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Recently bougt the Tau codex, but before I buy any models I'd like some advice on what to buy .
So, If anyone has any must-have unit selections I'd be happy to hear about them.
I like the look of broadside battlesuits, so any advice on their usefulness (?) in-game would also be greatly appreciated.

Shas'El commanders are waaaay better bang for your buck (point cost...?) than Shas'O. Just give the El a targeting array and shazam, you've got a cheaper O who's just as shooty.

Broadsides, you'll be happy to hear, are fantastic. They are easilly our best Heavy Support choice. Though a Hammerhead mixed in for it's ability to large blast template is definitely worth consideration.

DO NOT BUY ANY VEHICLE BOX SETS. Only buy the Skyray box set. It includes all the parts you need to make ANY Tau tank. Get a little crafty with some magnets or low profile velcro, and you can easilly have an Ionhead/Railhead/Skyray/Devilfish/Warfish all in one.

There are two EXTREMELY viable and new-to-Tau friendly weapons configurations on battlesuits: Fireknife (Plasma Rifle + Missle Pod + Multitracker) or Deathrain (Twinlinked Missle Pod + Targeting Array or Flamer). Other configurations are viable and in certain ways equally useful, but these two make up the vast overwhelming majority of most Tau players list.

Another extremely powerful combination is what I run on my commander. Shas'El with Cyclic Ion Blaster + Plasma Rifle + Targeting Array + Hardwired Multitracker. Remember that hardwired items cannot be taken by non-teamleader elite choice suits, only Commanders with access to wargear. This combinations provides an extremely deadly and high volume anti-MEQ commander (and TEQ.. which is FRIGHTENINGLY common problem now-a-days).

Rarely are bodyguards worth taking, unless you already have 9 crisis suits in your elite slots. They have an increased point cost for access to wargear, and some increased melee (read: useless) stats.

Fire Warriors suck. It's unfortunate, but it's true. You have to take 6. Take 6, stick them in a devilfish, and sneak them into an objective in the late game.

Kroot... field them. Thats that. They are your best-bet for taking objectives, IMHO.

Disruption pods on EVERY vehicle. They are the single best piece of wargear in your armoury.

Stealth suits are fun, but extremely situational.

The skyray....... some people love them. I don't. I would wait until you have a little more experience playing Tau to go for that.

Hrmmm.... I think thats about all the "things I wish I knew when I started Tau."... if you PM me your email address, I can email you an amazing .PDF cheat sheet. I don't have it here (at work), so it would have to be later this afternoon.

Thats about it. Good luck!

+1 to everything Cottonjaw said.

As for what to buy:

The battleforce is pretty good to start out with. $90 and it has $145.50 worth of things... though only $127.25 of it is worth anything (basically the stealth suits aren't good.)

That is a good start and it gives you:
1 Crisis Suit
12 Fire Warriors
12 Kroot
1 Devilfish
3 Stealth Suits (Which i personally would try and re-sell)

Off of that, i would suggest buying:
~5 Crisis Suits
1 Crisis Suit Commander (which is a must-have for a legal army)
~2 Hammerheads
~3 Crisis Suits (to convert into broadsides)
~6-8 Pathfinders

The absolute must have for tau is crisis suits. I regularly field 10, and I'm going to get some more soon so I can up that number.

^---- That too.

The battleforce isn't bad at all. Wish it was 3 crisis suits, but hey, take what you can get. One battleforce is truely all you need though (maybe two) to get started. After that it's basically massive crisis suit buying. (Plus 2-4 skyray kits).

Oh thats Shas'El with TA + CIB + PR, for my commander. Not Shas'O. Since the TA wouldn't benefit him at all. (no such thing as 1+ and all that jazz).

Converting XV8's into Broadsides is fairly easy... there's a tutorial lurking around here somewhere... Did you write it Bringer?

For 10$ extra though (roughly since it's in pounds sterling) you can get all resin Forgeworld broadsides with their railguns underslung on their arms, and their SMS on their shoulders (looks hella boss). My first 4 Broadsides are GW with the metal (pain in the Advanced Stabilization System) railguns. I bought a pair of the Forgeworld models to be my team leaders. The extra bulkiness and height, plus length on the railgun barrels really adds some bad-assery to an otherwise understated Heavy Support choice.

Unlike most races, the Tau battleforce is actually worth getting and provides a playable force directly out of the box.

This set contains
1 xv-8 Battlesuit
3 Stealth Suits
12 Fire Warriors
12 Kroot
1 Devilfish
90$

I would then add
2 xv-8 suits
1 xv-8 Commander
1 Hammerhead
1 Devilfish
145$

This addition will make a competitive 1000 pt list or a stretched out 1500 list

1 Hammerhead
3 Broadsides
3 Crisis Suits
205$

This will make a competitive 1500 list in the basic semi mech build that Tau must run to be effective in this edition

To get to your magic 1750, Its really up to you. This is the area where stuff begins to diverge from the "needs" to the "wants" I would suggest one of the following items

3 Piranhas 75$

8(9) Pathfinders 45$

10 Kroots hounds and 16 Carnivores 95$

3 Crisis Suits 60$

Tau are certainly not the easiest army to start with. They are very unforgiving and require a lot of games to get used to. Speaking from experience, it takes about 20 games to find your feet and more after that to become really proficient. Tau require constant attention to detail because the smallest mistakes in movement or target priority can be fatal. Websites like dakka as well as Advanced Tau Tactica, and Yes The Truth Hurts can get you up to speed and should be consulted early and often. This is not meant to be discouraging, far from it. However, when you do start Tau, realize what you are getting into.

A little more about playing Tau at this level.

Once you reach this level and above, the great Pathfinder v No Pathfinder debate starts. Pathfinders are increadibly useful units, that can cover a number of flaws in the Tau list. IMO however, I can't justify the 200+ points it costs to field a full Pathfinder squad and their Warfish until I reach 2000 pts. YMMV and certainly others will tell you that they are a mandatory unit and they may not be wrong. My advice is to try them for yourself.

Kroot are another major bone of contention with Tau players. Many people use them as "bubblewrap" to protect high point crisis and broadside teams. Other people despise them and will never field them. The two major unit sizes are the basic 10 carnivores and the 5 hound 10-12 carnivore groupings. The first is a ultra basic cannon fodder troop. Because I can't ever seem to find the 60$ for kroot hounds, this is my preferred size. I always outflank with them to keep them alive. In this role, they serve to chew up small board hugging squads and vehicles. If used in this role remember one rule, Double Tap Marines, never assault them. Marines will slaughter your carnivores before they can swing and you will do less damage overall. This initiative deficiency is why you have hounds. With hounds, you can assault marines, just remember to put the wounds from the marines on the hounds, so your carnivores survive to swing. The shaper and the armor upgrade are worthless. For the cost, you can get more carnivores and do more damage.

Fire Warriors have so much potential, but often fall short of what you expect of them. Always set you expectations low for FW, any damage they do is a bonus. Their main duty is to ride in their transport and make it scoring. Sure they can pop out and rapid fire something (Land speeders come to mind) but their main role is to sit pretty. You will never need more than 12 FW. The only time I have needed more is for kill team. (where they are awesome) Put a squad of 6 in a devilfish and drive them around. I have two in my lists. That said, a FW squad sitting innocuously in cover in a corner can cover a surprising amount of the table with strength 5 shots. Against light vehicles like Land speeders and vypers this is a potent threat and one you opponent will often overlook.

Devilfish are the unit that keep Tau competitive in 5th edition. These should always have a Disruption pod. 5 points for a 4 up cover yes please. I always make my Devilfish a Warfish by addition a targeting array, multi tracker and Smart missile system. This makes up for the lack of shooting from the FW team inside. It also replaces the drones that count as an extra kill point. It does add about 40 points onto the cost of an already expensive transport however, so YMMV

Steath Suits are just not very good unfortunatly. They are simply too expensive and take an elite slot away from crisis teams. If they were cheaper or could take more special weapons they would be more useful. Right now they are an over priced torrent of fire unit that lacks definition.

Crisis suits are the backbone of most any tau army and are a topic of much contention between Tau players. There are many opinions on the subject, many of which have merit. I will present mine here and hopefully others (if Focusedfire hasn't ninja'd me already ) will chime in with their ideas so you can get a broader picture. IMO, and I stress, IMO anything that gets in the way of providing the maximum number of shots is a bad thing. I would prefer to the maximum number of crisis suits on the table, then to have fewer, more efficient, and to an extent more survivable suits. Call it quantity over quality, but IMO suits aren't tremendously survivable anyway and I would like to get more of them on the table so if I lose a few, I have more to fall back on. A Soviet Army ideal for the Space Commies (ooh the irony) With the philosophy out of the way, lets get to the configurations.

I run 4 (configurations) in my lists

My commander is a Shas'el with a Targeting Array, Missile Pod, Hard Wired Multi-tracker, and Fusion Blaster. (Modified FireForge) This is a multi role suit, who can attach to one of my other squads and support their fire, or can be deep struck to hunt armor with the melta.

I always run at least one, and usually two squads of (Fireknives) This is the most common suit configuration, and is a true multirole suit. Simply a Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, and Multi tracker this suit covers most all of your bases and is a must include in all of my lists. Its an expensive suit (a squad of three runs just shy of 190 pts) but the utility, is invaluable.

My other must include unit is a unit of (Deathrain-F) This suit is designed to be cheap, but it does its job reliably and cover's some bases that I find lacking in my lists. With a Twin Linked Missile Pod and a Flamer, this squad will drop a chimera or a rhino every turn or can reliable put wounds on high toughness creatures and HQ's. If necessary, it can close and use the flamers for anti-horde. Note this configuration has no multi tracker, so its an either/or situation with the weapons.

The last configuration is a response to the large numbers of FNP Blood angels and Loganwing armies I have started to see much more regularly. The (Sunforge) is a major sacrifice to the ideal of ignoring armor and FNP. Using a Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster, and a Multi tracker this unit will utterly decimate most units not in cover. However, the extremely short range makes this a one way mission if you can't totally wipe the squad in question. Costing equal to the Fireknives, its an expensive suicide unit, but its very effective vs low model count elite armies. It also smokes Carnifexes. This squad more than any other benefits from markerlight support to make sure that those shots count.

Vespids are unfortunately made of fail. While its occasionally satisfying to drop the bug bomb on the local marine player, they are far too fragile and expensive to be used competitively.

Piranhas are a matter of personal taste. I really enjoy taking them, and I find they provide a useful function for me. However, they do give up a lot of kill points if they aren't squadroned. I always field mine with a Fusion Blaster, a Targeting Array, and a Disruption Pod. This provides maximum utility, but makes them a little expensive. Their use it very situational, but boils down to either Tank hunting or being a speed bump. The tank hunter is self explanatory. Being a speed bumb means turbo boosting directly in front of a fast moving assault unit to slow them down or directly in the path of a vehicle to force them to move around the piranha (or risk dangerous going through the piranha's wreckage ) This "Stiff arm" can buy you critical early turns where Tau can win or lose the game. ( a note about the drones, don't forget the piranha is a open topped vehicle and the drones can assault out of it. Use this to contest late objective or to keep a fleeing squad from regrouping. Also despite their crappy BS, the drones can occasionally pop rear armor with S5 Shots, so sometimes its worth ejecting them to go for the twofer when behind the enemy. Their shots are also pinning FWIW)

Sniper Drones have never been a favorite of mine. This is simply a recognition that field sniper drones means less railguns. In lower point games (1000 or less or in team tournaments) they can be very effective. The combination of dropping marines on two's w/ no armor save and the BS4 networked markerlights are nice and they would be used much more if they occupied a different FOC slot, but they don't and I can't recommend them. Slipping a rail rifle or two into your pathfinder squad is a better way to get rail rifles onto the battlefield.

Skyrays are also something that is probably in the wrong FOC. The combination of limited ammuntion and weak (and expensive) secondary armament makes it a no go for me. Great in Apoc though.

Broadsides are simple the final answer in Anti-anything really. If its a single target that resides on the table and can be seen, broadsides can kill it in at most two turns. Broadsides are pretty simple to deploy. Always give them the unfortunately named Advanced Stabilization system, so they have limited mobility. (and so Dawn of War doesn't screw you for a turn) Also near mandatory are two shield drones. These provide the protection from all of the scary weapons that will come their way. Broadsides nearly always should find a elevated position (cover is really nice too) and simple dominate the battlefield. I always give the team leader a target lock so that he can independently target from the squad. (Always check to see how your gaming group deals with this piece of wargear, which rides the ragged edge of legality due to an outdated codex) Don't forget that despite their tank killing prowess, that Broadsides do have a Smart Missile System as well which is much more effective vs hordes than turning one or two termagaunts into component atoms with the railguns. Broadsides should always have priority for markerlights. Reducing cover against the railguns is invaluable.

Hammerheads are the opposite side of the coin, trading concentrated firepower for mobility and the almighty large blast template. Never forget that Hammerhead have an integrated targeting array and are always BS4. Hammerhead should ALWAYS have a Disruption pod and should most of the time have a multi tracker so that you can fire like a fast vehicle. Target locks are also nice so that you can shoot two separate targets. I find that I primarily use the large blast with the hammerhead, not that the hammerhead isn't a capable anti tank platform, I just find that I have an overwhelming tendancy to roll ones and twos when I really need them. The blast template is the really the only one the tau have available, so I really try to let the broadsides and crisis suits deal with the tanks and use the Hammerhead for anti infantry.

I find that for the point levels that you are talking about, that a 1 to 2 Broadside to Hammerhead ratio is ideal. Its really fun to "bring the rain" with multiple Broadside teams, but you risk being too static to survive.


I will copy in another post on playstyle after this but I want to mention one thing.

Target priority is where Tau win and lose the game. Certain things must die for tau to have a chance. Wasted shots are the worst sin a tau player can commit.(followed closely by being so excited about the shooting phase that you skip the movement phase) To prevent wasted shots, carefully consider line of fire to the targets and what abilities your units have (anti tank, anti MEQ, anti horde) and then fire the units with the most restricted target selection first, so that you have redundancy if a units fails to destroy a target.

ie My hammerhead can only shoot the Rhino, so I will shoot it first. Followed by the Deathrain team who can target the rhino if the hammerhead misses or take out the land speeder in the open. Finally, the Broadsides will target, the Land Raider if everything has been destroyed or cover one of the other teams surviving targets. This way you never waste shots because you always have targets of opportunity available. Enemy mobility should always be targeted first. Tau can outshoot almost anyone from across the board.

Final Thoughts
Always buy the Skyray box, it contains all parts for any tau tank
Keep your troops cheap
Deploy carefully

Here's another post about playstyle that may be helpful

The topic was dealing with Fast assaulting armies which are a particular problem for tau

Its one of those playstyle questions that people get hung up on.
Some people prefer to castle up in a corner, destroy enemy mobility with long range fire and suicide deepstrikers and then hope they can mow them down before they can get into assault. Others prefer to play a highly mobile game preventing an assaulting army from gaining "mass" by spreading out into smaller units and constantly moving into open space. Still others use ablative throw-away or "bubble wrap" units to block assault lanes and clog the path with bodies while spraying and praying for the win. Finally using a fluid transition from one these states to another is possible and often used as well.

Tau players often get caught up in "holding that objective" They take it on turn 2 with their scorefish and it never leaves get blown up and the fw die. If they had kept it on the move behind their hammerheads and crisis teams and taken the objective at the last minute it will often live.

Another trap that I often see tau players in is the idea that things need to be close together to support each other. Using the longest range in the game tau can support each other from across the board. By spreading out and preventing multi assaults players will live much longer.

Finally when deploying I like to spread out as much a possible. All my vehicle take their cover with them and can often be left out in the open without major issues. This kind of open deployment often causes assaulting armies trouble because they need to clump together to generate enough combat power to quickly defeat the opponent. This can work to your advantage when the enemy decides to clump or not. If they clump you can quickly focus fire on the much weaker side and then use your mobility to move into the space you have created forcing the assaulters to move much further to reach you. If they don't clump then most of their heavy weapons will be out of range to about a third of your force allowing you to dictate their placement to you advantage.

The last problem is deep striking/drop pod lists. When facing these its always an uphill battle. Because they have great one turn maneuverability its almost impossible to dodge them in the early game. I would recommend placing everything in reserve and going second. Then come on a move to where they are not.

+1 to everything that has been said so far, except that Stealth Suits are useless.

Wow. That was quite a read, but extremely informative. Read that! It's good stuff!

Dark Apostle 666 you better not fail us! This is a major league starter set of information you're getting! haha

Asrodrig wrote:+1 to everything that has been said so far, except that Stealth Suits are useless.

Not useless. Just point heavy, situational, and occupy a critical FOC. YMMV....but I don't even give that point guzzler any gas.

Great, glad to hear the broadsides are useful after all!
Thanks for the tip on the shas'el as H.Q, I always like to squeeze in as much as possible into an army - every little helps!
Thanks to all for the great advice,now its off to get some minis! For the greater good!
(That still feels weird... too used to playing CSM!)

agreed with every thing too. except stealth suits. its worth getting hammerhead as well the large blast comes in really handy

is there a way to have a semi-competitive build without using Kroot?

Everyone hating on fire-warriors :(

They are overcosted by 2 points but definitely aren't useless.
Just very hard to use right, near impossible in a list without 2-3 pathfinder units.

Fire warriors are pretty usless you would think they would just be amazing during the shooting phase but they just never are. and they get dropped really quickly.

I personally like fire warriors. I put 2 units of 12 in 2 devilfish, and zoom them to enemy units far away from the pack, jump out, and unload 62 Shots into them...

Luco wrote: is there a way to have a semi-competitive build without using Kroot?

^---- This is answered by.... ------v That.

The Bringer wrote:I personally like fire warriors. I put 2 units of 12 in 2 devilfish, and zoom them to enemy units far away from the pack, jump out, and unload 62 Shots into them...

You need ample troops for objective missions. Obviously. If you are willing to spend the points, full firewarrior squads in warfish or scorefish, CAN be an effective method of taking objectives. It's a matter of playstyle. I personally could not win without Kroot (I've tried).

ChocolateGork wrote: Everyone hating on fire-warriors :(

They are overcosted by 2 points but definitely aren't useless.
Just very hard to use right, near impossible in a list without 2-3 pathfinder units.

Ummm..... 2-3 units of Pathfinders is never a competetive option. Maybe 2 units in a 2000 point list, but even then thats a LOT of very fragile guys... to +1 the BS (and other effects) some rapidfire STR5? I'll spend the points elsewhere, thank you.

The Bringer wrote:I personally like fire warriors. I put 2 units of 12 in 2 devilfish, and zoom them to enemy units far away from the pack, jump out, and unload 62 Shots into them...

i have much the same thing but if their transports get targeted hard first then it is really hard after that

Hmm, I think I see. How do firewarriors fair once in a building? Also rapid fire is always 12'' range or is it half the weapons rannge? Also, do Tau tend to follow the rule of 1 troop choice per 500 points rule or not so much?

Luco wrote:Hmm, I think I see. How do firewarriors fair once in a building? Also rapid fire is always 12'' range or is it half the weapons rannge? Also, do Tau tend to follow the rule of 1 troop choice per 500 points rule or not so much?

1. They fair... slightly better. The cover save of course will save them from some things (heavy bolter) but still leave them vulnerable to others.
2. Half range.... I believe. Thats what I always play, but perhaps I'm wrong?
3. We follow it.... loosely. If you have 4 fully fleshed out troops choices @ 2000 points, you aren't going to have enough KA BOOM to deal with all the power armored psychopathic battle monks. You have to work towards objective denial, rather than direct "take and sit on" strategy that MEQ's tend to follow.

1. Pretty much, what doesn't fare better with a cover save?
2. Half range (as cottonjaw said)
3. I really never go by that standard at all, I get a balanced army which has a decent number of scoring units, and the capability to take out horde or mech.

I heard there's a new Tau Codex with a very big tank so I'd wait for that.

Rapid fire range is always 12

egads! it is 12'', just found it in the little rule book. That's kinda sucky, was hoping for a 15'' rapid fire range. Would've made a nice, albeit small, kill zone against marines. Glad to see Firewarriors can work, I gave in to the little voices that always wanted to play Tau and got a box of them and I love the models. So very techy ^_^

I will say though that after putting them in an even points against marines they do get outgunned sadly. Kinda crazy when you think about it. Tau are the shootiest yet are outgunned by marines who get outgunned per point by orks, the choppiest. Head...hurts...

Invest in six broadsides. I build my army around 3x2 broadsides with ASS, and team leader with target lock and shield drones.