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HQ

Shas'o - AFP, Burst Cannon, Shield Generator, HW Multi-tracker, Stimulant Injector, 1GD, 1 SD = 163 pts

Troop

12 FW, EMPG, Devilfish, Flechettes, disruption pod, sms, targetting array = 276 pts
19 Kroot + 1 Shaper, 6+ save = 180 pts

Fast Attack

4 Gun Drones = 48 pts

2 Piranhas, Fusion Blasters, Flechettes, Targetting array = 160 pts

Heavy Support

Hammerhead, Railgun, Burst Cannons, Flechettes, Disruption Pods, Decoy Launchers = 170 pts

Total = 997 pts

Ok, The strategy im going to use is that the kroot will outflank, taking out heavy weapons teams and other back-of-the-board troops
and the hammerhead will take out lighter tanks, leaving heavy tanks such as Land Raiders to the piranhas and EMPG. The Gun
Drones are used as fire-drawers as they took out a daemon prince in combat, so everyone at my club targets them. The shas'o will take out light troops, as will the hammerhead once tanks are gone. So, what do people think?

What would happen if say you face IG who brought mech vets and a couple Leman Russes?

I only ask because the hammerhead seems to be the only thing that will efficiently take on AV14.

Most lists I see have several Crisis suits and Broadsides.

The piranhas get as close as possible whilst the enemy normally targets the hammerhead, the piranhas then melta them, that failing the FW have empg's that blow tanks apart.

quack98 wrote:The piranhas get as close as possible whilst the enemy normally targets the hammerhead, the piranhas then melta them, that failing the FW have empg's that blow tanks apart.

Assuming the melta or plasma vets don't take out your piranhas.

What do your more common opponents play MEQ? Xenos? GEQ?

I don't play Tau that much but like I said I always have broadsides and crisis suits, someone wiht more experience may be able to help but telling us who you commonly play will giv eus a better idea.

As a long time Tau player, I can offer the following:

- Lose the shaper on the Kroot. The upgrade is seriously over costed for no real benefit. 6+ save won't save from from most basic infantry weapons in the game and the 6+ in combat is barely worth it. Especially if you are fighting marines who will almost always have a power weapon/fist. You may kill 1-2 guys in combat, but they will be killing way more than you due to higher S vs. T. Also, the inevitable power weapon/fist will kill enough to make you lose the combat. Even if you lose by 1 you are making LD checks on a 6. Not good.

- Instead of the Hammerhead, go with 2x Broadsides with target locks. Yeah, you lose the template, but your list has enough anti-infantry but hardly any anti-tank. 2x Pirahnas wont be enough for someone who brings a mech list. They die real easily unless they are really zooming around, which stops them from firing. 2x Broadsides with locks let you target 2 different vehicles or concentrate both suits on a really tough target.

I'll add more later, gotta hit a meeting at work.

I Normally play against MEQ (most annoying is ravenwing) and some orks and eldar.

So if i:
Dropped kroot -180
Dropped Hammer Head -170
Dropped Gun Drones -48
Added 2 Broadsides, both SG and TeamLeader has HW target lock +195
Add 2 Units of 15 Kroot +210

I suggest you read a few 1000 pt Tau lists on this forum. You will receive the EXACT same advice from most people in every Tau thread. The tau book is so old now that there are few competitive builds left. You can obviously go your own way in the end or with an attempted new idea... IE: 72 Firwarriors etc..

Other than that stick to the proven ideas:

1 Drop the Shas'o for a Shas'el with a Tagetting Array. Drop the Shield Gen and put on 2 SD instead of the one. This will save you points. You can add your 'el to a unit to take some extra abuse.

2. Make that unit of 12 FW a 6man unit. Ditch the Flechettes this fish should be in reserve for most of the game anyways.

3. Ditch the Shaper... total waste of points.

4. So far you have saved a ton of points if you have done the first 3. Now you can buy more Krrpt as a 3rd Scoring Unit.

5. Ditch the Gun Drones as a FA choice.

6. Run those Piranahas as a single unit EACH.

7.If you have the HH then I guess go with it. Ditch the Flechettes and decoy Luanchers...

8. ALWAYS take 2 XV88's. They are the same points value as a single HH Tank. They however have 2 Twin Linked STR 10 shots between them as opposed to 1 Actually you are better off having 2 squads of 2 XV88's BEFORE you take a HH at all.



Other than that.... ITs up to you =].

Milisim said most of what I'd contribute. Still

I say keep the Railhead, add MT to the it, to Move & Shoot like a Fast Vehicle. *AND* run the b-sides (team leader, 2 SDs A.s.s. or TA and a BK). Toss the piranhas.

Kroot armor out, Shaper *keep* (diverging with Milisim's advice), as they'll need the leadership. I think he's worth it in a big group, like 19 dorks. Anything nearing 12 kroot, though, lose him.

EMPs are a waste on the FWs. They should pretty much just say, "Hurray for me, I secure objectives!" And do little else. Not until 2k in points would one consider using a semi FoF with full loads of FWs.

*If* you run your d'fish whole hog, SMS, DIsPod, TA then, add MT for the same reason as above; Move combat speed and shoot all guns. 6" and shoot 7 dice.

Lastly, run a troop choice per 333 points when playing tau. Thus, I'd split your kroot into two teams of ten, no shaper.

No markerlights on your list, OP.
Needs more markerlights, either through Pathfinders or Stealth Suits.

I suggest what everyone said. I also have a sample for you.

HQ
Shas'el Fireknife w/ TA and HW-MT

Elites
2 Crisis suits
-Fireknife
-Multitracker

2 Crisis suits
-Deathrain
-Targetting array

2 Crisis Suits
-Firestorm
-Multitracker

Troops
6 FW

6 FW

Heavy Support
2 Broadsides
-Targetting array
-Teamleader
-Target Lock on team leader

Hammerhead
-MT
-BC
-DP
-Railgun

Fast Attack
4 pathfinders.
-Devilfish w/ DP and Multitracker

Now you could switch out the fish with kroot instead to outflank and grab objs.

Basic tactica: Your Shas'el and 2 crisis suits (fireknives) are your basic MEQ killers and they can also pop transports. Now the deathrains' role is too kill from long range and to also pop nearby transports/light vehicles. The firestorms are your basic anti-infantry suits. Mostly good against GEQs or light infantry (Eldar reference hehe). Firewarriors go both flanks to steal objectives. If its kill points, leave them a good distance that your plasma rifles can shoot at but out of range on most weapons eg SM bolters. Fish w/ pathfinders light anything that is in cover or needs to be shot at with pinning guns example; You used a pulse carbine combo. You use these to wipe out infiltrators or anything camping at the board edge. Decrease the LD of the thing your shooting at and there is a good chance it might run away and get destroyed. Hammerhead camps and takes potshots at heavy vehicles or densely packed infantry.

Now of you don't like metal figures, get 4 firewarriors, remove the backpacks and shoulder pad, put a carbine on the guys.

Hope the helps


Legend:
Fireknife - Plasma rifle/MP
Firestorm - BC/MP
Deathrain - TL MP

I concur with Diabolical's list for the most part. However, I would drop something in order to put at least one of those fire warrior squads in a transport. Running them around in the open is just a bad idea with their low T and LD. You could then place the unmounted squad in cover and have the mounted squad go for an objective in relative safety.

Forge World Tau Tetras.


For all your markerlight needs....

Then the fish from the pathfinders. You can always separate them plus it has a marker light anyway

You have gotten some good advice for general play.

Now some thoughts on your local game group. If they are afraid of the Gun drone squad, _keep_it_. Anything that pulls fire away from your FW's or Hammerhead is a good idea.

Edit: miss keyed.

Using a fragile scoring unit, when you only have 2, for CC Anti tank is a bad idea. If they survive to pop the tank, then the FW have to survive what ever pops out of the dead tank, or the ensuing explosion. EMPG does make tank shocking them off objectives a much dicer idea though. I prefer photon's to to atleast give them a chance when assaulted.

Not sure you need the decoy Launcher on the HH, it is just not that useful, spend it on the MT or TL. Firing at several targets and getting to fire like a fast vehicle is so much more worth the points.

Based on the above advice, when you drop the save 6+ added a gun drone or 2 to the squad. If opponents want to fire at it, keep it alive longer to draw fire.

VarguardObrien wrote:No markerlights on your list, OP.
Needs more markerlights, either through Pathfinders or Stealth Suits.

Markerlights are impractical at 1250 or less. 1500 or less, many players might argue. At 1k, he's already trying to get as much Elite and Heavy Support in as possible. MLs would be nice, but not at 1k.

OK, I've made an improved list using some tips, I'm not using shas'el though as I find the extra wound normally helps (I know str 8 instant death doesn't help, but that's normally aimed at tanks). The piranhas are one squad for purpose of kill points and i now have 3 troops.

HQ

XV8 Shas'o
AFP, BC, Shield Generator, SI, 2 shield drones, MT =168pts

Troops

13 Kroot = 91pts

13 Kroot = 91pts

12 Fire Warriors
Carbines, Photon Grenades, Shas'ui (Bonding Knife) = 147pts

Fast Attack

2 Piranhas
Fusion Blasters, Flechettes, Targetting Arrays = 160pts

Heavy Support

Broadside
Shield Generator = 90pts

Sniper Drones = 80pts

Hammerhead
Railgun, BC, DP, TL, Flechettes = 170pts

Total = 997pts

quack98 wrote:OK, I've made an improved list using some tips, I'm not using shas'el though as I find the extra wound normally helps (I know str 8 instant death doesn't help, but that's normally aimed at tanks).

XV8 Shas'o - AFP, BC, Shield Generator, SI, 2 shield drones, MT =168pts

And since you have only one tank, the *rest* of the anti-T, STR 8 spam will be aimed at your suits. Here's this a Shield Drone ...
1. is 5 points less than the Shield Gen.
2. does the same job, providing an Invuln Save
3. adds a wound to the unit, a 3+ / 4++ wound
4. if there's ID damage coming, the SD takes the 50/50% chance of dying. Not your suit.

If you don't believe this, then ask your opponent for a rematch, after he beats your list. Tweak your list to have SDs instead of SGs and you'll see the difference.

'O versus 'El:
You don't want the extra wound on him:
1. He might just get ID'd anyway. Smart opponents tend to point MLs, MGs, LasCans, Pfists and other STR8 junk his way, a lot
2. If he's caught in h2h, then you want him dead so the enemy is unengaged to be shot by whatever is left of your army.
3. The 'O's cost is silly when the TA keeps his BS5, and the points could be spent on more guns, another XV8, etc. Or maybe, an extra Shield Drone for your broadside bellow.

quack98 wrote:12 Fire Warriors Carbines, Photon Grenades, Shas'ui (Bonding Knife) = 147pts

No 'nades. You don't want them to live through the enemy's assault. You want them to lose combat, (either by dying or ) blow morale so you can shoot the unengaged enemy on your Turn. 'Nades help mitigate wounds, making it possible to survive round one of h2h, but FWs will most assuredly die in the second go, (versus orks, MEqs, DE or Eldar) and get swept or killed out right, and then, the enemy's models get lose on *his* turn to run down and Assault another of your units.

Bad, bad, bad.

quack98 wrote:Broadside
Shield Generator = 90pts

For the same points, add a wound with a Shield Drone instead.
Team Leader, A.s.s. (or TA), Shield Drone

quack98 wrote:Sniper Drones

You don't own another XV88, do ya?

quack98 wrote:Hammerhead - Railgun, BC, DP, TL, Flechettes = 170ptsTotal = 997pts

Why, oh, why are you not adding the MT? Wouldn't it be nice to Move Cruising Speed and fire the RG or Move Combat Speed and fire all guns?

Make the changes, you'll have a more competent list.