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So I'm thinking about starting a 1k tau army and I'm wondering what I should get. I know Firewarriors and Devilfish, but is there anything else I should get?

CRISIS SUITS!!! the bread and butter of the Tau as of the moment, and perhaps a BroadSide battleSuit or 2

How many crisis suits would you think I'd need for just 1k.

I would look at about 6 Crisis suits and 1 or 2 Broadsides.

agreed with the above, just make sure you have one be a commander, also dont use his bodyguards, not worth the points unless you use all three elite slots but that wont happen in 1k games.

K cool, do you guys think I should also have firewarriors? I'm assuming Crisis suits are elite, so I'll need troops as well. I think stealth suits are cool but not sure how well they actually do.

Troops... for competitive you'll want about 12 fire warriors, for 2 6 man squads, with a devilfish for each squad.

But that's for competitive play if you like them, take more! Just don't expect them to be effective

Stealth suits are used for infantry killers or stealth marker team. Neither of which you would use at low points because they can easily cost you 200 points. Pathfinders with another devilfish would be a good purchase along with kroot for bublewrapping. You'll find after a bit of experience that firewarriors aren't a big part of the meta lists for the tau. The most you would need in lets say a mech army would be 18.

Also make sure to magnetize those crisis suits so you can try all the different types of loadouts frustration free.

I suggest you check out all the articles at Advanced Tau Tactica. Its a good resource albeit some posts are written for 4th edition but still apply to 5th for the most part. Be wary of some of the academy articles though as ATT tends to be very optimistic of every tau unit/wargear option. Once you get a feel for the units you'll know which articles make a ton of sense and which are just stretching it.

Welcome to the Greater Good!

Stealth Suits are ok IMO, they have a stealth generator but its close to 100 points for onlt 3 of them, you can get 3 crisis and some of their gear, if you want a fun list, i would use them, if you want a competative, use all crisis suits

Stealth suits only have fusion blasters and burst cannons, burst cannons are good to mass the volume of fire, and fusion blasters are good against tanks and all but if your close enough to use them the unit will more then likely die.

and yes to the fire warriors, need at least 2 units of 6, i would put as many points into your elite and heavy support slots as you can, also if you can afford the devilfish get them but use them in reserves in objective games and all, thats what i do at least.

PS yes crisis suits are elites. as are stealths.

So at least 3 crisis suits, 12 warriors, 2 devilfish, and an HQ. Any suggestions on the HQ?

Sorry for so many probably stupid questions, I'm just completely new to Tau.

its cool, use a Shas'El, The Shas' O is slightly better but not worth the difference in points, and i hate the ethereal so never use him, basically make your tau run away.

Although for fun lists a Shas'O can be worth it sometimes... most time a Shas'el will do the job just as well, but cheaper... but hell, it's all the same thing, an XV8 Crisis Battlesuit. Best just to get a normal suit kit and convert the commander, the commander box has like... 2 extra heads, 2 special guns and a... thingy... and none of them ever fit not worth the extra price.

And never leave home without a broadside or two for anti-tank work, although at 1k you wont need more than 1-2.

once again agree with the above just convert the commander, i made the mistake of buying the actual box, i didnt have a problem with the heads really but the extra pieces i never used

Personally I would wait a little bit. There are rumors that the Tau are going to be updated. Or controversially you could stock up on a few units now, to negate the inevitable GW price rise.

O.P. As people have said. Battlesuits are extremely important. At 1k I would get 6-9 suits in, backed with a few small fire warriors, and maybe 2-3 Broadsides. Maybe a railhead with SMS if you really want to be maverick. Although that could all change with the rumoured release.

release wont happen for a while from what i heard, first necrons, then chaos legions then maybe tau, its very sad

Take 3 pairs of suits with TL missile pods and fusion blasters.


Leader - plasma rifle, missile pod, MT
6 FW + Dfish + Distruption pod
min Kroot
min Kroot

broadsides.

Zilegal, the inevitable price rise is why I kind of want to get a small force together now haha. And thanks for all the help guys! I appreciate it.

Phototoxin wrote:Take 3 pairs of suits with TL missile pods and fusion blasters.

Why do people keep praising suit choices like that? Sure, they have a use, but they are not the be all and end all of battlesuits, in most cases pretty far from it. What can those suits do that a fireknife + broadside can't? Because if you have broadsides you don't need fusion blasters, and if you have fireknives/firestorms/whatever you don't need TL missile pods.

balanced suits, people, balanced suits.


Also made the mistake of getting a commander box myself once... I -finally- actually used one of the parts for my commander. Only took me a few years.

Never ever use a devilfish. Tau just sit back at the table edge and outrange everyone. People can't win a game of objectives if their troop choices are gone in turn 3.

EldarN00b wrote:Never ever use a devilfish. Tau just sit back at the table edge and outrange everyone. People can't win a game of objectives if their troop choices are gone in turn 3.

Again, bad advice. Not sure where this is coming from, but in all honesty the exact opposite is true. Tau rely on mobility and range, not a stationary gunline. Keep mobile, keep your distance, stop your enemy being able to close into close combat range... just sitting there in a static gunline? Not a chance

Tau Rely on loads of Suits. Get 2 Shas'EL and 2 6 man FW squads as minimum troop. Then get big Kroot, 2 Broadies and bust the rest on Battlesuits. My friend played non suits, and my Dark LEdar ripped him. Then my Necrons tied with him when he became suit heavy. Any DE players out there check
this link:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/397671.page

Beregond wrote:

EldarN00b wrote:Never ever use a devilfish. Tau just sit back at the table edge and outrange everyone. People can't win a game of objectives if their troop choices are gone in turn 3.

Again, bad advice. Not sure where this is coming from, but in all honesty the exact opposite is true. Tau rely on mobility and range, not a stationary gunline. Keep mobile, keep your distance, stop your enemy being able to close into close combat range... just sitting there in a static gunline? Not a chance

Yeah, EldarN00b, this was good advice for 4e, not now. 5e has too many Outflanking, Infiltrating, Deep Striking and Flat Out (marine) armies for Gun-line to work. You're about 4 years behind the times. Any BA player that has jumpers will Descent of Angels on you and you're toast.

razielsempai, the advice from posters Cottonjaw, Beregond, and lately ceku, is pretty good (not that the other guy's aren't on too). To wrap it up in terms of your money:
1. the BattleForce Box.
2. 4 Crisis Suits
3. 2 ForgeWorld Broadsides. For the extra cost of ForgeWrold, you get a better looking model and a more resilient one made of resin and not having the metal to plastic, unwieldy railgun bits.

You're close to 1k with all of that (Shield Drones for the suits). Afterward, head for a total ownership of 6 to 9 suits, and then move on to buying Skyrays (the boxe has bits for all 3 tanks), but you'll use the Railhead as you head for higher point games.

Broadsides are 90- odd points apiece. Aren't as mobile.

Ive got 1000pts of tau and I have a Hammerhead that works quite well

Phototoxin wrote:Broadsides are 90- odd points apiece. Aren't as mobile.

What's your point PhotoT?
Most Railheads come up to 170 or 180 points with Dispod, MT etc.. So, two b-sides gives you twice the vehicle crushing power, for the same cost. An HH can go down in one shot. XV88s, with SDs, will absorb a considerable amount of firepower before being dispatched.

I run 2 railheads and 3 b-sides in bigger lists, so it's not like I'm all of one and none of the other. Each has it's pluses and minuses, mobility or not, vulnerability, BS4 vs. TL-BS3, etc.

For a starting list though, the b-sides make more sense, as the game is so currently anti-tank, it pays to actually have less tanks (which tau can do) and have *more* anti-tank. Thus the b-side.

Of course, I don't have any problem running two railheads under 1k. Pie-plates, ya see.

90% of Tau's anti-vehicle is in the Heavy Support slot, so fill that out a bit before you start going crazy on suits. Crisis Suits are good, but pricey points-wise (and dollar-wise), and they will rarely pop anything tougher than a Rhino. Without the railguns on Broadsides and Hammerheads, the rest of your army will never have the chance to shoot at the juicy insides of whatever you face.

Markerlights, if it hasn't been said before, bring all the markerlights you can.

Also, I think firewarriors are greatly underestimated. As long as you keep them mobile, they're a great ranged unit.

carbonpillow wrote:Markerlights, if it hasn't been said before, bring all the markerlights you can.

Not in games 1k and under. The points eat up too much to justify their use in low point games. A team of PFs is feasible at 1250 or 1500 and up.

Thanks for all the advice guys. So when I get the battle force do you guys think I should use the Kroot? I personally can't stand the way they look, so I'd like to avoid using them if I can haha

Heh, if you seriously dislike the models it's your call they are pretty useful though, so maybe you could look into alternatives.