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Hello Dakka, I'm going back to my Tau Army now the new codex is out, it's been a while since I last used them (In Mid 5th Edition at 1500pt level). Back then, 3 Troops were Sufficient to meet my needs, and I haven't played 1850 besides GKs and SMs (Where 3 Troops are enough due to Combat Tactics). In my 1850 Tau list, I am having particular trouble deciding how many troops choices to have, My Current List has 4 (2 Squads Of FWs and 2 Squads Of Kroot), But I'm not sure whether the Kroot Squads are worth it, but If I take more than 3 Units of FWs I need to really be taking an ethereal to increase effectiveness, but then I lack Attacking troops to take objectives over the other side of the board. Is there a given number of troops per 500pts for Tau, or does it vary from list to list? If needed here is the list in question:

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 90
Pulse Rifles

10 Fire Warriors 190
Pulse Carbines, Shas'ui, Devilfish, TL SMS

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

Cheers

I think those troops are too flimsy. No aegis/Ethereal to buff them hurts. I think they'll die to a stiff breeze.

Tau troops can hurt when they shoot, but go away in a puff of smoke when even a guardsman farts.

Big blobs of kroot, small squads of hidey firewarriors work best in my experience, with all the big guns doin' the work.

LValx wrote:
I think those troops are too flimsy. No aegis/Ethereal to buff them hurts. I think they'll die to a stiff breeze.

I agree, but I don't want to invest in an Ethereal, because that commits me to playing gunline, when I really need troops to take objectives over the other side of the board as well as hold my own. This is the only part of the list I am having trouble with, as the rest to me, looks pretty solid, at least from a Semi Competitive View (Which is what I play as I rarely enter tournaments) I am not looking to take Allies but am unsure of a good way to take a large number of troops which are capable of holding their own.

If you run Irridium armor on your Commander, drop the shieldgen for a stim injector. (frees 10 points)

Drop the two Firewarrior Shas' Ui back to regular Shas'la (frees 20 points)

Drop 1 shield drone from the Crisis teams (frees 36 points)

Using those points buy Bonding Knives for your Pathfinders and an Ethereal for the FWs. You don't necessarily have to commit to gunline with an ethereal since he can attach himself to one unit and as long as the other unit stays within 12 inches they can get the buffs also.

With toughness 5 on your Commander you don't have to worry so much about instant death and only ap2/1 weapons will bother you which should be paying more attention to those tanks for the first round or three. Take Feel no Pain for that off chance you do fail the 2+ armor save when hit by small arms fire that you were not able to shunt off to a shield drone.

Untwin link the Fusions/Missile pods and add a stock Flamer (for the Overwatch or dealing with hoards). If you are going to concentrate fire on a target you should be Markerlighting then pull 2 off to raise your BS to 5. (Supporting Fire Overwatching with two or three units of flamers.. remember, flamer templates don't need to be within range to Overwatch and you don't have to worry about Line of Sight putting the templates down, you just have to be within 6 inches of the unit getting charged.)

Pathfinders are going to be a prime target if your opponent knows what they can do, bonded knives can help keep them around when you have 2 left.

These are the changes I would make and it leaves you at the exact same point count., but otherwise the list looks pretty good and I might just give it a try.

Personally, if your crisis suits arent already glued I would recommend swapping at least one squad to helion (maybe all as broadsides are far more efficient S7 platforms) and switching your commander for Shadowsun.

Shadowsun + command drone 155
3 XV-8 Crisis, plasma+ fusion, one Shas'vre with PEN, one target lock and one other piece of wargear of your choice.
IIRC this combo comes out to 341, but gives you a unit who can kill anything on the board, whilst also having stealth and shrouded (2+ cover 4+ open) 3d6 JSJ move reroll 1's and tank/monster hunters

Due to new wound allocation rules shield drones arent great unless taken on an IC, but marker drones are now 18 points cheaper than the last codex and are great taken wherever possible.

Krootox are sub optimal for the same reason as crisis missile pods are, but you should ALWAYS take a kroot hound for each kroot units as it allows you to reroll outflank and pressure the enemy backfield which is something tau really wants. And at a cost lower than a single kroot I can't see why you wouldn't take one. Also I5 for falling back.

I agree with miri on dropping shield Gen for stim but a shield drone would actually be good if you choose to use your commander due to 2+ LOS.

Last thing would be swapping a railgead for ion to pie plate Marines with S8 AP3 goodness.

Of course a lot of this advice depends on your local meta.

I think Missile Pods still suit my local meta pretty well, as there are still a lot of light vehicles around (DE Armies and Mech Guard are both common) It combines good strength and range that will be good against most problems, one question is: Now that the FAQ has come out and Crisis can take 2 of the same weapon, should I take Crisis with Plasma/2 Missiles or Keep the TL, both have their place IMO. Also, on the squad with the commander would 2 single fusion or 2 plasma be the better option?

Troop choices updated, do they look better now?

I would suggest removing a full squad of FWs (Maybe even 2) and put in some Piranha's or a riptide.

If you're set on using a Fire Warrior in a Fish, equip them with EMPs. Tossing haywire grenades 8" can really wreck a Land Raiders day. I'd drop the SMS and replace it with Sensor Spines and a DP; you want that Fish to survive to end game so you can make some objective grabs, no better way to do that than to put it in ruins or something.

I'd also drop one of the Fire Warrior squads and grab a squad of Sniper Kroot. Outflanking snipers can play havoc with your enemies strategies and buy your Fire Warriors some time to live. They have worse stats than FW, but for some reason I find that my enemy has a harder time taking them off the board than they should.

Also, why no Longstrike? And, check out the new FAQ - suits can have multiple weapons of the same type. So, you could fit 2 MP's on a suit with velocity tracker if you don't want Broadsides (with their lack of mobility) cluttering up your heavy slots. That said, if a Turkey farts on those crisis suits they'll be gone...

SMS is a free upgrade over the drones, and doesn't cost any points. sensorspines and Dp cost 20pts, and I don't think it's worth it.

Coyote81 wrote:
SMS is a free upgrade over the drones, and doesn't cost any points. sensorspines and Dp cost 20pts, and I don't think it's worth it.

I agree on the D-pod being unnecessary, but for 5 points sensors are very sweet, and they give you a nice little worry free cover boost. Ive been fond of dropping off my troops, driving them into impenetrable cover, and SMSing all day.

I think I'd take 5 troops at 1850. Maybe 6, depending on size and durability.

For pure Tau, I'd lean towards 2 large Kroot blocks and 3 FW squads.

With the change to allow more than 1 of the same Non-TL Weapon for Crisis what do you reckon is the best option? I've been looking at PR/2MP on my Commander especially as while he can't fire all 3 in a turn, the MP's will be particularly useful early on.

I want my Crisis to perform a similar role to what they are now, which is heavy infantry/light AT killers, do you think the loadout that I have used Pre-FAQ is still efficient for the Plasma/TL Missile Suits?

 GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:
With the change to allow more than 1 of the same Non-TL Weapon for Crisis what do you reckon is the best option? I've been looking at PR/2MP on my Commander especially as while he can't fire all 3 in a turn, the MP's will be particularly useful early on.

I want my Crisis to perform a similar role to what they are now, which is heavy infantry/light AT killers, do you think the loadout that I have used Pre-FAQ is still efficient for the Plasma/TL Missile Suits?

Im on the fence about the extra weapons on crisis suits if not purely for the point cost, the only exception i would make would be for missile pods because of the range factor will add a little more durability to suits to justify the extra 10 points (which can add up in a hurry).

Now on a farsight bomb......TL Fusion and Fusion or TL BC and BC could be really really nasty, especially if you have a Buff 'O attached to give them some bonuses

IMO,Crisis team with MP, MP, Velocity tracker.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
sorry I meant early warning system

I've decided that the my Fireknives with TL MP will stay the same, however my Fusion Unit has changed, my commander will now be taking 2 FBs and either the C&C Node or Puretide Chip to go in a unit of 3 Crisis with FB/2MP, this will allow me to put some heavy fire on transports/MCs early on and, if needed, I can switch to the Fusion Blaster to take down Heavy Armour, what do you think is better for this unit, the puretide chip or control node? I've been doing some testing and the Chip makes it better Vs Vehicles and can help all weapons, but the Control Node allows me to get a lot of shots, but I think the puretide chip is better.

I think I'm going to swap the Fish squad out for some sniper kroot, which will be my objective attacker squad. This also helps me to free some points up to possibly take another squad of PFs or some Sniper Drones.