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Greetings Dakka 40K overlords, I come soliciting wisdom.

A while ago, I posted this thread seeking a cost effective Eldar list.

And very excellent advice it was too, so much so that I went out and bought a 2500 point Eldar army purely on its recommendations. Of course, it didn't turn out to be that cost effective mainly because a lot of Eldar stuff stubbornly persists in Finecast but still, it was a great thread for pointing me in the right direction of what boxes, troop choices and bundles to buy etc.

As it turns out, this year's bonus is a bit larger than I was expecting, so happily, I am turning my attention to doing the same exercise but for Tau.

So I ask, can Dakka come up with a similar low cost list but that makes good use of bundle boxes, has interesting units and is reasonably competetive. Doesn't have to be tournament competetive but at least built with an eye on winning once in a while. I did have a Tau army years ago but I now notice lots more new and interesting units so would like to make use of them if at all possible.

So, what do you recommend?

Well battle force boxes may not be worst place to start. There a fairly good value for money way to start getting some basics in.

Well start collecting.
Most have troops, a elite unit and a hq model.

Two Sart Collecting! Tau boxes will definitely serve you well. Nice big core of Fire Warriors (Or four MSU's) and six Crisis Suits. Trade or sell the other Ethereal - you'll rarely take more than one. Maybe convert one of the Crisis Suits to a commander?

Then I'd get some of the Optimised Pathfinder teams and resell the Pathfinders (Marker drones do their job better, so unless you really like the models you'll just get a discount on your Devilfish).

Then it's on to the big boys. I'd recommend a Riptide at some point, and also for value I'd get Hammerheads instead of Broadsides.

That's not too much advice, but it's a start.

Ok, good stuff so far. What about the optimised stealth team bundle? I quite like the look of the larger suit in there.

Well I came up with this list so far which features the models I want to see - although, annoyingly I can't fit any stealth suits in as I have 3 Elites already - shame as I like them and there is a bundle for them. This list comes it around 2500 points, with wiggle room for gear. Unfortunately, it comes out at £500 or so at Element Games prices. Anyone see any ways to optimise it, both in terms of performance and value for money?

1 x Commander

1 x Ethereal

6 x XV8 Crisis Battlesuits

1 x XV104 Riptide Battlesuits


2 x 10 man Breacher Team
2 x TY7 Devilfish
1 x 10 man Pathfinder Team
1 x TY7 Devilfish
1 x AX39 Sun Shark Bomber

3 x XV88 Broadside Battlesuits

1 x TX7 Hammerhead Gunships

3 x TX4 Piranhas

1 x XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuits