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Hey guys,

Still trying to wrap my head around the codex (normally play SW and DE). Wondering if I could get your thoughts on this list.

HQ: Shas'o Battlesuit - MP, PR, Shield Gen, HW-BSF (127pts)

Elites: 3x Crisis Suits - MP, PR, HW-BSF (1), Targetting Array (x3) (209pts)

3x Stealth Suits - Targetting Array (x3), Burst (x2), HW-BSF (x1), Markerlight, Fusion Blaster (x1) (140pts)

Heavy: 3x Broadsides - TL-Rails, HW-BSF (1), SMS (x2), Targetting Array (x3) (233pts)

2x Hammerhead Gunships - Rail, Targetting Array, 2x Burst, BSF, Seeker Missile, Target Lock (170pts/unit)

Troops: 3x 12-man Fire Warriors - Shas'ui, EMP grenade, Marker, Pulse Rifle (x12) (149/unit)


Comments and constructive criticisms very welcome. Addendums and modifications appreciated.

Thanks all!
-Boeduur

General things that i read alot

the 'o upgrade isnt worth it as you can instead have a el with pr mp ta hw-dc hw-mt hw-bsf + 2 sd for i think for 130 i think off the top of my head for a total of 5 wounds, a LOS save (i think) and same bs and shoot 2 weapons systems. also your o is 130 not 127 i think

Hammerheads need multi trackers. shas'o should have drones, not a shield generator.

Drop the EMP's from the warriors.

First thing, drop the shield gen for a shield drone. It's cheaper and gives you not only one wound but the chance to avoid instant death.

Second, FB stealth suit squads aren't that great. Unless the cover saves make them way more amazing that I realize, you'll be better off (both points and dakka) going with more crisis suits. The Markerlight on the Stealth Suits seems appealing but you'll never want to fire it at the same thing as their guns so you're either wasting the marker light or their firepower. Personally, I'd scrap the squad. It's 140 points that could be put to better use, like crisis suits.

Third, I think your fire warrior squads need some work. First, I'm not a fan of markerlights for FW squads. They don't allow you to stay mobile (which is necessary for fire warriors). Three marker lights won't significantly affect your game. And I wouldn't use them for seeker missiles, they're just not worth it. I also don't like defensive grenades for Fire Warriors. Chances are you're going to lose in combat to whatever is assaulting you regardless of the +1 attack they get. Some people feel that this will keep a few more fire warriors alive to run away. Well, unless you have a gun drone, you're running at I2 and likely dead. Focus more on not getting into combat and trim down these squads.

With the 2 seeker missiles and FW squads that only cost 130 points, you have 77 points to play around with. Combine that with the Stealth suits and you can get some nice crisis squads. Unfortunately, Tau have very few effective builds and Crisis Suits are the strongest unit we can bring. Given that if you make the changes I suggest, you'll have 207 points.

I would use them on 3 Deathrain suits with a team leader and a HW BSF for 149. That leaves you room for 1 more crisis suit. I'd change the one squad of 3 Firekives to two fireknives and one squad of two bladestorms (PR BC MT). Bladestorm suits are the all around anti-infantry. You even have the points to make them helios suits (PR FB MT) for a shorter range and more TEQ/Armor hunters. Helios suits also make great character killers.

Hope these suggestions help. Good hunting.

Welcome to Tau, lets hope this new edition brings Tau a bit more fortune than the last lol. Your list looks good but I think at 1500pts you can really max out your firepower, more than you have in my opinion. This is the list I ran with in 5th which will need a few tweaks with night fighting and the like but I will be keeping with the primary core of this force.

HQ
Shaso - HWMT, HWDC, PR, MP, SD, IA - 147pts
Shaso - HWMT, HWDC, PR, MP, SD - 127pts

FA
Tetras x2 - 110pts

Elites 1
Shas'ui x2 - MT, MP, PR - 124pts

Elites 2
Shas'ui x2 - MT, MP, PR - 124pts

Elites 3
Shas'ui x3 - MT, MP, BC - 150pts

Troops
FW x12 - 120pts
Devilfish - 85pts
Kroot x11 - 77pts
HS
Ionhead - BC, DP, MT - 130pts
Ionhead - BC, DP, MT - 130pts
Broadside'vre, Broadside'ui - TA, SD - 180pts

Total 1504pts

This list will obviously need to change to allow for night fighting etc. The two Shas'os can be demoted to 'els to save points. I am likely to include another squad of FW's as they seem to have gotten a boost in this edition so may drop one of the hammerheads to field a third troop choice. My advice is to loose the stealth suits, I have never really seen their worth, id much rather get a ton of suits. You do need markerlights to get a more syncd army but as stated above dont put them in your fw squads invest in some tetras or pathfinders (not as good). its much better when your firewarrior squads have 24 shots hitting on twos and often wounding on twos or threes. If you are taking broadsides then i would drop atleast one railgun and replace it with an ion cannon. Ion cannons are underated in my opinion. marine killers are never a bad thing especially if you are hitting on twos (with markers) and killing on 2's thats pretty much three dead marines. With your suits try a few combinations and see which ones you prefer. I love MP and PR because its still alot of shots at high power, even PR can destroy transports and light amour plus its AP 2.

Hope some of this helps.

ATO

boeduur wrote:HQ: Shas'o Battlesuit - MP, PR, Shield Gen, HW-BSF (127pts)

As stated by the others: Shield Drone instead of Gen, demote to 'El and add Target Array and the hwMT to shoot two guns.

boeduur wrote:Elites: 3x Crisis Suits - MP, PR, HW-BSF (1), Targetting Array (x3) (209pts)

These are bad because they can only fire one gun. Change to:

Unit A
Team Leader, Target Array, MP/PR, hwMT, hwBSF
his buddy MP/PR/MT

Unit B
Team Leader, Target Array, MP/PR, hwMT, hwBSF

boeduur wrote:3x Stealth Suits - Targetting Array (x3), Burst (x2), HW-BSF (x1), Markerlight, Fusion Blaster (x1) (140pts)

Think about the range of a BSF and the BC ranges. Not needed, unless it's for the ML, in which case i alway felt that one ML hit isn't worth it. Also, the mixed guns of FB/BC make the unit inefficient and worse, more catchable in h2h. Go all BCs, stay dedicated to anti-Infantry and stay father away at <18" and the JSJ backwards.

boeduur wrote:Heavy: 3x Broadsides - TL-Rails, HW-BSF (1), SMS (x2), Targetting Array (x3) (233pts)

Add SDs to keep them around longer.

boeduur wrote:2x Hammerhead Gunships - Rail, Targetting Array, 2x Burst, BSF, Seeker Missile, Target Lock (170pts/unit)

Add MT to Move & Shoot like a Fast Vehicle. TA is already included (didn't pay extra did you?) and the Seeker sucks, IMHO. Any one use toy .

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies, good food for thought!

I'd love to get those MTs on the Crisis, but I'd have to swap them for the TAs. You definitely think the ability to multi target is better than hitting on 3s?

I definitely understand the dropping the Stealths. I had really planned on using them as suicide HQ-assassins. Infiltrate them as close as possible and bee-line it for Marneus, or Logan, or Farseer. But swapping them for 3 new Crisis seems like a good plan, might be able to get something along the lines of a sniper Crisis squad.

I hear a lot of these Crisis team names bandied about, with the suffix "knives". What do these all mean? I haven't been able to find them in abbreviation lexicons and such.

I'm refining my new list with your suggestions, and will post shortly.

The answer to your question about MT vs TA. MT is better. It's the same reason 2 weapons is better than a single twin linked. You have the same odds of hitting but the chance to hit twice instead of being stuck at 1. Do what Brothererekose said and give a TA to the team leader and keep normal units at PR MP MT.

As for Crisis suit names, here's a list of common load outs on dakka. You'll notice Dakka explains two of the most common ones in a hover definition: http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Tau_Crisis_Suit_Loadouts#Crisis_Suit_Nomenclature

One I use that isn't as common is Bladestorm which is BC PR MT.

Brothererekose wrote:

boeduur wrote:HQ:

boeduur wrote:3x Stealth Suits - Targetting Array (x3), Burst (x2), HW-BSF (x1), Markerlight, Fusion Blaster (x1) (140pts)

Think about the range of a BSF and the BC ranges. Not needed, unless it's for the ML, in which case i alway felt that one ML hit isn't worth it. .

this is basicly correct but as a side note i believe that marklights ignore cover saves anyway and the max distance is the max distance for shooting in night fighting as well

BlueRift wrote:The answer to your question about MT vs TA. MT is better. It's the same reason 2 weapons is better than a single twin linked. You have the same odds of hitting but the chance to hit twice instead of being stuck at 1. Do what Brothererekose said and give a TA to the team leader and keep normal units at PR MP MT.

boeduur, what makes XV8s rock over other 40k units is the two guns, a lot of fire power for a 60 or so point model.

Trust me, it's the way of the Greater Good.

Read AdvancedTautactica.com. It'll really improve your tau game.

Thanks for the props, BlueRift.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Desubot wrote:this is basicly correct but as a side note i believe that marklights ignore cover saves anyway and the max distance is the max distance for shooting in night fighting as well

Oh, yeah, you're correct, as MLs don't cause wounds, so don't incur any kind of Save. Nice catch.