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Hi guys, I have lurked for a while but finally came back to the hobby a couple of months back after about a 15 year break. I am looking for some advice on three armies, and to avoid breaking any rules I'll make three separate threads.

In this thread I'd like some help with my Tau. I currently have about 800 points all finished, and about another 200 on the way to being complete. I'd like to pick people's brains about some options for 1000 point games, and ways to expand to 1500.

A couple of notes: This is not for tournament whatsoever. I own 3 armies and have made a gaming table at home. I will be playing exclusively at home with friends. However, I don't just want to avoid trash-tier armies, I also want to build armies that are to some degree versatile and fun to play (and paint!)

Secondly, I don't mind playing units that are suboptimal, provided they aren't absolute garbage-tier.

Finally, I want to maximise my £££ as much as possible. I have no intention of spending £30+ on "man with sword". I like my kits to have a substantial amount to them!

Ok so, here's my current list for 1000 points of Tau:

HQ:
Coldstar Commander
Ethereal
Cadre Fireblade

Troops:
Strike Team x10
Strike Team x10

Elites:
Crisis Battlesuits x3

Fast Attack:
Pathfinders x10

Heavy Support:
Broadside Battlesuit

That comes out as around about 1000 points. I also own a Ghostkeel and 3 Stealth Battlesuits but have not built them yet. I don't really have any interest in Kroot or Vespid, but I really like the look of the Hammerhead and the Stormsurge.

Send some ideas my way, and thanks for any help!

One of the most bang for your buck units you can get right now are Kroot Carnivores. You get 16 models (and can convert one to a shaper) for 75% of the cost of a 10 man Fire Warrior Team. Though, if you don't have any interest in them that doesn't help.

More Crisis suits are always good, they are very flexible and strong, though they are rather expensive.

Building up your Ghostkeel and Stealth teams would be great for forward deploying and contesting the midfield objectives.

Hammerhead gunships are SUPER strong right now and have always been quite flavorful.

Having a unit of breaches to help out with fighting a little closer is good too. They get an invul with their special drone and are pretty hard to kill.

Taking the auxiliary kits and the expensive stuff off the table, doesn't actually leave all that much in terms of options, it would be better to know what kind of Sept/general strategy you want to go with.

Thanks for the reply!

I am totally open to getting a unit of Kroot, but the impression I get from the Codex is that they are better in Kroot-focused armies. If I am wrong about that though then I am totally open to getting some instead of picking up a third Strike Team. In fact I would probably prefer that.

I don't really want to get any more Crisis suits because as you say they are very expensive. I only got the ones I have as they were in the Starter kit. I love the models, I just don't want to spend nearly £50 on three models and do all the magnetising again.

The Ghostkeel and Stealth suits are next on the list!

I like Hammerheads and have never owned one, so I may pick one up rather than getting a second Broadside. I don't really like duplicating the larger models for more numbers, I'd much rather have a diverse collection of minis.

In terms of sept and strategy I'm not 100% sure. For now I am using Bor'kan, and I like the idea of going for a heavy defensive gunline, but I guess that kinda describes all Tau septs to an extent. Again, this is only for fun, and I am building the list alongside two other armies to play with friends and use them all against each other, so I only really need something functional and fun, rather than super optimised.

Kroot are decent in regular armies, but things like Stealthsuits can also fill that role too. Kroot aren't all that strong on a per unit basis, but you get a lot for their points. 25 for an HQ and 60 for a squad of ten. That helps a lot with the FO chart, allowing you to be more flexible with your other options. Where they really shine is in the Dal'Yth Sept where they gain access to Mont'Ka and Kayuon that they don't normally get. One thing I like to do is forward deploy a Stealth Team, then run up some Kroot to support them on the first turn, it makes them very hard to dislodge as the Stealth team is hard to hit in shooting, and the Kroot can screen them from melee and provide obsec. (The relic gun you can give the Shaper is also surprisingly strong. I 1 shot an Custodes Terminator with it in my last game.) If you invest a little more in them, you can stack buffs on them nicely too. The Shaper gives them re-roll 1's to hit and can have a WT that lets them ignore cover if the target is within 12" and the Ethereal can give them +1 to wound.

I feel you in the crisis teams, they are my favorite non-Kroot unit, but damn are they expensive.

Likewise on both accounts, I've always wanted one and never had one, and I don't like spamming the same unit when I can avoid it.

Yeah Bor'Kan is big guns go boom. More Broadsides and tanks would be good there. Hammerhead for sure, another broadside with a different build (I like 1 missile, 1 rail), a Riptide is good in Bor'Kan.

Awesome, thanks for the help. I'll look at getting some Kroot and a Hammerhead to round out my 1500 points, and then probably a Riptide or something when I inevitably bump it up to 2k. Thanks!

If you are thinking about the different Septs, here's a rough breakdown:

T'au: Favours specialist units like Hammerheads that have low volume of high powered shots. This gets the most bang for their buck out of the 1 re-roll to hit and wound per unit. Their sept strat does still support some smaller massed fire though too, with a strat that gives a +1 to wound a against a unit that's already been wounded. Overall, very good at focusing down key targets / elite heavy armies like Custodes, but weaker to swarm armies.

Vior'la: I think these guys are the weakest, they read like a close range focused Sept, but Farsight Enclaves just do it so much better. They can recycle CP pretty well though.

Sa'Cea: These guys are the big gun line Sept. Vehicles and Infantry are hard to hit at range with the benefit of Dense Cover at 18" and 12" respectively. Put the infantry in light cover and they get really hard to shoot off the table. They also have some passable mitigation when the enemy closes into melee. Kings of the castle for sure.

Dal'yth: This is the Sept I play the most and is the Auxiliary focused Sept, providing benefits to your Kroot and Vespid while still giving some extra armour to your other Infantry and suits. I use this with masses of Kroot to flood the midfield with bodies and throw out an ocean of small arms fire to take down anything below T8 with relative ease. Then just hold onto the objectives as you're pretty hard to shift and you have an ocean of obsec bodies. It's good for suit focused armies as well as it gives them (and non-auxiliary infantry) permanent light cover.

Bork'an: Another ranged focused faction, however Sa'Cea does most of it better. The -1S to attacks against vehicles and suits would be good, but since it's only for weapons S7 and under, it turns out to be pretty situational. (Most of the anti-armour is S8 or better so it really only protects you from massed light shooting). The pros are that it makes your commander VERY shooty. I could see a Coldstar with all burst cannons being really deadly with the WT and Sig System. (An extra pip of AP to all weapons, 6's to wound do extra mortals, and +1 to wound). The other nice thing is the Strat that lets one of your attacks ignore an invul. Feels like Bork'an is a hybrid of T'au and Sa'cea, decent at single target focus and with some ranged defense but nowhere near as specialized as either of these two.

Farsight Enclaves: These are the others I have the most personal experience with. They are the up close and in your face faction. You always want to be within 12" of your enemy and can then forgo markerlights on most of your army. Provides good shock and awe attack with Deep Striking Crisis Suits re-rolling hits and wounds and gives you a pretty killy warlord.

Beyond that, there are the custom Septs of every flavour, but none of them really stand out to me as that great unless you are dedicating your entire army to doing something very specific.

Hope that helps out a bit.

I would definitely recommend getting another box of Crisis and another Broadside, even if from a second hand place, you can often get good deals on Trolltrader or Facebook Marketplace. Also worth magnetising the Crisis weapons; it's a little tedious but gets easier once you get the hang of it.

I've run Farsight Mont'ka and it usually goes really well. Good loadouts for Crisis teams are usually CIB/Missiles/Plasma, and you can't say no to a 4++ Invuln for another 5pts. Sometimes it's also best to start the Crisis on the board instead of Manta Striking them.