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Like all good things, people tend to stock up on them so that they never run out, but when should you stop risking an awesomeness overdose and stop stacking Tetras?

My current list is as follows (and is spoilered to try and stop it becoming an army list thread by spamming the OP with lists):


And whilst I might be changing the Positional Relay build to something different (since it hasn't been doing very well to be honest; my commander has never lived past turn 3 due to lack of places to hide and shunting interceptors landing on his feet, so i've never managed to make much use of it) what I really want to do is replace the Pathfinders with Tetras, for one of many reasons (chief amongst them being the fact that if they [the Pathfinders] start on the board, then they die turn 1, but if they don't, then they don't usually get to fire anything until turn 3 or 4 at the earliest thanks to a laser pen being a heavy weapon).

The main issue here is that they're awesome, and actually come in packs of two from FW, so I therefore run the risk of overbuying. When something this good costs 55pts, it's easy to get too many.

So what would you say is a good number for a 1.5k list? Two seems fine to me, but I can't shake the feeling that 12 BS4 markerlight, whilst seeming like overkill, would have a good amount of redundancy in case of terrible rolls, in case of accidents, or in case they're actually required. Seeing as though i'll be removing 157pts worth from the army, and I can probably shave a shield drone off the Bladestorm suits to pay for the third, it doesn't seem impossible, although buying the third would mean that I do not get a Devilfish for my FWs.

Seeing as though i've been in Eldar mode for the past few months, going back to Tau mode is proving a little difficult, so help is gratefully accepted.

I look at tetras as 4 better pathfinders.

So to determine my Formula for How many Tetras in a list, you must first determine "If I was running Pathfinders, How many Total would I want in this list"

At 1500, I usually run about 8 pathfinders.

8/4=2 So in the average 1500 list for me will have either 2 tetras or 8 pathfinders.

In 2k, I usually have 12 pathfinders

12/4=3 So on average 3 tetras.

Pretty much I like to try and add 4 Markerlights for every 500 points, starting at 1000. But it all depends on what you feel comfortable with.

If I were to use your list, I would go with 2.

I run 2 Tetras @ 1850. I find I am only focus firing 1 -2 unit per round so why waste the points lighting up units I dont plan on hitting?

I would be trying to field as much Crisis and Xv88 as possible before addign a 3rd tetra... You already are using TA's on your Suit Leaders so your BS isnt sucking that bad already.

Do you usually feel like you want more markelight tokens in a battle or do you leave them on the table? That will tell you if you have enough as is.

If you have enough I'd say 1 tetra with a target array = 5 pathfinders so your situation only needs 1.

If you don't have enough I'd say go with 2. Since you have the slots try making them separate squadrons so you can target 2 units without a Target Lock. It also makes them slightly more survivable.

In either case you are saving points and generating more markerlight hits.

I run 4 tetras, 2 teams of 2. I've ran them 3 times now with a lot of success. They were targeted in all 3 battles but have yet to go down. Disruption pods are key as are kroot screens and suits to hide them behind. I was thinking about running another 6 pathfinders as well and eliminate a 10 man kroot squad, since I already run a devilfish in 2k list. That's my biggest toss up right now, kroot are vital to my success as screeners and bubble wrap. I have left a couple markerlights on the table but not many. Pass say 3 out to 3 different shooting units and the target goes down to the first one who shoots, the other 2 are wasted. Not a big deal.

We limited the Tau player in our group on how many Tetras he can bring, as it proved to be entirely too powerful in KP situations with 2 of them in a squadron. The rule we all came to agree on was that for ever squad of Piranhas he brings, one can be a Tetra. This means that in a KP situation the Tetras cannot be the same KP, and if he wants to stack up on "wounds" per say he has to use Piranhas with Tetras, which is a bit counter intuitive. Since this is entirely replacing the built in limitations of Pathfinders I think it's only fair, and has worked out well.

I have to say that it's 100% unfair; Tetras are what Piranhas should have been to start with, and are one of the only things Tau have that are actually more than decent.

Firstly, 2 in a squadron is hardly powerful; they're only AV10 open-topped skimmers after all, and dsiruption pods hardly makes them unkillable. The first one will die on a penetrating hit of 3 or greater, the 4th on a 4+, but will be rendered almost useless on a 3, and completely useless on a 2. A shaken/stunned result stops them firing the markerlight at all, WD destroys the markerlight, Immobilised stops it being able to move around and reposition...

If I were the Tau player I would be far from happy that my already outdated codex is being further limited in what additions it can have, when you have armies like GKs that can run around with all sorts of flash goodies and nobody batting an eyelid.

In my honest opinion, your gaming group should be ashamed that they have to force an unnecessary and downright ludicrous and arbitrary limitation on a player who uses a codex that is far, far from the most competative, is the second oldest codex currently in the game at 7 years out of date, and poses no threat whatsoever to the group's enjoyment of the game.

In all honesty, if you're having trouble countering a squadron of 2 AV10 open topped skimmers, then you don't need to impose restrictions on them, you need to take a long hard look at how you play the game yourself.

Yeah. I was confused as hell when you said that Tetras were OP in a KP game. Really? Having trouble taking down a few A10 open topped skimmers? It has no actual weaponry and only provides an adequate amount of markerlights that are used to cover for deficiencies the Tau have with their baseline BS.

I would be extremely pissed if anyone ever tried pulling that crap on me. I had one GK player try to argue that since it's FW it was OP but then I actually let him read the rules for the unit and he consented to their use.

Avatar 720 wrote:I have to say that it's 100% unfair; Tetras are what Piranhas should have been to start with, and are one of the only things Tau have that are actually more than decent.

Firstly, 2 in a squadron is hardly powerful; they're only AV10 open-topped skimmers after all, and dsiruption pods hardly makes them unkillable. The first one will die on a penetrating hit of 3 or greater, the 4th on a 4+, but will be rendered almost useless on a 3, and completely useless on a 2. A shaken/stunned result stops them firing the markerlight at all, WD destroys the markerlight, Immobilised stops it being able to move around and reposition...

If I were the Tau player I would be far from happy that my already outdated codex is being further limited in what additions it can have, when you have armies like GKs that can run around with all sorts of flash goodies and nobody batting an eyelid.

In my honest opinion, your gaming group should be ashamed that they have to force an unnecessary and downright ludicrous and arbitrary limitation on a player who uses a codex that is far, far from the most competative, is the second oldest codex currently in the game at 7 years out of date, and poses no threat whatsoever to the group's enjoyment of the game.

In all honesty, if you're having trouble countering a squadron of 2 AV10 open topped skimmers, then you don't need to impose restrictions on them, you need to take a long hard look at how you play the game yourself.

Wow you came out AGGRESSIVE after reading my post didn't you? Slow your roll man. We lack many of the armies you are quoting, and are strictly a close group of friends playing the game. Many times we are playing even fluffy lists, and among the group of people discussing the Tetras performance and looking for how we felt they should be played/limited was THE TAU player himself. We discussed it as a group, and he agreed that during the game it ended up being too much. Granted, maybe it has something to do with how our Meta is, that we play 3v3s, or the fact that almost nobody runs cookie cutter lists. We have consistently some of the oldest Codexs playing on the field, and consequently even if we did push him (which we didn't) into not bringing the Tetras willy nilly we have every right to disregard FW models, yet we allow him to bring it anyway.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Savageconvoy wrote:Yeah. I was confused as hell when you said that Tetras were OP in a KP game. Really? Having trouble taking down a few A10 open topped skimmers? It has no actual weaponry and only provides an adequate amount of markerlights that are used to cover for deficiencies the Tau have with their baseline BS.

I would be extremely pissed if anyone ever tried pulling that crap on me. I had one GK player try to argue that since it's FW it was OP but then I actually let him read the rules for the unit and he consented to their use.

Regardless, I wasn't having any difficulty with them. Both games we played he was on my team, so I honestly had no problems with them doing great.

You left a great deal of information out of your post, like the fact that you play 3v3, are a small casual group, have no cheesy armies, no cookie-cutter lists, play mostly fluffy lists and so on.

The fact that you misrepresented yourself and your group is not an error of mine.

Avatar 720 wrote:You left a great deal of information out of your post, like the fact that you play 3v3, are a small casual group, have no cheesy armies, no cookie-cutter lists, play mostly fluffy lists and so on.

The fact that you misrepresented yourself and your group is not an error of mine.

You are correct, the fact that you instantly bit my head off instead of inquiring why our group would have agreed to something you found outlandish is your fault. Maybe approach situations with a bit more open of an attitude and don't instantly assume.

Either way, I didn't post to get into a flame war or make anyone fly off their horse here. Simply there are very few people who play with Tetras and I thought I would chime in on how we ended up playing ours.

Where do yoj get the rules cor tetras? And arent they only alllowed in apoc games, or were they FAQ'd in somewhere?

Farseer Mael Dannan wrote:

Avatar 720 wrote:You left a great deal of information out of your post, like the fact that you play 3v3, are a small casual group, have no cheesy armies, no cookie-cutter lists, play mostly fluffy lists and so on.

The fact that you misrepresented yourself and your group is not an error of mine.

the fact that you instantly bit my head off instead of inquiring why our group would have agreed to something you found outlandish is your fault.

I did not bite your head off; the most aggressive my post got was stating that you should be ashamed, which you obviously should not be thanks to the light you shed on the matter afterwards. My post itself was justified given the information available; the reasons for your decision were displayed in your post, and I was given no reason to believe that there was anything to the contrary; there was nothing at all that you had said which gave me enough doubt to warrant further enquiries.

Marshall Ragnar wrote:Where do yoj get the rules cor tetras? And arent they only alllowed in apoc games, or were they FAQ'd in somewhere?

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/t/Tauupdate.pdf

Marshall Ragnar wrote:Where do yoj get the rules cor tetras? And arent they only alllowed in apoc games, or were they FAQ'd in somewhere?

Tetras are a FW model that they make:

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/TAU-PATHFINDER-TETRAS.html

You can find rules (as far as I know these are the most up to date) here:

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/t/Tauupdate.pdf

Actually Tetras are a fully legal unit now so telling someone they cant take them is handicapping arguablly the weakest army in the whole game.

All they are are markerlights.

Giving a unit or 2 a higher Ballistic skill is hardly broken. Most armies have better than 3 BS anyways.

Banning an AV10 Open Topped vehicle that shoots laser lights and cant kill anything itself sounds more like Anti FW Fear mongering to me.

Milisim wrote:Actually Tetras are a fully legal unit now so telling someone they cant take them is handicapping arguablly the weakest army in the whole game.

All they are are markerlights.

Giving a unit or 2 a higher Ballistic skill is hardly broken. Most armies have better than 3 BS anyways.

Banning an AV10 Open Topped vehicle that shoots laser lights and cant kill anything itself sounds more like Anti FW Fear mongering to me.

I've already explained this to the previous person who brought it up. Additionally, I have a feeling if you walk into a Tournament with a Tetra they will tell you otherwise. AFAIK just like any other FW item you need to get consent from you fellow gamers before being able to field them.

Milisim wrote:Actually Tetras are a fully legal unit now

Not really; like any other FW unit - and technically any army in general, since i'm not obligated to play against your <insert current GW codex here> - they require opponent permission.

A lot of places will let you use FW, especially GW if my local is anything to go by, but for tournaments and places where you aren't sure, it's better to ask first.

Well trust me; I'd show up with them.

If anyone told me I couldn't field an AV10 open topped skimmer with TL Pulse rifles on them, I would most likely call him so stupid name and see where it goes from there, because I like to see shyte storms =]