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Made in gb
Tail-spinning Tomb Blade Pilot





In a chair, staring at a screen

So I have this tau list I've started, could I please have some advice on what to add and stuff?

HQ
Battlesuit commander with misile pod, burst cannon and fusion blaster. (Stim inject)
Two crisis battlesuits, one with two fusion blasters and missile pod, one with missile pod plasma rifle and burst cannon.

Troops:

12 fire warriors, one is team leader
12 fire warriors, one team leader.


Fast attack:
Razorshark strike fighter
10 drones, one shield nine guns.

Heavy support:
Hammerhead gunship with submunitions and flechette discharge

1500 pts
2000pts 
   
Made in gb
Water-Caste Negotiator





Celestial Realm

Well, it actually looks like a pretty strong list, but if I would change something it would be to give the Fire Warrior units a Gun Drone or two to give them some more shooting attacks or maybe a Shield Drone to protect them better, but over all quite a good, strong list. Hope this helps

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/01/10 09:32:16


 
   
Made in gb
Poisonous Kroot Headhunter





Manchester uk

The Tau flyers are pretty bad, the only one worth taking really is the Forge World Barracuda.

Your Crisis suits weaponry is all over the place and without a target lock those Fusion Blasters are being wasted. Look at Dual Plasma on the Crisis Suits at a low point game you shouldn't really be running into too much armour.

I would change the drone squad to Markerlights to help your other shooting and decrease the size to 6ish

Change the Flechette Discharger to a Disruption Pod, if something gets into combat with your Hammerhead it deserves to die.

Personally I would drop the Firewarrior squad to 10 and try and fit in a 3 Crisis Suit.

A rule of thumb I use is that Suits should only really have 2 weapons, the free slots are then there for toys to make them perform better.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Loremaster Of Awesomeness wrote:
Well, it actually looks like a pretty strong list, but if I would change something it would be to give the Fire Warrior units a Gun Drone or two to give them some more shooting attacks or maybe a Shield Drone to protect them better, but over all quite a good, strong list. Hope this helps


And to be perfectly honest I disagree with everything this guy says

I would add another squad of Crisis Suits and a Riptide as well as another Hammerhead. Devilfish would help get those Fire warriors get around too.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/01/10 15:36:52


 
   
Made in gb
Tail-spinning Tomb Blade Pilot





In a chair, staring at a screen

I actually run these with 500pts of necron allies, and I got annihalated in my last match. But to be fair I think any tau player would get defeated by a death company spam

1500 pts
2000pts 
   
Made in gb
Road-Raging Blood Angel Biker






Surrey, UK

To echo what PastelAvenger said - tau flyers are pretty rubbish, you should only have two of the same type of weapon on a crisis suit so never 3 and never mix, flechette discharger shouldn't really ever be taken just take dispods because they give your tank better survivability, I think you need more suits.

Also, I do completely disagree with Loremaster of Awesomeness as well. A) this list will lose a lot of the time and b) don't take drones with fire warriors.

If you want drone squadrons, there's a nice little trick you can pull to get them really cheap. 10 drones costs 140 points. 5 piranhas costs 200 points (+10 for every piranha that takes a fusion blaster). The piranhas get detachable gun drones though, so if you take 5 standard piranhas, you get the 140 detachable drones and 5 burst cannon skimmers for 60 points. Something to consider.

You'll need markerlights for any Tau army above 500 points. I suggest tetras or basic pathfinders hiding in cover.

Hammerheads aren't particularly effective for their cost. If you're tank-hunting, crisis suits are better. Hammerhead with dispods is 140 points. 3 crisis with two fusion blasters each is 156 points (or 166 if you have 2 target locks). That's one str10 shot vs. Six str8 shots with a point difference of only 16/26 points.

I would definitely recommend some all missile broadsides. They're fantastic for everything.

Never take crisis bodyguard, just join a commander to a regular squad.

Don't have team leaders for fire warriors, they're a waste of points.

Take advantage of your commander's ability to take signature systems. I usually run mine with a cyclic ion blaster (str8 blast is nice)

Just a few tips

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/01/27 22:58:38


 
   
Made in gb
Tail-spinning Tomb Blade Pilot





In a chair, staring at a screen

I don't use the hammerhead for anti tank, I put submunition and flechette discharge on to kill the death company and terminators I'm starting to see more frequently

1500 pts
2000pts 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut



Bloomington, IL

Flechette Discharger will do nothing to Termies/Death Company. Disruption Pod will do much more defense-wise, and use your mobility as a skimmer to dance out of the way before they get to you.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's a pretty solid 1K list, IMO:

+++ 1K Tau (1000pts) +++

++ Tau Empire: Codex (2013) (Combined Arms Detachment) ++

+ HQ +

Commander [Cyclic ion blaster, Neuroweb System Jammer, Plasma rifle, Stimulant injector]

+ Elites +

XV8 Crisis Team
····Crisis Shas'ui [Early warning override, Missile pod, Plasma rifle]
····Crisis Shas'ui [Early warning override, Missile pod, Plasma rifle]
····Crisis Shas'ui [Early warning override, Missile pod, Plasma rifle]

+ Troops +

Fire Warrior Team [10x Fire Warrior Shas'la with pulse rifle]

Fire Warrior Team [10x Fire Warrior Shas'la with pulse rifle]

+ Fast Attack +

Pathfinder Team [6x Pathfinder Shas'la]

Pathfinder Team [6x Pathfinder Shas'la]

+ Heavy Support +

Hammerhead Gunship [Disruption pod, Longstrike, Railgun with submunitions, Twin-linked smart missile system]

XV88 Broadside Team
····Broadside Shas'ui [Twin-linked high-yield missile pod, Twin-linked smart missile system]
····Broadside Shas'ui [Twin-linked high-yield missile pod, Twin-linked smart missile system]
····Broadside Shas'ui [Twin-linked high-yield missile pod, Twin-linked smart missile system]

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/01/20 04:05:57


 
   
Made in gb
Tail-spinning Tomb Blade Pilot





In a chair, staring at a screen

vitae_drinker wrote:
Flechette Discharger will do nothing to Termies/Death Company. Disruption Pod will do much more defense-wise, and use your mobility as a skimmer to dance out of the way before they get to you.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's a pretty solid 1K list, IMO:

+++ 1K Tau (1000pts) +++

++ Tau Empire: Codex (2013) (Combined Arms Detachment) ++

+ HQ +

Commander [Cyclic ion blaster, Neuroweb System Jammer, Plasma rifle, Stimulant injector]

+ Elites +

XV8 Crisis Team
····Crisis Shas'ui [Early warning override, Missile pod, Plasma rifle]
····Crisis Shas'ui [Early warning override, Missile pod, Plasma rifle]
····Crisis Shas'ui [Early warning override, Missile pod, Plasma rifle]

+ Troops +

Fire Warrior Team [10x Fire Warrior Shas'la with pulse rifle]

Fire Warrior Team [10x Fire Warrior Shas'la with pulse rifle]

+ Fast Attack +

Pathfinder Team [6x Pathfinder Shas'la]

Pathfinder Team [6x Pathfinder Shas'la]

+ Heavy Support +

Hammerhead Gunship [Disruption pod, Longstrike, Railgun with submunitions, Twin-linked smart missile system]

XV88 Broadside Team
····Broadside Shas'ui [Twin-linked high-yield missile pod, Twin-linked smart missile system]
····Broadside Shas'ui [Twin-linked high-yield missile pod, Twin-linked smart missile system]
····Broadside Shas'ui [Twin-linked high-yield missile pod, Twin-linked smart missile system]



Sounds like a fun list, but would it still work if I swapped the broadsides with a riptide?

1500 pts
2000pts 
   
Made in gb
Road-Raging Blood Angel Biker






Surrey, UK

Da Stormlord wrote:
vitae_drinker wrote:
Flechette Discharger will do nothing to Termies/Death Company. Disruption Pod will do much more defense-wise, and use your mobility as a skimmer to dance out of the way before they get to you.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's a pretty solid 1K list, IMO:

+++ 1K Tau (1000pts) +++

++ Tau Empire: Codex (2013) (Combined Arms Detachment) ++

+ HQ +

Commander [Cyclic ion blaster, Neuroweb System Jammer, Plasma rifle, Stimulant injector]

+ Elites +

XV8 Crisis Team
····Crisis Shas'ui [Early warning override, Missile pod, Plasma rifle]
····Crisis Shas'ui [Early warning override, Missile pod, Plasma rifle]
····Crisis Shas'ui [Early warning override, Missile pod, Plasma rifle]

+ Troops +

Fire Warrior Team [10x Fire Warrior Shas'la with pulse rifle]

Fire Warrior Team [10x Fire Warrior Shas'la with pulse rifle]

+ Fast Attack +

Pathfinder Team [6x Pathfinder Shas'la]

Pathfinder Team [6x Pathfinder Shas'la]

+ Heavy Support +

Hammerhead Gunship [Disruption pod, Longstrike, Railgun with submunitions, Twin-linked smart missile system]

XV88 Broadside Team
····Broadside Shas'ui [Twin-linked high-yield missile pod, Twin-linked smart missile system]
····Broadside Shas'ui [Twin-linked high-yield missile pod, Twin-linked smart missile system]
····Broadside Shas'ui [Twin-linked high-yield missile pod, Twin-linked smart missile system]



Sounds like a fun list, but would it still work if I swapped the broadsides with a riptide?


This list would work much better if the suit weapons were not mixed. I suggest dropping a pathfinder from each team (with 5 you'll still get 2-3 marker hits on average) and lose the EWO on the suits - they really don't need it but would be good with target locks. I'd set that squad up something like this:

2 x suits with plasma rifle, plasma rifle, target lock,
1 x suits with either missile pod, missile pod OR fusion blaster, fusion blaster depending on how heavy enemy armour is

Also, your commander will survive better with iridium armour rather than stimms as this makes him T5 sv2+ but this is an extra 10 points.

After these changes you're left with 17 points. I would suggest something like giving 2 of the broadsides target locks and maybe twin-linking one of the weapons on the suit without the target lock (so that it looks, for example, like this - fusion blaster, twin-linked fusion blaster)

This brings you to 998 points by my calculation. Feel free to drop a fire warrior for a pathfinder to make it exactly 1000


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, and after these revisions, the broadsides cost 205. If you would like to try replacing them with a riptide then I suggest riptide, ion accelerator, EWO. De-twin-link that suit weapon and then use the remaining 22/20 points (depending on whether this list was the 998 or 1000 I mentioned) to add 2 pathfinders/1 pathfinder and 1 fire warrior OR a velocity tracker for the riptide

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/01/27 23:07:02


 
   
Made in hk
Warwick Kinrade





Hong Kong

Presuming you don't have unlimited budget to go out and buy all these recommended items or don't want to totally revise your original list, I think what you had can be slightly more optimized, something like the following:

HQ
Commander with 2 x Missile Pod, Drone controller, Target Lock (goes with marker drone unit) 128pts
Cadre Fireblade (just use a fire warrior model but paint him distinctly - goes with 12 fire warrior team) 60pts

Troops:
12 fire warriors 108pts (combined with firebalde provide you with static firebase of 26 S5 30" shots, 39 shots at 15")
6 fire warriors 54 pts (mobile obsec, just keep them in cover or reserves)

Elites
Crisis Team x2, Dual Plasma Rifles, VRT, 114pts (JSJ around harassing troops/elites/light vehicles with the 8 S6 AP2)

Fast attack:
Razorshark strike fighter, missile pod, Decoy launchers 153pts (not as bad as everyone says, just not that good either)
4 x marker drone squad 56pts (your only source of marker ligth support, which at commanders BS5 should be 3-4 light per turn - ok at1000pts)

Heavy support:
Hammerhead, Submunitions, SMS, Disruption Pod, Sensor spines 150pts (your AT, but can chip in against troops with blast - keep him mobile and out of danger)

This comes in at 823 points, giving you room for expansion. Items I would consider for the left over points would be one or some of the following (depending on what you have):

Aegis Defense Line with Quad Gun - 100pts (sit your fw team behind it and have cadre fireblade man the quad gun with his BS5).
Missilesides - Broadside x 2, TL HYMP, TL SMS, EWO - 140pts (once used you will never go back, can glance fliers to death even when snap shooting).
Expand second fw team to 12 man and give devilfish with disruption pod & sensor spines -154pts (gives you mobile rapid fire obsec).
Riptide, IA, TL Plasma Rifles, EWO - 190pts (you will have to shave some points though, probably the toys from the hammerhead).

Razorsharks can put out some fairly decent fire power, the main reason people hate them is because they are expensive, a bit flimsy with AV11/10/10 and are really hurt by the BS3/Lack of a networked marker light option. The last issue can be helped by providing ML support from your ground units, but otherwise you will have to work hard to look after it (i.e. keep it at arms length form the enemy and hope they don't have much skyfire).

If in doubt, frag it out...
Fight spam with spam, cheese with cheese, and fluff with a razor sharp sense of the appropriate

My Slapdash and Shoddy Tau P&M Blog
Titan's Fall: A WIP Campaign Book
 
   
Made in gb
Tail-spinning Tomb Blade Pilot





In a chair, staring at a screen

Ok. I was kind of thinking of getting two squads of 6 fire warriors with pulse carbines then adding two devilfish transports for a sort of additional attack element.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/01/29 08:13:16


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Made in us
Dakka Veteran




So a couple things from my perspective.

You have a lot of subpar units in the lineup and as addressed before your crisis weapons are not ideal. Totatally dependent on how much discretionary income you have to put twoards a warhammer army but here are my suggestions are far as "good" units are concerned.

Get devilfish for your firewarriors and give them disruption pods, this makes them very surviable even if you just have empty devilfish at the end they are still objective secured.

Go with skyrays instead of hammerheads. They have networked markerlights and seeker missles are great for first blood/alpha strike from distance. They are also fairly cheap to convert as buying the bits isn't too bad.

Take the firebase support cadre with 6 misslesides and a heavy burst cannon riptide. This is just plain devestating and really helps you against space marine armies.

If you're going to go forgeworld get tetras, yvranas, maybe one R'VARNA, and barracudas. These are some of the best units currently available in any codex and will serve you well in serious games.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also as a side note I love taking an ethereal and two units of fire warriors, one 11man one 12 man, in devilfish with pulse rifles, move 12" get out and light up anything within 15" with 69 s5 shots, using your ethereal's storm of fire, and then the devilfish have 8 shots a piece. That is rediculous board control. Give them emp grenades and they become a significant threat to even the heaviest vehicles.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hoard control, not board

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/01/29 22:01:21


 
   
 
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