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This is the new edited version. I believe it follows all proper rules for deployment and battle gear options.

HQ- Shas'o w/ Stim injectors, Hard Wired Drone Controller, Multi-tracker, TL Missile Pods, Air Bursting Frag Projector, Target Lock,
+2 Shield Drones :163

x3 Shas'ui Battle Suits, TL Missile Pods, Fusion Blaster, Multi-tracker 60x3 = 180

x2 Shas'ui Battle Suits, TL Burst Cannon, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker 54x2 = 108

x12 Fire Warriors

x12 Fire Warriors

x12 Fire Warriors

x10 Kroot, x4 Hounds 94

x10 Kroot, x4 Hounds 94


Its foot slogging, but 999 points total.

Is it completely legal? And what do you think? I really enjoy this one, and think I've done well

Crisis suits have only 3 hard points so your suits are all illegal. Take a tour through some of the Tau army lists and you' ll get the idea.

As Focused Fire said, your suits are illegal. To be specific, there are only 3 available hardpoints on a suit for physical weapons or wargear. You also need one unit of Fire Warriors minimum, as they are a 1+ choice. Are you using the Tau Empire codex, or the Tau codex? The Tau one is the old edition. I'll happily give some tactical advice after you get a solid list locked down. Yeah, our 'dex is confusing and badly worded at times. It takes some getting used to.

Hmm, Alright I'll have to add in a fire warrior squad I guess, What if I changed the Pathfinder squad to a Fire Warrior squad with Leader and Marker drone. Then had TL Missile Pods, and Fusion blaster on all the suits?

My leader guy would have Ion gun + TL Missile Pod

There's some left over points.


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I'll figure out a lot of stuff and repost. I'm really loving the Tau a lot more than I thought.

The Codex I have is the newest one "Tau Empire"

Quick tip to save you some time: each weapon or piece of wargear takes up a hardpoint on the suit. Twin linked weapons take up two points. (Exact rules in Tau wargear section)

Now, a couple more points.
1. On your commander: shield drones generally serve better than a generator, as they act as ablative wounds AND an invulnerable save. Your commander should have some drones or other battlesuits to make his unit more survivable. More battlesuits = more firepower, and tau need a lot of that to prevent assaults.

2. Your suit squads are fine should you fix their hard point problem. One squad with Missile Pods, Burst Cannons, and Multi trackers (to fire both weapons) absolutely wrecks hordes and MEQ through volume of fire. The other squad, if you outfit them with TL Missile pods and flamers, makes a fantastic anti transport unit that can flame hordes later. I'd also consider adding a third squad of 1 or two suits for the commander to join, Perhaps make them a Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod squad, or a Plasma rifle, fusion blaster. One in great against elites, the other against, well, anything within 12". Alternate-alternately, drop a suit off your TL Missile Pod, Flamer squad and have your commander fill the third spot.

3. Kroot squads. You're spending a lot of points that could be better spent. Rather than taking large squads that require a shaper for morale, why not take 3, or 4 squads? 10 Kroot and a decent amount of hounds makes an awesome outflanking or counter assault force. Also, Kroot with Krootox in cover make a great distraction that can hurt transprts that your opponent can't ignore for too long.

4. Pathfinders already have markerlights, so the drone is redundant and horrendously overpriced. If you want more markerlights, just max out the squad.

5. Pathfinders HAVE to take a devilfish. However, they don't like moving as they want as many turns as possible shooting their markerlights. Instead, Setup a fire warrior or Kroot squad nearby, and let them board the devilfish as the game begins. (10 Kroot and 2 Krootox fit in a devilfish. Drive up, dump em out, rapid fire. BOOM.)

EDIT: Ninja'd by the OP. Hopefully the codex makes more sense now.

Can you take 2 shield drones?

Yes, you may take 2 drones of any kind per drone controller.

EDIT:

I want to mark squads for the kroot to shoot to pieces. They're the only thing that could handle a CC army as well I think, or at least buffer it enough to let the Crisis suits so something.

You can't use marker lights when using kroot.
Kroot can handle Orks and the like pretty good when you charge them. Against anything with power armour or similar they die horribly. But that is OK! That's not why you want kroot, you want kroot so they can block assaults and die/get sweeping advanced in the same assault round. So you can shoot the gak out of the marines who are 6 inch from your plasma-suits, without cover.

When playing Tau you basically have 2 things to do;

1. Shoot the gak out of the opponent.
- Target priority and maneuvering your units so they can get the most optimal kill is key here. Think about it and you'll figure it out. What is most dangerous to your army ATM? Can I kill it reliably? If you do decide to attack an unit, kill it, kill it dead. You will have to worry about a single sarge with PF, or even 3 marines, because they will f-up a unit of suits if they get the chance.

2. Slowing your opponent down.
- A immensely important aspect of playing a Tau army and overlooked by many average Tau players out there. Piranha's move 24inch to block movement for a turn, kroot stand in the way of the enemy charging your suits and vehicles. Even infiltrated/deepstriked stealth-suits can take on this role (if you like them, I definitely don't).

When building a Tau army you must always keep these factors in mind. Which units are going to kill and which units are going to block, and focus them around this role.
Your blocking units should be killed easily in CC or a vehicle (so you can shoot the assaulters in your next turn).

So lets look at your Kroot. They are there mainly to block oncoming assaults. So we won't be needing that Shaper because LD8 will increase the chance of not getting Sweeping advanced in combat. The Shaper also doesn't generate another body (as he is an upgrade for a "normal" kroot). So, eventually your paying 21 points for something that makes your unit worse for the intended role.
Now the number of kroot in your unit; when is it better to have 1 unit of 20 instead of 2 units of 10? Shooting? No, same amount of shots but 2x10 is more flexible. Assault? No, same dmg output but less likely to die in a single assault phase. Shortage of Troop slots? Of course not, you play Tau, you have little troops as they don't kill sh*t.
If you say outflanking you make me a sad panda...
Kroot will die immediately if they don't charge after outflanking and even then they are only a nuisance to Foot IG/Orks and possibly Foot Eldar.

And in response to Pvt. Jet; sorry dude, but Krootox are just awful. If you want str7 AP4, get Missile Pods. They won't take infiltrate and mobility away from your Kroot, and you don't pay a premium price for them.

As many have said, your suits are illegal. Do you now understand how you must configure them?
I'll explain anyway. You MUST choose 3 weapon or support systems, a TL weapon system takes up 2 "slots". You MAY choose war gear (which never takes up "slots") for your Team leaders, Shas'vre's and Commanders.
You may not take a system twice per suit (do not mistake this with "twin-linking" a weapon system). Special issue items are for Shas'vre and Commanders, but only 1 per army.

Suits fill a niche in the list. High volume med. str. weaponry. You can't get that anywhere else in the codex, at least effectively.
Make your suits as killy as you can. I'm a very big fan of the Fireknife suit (PR, MP and MT) great all rounder and awesome at killing pretty much any target especially with marker light support. It's nice to have a marine player remove 6 marines and roll 6 armour saves after 2 squads worth of shooting (suits and PF). Avoid short range, at all time, your suits will die in an instant if they get assaulted. So definitely no Fusion blasters and Flamers, unless you are willing to sacrifice them. Burst cannons give you str5 AP5, you have enough of that elsewhere in the list.

And last but not least the pathfinders.
Drop the drone, get a Fish, but that has been said earlier.
Very difficult unit to use effectively. Easily outmaneuvered, killed or scared, but worth every point when used well. This is the unit that can break the opposing army in a turn.
Hard to give any advice on these guys though except the obvious "keep them in cover" and "use there marker light hits with the most effective unit for the job". Maybe that is because I might not fully understand them even after 3 years of playing Tau.
I do have 1 "trick" with them that I don't see very often; Put your commander with target lock in a squad of PF, boost their LD, but you retain the ability to shoot at someone else with the commander.

The Tau army in general is a very hard army to play well, you aren't allowed to make many (if any) mistakes. You must always use your force as a whole and know all factors that are in play to make the right decisions.

I completely re-did my list. I edited the original post with it. Please tell me what you think. Thanks again! ^.^

re done post! It's all new and good.... anyone?

Hate to break it to you, but not really great.
You're missing the two best parts of a Tau army: Railguns and Markerlights.

Every tau army from 500pts upwards should have AT LEAST one Hammerhead with Railgun. At 1000pts I would be looking at a hammerhead and a broadside.
Railguns scare everything, from Guardsmen to Gargants, Marines to Mawlocs. One railgn shot is more likely than not to knock out light transports like Rhinos; a subminitons round will kill more guardsmen than a squad of fire warriors.


You still don't have your suits equipped right. Imagine on the battlesuit models, you can put one item in each hand, and one item on its shoulder. An item can be either a non-hardwired support system, or a weapon. Twin linked weapons still take up 2 spots. For example, twin linked missile pods and a target lock would be a valid config (commonly called the "Deathrain" configuration), or a plasma rifle, missile pod and multi-tracker (called "Fireknife").

In my opinion, burst cannon are a waste of points on crisis suits - you have plenty of opportunity to add S5Ap5 shots to your army, but only limited slots to put plasma rifles in. Fusion Blaster suits also don't tend to last long - if you want them for anti-tank duties, use a single-man squad to get up close and personal without wasting a huge amount of points. (though Railguns are still your best bet for anti-tank) Flamers are also hard to use well in a tau army, so that basically leaves you with using your crisis suits for the best weapons: Missile Pods and Plasma Rifles.


Two kroot squads are good, but 3 full fire warrior squads isn't so much. Many people try running with minimum fire warriors (1 squad of 6) but I would try 2 squads of 9.

I would advocate getting a squad of Pathfinders and a hammerhead, losing a squad of crisis and firewarriors, losing some upgrades on your commander and see i you can fit in a broadside.

There is much to reflect upon. I was thinking 3 hardpoints as in three gun points + upgrades.

Streaming the HQ is a good idea. And now I finally noticed the two different rail gun shots.... haha

Thanks again, I'll reread everything and try again!!

I'd suggest if that if you can clear up some points get a Broadside. Its twin-linked railguns are invaluable and its only 70p.

Your list looks good, but one heavy armoured tank, or even a rhino can turn your game from good into losing horribly. (also that 72" range is just awesome)

Making ur FW squads 11 each and your kroot 8 with 3 dogs would allow for this, you are sacrificing power in the front lines but you will be thankful you have it if you come up against a tank.

REDONE AGAIN!!!! HERE"S THE NEW LIST! haha gotta love caps.

Shas'o w/ Airbursting Launcher, Missile Pod, Stims, Target Lock, Bonding Knife :127

x3 Crisis suits with TL Missile Pods, Target Lock, 48x3 :144

x8 Pathfinders with Devilfish :184

x1 Hammerhead w/ Railgun and Multi-tracker :160

x1 Hammerhead w/ Railgun and Multi-tracker :160

x6 Fire Warriors

x6 Fire Warriors

x10 Fire Warriors OR x10 Kroot and 5 hounds. :100

total :995


I can't remember if giving the fast rule to tanks lets them shoot heavy weapons while moving short distances....

I think this involves a lot of awesome stuff, and it sticks to the advice given to me.

I am going to unload the pathfinders and put the two squads of 6 into it at the beginning of the game most likely (thats the idea)

I think I perfected my HQ, I tried not to get too point heavy into him.

Do I HAVE to have three upgrades on each battlesuit? I only gave them all target lock for it's usefulness and because I thought I had to.


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thanks again for reading my lists and giving me valuable input guys. It's very appreciated, tossing around Tau Theories got me through the workday today

Sorry mate but you can only put 1 squad into the devil fish
(I know it says 12 models but you cant put 2 squads of 6 in, it is 1 squad max)

Your tanks with the upgrade act as fast moving and therefore after moving 12" can fire defensive weapons. (If im correct)
And yes you must use up all 3 slots.

(okay I have had to edit this 3 times now lol. )
Replace 1 HH railgun with 1 broadside. It is much more effective at armour killing and frees up a lot of points for Ur first HHs upgrades and for increasing ur FW squads numbers
(or replace with 2 broadsides and use the 20 points saved for ur HHs upgrades or 2 extra FWs.)

Also, any time you field a tank, put a disruption pod on it. Permanent 4+ cover save. 5pts to basically double the survivabilty of your tank? seems worth it to me.

I agree with the above, 1 hammerhead and 1 broadside > 2 hammerheads. In big games you want to build up to 2 HH's 2 Broadsides, or 2 HH's 3 Broadsides. Broadsides are better antitank leaving that nice big pieplate to drop on infantry.

With your MP crisis suits, give only 2 of them target locks and give the third something else - targetting array or something. That way you can claim that 'the squad' is firing at unit X, but then crisis 2+3 can break off onto different units, firing at 3 units total.


your commander needs a multi-tracker to fire two weapons; also watch out for mixing your weapon roles on a single suit. The AFP is 18" S4 Ap5. MP is 36" S7 AP4; so any time you use the AFP to take out GEQ infantry in cover, you're wasting the MP high strength low ap that would be better against tougher targets or light vehicles. AFP seems generally better paired with a Burst Cannon or Flamer to focus that suit's role.

I agree with the broadside arguement...Should I take two broadsides and then a Hammerhead? Or one broadside and one hh?

I think it says you have to take an upgrade for the broadside so they're a little more expensive than 70.

I was reading that Disruption pod and wondering what "Obscured target" meant. I was reading the rulebook on tanks in cover at that moment

So I'm going to go make dinner and reconfigure my army around my HQ, 1 Broadside, 1 HH. Who knows. I might throw an A'un in there,

Can someone fully explain the gravity of "Price of Failure" to me? It seems like it's a really good thing with no negative drawback.

No no you dont have to at all.

Just Railguns and SMS and they are fine for 70 points a pop.
And its probs best to only take one so you can spend points else where.

Disruption pod: If enemy model fires at you from more then 12" away you count as obscured and get a 4+ coversave

And Im pretty sure, if i remember correctly. The price of failure is if your ethernal dies then all your units take a moral test and if they fail they flee, if they are in a devilfish then the disembark and count as fleeing

The Price of Failure is when your Ethereal dies, your whole army, or atleast all true tau units (meaning vespids and kroot and even drones are excluded) has to take a leadership roll as long as they arent in cc or already running, if they fail, they start running like a normal failed leadership test.
The advantage is that you gain the preferred enemy rules but the disadvantage is your army could very well fall apart, Tau have relatively low leadership 7-8, with 2D6 thats not very good odds to roll under that.
Another deterrent is that ethereal are notoriously fragile low toughness and no saves means anything that hits it can kill it. More so on that is the fearless rule, it seems all dandy but typically with Tau units, if you get caught in cc, you want to end it quickly, meaning your units either get slaughtered or (the most likely) they run because of low leadership. That much is better because you have the opportunity to salvage some guns and get back to shooting faster

Like this man said ^

If Tau get into cc then do everything in your power to have it end quickly. You want that charging unit back out in the open for shooting as fast as you possibly can.

Oh and if you have the points to spare maybe a fletchet discharger on HH and DF they keep the hordes away and when they do come close do awesomeness.

Shas'o, Stims, Target Lock, Hard Wired Multi-tracker, Air Bursting Fragmentation Launcher, Cylclic Ion Blaster, bonding knife :135

x3 Crisis Suits, x2 Target Lock, x1 Target Array, x3 TL Missile Pods :149

x1 Broadside Suit, Targeting Array :80

x1 HH w/ Raingun and x2 burst cannons, Disruption Pod :155

x8 Pathfinders w Devilfish :184

x12 Fire Warriors

x8 Fire Warriors

x10 Kroot, x5 Hounds

1003 I believe.

Remove the bonding knife on ur HQ it is a waste of points he is an Independent Character.

That clears up 10 points

Either give ur FW squad 1 more FWs or add Multitracker to ur HH

And thus the transition to a standard Tau Hybrid list has finished its first stage of metamorphisis.

You are at a decent starting point for learning how a Tau army works.

The only thing I'd change in this build would be your commander. Now if you were running a different style list then........... lets give it time.


Have fun and happy hunting

Would of been more instructive to tell him what to change his Commander to or an idea.

@syanticraven-Each player needs to figure out some things for themselves................But seeing as you asked so nice.

@OP-I'll go down the list and give you a quick assessment. Pls remember that each person has their own playstyle so feel free to ignore any ideas I put forward. Things I say about points you might want to listen to, though.

1) Your commander is over-kitted, over-costed, and a bit unfluffy.. This is a small force that wouldn't warrant a Shas'o.

A)A shas'el with a targeting array is 15 points cheaper than the Shas'o.
B)A Plasma rifle is a better match for the CIB and is the same price as the AFP. The Plas has better range Strength and AP.
C)You may find That the Stim Inj. is just about useless. Most of your opponents will use weapons that bypass the FNP when targetting your commander.

About other parts of yout army..............I am of the mindset that Bonding Knives on your FW and Pathfinders never hurts.

Points are off on the deathrains. I think they should be 155 for the team.

Points look off on the Pathfinders. 8 Pf's equal 96 points . this leaves on;y 88 points for a 80 point fish that has no upgrades under 5 points and no upgrades for 8 points.

And finally, spend some points on a Multi-tracker for the Railhead. The extra mobility is a must.

Again Happy Hunting

The Bonding knife is 5 points. And if I'm attaching him to the squad of x3 crisis suits, why not give them Auto-regroup?

I wanted to try the dual 18'' range weapons. It's a t4, w4, fnp model. I'm sure he can handle his own in moderate close range. I have to be ready for enemies getting in sometime.

@Syanticraven-^This is why I usually only give suggestions on a broadscale as opposed to detailed advice. People gotta learn on their own and play according to their Style.


@OP-The reason that Sayantic was saying to drop the bond knife is covered in the Independent Character rules. In most builds your commander would be the last model left by the time the BK takes effect and as an IC on his own he will be able to regroup anyway.

Also, your list ins't legal until it has accurate points costs and falls "within" the 1K limit that you have set. Individuals will play you when you're a few over but will get irritated with such mathematical innaccuracies. Tourny's will disqualify you for both being over and for having your math wrong.

Yeah I see your point. I like to give a few specifics roles for them to work with then swap around if it Is not their playstyle. Im new myself mind you.
It just seemss I got a grasp quicker, or read more into it.

But I have to ask, why both 18" weapons? You could of picked a Plasma rifle which has longer range with a lower AP meaning it will do more damage to armoured units, also having a larger range allows for it to shoot more during the game. And at 18" Both weapons get fired off, then at 12" You get to also rapid fire your rifle.

That's a pretty good idea. I initially really wanted "Missile Pod, Air Bursting" But the difference in range seemed an issue according to some.

Plasma rifles seem really useful, but it's a little pricey for it's usefulness imo. I love to run Autocannon's on CSM so the missile pods look almost exactly their equal.

plasma rifle pricey for its usefulness? ...apparently youve never seen 3-6 plasma rifles rapid firing marines at BS 5 =-? ...oh the puddles.... clean up on isle 5?

TopC wrote:plasma rifle pricey for its usefulness? ...apparently youve never seen 3-6 plasma rifles rapid firing marines at BS 5 =-? ...oh the puddles.... clean up on isle 5?

Even on BS 4 they are pretty nifty.