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Sanguine Sympathy wrote:They don't play so well.
Their codex was written in 4th edition, and was very unique for that edition, however, in 5th edition the metagame shifted a lot, and the Tau codex was not written in a way that could take advantage of that. Devilfish are thrice as expensive as rhinos, but half as surviveable or powerful as wave serpents, so all in all they are a sub-par transport. fire warriors are BS3, in an army that relies solely on shooting. not a good thing, their pulse rifle is a good weapon, but not good enough to make up for the inability to take flamers, meltaguns, or heavy weapons. Crisis suits are great, but aren't terribly hard to deal with. Broadsides are great, but die turn 2, or 3 if you're extremely lucky, piranhas are good, and hard to deal with, kroot are a decent troops choice, but nothing really excels at what it does. 40k is also a game that is very kind to assaulty armies, as assaulting is almost always more powerful than shooting. 5th edition also makes troops much more important, and Tau lack strong troops.

Bah, don't listen to this...and let me do a proper introduction (with added in propaganda as well.)

Welcome, Brother to the Tau Empire. We hope that you'll find your place amongst the Greater Good...after all, that IS why you decided to join the most dynamic and explosive empire in the Eastern Fringe.

As such, let us get you acquainted with your fellow brothers and sisters working for the Greater Good...

The Crisis suit is one of the most famous aspects of the Tau Empire. The weapons and options are what draw most people into starting the Tau. That's what caught my eye. They are a blast to build and they annoy your opponents a lot due to their Jump-Shoot-Jump.

Ethereals are our spiritual guides on the battlefield. Unfortunately, gamewise they're pretty much useless...

Our Firewarriors defend our empire while taking the fight to the galaxy. Their rifles have a lot of range, but DO NOT GET THEM INTO ASSAULTS! They'll get chewed up and spat out.

Invest in our technology of railguns as they are the tank-killers of the great and glorious Tau Empire. (Start investing in Broadsides and Hammerheads. Your tank-heavy opponents will learn to fear them if they don't know what they can do. S10 w/AP1 is great. +1 on the vehicle damage table is wonderful.)

Vespid, while noble and held in great esteem, cost too much point-wise and money wise for what you currently get.


Brother, I would start out with a small force of Crisis Suits, Broadsides, and Firewarriors. From there, you'll see the potential of your army and get a better feel. But whatever you do, don't be turned off by other comments on how "broken" or "horrible" the Tau Empire is. That's just garbage. I was scared of collecting them at first, but now I have enough Tau warriors and played enough games with them where I'm glad I am a loyal supporter of the Tau Regime.

Good gaming, initiate.

Depending on what the OP is looking for really will influence what he'll pick up. I just wanted to collect as much Tau as possible as I wanted a full army. I have almost everything except piranah's, kroot hounds (they're rare where I live), and krootox.

The first thing I bought was the Tau Battleforce as it gives you a nice base of models to start off with and it'll most likely form your core army until you expand.

Hollismason has given some crazy good ideas. If at all possible, always pick the skyray box over the hammerhead as you'll get both sprues in the box.

My personal belief is that a Tau army MUST have some kind of Heavy Support Railgun in it...whether its a Broadside or a Hammerhead its up to you. I prefer mixing it up.

The magnets are a good idea. I personally don't like using them despite it being a smart idea. I just like the fact that I have 30 different Crisis Suits for display....but its crazy go nuts expensive.

Starting out, I bought the Battleforce, an extra box of Firewarriors, and 3 Crisis Suit boxes.

Elric of Grans wrote:Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have often considered Tau as a side-army. I have only seen them in action in fourth edition, however, and that player used to run a static list (he moved to Marines and, now, Guard in fifth).

One of my major concerns has been that they seem strategically and tactically limited compared to the fifth edition-ready armies. I already have two armies like that and do not want another. I have also always hated the look of Crisis Suits, so converting a bunch of them to look non-ugly sounds a little tedious. Oddly, I think the whole rest of the army looks awesome; how can I hate only one model? I get the impression that Crisis Suits are no longer the answer to everything that they once were either. Have they fallen from grace, or is it that fifth has made it so a selection of other units can fill those varied roles?

What is the approach that people recommend new players in fifth take? By this, I refer to building a force (eg Battleforce + Skyray, then...) and the basic tactic to follow with this. It seems to me, based on what I heard, that the only way to run the list is 2-3 units of Crisis/Stealth Suits, minimum Fire Warriors in a Fish, lots of Kroot/Hounds, maybe some Piranhas or Pathfinders, then 2-3 Railheads, maybe a Skyray. Does that pretty well sum-up what you need to aim for, or is that just one way?

They also always struck me as an army begging for heavy conversion (so much plastic!!), but I never see anything other than the odd bit of battle damage. Is it that the fluff is too restrictive here, or simply that I have not seen the right armies?

As I am not a Tau player, I do not troll the Tau threads. As a result, all I ever see are complaints about how bad they are in fifth, which is why this thread perked my interest a little once again.

I'll try and answer some of your questions...

For modding the suits, there are a ton of conversions you can do. The sprue itself comes with buckets of options and doodads. Or if you're a ForgeWorlder they've modding a bunch of different ones. For myself, I tend to still run my Crisis Suits faithfully. My circle of friends know I love my toys and crisis suits let your run options depending on what role you want. Fusion guns for AT, Flamer for anti-infantry, Missile Pods for range and S, etc. You can tailor them to fit any role you want them to. (My personal belief anyway). The bad thing is that my opponents tend to gun for them first because they know what they are capable of...that and the fact they are pretty large models.

In terms of tactic-wise, I for one would definitely pick up a Battleforce. Shop owners around where I live have basically told me that its one of the better battleforces out there. Pick up the SkyRay as hollismason said. Its a good deal. This way you get a skyray AND a hammerhead.

Again, railguns are great and that +1 on the vehicle damage table due to AP1 has saved my bacon. Hammerhead is good cause they have the submunition option (pieplate but lower S) and Broadsides are good for the twin-linked railgun. They both have different other options but this is my personal opinion of their best quality.

One thing that I've seen playing my Tau as well as reading other posts here is that a lot of players play Tau like they would with normal armies. Stand and shoot, take opponents assault, etc. I don't play like that anymore. If the opponent is coming close, I'll have my Firewarriors abandon their cover and bring in other troops to cover their retreat. I ain't gonna stay in cover and shoot you while you get ready to charge. I'll retreat and peg you while I'm retreating.

Well....I hope this helps you out even just a little bit, if at all.

Commisar Wolfie wrote:the tau are wierd hoffed freaks who cant ski very well and they only have 3 fingers. and they suck at close combat. communist pig dogs.

I think this post speaks for itself...

Dal'yth Dude wrote:I strongly encourage the new player to sign up at advancedtautactica.com. Dakka Dakka offers a lot for the player of 40K, but ATT is one of the best concentrated doses of Tau love on the WWW.

This man speaks the truth. ATT is a good place to browse. Tauonline.org is also a place that I browse.