Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

The Tau look over the horizon at the Craftworld army that has arrived in great force to challenge their control of the system. They deploy in great haste to challenge the invader.

Hunter Cadre

Command
Commander w/Puretide Engram Neurochip, 2x Twin Linked Flamer
3x Crisis Bodyguards w/Bonding Knife Ritual, Twin Linked Burst Cannon, Stimulant Injector

Elite
3x Riptide w/Heavy Burst Cannon, Twin-Linked Smart Missile System

Fast Attack
2x 5-man Pathfinder Team w/Bonding Knife Ritual

Heavy Support
KV128 Stormsurge w/Twin-Linked Flamer, Pulse Blastcannon

Troops
2x 5-man Strike Team w/Bonding Knife Ritual, Pulse Rifle, TY7 Devilfish
1x 5-man Strike Team w/Bonding Knife Ritual, Pulse Rifle

Optimized Stealth Cadre
XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit w/Stimulant Injector, Fusion Collider, Twin-Linked Flamer
2x 3-man Stealth Shas'ui with Burst Cannon

Total is 2017 points.

I assume this is to meet your friends eldar army that was posted

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/694950.page

Despite you posting both.

I play tau a lot, and this army is just as disjointed as the army it faces. If you know, and based on these selections it seems you do know, what your opponent is taking, you should be loading up on fire warriors, and plasma/flamer suits.

Tau are wounding on 2's vs 90% of this army.

Here is how this goes down, your eldar army and the tau army will face each other and everything but the riptides and the wraithknight will die in the first two turns.

Then the wraithknight will wreck the rest of the tau.

My opponent asked me to build a competitive Tau list that can face Eldar. I made this for him. You forget that Pathfinders enhance shooting and gives the Stormsurge missiles a big upgrade. And Eldar has a Psyker squad that's going to wreak havoc from a distance.

Are you playing these lists because of the models? That would make much more sense at this point. Neither of these lists are optimal.
Take the riptide formation, your suits have the worst weapons... try Plasma.. all I am saying....

I run both armies and each army has some super strong builds.. neither of these are them.

What would you recommend I build, then? Variety is key.

Flamer on the Commander? Biggest waste of his BS 5 ever...

Lionheart713 wrote:
Commander w/Puretide Engram Neurochip, 2x Twin Linked Flamer

Equip with two other guns. Never flamers for XV8s or any tau suits for that matter; using flamers means your suit is in h2h range. And that is always bad.

I'd go dual PRs, Irid Armor. PEN chip.

Lionheart713 wrote:
3x Crisis Bodyguards w/Bonding Knife Ritual, Twin Linked Burst Cannon, Stimulant Injector

a. I would demote and just make them regular Elite dudes, as 'bodyguard' gains you Not Much for wasted points.
b. Drop the Stims for XV8s, IMHO, is over-investing in models that are low in points, and not the bigger stake units, like Riptides and S'Surges. Those two should have stims, not Crisis Suits. With jsj and their smaller size, XV8s ought to be able to hide in place of pricey Stims.

Option 1:
Go dual BCs. For the most part, Twin-Linking Crisis Suit guns is no longer a Thing-To-Do.

Option 2 (the better one):
Nastier by far, promote one to 'Vre, give it MSS and C&CN, and the others go all dual PRs. With the dual PR Cmdr. joining them, that's 3 suits, shooting Twin-Linked, with Ignores Cover AP2 guns. At Rapid Fire range, they'll wipe off most MEq units of 10. If you own any other XV8s, add two to this unit. 2 Gun Drones for ablatives is a good idea.

Lionheart713 wrote:
Elite3x Riptide w/Heavy Burst Cannon, Twin-Linked Smart Missile System

Add Stims & EWO.

Lionheart713 wrote:
Fast Attack 2x 5-man Pathfinder Team w/Bonding Knife Ritual

Skip the BK ritual.

Lionheart713 wrote:
Heavy SupportKV128 Stormsurge w/Twin-Linked Flamer, Pulse Blastcannon

Add Stims again, as he's easily your most valuable killer on the table. Lose the flamers:
a. As a Gargantuan MC, he can't fire over watch
b. you don't want him close enough to be caught in h2h, which is flamer range, deadly though he be to normal infantry in h2h. SMS is better, especially if your buddy has guardians.

Lionheart713 wrote:
Troops
2x 5-man Strike Team w/Bonding Knife Ritual, Pulse Rifle, TY7 Devilfish
1x 5-man Strike Team w/Bonding Knife Ritual, Pulse Rifle

D'fish out, BKs out. The 'fish is too pricey for a transport, compared to cheaper rhinos. And it doesn't have the guns like 6e Wave Serpents had. Getting rid of it will also help bring your list's points down.

A good rule of thumb is a troop choice 1+1 per 500 points. At 2k points, you ought to have 4 to 5 troop units (and not the d'fish).

Lionheart713 wrote:
Optimized Stealth Cadre
XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit w/Stimulant Injector, Fusion Collider, Twin-Linked Flamer
2x 3-man Stealth Shas'ui with Burst Cannon

I don't own these or use them, so I have no input to give, except the flamers should go away for reasons stated elsewhere.

Lionheart713 wrote:
Total is 2017 points.

Both you and your opponent ought to play a normal points level. At some point, you might venture out to a game store and you'll be able to readily use the same list. Given some of your list's 'push' ... having unnecessary stuff to get to 2k points, reduce both forces to 1850.

These are all great points, I would say the optimized stealth cadre is 100% evil against any armor, but other than the number of high strength shots they can dish out there may be better options to use against the infantry heavy eldar.