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Okay, so i've been wanting to start a Tau Army, but i dunno if thier worth it, I know they suck a CC. So anyone wanna give me some Opinions/facts of Tau? besides the all ready well known?

My best friend plays Tau, and I beat him almost every time, however I think that's just because he has horrible tactics

Honestly I think it depends, if someone knows they are going to be fighting tau, and build an army list specifically for fighting them, chances are they are going to have the advantage.

I believe the best way to play tau is with squads of fire warriors each with a transport moving with them, to get them as far away from the enemy as possible if they get close.

If you have enough devilfish, and of course some broadsides, tau make a formidable opponent.

It might help if you let us know what constitute being "worth it". Could you be a little more specific, please?

Without knowing the parameters of what is worth it, I can only suggest that you read up on them, if you like what you see then go for it.

Tau are good if built correctly. Unfortunately for Tau there is very little in the way of casual.

If you build them to be top tier competitive, then yes, they wreck face. I would go so far as to say they are the best army in the game when built to correctly.

However, they are very difficult to play and require a bit of practice.


On this board you will get a lot of people who claim they are the worst army.
This is because, if not built and played perfectly, they are not that hot, however when they are, good luck beating them.

They are difficult to use, but always fun and pretty freakin cool imo.

Heres a fact I learnt from my friend who plays tau:
Farsight + 7 bodyguards in CC = Dead orks

Really this happens alot to me and I always take the bait when playing as orks or nids, most of the time I lose, crisi suits in CC are to be feared is you lack a PW or the like.

Other than that, tau snipers are wasted if you dont know how to use them, they taste great to my nids though.

If you build them to be top tier competitive, then yes, they wreck face. I would go so far as to say they are the best army in the game when built to correctly.

Which is why Tau win GTs all the time, right?

People always say Tau are awesome if played/built/worshipped right, and yet, nobody can provide examples of good Tau play/builds.

Focusedfire may do well with his, but that's what you get when you play a single army for as long as he does.


Tau are mid-tier at best.

Canonness Rory wrote:

If you build them to be top tier competitive, then yes, they wreck face. I would go so far as to say they are the best army in the game when built to correctly.

Which is why Tau win GTs all the time, right?

People always say Tau are awesome if played/built/worshipped right, and yet, nobody can provide examples of good Tau play/builds.

Focusedfire may do well with his, but that's what you get when you play a single army for as long as he does.


Tau are mid-tier at best.

Because no one brings good Tau lists to tournaments probably. Everyone is still in love with fire warriors and devilfish.

Besides, have you looked at the lists that win GT's? I mean Orks still wins constantlyu. Sorry but you don't need a GT win by Tau to prove they are amazing.

The most important question is whether or not you'll enjoy painting and assembling them. If the answer is yes, go for it.

Brother SRM wrote:The most important question is whether or not you'll enjoy painting and assembling them. If the answer is yes, go for it.

QFT

Actually a lot of people like the tau models themselves, regardless of the tactics they represent.

If it were me though, I'd probably try an airforce...and lose (Idea is to try and clear one side of the table with gun-fire, then clear the other side, as many hammerheads as I can take...this is widely regarded as a boring way to play but damn if I don't like the hammerhead model )

ok, i play eldar and now imperial gaurd and have been for over 8 months now... out of me friends me and me mate who plays necrons are the veterans... BUT... one of my mates got tau and in his first game i was like 'screw around and let him get the hang of the game'. and even though i have 4 troops and he had 2 he still completely OWNED me.. ive versed him 3 times now and had a loss, draw, draw... the draws are me pulling every trick outta the hat...

whereas another of me mates played tau and lost EVERY game until he got space marines

Elegost

starbomber109 wrote:

Brother SRM wrote:The most important question is whether or not you'll enjoy painting and assembling them. If the answer is yes, go for it.

QFT

Actually a lot of people like the tau models themselves, regardless of the tactics they represent.

If it were me though, I'd probably try an airforce...and lose (Idea is to try and clear one side of the table with gun-fire, then clear the other side, as many hammerheads as I can take...this is widely regarded as a boring way to play but damn if I don't like the hammerhead model )

I Second that. i do enjoy putting together Tau and painting them.

Here's a pretty detailed podcast that went went through the codex almost page by page; imo its a great way to get introduced to 'em:

http://www.groovygeckosgames.com/podcast/40kwcepisode14.mp3

Because no one brings good Tau lists to tournaments probably. Everyone is still in love with fire warriors and devilfish.

Besides, have you looked at the lists that win GT's? I mean Orks still wins constantlyu. Sorry but you don't need a GT win by Tau to prove they are amazing.

"Nobody brings good Tau lists to tournaments?"
Seriously? You are claiming people don't powergame enough in tournies? Or is it that Tau players are just so pure and holy that they don't participate in tournies?

Orks win constantly because orks are a Tier 1 army. If you think Tau are so awesome, how many tournies have you won with them? Tau don't have a single good unit the way SMs have Termies, Orks have Nobs, Chaos has oblits, and Ig has Vets. Sorry, but an army's strength is judged by how well it does in games, and Tau don't do well in games, end of argument.

Canonness Rory wrote:

Because no one brings good Tau lists to tournaments probably. Everyone is still in love with fire warriors and devilfish.

Besides, have you looked at the lists that win GT's? I mean Orks still wins constantlyu. Sorry but you don't need a GT win by Tau to prove they are amazing.

"Nobody brings good Tau lists to tournaments?"
Seriously? You are claiming people don't powergame enough in tournies? Or is it that Tau players are just so pure and holy that they don't participate in tournies?

Orks win constantly because orks are a Tier 1 army. If you think Tau are so awesome, how many tournies have you won with them? Tau don't have a single good unit the way SMs have Termies, Orks have Nobs, Chaos has oblits, and Ig has Vets. Sorry, but an army's strength is judged by how well it does in games, and Tau don't do well in games, end of argument.

Sorry, you must not see half the army lists that win tournaments.

Did you see Bolscon? The winning armies were not all that competitive.

Most 40k tournaments are a joke at the moment because of the way the competition is run. Painting, sportsmanship, composition are all major scores that contribute to overall for most tournaments.

As long as things that have absolutely nothing to do with an armies competitiveness are factored in to scoring, tournaments will never be a quality way of judging competitive armies.

Not to mention in the 3 game format ones, its actually better to draw your first game than get a massacre.

@Timmah: Well then, it appears we have no way of judging competitiveness left other than 'what Timmah thinks is competitive'. It's all very well and good to challenge conventional wisdom, but it's another thing to consistently hammer the same topic over and over again with no support. Especially if you proceed by then stating that there is no good way to judge these things.

I bet you that if we take the 'ard boyz results from all the dakkaites who attended the first two rounds, more Ork armies won games/continued on to the next round than Tau armies did.

Looking at the back of my rulebook for a bit, and looking over the Tau vehicles I noticed something

Tau have no AV14. That means that Lootas, Autocannons, Deathspitters, LRE and heavy weapons teams are going to mess you up. Granted, tau can armor overload, but they cant do it as well as space marines can with their 45point rhinos....not even as well as the mechdar!

Something I've thought about from that podcast though, a large enough group of Crisis suits (Probably need Farsight to do this tactic) can mess up most assault troops that don't have rending or I value power weapons(Ork boys, assault marines with a fist, ect) if they get the charge off, because they all have better or the same initiative as them, and they have a 3+ save for the most part. As long as you have the charge (which you will due to jumping around the board all the time)

Lots of the people who enjoy modeling tau however, don't seem to play them too much.

I like to destroy Tau.. I've seen some Tau armies have a good game every once and awhile but I have yet to see them consitantly win against things like Orks(who i despise), SM, CSM, and Eldar.

I am intending to buy Tau as my next army; simply because I love the models and the weaponry

starbomber109 wrote:Looking at the back of my rulebook for a bit, and looking over the Tau vehicles I noticed something

Tau have no AV14. That means that Lootas, Autocannons, Deathspitters, LRE and heavy weapons teams are going to mess you up. Granted, tau can armor overload, but they cant do it as well as space marines can with their 45point rhinos....not even as well as the mechdar!

None of those things really "mess up" AV 13. Tau don't really go vehicle heavy anyways. In fact, the best lists run like 3 vehicles.

orkestra wrote:@Timmah: Well then, it appears we have no way of judging competitiveness left other than 'what Timmah thinks is competitive'. It's all very well and good to challenge conventional wisdom, but it's another thing to consistently hammer the same topic over and over again with no support. Especially if you proceed by then stating that there is no good way to judge these things.

My opinion is that they are competitive. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion.

However saying my opinion is wrong based on tournament results is stupid especially since tournaments don't always let the "most competitive" army win. (as I showed with some facts)


Also, how is me posting twice on a topic, me hammering the same topic over and over with no support?

See my argument:
No good way to judge these things (providing evidence as to why), so my opinion is...

Opposition
Tau haven't done well in any tournaments (no evidence) so they are bad.

I think one of the things that has plagued tau in general is it is not a forgiving army. I mean orks, new IG, and space marines seem the most most forgiving and there for are suggested for new players. Not taking anything away from the exceptional players of these armies because god knows there are some but they tend to have some breathing room if there is a bad round then some armies like necron and tau. I mean in casual play some of these armies are idiot proof. I have seen some real good players loose to a beginner sporting a sm army but then go to a con or tournie and beat ass. So aside from specific sm chapters like da, bt, sw,(because most vets rep these armies) etc its hard to be high on the army without saying cheese. Sorry kinda biased against sm and orks cause of the number of armies I see from these codexes. I guess it would be one thing if they were more original or something.. I get tired of pounding these guys. I wish people would take some chances and player other armies..

It suffered but also gained alot from 5th edition.

The problem with Tau is that you cannot play them as you previouosly had in arlier editons and people are just now learning that.


Personally, I lose very few games with my Tau and generally have no problem beating Ork or generally any other army.

@Timmah: could you at least provide an example of one of these Tau lists?

1 fireknife commander
9 fireknife crisis suits
2 piranhas w/ fusion blaster
2x (10 kroot + 7 kroot hounds)
6x fire warriors
8x pathfinders w/devilfish
2x hammerhead w/railgun
2x broadsides

This is what I run at 1850. Kroot and piranhas block movement very effectively. Comfortably sit at 30"+ range and destroy the enemy.

Tau just basically out shoot everything at long range.

Don't get me wrong, there are things I am scared of. (lash chaos, some IG armies) But this list really does a number on most other static armies. And can just shut down mech armies by threat priority management and focus fire.

As stated earlier, Tau are very unforgiving, so in a tournament, making one mistake can make you get massacred which basically eliminates you from competition. (this comes into play with longer tournaments, 7 games ect.)

If you have played MTG before I would relate it very much to certain Type 1 combo decks. In that it has the tools and ability to destroy anything when played properly. However it takes a huge hit from any operator error and so, if not played/built flawlessly (or close to that) it seems like a bad army.

Timmah wrote:Tau just basically out shoot everything at long range.

Hmm, actually looking over that list, and thinking about the kroot statline....

Tau need a way better speedbump than Kroot. edit: Don't get me wrong, I can see your list working, but I believe my statement holds true still, Tau don't have a really good speedbump aside from drones with their +5 invulnerable save...and Kroot in cover are fine until they get charged by assault marines.

People use assault marines? Kroot + hounds can wreck most units that aren't built for CC.

Plus, as long as one is in a woods, they can sit in a 2+ cover save from shooting.

Dedicated CC units will wreck them, but usually you can sit outa range of these units with all of your other stuff.

I guess your right, and hey, if that 10 man 240+ point assault marine squad manages to make it across the board....and attacks the low point cost kroot instead of the broadsides or something else valuable, I may be forced to smack the player controlling the assault marines .

I've had a large Tau army since their codex release back in 4th ed.

Tau are an amazing army if you know what you are fighting ahead of time, if your familiar with battleboards in local game clubs Tau are usually a favorite to win those. This also happens to be the reason that Tau have serious problems in any "tournament" setting.

This is because of the nature of battle suit loadouts, either you are amazing at killing MEQs or amazing at killing GEQs, never both. If you can always "meta" your equipment ahead of time to maximize your ability to win against your opponents army you'll do great as a Tau player (this is why Tau are considered to not be a "casual" army) I will say however that Tau got hit fairly hard with the release of 5th edition, but that's a discussion for another thread. As it stands Tau can be good provided you magnetize your battlesuit equipment when you build them.

I don't understand why everyone references 5th ed and uses it as a basis for why Tau are bad.

Things 5th ed gives you.

Easier cover for Kroot
Better assault rules
AP1 weapons with a 72" range (awesome for killing tanks)
easy ways to negate cover


Honestly, what 5th ed changes hurt tau?

Red_Lives wrote:I've had a large Tau army since their codex release back in 4th ed.

Tau are an amazing army if you know what you are fighting ahead of time, if your familiar with battleboards in local game clubs Tau are usually a favorite to win those. This also happens to be the reason that Tau have serious problems in any "tournament" setting.

This is because of the nature of battle suit loadouts, either you are amazing at killing MEQs or amazing at killing GEQs, never both. If you can always "meta" your equipment ahead of time to maximize your ability to win against your opponents army you'll do great as a Tau player (this is why Tau are considered to not be a "casual" army) I will say however that Tau got hit fairly hard with the release of 5th edition, but that's a discussion for another thread. As it stands Tau can be good provided you magnetize your battlesuit equipment when you build them.

Can't this be said for a lot of armies?