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Hey all I'm a new 40k player and I've picked up the Tau. I don't have some of the bigger better units and want to know what I should look into getting and how effective my units are by themselves. The only two armies around here I have to play against currently are Orks and Space Marines and my biggest problem so far is having enough fire power to take out the better armored marines or the ork warboss. So here are my models I own. (Also wysiwyg isn't an issue so for my drones they can be any kind). I'll also post my current setup as soon as I get my list from the house.

Commander
15 Fire warriors
2 Crisis Suits
10 Pathfinders
25 Kroot
4 Kroot beasts
2 Kroot Riders
1 Kroot Shaper
16 drones
1 Devilfish
1 Hammerhead
3 Stealth Suits
1 Cadre Fireblade

I do plan on getting riptides and a Stormsurge but it'll be a while. I'm also really into the Farsight models and codex (I own both the Farsight and Tau codex) but I don't mind using just the regular codex. Thanks in advance.

You have a little bit to work with, but definitely need to get some more units. Here's what I would do with what you have.


HQ: Commander: Iridium Battlesuit | Shield Generator | Stimulant Injector | 2x Plasma Rifle | Neuroweb System Jammer (Just because, there were 2 points left over)
Joins the Crisis team to spit Plasma death. Stick him in the front to tank hits. With 2+ save, 4+ invulnerable, 4 wounds and feel no pain, he can take a lot of punishment.

HQ: Cadre Fireblade
Joins the Fire Warrior team for volley fire and can act as a Markerlight source.

ELITE: 2x Crisis Suits each with 2x Plasma Rifle
Joins the Commander. Deep Strike this unit where you need them most. The Plasma Rifles will help with your AP problems.

ELITE: 3x Stealth Suits - 2x Burst Cannon | 1x Fusion Blaster and Target Lock
Infiltrate and use the Fusion Blaster to kill vehicles and the Burst Cannons to mow down infantry.

TROOP: 10x Kroot Carnivore | 2x Kroot Hound | 1x Krootox

TROOP: 10x Kroot Carnivore | 2x Kroot Hound | 1x Krootox
Outflank these two units. The Hounds will help you show up where you want and the S7 Krootox gun is good for cracking light vehicles.

TROOP: 10x Fire Warriors with Rifles and EMP Grenades | Devilfish with Disruption Pod
Joins the Cadre Fireblade. Jack of all trades. If you need them to stand and shoot, then stand and shoot. If you need them to move down board and claim an objective then do that. I give all of my Fire Warriors EMP grenades because I'd rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them.

FAST ATTACK: 5x Pathfinder

FAST ATTACK: 5x Pathfinder
Pathfinders are pretty bad, but you need some Markerlights. I broke them into two squads of 5 to increase survivability and give you more board reach.

HEAVY SUPPORT: Hammerhead with Ion Cannon and Smart Missile System
Hammerheads are also pretty bad, but if you're going to run them run them with Ion Cannons. This will also help with your AP problem.

DRONE NET FORMATION: 4x teams of 4x Gun Drones
Fire Warrior replacement. With twin-linked BS3, these guys can make a right mess out of infantry.

TOTAL: 1,300 POINTS

This is the best I can think of with your current collection. As for next steps, I recommend a unit of Broadsides with High-Yield Missile Pods and Smart Missile Systems. It wouldn't hurt to get another Fire Warrior team. I would also invest in a second unit of Crisis suits. I hope this helps.

Thanks! I'm buying a retaliation cadre today! Has 3 crisis suits, a broadside, a Riptide, an extra commander and 11 drones. I'm getting a good deal so I couldn't turn it down! I'm also ordering more broadsides and a stormsurge. I'm going for a 2,000 point army, any suggestions as to what else I should invest in?

Okay so I have bought some new models and this is the army I've built, I'd like some opinions.

Hunter Contingent: 719Pts

Hunter Cadre
HQ: Commander: Iridium Battlesuit | Velocity Tracker | Stimulant Injector | 2x Plasma Rifle | Neuroweb System Jammer

HQ: Cadre Fireblade

ELITE: 2x Crisis Suits each with 2x CIB

FAST ATTACK: 5x Pathfinder

FAST ATTACK: 5x Pathfinder

Heavy Support: Hammerhead with Ion Cannon and Smart Missile System | Longstrike | Disruption Pod

TROOP: 5x Fire Warriors with Rifles

TROOP: 5x Fire Warriors with Rifles

TROOP: 5x Fire Warriors with Rifles


Optimized Stealth Cadre: 375 Pts

3x Stealth Suits - 3x Burst Cannon

3x Stealth Suits - 3x Burst Cannon

1x Ghostkeel Shas'vre - Fusion Collider | TL Fusion Blaster | Stim Injector | Velocity Tracker



Retaliation Cadre: 682Pts

1x Broadside - TL Heavy Railrifle | 2x MV8 missile drones

1x Commander - Command Control Node | Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite | Drone Controller | Stim Injector | 2x MV1 Gun Drones

1x Riptide - Ion Accelerator | TL SMS | Stim Injector | 2x MV84 Shielded Missile Drones

3x Crisis Suits - 6x Missile Pod

Formation Drone Net VX1-0: 224Pts
8x Marker Drones
8x Gun Drones


Total 2000Pts

Are you expecating a lot of airCrafts?
I would try to get in more ghostkeels

I'm not really sure about the Air crafts yet. The only people who play are me and two others and we just started. They have shown a lot of interest in using air so I wanted to be prepared. The list is open for editing and will probably be changed once I've played their 2000 point armies.