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HQ: fireknife shas’el with 2 drones - 107

Elites:

3 x fireknife suits, team leader and 2 drones
3 x fireknife suits, team leader and 2 drones
3 x fusion blaster, plasma, multi-tracker suits, team leader and 2 drones (558)

645

Troops:

6 fire warriors -60
15 Kroot – 105
15 Kroot - 105

Fast Attack:

Piranah with targeting array and fusion blaster - 70

Heavy support:

3 railhead, d pods and multi-tracker – 165 each

1500 I can't decide if I should drop the Piranah and pay 75 points to put a team leader and 2 drones in each crisis squad, put in a Devilfish with disruption pods and multi-tracker (removing a kroot for the extra 5 points), or if it's fine as-is. Comments and criticism are very much appreciated. The armies played at my store are: space marines, orks, necrons, and imperial guard.

your fw need a transport.

Looks better...a lone Piranha is usually a liability in Annihilation, but you said in other post that you don't use kill points so I guess it's ok?

Personally I can't imagine a Tau list without a Devilfish, but that's just me.

I think you forgot to list burst cannons on the railheads, since they' only be 155 the way you listed them.

You could stand, as noted to get a devil fish. but it doesn't have to a super-expensive killing machine; a 85 point "dumb fish" (with only a d-pod as an upgrade) would be fine, and you can probably find the points by dropping a fusion suit and 3-4 kroot. otherwise, the list seems fine to me, especially if you aren't playing kill-points, since one of the biggest problems for piranha (the 2nd killpoint the drones give up) is no longer an issue.
If you do scale up this list, (to 1750 or 2k) I'd suggest getting a source of markerlights; since 2-weapon suits need them more than twin-linked suits. I'd suggest a stealth marker-team, but a devilfish with pathfinders may also work.

as for the armies played at your store:

necrons: the biggest issue is shooting them off objectives. kroot can assault them and probably break even or better most of the time, since necron warriors are I2. You also have a lot of plasma, and you seem to have enough railguns if he tosses a monolith your way.

Marines: You have enough ap3 to kill marine's... not much else to say.

Orks: You can drop pie plates on him all day and use outflanking kroot on the lootas; but granted, this is not a matchup I have a lot of knowledge about, so if I'm full of it, I'd like it if someone let me know.

Imperial guard: the biggest issue with these guys is that they can put out a lot of av14; the solution is to typically shoot the scoring units and hope you can kill them all before he blows too much up. This is probably the most overtly dangerous matchup, if he's taking advantage of his new codex. If he's still running a massive gunline army, then things are more "manageable", but he can still cause you problems. Oh, and if has a hydra, put a d-pod on the piranha.

Ah I'm so glad this list is better than my others xD As for a devilfish, is it really necessary to run one for just 6 fire warriors? Though I could use it as cover to prevent Kroot from being assaulted if it was able to get to them in time. To make room for it I could probably drop the Piranah and 2 kroot for a devilfish with a D-pod

PATHFINDER... It's hard not to run a list without them. the kroot Plus hounds is pretty kickass. i use 10 kroot and 6 hounds.
what kind of drones do you have with your fireknife elites?
i agree with the transport must with the FW. so if you use pathfinders, scout move them, disembark, on your turn move the DF over to your FW. Bam, transport for your FW

I just run ordinary gun drones with any of my suits to give them an extra wound

Zoot wrote:HQ: fireknife shas’el with 2 drones - 107

Fine

Elites:

3 x fireknife suits, team leader and 2 drones
3 x fireknife suits, team leader and 2 drones
3 x fusion blaster, plasma, multi-tracker suits, team leader and 2 drones (558)

Make one of the Fireknife squads a deathrain squad.

645

Troops:

6 fire warriors -60
15 Kroot – 105
15 Kroot - 105

Drop 10 kroot, give the FWs a devilfish, make the other kroot squad 20 strong.

Fast Attack:

Piranah with targeting array and fusion blaster - 70

This will get destroyed by a stray bolter shot.
Piranhas are 5 or 0 IMO

Heavy support:

3 railhead, d pods and multi-tracker – 165 each

I'd drop them in favor or a squad of 3 broadsides, and some markerlight support!
Markerlights are essential, 3 BS4 Railguns shots per turn isn't going to cut it, 3 TL at BS5, however, will.
Yes, they will probably die before the game is over.
But if the enemy has ANY sort of heavy armor, they will make their points back.

Ah I see Thanks for the advice Revelator What's the configuration of a Deathrain suit? I'veh eard the term but I don't know what they have

a Twin Linked missile pod and another support system of your choice (usually Targeting array)

they are used for anti-transport and anti-medium infantry (carapace vets, 'eavy armor boys, fire warriors, etc.)

Interesting, has the Deathrain been proven to be as effective as other builds?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hmm what about Deathrains with Drone Controllers? Would that work well?

Deathrain is the best option Tau has for anti-transport, most people that don't use some obscure build like Flamer+Fusion or something swear by it. It does better bs the two groups I listed, but not at good vs Meqs, but you have enough anti-MEQs.

Drones are always a good addition.

Ah good, that actually saves up a few points then depending what I take, I'll have to give it a try


Automatically Appended Next Post:
What do you think I should replace the Piranah with? :p

Just another point of advice: Don't believe everything you hear on dakka, Fire Warriors are just as good as kroot. You should at least beef up that squad with a devilfish, because right now it's just a free kill point to any squad in the vicinity.

Ah yes I've heard from many people that Fire Warriors are useless As for kill points my local store only plays by Victory Points so small units aren't as much of a liability

Your local store only plays with 4th edition rules?

Fire Warriors are FAR from useless.
FAR from it.

If you take a squad of 6, with no devilfish or anything, then yes, they are useless. What do you expect? A squad of 5 Marines is 60% more for a similar degree of uselessness.

As another option, I've had some luck with Flamers on my deathrain suits.; Mostly because at 4 pts, I don't feal bad if they're never fired. And if someone does rush me with griblies, it's a nasty suprise.

Yes my store isn't an official games workshop or anything and the guys there don't like the whole killpoints system so they go by victory points instead, I personally prefer it that way


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ah yes the flamers on the deathrains is a very nice idea too, very cheap for only 12 points for the squad


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Is this list better?

HQ: fireknife shas’el - 87

Elites:

3 x TL missile pod, flamer suits – 141
3 x fireknife suits
3 x fusion blaster, plasma, multi-tracker suits (513)

600

Troops:

6 fire warriors -60
10 x kroot – 70
10 x kroot - 70
200

Fast Attack:

Piranah with targeting array and fusion blaster - 70
Piranah with targeting array and fusion blaster - 70
Piranah with targeting array - 65
70

Heavy support:

3 railhead, d pods and multi-tracker – 165 each

I could take out two piranahs for a pathfinder team with devilfish, but I'm not sure which of these would deal the most damage, nor am I sure on the necessity of taking drones with crisis suits.