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Hi wargamers,

Now as you've read the army title you're already running for the bucket, we are looking at the yucky Tau!

I have a friend who is starting a Tau army and we have no idea where to start, essentially we would like a competitive army but not one that will lose all his friends including me! As for points of reference, it would be greatly appreciated if we could look at your ideas for starting at 500 points then using those points in a 1000, 1500 and eventually 1850 point list that synergises.

We aren't too keen on the transports in terms of thematic appeal but fluff wise we are in the dark and want to make sure the army has a nice theme.

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Captain out

Cadre Fire Blade/Ethereal, go 2 to 1 fire warriors to kroot. I'm doing an escalation league with my gaming group and really trying to keep tau fun. Off the top of my head my 500 and 1000 lists were:

500:
HQ: Ethereal
Troops: 2 10 man fire warrior squads. 1 pulse carbines, one pulse rifles. 1 10 man kroot squad with shaper and 2 hounds.
Fast: 1 piranha with fusion
Hvy: 1 broadside with rail rifle and SMS plus 1 shield and marker drone

1000:
HQ: ethereal + fireblade
Elite: crisis suit - 2 fusion blasters
Troops: 2 Fire warrior squads 12 man pulse rifle, 1 fire warrior pulse carbine in a devilfish, 1 squad kroot x 10, 1 shaper, 2 hounds, 2 krootox
Fast: 1 piranha with fusion
Heavy: same broadside + skyray

The army theme is going to be Vio'la, known for their fireblooded temper and awesome fire warriors. Main opponent Orks, and fought with shadowsun and Shas'O R'myr in the Damoccoles Gulf. Two notable heroes are Aun'Shi and some cool Piranha pilot that tank shocked a Ork Battlewagon and blew it up. For your own sept, read the beginning of the tau codex and the timeline for certain sept's style and contributions.

 Captain X wrote:
Hi wargamers,

Now as you've read the army title you're already running for the bucket, we are looking at the yucky Tau!

I have a friend who is starting a Tau army and we have no idea where to start, essentially we would like a competitive army but not one that will lose all his friends including me! As for points of reference, it would be greatly appreciated if we could look at your ideas for starting at 500 points then using those points in a 1000, 1500 and eventually 1850 point list that synergises.

We aren't too keen on the transports in terms of thematic appeal but fluff wise we are in the dark and want to make sure the army has a nice theme.

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Captain out

Well it's my opinion that you want him to start with a core he can use throughout his playing days. If that's the goal, then he should start with the things no one argues are good, with 500 points in mind. At 500, there's no points you CAN waste though.

I think 90% of the lists people dont hate are going to have a Commander suit so start with that. As you are doing that, you quickly need to decide if you want him for offensive capabilitiy. I personally would build him for Drone Swarm duty, because no Tau army runs around without Markerlights They are basic to the armies function.

The Commander actually also allows you to play some shenanigans with the Warlord Table, so for that reason and many other I often dont arm the Commander with much. Try this:

169pts XV8-02 Irridium Commander (Command and Control, Onager Gauntlet, Stim INjector, 2 Marker Drones)

Thats about as expensive as you can afford at 500 points and probably riding the edge, so if points are tight, drop the Stim. He's actually decent in close combat this way (by Tau standards anyways) and its the least expensive way to get a couple Marker Drones in.

56pts 4 Marker Drones

The commander joins these and forms a unit. Now you can target a unit with reliability as you advance with him. he will punch vehicles open if he has to and they can DS if you need them to.

55points 5 Fire Warriors (DS8 Tactical Turret)

55points 5 Fire Warriors (DS8 Tactical Turret)

This provides you with some Ignores Cover ability to go with decent str weapons on your advancing Objective Secured troopers. Jinking vehicles and simple cover on infantry can be annoyingly tough to overcome but having the turret really helps.

Now you need to be able to handle a tank. This is where the list diverges. Lots of options. If he one day wants to do the Firestream thing, 3 Piranhas with Fusion Blasters for 150 points is GREAT for mobility and for firepower to kill a tank and still have sting against infantry. If he later wants to try Optimized Stealth Cadres, a Ghostkeel is far from a bad option, which also has anti-tank ability as well as being mobile, tough and good against non tank targets. If he later wants to employ the Riptide wing he will have to trim in this list to include a Riptide but its a very natural choice also as a "big gun" for the party and he's going to need something that does this so... I don't like Braodsides as an option at this points level because looking forward in time I doubt he will want to rely on those in larger lists as the list grows. They are good, and that's not the problem. It's just that far better options exist LATER, BUT he can get two in the list and they will absolutely rock at 500 points so if he's looking for the friendliest..yet effective... option there then 2 Broadsides is friendliest while still being effective. Probably High Yield Missile Pods and Plasma on them would be good.

Well it's my opinion that you want him to start with a core he can use throughout his playing days. If that's the goal, then he should start with the things no one argues are good, with 500 points in mind. At 500, there's no points you CAN waste though.

I totally agree. I don't think i'd take your route of a 170pt force multiplier in a 500pt list, but a Commander is definitely a solid start. Maybe give him missile pods in addition to the drone controller so you can take advantage of his BS5. Crisis Suits as troops would be a solid foundation, too, though Fire Warriors are also useful. A Riptide and some Broadsides would be a good way to flesh out the remaining points with units you'll want to keep in larger forces. Piranhas aren't very points-efficient, whether they're in a Firestream Wing or not.

I dont use the FireStream but it has won big events this year, one of which was a major I attended, run by the guy from Bestcoastpairings, Paul Mckelvy (probably butchered his name but hes a nice dude).

The Pirahnas are just one way you can go but the point was, if that is an attractive path for the OP, then choose three of those and if not, go the other directions I mentioned. but it sounds like you're trying to moderate the meta a little here so the Broadsides are good al around and probably the better play for him in that situation.

I am going to assume like most people money is a factor here.

simplest cheapest army I would suggest is get the starter set plus a single broadside.

run an ethereal, 2 units of 5 man fire warriors and 3 individual crisis suits each with a fusion blaster and plasma. then run a single missile broadside (high yeild missile pods and smart missiles)

it is a useable army and gives some options to play with especially with the crisis suits which are some of the easies models to magnetize.

next purchase (3rd box/4th) would suggest doing a breacher team box and break into 2 5 man squads or the new value box with a pathfinder team and a devilfish for a few bucks more. then pick up the one that he did not get

5th box would be a riptide and at this point 1k points is doable.

by the time he has these 5 purchases he should know what he likes and decide from there. also maybe let him proxy in a few various tanks (assuming you have a model he can use)