid of the Ethereal, I could always put 20 points into getting a Comms Relay for the Aegis Defense Line. It wouldn’t be an Autarch, but it would be something. I’d have enough left over to get another Windrider too.

Do you think maybe giving up the Aegis Defense Line would be a better option, or both?

I’m also completely inexperienced with Eldar. Are my choices good there?

The eldar choices aren't bad. But it depends what you want their role to be.

Well with Tau I get firepower of course, which will help with most things, including some fusion blasters for high armor targets. I’m missing a lot of mobility and AA though with my current Tau roster, so I wanted Eldar to give me some mobility, AA, and additional help for high armor targets, including support from psychic abilities.

I figure the Windriders will give me the mobility for scoring, getting on the weak end of certain targets, and help with wearing down troops. The Flyers would help with AA and also allow me to get to high armor targets quickly and take them out.

Well, the hemlock will do nothing for AA. But it does have the ability to nuke monstrous creatures and such. If you don't need that in your list, then consider the crimson death formation instead. Either way, I think reserve manipulation is good. The fliers are very good, and actually pretty effective AT as well as AA.

The bikes will do exactly that, but they're not tough. You'll need to learn to use the bikes very uquickly. You'll learn with eldar that one wrong foot and the unit is dead. They're very fragile.

I figured the bikes may go fast depending on the army I'm up against, but with their range and movement I may be able to make them effective without being in range of my enemy, or worse case get my money's worth by taking out a target with them before they are blown away.

Why will the Hemlock do nothing for AA? It fires a destroyer weapon twice that will roll on the destroyer table. I haven’t used a destroyer weapon yet, but aren’t they effective vs both vehicles and non-vehicles? The Hemlock also serves as a psychic too, which I felt was a nice plus. Maybe I’m missing something here?

I thought of going with the Crimson Death formation, but the tourney rules only allow two detachments, so I’d miss out on psychic abilities, which I really want.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just realized that Hemlock weapon is a blast. I see how that would do nothing for AA now. Lol.

Haha, OK, so you've seen why. It does mean that you can hit big tyranids monsters, along with things like riptides, dread Knights and all sorts and there's a possibility of an auto delete. I think the hemlock is very good in the new book, much better than it used to be. It's just not for AA.

Seemed to miss the bit about formations counting as one of your two allowed. So that's my bad. It's a shame. But I think you would be better off with the seer instead. But I think the bike squad that he joins does need one more man to make it a 5 man squad once the seers joined. Maybe even adding a warlock for conceal and for an additional warp charge. Again, I'd see the ethereal as the best place to find these points.... But I don't know tau as well as I know eldar.

I think what I might do is shuffle the Crimson Death formation into my current 1850 Tau list. See how it goes and go from there. I'll update my roster above. Let me know your thoughts.

I'd give your Riptide Stims instead of the Velocity Tracker. VT's go better with Heavy Burst Cannon variants.

Actually, now that I have Earth Caste Pilot Array on my Riptide I forgot to equip the Heavy Burst Cannon back on it. That could potentially be a lot of shots as BS3 before Markerlights for AA. I also don't know what I would be willing to give up in order to grab that Stimulant Injector. After dropping the Velocity Tracker, I'd still need 15 points.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've updated the roster again to include a Comms Relay as I'll have nearly 600 points (Crisis Team + Flyers) in reserve.

Are you really expecting that many fliers? I feel like this list really focuses on taking on fliers but might struggle against mobile armies. I don't think you need to be FE. I usually run a burst tide with EWO and VT and a skyray and that can handle up to 2 fliers easily. Also, no gargantuan (wraithknights), but Knights are ok? Am I reading that correctly? If so, man that seems ridiculous imo.