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I like the idea of Tau very much, I put together a cpl lists and have lost with them foolishly a few times now. So I am asking for assistance with putting together a 1000 - 1200pts list against Orks and or Necrons. I have as follows:

Fire warrior x 32

Kroot x 31

Shaper x 1

Pathfinder x 22

Stealth suit x 11

Crisis x 9

Broadside x 3

Riptide x 1

Aun'shi x 1

Farsight x 1

Shadowsun x 1

Darkstrider x 1

Piranhas x 2

Devilfish x 2

Hammerhead x 1

Skyray x 1

Sniper drone squad x 1

Plus a bunch of drones here and there. Anything else I should pick up for them? If anyone has advice to help run these guys a bit better I would be forever in debt. I dint want to shelf them for another 3 yrs haha.

Welcome to the Tau first and foremost a few more facts would be great:

-Do you want to run them out of Codex Tau or Codex: Farsight Enclaves?
-Lists your opponents run and how do you lose to them?
-How do you want to play your army?

Buy 2 Riptides.

I was actually thinking a bit of both. I used to run strictly farsight only before, so I kind of want to try out new units first. I heard the enclaves are rather fun though. Anyways I am not sure what the difference between the two I suppose, so I don't know how to choose. My main problem is not knowing how to use them effectively enough. I am not sure what unit compliments the other, and basically getting wrecked trying to play like space wolves in the end after I get frustrated. I basically wanna know how to use them correctly and kill them with shootyness before I get overrun by shooting and then obliterated in close combat. The ork player fields full shootas, mega nobs, some kans, that gorganaut thing with a guy that repairs them and gives a force field. Bunch a squads of boys with FNP guy, and a trukk. Sometimes a mix of other stuff now and then, like a big Stompa when he got it haha. Necron guy has only just begun but owns me every time at only 500 pts of warriors, immortals, and pretorions or wraiths. Like I said i don't really know how to use them right, but I also just may stink that much...

As for Riptides, I'm already looking into getting at least one more.

At this point value you really need to go with as much Fire Power and bodies as possible, an "accuracy by volume" approach, but I am somewhat biased since I run Farsight Enclave and a pure suits army looks awesome on the table, so here is an example of what you can do if you decided to go pure suits:

1200pts: Pure Suits

-Commander
*w/ Drone Controller, x2 Missile Pods

-Riptide
*w/ Ion Accelerator, Smart Missile System/Plasma, Stimulant Injector, Earth Caste Pilot Array

-x1 Crisis Suit
*w/ x2 Fusion Blasters, x1 Flamer *Deep Strike*

-x1 Crisis Suit
*w/ x2 Fusion Blasters, x1 Flamer *Deep Strike*

-x1 Crisis Suit
*w/ x2 Fusion Blasters, x1 Flamer *Deep Strike*

-x3 Crisis Suits
*w/ x2 Missile Pods Each, x2 Gun Drones

-x3 Crisis Suits
*w/ x2 Missile Pods Each, x2 Gun Drones

-x3 Broadsides *Commander Goes Here*
*w/ All 3 withTwin Linked Heavy Rail Rifle, Smart Missiles, Target Lock, x2 Missile Drones Each

TOTAL ARMY: 1998 Points

Tactics:

-Put your Commander with your Broadsides giving you a VERY nasty Firebase for your army. With this you have your x3 Broadsides focus on enemy heavy armor and thanks to target lock they can all shoot a different target if you choose to let them. However it is recommended you focus fire all three of them into the same target to bring it down. Also because of target lock your Commander gives all those Missile Drones BS5 meaning you have x16 Missiles at S7 AP4 (also counting the commanders) being pumped into one unit needing 2's to hit! Just remember they count as firing at the same time so if your Broadsides blow up a transport the Commander+Drones cannot shoot the occupants.

-Riptide armed with Feel No Pain and a trusty Ion Accelerator. The secondary weapon is up to you but personally I would add a Plasma Gun for some AP2. Use him to support your army wherever you need him to and try to keep him either back or moving around the flanks adding fire support to your army. Riptides tend to be targeted a lot because of their psychological factor so by putting the rest of your army on one side and him on the other may spread out his forces.

-x2 Crisis Suit teams with x2 Missile Pods each doing very much what your Broadsides will be doing hanging back and pumping even more S7 AP4 shots downfield. They also give you some much needed maneuverability and thanks to the Missile Pods range they help counteract the low number of bodies you have on the table.

-x3 Individual Crisis Suits who have one job to do: Suicide Drop. You hold all three of these guys in reserve and during the course of the game (depending on your opponent) use them to try and handle a role you need them to. Opponents transport giving you fits? Drop one or two of them nearby to Fusion it to death. Opponent has a squad sitting in cover in his deployment zone? Drop one or more and flame them out of it! Opponent is getting to close to your firing line? Throw your suits there to add some needed Firepower. PLEASE NOTE HOWEVER that a crisis suit can only fire x2 weapons in the shooting phase so if your shoot your Flamer you can only fire one Fusion Blaster, and if your fire both your Fusion Blasters you cant fire your Flamer. Base it off your opponent.

Drone Controller does not affect Missile Drones, so I wouldn't recommend that setup with your commander and putting him in the broadside unit.

I tend to use high yield missile pods on the broadsides too and I think those are generally considered more effective for the 4 str 7 shots instead of 1 str 8 (they also work better on the same targets as the smart missiles)

If you take the earth caste pilot array, I actually become more fond of the heavy burst cannon for riptides too.

I agree with the solo crisis suits holding dual fusion blasters, but I've never given them flamers as well to comment on that.

I am going to give these a shot. I really like the idea of a bunch of crisis suits advancing across the field missiles firing away! They seemed to be the most effective unit when I last played. The stealth suits really failed me... I am most excited to field the Riptide. Thank you for the sound advice!

Is this perhaps meant to go into 40k army lists?