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Good day everyone! I'm starting a Tau force and I have big questionning lol. I want to have a small force, between 1000 and 1500 pts. I posted on DakkaDakka befause winter to find a way to build a cheap Tau army, but now that some time has passed, I want some more info from you guys. So I went and buy a Battleforce. So I now have in stock: 12 firewarrior, 3 stealth suit, 3 crisis suit and 1 pirana.

Question 1: Is there a 1000-1500 list that could put to good use those model?

Question 2: Would it be worth it to invest in a second Battleforce. That would give me 24 firewarrior, 6 stealth suit, 6 crisis suit (could proxy one as HQ + 2 bodyguard) and 2 piranah.

Question 3: After investing in a second Battleforce (if suggested), does 1 more piranah and 3 broadside seem like a good way to round up my army to have nice and balanced 1500pts list:?

Thank you! I'm not sure if I posted in the right section of the forum, sorry if I didn't :S

Probs no need for second battle force, piranhas can be used as tetras with some modding (much much better than piranas) stealth suits i find struggle to make there points back so i would say start buying models peicemeal,

maybe buy 1 more FW squad failing that a riptide (they are almost auto include)

Broadsides are epic!! especially when used in the firebase support cadre formation.

The army list i have come up with for your list is a bit short on points; coming in at 812Pts (could be reduced just tried to pad it out haha)

HQ
Commander
2x marker drones, Nuroweb system jammer, Iridium suit, 2X missile pods, Drone Controller and shield generator.

Elites

Stelth team +2 gun drones
Stelth shas'vre - Fusion blaster, Target lock and markerlight
stelth shas'ui fusion, target lock
stelth shas'ui fusion

Crisis team
2x gun drone crisis shas'vre 2x plasma rifle, shield generator

Crisis team
2x gun drone crisis shas'vre 2x Fusion, shield generator

Troops

6x firewarriors - 2x gun drones

6x firewarriors - 2x gun drones

fast attack

Piranha - Disruption pods fusion blaster 1x seeker missile sensor spines

I would recommend highly the firebase support cadre formation. However you buy the modles.

The starter set has too many things I wouldn't use for tau so I would avoid buying another unless you really love stealth suits and piranhas.

Getting the firebase will give you access to enough marker drone conversions to run a mark'o(that's a commander with Missle pods drone controller and target lock, can take irridium and sheild for added durability) with all necessary drones.

For an expansion to your army I would look also at 1 more riptide in addition to the firebase, tetras, skyrays, a commander, I like to run an ethereal based list sometimes or cadre fireblade(both good HQ options if you're short on points). If you want to go suit heavy you could opt for one more unit of crisis suits. As far as forgeworld is concerned the humble tetra takes the cake for me followed by the R'VARNA and Y'VARHA. The R'VARNA got beat down with the nerf bat with new rules, the same may happen to the Y'VARHA(although their experimental rules are particularly strong) so I would be cautious on buying those. The tau airforce is quite pathetic when compared to say a fire raptor or even Necron flyers so don't waste your money their. I have heard ok things about baracudas and tiger sharks but have never fielded them, all the same I think you get plenty of aa and alpha strike from skyrays so I never feel I needed flyers to keep the skies clear.


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There not their. I hate when people skrew that up, my apologies

You can only have 1 fusion per 3 members in a steslth suit team dude.

First of all you need to decide if you want to play standard tau empire or the supplement farsight enclaves. Farsight enclaves are pretty much the same but crisis suits are troops and there riptides get access to the best signature system.

When you have decided which codex you want to use get your hq and 2 troops down and they fill a list out from there. Best choices are riptides/crisis suits, broadsides/skyrays, pathfinders/piranhas. Read through the special rules and try to get a grip of what each units role should be. Once you do you can tailor your force in a way that suits you. Want a immovable firebase? Spam broadsides, fire warriors with either fireblade or ethreal and riptides. Want a mobile force? Use farsight enclaves and take small units of crisis suits for troops, add piranhas, stealth suits, kroot etc

Jut flavour to taste dude

piranhas can be used as tetras

I'm not sure what Tetras are. I am looking in the codex and I can't find it.

I would recommend highly the firebase support cadre formation

What compose this formation and what are the benifit? I would look in the codex or on the web, but I am at work and most website are blocked :S (thankfully, dakkadakka isnt haha)

First of all you need to decide if you want to play standard tau empire or the supplement farsight enclaves.

I was thinking about playing a standard Tau empire, unless you guys tell me that Farsight >>> Regular Tau

Want a immovable firebase? Want a mobile force?

I guess I played too much Space Marine haha. I was more thinking something along the line of:
-2 squad of FW in Devilfish (futur buy)
-2 squad of 3 stealth suit to infiltrate + snipe vehicule
-1 squad of 2-3 piranaha (or split them or whatever) for fast movement objective sniping + some anti AV
-At least 2-3 broadside siting in the back to bring the pain
-2-3 squad of 3man crisis to be my mobile jack-of-all-trade unit. (1 crisys team being the commander)

If I go that route, I will need every unit from 2 battleforce, hence why I though it was a good buy. But looking at the comments, it seem like it's a sub-par strategy :S

Tetras are a forge world unit that cost 35 points each and give you a fast open-topped skimmer with armour 10 all round, and 2 twin-linked markerlights. They are by far your best option for markerlights, and tau rely on markerlight synergy

FW in devilfish is a decent way to go, they can be pretty useful in maelstrom missioms where you need to grab objectives

Stealth suits I've always found to be a bit rubbish, they hardly ever make their points back and just don't do enough.

Broadsides are a must, they're awesome and should always be taken as HYMP (not heavy rail rifles)

Riptides are also great but require marker support

Piranhas don't really do enough for me to like them, but I guess they could be alright if you're set on using them

Crisis suits are great, drop suits with dual fusion next to enemy tanks and fry them

SpankingApe wrote:

You can only have 1 fusion per 3 members in a steslth suit team dude.

my bad shows how much they are used! haha

Why does railgun never taken on Broadside? Is it viable to have 2 HYMP and 1 Railgun?

I don't have the money to buy 6 Broadside and a Riptide + all the other thing I need, so I guess I'm gonna go with 3 broadside, a Riptide and another battleforce.

I guess I can make decent list with 6 crisis, 6 stealth (worst case, I proxy crisis with them), 24 FW, 2 Piranhas (I have to look on how I could convert them to Tetras), 3 broadside and 1 riptide.

Do not mix high yeild missles and rail. They have different target priorities and different ranges. People do not take rail rifles because you only get 1 shot vs 4 with the missles. Missles are also better at killing a wide variety of targets with sheer volume of fire. Lastly they mesh well with the range of smart Missle systems which should be your secondary option. They fill a gap if most tau armies in terms of ideal firepower. They are good for light vehicles and flyers with 8 shots per suit twin linked(in the firebase support cadre they get tank hunter too for free) monstrous creatures and more than enough for infantry.


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The firebase support cadre is a data slate. You can find its rules on black library.


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But if you want to save at least the cost of that or just to evaluate the benifits(if you got to a tournament you are going to want official rules) the formation includes exactly 6 broadsides(can be loaded any way you choose) and a riptide. The formation gains tank hunter and preferred enemy gw space marines(this includes all faction so vanilla, grey Knights, dark Angels, blood Angels, ect.) however space marines get hatred but if they make into melee with you as tau you are pretty screwed no matter what hatred or no hatred so not a big loss.

I can see this formation be a part of my army later. I want to build toward it instead of around it I guess haha

All right, I pretty much got my mind wrap around 2 Battleforce + 1 Riptide + 3 Broadside. Gonna convert those pirahna into tetra for some cheap markerlight.

Later, I can buy 3 more broadside to complete the FBCS and 2 Devilfish for the FW.

Thanks everyone for the great comments!

It's cool if you want to build an army towards rather than around a formation. My only cavoit to add there is that the firebase support cadre lends it's self more to a static gunline list than a mobile one. So once you know what you like and what you don't with how the tau play at higher point values you can make adjustments then. I'd just hate to see you sink a ton of cash into modles that do not support the playstyle you prefer.

I myself run a hybrid with a firebase support cadre two full squads of firewarriors in devilfish for MSU and extra dakka if needed. Tetras with homing beacons help mark things and ensure my crisis suits get to where they're needed so really I end up leaving the broadsides by the end of most matches to
throw all of my mobile bodies on objectives with my broadsides laying down a consistent torrent of fire. The plan doesn't always work, my list struggles against things with fast really durable cc deathstars(anything with a 2++ re roll like a screamer star is
pretty much an auto loose kill points wise although I can out
score them).

Biker marines can also prove challenging which is why I need a second riptide to take an ion accelerator for the ap2 pie plate. Boost that with some markers for ignores cover and I would be looking much better.

No matter how you choose to outfit our army always remember the next codex is always on the way and the meta is always changing. What is good today may be outdated tomorrow. What are subpar units now may become op with a new release. Just look at necron heavy destroyers. Good luck and goog hunting. For the greater good!!!