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.

At long, very long last, the Tau Empire will be returning to Warhammer 40k, and in force. After probably the most fake books or rumours of it being released, the new army book will actually be released. And with no shortage of new units.

Battlesuit box sets, Broadsides, flyers, Pathfinders, Commanders, all new! I have waited long for this, and I know many have as well, I cannot wait to get the book in my hands. So, I wanted to discuss what you think it will be like? And how you think the Tau will fare? Or at least, what do expect, looking at recent books. From what rule rumours I have seen as well what has beem somewhat confirmed, it seems like the army will be centered much around Fire Warriors and the unit leaders, with upgrades and abilites that will stack. I have also seen that the battlesuits will be crutial, as always, but have many more options that doesnt limit them to simply a hit and run style. Something I also found particularly interesting, was sort of augmenting style abilites that affect particular units or special characters.

There is more of course, but tell your thoughts on these matters! All comments welcome.

Mountain-Breaker wrote:
At long, very long last, the Tau Empire will be returning to Warhammer 40k,.

I was not aware that the Army and codex had been removed from the Game. Colour me curious, When did the Tau leave the game? I've been playing them since 3rd ed codex/4th ed BRB. I wopuld hat to think that I was playing an illegal army.

I can see their ranged ability getting incredibly op.

Especially the Broadside. If rumours are true, it's Skyfire with it's Twin Linked Railgun and with it's SMS which is apparently Str 7 AP 4 Heavy 4 Twin Linked ignores cover.

All on an 85 point body.

Yeah, that sounds nasty.

Puscifer wrote:
I can see their ranged ability getting incredibly op.

Especially the Broadside. If rumours are true, it's Skyfire with it's Twin Linked Railgun and with it's SMS which is apparently Str 7 AP 4 Heavy 4 Twin Linked ignores cover.

All on an 85 point body.

Yeah, that sounds nasty.

Can't see it being OP personally. It can be dakka'd down by the said flyer, before it get's to shoot.

Besides, flyers need an army to fear, to stop them being spammed.

Tau anti-air allies, will be good for tourney's ill bet.

 Evileyes wrote:


Can't see it being OP personally. It can be dakka'd down by the said flyer, before it get's to shoot.

Besides, flyers need an army to fear, to stop them being spammed.

Tau anti-air allies, will be good for tourney's ill bet.

The 85 points cost might contribute to there being more than 1, hence it being unable to be dakka'd down by said flyer

I think Tau are the balance to what the meta has become. Its an interesting tactic from GW. Seems like theyve made one race to rule them all.

The whole "Any unit of a specific kind within 6 can overwatch" sounds pretty damn crazy to me. I like the sound of them, Ive always liked tau and the new models tempt me to start a small army.

Overall it seems like tau will be really well balanced and a generally powerful army with lots of synergy. Mass firewarrior will be awesome.

 Captain Avatar wrote:

I was not aware that the Army and codex had been removed from the Game. Colour me curious, When did the Tau leave the game? I've been playing them since 3rd ed codex/4th ed BRB. I would hate to think that I was playing an illegal army.

For many folks they've left for the past few years because of perceived horribleness.

I like the new models. I got it in my head that their one flyer looks like a Banshee from Halo, and now I can't unsee it.

First thing i do is go after the necron player at my local club whose flyers are the bane of my existence.

Puscifer wrote:
I can see their ranged ability getting incredibly op.

Especially the Broadside. If rumours are true, it's Skyfire with it's Twin Linked Railgun and with it's SMS which is apparently Str 7 AP 4 Heavy 4 Twin Linked ignores cover.

All on an 85 point body.

Yeah, that sounds nasty.

And how many people will complain that it might be so squishy because of the low point costs? AV 10 all sides perhaps? Let the whine fest begin.

I dont care. I will finally have a way to deal with Heldrakes that doesnt involve hoping for a 6.

Im very happy I got the syray/ hammerhead kit, there is one guy at the FLGS who plays pretty much 2 6man firewarriors and 9 broadsides. The nidzilla player who has never beaten him before will be happy. Very happy.

They still cannot escape the wrath our IG artillery

On the serious side... they will be strong in some areas and weak in others but they will be one of the good army's now.

I agree for Broadside, it carry a array of weapons now. But I think it will be like in DoW: use missiles when it moves and Railguns when entrench himself. So it will be quite weak to sniping and cc.

i enjot tau... i had a plan for them back in 5th, and did ok with them. my army unfortuitly got shelved not long after.

i may ressurect them, but i have necrons, daemons and GK to work on first. so tau will be a project for much later down the road.

I'm so pumped for my tau to get an update.

What I find interesting is that many units right now need little to no change. Broadsides are IMO perfect. The points are there, the options are good, their armament is perfect. They could use BS4 (like a lot of other things), but really I think they have amazing balance. Firewarriors are pretty good too. They could be reduced by a point or two maybe, or get the Sgt for free, but other wise I like them. I would like to see access to some heavy/special weapons like fusion guns, flamers or missile pods. Hammerhead tanks are pretty awesome too. Their points cost is good, and I really can't see them getting any changes. Maybe actual missile pods for a second weapon. not just dumbass smart missile systems.

Crisis suits need some changing. They need to be increased to a five man squad, 3 is just too few, though I don't think they should really go any higher than 5 certainly not 10. They aren't terminators for crying out loud. Suits do need BS4 base, they are elites for crying out loud. Hit and run standard would be nice too, considering they have jet packs and all.

Stealth suits I have always liked, but are a unit that seemed half baked. They have good rules and a good stat line, but are more expensive than crisis suits for some ungodly reason. Bump them down to 18-20 points a model, increase their unit size to 7, and give them some real weapon options, and they will be one killer unit. A 5 man unit of stealths with plasma guns in cover will be a bunker that will be a tough nut to crack, especially with markerlight support.

Devilfish are another unit that I like but are highly divisive among tau players. They are a solid transport, with good protection, a decent gun, and some nice options. Unfortunately, they don't have firepoints and are overpriced. Knock them down to 50 points, and call them great.

I would really love to see markerlights come back in a huge way. They are an amazing asset as is, but are underutlitized due to the platforms they are on. Pathfinders are great, but the required devilfish makes them too expensive. Randomly giving them to stealth suits and firewarriors is a waste, and Sky Rays and drone teams are too situational to be relied upon. These are something that I think GW is going to change and not for the better.


With all that said, I'm more excited about the last three codices that have come out. Each one has been strong and balanced. With small exception (helldrakes...cough cough), there hasn't been anything truly overpowered and the options are intelligent and useful. This leads me to believe that the Tau codex is going to stand up with those books and will be one to be respected (and feared).

Broadsides aren't perfect if they are an auto take. No one takes hammerheads or skyrays, while skyrays suck, hammerheads are decent and they aren't being taken because of broadsides.

One thing that would be awesome is if seeker missiles hit the side of the vehicle that the marker was being pointed at.

i use tau strictly for Broadside allied detachments for my orks. I dont have nearly enough of them to play as Tau or even Tau as the main force and Orks as an ally.

If its true that Broadsides are getting Skyfire and their Smartmissiles are getting Str7 Ap4, i will no longer be debating taking the Tau detachment or going straight orks lol. That is till the new ork codex has something equally as /drool worthy.

FoWPlayerDeathOfUS.TDs wrote:
Broadsides aren't perfect if they are an auto take. No one takes hammerheads or skyrays, while skyrays suck, hammerheads are decent and they aren't being taken because of broadsides.

Why does being an auto take make them not perfect? They are taken by everyone because they are so perfect. Hammerheads are really good, and I always take one because of it. However, Broadsides are probably the greatest anti tank package* in the game, and to not take them would be follie on the part of any Tau player.

*I say package because of everything that they combine. Meaning they combine an awesome gun, with a good platform and decent defensive qualities. Will Multi-Meltas Pen AV14 at short range better? yes. Broadsides are able to pen anything at a longer range than almost anything else in the game, and are twin linked at that. They are T4, have 2 wounds, have a 2+, can get a 4++, and can boost their BS. When taken all together, they kill tanks good and hard.

Yup, damn straight they kill tanks good and hard.

Just got done doing Orks + Tau allies against IG. My bikerboss got Outflank warlord trait so he popped up behind the enemy gunline turn 2 (muhahahaha) but my 3 tau broadsides turn 1 popped a russ behind an ADL with his shrouded rule...limiting his anti-horde shots to 2 pi plates not 3 as my hordes of green trekked on up the board. They didnt do much else as his Vendettas looked at them but taking out that pi plate was HUGE for me lol

i think he was pointing out that a unit that is so good in its role, as you pointed out (great range, firepower and defence) and cheap to boot and over shadows its competing units in the HS slot is NOT perfect. a perfect unit would be one that does its job well, but makes you go "hmmm i COULd take these for this, but the other unit does something else that simaler and yet diffirent and is also good"

personally i think broadsides should loose the ability to get invun saves. 2+ armor is good as it is in 6th, take into factor that they 98% of the time deploy in cover, and they really dont need it. a point redux... maybe. more weapon options? also a maybe. but they dont need specilist gear like shield generators or anything else. what i hope broadsides get is:

- points are -5 to 10 each from current. they come with the rail cannon. the "crisis suit support system" is stabilizers for the heavy cannons (wich also prevents use of jump pack and removes the normal crisis jump infantry rule)
- it can purchase a set of "arm weapons" from a list for premium value, but are not required to. thats it. as for stat bar, bs4 seems fine, s / t 4 is also ok. init should be 1 or maybe 2, 1 attack, ld 8 and a 3+armor. (they are essentially just re purposed crisis suits... where is the extra armor coming from?) however, i would add in a "split deployment" rule. if bought in teams of 3, each suit can deploy and act on its own, should you wish - without taking up additonal HS slots. or just make the unit a max of 2 per, and you can buy 2 units for one HS selection.

I do hope you all realize that pretty much every rumor mongrer agrees that the Railgun is getting poked down to S8 AP1?

 PraetorDave wrote:
Why does being an auto take make them not perfect? They are taken by everyone because they are so perfect.

Not true. In a tabletop wargame, a 'perfect' unit would imply perfect balance. The fact that Broadsides are auto includes while others in the slot are still perfectly fine for their cost implies they are stoo good for their points cost, thus, not perfectly balanced. A perfectly balanced unit is not an auto include - you weight up the strengths, weaknesses and points values against others in the slot and take them according to that. Nothing should be an auto include.

 -Loki- wrote:

 PraetorDave wrote:
Why does being an auto take make them not perfect? They are taken by everyone because they are so perfect.

Not true. In a tabletop wargame, a 'perfect' unit would imply perfect balance. The fact that Broadsides are auto includes while others in the slot are still perfectly fine for their cost implies they are stoo good for their points cost, thus, not perfectly balanced. A perfectly balanced unit is not an auto include - you weight up the strengths, weaknesses and points values against others in the slot and take them according to that. Nothing should be an auto include.

Arguably, though, it's not that Broadsides are too good but rather that their competition is too bad.

 PraetorDave wrote:


Why does being an auto take make them not perfect? They are taken by everyone because they are so perfect..

So I guess Heldrakes, Vendettas and Librarians or Rune Priests are perfect?

If something is so much stronger than everything else in the codex, there's an issue with either the unit, or the balance of the codex as a whole. It's the opposite of perfect.

I feel like the Tau as a whole will become even better ranged. Now with different and more vehicles, as well as battlesuits being what seems even better. Also the amount of buffs or upgrades available make just the Fire Warriors better.

I cant wait to get out the Hammerheads and Battlesuits again and see how they work. Im also interested in the new drones. And if snipers will become more viable. Maybe a sniper/stealth based list could even be done.

Also I didnt mean that Tau left 40k completely. Obviously that didnt happen. But they became less and less viable as time went on.

Darn it I thought it was an announcement of a price lowering and customer friendlier policies on GW part. Instead I find about a newer fish 'ead catalogue. Hope for cool models anyways.

Haha, I dont think that will be seem for some time. But in the mean time, may as well just enjoy what is released. I am really looking forward to getting the new codex. (even though its $50, but local hobby shop has 25% off)

I'm very much looking forward to the Tau becoming one of the major armies. In my mind, this actually advances the fluff somewhat. I think seeing more Tau armies around will be sort of represent how the Tau empire is expanding and entering the big war on many new frontiers.
Here's to seeing how the new Tau will fit into the big picture!

Speaking as someone who's played them for over 4 years and never stopped, come you fools, buy models, I can't wait till you sell them so I can buy more for cheap.