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Hey Gang,

The unthinkable has happened........My wife has approved the purchase of a second army. Naturally, I don't want to start buying the second army until I'm much closer to finishing the painting on army number one, but just the same it is time to start planning purchases. I currently play Orks and though I have a theme for my army now I didn't when I started. In fact, I bought a lot of pieces that I don't use, won't use, and no intention of ever using. I would really like to not repeat that situation a second time.

So, on to the fateful decision. I'm thinking Tau as my new army. I know that a lot of people just sighed really deeply or started giggling due to the lack of love Tau gets, but that is exactly the point.
1. No one at my local shop plays them.
2. They seem like a difficult army to get really good with.
3. Total tactical change from my Ork army.

So, if you were going to start a Tau Army what units are worth the dollars and points?

Thanks,

If I were to replace my tau, I'd buy:

B-force box.
5 Crisis Suits
3 b-sides (pay more for the Forge World as the metal RGs suck on the regular XV8 model. FW's resin models are worth the extra cost, IMHO.)
2 Skyray boxes (since the SkyRay box has bits for all 3 tanks, but I'd field Railheads).
Box of FWs, but I'd make half of them look like Pathfinders.

That's a good start.

Be wary though, as tau are the odds on favorite to get a new codex next year, and it might turn your purchases into nerfed units.

I didn't have a reaction until you said you were going to Tau from Orks. Then I nearly fell out of my chair. That is... quite the change up.

I agree largely with Brother Erekose. The BF box is a great start. Some people take a boatload of Crisis suits, but I don't, so CS to taste. Definitely get three broadsides, and the Skyray is an excellent idea. With the new codex coming out, having all three turret options available will give you versatility (in case the sky ray becomes worth something)

Modding FW into your Pathfinders is also not a bad idea.

Thanks Gents,

You both are right on the money in that I need to be cautious with what I buy due to the new codex that is looming on the horizon. My assumption is that it will hit sometime before July just based on my gut. No fact or history to support that.

As for Tau from Orks....I think they look cool and have a totally different feel than the Orks. The Orks are exactly what I wanted.....fun, bloody, and frankly pretty easy to play. I enjoy them and don't stress over a ton of tactics or special troop rules. For my first 40K army they were and still are perfect. I picked the Tau as they are less common nationwide I believe and that is definitely the case in my area. The idea of going from an army that wins based on bone crushing advances to an army that needs to keep their opponents at an arms length will be fun. The models look good and the fluff seems fun. The Orks are the ultimate subjugators of the game and have no love lost over slaughtering a planet simply for being in their way. The Tau on the other hand try politics and then us force. In fact, I would say they are the game's Communists. I think I'll paint them some sort of battleship grey and bright red. That'll be perfect.

As for purchases.....knowing that the codex change is coming I was thinking about going with units that would probably not change too much and see how the codex happens. So, I will probably just finish painting and basing the Orks before I go too crazy with purchases. I got my codex yesterday and am working my way through the fluff now.

Thanks for the insight.....knowing that the codex is coming maybe point me towards a solid 1000 point start so that I can be buying and painting before the new dex drops.

being the only one in your area to play a particular army can be vary enjoyable, for both you and your aponents. congrats on the choice.that said, the tacktical diffrence between the 2 are night and day. reread that codex a few times befot choosing any modles to acuire. i have seen them played in many fasions. so guys go nuts over the gun drones, and others relying on the stealth suits. keep in mind the large lake of melee tau have. yes you will out range most armys, but when the figure that out they will be deepstriking termmies to pop you B sides and hammerheads. keep a small interseption unit on hand for when that happens. good luck with the new army.

MakersHitstheMark wrote:The unthinkable has happened........My wife has approved the purchase of a second army.

AAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW YYYYYEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Haha congrats =P

So the Tau I have played against are usually pretty set on what Tau does best: Gunline. Hammerheads, Broadsides and Crisis suits rule those armies. I always thought that Kroot seemed pretty awesome mix for their price and I like the Vespids (Super mobile MEQ killers... YUM)

XV8's, Broadsides, SkyRays(interchange the tureets for use as hammerheads or devilfish)

Those are the main ones I would get. RGs are a must have either as hammerhead tanks or the broadsides, and XV8s make up the core of most tau armies with their versatility.

Also i highly suggest magnetizing EVERYTHING, it will save you SO MUCH money and trouble in the long run

Cruzer_92 wrote:Also i highly suggest magnetizing EVERYTHING, it will save you SO MUCH money and trouble in the long run

I would temper this advice. I did the REM conversions for my first six suits. As I acquired more suits, I found that I always had two or three FKs and 2 or 3 FireStorms, as they always figure into a list. So, they are glued. With no regrets.

The REM conversions were a pain, but did yield years of convenience. I just wouldn't do it for *every* suit, just 5 or 6.

The REM conversions were a pain, but did yield years of convenience. I just wouldn't do it for *every* suit, just 5 or 6.

You know, this is a really good idea. I have 10 battlesuits that I've been planning to magnetize for quite some time, and now I'm thinking about only magnetizing some of them, and making others into Fireknives.

Also, I'm thinking that modeling Pathfinders out of regular Firewarriors is a really good idea. I hate those PF models.

I've read the fluff and really enjoyed the feel of the force. I think that it will give me a different strategy than with my orks. A different feel to the painting and modeling.

However, I'm still new to all the new slang terms for the force. I've not read all the Bios on each army choice yet so I'm a tad lost. Even with the orks it took me a few google searches to figure out what the "Kan Wall" and "BattleWagon Rush" were. So what is a fireknife? Is it a unit or strategy for planning with a certain unit.

One of the posters above mentioned holding a unit in reserve to deal with deep striking Termies and other such nasties....this is a good plan. Other than the Kroot I can't think of anything that really has a prayer here. Even then without power weapons I'm kind of at a loss for how to take care of threats if they get close.

Tau's strength is obviously to keep the foe at an arms length away.

I believe a fire knife is a missle pod and plasma rifle. It allows you to reach out and touch, has some light anti-vehicle and is darn near the best anti-MEQ setup.

Here is to the new codex and hoping they will up the cannon in some way to make it effective. It just looks like a tau weapon and would go a long way to making stealth suits competitive.

Yeah, from reading the rules I don't see a particular point in my picking them up early. I was leaning towards fire warriors, pathfinders, crisis suits, and then broadsides or hammerhead tanks.

Try googling "Crisis Suit load out names" for FireStorms & Deathrains and all that.

Thanks gang! I got a lot of good advice here, but I still have a lingering question in my mind.....should I seal the deal and roll with the Tau? I love the models as well as the fluff. The idea of all this greater good crap is awesome. If anything, it is all a cover for the fact that they are a conquering society just like everyone else in the WH40K universe. In fact, I think that they run a historical reference to Communist Russia. Join the party and movement toward a more equal and balance Russia or feel the fury of our T38 battle tanks.

Seems similar to me!!!

I've had a lot of people to stay away from them and either invest the money in another strategy/list with the Orks or go with a different army. If I went with a different army I would probably go guard. What are everyone's thoughts there?

I'm a little new to the dakkadakka scene but I've been collecting Tau for almost a year now, partially in hopes of the new codex but mostly because I love the models. If you want to crack open some boxes and start playing competitively right away then I'd go for a different army. If you're like me then you can start collecting now and hopefully by the summer the new codex will be released and you'll have a fully painted army ready to go.

As for modeling I would suggest to get some green stuff or putty to fill some gaps or conversion work. The jetpacks on the crisis suits tend to be a little warped and it drives me up a wall.

Rofel wrote:I'm a little new to the dakkadakka scene but I've been collecting Tau for almost a year now, partially in hopes of the new codex but mostly because I love the models. If you want to crack open some boxes and start playing competitively right away then I'd go for a different army. If you're like me then you can start collecting now and hopefully by the summer the new codex will be released and you'll have a fully painted army ready to go.

As for modeling I would suggest to get some green stuff or putty to fill some gaps or conversion work. The jetpacks on the crisis suits tend to be a little warped and it drives me up a wall.

The new codex and the enjoyment of the way the models look was a major factor in my interest in them. I like the shooty hit and run idea as well.

As for the warped jet packs.....that is just unacceptable honestly for the price of the models. I realize that you have to expect some of that both from the quantities produced, production method, as well as the materials used.....however for $20+ per suit that just sucks.

I'd say to go with the Tau, for what fun is there in having two armies that both centres their "tactics" around sending in enough troops to make the enemy machine-guns jam out of overheating?
I play Tau, and just like you I choose them for their looks, their fluff and their actual use of any other play-styles than "move forward, shoot anything that moves!"
My army is mostly based around dealing with my girlfriends Tyranids, so my playstyle probably won't help you much (I basically have to weather the first, unerring deep-strike from a buttload of gene-stealers without having any essential units kick the bucket)

So, if you go for Tau, good luck and welcome to the (pretty exclusive) club of space-commies that us Shas'O's represent

May you shots allways be true, your losses minimal and your dedication to the Greater Good remain firm unto death!