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Hey guys. I picked up a Tau codex and a few miniature kits today and can't wait to get started! Huge lover of the 'gunline' style that the Tau seem to use and would really like to have a go at playing quite defensively.

I've not written a list before but I've had a look in my new codex and figured out how I'd like to equip the models I purchased today. If my ideas are crap, let me know! I'm here to learn and hopefully build a very competitive list.

HQ -
Commander - 179 points
Missile Pod, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Puretide Engram Chip,'Iridium' Battlesuit and 2x Shield Drones


TROOPS -
Fire Warrior Team x9 - 81 points

Fire Warrior Team x9 - 81 points


ELITE
XV8 Crisis Team x3 - 156 Points
6 missile pods


TOTAL - 497 points.

That puts me at just under half way. I'd like to bulk out my troops a little more (perhaps another unit of 9 fire warriors... or two!) and also look to include some heavy support/anti-air. I'm not too bothered about transport as, like I've said, I'd like to hold back and play the defensive.

So far I have 14 S7 long range shots from the missile pods. Is that overkill? Love the idea of raining down missiles but please let me know if that's ineffective

Anyway, how would you guys use the remaining 503 points?

Huge thanks to those more experienced than I.

Aardvark.

Looking good so far! I think you should definitely look at getting some broadsides, they're really great for Tau. Most people, including myself, take them purely with HYMP and SMS because this gives a total of 8 shots per broadside which means that along with twin-linked, they actually work great as anti-air without having to give anything skyfire.

If you want to play gunline/defensive Tau then I'd suggest getting an ethereal because he has some really useful buffs for fire warriors. If you don't want an ethereal, you could consider a cadre fireblade - if you attach him to a squad of 12, they can fire 26 shots at long range, 39 at close range (or he could split-fire his marlerlight at something else).

Speaking of markerlights, you definitely need a source of these in your army above 500 points. There is a lot of debate about what the best thing to use for markerlights is, but it really comes down to personal preference. You could use any of these - pathfinders, marker drones, skyrays, sniper drone teams (spotters) or tetras. There are other less conventional ways of getting them but they're not as effective on the whole. I'd say just go through some Tau threads on here and see what people use for theirs, then decide for yourself after you've had a good look at them in your codex. If you decide to take pathfinders though, I'd advise you to not have any upgrades on them, stick them in cover somewhere and use them purely for their markerlights.

For your crisis suits, you've done a great job first of all by not mixing weapons on the suits. An individual suit will always work best if they have two of the same weapon system. What you load them out with however is based on what you will be up against. Missile pods are good against armies with light vehicles and anything that is toughness 3/save 4+ as they will kill it instantly. However, you will run into certain armies that are a lot tougher. Some, marines for example, have a fair amount of 2+ and 3+ saves. In this case the best thing to use is plasma rifles as they deny the good saves with ap2. Other armies you'll come across have a lot of heavy armour like av13 and av14. None of your missiles can scratch av14 so most people tend to deep strike fusion crisis suits for this.

An alternative is to get a hammerhead tank for its str10 ap1 gun. I personally think these are great as they can take submunitions for str5 blast as well, and they have the strongest weapon in the army. Many people might tell you that hammerheads aren't that great, but they've saved me many times from things like land raiders. If you take Longstrike as an upgrade, your tank hits on 2s and can re-roll penetrating hits (important if you're trying to take something out completely). I guess the problem with this is that it's only 1 shot. However, Longstrike also lets you use overwatch an unlimited amount of times which can be pretty cool.

A problem you may face is if you play missions where you need a lot of mobility in your army like maelstrom missions. If you have a static gunline with no transport then you'll have a very hard time trying to pick up enough points to win the game.

Hope some of this helps! I'll keep an eye on this thread in case you'd like my opinion on anything else, but I'm sure others will give their input too

Welcome to the world of 40k!

Josh

first and foremost, for tau, there is no such thing as too much long range high strength .
Secondly, looks solid so far, I like to run my commander as a support unit, giving him the C&C node and sensor suite so he gives re roll to hit and ignore cover to his unit, which I love. Invest in 3 more suits and a squad of pathfinders for some amazing marker lights and give the unit 2 - 3 rail guns, for some on ground str. 7

Wasn't expecting such a positive response! Glad to know I've made a good start. Thank you both for your help

I've had a little look at the list and I'm struggling to fit in all of your recommendations.

Here it is!

HQ - Commander - 214
Missile Pod, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Puretide Engram Chip,'Iridium' Battlesuit, 2x Shield Drones, C&C Node and Sensor Suite


Troops - Fire Warrior Team x9 - 81

Fire Warrior Team x9 - 81



Elite - XV8 Crisis Team x3 - 156
6 missile pods

XV8 Crisis Team x3 - 156
6x Fusion Blasters


Heavy Support - XV88 Broadside Team x2 - 130
2 TL High-yield missile pod
2 TL Smart Missile System

Hammerhead Gunship - 175
Railgun
Submunition
Longstrike

I've noticed that my HQ is becoming quite expensive for a 1000 point list... although that's not much of a worry as I'm sure I'll soon expand to 1500+.

Unfortunately I had to drop one broadside and not include an Ethereal :( That worries me as I see a team of 2 as quite vulnerable and I'd love to use the Etheral to bolster my troops.

I'm also concerned regarding my low numbers of general ground troops.

Let me know what you think guys! Seriously thankful of your help.

Aardvark.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ohhh! I missed pathfinders :/ A real change up is needed then... perhaps drop the second team of crisis suits as I have a hammerhead and bring in some pathfinders + an Ethereal? Or Cadre Fireblade!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Edited list with above ideas ---------------------------------

HQ - Commander - 214
Missile Pod, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Puretide Engram Chip,'Iridium' Battlesuit, 2x Shield Drones, C&C Node and Sensor Suite

Ethereal - 50

Troops - Fire Warrior Team x9 - 81

Fire Warrior Team x9 - 81



Elite - XV8 Crisis Team x3 - 156
6 missile pods


Fast Attack - Pathfinder Team x5 - 55

Pathfinder Team x5 - 55


Heavy Support - XV88 Broadside Team x2 - 130
2 TL High-yield missile pod
2 TL Smart Missile System

Hammerhead Gunship - 175
Railgun
Submunition
Longstrike

I feel that I'm losing a lot by dropping that second squad of suits but would the hammerhead compensate for that? This way I've got two units of pathfinders (for separate marker targets) and an ethereal for my FireWarriors.

That's 997 points.

The Tau player in our group is pretty much mocked for his "advancing to the rear" style of play. Of course the mocking is quite hollow since he wins most of his games by devastating the opponents with waves upon waves of firepower. He has kicked my Ork army and my sons Nid army multiple times. Our mobs melt away under his firepower like ice cream on a sidewalk in July. It's painful.

So yeah, a big block of gun toting guys setting in the corner blowing the (expletive deleted) out of enemies can work. Good luck.

A good Commander loadout is the Mark'O. Dual MP, Drone Contoller, and Target Lock. I also add Iridium and the PEN Chip. Either use the two Marker Drones that come standard with the Commander or use a marker drone squad.

I prefer the skyray as a markerlight platform and it functions as good AA and moderate AT. Hammerheads I think are underwhelming and pricy especially at lower point games with Longstrike.

I'm not sure what 'Mark'O' is! Sorry :/ My noobness.

I'm still interested in using a hammerhead but I'll take longstrike off it for now as that frees up quite a few points. I'll switch out the pathfinders for a Sky Ray (Love that idea!)

HQ - Commander - 214
Missile Pod, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Puretide Engram Chip,'Iridium' Battlesuit, 2x Shield Drones, C&C Node and Sensor Suite

Ethereal - 50

Troops - Fire Warrior Team x9 - 81

Fire Warrior Team x9 - 81


Elite - XV8 Crisis Team x3 - 156
6 missile pods


Heavy Support - XV88 Broadside Team x2 - 130
2 TL High-yield missile pod
2 TL Smart Missile System

Hammerhead Gunship - 130
Railgun
Submunition

Sky Ray Missile Defence Gunship - 115 (Will this give me enough markerlight usage? It is great to see some more armour in the list).
TL Smart Missile System

Frustratingly that puts me at 957.. a squad of pathfinders would put me a point over! My biggest concerns are the fact I'm still running very few troops as well as a 2 man broadside team.. that still seems so vulnerable to me.

Your thoughts guys?

Many many thanks


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I could take one of the Fire Warrior squads down to 8 man and have a 4 man pathfinder squad? Worryingly low troops though! Or keep the 9 man squad and add a few drones across the board. Like the idea of shield drones in a defensive army.

Just as another pointer, the commander with C&C node + MSS is known as buffmander and cannot actually fire if he's using those two upgrades. He can only confer those bonuses to a unit he is joined to! Being able to do that for himself is too good to be true haha.

Regarding that last 43 points (which is actually 78 points if you remove those upgrades I mentioned from your commander) I would suggest disruption pods on both your skyray and your hammerhead to increase their survivability (15 points each), a target lock on one broadside because 16 twin-linked missile shots at one unit may be better used as 8 at two different units (5 points), same with one or two of the crisis suits, let's say two so they can all fire at seperate targets (10 points). This leaves you with 33 points to spend. Maybe 3 more fire warriors to add to that ethereal-boosted gunline plus twin-linking a missile pod on the crisis suit without the target lock or something? This brings you to 999 points I think.

Just a suggestion, but feel free to explore any other options with those spare 78 points!

Mark'O is just a commander fitted out for using his BS5 on marker lights, to give you pretty much guaranteed marker light support each turn while being far enough away from the enemy to stay alive. As such, you want to strip him down to the bare minimum so he can do his job without getting into the thick of it. Typical Mark'O build is Commander, 2x MP, 2x Marker drones, drone controller, target lock. The MPs give you 36" range, same as maker lights, meaning you can stand off the enemy, while drone controller gives you the BS5 on the marker lights, and the target lock means you can fire the MPs at something other than the unit you are marker lighting. 2 MLs is not ,much bang for your buck though, so adding a bodyguard with same set up can help or a squad of drones.

Your list looks pretty good but if you want a more efficient gun line I would shuffle things around slightly I were you - firstly I would change the ethereal for a fireblade. His buff is better for the fire warriors long range shooting, and he is not as squishy as the ethereal (who also gives away 1 VP if killed, which can make all the difference in some games). Secondly I would then max one squad out to 12 and reduced the other to 6 and put the fireblade with the larger squad to maximize the buff to shooting. Also, if you are not sure whether you will get the cover to put them in an Aegis line is a good investment for sitting fire warriors behind.

Other changes I have captured in the list below - I would squeeze in a suicide fusion suit to DS if possible, always comes in handy even if just to grab line breaker. HH without longstrike has always done ok for me, and at this points level I think he is worth letting go of. I have also traded out the Skyray for other things as at 1000 pts I normally find you can just ignore any fliers your opponent brings or deal with then using the broadsides twin linked snap firing.

HQ
Fireblade 60pts
Mark'O - 2x MP, Drone Controller, Target Lock, 2x Marker Drones 152pts
- Crisis Bodyguard, 2x MP, Target Lock, 2x Marker Drones 91pts

Troops
Firewarriors x 12 108pts
Firewarriors x 6 54pts

Elites
Crisis x2, Dual Plasma Rifles, 104pts
Crisis x1, Dual Fusion Blaster, 52

Fast Attack
Pathfinders 44pts

Heavy
Hammerhead, sub munitions 130
Broadsides x2, TL HYMP, TL SMS, EWO 140

Fortification
Aegis 50pts

Total 985pts