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Hi guys!

Some friends have decided to start new armies and slowly build up and aim for some low-points games as they go, and I was thinking about joining in and making a Tau army. I've never played with them before, nor have I played much against them. So any advice you guys might have would be awesome! This is the initial list I came up with, let me know what you think.

HQ: HQ: Shas'el (MP, PR, MT, TA): 97
Elite: 2x Crisis Battlesuits (MP, PR, MT): 124
Troop: 11 Fire Warriors (Shas'ui, ML): 130
Troop: 10 Kroots: 70
Fast Attack: Piranha (FB, TA, DP) 75
Total: 496 Points

Thoughts? My main opponents will probably be Guards, Orks and Marines.

Cheers!

Good mix of anti-infantry and anti tank but I wouldn't take Kroot in such small numbers... They don't have the survivability for it with only 10.

I'm no expert, but I don't think Tau are all that competitive at Lower Points Levels, and the reason for this is that it's easy to get carried away with 'Must-Have' Wargear, as with all Armies. It's just Karma that the Tau have, perhaps, the tastiest Wargear around, and in no short supply. It's easy to get dragged off into the Codex, declaring that you can't do without 'This, This and This', but you have to see it as a Numbers thing. You won't see too many Elite Armies around you at 500 Points, so it's far more vital that you have the Numbers, to be able to disperse, react and mobilise quicker to threats, as well as to remain durable and survivable for the duration of the Game.

If you need a Head Quarters Choice, then keep the Shas'el, but otherwise dump her.

Try to thin out the Wargear on the Crisis Suits, and take another one. Tool them against Heavy Infantry and Light Vehicles, but strain to keep the points down!

11 Fire Warriors isn't nearly enough for 500 Points. I know somebody who can field 9, and 2 Battlesuits, in Kill Team, and that's only 200 Points. It's all about fitting them in! Spit into 2 Units of 12.

I'd second the movement to lose the Kroot. It's too expensive to have them in decent number, and even then they become not only a drain on your potential resources, but a very expensive fire magnet.

The Piranha might be good fun, so I'd keep it as is.

Hope that helped somewhat.

Thanks for the comments guys! I do agree that at this level I'd rather have some more Fire Warriors rather than Kroots (and I prefer the look of Tau over Kroots anyway ). However my thought was that I'd probably have a Battleforce as my first purchase so just use those Kroots before getting more Fire Warriors. But as an option, what do you think about replacing the two Troop choices for:
2x 8 Fire Wariors (Shas'ui, ML): 2x 100 points

Appreciate the comments a lot!

That's an improvement, definitely. Have you considered arming one Squadron with Pulse Carbines? Or are you going with Rifles all round? Also, have you considered a Transport Option? Maybe replace the Piranha with 2 Devilfish Transports? If you can find Points anywhere else to bump up the Fire Warriors to 10 or 12 per Squadron, then do so.

Rifles all around was my plan. From what I've read they seem to be the general consensus, and I'm inclined to agree.

I'm tempted to replace the Piranha with a Devilfish, but I just think the Piranha is cool. Figure that when I go up to 750 I would make sure to fit in Pathfinders and take their Devilfish for the Fire Warriors. And beef up the FW units. Not sure if I can find those points in any good spots at this point.

Popsicle wrote:I'm no expert, but I don't think Tau are all that competitive at Lower Points Levels,

I will put my 500 point tau army up against anything. With confidence. At 1k or higher, the playing field levels a lot.

@Flummy:
HQ: HQ: Shas'el (MP, PR, MT, TA): 97
Elite: 2x Crisis Battlesuits (MP, PR, MT): 124
Troop: 11 Fire Warriors (Shas'ui, ML): 130
Troop: 10 Kroots: 70
Fast Attack: Piranha (FB, TA, DP) 75

All good, but trade the piranha out for another FireStorm Crisis Suit (MP/BC/MT) for the reason I cite below. **

Popsicle wrote: and the reason for this is that it's easy to get carried away with 'Must-Have' Wargear,

Flummy has the minimum required wargear, so what are you talking about? (and I double checked his post, to see if he edited it)

Popsicle wrote:If you need a Head Quarters Choice, then keep the Shas'el, but otherwise dump her.

Dump the HQ suit? It's a 1+ required unit, and a really good one in the tau army.

Popsicle wrote:Try to thin out the Wargear on the Crisis Suits, and take another one. Tool them against Heavy Infantry and Light Vehicles, but strain to keep the points down!

How much further can you 'thin out' the suits; they have to have two weps and a wargear item. **But** good advice on the Heavy I & Light Vehicle advice; MP/BC, yes?

Popsicle wrote:11 Fire Warriors isn't nearly enough for 500 Points. I know somebody who can field 9, and 2 Battlesuits, in Kill Team, and that's only 200 Points. It's all about fitting them in! Spit into 2 Units of 12.

Kill Team doesn't comply with a normal FoC.

Popsicle wrote:I'd second the movement to lose the Kroot. It's too expensive to have them in decent number, and even then they become not only a drain on your potential resources, but a very expensive fire magnet.

70 points is expensive?

Popsicle wrote:The Piranha might be good fun, so I'd keep it as is.

Sigh. Your first statement about "not being an expert" should have ended your post. None of your advice is any good.


**Piranhas should be anti-T units, and there won't be too much armor at 500 points. Skip the piranha choice.

Flummy; carbines blow, especially without MarkerLights to decrease a target's chance of failing the Pinning Check. State with Pulse Rifles.

Popsicle, no other army can pour out tons of fire power like a FireStorm heavy army at this low level. Once the points are a 1k game, then things even out for other codecies.

The slight varient of your army, Flummy, would be:

FireStorm+ HQ (MP/BC/hwMT/TA) 'El
x3 FireStorms
6 FWs inna Warfish (SMS, TA, MT, DisPod)
Another six pack of FWs or a min kroot crew, the *cheap* 70 point one.


There's room for promoting a FW to 'Ui or better yet, having one XV8 have Team Leader and a Target Array.

Popsicle, I'm not trashing you.

Just your advice, most of it.

I missed that Flumy had FireKnives for Crisis Suits, and not FKs. Eh.