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C&C please.

__1500pt. TAU ARMY__

__HQ__
1x Commander Shas'el ................................................................................ 90
-Fusion blasters, Missle pod, Hard-wired target lock, and Multi-tracker
-Hard-wired Drone Controller w/ 2x Shield Drones

__ELITES__
2x XV8 'Crisis' Battlesuit ........................................................................... 130
-Fusion blasters, Missle pod, and Multi-tracker

6x XV25 Stealth Suit Team ....................................................................... 180
-Burst canons

6x XV25 Stealth Suit Team ....................................................................... 180
-Burst canons

__TROOPS__
12x Firewarrior Team .................................................................................120

6x Firewarrior Team .................................................................................... 60

6x Firewarrior Team .................................................................................... 60

__FAST ATTACK__
5x Pathfinder Team .....................................................................................165
-Devilfish w/ Multi-tracker, Flachette discharger, and Disruption Pod

5x Pathfinder Team .....................................................................................165
-Devilfish w/ Multi-tracker, Flachette discharger, and Disruption Pod

__HEAVY SUPPORT__
1x Hammerhead Gunship ............................................................................165
-Railgun, Burst canons, Multi-tracker, and Disruption Pod

1x Hammerhead Gunship ............................................................................165
-Railgun, Burst canons, Multi-tracker, and Disruption Pod


TOTAL ................................................................................................... 1500


Pathfinders devilfish will go to the 2 6man FW squads and the Crisis suits will most likely go into reserves for a tank hunting role since they can reroll the scatter dice upon entry.

I know alot of people will say to rid of the stealth suits and go for more crisis suits. I find the stealth suits very pleasing and surprisingly easy to get a hold of so I will be giving them a good test run. Plus 36- S5 shots a turn is pretty intense.

I'd make a few changes:

I've run the Fusion/Missile Pod combo before, and I would drop the Commander in favour of something along the lines of a 3rd suit in the team, maybe TL missile pod/target lock. I found with a single 2-man unit equipped like that it was very hard to get close enough to 'melt', but deepstriking + pathfinder devilfish = really good solution to rushing transport armies. Perhaps a 3rd member with TL MP/Target Lock so they can reliably shoot 2 back AVs, or just leave it. Also 2 x Shas'Ui/FB/MP/MT = 108 points, not 130.On the Commander I don't really know - there aren't a lot of units to put him with, so finding the points for a 2-man Helios team would help plug the anti-TEQ gap, or even burning eye if you see a lot of marines. Stealth suits just don't cut it against plague marines & FNP bloot angels..

I would consider losing the 12-man FW squad for some Kroot, just for the outflank rule - it helps to control enemy movement and even better if they forget. Also with multiple outflanking units (stealth suits!) it works well. With the Stealth teams, gun drones>stealth suits. For the same points, you could have 4 suits + 6 gun drones. Same amount of shots, although slightly more accurate + pinning. More bodies, and some I4 if you need to finish off a straggler. It also means the first 6 hits you take don't have a 1/3 chance (or if AP3, a 1/1 chance) of killing an expensive suit.

What I would do is try to find the points for an Ionhead (130-5) to fill that last slot. A lot of people don't like them, but it fills in the slight lack of anti-MEQ you have, as well as having fearsome Dakka. Heres an example list I would put out:

Hq: 210
'El, Plasma/CIB/Array, HWMT, BK, 1 x SD
'Vre, TL Plasma, Array, 1 x SD
OR
Hq: 214
'El, Plasma/Fusion/Array, HWMT, BK, 1 x SD
'Vre, Plasma/Fusion/Array, HWMT, 1 x SD

El:108
2 x Shas'Ui, Fusion/Missiles/Multi
El: 150
3 x Stealth Suit, 2 x Gun Drone each
El: 150
3 x Stealth Suit, 2 x Gun Drone each

Tr: 6 x FW - 60
Tr: 6 x FW - 60
Tr: 12 x Kroot - 84

Fa: 201
8 x Pfinders, Dfish+Dpods

Hs: 165
Hammerhead, Railgun, Burst, Multi, Dpods
Hs: 165
Hammerhead, Railgun, Burst, Multi, Dpods
Hs: 130
Hammerhead, Ion Cannon, Burst, Multi, Dpods


with 17/13 to spare depending on the HQ. Obviously you're down a transport but +1 Tank and suit, so its a hard one to call, but thats one take on it.

*EDIT* Meant to add - I'd make one super-di-dooper stealth suit team, and spend the other slot on 2 x Crisis suits, losing the HQ bodyguard.

Minor tweaks:

camcam_HALO wrote:6x XV25 Stealth Suit Team -Burst canons
-Devilfish w/ Multi-tracker, Flachette discharger, and Disruption Pod

I don't consider the MT on the d'fish worth having the GunDrones shoot when it moves. I'd rather spend those points on having a Team Leader for a Stealth team, Bonded.

camcam_HALO wrote:I know alot of people will say to rid of the stealth suits and go for more crisis suits. I find the stealth suits very pleasing and surprisingly easy to get a hold of so I will be giving them a good test run. Plus 36- S5 shots a turn is pretty intense.

Naw, I won't tell ya that. They are pretty good horde control orks & light bugs, and light Armor Save evil, daemon troops and emo elves.

I don't like Helios XV8s (FB/MP) because thy need to be close up to use, but I figure you already know of that foible.
What I like:
4 tanks and
... more is better: 2 Stealth units! I often give advice about having two Vindicators or two dreadnoughts. I'd like to hear how two XV25 teams work out.

^^^ Very good point. I find it can be helpful to subtract the cost of the stealth teams from your total, write a balanced list (with a bias towards anti heavy infantry/tanks/monstrous creatures) and see how that works out on paper. I usually use them in an (incedentally!) fluffy way - lone squad(s) supported by the longest range weaponry, in the opponents backfield. 2 teams are an excellent way to go from 'no/v light presence' to 'controlling presence' on a large section of board, especially with kroot or a crisis team. A lot of people say the FB isn't worth it - I think it is in a take-all-comers scenario. It means you can handle MCs, TEQs and vehicles better, and the extra ap1 wound has really helped towards the end of the game if it gets tense. I played a 1500 tournament with my friends (and won), with a maxed out team (6 suits, 2 FBs, 10 gun drones) and they worked out really well, arriving once nasty large templates had been destroyed/destroying them. Its a big point sink though!

Thank you for the advice.

Someone told me on my other list that I needed a MT on the Devilfish. It does seem like too many points for what it does IMO.

Is the bonding knife actually a good investment? I can see it being great for the stealth suits and battlesuits, but how about the FW squads? Its kinda like buying extra armour for tanks, it can really come in handy, but you hate to spend the points.

Keep in mind this list is just created to get an idea of all the models I should purchase. I liked the idea of a bunch of crisis suits deepstriking on turn 3 for a big "HELLO MR MANTICORE!"
Also having the misslepods, I could snipe low AV targets from a safe distance if I decide to play it safe.

I cant find a unit that will reliably take out low AV targets for semi cheap points cost. XV88s are so pricey

camcam_HALO wrote:Someone told me on my other list that I needed a MT on the Devilfish. It does seem like too many points for what it does IMO.

Right, as allowing the GunDrones to shoot with the BC at Combat Speed is a bit much to spend points on, considering their crappy shooting.

However, with a decked out Warfish, SMS, TA, MT, Dispod, now it moves at Combat Speed and shoots 7 dice at BS4. The MT is worth it for the Warfish.

camcam_HALO wrote:Is the bonding knife actually a good investment? I can see it being great for the stealth suits and battlesuits, but how about the FW squads? Its kinda like buying extra armour for tanks, it can really come in handy, but you hate to spend the points.

I regularly Bond all FWs and any suit unit over 3, I try to bond them too, and always with the big Stealth unit as I see the points worth rallying a suit.

However, since I usually field paired XV8s, a single surviving suit is at 50% unit STR, and doesn't need a BK to rally.

camcam_HALO wrote: XV88s are so pricey

Yes, and I spent the extra $10 or so for ForgeWorld. They look great and don't have the awful metal RGs, since they're composed entirely of resin.

Items to purchase to start tau:
BattleForce Box. (FWs, kroot, HQ suits, D'fish, 3 Stealths)
x3 SkyRay (it has all the parts for HammerHeads, too). You'll field 2 Railheads and a D'fish.
Another box of FWs.
Those other 4 Crisis Suits.
Another box of 3 Stealths, to complete the 3 in the BForce box.

All of that ought to get you to 1250 or so and then you can spend your cash on XV88s. Yes, use ebay.

I don't tend to use them because I tend to take lots of Broadsides and/or a pair of piranhas, but 2-3 crisis with TLMP is a tried and tested unit, and are pretty cheap.

In terms of cheapness I wrote an article on Advanced Tau Tactica on saving money when collecting Tau, but I'd amend what Brothererekose said a bit: I'd get 2 Battleforces, allowing you to field 2/1 large unit of Kroot, enough fire warriors to convert a pathfinder squad (just give them carbines, don't give them a shoulderpad, and an inverted/camo scheme). You'll have the makings of 2 Stealth units (3 suits/4 drones is good at lower points levels, and you'll have 2 marker drones to try), and 2 crisis suits. The skyray kit + battleforce devilfish = your Ionhead (counts-as Railhead if your friends aren't strict WYSIWYG), and ebay the rest (and if at all possible, the battleforce as well). I got 6 stealth suits for £8 and 6 Crisis with 8 gun drones, including half the commander metal pieces, for under £40 (although without spare weapons, new that would have come to £84).

Also one unit a few people favour is a crisis HQ team with plenty of shield drones and 2 marker drones, or a TL missile pod team involving a couple. Take target locks to have the MLs act independantly, or use them for extra Bs or -cover save. Remember marker drones attatched to a jump infantry unit get relentless.

Bonding Knives on FW I don't bother with. I only take them in units of 6, and tbh, if a unit of 6 FW has just had their transport destroyed, they are going to get steamrollered before they have the chance to fall back. If coming on to hold a home objective mid-game, its probably worth taking 12 until you are confident enough with suits etc that you can destroy everything near their arrival point.

*EDIT* theres a really easy way to save money on broadsides, if you want to do a little cutting. On ATT there is an article on plasticard railguns, but what I did was remove one side of the jetpack, rotate it 90* so the 'jets' are facing towards the ground in front of the model, and filing a single railgun and the jetpack down to fit neatly into the top section, before finally attatching a drone disk to the side to cover the join (should cover the whole pack almost exactly). File down the body until it is flat and attatch the pack to it. Then, the other leg gets the metal foot and the other jet gets the metal grille. This means that you can make 2 broadsides out of 1 broadside box and a crisis suit, and unlike normally built unpinned broadsides this one can be lifted up and waved about by the railgun. As the only model to carry a broadside railgun, which notably has 2 spars, your opponent can't cry WYSIWYG. I don't have any images posted but I can email you one attatched if you are interested.

I would love to see your conversion. I saw a contest for battelsuit conversions and this one guy have a broadside holding a railgun like it was a pulse rifle and it looked superb! If I find the picture, I will link it


Automatically Appended Next Post:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee9/Jutami80/Tau%20wip/BroadsidePP2.jpg

Ah thats a bit pro. Send your email address to me in a PM and I'll email it over

Just bought the Tau battle force!