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Alright, so. I currently play Chaos Space Marines and Tyranids. I wanted a 3rd army to break up my playing style and field something a little different. I bought myself a box of Tau Fire Warriors in order to build and paint them to see if I like them. I've been reading a lot of posts about Tau, watching/reading Bat Reps and visiting various Tau sites (including ATT).

I have limited cashflow at the moment so I won't be able to splash out on a whole new army, but I'd like to prepare a list of what to get first. I don't need to buy the Tau codex at present as my best friend has it, and whilst eventually I *will* be getting it, I may aswell use his while I initially build a small Tau force.

I was thinking of buying the following:

The Battleforce, Giving me Access to a Second Fire Warrior squad. Stealth Suits, 3 Crisis Suits and a Pirahna.

Tau Commander (Forge World: XV81 CRISIS BATTLESUIT) - Much prefer this model over the newer Tau Commander model. Feel free to suggest any alternatives though!

Broadside, I'd like two eventually, firstly the old one with rail guns on the shoulders, and this: (Forge World: XV88-2 BROADSIDE WITH SMART MISSILE SYSTEM)

Possibly then get a Devilfish. I'm looking to be fairly decent in playing at around 1000pts, so I figured I'd post here and get your opinions on the matter. Baring in mind I only have 1 box of fire warriors, what do you think I should buy next?

You're asking the internet to tell you what to buy, without stating any sort of cost guidelines.

I say, get a Manta.

How about we start with some basics;

Do you play competitively or casually?
Do you play apocalypse?
Do you have a target number of points for your army?
Is cost a factor?

 Redbeard wrote:
You're asking the internet to tell you what to buy, without stating any sort of cost guidelines.

I say, get a Manta.

How about we start with some basics;

Do you play competitively or casually?
Do you play apocalypse?
Do you have a target number of points for your army?
Is cost a factor?

I am going to eventually build up to a 1750 point army. Cost isn't a factor overall, but it'll take time to acquire funds. Thus I will create a list in order due to priority and purchase them when I can. I play 40k but usually compete only with friends or people I know. But what I'd like to do is secure a smaller force (800pts+) and start gaining points costs when I acquire the money. Funds increase with time. So cost is only a factor in that it will just take more time to purchase the army. So a priority list needs to be written up.

With that let me rephrase my post.

What key purchases should be made during the development of the foundation of a Tau army.

Firewarriors, pathfinders and kroot are all commonly used units - and offer a diversity of painting and assembly.

If you get tanks, make sure one of them is the new HH kit (or the old skyray kit) as it makes all the tanks.

If you like the old style broadsides, there are a lot of them on ebay ...cheap.

Eventually, get a riptide - while not as uber as people first thought, they are still a solid unit - AND - a lot of fun to build and paint.

best of luck!

Okay, things you cannot go wrong with:

0) Buy magnets. Tau are one of those armies that are very customizable with their weapon options, and you don't want to be stuck with the same guns all the time. I recommend http://kjmagnetics.com, but there may be better sources in Europe.

1) Get a riptide. Magnetize the guns.

2) A team of three crisis suits. Again, magnets are your friend. These guys can be kitted out to be bodyguards when you want bodyguards, a strike team if you want a strike team, or individual hunters (monats) if you need that. I actually prefer the appearance of the FW xv-89 suit, but any of the FW suits are miles better than the GW ones simply because you can position the arms and legs.

Magnetizing FW suit arms is a little more complex, you'll need 1/16th x 1/16th cylindrical magnets for the guns and a steady hand to get them in the weapons, but it's worth the effort.

3) Don't buy devilfish. Buy the Hammerhead kit instead...

Okay, well, actually, that would have been my advice before, but...

It used to be that you could get the hammerhead kit for only a few dollars more than the devilfish, and you'd get better parts, such as the smart missile system. But on looking now, it seems price adjustments now have the hammerhead at $20 more than the devilfish, which may not be worth the exchange.

Well, eitherway, you won't go wrong with one hammerhead, especially as the new kit is interchangable for a skyray, and both are good tanks to have available.

4) You'll want at least one full squad of kroot, and maybe two. They serve a vital meatshield function for the army, as well as being able to infiltrate to go after objectives far from your firebase.

5) You'll want at least one box of pathfinders, and maybe two. Markerlights are the fuel that the codex runs on.

6) The new broadside kits aren't easily switched from railgun to high yield missiles. That said, the high yield missiles are a very nice option.


At 1750, I'd like to run something like:

HQ commander
Elite: 3 crisis teams
Elite: riptide
Troops: 12 firewarriors
Troops: 12 firewarriors
Troops: 20 kroot
Troops: 20 kroot + 1 kroothound (allows you to re-roll the outflanking die)
Fast: 6 pathfinders
Fast: 6 pathfinders
Heavy: Hammerhead
Heavy: Skyray
Heavy: 3 broadsides

That's not all of the 1750 points, and leaves plenty of room to fill in details. Piranahs are good, ethereals are good. But it is a good starting point to work towards.

 Redbeard wrote:
Okay, things you cannot go wrong with:

0) Buy magnets. Tau are one of those armies that are very customizable with their weapon options, and you don't want to be stuck with the same guns all the time. I recommend http://kjmagnetics.com, but there may be better sources in Europe.

6) The new broadside kits aren't easily switched from railgun to high yield missiles. That said, the high yield missiles are a very nice option.

I will weigh in on these two points myself. I agree completely with 0. I personally think magnets are essential to a full WYSIWYG tau force unless you want to spend way more money. My crisis suits are all (badly) magnetized and I have absolutely no regrets.

Also, about 6, I'll be getting my new broadside order in sometime soon. I'm hoping I'll be able to work some kind of magnetization out for the arms, even if it's just holding the arms with putty while I assemble them, then magnetizing the entire arm assembly somehow (so I'll have 2 arms holding a rail rifle that can snap on and off). I'll let all you internet people know how it goes.

Lastly. I second the Ethereal. Not the most impressive leader any army has ever seen, but for his points he's probably the best force multiplier I know of.

Thanks for you responses folks!

On the magnet note, does anyone know the best supplier in the UK for these kind of magnets?

I can assume I'll find some on ebay but I wanted to see some recommendations.

One alternative for the commander (depending on gear) is forgeworld's Shas'o R'alai. I run commander with the following loadout and he is the perfect model:

Iridium armour, shield generator, cyclic ion blaster + other gear that wouldn't affect appearance.

He looks impressive between his 2 XV81 bodyguards

How do you get 2 XV81 bodyguards? that's s[ecial issue nowdays...


As for the stuff for you to buy: the battleforce is nice and all, if you actually plan to use stealth suits and piranhas. most don't.

The forgeworld XV81 is not that great too. that's just too many points for a gun that does not fit any game plan.

If you want a real badass commander, consider one of the following: Farsight, Rala'i and Rmy'r. they all look great and have good potential.

Farsight has his crisis bomb, and can be a nasty surprise as a melee beast.

Rala'i is a torrent of destruction, he can blow pretty much anything up, hard to kill, but he costs alot to field.

Rmy'r is a swiss army (long)knife, his abilities are all over the place without any focus whatsoever, but if you compare the shopping list of abilities he has to the cost, its a steal.


As for the rest of the army, fortunatly the army has enough internal balance that nearly anything works great and costs properly, so you can field many options.

Your core will be 2-4 teams mixed between fire warriors and kroot blobs, after that you will want crisis or riptide to carry the big guns, and at least one hammerhead.

As it seems you have no quarrelers working with forgeworld, you WILL want a tetra team. they are amazing markerlight sources.

Steer clear of any forgeworld kroot though, they are bad.

Regrettably, for a meagre budget, tourney tau is brutal with the nigh compulsory 2-3 riptides.

For fun play, whatever.

Commander O`rly (as the cool kids call him) is certainly an interesting proposition. Apparently he has something like an assault 2 lascannon. i want that FW book darn it...but I'm still waiting on the LGS to get my order from a month ago in.

 ImotekhTheStormlord wrote:
Regrettably, for a meagre budget, tourney tau is brutal with the nigh compulsory 2-3 riptides.

For fun play, whatever.

I'm not sure that multiple riptides are a requirement. I'm also not sure that they're not priced comparatively to the same number of points of other things.

For example, using US prices:

1 Riptide = 190 points = $85. That's roughly 2.25 points/dollar.

A unit of 3 broadsides, without upgrades, is 195 points, and $150, so only 1.3 points/dollar. Assuming you want to use all the parts in the box, including max missile drones makes it 267 points, still only 1.78 points/dollar.

A hammerhead is $60, and 145 points (including submunitions and disruption pod). It's slightly more cost-efficient than a riptide at 2.4 points/dollar, but not hugely so.

3-man Crisis teams w/ 2 weapons each are 156 points, and $65, so again, only 2.4 points/dollar here too.

A riptide is an expensive kit, but it's an expensive hobby all around. I really don't think it's correct to say that the riptide is any more of a strain on a budget player than any other unit of similar point value.

 Redbeard wrote:
Okay, things you cannot go wrong with:


At 1750, I'd like to run something like:

HQ commander
Elite: 3 crisis teams
Elite: riptide
Troops: 12 firewarriors
Troops: 12 firewarriors
Troops: 20 kroot
Troops: 20 kroot + 1 kroothound (allows you to re-roll the outflanking die)
Fast: 6 pathfinders
Fast: 6 pathfinders
Heavy: Hammerhead
Heavy: Skyray
Heavy: 3 broadsides

I would max those pathfinders out to 10.......Tau really suffer without markerlight support.

Redbeard wasn't posting a specific list, just an outline.

Anyway, Redbeard just about nailed it. You'll want some Kroot, an Ethereal, Riptide(s), Skyray/Hammerhead and some Broadsides. Fire Warriors are good as well, though I lean towards Kroot myself.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I've got more of an idea what to look for in a Tau army.