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HQ

Commander Shadowsun

175 points

Troop Choices

9 Fire Warriors(Pulse Rifles)
1 Shas'ui(Bonding Knife, Marker Light)

125 points

14 Kroot
1 Shaper(Shaper Upgrade)
2 hounds

148 points

14 Kroot
2 Hounds

110 points

Elite Choices

Stealth Team

5 Shas'vre(1 Fusion Blaster)
1 Team Leader(Fusion Blaster, Drone Controller)
Marker Drone

Stealth Team

279 Points

5 Shas'vre(1 Fusion Blaster)
1 Team Leader(Fusion Blaster, Drone Controller)
Marker Drone

279 Points

Heavy Choices

X3 Drone Sniper Teams

240 Points

Broadside Battlesuits

2 Shas'vre(Multi Tracker, Smart Missile System)
1 Shas'ui(Multi Tracker, Smart Missile System)

240 Points

1 Hammerhead Gunship( Rail Gun, Multi-tracker, Disruption pod)

285 Points

Fast Attack

7 Pathfinders( 3 Rail Rifles)
1 Shas'ui
Devilfish Transport(Sensor Spines)

226 Points

Total Point Cost: 1997

Interesting concept, I personally dislike stealth teams for one reason only....they arent crisis suits.

Crisis suits have more options in terms of firepower (3x fireknives can make mince out of most heavy infantry).

Stealth suits do have infiltrate and are more durable with their generators, it all depends on how you play the list I guess

Shadowsun isn't worth it, but still personally i like her but still not worth it.
stealthsuits have one promblem: they shoot as much as FW squad and cost more points
but they are more durable, they are jump infantry and can have FBs

IMO kroot aren't that good but if you play them lose the shaper, not worth it
and take ASS to broadsides and im not a fan of rail rifles becouse i think you nedd more marker lights.

But i like your idea of "stealth strike" army and if you're trying this list tell how you do with it? win? lose?

I tried this list two days ago Against a Mech Guard force, Orks, and Ultramarines

[:quote]IMO kroot aren't that good but if you play them lose the shaper, not worth it[:quote]

The Shaper is in use because of his LD 9, which helps bigtime

[:quote]and take ASS to broadsides and im not a fan of rail rifles because I think you nedd more marker lights.[:quote]

Broadsides, and Rail head give this force some ranged punch, and allow the army to square off against heavy armor. With out them I'd be hoping and praying for lucky rolls, which I hate doing.

It faired very well against all three.

I will state things noticed against all three, rather then a full battle report

Against all three forces I:

Outflanked with the Kroot Shaper

Infiltrated with with the Other Squad of Kroot(into woods)

Deep Struck Shadow Sun, and a Stealth Team

Infiltrated the other Stealth Team.

Loaded Fire Warriors into Devilfish and used Fish of Fury(as much as I could with the fifth ED rules) to control my back line.


IG:

IG did mech guard. , I went static, and let them pound my infiltrate Kroot who went to ground, getting a +2 save.

Infiltrate Stealth team had shoot outs with heavy weapons teams as it advanced(The teams were unable to attain sight on the Suits)

X3 Drone snipers annoyed the IG by pinning squads and painting targets(As did Pathfinders)

Outflanking kroot, Deep Striking Shadowsun and stealth team won the battle.

Shadowsun destroyed a squadron of Leman Russ, Stealth team destroyed a Demolisher upon dropping, The Kroot killed the Company commander when they outflanked(They gunned them down, and eventually took out the Basalisk.

ORKZ!:

The Ork vehicles were reduced to craters and and wreckage on the first turn.

This forced them to walk across the field, my marker-lights reduced cover saves, and they got ground them down.

Ultramarines: I approach the Space Marines differently. I tend to focus fire, as the Galaxy's finest tend to have fewer numbers then most armies.

This game was tough game.

Steath suits, and units were hard for Marines to see. Rail rifles managing to pin them down and kill them easily. Space Marine player went static and we had a big shoot out with me winning.

Again, my deep strikes won the battle.


I am going to try this army out more. If it keeps being consistent I will field it regularly.

I'd say take a few upgrades on the Stealth Teams, which will massively increase their effectiveness. 2 Target Locks on the Fusion suits and a gun drone apiece for the other 4 means the first 4 wounds don't have a chance to kill your expensive models, as well as increasing your fire output with the same efficiency as Stealths (Gun Drones 1/3rd the cost and 1/3rd the firepower, plus potential pinning and 5% more accurate). The upgrades on the Broadsides are a bit confusing - why take a Team Leader upgrade with no unlocked wargear? If possible I would drop the Sniper teams for another Stealth Suit team (so if you infiltrate both Fusion squads one has a good chance of arriving on the side you want, whilst being able to deep-strike or just normally deploy the 3rd team. I too would advise losing the shaper - he nearly costs 5 hounds! If you can find the points, try and get another railhead or 2 x 2 Broadsides total. If you drop the Shaper, the Fire Warrior team lader and upgrades (which he generally won't use as he will be getting in and out of the Dfish) the sniper drone team and both team leader upgrades that gives you 271 points to play around with (Shadowsun nonwithstanding). 2 squads of Broadsides like so are 160 points more than your current setup, can fire at 2 targets, have an extra suit, can move and fire (useful especially in Dawn of War) and each squad has 2 Drones with a 2+ save 4+ invulnerable for 30 points!
Team Leader, ASS, Bonding Knife, 2 x Shield Drone
'Ui, ASS
That would leave 126 points for stealths -
3 x Stealth Suit, 2 x Marker Drone, 4 x Gun Drone (take the marker drones from the other squads) - 6 points left over, enough for an extra hound.

Hmm, I shall give your variation a try.

I am rather fond of the drone snipers for various reasons.

I stand by the stealth teams however, I will see what three can do as two has proven more deadly then crisis suits.

People often state "Crisis Suits are better." This army has proven that is not the case. Crisis suits are versatile.

Stealth Suits to me have a very "Pros only" Feel.

I also have to call shenanigans on anybody who says Shadowsun is no good.

Are you going for competitive, or fun and fluffy?

If you want fun and fuffy, go for it.

If not, Shadowsun is a bad hero, stealth suits are horrible imo, and you should never take a shaper with your kroot... or at least not that often. I would just get more kroot.

The units in a Tau army that are usually never worth it include:


Skyrays, vespids, stealth suits, etherials, and then all the heroes.

But... stealth suits are controversial.


If you want a really nice "Stealth Strike" army, I believe there is an apocylpse formation for Tau that involves a bunch of D-fish getting some stealth special rule... I've never done apoc, but I picked that up somewhere....

poontangler wrote:HQ

Commander Shadowsun

175 points

Troop Choices

9 Fire Warriors(Pulse Rifles)
1 Shas'ui(Bonding Knife, Marker Light)

125 points

14 Kroot
1 Shaper(Shaper Upgrade)
2 hounds

148 points

14 Kroot
2 Hounds

110 points

Elite Choices

Stealth Team

5 Shas'vre(1 Fusion Blaster)
1 Team Leader(Fusion Blaster, Drone Controller)
Marker Drone

Stealth Team

279 Points

5 Shas'vre(1 Fusion Blaster)
1 Team Leader(Fusion Blaster, Drone Controller)
Marker Drone

279 Points

Heavy Choices

X3 Drone Sniper Teams

240 Points

Broadside Battlesuits

2 Shas'vre(Multi Tracker, Smart Missile System)
1 Shas'ui(Multi Tracker, Smart Missile System)

240 Points

1 Hammerhead Gunship( Rail Gun, Multi-tracker, Disruption pod)

285 Points

Fast Attack

7 Pathfinders( 3 Rail Rifles)
1 Shas'ui
Devilfish Transport(Sensor Spines)

226 Points

Total Point Cost: 1997

Can you send pictures

I can indeed send pictures, Though I will need to assemble the force and actually do it (I have alot of pieces needing painting)


To be honest I was going for fun and fluffy when I made this(40k is a game) But it surprised me by bringing down competitive armies

But to the remark that Stealth Suits, Shadow Sun, and the Ethereal are horrible, with all respect I have to say you are out of your ing mind.

When fielding pieces you must take all of your rules into account.

With this army My stealth Suits have inflicted more casualties then they have received. Shadowsun is equipped with two melta guns and a BS of five? She is a tank hunter through and through, not to mention her leader ship bubble, jet pack, and stealth equipment.

Also with your path finder devilish you get to re-roll your deep strikes if you wish.

Stealth suits. These are all units that probably will not be seen at 18 inches. I think people say this because they try to use these Tau units in a way that they are not meant to be used.

Ethereal, why is he bad, the tau do not have very high leaderships, the fact that you can re-roll your failed ones is worth the fifty points.

I try youre idea in one of my games and can you tell if im not correct but.. Can Shadowsun deepstrike
But i hope this list is as good as you say

Shadow Sun is battle-suit equipped, so yes, yes she can deep strike.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, The SMS on the Devil fish worked like a charm, it turned my Transport into a light assault vehicle.

Really i dont see any rules in XV22 battlesuit that allow you to deepstrike
and i know I LOVE WARFISH!

Im not sure if the Codex specifically says she can but I'm pretty sure it does - even if it doesn't, 5th ed jump infantry can, so she gets the rule automatically. Whats not to like about Shadowsun is her Leeadership rule means you get the most out of it by hanging back, Bs5 12" Meltas mean you are better off getting up close. For 5 points more, you can have 2 squads of 2 TL Fusion/Flamer crisis suits, with more wounds, flexibility, but no nice gadgets. I still think she's alright, but Ethereals can't really be defended tbh...no offensive capabilities, and the backlash of him being killed (which will happen first I should think - deployed so lots of tau are in line of sight? That usually means the enemy has line of sight too) is horrific. Its also because as other races get a powerup, Tau players generally have to be more efficient than we could get away with before.

guyrevell wrote:Tau players generally have to be more efficient than we could get away with before.

+1 to guyrevell. All of his post is true, just this quote is more painfully true. Competitive Tau will have a really hard time with competitive BA, or Nids, or Orks...

I usually play the best list I can, and I will still have a really hard time winning against other races, even when the lists I play against could be a lot better.

The one advantage you would have with a "stealth strike" army is that it isn't really expected of Tau.

Can someone give a more detailed account of the one Apoc. formation, I think it would benefit the OP.

well Tau are outdated, but every army has its flaws. even Space marines (Jack of all trades army, but they are very forgiving)


At this point it became a matter of me looking at what other people were doing with the Tau armies, and to be honest I generally see the same set up(Though thanks to this forum I have received some good ideas)

First chance I get I will do a battle report; though I have to use stand ins because two of my stealth drone sniper teams are still in a Mail truck at the moment, so I may hold off

The games I have played with this list how ever have been very promising.

The list enables me to pin units as the start inevitably closing in, parking the Kroot in a wooded area creates some bait, and forces the opponent to choose between the forward Kroot, or the castled up Broad Sides.

By that point My drop droops will land and remove some of the heat, provided my opponent has not destroyed the devil fish. It is a ballsy tactic for Tau, but I think that is what Tau players need to do is sac up.

well... I think you might be right. Almost all tau players play crisis suits and fw in devilfish so this could work and i think i give it a chanse and really im not a fan of crisis suits but can you tell me how does youre kroot work

Usually I will have a fire warrior team loaded in the devil fish(Ready to snatch up a point, and not getting BLASTED by an ordinance weapon, or slaughtered by jump troops/orks mobs/ any other form of nastiness)

The Kroot are probably the lynch pin of this force.

Usually I will opt to have some woods centrally located, or place a point near the woods, and Infiltrate a squad in. The Squad now receives a 3+ cover save in the woods, and they can now pop shots out at approaching forces. Ive found my friends get annoyed at this and will some times use artillery on them, you can say "Kroot go to ground!" getting a 2+ save at the cost of being unable to do anything with them, if they get assaulted the Kroot will either tie the squad up, or hold out for the second squad...which out flanks. If they Infil-kroot die, oh well, they were not very expensive any way.