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Hey hows it going Im pretty new around this forum so I figured Id start a thread and I could use some advise/help.

Im a long time nidd player and have played almost every other army as well,im thinking of starting tau.
whats good?
whats bad?

and any other info will be read and considered before I buy anything.

any pros and cons or good combos vs certain armies.

Thanks in advance
lordbug

Ninja tau is good.

Vespids are bad.

Don't get into melee.

Welcome.

Currently Tau are sort of low on the power scale. Not unplayable, but one of the weaker armies.

Their basic troops (Firewarriors) are kind of sub-par. Kroot aren't bad.

Their tanks are pretty good. Battlesuits are have some good points and some bad points, but they're the kind of thing you need in your army either way.

Tau are really bad in close combat; if you play them you're going to do pretty much all of your damage by shooting them. Tau infantry is weak against fast units, generally, as they get to them before being shot up. Tau tanks are weak against close range anti-tank weaponry (they can get an upgrade that makes them pretty tough against long ranged weapons).

Twin linked missle pod battlesuits aka deathrains = awesome

fire warriors- as limited as possible

kroot- atleast one large, say 10 kroot and 7 hound, group to outflank

Hammerheads are good

broadsides are good

pirahnas can be pretty awesome

I myself run as many suits as possible, have had mixed results with HHs, otherwise, kroot are great outflankers and firewarriors holding home objectives with emp grenades can be fun

i'm in total agreance with Clthomps. as someone once posted, firewarriors+cqc=great laughs, and not for you.

aside from that, vespids, albeit $#!TTY across the board, do have there uses. i personally will never play them, but if you get into the whole "fleet of -" thing then have at it. i only see them as cannon fodder...then again, i think the same thing about a 10 man kroot unit. play diversions.

1 major thing, which i wish i would have known before i even got into warhammer, is tau need suits. ALOT of suits. its as simple as that. i currently have access to a grand total of 2 crisis suits, 3 stealth suits, and 1 broadside. i also have 1 hammerhead, 24 firewarriors, and some kroot...don't mess up like i did. lol

whatever you decide to buy, remember to get as much cheap or useful good firepower your willing to spend.

Tau are really good, but not many players actually play well enough to "unlock" them.

While Kroot are very useful (some would say vital) to a Tau army, I would suggest against outflanking with them in most scenarios.

Really, they are your throwaway units that you use to screen the rest of your army from fast-moving CC.

After Kroot, Piranhas are another vital part of movement and assault blocking.

Gun drones can also be used to slow down non-tanks for that vital extra turn to let your shooting do its work.

Tau are all about denying your opponent movement and sacrificing units at the right time.

Mech up, stay mobile, There are never TOOOO many rail guns...or pie plates

im new also, but before i actually BUILT my army i played several sample battles as a couple different races...and i preferred being able to blast people to bits as much as possible before they reached me (i didnt play tau till i built my army) and recognizing this in myself...i chose tau as my race of choice... i then spent many..many..and by many i mean mannnyyyy hours running the maths..i even built a spread sheet to help break down how efficiently points were being spent in my army to generate certain amounts of kills vs different armor saves etc... then... i bought lots of suits,dfish, hammer heads.. lol Guess id say, if you enjoy having to think ahead and defeating your foe with better planning instead of...zomg im gonna run across the board and smacks you with my sword.. you'll enjoy it just remember to balance your types of fire powa!

willydstyle wrote: sacrificing units at the right time.

Yep, it's all for the greater good!

To the OP:
Crisis Suits are the core of your army.
Markerlights are unfortunately necessary and the cheapest (pointswise) way to have them is with pathfinders.
Kroot and Gun drones are great for screening.
Never leave a broadside without a shield drone.
Broadsides are your friend.

I came to Tau recently after my last army being a Khornate one so we're in a similar boat in adjusting to the non-close combat mess that is the Tau. Ah yes, I'll never forget my first time watching a huge unit of kroot lose to a 5-man squad of Nurgle marines. Yummy.

Never forget to jump-shoot-jump with your suits to deny assaults.

Welcome to the Greater Good friend!

Although most people will tell you that tau aren't very good - and to a certain extent I agree - they certainly aren't bad. They can even be devastating in certain builds/scenarios. The impression that they are bad stems from the fact that they are difficult to use correctly. A unit poorly utilized or improperly equipped can really affect the entire army. Everything builds off of everything else and if one part of the chain breaks, the entire army can fall apart.

For instance, here's a typical Tau "alpha strike." What I mean is their first turn.

Pathfinders scout into good positions and open up with markerlights targetting transports, fast assaulters, and heavy tanks. Railguns open up on highest priority targets (High AV vehicles/transports) while the crisis suits stop light vehicle and transports with sheer weight of fire. Remaining firepower (plasma, fusion, pulse fire) is directed at squads. If one part of that equation is missing though, everything starts to fall apart.

here's some general tips
1 Railgun per 500 points (jumping to 2 railguns/500 above 1500 -ie you should have at least 5 by 2000)

At least 1 squad of pathfinders above 1000 points

never take more squads of fire warriors than you take pathfinders (they can use the finders' fish) except the mandatory 1+

Kroot need hounds (at least a 2:1 kroot/hound ratio)

2-3 missile pods per 500 points. Generally speaking, until you get comfortable with how tau work, the missile pod should pretty much be standard equipment on your suits.

fill your elite slots with suits before you start taking bodyguards- they are more points efficient.

Shas'os generally aren't worth it - Shas'els can do the same job cheaper.

here's what I would take in a pretty standard 1500 point list.

Shas'el- plasma, missile pod, Target array, hwmt

1x3 Suits- tl missile pods, 1x blacksun filter, 1x flamer, 1x target lock

2x2 Suits- plasma, missile, mt

1x6 firewarrriors
2x10 kroot w/ 5 hounds

6 Pathfinders
Devilfish- dp

2x Broadsides- A.S.S. team leader w/2 shield drones bonding knife, tl

2x Hammerheads- railguns, mt, dp, burstcannons

That's a good, flexible list.

Tau suffer from various disadvantages with a not good 4e codex in the 5e rules. This makes them unforgiving for newcomers.

Even so they can do well in the hands of a good player.

It's good that some people still know the 1 railgun per 500 point rule.. it's a must ;p

Broadsides are your best friends indeed. Cheapest way to bring them in at 80 points.. but i recommend grabbing drone controllers and shield drones.. makes the broadside MUCH more durable.

Superscope wrote:It's good that some people still know the 1 railgun per 500 point rule.. it's a must ;p

Broadsides are your best friends indeed. Cheapest way to bring them in at 80 points.. but i recommend grabbing drone controllers and shield drones.. makes the broadside MUCH more durable.

I agree, I generally run a 2 or 3-man broadside unit; 1 with a drone controller and 2 shield drones and the others with target lock. mmm goodness.

Tau are strong, but unforgiving of errors.

I run the following with a good deal of success

R'mer

Shadowsun
2 body guard fus/flam

3 Hazards

2 suits plas/ml leader +bs
as above
as above

6 FWarr bondage knife
as above

HHead burst/fast/cover/rail
as above

Which comes out at 1500, with the wargear sorted. Carefull deployment and target selection are key. Most of the time I keep R'mer, the hazards and Shadow sun in reserve, but against fast stuff (Nids/mech Eldar) I keep everything pretty much on the table. Shadow Sun is always a good deep strike ace in the hole, esp with two flamers handy to crisp any light inf nearby.

Captain Jack wrote:Tau are strong, but unforgiving of errors.

Which comes out at 1500, with the wargear sorted. Carefull deployment and target selection are key. Most of the time I keep R'mer, the hazards and Shadow sun in reserve, but against fast stuff (Nids/mech Eldar) I keep everything pretty much on the table. Shadow Sun is always a good deep strike ace in the hole, esp with two flamers handy to crisp any light inf nearby.

Shadowsun has fusion guns not flamers, plus I thought she could not take body guards due to her drones.

guardpiper wrote:

Captain Jack wrote:Tau are strong, but unforgiving of errors.

Which comes out at 1500, with the wargear sorted. Carefull deployment and target selection are key. Most of the time I keep R'mer, the hazards and Shadow sun in reserve, but against fast stuff (Nids/mech Eldar) I keep everything pretty much on the table. Shadow Sun is always a good deep strike ace in the hole, esp with two flamers handy to crisp any light inf nearby.

Shadowsun has fusion guns not flamers, plus I thought she could not take body guards due to her drones.

Nope, it states she's an indy character exept when accompanied, does not preclude the use of a body guard. The body guard have a flamer each, and she can target separately.

Just totally go all Firewarriors and get them into CC as soon as possible.

Once that's done move all your Suits and Hammerheads/Devilfish into the same location to help saturate fire on the enemy.

After that game won, the greater good has succeed once again at giving the lives of another bastion of their troops.

LoL )

Ok, in all seriousness Broadsides are you're work horses, as is all your suits. Your fire warriors are just sit back and shoot (and pray you don't get flanked), while the Kroot + Hounds are bullet sponges for your Suits/Hammerheads/Devilfish. Atleast that's what've I've seen Tau players around me do.