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Hey Dakka Dakka, I'm just now starting up my GitS Tau army and while I only have an Orca and six Crisis Suits to my name, I'm trying to think of what a fun and effective list would be. I've never played Tau before but I've had a little exposure to the codex and its abilities as two members of my gaming group have Tau.

Ghost in the Shell 1500 pts Tau Army
Section 9/JSDA Joint Strike Force

HQ: Commander Shadowsun (The Major) - 175 Points
Troop: 6x Fire Warriors w/ Pulse Rifles (JSDA Infantry) - 60 Points
Troop: 6x Fire Warriors w/ Pulse Rifles (JSDA Infantry) - 60 Points
Fast Attack: 3x Piranhas w/ Burst Cannon, 2x Seeker Missiles, Disruption Pod each (Tachikomas) - 255 Points
Fast Attack: 4x Pathfinders and Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod (Section 9 Infantry led by Paz) - 133 Points
Fast Attack: 4x Pathfinders and Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod (Section 9 Infantry led by Togusa w/ Mateba and tracking rounds) - 133 Points
Elite: 3x Crisis Battlesuit (JMSDF Type 303 Armored Suits, White Narc Version) - 169 Points
- Team Leader, TL Missile Pod, Target Lock, Bonding Knife
- TL Missile Pod, Target Lock
- TL Missile Pod, Drone Controller, 2x Gun Drone
Heavy Support: 2x Broadside Battlesuit (Anti-Armor Cannon Emplacements led by Saito, see SAC episode 2) - 185 Points
- Team Leader, TL Railgun, Smart Missile System, Target Lock, Bonding Knife
- TL Railgun, Smart Missile System, Drone Controller, 2x Shield Drone
Heavy Support: Hammerhead Gunship w/ 2x Burst Cannon, Railgun, Targeting Array, Disruption Pod, Multi-Tracker (JSDA Version HAW206) - 165 Points
Heavy Support: Hammerhead Gunship w/ 2x Burst Cannon, Railgun, Targeting Array, Disruption Pod, Multi-Tracker (JSDA Version HAW206) - 165 Points

The idea behind the army is to have the Piranhas, Hammerheads, and Devilfish (depending on the opponent) take off down the table with the Hammerheads crowding one flank and the piranhas on another. The Pathfinders, Broadsides, Crisis Suits, and Fire Warriors (depending on the opponent and if not mounted in devilfish) all stay in a firebase with Shadowsun providing long-range fire support and using Shadowsun's Command Drone and Ld 10 to survive to the last man.

The Piranhas are there solely to deliver seeker missiles to the side/rear of the enemy for the pathfinders to call in with their markerlights. To accomplish this, the firebase would be in the center of the table so that Markerlights can cover more area and the Piranhas would go Flat Out in their first turn, launching seeker missiles if the pathfinders hit their marks. Once the seeker missiles are exhausted, the Piranhas can provide harassment and contest objectives with their burst cannons and gun drones.

The Hammerheads would be moved up the opposite flank only if the opponent realizes the threat from the piranhas as rushing railguns would likely draw more fire then rushing burst cannons and seeker missiles. With the Disruption Pods and AV13, the Hammerheads should survive anything except for a tactical error on my part. When ready to fire, the Hammerheads will likely be doing submunitions blasts more often then the solid shot, leaving the AV13/14 tank popping to the more reliable Broadsides.

The Deathrain Crisis Suit team I have to pop lighter tanks, transports like rhinos and chimeras. I took the target locks on two of them so that I can effectively target three different vehicles. I also made sure to give each a unique loadout to allow for life-saving wound allocation shenanigans. I took gun drones on the crisis suits as opposed to shield drones both to save on points and so that I get a chance at pinning anything that gets a bit too close. I added a bonding knife to make sure that the unit can take some losses before being completely lost.

The Broadsides are tasked with sitting back in the small firebase, using their twin-linked railguns and target locks to break the toughest armor on the table. I gave them shield drones as the 2+ on them is too good to pass up and gun drones don't serve much of a purpose other then wounds in such a long-range unit. I also included a bonding knife so they have some staying power, especially combined with Shadowsun's Ld 10.

Shadowsun and her drones will sit in the back with the broadsides, deathrain crisis suits, and pathfinders. Though she packs a big punch with her split fire fusion blasters and BS5, it seems at first glance that the majority of her points come from her shield drones and the command drone. Her command drone, coupled with bonding knives, almost ensures that my units will have to be wiped out completely to be out of the fight. While this seems like a total waste of her fusion blasters and her advanced target lock, I expect that having such a powerful anti-tank/anti-heavy infantry unit to protect the squishy static force will come in handy with things like outflanking vendettas and drop pod Wolf Guard Termies being somewhat popular.

The Pathfinders will primarily just sit and markerlight targets until they are killed. The pulse carbines could be used in a pinch but whatever they can hit is probably hurt more by markerlighting them and having a hammerhead do a submunition blast with a weak cover save or lowered leadership for morale checks.

The Firewarriors, though carrying the impressive S5 30" range pulse rifle, are far too fragile to be moving around the table. I can move them into the Pathfinder Devilfish if I do need to grab a second of three objectives or something but I mostly see myself sitting them on objectives and keeping their heads down. If said objective(s) fall within my established firebase then their 30" range can help the fight.

With 10 very mobile models in the hammerheads, devilfish, piranhas, and crisis suits, I see this list being an objective denying list rather then an objective grabbing list. Piranhas are almost paper thin and likely go down quick with fusion blasters but, as I've learned with my SM Landspeeders, less high-profile and threatening weaponry often results in the opponent passing up on them as targets. Sure with 6 seeker missiles they are likely to bust some tanks and warrant a few revenge kills but as long as Hammerheads are flying around the table I would expect most heavy fire to go their way. This seems especially true once the Piranhas' seeker missiles are spent. Who is going to shoot their lascannons at a few BS3 Burst Cannons and BS2 Gun Drones when there is a BS4 S10 mobile railgun on the loose? If I'm able to really draw attention away from the Piranhas, maybe even by hiding them for a turn or two and doing nothing with them, then I can Flat Out fly 24" to contest/deny objectives. Rushing empty devilfish could also help overload the enemy with targets and draw attention even though they serve literally no purpose besides possibly contesting. All of this is just theorizing on possible strategic responses by my opponents but I've noticed with my Marines that if I apply pressure either through threatening units or a volume of meaningless ones, I can usually control the pace of the game and get some last turn contests all while never having a hostile model set foot on my half of the table.

So, what do you guys think? As I said I've never played Tau before and I'm building this as a themed army more then a competitive one but I would still like the army to play well.

Oh, and for Ghost in the Shell fans, I'm having Batou as Shas'o R'myr from Forge World. He fits perfectly as he served under Shadowsun (The Major), brings some nasty firepower, is more resilient then a normal battlesuit, and is a step above other Tau units in close combat (Farsight aside). I just don't have him in this list as the unit I run with him is pricey at 344 points and is very specialized with loads of plasma and support systems.

No Tau players out there?

So. Much. Reading

Yah...

It would help if you posted the points of each unit with the unit, so that as we go in its easier to spot a unit that is not worth its points.

Okay,

I'd like to start by saying that I really don't like shadowsun. Sure she has two fusion blasters, but for less points, you could get two battlesuit commanders with TL Fusion Blasters and Shield Generators... or, a unit of 3 Fireknives (Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi Tracker).

Your broadside battlesuits could use some revision. Broadsides usually should either take a Targeting Array, or A.S.S. (which is extremely useful for them.) I would give A.S.S. to both your broadsides, and then give your team leader the drone controller, and a hard-wired target lock.

Hammerheads look fine. Just to make sure, do you know you don't have to pay for the hammerhead's targeting array?

Also, I would give your piranhas some fusion blasters. They are cheap, and they are much more capable of taking out armor than seekers.

I've edited the original post with the points values of each unit.

Thanks for the feedback but I just want to clarify some of my tactical intentions with the army choices.

For Shadowsun, yes you can buy her combat ability for much less and even several times over but the thing that interests me about her is the Ld 10 and the Command Drone. Using my Marines, I've killed far too much Tau by shooting out 25% or more of the squad and watching them run away the rest of the game. This is also why I took bonding knives on the XV-8s and XV-88s. I view Shadowsun's points being spent in the Command Drone and then things like the Shield Drones and the Stealth Field in order to anchor a force and keep her alive. The fusion blasters and the advanced target lock really seem to me like an extra though strange set of combat upgrades. I would prefer her with a Missile Pod or something but I'm thinking that her army buffs will make her worth her points and thats why I'm interested in her. I actually have no interest in Fusion Blasters as a Railgun seems like a much more viable alternative factoring in range and Twin-Linking on the Broadsides.

As far as the Broadsides go, I'm interested in the Target Lock so that the unit can bust two tanks in the same turn. I love the BS4 upgrade of the Targeting Array but I thought that the Twin-Link on the Railguns mixed with the presence of markerlights should make up for any difficulties I may have. The Advanced Stabilization System has always intrigued me but is the ability to possibly move 6" and fire that important for a super long range unit? I suppose for positioning and lining up shots but unless the target is close, moving 6" isn't going to remarkably improve the unit's firing angle. I see how it could be useful, but I've also seen countless Broadsides do perfectly fine without it due to their long range tactics. Do you have any first-hand experiences that specifically illustrate the importance of the Advanced Stabilization System?

For the Hammerheads, I am aware that the Targeting Array is free. The points breakdown that I've now added to the original post should confirm this. As for their loadout, I have a quick question. Are the Smart Missiles every really worth it? It seems like having two burst cannons is a better choice as they are cheaper and you'll only ever be firing them at infantry so 6 shots is nice.

For the Piranhas, I know that fusion blasters are the typical loadout and at 5 points each they are tempting but that immediately makes them the number 1 target on the table. This is fine for Landspeeders that have just a Multi-Melta but for a unit that has 20 points of gun drones included in its base cost, it seems a waste to have them be suicide units. Also, the fusion blaster is an even more suicidal weapon as it requires the Piranha to get within 6" of the target to be considerably better then a seeker missile. It just seems like the seeker missiles are better because while they cost 15 more points then taking a fusion blaster, it means your base 60 point investment is less likely to get blown away at the start of the game. It also means you get to utilize your drones and burst cannon to pester infantry and force pinning tests. Just like with the Broadsides, I would appreciate some instances where the fusion blaster was clearly a better choice then moving 24" every turn and firing seeker missiles via pathfinders.

Thanks for the feedback and I look forward to further polishing my list.

Smart missiles are not worth it, imo. Your reasoning is correct for why burst cannons are superior. There are those that highly value 6" greater range and the special rule of the SMS, but I would disagree with the value of it.

Piranhas being the #1 target is a good thing. Turbo-boost round their tanks, soaking up loads of shots. Why is that a problem? It ensures your other units aren't being fired at.

When you have no more seekers, which will happen quiet fast, piranhas lose their ability to do much of anything, and so Fusion blasters help them keep their purpose.

Good to know on the SMS, thanks.

For the Piranhas, I don't necessarily want them to be the most obviously threatening thing on the table. I've been a Marine player my entire wargaming life so I'm looking at the Piranha through the veil of Landspeeder experience and with Landspeeders, I take Typhoons and want them to survive because they can dish out a disproportionate amount of fire for their cost. I'm looking to fit the same niche with my Piranhas as my SM Typhoon Speeders kill light vehicles and then harass infantry. For this job, it seems that the Burst Cannon and Seeker Missiles is a better bet. I guess what it is mostly that turns me off about the fusion blaster is the 12" range, 6" melta rule. Being a Marine player I'm unaccustomed to taking an entire unit specifically to suicide them. I'll try FB Piranhas when I start fielding the army but I'm gonna try both and keep my mind open about their options. Any specific tactics for a FB Piranha squadron aside from the obvious of "fly at tank, shoot it?"

Also, I've removed the Disruption Pods from the three Piranhas (as they will be boosting 18" - 24" every turn for a cover save anyways to safely launch their seeker missiles) and from one Devilfish to free up 20 points to take either Targeting Array or Advanced Stabilization Systems on the Broadsides. Which do you find is usually more useful and more handy to have?

You cant really see Pirahnas as "landspeeders" because they dont have a 24" range, only having a 12" range makes them more vulnerable so unfortunately they tend to be given the "suicide model" tag.

Used effectively the pirahna can be a real thorn in the enemies side for 70pts as they can block enemy assaults and stop tanks moving through open ground(pirahnas have a wide front).

Its only if you use the pirahna sparingly that it wont end up doing much. Be aggressive and they will pay off

Necropost or Bandwidth saving eco post? You decide!

So I've gotten a couple of games in with Tau thanks to a friend letting me use his models while I convert mine and I've learned a few things. I haven't had the opportunity to use the Piranhas as designed (first game was Dawn of War, second my Autocannon spam IG opponent seized the initiative and blew almost the entire squadron away) but I made a few tweaks to the list and I'll post it up here, basic explanations of the two games, and explain why I've made these changes. This will be an extremely long post as its a list, two small batreps, and some thoughts. Apologies but it has been a while since updating.

Tau 1500 Points

HQ
Commander Shadowsun - 175 Points

Troops
Fire Warriors Team - 60 Points
- 6 Fire Warriors (6 Pulse Rifles)
Fire Warriors Team - 60 Points
- 6 Fire Warriors (6 Pulse Rifles)

Fast Attack
Pathfinder Team - 157 Points
- 6 Pathfinders (6 Markerlights)
- Devilfish (DP)
Pathfinder Team - 157 Points
- 6 Pathfinders (6 Markerlights)
- Devilfish (DP)
Piranha Squadron - 220 Points
- 3 Piranha Light Skimmers (3 Seeker Missiles, 2 DP)

Elites
XV8 'Crisis' Battlesuit Team - 141 Points
- Team Leader Shas'ui (TL Missile Pod, Targeting Array, HW Target Lock, HW Drone Controller, Bonding Knife)
- 2 Gun Drones
- Shas'ui (TL Missile Pod, Targeting Array)

Heavy Support
XV88 Broadside Team - 200 Points
- Team Leader Shas'ui (TL Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization System, HW Target Lock, HW Drone Controller)
- 2 Shield Drones
- Shas'ui (TL Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization System)

Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun, Burst Cannons, DP, Multi-Tracker) - 165 Points

Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun, Burst Cannons, DP, Multi-Tracker) - 165 Points


What Has Happened So Far?

Alright, so the first game I played using the list originally posted was a win for the Tau but didn't allow much of the planned strategy to be used. It was a Dawn of War, Capture and Control mission against my friend's Space Wolves. Their list consisted of two Drop Pod Dreadnoughts (1 Venerable w/ TL Lascannon), a Land Raider with Logan Grimnar and Termie Wolf Guard pack inside, a Rhino with Blood Claws, and a bare blood claw unit hugging his objective placed in a set of ruins. I placed my objective on the third floor of the building I chose as my "castle." I had first turn and I deployed Shadowsun and both units of Fire Warriors in the building that housed my objective. In response he deployed his Rhino full of Blood Claws. I'll stop this here and say that we may have played Dawn of War incorrect here. We deployed correctly but neither of us remembered whether the rest of the army rolls on turn one (now I'm thinking this is the right way to play it) or comes on from reserve. We agreed to play things coming on from reserve. Turn one was uneventful for me as his Rhino was out of range of my Fire Warriors. His turn one brought in the regular Dreadnought via Drop Pod which shot its multi-melta at Shadowsun, doing nothing as one of the Sheild Drones made their cover/invulnerable save. The Rhino moved up.

In turn two the game started to pick up a little bit though I got none of my reserve on, zero. Shadowsun, continuing with my complete failure to test the list as intended (though every game is a test as anything can happen), moved down from her second story perch to get within 6" of the dreadnought. She shot both shots at the dread, missing one but penetrating with the other only to blow the CCW off. She then made her JSJ move back onto her 2nd story perch and everyone passed their dangerous terrain rolls except for the precious Command Drone, the only member of the unit that doesn't have an invulnerable save. With the drone gone, my strategy of a Ld 10 castle was gone. In the Wolves turn 2, they got everything on. The Venerable dread in drop pod, Logan in LRR, and footslogging Blood Claw unit. The Venerable dread dropped in close to my building despite a slight deviation. Both it and the wounded dread opened up on Shadowsun, doing nothing thanks to invulnerable/cover saves. The storm bolter from the turn one Drop Pod shot at one of my Fire Warrior units killing two, forcing a morale check which was failed with an 8 (arg), and they then ran right off the table. The Rhino advanced once again.

Turn three was a total momentum swing as I got everything except (frustratingly) my Piranhas. Shadowsun jumped from the building and shot the venerable dread, blowing off its Lascannon and stunning it. Both Hammerheads came on the table behind the venerable dread, one shooting it in the back and destroying it (even after the reroll!) while the other Hammerhead scored a lucky explosion on the LRR killing one of the wolf guard in the process. The A.S.S broadsides walked on directly behind the regular dread and shot it in the back with their railguns, exploding it. The Deathrain suits jumped on table and managed to strip the storm bolter off of one drop pod while failing to affect the other. The Pathfinders zoomed into the building in their devilfish (one immobilized itself on the top floor), disembarked, and ran to take firing positions. The remaining Fire Warrior unit moved down the building and embarked in the Devilfish that wasn't immobilized. Shadowsun, now without the command drone, and the XV8s made their JSJ moves forward The stunned wolves, in their turn three, pushed forward with their three remaining units. The footslogging Blood Claws reached their objective.

Turn four had the Hammerheads moving up the right flank of the table, firing submunition blasts at the Terminators. The broadsides moved into the building and opened up on the Rhino, wrecking it. Shadowsun jumped forward and ran behind a building in the middle of the table, ready to spring an AP1 surprise on the advancing terminators. The XV8s wrecked the remaining Drop Pod and killed a few of the disembarked Blood Claws. The Pathfinders scored four markerlights on the terminators which were used to buff the BS of the Piranhas (seeker missiles have now become pointless and I have six of them!) which fired on the terminators killing one. The other two tokens were used by the Hammerheads. The Wolves just continued to push forward.

Turn five had the Piranhas moving 12" towards the middle of the table. The hammerheads also moved further up the right flank but only 6" this time. Shadowsun jumped her 6" out from behind her building in order to fire on the terminators. Shadowsun's dual fusion blasters killed one of the Storm Bolter Wolf Guard while the Hammerheads' submunitions and burst cannons, combined with the Pathfinders' markerlights and Piranhas' burst cannons and drones peeled off the remaining two terminators and put two wounds on Logan. The Broadsides both fired at Logan, one of them getting through his invulnerable save and killing him. The XV8s fired at the now rhino-less Blood Claws killing a few. The Wolves, reduced to two Blood Claw Packs, pushed forward with one and continued to sit the other on the objective. The game was still tied but it continued on.

Turn six was desperate at best as the Piranhas moved the full 24" into the ruins and contesting the Wolves' objective though one Piranha was destroyed by failing its dangerous terrain test. At the time I assumed that destroyed vehicles' gun drones were destroyed along with it so I didn't place the gun drones and I didn't disembark the other skimmers' drones. Shadowsun, too far from anything to be useful, just jumped into the safety of a nearby building, hilariously killing one of her shield drones. The Hammerheads advanced towards the Wolves' objective, firing submunition blasts in and killing around three total between the two gunships. Pathfinders markerlighted the advancing blood claws, boosting the BS of the XV8s and lowering the Blood Claws Ld to 6. The XV8 unit jumped forward with their gun drones and killed several wolves. Since one casualty was from a drone, the wolves took their pinning test and failed. I shot the Broadsides' SMS at the wolves as well and killed a few but with them pinned and at least 20" away from my objective, they were no longer a factor. In the Wolves' turn, the Blood Claws on their objective tried to destroy the Piranhas but the 4+ cover save from shooting and requiring 6s to hit in assault ended up saving them as the wolves could only destroy one skimmer. The game ended with a 1 - 0 victory for the Tau.





The second game I played was a Pitched Battle, Kill Points (uh-oh) game against my friend's foot IG. The table consisted of 8 buildings in an oval pattern, three in each deployment zone and one on each flank. I had the same list, unaltered. His IG list consisted of three 20-man blob units each with a commissar and set of Autocannons, Usarker Creed with his squad, two PCS with Lascannon in each, Plasma Vets in outflanking Valkyrie, three deep-striking Storm Trooper units (2 melta, 1 plasma), a Griffon heavy mortar, and lastly an outflanking Rough Rider unit (CREEEED!!!). I won first turn and deployed in mostly a castle position. I picked the building in the center of my deployment zone (safety from outflankers) and deployed Shadowsun, my Broadsides, my Pathfinders, one Fire Warrior unit, and my XV8s into it. I then deployed my two Hammerheads together on my right flank, one devilfish (the other was empty in reserve) way on my left flank with my other fire warrior unit behind it, and my Piranhas to the left of my "castle." He deployed his three IG blobs and the Griffon in the three buildings in his deployment zone with Creed in the middle and the PCS in each of the other buildings. His rough riders and Valkyrie were outflanking and his Storm Troopers were deep striking.

I was excited to finally see how the speed of Piranhas could be used in a pitched battle but then the worst thing possible happen, IG seized the initiative. After all of the orders and a hail of Autocannon fire my deployed devilfish was exploded with one of the fire warriors dead, a pair of pathfinders were dead (but passed their morale, thanks Shadowsun!), one of my Hammerheads no longer had its railgun courtesy of a PCS lascannon, and saddest of all were my Piranhas. Two were wrecks, one was without its burst cannon. All six of the squadrons gun drones made their required disembarkment and were torn apart by autocannons. In response I boosted my lone remaining Piranha 24" into the safety of the left flank's building and its wonderful lack of windows. The fire warriors and the lone remaining gun drone (I had learned of the proper way to play vehicle gun drones) from the devilfish on the left flank moved for the nearest building and sprinted to get into it but they couldn't climb to any levels. The Hammerheads moved up the right flank and fired a submunition blast at a PCS killing two of the unit and forcing a leadership test. The PCS failed and ran off the board. I only got two markerlight hits on Creed and spent them both making his cover save 6+ against my unit of Deathrain suits which blasted away the rest of his unit except for Creed himself. To seal the deal the broadsides, with absolutely no armor in sight (Griffon was hiding in a ruin), fired at Creed blasting him into a million pieces. The XV8s made their JSJ back behind my castle building.

Turn two for the IG had their Valkyrie, Rough Riders, and a melta storm trooper unit come in. The Valkyrie and Rough Riders both got my left flank for their outflank rolls and pounced upon the fire warriors and gun drone that were exposed out there. The Veterans disembarked from their skimmer and shot the Fire Warriors, killing one thanks to cover saves. The IG autocannons fired exclusively at the pathfinders, killing one from the bigger unit. They failed their leadership roll with an 11 but only ran 5" down to the bottom of the building. The Griffon hit the XV8 unit which made all five of their saves. The PCS lascannon with LoS on the Hammerheads fired but failed to do anything. The storm troopers nailed a risky deep strike and dropped in right beside my one unscathed Hammerhead but failed to do anything as only one meltagun hit and it rolled a 3 for armor penetration. The Veterans and Rough Riders assaulted in and massacred the fire warriors and drones before I even had a chance to hit back. I got my lone reserve devilfish in on my turn two, which moved along the right flank to support the hammerheads against the storm troopers. The unscathed hammerhead moved forward to set up a shot on the griffon in the next turn while the other hammerhead hung back and took a firing position against the storm troopers. Both it and the Devilfish fired on the Storm Troopers, killing all but the two meltagunners. The running pathfinders regrouped on a 9 (thanks Shadowsun!) and ran back into their position in the building. The other pathfinder unit got a single markerlight on the valkyrie and fired a seeker missile from the surviving Piranha which glanced the rear armor and blew off the Valkyrie's multi-laser. The XV8s jumped from behind their cover and split their fire with two firing at the storm troopers and one firing at the valkyrie. The two firing at the storm troopers killed the two remaining models while the other XV8 failed to affect the Valkyrie. The broadsides fired SMS at the advancing Rough Riders, killing three while the remaining Fire Warriors fired on the Rough Riders and killed another. The Rough Riders passed their leadership. Things were looking grim for the Tau, with elite IG elements closing quickly and much destroyed.
End Turn 2: IG - 4 Tau - 3

Turn three had the IG getting their remaining two storm trooper units in. The meltaguns dropped in right behind my building while the plasmagunners double scattered towards the middle of the table. The veterans embarked in their Valk which moved right up to my building. The Rough Riders advanced, poised to assault the XV8s. The IG blobs fired their Autocannons at my bigger Pathfinder unit, again only killing one and they passed leadership on an 8 (thanks Shadowsun!). The Griffon fired at the pathfinders but all cover saves were made. A PCS lascannon stunned my railgun hammerhead while the melta Storm Troopers fired on the XV8s killing one of the gun drones, but this would be their fatal mistake for they awoke the Murderdrone! The plasma Storm Troopers fired on the Broadsides, failing to cause any wounds thanks to armor and cover saves. The Rough Riders charged in to assault with the XV8s but failed to cause any wounds as they had used their lances earlier in the game. The XV8s inflicted no wounds but the remaining gun drone, reborn as the Murderdrone killed one of the rough riders winning combat for the Tau. The Rough Riders passed their leadership test and the combat was locked. My turn three had the Devilfish and damaged Hammerhead moving back towards my building to help support against the IG onslaught. Shadowsun repositioned herself to get an angle on the melta storm troopers. The Fire Warriors turned around and took aim at the melta storm troopers. The pathfinders hit the Valkyrie with two markerlight tokens, using one to launch the last remaining seeker missile from the piranha which only shook the Valkyrie. The other token was used to make the broadsides BS4 and they promptly exploded the Valkyrie, killing four of the veterans inside and two of the plasma storm troopers nearby. The Veterans failed their pinning test and then failed their morale check and ran 8" towards the IG table edge. The Fire Warriors were wounded but all passed their saves and then shot at the melta Storm Troopers and killed a few and Shadowsun killed another. In close combat, the Rough Riders dealt a wound to the XV8s who saved it and then hit back causing no damage but the Murderdrone was out for blood and managed to kill yet another Rough Rider. The horsemen again passed leadership and held combat.
End Turn 3: IG - 4 Tau - 4

Turn four started out awful for the Tau as PCS Lascannon fire destroyed the remaining Devilfish and Autocannons mopped up the resulting gun drones for an easy two kill points. The remaining autocannons shot at a pathfinder unit who finally failed their saves and were wiped out. The now stranded plasma vets fired at the other pathfinder unit after regrouping and killed them off as well. The plasma storm troopers fired at the remaining Fire Warrior unit killing all but three and then poised to charge in to finish the job. The remaining melta storm troopers fired at Shadowsun attempting to chip off drones before multi-charging into her and the already engaged XV8s. The Griffon fired at the Hammerhead but failed to glance it. In the assault phase, the plasma storm troopers assaulted up the building and into the remaining fire warriors, killing one and taking no wounds in return. The Fire Warriors passed leadership on a 7 (thanks Shadowsun!). The melta storm troopers multi-charged Shadowsun and the XV8s, bringing her and her drones into the growing combat. Shadowsun, at a surprising I4 hit the Storm Troopers first and killed two including the one that was in base contact with her. The lone remaining Storm Trooper and the Rough Riders attacked the XV8s and finally put a wound on one of the suits who struck back by killing one of the Rough Riders. The Murderdrone, tired from his previous two rounds, failed to cause any harm. But still, Tau had won combat by two! The lone remaining storm trooper failed and ran toward the IG table edge while the Rough Riders annoyingly held. The assault phase had gone unexpectedly well for Tau but the scoreboard showed a grim picture.
After IG Turn 4: IG - 8 Tau - 4

Tau four was a blistering sequence of pure luck. With almost my entire force locked in combat, movement was quick with the intact Hammerhead moving into a firing position against the Griffon while the other Hammerhead backed away from the running storm trooper to fire its burst cannons. The Broadsides moved down the building and into position to assault into the plasma storm troopers that were fighting the fire warriors. The shooting phase had the intact Hammerhead exploding the Griffon and killing several Guardsmen that were huddled around it in the ruined building. The other hammerhead fired on the running storm trooper and finished it off. In the Fire Warrior assault, the Broadsides charged in and after the storm troopers killed another Fire Warrior who again failed to do anything. The Broadsides however killed several storm troopers, winning combat again for the Tau though the remaining two storm troopers held. In the bigger assault, Shadowsun beat down one of the remaining Rough Riders who failed to cause any harm to the XV8s. The XV8s whiffed again but the Murderdrone was back in action and finished off the last Rough Rider, finally ending the assault in a victory for the Tau! Spirits were high after much assault phase victory but I still had a ways to go.
End Turn 4: IG - 8 Tau - 7

The critical turn five came and the IG were looking to close out the game. Unfortunately for them however, everything that was visible to their autocannons was locked in combat or the AV13 front armor of a Hammerhead. On top of that, the PCS lascannons were either out of range or unable to see the Hammerheads. The Autocannons fired but did nothing to the Tau tanks. The regrouped veterans advanced forward and fired at the now free XV8s stripping off one wound from a suit with their plasmaguns. However, two of the plasmaguns overheated and killed their veterans, bringing the unit down from 6 to 4 and forcing a morale check which they failed and again ran away. In the assault phase, the plasma storm trooper killed off the last Fire Warrior but were then killed by the Broadsides and their drones. The Broadsides consolidated back into their firing positions. The IG main push was over and the Tau were now able to regroup for what could be their final turn.
After IG Turn 5: IG - 9 Tau - 8

Tau turn five was a cumulative effort to try and squeak two kill points out of the IG and earn a victory in a game that had such a demoralizing start. The The remaining hammerheads converged on the building on my right flank, both hiding and taking up a firing position. Shadowsun, jumped out of her building to get a shot at the retreating veterans while the XV8s did the same. In the shooting phase, Shadowsun fired on the four running veterans, killing two. The XV8s then used their target locks to fire four shots at the veterans and two at the remaining PCS which was only four models strong. Two of the four missiles hit the remaining veterans and killed both despite them going to ground for a last-ditch 6+ cover save. The two missiles fired at the PCS killed one model while the intact Hammerhead fired a submunition blast killing another. With the game tied and the PCS down to two models, the Broadsides took aim and fired. Both hit thanks to the twin-linking of the railguns and both wounded. The IG player made one of the two cover saves and so a single member of the PCS remained. With no shooting left, the entire game came down to a leadership test on the Platoon Commander's Ld8. The commander failed on a roll of an 11! He retreated 11" which brought him literally half an inch away from the table edge, and so the improbable was so close to happening. We roll the end game die and it comes up a two, game over! The game was a rollercoaster with a dramatic finish that almost had the Tau stealing a win from the IG.

End Game: IG - 9 Tau - 9
IG Killed:
Devilfish
Devilfish Gun Drones
Devilfish
Devilfish Gun Drones
Piranha Gun Drones
Pathfinders
Pathfinders
Fire Warriors
Fire Warriors

Tau Killed:
Creed
PCS
Storm Troopers
Storm Troopers
Storm Troopers
Griffon
Veterans
Valkyrie
Rough Riders






What Have I Learned?

In these two games, a few things have been made clear. Firstly, the unreliability of the seeker missile. I feel that if they were Ordnance 1 like IG Hellstrike missiles then they would be more effective but at the current points cost and disadvantages of requiring a markerlight to fire, they are not worth spending loads of points on. Also, every Piranha lost before unloading their payload was 20 points utterly wasted. I counteract this, I've dropped the seeker missiles down to one per Piranha. I've dropped one of the disruption pods as well as the vehicle squadron rules have them earning cover saves when half of the unit or more is in considered obscured just like infantry. Having 2/3rds of my Piranhas with DPs means I can still lose one and have my squadron-wide cover save.

Secondly, the fragility of Fire Warriors/Pathfinders. Sure in the second game they took a ton of punishment but I was rolling 4+ like I never had before (I'm a Marine player and I'm usually haunted by loads of 1s and 2s killing my expensive power armor infantry) so I'm discounting it as an anomaly. Also made clear is that in a list that makes use of several versatile mobile units, markerlights are essential and Pulse Rifles/Carbines less so. Because of this I kept my Fire Warrior units at the ultra-fragile six model minimum while bumping my pathfinders from four to six per unit. Pathfinders must be exposed to be useful while Fire Warriors can cower in a Devilfish and still play their role, hence why the Pathfinders got the buff in numbers.

Thirdly, the wonders of the Target Lock. While not always resulting in destroying both targets, the versatility that splitting fire brings is invaluable as it allows you to make a single unit more survivable through things like ablative wounds via drones and not have the points wasted by firing at only one target. I can only imagine how target lock will stand out even more when I go up against an army that has several Rhinos or Chimeras. There is a downside though with Target Lock and thats the possibility of missing two targets instead of hitting one. I'm looking to solve this by enhancing my XV8s with Targeting Arrays in addition to their target locks. Notice that they are down from three suits to two, this is to make room for the four additional pathfinders. I didn't take the targeting arrays on the broadsides as I use the A.S.S on them and I've found it invaluable (walking on the table behind a dreadnought in the first game).

Lastly, I've found drones to be both a bane and a blessing. They are a total hindrance on the army when they are on vehicles as they provide extra kill points (I would have won game two 9 - 6 if this wasn't the case) but they are wonderful on units like XV8s and Broadsides. It isn't that drones are particularly effective at anything, but it is that the enemy takes them for granted at least in the case of gun drones. We all joked about the "Murderdrone" during the game as it was overachieving but I expect that is rare behavior for them. What I see when I look at gun drones is a way to tip things in your favor because everyone assumes that they will be a non-factor. In the first game, it was a gun drone that pinned the advancing Blood Claws and ensuring the safety of my objective. In the second game, it was the ablative wounds and extra attacks in close combat that helped the struggling XV8s turn the combat against the IG Rough Riders. To reflect this in my list, I've made sure to keep all of the drones I originally had. I didn't drop any to help pay for changes.


Phew, if you are still reading then I owe you my deepest gratitude for taking such an interest in helping another shape their list. Feel free to post any thoughts and sure, feel free to complain about the length of the post. I agree with you considering I just spent the last hour or so recalling and writing everything. Any thoughts?

Sounds good but are you actually going to use GW minis or convert Public Security Section 9 stuff for them -so actually make tachikomas - or just fluff it in?

Phototoxin wrote:Sounds good but are you actually going to use GW minis or convert Public Security Section 9 stuff for them -so actually make tachikomas - or just fluff it in?

I'm using GW minis for everyting except the Tachikomas. For those, I'm using Wave 1/24th scale Tachikoma kits and adding in Tau accents. The way I'm doing that is by replacing the arms with stealth suit burst cannons though I'm still using the end caps and hands. I cast XV8 legs armor patterns to make the "wrist armor" plates seen on 2nd Gig Tachikomas. I cast the front of a Piranha to make the "ankle armor" plates seen on 2nd Gig Tachikomas. I drilled out the top of the Tachikoma's dome and fit a Drone in the gap and then attached an aelieron from the Devilfish kit to be the Tachikoma's antenna. Lastly, I've replaced the wire-shooters on the abdomen with magnetized gun drones.

The result is a model that is the same length as a Piranha, roughly the same width in the same places, with only a difference in height. It plays quite well, I just need to finish all of the accents and see if it looks Tau enough or if I need to go back to the drawing board.

All other models will have conversions done on them so that they are Tau versions of things from Ghost in the Shell. For example my XV8s are being built with a smaller set of arms that mimic the regular arms just like the 303 Arm Suit from the first season of Stand Alone Complex. There are other similarities between the way I've built my XV8 and the 303 but I won't go into too much detail here.

Any thoughts? I know my previous list post was extremely long (and I've done some slight changes in the last few days) so I'm reposting it right here:

Tau 1500 Points

HQ
Commander Shadowsun - 175 Points

Troops
Fire Warriors Team - 60 Points
- 6 Fire Warriors (6 Pulse Rifles)
Fire Warriors Team - 60 Points
- 6 Fire Warriors (6 Pulse Rifles)

Fast Attack
Pathfinder Team - 157 Points
- 6 Pathfinders (6 Markerlights)
- Devilfish (DP)
Pathfinder Team - 157 Points
- 6 Pathfinders (6 Markerlights)
- Devilfish (DP)
Piranha Squadron - 145 Points
- 2 Piranha Light Skimmers (2 Seeker Missiles, 1 DP)

Elites
XV8 'Crisis' Battlesuit Team - 131 Points
- Team Leader Shas'ui (TL Missile Pod, Target Lock, HW Drone Controller, Bonding Knife)
- 2 Gun Drones
- Shas'ui (TL Missile Pod, Targeting Array)

Heavy Support
XV88 Broadside Team - 285 Points
- Team Leader Shas'ui (TL Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization System, HW Target Lock, HW Drone Controller, Bonding Knife)
- 2 Shield Drones
- Shas'ui (TL Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization System)
- Shas'ui (TL Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization System)

Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun, Burst Cannons, DP, Multi-Tracker) - 165 Points

Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun, Burst Cannons, DP, Multi-Tracker) - 165 Points




Shadowsun, Fire Warriors, Pathfinders, and Hammerheads all remain unchanged

I dropped one of the Piranhas as I have them for harassment and seeker missiles (I still can't help but think S8 rear/side armor shots on a 2+ will come in useful) which I dropped down to two. I can't decide if I want both on the disruption pod Piranha or one on each. I'm tempted to go both on one and exploit the allocation system to try and keep it alive but another salvo from IG Autocannons could overload them with too many cover saves and may kill off the one with two. I also dropped the disruption pods down to one as per the squadron cover rules you only need half of the unit obscured to get a unit-wide cover save (same as infantry).

I dropped the XV8s down to two with two gun drones. I figure that they will be fired after the broadsides to target surviving transports or infantry that has been whittled down by submunition blasts (hammerheads almost exclusively fire submunitions in this list). They were cut down to two in favor of adding a broadside and I took a targeting array on the Shas'ui so that I have a better chance of hitting my primary target when I split off the Team Leader's shots at something else. Bonding knife was kept just to make them that much harder to force off the table. I want my opponent to dedicate shooting to earn their kills.

My last change was adding a Broadside with A.S.S. I'm a bit wary of this as it means I no longer take complete advantage of wound allocation and I can't split the entire unit's fire off. Even then, I found that most of the time I would fire both at the same target to ensure destruction so I'm hoping I won't hate being forced to fire both at the same target 100% of the time. The Team Leader can be fired at the same target as the others for complete overkill or he can pop a lucky shot off at something else to try and kill two birds with one stone. A.S.S stays on him, as well as the other shas'ui so that the unit can be used effectively in every game type (Dawn of War) and so that they can get more advantageous lanes of fire. The Bonding Knife stays as well to make them that much harder to take down and to ensure that the added guy isn't a wash if their unit gets taken down a few models. Under 50% of four requires three kills as does under 50% of five so the bonding knife is even more important as it the extra suit hasn't made it any harder for the enemy to force them under that threshold.

I will be playing my next game on Saturday so any input I could get before then would be greatly appreciated but all input regardless of when its posted is wonderfully helpful.

Hmm...

If you like shadowsun, there isn't much I can tell you. My only suggestion would have been to drop her, and upgrade your fish to warfish.

I am uncumforable with how many point you've spend on Heavy Support and Fast attack... I think it may be worthwhile to get rid of a hammerhead for more crisis suits (of any variety, though fireknife would probably be the best way to go).

Also, you say you like shadowsun because then your units don't run off of the table but:

1. It only works up to 18", and considering how short range fusion blasters are, shadowsun should be well away from your troops blowing up tanks.
2. You don't have that many troops
3. Your 2 fire warriors units should be in devilfish
4. With how much AT you have, you might as well get rid of her and have a crisis battlesuit commander with a Command and Control node, as well as a TL Missile Pod, so he can camp behind your fire warriors while shooting tanks at long range.

Btw, congrats on the win/tie! Beating SW and tie-ing IG is certainly a good start!

Thanks for the the response! Allow me to respond to your points to give you an idea of why I took what I took, maybe it will help explain things.

I'm curious about why seemingly everyone advocates the Warfish. For 120 points you have an AV12 Smart Missile System with a cover save. The same points earn an Auto/Las predator for Codex: Space Marines or five Long Fangs (four missiles) for Space Wolves with 5 extra points change. Both greatly outclass the Warfish and directly counter it in spectacular fashion. What is the benefit of the Warfish aside from being scoring?

I see what you mean about spending so heavily in Heavy Support and Fast Attack. Every time I see how expensive Piranhas are I can't quite believe it but a fast late-game contesting vehicle is always useful. As for your suggestion of dropping a Hammerhead for Fireknife suits, I can get two of them with some drones and some 20 points or so in change. Three without drones cost about 20 more points then one of my Hammerheads. What advantages do they provide that beat out a Hammerhead? The plasma rifle is awfully expensive, though the AP2 is nice. Would it be better to go with more Deathrain though or perhaps Missile Pod/Burst Cannon and just pound the enemy down with rate of fire?

1) I keep Shadowsun back with the rest of the long-range units (Pathfinders, Broadsides, Deathrain XV8s) to make use of her Ld 10 drone and I've found in both games that the dual fusion blasters come in handy as a deterent/insurance policy against deep strike/outflank/rush. In the first game, she helped take down a dreadnought and then some Wolf Guard terminators though her Command Drone was killed early so her points were ultimately wasted. In the second game, she saved my units numerous times with her Command Drone, took down some Storm Troopers, and then rescued the XV8s in assault (her statline is actually pretty decent).

2) Yeah, and this is my biggest concern. I would take more Fire Warriors but they are just so darn weak for the points. They have strong weapons and a 4+ save but otherwise the statline of a Guardsman (except for WS2, I2) for twice the cost. I love troops with S5 weapons but they are just too expensive to load up on it seems. I would love any suggestions.

3) While they don't take Devilfish themselves, I plan to make use of the Pathfinders' Devilfish to hide the Fire Warriors. In both games I've tried to keep some outside of a transport to get some shooting in but at only six models, it isn't worth the risk. On saturday I plan to have both of them inside Devilfish almost exclusively.

4) While I love the Deathrain configuration and how inexpensive a Shas'o commander is, such a loadout doesn't offer the same things. The Command and Control node only works for Target Priority, a test that is no longer in the game. He also doesn't come with the shield drones and stealth field generator that makes Shadowsun so difficult to take out, especially if she is hidden behind some terrain. I agree wholeheartedly that she is too expensive for what she does but I'm interested in making use of her and I'm almost forced to by the theme of the army. You can't have Section 9 without The Major!


Thanks so much for your response, I was beginning to think that a Tau list wasn't going to get much feedback on here. Thank you for the suggestions and I look forward to any responses you can provide.

Bleh, my mistake. I was thinking C&C Node did the same for morale.

The reason for warfish is this:

Devilfish are already overpriced. The 40 pt. Package upgrade just tries to make them stink less, and you have 7 S5 shots at BS4, which you can fire while still moving 6". That is why the package is more or less good.

Basically, you are taking an overpriced tank, and making it try and suck less with those upgrades... so no-body is saying a devilfish is good by any means, they are just saying, if you go the 80 pts., you may as well go the 120.

So I've played a third game and I've finally had my rear-end handed to me. The culprit, Drop Pod infantry Raven Guard. Here is how it went down:

I took the list previously posted. My opponent (same guy as the IG game) brought 3 full Tac Squads in Drop Pods (1 Las/Plas, 2 Missile/Melta), 1 Assault Squad accompanied by his Captain (Artificer, Jump Pack, Relic Blade), 1 Dread (Assault Cannon), 1 Landspeeder Storm w/ CQC Scouts, and 1 full Scout Squad (Bolters/Heavy Bolter).

The gametype was Seize Ground, Spearhead deployment. I won first turn and took a quarter with two buildings. Objectives were placed, 2 in my quarter and one in the adjacent. I now realize that this was a tactical error on my part. Since he is playing an all out offense list, I should have spread the objectives out and away from my fire base to allow myself to make use of my superior range and firepower. For capturing I could move my Devilfish out supported by Piranhas to contest if the Devilfish and embarked Fire Warriors were destroyed. Instead I gave him a singular target, making victory much easier for him.

I deployed in both buildings, Pathfinders in the tower to my right while Broadsides, Deathrains, and Shadowsun in the building on the left. Devilfish and Fire Warriors (embarked in first turn) were behind the left building sitting on both objectives. Piranhas were to their left and Hammerheads were on the right most edge of my deployment zone. Raven Guard deployed the Scouts on the third objective and out of TLOS while the Assault Squad w/ Captain and the Dreadnought were hiding behind a landing pad in the middle of the table.

I overloaded both flanks with the Piranhas and Hammerheads, a tactic I planned to use in pitch battle but was completely pointless here due to his entirely offensive list and the lack of any meaningful objectives in his deployment zone. The Drop Pods came in and actually didn't do much damage in the first turn of shooting. They peeled off a shield drone from the Broadsides and a wound from each Deathrain but thats it. The big casualties were 8 bolt pistol wounds on my Pathfinders and me failing 6/8 4+ saves. It was gonna be one of THOSE games.

My return fire was everything I had, I even disembarked the gun drones from the devilfish to get the most opportunities at wounding and pinning the tactical marines. It was mostly for naught as my opponent made 25+ armor saves in a row, not a single Marine dying after being shot by SMS, Piranhas, Fire Warriors, Devilfish, and Gun Drones. The Hammerheads did submunitions on the Assault Squad killing two and Shadowsun exploded one of the Drop Pods, failing to do any damage to the Marines around it. His turn two had the last Drop Pod show up. The Marines from the turn one drop shot everything at Shadowsun, putting a wound on her and stripping off the Command Drone and a Shield Drone. The newly dropped Marines fired on the disembarked Fire Warriors. The Plasmagunner killed himself while the rest of the unit killed 5 our of the 6 Fire Warriors. The Dreadnought rended, pierced, and blew off the railgun on one of the Hammerheads (I still haven't made a single Disruption Pod save in these three games). Shadowsun failed her morale check on an 11 and retreated just close enough to still be within 6" of a Marine. The FIre Warrior failed his LD on an 8 (if the command drone wasn't dead he would have been fine) and ran off the table.

Shadowsun couldn't regroup because of the Marine and jumped off the table while a Broadside popped the second drop pod and the other two wounded the Marines 4 times with SMS. The Marines again all passed their saves. The Piranhas fired on the newly dropped Marines, failing to do anything. The Hammerheads shot the Assault Squad with submunition blast and their burst cannons killing three. The Deathrains and their gun drones shot marines and didn't kill a single one thanks to more saves. The Raven Guard proceeded to get into combat with the broadsides and the Captain split off form the Assault Squad to attack the Pathfinders. The Broadsides took a few wounds but held and the Pathfinders were slaughtered. In the next turn, the Hammehead with a railgun one-shot the Captain and killed him while the remnants of my forces shot again at Marines and killed only a few. We had to pack up after this as the LGS was closing.

In short, the Raven Guard easily made 40+ out of 50 or so wounds inflicted over three turns, and I failed everywhere where I needed to pass. 20 Marines that won't fail a save dropping on your head on turn one has me completely stumped. Aside from resorting to overpriced plasma rifles, how can you handle such a threat? I see now that I should have placed my objectives differently so that he had to drop two of his units away from my force so is that the only solution? What about in Kill Points when there isn't anything to draw the Drop Pods away?


I'm pretty stumped on these questions but one thing was made clear during the game, I can't inflict enough wounds to take on infantry in my face. I'm now considering the use of flamers on Deathrains, dropping a broadside, and having a suicide TL Flamer unit to Deep Strike somewhere using the Pathfinder Devilfish and get at least one good turn of flaming before being cut down. I've also dropped the Seeker Missiles from the Piranhas and taken two Targeting Arrays to make their Burst Cannons a bit more effective. Here is the new list I'm considering, most of it is still the same though:


Tau 1500 Points

HQ
Commander Shadowsun - 175 Points

Troops
Fire Warriors Team - 60 Points
- 6 Fire Warriors (6 Pulse Rifles)
Fire Warriors Team - 60 Points
- 6 Fire Warriors (6 Pulse Rifles)

Fast Attack
Pathfinder Team - 157 Points
- 6 Pathfinders (6 Markerlights)
- Devilfish (DP)
Pathfinder Team - 157 Points
- 6 Pathfinders (6 Markerlights)
- Devilfish (DP)
Piranha Squadron - 135 Points
- 2 Piranha Light Skimmers (2 Targeting Array, 1 DP)

Elites
XV8 'Crisis' Battlesuit Team - 119 Points
- Team Leader Shas'ui (TL Missile Pod, Flamer, HW Drone Controller)
- 2 Gun Drones
- Shas'ui (TL Missile Pod, Flamer)

XV8 'Crisis' Battlesuit Team - 102 Points
- Shas'ui (TL Flamer, Blacksun Filter)
- Shas'ui (TL Flamer, Blacksun Filter)
- Shas'ui (TL Flamer, Blacksun Filter)

Heavy Support
XV88 Broadside Team - 205 Points
- Team Leader Shas'ui (TL Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization System, HW Target Lock, HW Drone Controller, Bonding Knife)
- 2 Shield Drones
- Shas'ui (TL Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization System)

Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun, Burst Cannons, DP, Multi-Tracker) - 165 Points

Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun, Burst Cannons, DP, Multi-Tracker) - 165 Points

I'm thinking of dropping the targeting arrays from the Piranhas (because they don't have fusion blasters) and putting the 10 points on the TL Missile Pod Team Leader in the form of a bonding knife and a HW Target-Lock. Here is what the whole list would look like:

Tau 1500 Points

HQ
Commander Shadowsun - 175 Points

Troops
Fire Warriors Team - 60 Points
- 6 Fire Warriors (6 Pulse Rifles)
Fire Warriors Team - 60 Points
- 6 Fire Warriors (6 Pulse Rifles)

Fast Attack
Pathfinder Team - 157 Points
- 6 Pathfinders (6 Markerlights)
- Devilfish (DP)
Pathfinder Team - 157 Points
- 6 Pathfinders (6 Markerlights)
- Devilfish (DP)
Piranha Squadron - 125 Points
- 2 Piranha Light Skimmers (1 DP)

Elites
XV8 'Crisis' Battlesuit Team - 129 Points
- Team Leader Shas'ui (TL Missile Pod, Flamer, HW Drone Controller, HW Target-Lock, Bonding Knife)
- 2 Gun Drones
- Shas'ui (TL Missile Pod, Flamer)

XV8 'Crisis' Battlesuit Team - 102 Points
- Shas'ui (TL Flamer, Blacksun Filter)
- Shas'ui (TL Flamer, Blacksun Filter)
- Shas'ui (TL Flamer, Blacksun Filter)

Heavy Support
XV88 Broadside Team - 205 Points
- Team Leader Shas'ui (TL Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization System, HW Target Lock, HW Drone Controller, Bonding Knife)
- 2 Shield Drones
- Shas'ui (TL Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization System)

Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun, Burst Cannons, DP, Multi-Tracker) - 165 Points

Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun, Burst Cannons, DP, Multi-Tracker) - 165 Points


I'm also undecided on the suicide flamer unit of XV8s. Instead of them I could take a unit of three Stealthsuits each bringing a gun drone along for 120 points and then make up the 18 points by removing the Bonding Knife and HW Target-Lock from the XV8 Team Leader and dropping him down to a Shas'ui. The remaining three points could be made up by removing the Bonding Knife from the Broadside team leader. That leaves me at 1498 which could be filled by slapping a fusion blaster on to the Stealthsuits.

Which would be the better choice? Suicide flamer suits and more upgrades or a Stealthsuit unit with 3 Gun Drones and a fusion blaster?

You should have more fire warriors or some kroot.

colonel jacob wrote:You should have more fire warriors or some kroot.

Okay, why are they worth it though? I do realize that I'm ultra-short on troops but Fire Warriors and Kroot are so fragile that they come off as wasted points in an overcosted book. For thematic reasons I would prefer to avoid Kroot so what could I do with 102 points with Fire Warriors that would be better then included some Stealthsuits or some deep striking flamer suits?