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Hey guys, as a old school Tau Player, I've been waiting for a long time for a new book and I have to say I am pleased with it, I won't be using much of the new Stuff and I'm not looking for the most competitve force, as I want to use models I like, I can understand that the book is new and therefore there isn't a known best build or what works well. Anyway here is my list, how do you guys think it looks?

HQ:

Crisis Battlesuit Commander 182
2 Fusion Blasters, Shield Generator, Iridium Armour, Puretide Engram Neurochip, Neuroweb System Jammer

Cadre Fireblade 60

Troops:

10 Fire Warriors 100
Pulse Rifles, Shas'ui

10 Fire Warriors 100
Pulse Rifles, Shas'ui

10 Fire Warriors 90
Pulse Rifles

Kroot Carnivore Squad 156
12 Kroot, Shaper, 2 Krootox, Sniper Ammo

Elites:

3 Crisis Battlesuits 225
Fusion Blasters, 2 Missile Pods, 2 Shield Drones

3 Crisis Battlesuits 198
Plasma Rifles, TL Missile Pods, 2 Shield Drones, Bonding Knife Ritual

3 Crisis Battlesuits 198
Plasma Rifles, TL Missile Pods, 2 Shield Drones, Bonding Knife Ritual

Fast Attack:

7 Pathfinders 87
Shas'ui

7 Pathfinders 87
Shas'ui

Heavy Support:

Hammerhead 131
Railgun with Submunition, TL SMS, Blacksun Filter

Hammerhead 131
Railgun with Submunition, TL SMS, Blacksun Filter

Fortifications:

Aegis Defence Line 100
Quad Gun

1845/1850

All C&C welcome. Only change I could see is dropping the Krootox and having 3 Units of 6 PFs, but I do like the Krootox model, when I playtest if I need more MLs then i'll replace them.

Cheers

No it can be Tau,the force hasn't got riptides up the wazoo.

You need something with interceptor/skyfire/

My Local Meta doesn't really use flyers, but I agree with you that I might need skyfire as there's always a chance of coming up against some armies with them at my FLGS. I would consider dropping the Piranhas to free some points, but I don't really want Broadsides as they aren't that manoeverable and my Crisis can do a decent job as it is, what would you reccommend?

Swapping a ionhead for a skyray might help vs a few flyers.

List updated, let me know what you think.

Cheers

GzBS, if you want the FWs to do something, then have an ethereal. The boost is great.

Otherwise, just field a 5e list, which you have already nicely crafted.

Except for that overweight warlord! 200+ !! Split his toys up amongst some Vres in the Elite slots, and get his points down around 140 or so. Otherwise, he is the prize turkey that gets nailed first, and there goes a disproportionate amount of points. IRid and Shield Gen regardless!

I like suits, but not that much! Krak Missiles still aren't your friend and you have zero ablative wounds (shield drones or gun drones!).

I suggest splitting up those Fire Warrior squads into 8s or 10s and getting an Ethereal for them.

Without accounting for the Devilfish since it can't score and it costs another full squad, you only have 300~ish points in 36 T3, 4+ dudes that get punked in CC. At 1850, you should have 3.5 troop choices, but they should still be a third of your army. I suggest cutting back on some toys, maybe a full suit squad, drop the Shas'Ui, get an ethereal and a fatter squad with maybe a defense line and quad gun.

Firewarriors are awesome, but they still fold like little girls. They are cheaper, bring more!

You might want a Ethereal.
they are just 50 points, for a lot of things, only negative is that they are easy to kill and give a extra VP.

List updated, do you think those 4 Troop Choices are better now?

I like the list, I think you need a few small changes,

The suits weapons should really be TL plasma rifles on your Plasma/Fusion suit(your going to end up shooting these more often) and replace the shield drones with gun drones, You should be making use of cover all the time with those suits, and that should provide you with the saves you need, and it will increase your firepower as well.

Replace the Skyray with an ADL with Quadgun, it costs 15pts less, and will give your firewarriors a place to hide on boards with less terrain. As well as the heavy weapon shots, and reasonably good interceptor skyfire weapons.

You can take those extra points and give your commander a stim injector for some ince T5 FnP saves.

Thanks for the Comment, besides drones, do you think this would be better for my list?

HQ:

Crisis Battlesuit Commander 182
Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Shield Generator, Iridium Armour, Puretide Engram Neurochip, Neuroweb System Jammer

Cadre Fireblade 60

Troops:

12 Fire Warriors 118
Pulse Rifles, Shas'ui

12 Fire Warriors 118
Pulse Rifles, Shas'ui

11 Fire Warriors 99
Pulse Rifles

Kroot Carnivore Squad 143
12 Kroot, Shaper, 2 Krootox

Elites:

3 Crisis Battlesuits 198
Plasma Rifles, TL Fusion Blasters, 2 Shield Drones, Bonding Knife Ritual

3 Crisis Battlesuits 198
Plasma Rifles, TL Missile Pods, 2 Shield Drones, Bonding Knife Ritual

3 Crisis Battlesuits 198
Plasma Rifles, TL Missile Pods, 2 Shield Drones, Bonding Knife Ritual

Fast Attack:

7 Pathfinders 87
Shas'ui

7 Pathfinders 87
Shas'ui

Heavy Support:

Hammerhead 131
Railgun with Submunition, TL SMS, Blacksun Filter

Hammerhead 131
Railgun with Submunition, TL SMS, Blacksun Filter

Fortifications:

Aegis Defense Line 100
Quad Gun

1850/1850

The Idea is for the Fireblade to go with the 11 Man Squad And split fire the Quad Gun whilst providing extra shots for the rest of the squad, what do you think?

Good list, perhaps try and find the points for a Shas'ui for the FW's as the leadership helps the out alot.

I'd drop the fireblade and bring an ethereal in the kroot squad, that way he can provide the LD buff for all of your infantry. It'll let you afford to drop the shas'ui from the firewarriors saving you 30pts in total, as well as dropping the shaper who is way overcosted.

With those 45pts you can drop the 11man firewarrior squad to 9 (optimal number is not fielding full 12 since it still take 3 to make them take a morale check) Allowing you to take another unit of 6 firewarriors to bring up your troop count to five. (Which is nice since our troops are much weaker then space marines.)

Well I was thinking that I needed a troop squad to go forward and take enemy objectives, so the Kroot were going to do that while the FWs stayed back, I'm not 100% sold on the ADL over Skyray, as whilst the Quad Gun will get more hits, there's no "Plan B" if I fail to take the flyer down, whereas with the skyray I can use the networked markerlights to allow my Crisis to hit on 4's at best, and that's another reason why i might swap the PR for MPs on the Fusion Suits, as Tank Hunters would further help me drop flyers with networked markerlights from the skyray, i could also use those markerlights to buff the pathfinders, which could get more hits to help the Crisis get a further buff of BS.

I second using an ethereal over a fireblade I would then drop the Shas'ui on 2 of your squads keeping 1 so you can spread out not needing to bunch up to much, drop the shaper as they are expensive.

I'm not sure about the quad either the skyray gives you more options and the missiles come in handy if you where to drop the fireblade which I think you should you should defo go for the skyray with no bs5 user for it.

With your pathfinders I would split them into 3 6 man squads dropping the shas'ui on them and using the points you have saved.

Krootox imo are not worth it unless you are outflanking them which you could always do add in 1 hound for re rolls on the outflanking.

Keeping roughly to your list I would take;

Commander
plasma, missilepod, iridium armor, drone controler, pen, target lock,2 marker drones 192 

Ethereal 50 


12 fire warriors 108

6 fire warriors 54 

6 fire warriors 54 

10 Kroot 1 hound 2 Krootox 115

12 firewarriors
shas'ui, markerlight 133


3 crisis
twin fusion, plasma 2 shield drones, bonding knife 198

3 crisis
twin fusion, plasma 2 shield drones, bonding knife 198 

3 crisis
Missile, plasma, terget lock, bonding knife, 4 marker drones 222


6 pathfinders 76 
Shas'ui

6 pathfinders 66


Hammerhead ion cannon, bsf 126 

Hammerhead ion cannon, bsf 126 

Skyray bsf, dpods 131

Most things have stayed simular in this list tho the crisis and the hammerheads have swaped roles from experience railheads don't make good anti tank units the only reason we consider them now is because we don't have many options for dealing with high av at range. To compensate you have 2 crisis units to deal with tanks.

The ethereal will stay in the 12 man warrior squads while the 2 6 man units stay within 12 as does one of the pathfinder units without the shas'ui. The other 12 man unit can deploy elsewhere if needed.

The kroot outflank with the Krootox Geting side or rear armor on some tanks Geting linebreaker if possible.

The commanders unit has 6 bs5 markerlights and the rest of the squad can shoot at diffrent targets I had to loose twin linked to do this but the pathfinders can always mark targets for them.

 GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:
Crisis Battlesuit Commander 182
Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Shield Generator, Iridium Armour, Puretide Engram Neurochip, Neuroweb System Jammer

Still a little porky, in my humble opinion. I think the Puretide-chip should go in lieu of some PathFinder bodies below, and of course, the Shield Gen out for a Shield D (Look out, sir).

 GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:
7 Pathfinders 87
Shas'ui

7 Pathfinders 87
Shas'ui

I would demote the 'Uis back to las and throw in the PureTide-chip's points and make a 3rd crew of PFs. So, 25 points here, 13 there, a couple demotions - nearly 5 bodies' worth of points, and then shuffle one PF on over to unit #3 and you've 6 more Markerlights (okay, actually 5)

It makes it far more difficult for the enemy to hamper the Marker-Support if he has to pick off 3 units of PFs, rather than two. Leaving you with ML support in later rounds, essential in my two Wins so far.

Only two (new 'dex) games? I need to get more games in!

Looking good. I agree with the loss of the Cadre Fireblade and the addition of the Ethereal.

Patherfinders, I'd got 8 strong if at all possible. BS3, 8 shoot, 4 hit on average, 2 to remove cover and 2 to make BS5. Best way to run them. Keep them lean, they will be murdered. Fast.

I think you're commander is getting a bit too spendy at 1850. You're going to use shield drones from the squads, so save points on the shield generator to help plump up the pathfinders.

Others are currently saying that taking max squads of firewarriors is not a solid choice, and I tend to agree. Run them in 8~10 squad size so you can maximize the number of target to be shot at, the Ethereal still gives them Ld10 and potentially stubborn, and they are very likely to fall in combat. You DO NOT want them locked in combat. Have the enemy kill a smaller squad and then rain of pulse shots.

Otherwise, start playing. As an aside, I don't like Skyrays with limited quantity ammo, I'd rather spend the points on Broadsides with HYMP and Velocity Trackers.

I'll just stick with large squads of cheap kroot and 6 man firewarrior squads.

I agreed with the above poster on skyrays, limited ammo = fail.

I'm really struggling to choose Troop Choices for my list, for some reason I don't want to take more than 3, as I don't want to commit to a gunline list and want to take objectives over the other side of the board, so I need room for a fish, I also want to be able to keep my toys, the list I am tweaking is mentioned in the OP.

Let me know what you think and the way the remaining points can be spent, I am interested in takig an ethereal, but again it commits to gunline and keeping all my models in one space, and this means an ADL is required to function to maximum effect, anyway let me know what you think, the troops are really giving me a hard time, as i have only played Tau in 1500pts in 5th Ed, where 3 was enough to maximise on suits.

Don't think of it as not wanting to take your feedback on board because I know it will help me improve it, I'm just not sure I want to commit on gunline and rely on my units shooting the enemy off objectives.

 GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:
I'm really struggling to choose Troop Choices for my list, for some reason I don't want to take more than 3, as I don't want to commit to a gunline list and want to take objectives over the other side of the board, so I need room for a fish, I also want to be able to keep my toys, the list I am tweaking is mentioned in the OP.

That'd be the 30 FWs?

 GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:
Let me know what you think and the way the remaining points can be spent, I am interested in takig an ethereal, but again it commits to gunline and keeping all my models in one space, and this means an ADL is required to function to maximum effect, anyway let me know what you think, the troops are really giving me a hard time, as i have only played Tau in 1500pts in 5th Ed, where 3 was enough to maximise on suits.

Two D'fish, with min FWs. Dispods (essential!). Two of one item like D'fish (or dreadnaughts, or Daemon Princes, etc) makes each exponentially more survivable.

Reserve a 3rd min FW crew for the back field objective squatting. I don't like it, but I think it'll serve your line of thinking. By demoting the Uis and going small, it ought to pan out in points. Otherwise a Shield Drones less here or there, for add'l points.

Oh, also, Brotherekose, i'm taking the shield gen for my commander as I want to use the Rmyr model and play WYSIWYG So that's why I am taking the shield gen instead of drones. With the current list I have I could either take a 4th squad of FWs, or take a squad of Piranhas or a unit of Pathfinders, I do like the idea of having smaller squads all in fish but then i run the risk of being too troop light and don't have any anti horde.

I'll take a look at my options and get back to you, any feedback along the way would be appreciated.

Also, what are your thoughts of me dropping the Railheads down to Ionheads, would that leave me too vulnerable? I could take a couple of Fusion Piranhas with the remaining points

What About This List? It has 4 Troops and should pack some firepower and be survivable:

HQ:

Crisis Battlesuit Commander 182
Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Shield Generator, Iridium Armour, Puretide Engram Neurochip, Neuroweb System Jammer

Cadre Fireblade 60

Troops:

10 Fire Warriors 100
Pulse Rifles, Shas'ui

10 Fire Warriors 100
Pulse Rifles, Shas'ui

10 Fire Warriors 100
Pulse Rifles, Shas'ui

10 Fire Warriors 180
Pulse Carbines, Shas'ui, Devilfish

Elites:

3 Crisis Battlesuits 195
Plasma Rifles, TL Fusion Blasters, 2 Shield Drones

3 Crisis Battlesuits 198
Plasma Rifles, TL Missile Pods, 2 Shield Drones, Bonding Knife Ritual

3 Crisis Battlesuits 198
Plasma Rifles, TL Missile Pods, 2 Shield Drones, Bonding Knife Ritual

Fast Attack:

7 Pathfinders 87
Shas'ui

7 Pathfinders 87
Shas'ui

Heavy Support:

Hammerhead 131
Railgun with Submunition, TL SMS, Blacksun Filter

Hammerhead 131
Railgun with Submunition, TL SMS, Blacksun Filter

Fortifications:

Aegis Defence Line 100
Quad Gun

1849/1850

The Reason I prefer the Fireblade over the Ethereal is the BS5 firing the quad gun, and he gives an extra shot at full range, but I can understand the Ethereal's benefits, but it means i have to bunch my army together, do you think the army will work without the Ethereal?

Good list, might be better to have the Etheral over the Fireblade as you'll save a fair amount of points because you won't really need the Shas'ui leaders for the FW's and the Etherals abilities are more versatile than the Fireblades.

Can ya swap 4 FWs for more PathFs? At 10 or 9, it still takes 3 casualties to cause Morale, so I'd try for a 3rd PathF crew at 6 dudes each.

Dispods on the Railheads? Move and get a 4 + Cover?

Otherwise, looks dakka enough.

I could drop the Fish squad and take Kroot uf you think they would do a better job, that would get me 3 units of 6 PFS

Ok so a slight change to my list after the FAQ, what do you think?