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It is 18 months since the Tau Empire codex was released and it seems to have gained a reputation as a decent, balanced codex, one of the best for the 4th edition rules. Tau armies are back in contention in tournaments and there is apparently a surge of popularity.

Several new units were introduced and a couple of old ones that had fallen out of favour received useful upgrades that put them back into the selection frame. I have listed my choice of these units as the options in this multiple choice poll.

My question to Tau players and their opponents is whether you think these units are generally good picks for a general purpose list. Click all that fit the category. If for example you like Vespids but only for City Fight, do not select them.

I thought the only one that was really disliked was the Vespids, followed by the Piranha (though a single deep-striker with fusion was considered okay)? I know JTS1486 likes sniper drones, and I thought Broadsides were still considered worthwhile, no?

syr8766 wrote:I thought the only one that was really disliked was the Vespids, followed by the Piranha (though a single deep-striker with fusion was considered okay)? I know JTS1486 likes sniper drones, and I thought Broadsides were still considered worthwhile, no?

I don't want to say any of them are or aren't of use. It might bias the poll.

You forgot skyray.

I love my piranhas, broadsides, and pathfinders. Pathfinders especially because I'm gonna be playing Farsight after I finish my gundams and the rerollable deepstrike is huge. Vespids would be great but, like rough riders, hardly anyone plays with enough cover to warrant their use.

I'll probably learn to love either the skyray or sniper drones with a Farsight list.

Damn, I did forget Skyray. Probably because I don't have one myself.

Oh well, if there is any interest we can do another poll after this one.

I was rather suprised that the Human auxilleries were kicked to the curb and not included in the codex. The Tau are lacking in support weaponry, such as being able to add the support weapons from the broadside suits to squads as heavy weapon type equipment.

Grot 6 wrote:I was rather suprised that the Human auxilleries were kicked to the curb and not included in the codex. The Tau are lacking in support weaponry, such as being able to add the support weapons from the broadside suits to squads as heavy weapon type equipment.

So was I. They're also a characterful and fluffy unit that fills a nice niche between Fire Warriors and Kroot.

If I was a Tau player, Pathfinders would be the first thing I add to my list, other than the fact you have to buy $$-wise a Devilfish. Maybe even two squads.

Broadsides, meh. I think I would probably find points for other units.

Vespids I might take a squad of 6 just because. They're OK and fill that forementioned speed bump role. But I would consider Fire Warriors as a replacement.

I don't really care about the Piranha but it was nice to see it included in the proper codex.

I can see myself including a sniper drone team, esp with markerlights.

It's a shame my brother plays Tau. How many times do I have to say it.

My mate is planning on having a combined Tau/Guard army, using both codices legally as allies(With FOC).

He thinks there are a few lacking things with the Tau on thier own(most notably the human Aux) and that's why he is doing it this way.Plus, with a world that has been out of touch for a few millenia after the Great Expansion, it sort of makes sense that some of the more isolated human worlds would start to sway to the 'greater good'.

Mind you, that being said, I am a loyalist Marine player.

ALL XENOS NEED TO BE PURIFIED!!!!!!!!

I'm starting to like Broadsides better than Hammerheads to be honest. They have problems, but still they're really good.

Pathfinders are decent too, not as good as Broadsides, but still not bad.

The only unit really stinks in the codex is the vespid. Its because they are completely one dimensional. They kill power armor (unfortunatly only upclose). They are worthless against horde style armies. And once they kill a few marines, they are easily toast as they are now in the open and probably within shooting range of the whole freekin army or charge range of something that is going to rip them a new one.

They are ok if you know that your fighting power armor. But in the toury circuit, they are just not a safe bet.

Grot 6 wrote:I was rather suprised that the Human auxilleries were kicked to the curb and not included in the codex. The Tau are lacking in support weaponry, such as being able to add the support weapons from the broadside suits to squads as heavy weapon type equipment.

They weren't exact copies of Guard Infantry units, though. They didn't have heavy weapon access or special weapon access, with the exception being a single Markerlight and a pulse rifle here and there. You couldn't give them Lascannons/Plasma guns and bolster the gunline or anything like that. They stack up rather badly against the other Tau light infantry (Kroot) and overall weren't a very good choice, other then fluff reasons. 10 lasguns do not a very powerful unit make. About the only really useful thing with them is you could make a very cheap single Markerlight platform, but even that was pretty meh.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the absence of heavy weapons in the Tau Troops selection was done intentionally, as to differentiate them from most other shooty races. As for lacking in support weaponry, it's all in their Elite slots with Crisis suits and Stealth suits. I don't know too many people that think Tau need MORE special weaponry in their army list!

In response to the poll, I make heavy use of Pathfinders in my normal lists as well as Broadsides. I've only used a single Piranha, and haven't experimented at all with Sniper Drones. I've used Vespid before, but they only seemed to work well as a fast scoring unit, which the Piranha did just as well. A Skyray would be interesting to work with, but it's awfully hard to justify it over the much cheaper Ionhead.

Piranha: never used them. I have 2 TX-42 kits to do, but I don't want to run the stock config.
Vespid: too fragile and one dimensional. can't use them in my farsight list
Broadsides: good choice and mandatory in my Farsight list. Very one dimensional though. RG/SMS/ASS with TL & 2 shield drones. Still tend to run off the board so I stick my required 'el/'o for the LD bonus
Sniper drones: no experience. Will be building 3 teams for Adepticon because of Farsight heavy support limits. May try to use the network markerlight for other units if they don't have a decent target. Not being able to claim quarters is a big downside. Don't understand that reasoning myself.
Pathfinders: dropped them. Still too expensive. Without transport having the 'scout' rule they are usually the only unit on the board for escalation games in mech or Farsight lists. Tetras are so much better for markerlights.
Skyray: no experience. I'm building one for my Farsight list. Plan on using it as a network markerlight platform from turn 3+
Auns: I'm surprised this was left out as well. Way too risky for little to no benefit, especially if playing without alien auxiliaries
Human auxiliaries: would have been nice to have them in the Codex, but since GW won't make models for them, they didn't appear. They can serve as a decent EMP grenade delivery system against an unwary opponent 1 time, but they're just there for fluff.

As you can deduce my lists revolve around:
1 railhead with BC, multitracker, decoy launcher
1 broadside squad of 2 with TL upgrade and 2 shield drones
2 tetras
1 squad of gun drones
2-4 squads of Fire Warriors at least 1 squad is mounted
1 death rain squad of 2 with target array and TL upgrade with target lock
1 helios squad of 2
3 stealth suits
Farsight with retinue of 3 fireknives kitted with target array, 2 shield drones, and HW multitracker
1 'el with CIB, plasma rifle, TA, HW multitracker

In a normal list I'll add an ion head and replace the Farsight council with a fireknife 'O. I might up the stealths to 6.

I left out Ethereals because they didn't change enough to be considered a new unit (IMO.)

I consider Space Pope to be a joke and can't imagine anyone useing him in a game. But I would be delighted to hear about people's experiences with Space Pope.

Fair enough though I will counter that requiring LoS to get the benefits is a big change in how they are (not) played.

i started building my tau army with the 3rd ed dex and switched over mid way with the 4th.

units that i would never take and why-

1.vespid-short range gun(it may be AP 3 but you have to hit with it and your more than likely shooting at somebody in cover), weak armor save, lousy in CC
2.sniper drones-are not mobile, cannot hold objectives
3.skyray-runs out of ammo, not as versatile as a hammerhead, only really good for air defense(as it was designed).
4.etherial-you are now required to take a crisis suite commander. there is no need to waste points on a guy that could make your entire army run off the table. and since he is a 2nd HQ he no longer fits the role of a "cheep" HQ choice.

new stuff i like-
1.pirahans's
2.the new shield drone rules.
3.vehicle mounted smart missle systems
4.new fletchette discharger rules

I think that the addition of the Advanced Stabilisation System to the Broadsides really makes them a viable choice again; being static was just too large a downside.

Sniper Drones, when used with Broadsides (as opposed to Hammerheads) are a good way to get markerlights for cheap; the Sniper Drones are almost a bonus. The stealth field on these really helps them out as well.

Yeah I might give the sniper drones a shot since they are practically invulnerable with the stealth field. I'll probably consider them useful as a "replacement" for an ion cannon hammerhead.

3.vehicle mounted smart missle systems

They were always around. I dont' know why people didn't field them in 3rd ed.

They were always around. I dont' know why people didn't field them in 3rd ed.

They were only available on hammerheads in 3rd, now they are available on devilfish as well. if they could put them on a pirahana that unit would be even better.

Oh, right. It makes the Pathfinder's devilfish tolerable as a seeker/SMS artillery piece.

The piranha would be awesome with it, yep. :(

If you had a swarm of Piranhas with SMS it might actually justify that bloke who was complaining about the totally unfair Tau SMS rain of hell a while back.

Funny how being forced to take a devilfish for the pathfinders is no longer a problem if you put SMS on it and also run 2-3 other devilfish for firewarriors all with SMS systems. Suddenly you are swarming SMS fire and the pathfinders devilfish becomes useful when used in tandem with the other SMS systems on the board.

My list has 7 SMS systems. Three devilfish, two hammerheads, two broadsides. These complement the JSJ of my few crisis suits in VP denial. It was a lot of fun to use it against an biker eldar player. He had no where to hide.

Broadsides with ASS are absolutely golden. No-one powerbuilding takes 3HHs anymore.

The Skyray works well in Farsight enclaves - otherwise there's no reason not take to take an Ionhead.

I've not used the sniper drones, mainly as i've only played tau for the 12 games GT games this year. They look okay for the points, but complete with the value-choice of the Ionhead.