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.

Looking to get into Tau. I have no idea what models I need and how much I would need. I would like to be competitive but I don't want to be "That Guy". What would be a good list where I can win some and loose some and just not be a jerk (list wise). I appreciate any input. Thank you

First of all welcome on Dakka.

Second, I have no idea about T'au, but I suggest you to do a search on the sub-forum army list. Maybe you find some interesting info.

edit: also have a look to the Start Collecting box.

The 1d4chan tau tactics article is a good place to start IMO.

First, it depends how many points you're playing with. Are you planning on 1000 points? 2000 points? More? Less?

Good units at the moment include Coldstar Commanders*, Strike Team Fire Warriors, missile-heavy Broadsides, Ion Hammerheads, Stealth Team, Cadre Fireblade**, Firesight Marksmen**, Pathfinders for markerlights and special weapons, Ghostkeels.

Heavy Burst Cannon Riptides are decent as well, though only bring one, as they need strategems to be fully useful, so you can only make one really good.

Kroot Hounds and Vespid are great, but are expensive to get and not in plastic.

Lots of other units are just fine outside of competitive meta, though Crisis Suits are way overpriced at the moment, so I'd avoid a Crisis Heavy army.

*XV85 and XV8 Commanders are fine as well, just not as good as Coldstars
**Easy to kit bash from Fire Warrior kits rather than overpriced single models

I would suggest you firstly go out and buy a huge anime collection relating to giant robots vs monsters. Then, if you have time, fill your life with some japanese samari films from the 60s-80s. The more serotyped the beter! Finally, make sure to inject giant robo gundam hentai straight into your eyes so you can be fully prepared for the experience ahead.

I'm an ork player myself so I just try to start lots of fights... that's how i started.

First things first: talk with other Tau players in your FLGS and watch their games (if they're close to you, ask them to lend you some minis to test lists by yourself). Watch some battle reports in youtube.

Don't buy anything before you're sure you want to.

 John Prins wrote:
First, it depends how many points you're playing with. Are you planning on 1000 points? 2000 points? More? Less?

Good units at the moment include Coldstar Commanders*, Strike Team Fire Warriors, missile-heavy Broadsides, Ion Hammerheads, Stealth Team, Cadre Fireblade**, Firesight Marksmen**, Pathfinders for markerlights and special weapons, Ghostkeels.

Heavy Burst Cannon Riptides are decent as well, though only bring one, as they need strategems to be fully useful, so you can only make one really good.

Kroot Hounds and Vespid are great, but are expensive to get and not in plastic.

Lots of other units are just fine outside of competitive meta, though Crisis Suits are way overpriced at the moment, so I'd avoid a Crisis Heavy army.

*XV85 and XV8 Commanders are fine as well, just not as good as Coldstars
**Easy to kit bash from Fire Warrior kits rather than overpriced single models

I mostly agree with this fella, but if your FLGS is ok with Forgeworld, both Y'vahra and BArracuda aren't bad prospects at all

3 Riptides, 3 Ionheads and Longstrike.

Easiest way to go from 40 to 0 friends in just one week!

If you don't wanna be "that guy", only take one of the pair.

A very generic comp Tau list is something like

1+ Cadre Fireblade

30+ FW with pulse rifles

some Commanders (Coldstar with fusion and Enforcer with CIBs or drone controller are the two best)

some Stealth suits (not universal, but really common, can also take Ghostkeels or Kroot for similar-ish purposes)

some markerlights (firesight marksmen especially, but also drones and pathfinders)

maybe an Ethereal

some big guns like Riptides/Hammerheads/Broadsides/Y'vahras/Tiger Sharks. Drones, especially shield drones, are important to support the battlesuits.

Really though, most of the codex is in good shape and the only units I'd warn people away from are Crisis teams, the Tidewall Shieldline, and Krootox. Be aware though that some specific wargear for units are very poor, like Railgun Hammerheads are basically useless compared to Ion Cannons.

There's some solid special characters. Darkstrider and Longstrike are the standouts, but Shadowsun and Farsight aren't bad. Aun'shi and Aun'va probably won't show up in many competitive lists.

Septs are in decent shape, Tau/Bork'an/Sa'cea are probably the strongest but Vior'la and Farsight Enclaves have their uses too. Dal'yth is pretty marginal.

Commanders are excellent. 2 to 3 of them is never a bad idea. I have 3 quad fusion coldstars that regularly see use in my lists, and they do a lot of work in general when supporting a large bulk of fire warriors.

Speaking of, fire warriors are really nice when buffed up with an ethereal and a fireblade. Pretty decent point to wound ratio, decent armor save, great firepower at rapid fire range, these guys are humble yet indispensable. 48 Fire Warriors is a good amount of troops to base a list around, and they're never a burden because their volume of high strength anti-infantry firepower is so devastating to other normal infantry units. Put them in a T'au detachment to make them extremely difficult to charge, or a Bor'kan detachment for even longer range triple-tap threat, or Sa'cea to make them a stealth way to add markerlights to your list to support other models in the army (the reroll makes the Shas'ui markerlight quite valuable).

Stealth Suits are great at keeping deep strikers at bay and are not bad at holding territory against non-committal attacks. IMO, you can't go wrong with 3 ~ 6 of these guys.

Heavy Burst Cannon Riptides, High Yield Missile Pod Broadsides, and Ionheads with Longstrike are the usual suspects when considering hitting power in the list to back up the fire warrior backbone. Riptides hit a bit light but last a long time with a 3++, Broadsides hit very hard but require a lot of support pieces and central placement, and Ionheads hit decently well but are vulnerable to getting scalpel'd out by the opponent since they don't have savior protocols or invulnerable saves.

Currently I'm riding Sniper Drones in T'au detachments really hard. These things are really good now that they inflict mortal wounds, and their accuracy is very high when supported by all the right pieces. Opponents taking traditional deathstars like the Bullgryn Meatstar have to be wary of a fully buffed sniper drone volley, as 27 snipers rapid-firing with full buffs kills the 1+/2++ 27 wound unit comfortably.