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My girlfriend wants to pic up 40k and loves the idea of the tau, i told her they were outdated but she really likes the way the look and their lore. So i'm helping her build a list, but i know very little about the tau and need some help haha this is what i came up with, feel free to tear it apart.

1497/1500

HQ-298
Shas’o-112
Multi-tracker, Plasma Rifle, Missle Pod
2 BodyGuard-166
2 Twin linked Missile pods, 2 Drone Controllers, 4 shield drones

Elites-159
3 Shas’oi Crisis Suits-159
3 twin-linked fusion blasters, 3 Drone Contollers, 3 Gun Drones

Troops-600
12 Fire Warriors-200
Devilfish
12 Fire Warriors-200
Devilfish
12 Fire Warriors-200
Devilfish

Heavy Support-440
Hammerhead-150
Railgun, Burst Cannons
Hammerhead-150
Railgun, Burst Cannons
2 Broadside Suits-140

You are going to get about a million opinions on Tau at 1500 pts.....

Right off the bat...........

Its cheaper to get a Shas'el as a leader with a TA then the O.

Bodyguard are 10 extra points per model for nothing but access to the special equipment list which you chose NONE... So ditch the body guard and put those points saved into more Suits as Elite choices.

Not quite sure what 3 Shas'oi at 189 points means???? Because right above it you Elites @ 159?

Mistake? You got 3 Twin Linked FB suits @ 189? with gun drones?

If this is the case for wound allocation you will want 1 to be upgraded to a leader, give the other one A HWDC with 2 Shield Drones instead of the gun drones.... Twin Linked FB are deep strike suicide units... Drop in kill something then usually die.. So a Target lock on the Leader will be good to split fire and kill two tanks.... Although I hate twin linked FB and prfer MP/PR or MP/BC and NOT deep strike my suits....

12 man fire warrior teams.... = Waste of points. Fire Warriors Sucks at everything but shooting.... Either keep a 12 man squad on foot and save the devilfish points for more suits..... or make then 6man squads in a devilfish and keep them off the table and in reserve. Also every vehicle you EVER put on the table needs a Disruption Pod.

Hammerheads are ok.... I always take 1... 2 not my thing I prefer Broadsides.... Twin Linking the Railgun is a huge help and with a Target Lock on the leader you can kill 2 vehicles each turn as opposed to 1 with the hammerhead. Also broadsides need shield drones....

Drop the 3rd Troops choice and tool up the broadsides with ASS so they can move and shoot. With all the points left over you may if you ditch the 2nd Hammerhead field another 2 man Broadside team with drones.....

That is how I would try to field a 1500 pt Tau List..... Get ready for other ideas =] They are incoming Im sure.

Fixed the typo with the 189 thing but yikes haha lotta changes

My 1500 list includes

shas'el w/ TL MPs and a Flamer
2x bodyguard w/ TL MPs and a Flamer

3x3 Crisis Suits w/ TL MP and a Flamer

2x6 FWs in DF w/ DP

2x Railheads w/ BC & DP

2x Broadsides w/ ASS

Hope that helps. I get that Tau with all their varied upgrades are one of the most hotly debated aemies in 40k, so go with what feels right to you. But to me nothing beats reliably hitting with some 18 Str 7 shots at up to 36" a turn at 1500. I have been undefeated with this list against everything, but Nob Bikers, but against then just sub the MP with FB and own 10 of them and their boss in one turn. Or atleast that is my strategy...

PS, Why do people think Tau suck so much? I own with them... Is it because so few Tau players know how to use them? Or because people aren't using enough terrain? I don't get it


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There might be two Piranah in that list as well... I can't remember... But I love Piranah, I definutely suggest getting atleast 2.

I have lost 1 game with my Tau in the last 12 games... my single loss was only a technical loss on objective holding... I had more models left then he ddi by a large margin.

Tau are very lethal if built and played right.

My list is very similar to yours Oz except Im running either Firestorms or FireKnives...

Yea ok here is the thread I started for my 1500 list. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/406136.page It won 2 Local tournaments. Another Tau player came in second in one of those and beat me for first in another. He prefers MP, BC, MT Crisis Suits, but again to each their own. My best advice, never field a Crisis suit without atleast one MP or you'll be sorry.


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Haha awesome, and yea never under estimate the greater good.


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Also pro tip, shove your Piranah down their throat by going flat out on turn 1. Use the Railheads to provide cover for the Crisis Teams when none is availible. And always start your Devil Fish in reserve. And try to use the solid shot on the Railheads as little as possible, they miss so much it will break your heart.

Piggy-backing on some earlier advice:

This whole HQ unit is honked up and not optimal at all.

do you hear the voices to wrote:Shas’o- Multi-tracker, Plasma Rifle, Missle Pod

Reduce the 'O to an 'El, add Target Array to keep BS5 and save lotsa points, which the list needs for stuff below. The 'O as poster Milisim said, needs to go.

do you hear the voices to wrote:2 BodyGuard-166 2 Twin linked Missile pods, 2 Drone Controllers, 4 shield drones

Also, demote the 'vres from bodyguard duty, and make them part of pairs below. Saves points and they won't need the Shield Drones so much, which again, are needed elsewhere. Two of the Shield Drones will go to the broadsides.

do you hear the voices to wrote:Elites-159
3 Shas’oi Crisis Suits-3 twin-linked fusion blasters, 3 Drone Contollers, 3 Gun Drones

Break each one into its own unit or *much better*, a pair with the suits from the bodyguard crew. Toss the TL-FBs as it'll screw you g/f's efforts, she'll lose a lot, and then you lose what is roaylly cool for every 40k nerd:
A g/f that likes and plays the game!
.
FusionBs are meltaguns and her suits will get assaulted immediately after use. As others have said, BC/MP or TL-MP or the ubiquitous FireKnife (PR/MP). Perhaps one unit of each?

Always, split Crisis Suits into as small sized units as possible, only clumping them together when you fully fill out the army and have 9 or 12 suits.

do you hear the voices to wrote:12 Fire Warriors-200
Devilfish

I'd go only 2 d'fish (cheaper on the wallet). For troop #3 use kroot, which come with the BF box. Add Dispods to the 'fish, and reduce the FW numbers to either 9 or 6. 9 is good for a Morale Check game mechanic.

do you hear the voices to wrote:Hammerhead- Railgun, Burst Cannons

Add MTs so it can Move&Shoot like a Fast Vehicle, and Dispods for the Cover Save.

do you hear the voices to wrote:2 Broadside Suits-140

Add a Team Leader upgrade, Bonding Knife and Shield Drones from the points saved on demoting the 'vres to regular Elites.

Buy the BattleForce box, 5 Crisis Suits, 3 SkyRay boxes (yes, SkyRay boxes as they have bits for all three tanks). And then the B-sides.

Have her lurk on AdvancedTauTactica.com for uber nerd game training.

Wow, thanks to all you guys!


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1500 points, List Updated! How does it look this time guys?

HQ-97
Shas’el-97
Plasma Rifle, Missle Pod, Targeting Array, HW Multi-tracker-47

Elites-424
3 Crisis Suits-160
(Burst cannon, Missile Pod, Targeting Array, HW Multi Tracker)x3
2 Crisis Suit-144
(Plasma Rifle, Missile Pods, Targeting Array, HW Multi Tracker)x2
3 Stealth Suits-120
3 Targeting Arrays

Troops--374
6 Fire Warriors-145
Devilfish, Disruption Pods
6 Fire Warriors-145
Devilfish, Disruption Pods
12 Kroot-84

Heavy Support-605
Hammerhead-165
Railgun, Burst Cannons, Multi-tracker, Disruption Pods
Hammerhead-165
Railgun, Burst Cannons, Multi-tracker, Disruption Pods
3 Broadside Suits-275
2 Drone Controllers, 4 Shield Drones, Targeting Array

do you hear the voices to wrote:1500 points, List Updated! How does it look this time guys?

Gettin' there.

do you hear the voices to wrote:Elites-424
3 Crisis Suits-160
(Burst cannon, Missile Pod, Targeting Array, HW Multi Tracker)x3
2 Crisis Suit-144
(Plasma Rifle, Missile Pods, Targeting Array, HW Multi Tracker)x2

Almost. There can only be *one* team leader per unit. So, instead you'd have:

Crisis Unit Alpha:
1. Team Leader - BC/MP/TA mwMT
2. BC/MP/MT
3. BC/MP/MT

Crisis Unit Beta:
1. PR/MP/TA Team leader, hwMT
2. PR/MP/MT

The team leader will shoot at BS 4 because of the TA. His buddy will be stuck with BS3.

There's a goofy set up with the one column being "Weapons", the other being "Support Systems" and the last is "Wargear" which only Team Leaders can access.

do you hear the voices to wrote:3 Broadside Suits-275
2 Drone Controllers, 4 Shield Drones, Targeting Array

It's worth adding a Team Leader and a Bonding Knife.

Otherwise, the rest of the list is cool. Go spend money now!

Broadsides w/ TA and a Bonding knife? Why? Without ASS they wont move and that puts them always within 8" of the board edge... Waist of points for a small chance of saving a fleeing squad...

I agree though if you have two weapon systems and non of them are TL you need MT. I think the Kroot and Stealth Suits will dissapoint her, they are not competitive at all, but asside from that, solid list.

Just tell her not to glue the weapons to the.suits before trying them. Took me a year to widdle all my suits down to TL MP and Flamers, and I was pissed I glued Plasma Rifles to them and had to remove them.

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:Broadsides w/ TA and a Bonding knife? Why? Without ASS they wont move and that puts them always within 8" of the board edge... Waist of points for a small chance of saving a fleeing squad...

True enough. With A.s.s. it'd be better huh?

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote: I think the Kroot and Stealth Suits will dissapoint her, they are not competitive at all, but asside from that, solid list.

Starting out, you use them. That way, you find out how much better XV8s are.

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:Just tell her not to glue the weapons to the.suits before trying them. Took me a year to widdle all my suits down to TL MP and Flamers, and I was pissed I glued Plasma Rifles to them and had to remove them.

Naw, Oz. You ought to have done the REM conversions. For a few suits anyway.

@do you hear the voices to:
Hunt the 'Net for conversion articles on using REMS to allow XV8s to change guns.

Yea Suits with ASS can move and shoot. Mine usually get to half field if they live long enough.

And REMs weren't an option when I started Tau back when they got their first Codex. No one had heard of that back then.

Also side note, I suggest never putting more then 2 Broadsides in a team. It is rare more then 2 are needed to drop even the mighty Land Raider, and the third shot will more often then not be waisted.

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:

Hope that helps. I get that Tau with all their varied upgrades are one of the most hotly debated aemies in 40k, so go with what feels right to you. But to me nothing beats reliably hitting with some 18 Str 7 shots at up to 36" a turn at 1500. I have been undefeated with this list against everything, but Nob Bikers, but against then just sub the MP with FB and own 10 of them and their boss in one turn. Or atleast that is my

strategy...

Have you played Deathwing or any other TEQ-heavy list with that?

I probably sound like a broken record sometimes, but I love the Plasma Rifle. They've proven themselves worth the 20 points a pop every time.

I actually haven't seen a Termie heavy list in a long time, almost 2 years now actually. Most people seem to think they are no longer competitive. But even against Termies even the TL MP of my list will drop 3 Termies a turn. That's not horrible.

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:I actually haven't seen a Termie heavy list in a long time, almost 2 years now actually. Most people seem to think they are no longer competitive. But even against Termies even the TL MP of my list will drop 3 Termies a turn. That's not horrible.

I suppose statistically that's true, but then factor in FNP and it can be a tough go with no low AP weapons.

I do understand the logic though. It's the same as playing the statistics game with mass Pulse weapons, just with big ole missiles.

I just like KNOWING the gak's gonna die.

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:Yea Suits with ASS can move and shoot.

I wasn't asking if they could Move&Shoot with A.s.s. It more like a ... confirmation statement.

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:And REMs weren't an option when I started Tau back when they got their first Codex. No one had heard of that back then.

Now that sucks.

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:Also side note, I suggest never putting more then 2 Broadsides in a team. It is rare more then 2 are needed to drop even the mighty Land Raider, and the third shot will more often then not be waisted.

Really? I know that was the case in 4e, but in 5e vehicle resiliency improved. I forgot where/when the MathHammer got worked out, but 3 b-sides gets a LR almost killed. 2 is a slimmer chance. ... gonna hafta work that out.



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OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:I actually haven't seen a Termie heavy list in a long time, almost 2 years now actually. Most people seem to think they are no longer competitive. But even against Termies even the TL MP of my list will drop 3 Termies a turn. That's not horrible.

Really? Isn't 2 years ago about the same time that the GW FAQ granted 3++ Storm Shields to all Marines?

That seems to be about the time that Nob-Biker lists disappeared, too.

Anyway, how big is your pond? I ask nicely.

No paladin lists yet? 6 outta 11 (or was it 16?) participants at last month's RTT were GK, and not purifer spam either, but evolving heavily to Draigo-wing.

Phaze24's DeathWing army have been Placing and Showing in the last 2 outta 4 RTTs at Game Empire, IIRC.

There will prolly be two DW lists there tomorrow, and poster Deathwing88 woulda been #3, if he hadn't just admitted that he had a wedding to go to and cannot attend. That's 3 guys I know in the Los Angeles scene wielding DW, just at my FLGS.

No love for Deathwing in your neck-of-the-woods, Oz?

(again, nicely I ask).


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Lessee, 3 Broadsides target a Land Raider

Roll and miss 50% at BS 3.
Twin-Link makes it at hit at 75%, yes?

Three chances (three broadsides) at 75% is two and a quarter hits. Gonna hafta round down.

Roll to Pen, those 2.25 hits.

To get a Glance: One dice will glance an LR onna 4, 50%. Two dice, 75% of a Glance.
To get a Penetr : One dice will penetrate an LR onna 5, 33%. Two dice, ~49% of a for a Pen.

Half chance, 50%, twice, that either Pen will wreck it, given AP1. So 75% of that. So, the small multipliers add up

.75 x .75 x ~49 x 75 = .20 percent chance of destroying a LR, with 3 Unassisted B-sides, barring Cover Saves.

Anyone wanna figure the math on two besides getting it done? Also, I'm perfectly willing to have the math checked.

I have some three game shops here with a.total of some 30-40 players. I also participate in Pax and Nova. I'd say 50% of the games I play are vs Space Wolves. I know two GK players that suck horribly, an Orc player still running Nob Bikers, and a few Xenos players. Most of the better players I know play Necrons, Tau, Dark Eldar, or Tyranids. I also see xenos winning most of the tournaments arround here.


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Your actually right on that math... Depressing... I guess I'm just lucky With my dice, Land Raiders and Monoliths have never been a problem for me.


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Glass shatter moment... I am the only Imperial Guard player in 5 whole Counties from where I live... Odd...

Will look at this in a bit when more concious - BUT I'll start by saying

Even though they are old, now is a good time to start.
You'll learn the basics, and the models are relatively cheap to pick up comparatively and while a lil tricky to do... right? shall we say - it'll be fun.

THEN 6th ed and a new Tau book should be coming this year - so you then have a premade army ready for when it becomes AWESOME.

What army has Termies with FNP? I know Oblitorators have it, but does anyone else?

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:What army has Termies with FNP? I know Oblitorators have it, but does anyone else?

Deathwing Dark Angels, I believe.

They take Termies as troops too and can teleport them in if they have bikes with homing beacons.

The bad part is that they're slow. The right Tau list can really punish them something fierce.

Huh, sadly I wouldn't know. I have never played a Dark angels player once in my many years of playing.

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:Huh, sadly I wouldn't know. I have never played a Dark angels player once in my many years of playing.

Yeah, you have a funky meta, and I'm not just comparing it to the mess I saw today (32 guys at the monthly RTT), guys coming from as far as San Diego & Bakersfield. But from a lot of what I read and glean from other posters in Aust. & the UK. Maybe NJ is just that way.

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:What army has Termies with FNP? I know Oblitorators have it, but does anyone else?

Obliterators do *not* have FNP. I've played 'em for over a year, so I hope someone is not pulling that on you. Perhaps their Plague Marines? *They* have FNP.

OzTeG8ndPwRfl wrote:/quote]What army has Termies with FNP? I know Oblitorators have it, but does anyone else?

Mar'tacus wrote:Deathwing Dark Angels, I believe.

Belial takes an Apothecary in his Cmd. Sqd granting FNP.

And, Oz, you haven't had the joy of dealing with DeathWing? Yee, gods; so much hate you have, that is untapped for 2+/3++ Saves.

Consider yourself *extremely* fortunate. Most armies except orks have a tough time with DW (a broad generalization).