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I have an old tau army, and with the new codex out, I'm debating whether to stick with my broadsides or put the time and effort into getting riptides. From my reading of the statlines, it seems like the riptides are tougher and have a better anti-air capability, because they can take both EWS and VT. Broadsides on the other hand put out more raw firepower than riptides; for 180 points of broadsides+ drones, you get 16 missiles (8 twin linked) and 8 sms vs 12 missiles and 4 sms you get for a riptide. So given that the riptide is tougher and more versatile but the broadside does more damage, which do you think is better? Or are they both equally good, just in different ways?

My buddy and I played against a Tau player using both of them in her half of a 2k force. They're not in the same FOC so I don't see any reason not to take both if you like both. They're also both incredibly effective units. I don't see much reason to have to choose unless it's at a very, very small points level.

If you're using Broadsides I would use MissileSides since Rail is not Str8. Also you will have to put them on a larger base because the new models are 60mm base instead of 40mm. Riptide is alright. If you know how to kill it it's not hard to be put down though.

Broadisdes are my babies, for my army I run two teams of 3 w/ shield drones and missile pods. They are my firebase and I love them so much in a turn they can take out about 20 guardsmen when guided by markerlights. But riptide is also wonderful, I generally have one run with the two teams to help defend them and distract the fire away from them. Both are incredible.

 dnanoodle wrote:
My buddy and I played against a Tau player using both of them in her half of a 2k force. They're not in the same FOC so I don't see any reason not to take both if you like both. They're also both incredibly effective units. I don't see much reason to have to choose unless it's at a very, very small points level.

I should have been more clear. I can't use both for points reasons, not foc reasons. I always like to run 8-9 crisis suits. When you add in troops, that leaves points for either rip tides or broadsides. If i had riptides, i might run them in a riptide/broadside list sometimes, but i put too much effort into making my crisis suits to put them on the shelf for very long. If I bring rip tides, I'll run my suits with farsight so there are enough foc slots.

Oh, and I always run missilsides, should have said that too.

Exalbaru wrote:
If you're using Broadsides I would use MissileSides since Rail is not Str8. Also you will have to put them on a larger base because the new models are 60mm base instead of 40mm. Riptide is alright. If you know how to kill it it's not hard to be put down though.

Actually you can leave old broadsides on 40mm bases as BRB says models should be used on bases supplied

Rocket_Launcher wrote:

Exalbaru wrote:
If you're using Broadsides I would use MissileSides since Rail is not Str8. Also you will have to put them on a larger base because the new models are 60mm base instead of 40mm. Riptide is alright. If you know how to kill it it's not hard to be put down though.

Actually you can leave old broadsides on 40mm bases as BRB says models should be used on bases supplied

I'm not sure how that works with OOP models though. I mean technically with that rule you would be correct but I wonder how a TO would look at it. To me I would see it as cheating because 60mm takes up more room. I would still play against it with no arguments but recognize they can fit more in a small space.


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Edit: Found this post concerning the same topic. Seems everyone is onboard with keeping them on origionals being good to go based on BRB. They also reccomend rebasing or putting the smaller base on a bigger one to eliminate problems and tourneys. Like I said before on a personal game I would have no issue with it but for TO involvement I don't know how they would handle it.

I still can't believe they're on the huge base now, but still T4.

If the choice is Riptide or Broadside there is an easy way to find the answer.
Riptides alone are less reliable but have more potential. That potetial is more easy to obtain if you have support.
Broadsides, either HYMP or HRR, are more reliable for their firepower but are less maneuverable. However they don't need as much support as the Riptide will require to reach it's potential. Broadsides without help are fine as they are.

So what do you think will help out more. Do you need a tough unit that can wade through to the back field and get line breaker? Do you feel more comfortable having a reliable unit that doesn't require a lot of supporting units?

For me I think I'd end up with the Broadsides. They're fairly reliable and if I have crisis suits, then I'd just use them for the down field control.

I think it depends on the rest of your list and how you play. If you need the mobility and toughness, especially late game, then riptides are great. they can move out and contest objectives and will be hard to shift. From the test games I've had the HYMP-sides are brutal and are great anti air being twin linked and one plus markers helps no end too, plus having a couple of these at the centre of your gun line will wreck a lot of units which may make it into assault with supporting fire. Find the points for both IMO.

Riptides are way better IMO.

Broadsides really do nothing unique for the Tau army anymore. They're just a cost effective missile platform and nothing else, but you can substitute other units to fill the same role.

Conversely, Riptides are capable of doing things that no other Tau unit can, so they open up completely new strategies for your army.

I honestly see no reason not to use at least two Riptides in every Tau army. And even three Riptides isn't a bad idea if you get your Crisis Suits through your HQs.

The riptide wins hands down.

Take him with an ion accelerator, fusion blaster, a riptide stim injector and a velocity tracker. Against flyers, you roll nova charge for ripple fire (2x fusion blaster shos that are twin linked

At 9" range with a little markerlight support from a skyray (which I believe is an autotake) you can take down a flyer a turn, easy.

Even if you don't nova, at BS3+1, you should make your opponent's flyer with all the AP1 and 2 you're toting.

Finally, a riptide is a pain to kill. At best, he's got an 88% chance of shrugging off all hits from SAF (AP3 or less in his case) meaning it takes 45 wounds to kill him. Note that's 45 successful wounds. That's about 400 shots from a BS4S4AP5 weapon.

In short, riptides will ruin your opponents shooting, especially if you make it such a looming threat that they have to deal with it.

My riptide has taken an entire panzerdivision worth of firepower and come out on the other side with 2 wounds to its name.

Imagine if riptides could get iron arm...

I suppose I should've done some sort of comparison, eh?

Well, broadsides are only toughness four. This means that they can take only so much firepower before they start dropping. Sure, they have 4 more drones, but they still get knocked out by S8. If I whitle down your drones with 12 wounds (all it takes to kill a 6 wound 4+ save ablatia) then hit you with some melta guns, you're dead meat.

Of course, broadsides aren't designed to survive firepower, merely to dish it out. While I will concede they out out a larger amount of fire power than their shas'vre friends, they don't have that hall marked Tau mobility that makes them so usable. They will be easy pickings to any squad that gets in range, of course the squad has to get there first.

 Scipio Africanus wrote:
The riptide wins hands down.

Take him with an ion accelerator, fusion blaster, a riptide stim injector and a velocity tracker. Against flyers, you roll nova charge for ripple fire (2x fusion blaster shos that are twin linked

At 9" range with a little markerlight support from a skyray (which I believe is an autotake) you can take down a flyer a turn, easy.

Even if you don't nova, at BS3+1, you should make your opponent's flyer with all the AP1 and 2 you're toting.

Finally, a riptide is a pain to kill. At best, he's got an 88% chance of shrugging off all hits from SAF (AP3 or less in his case) meaning it takes 45 wounds to kill him. Note that's 45 successful wounds. That's about 400 shots from a BS4S4AP5 weapon.

In short, riptides will ruin your opponents shooting, especially if you make it such a looming threat that they have to deal with it.

My riptide has taken an entire panzerdivision worth of firepower and come out on the other side with 2 wounds to its name.

Imagine if riptides could get iron arm...

100% agree, riptides are the best! never leave home without two of them.

The only thing that usually kills a riptide is itself...mwahahaha

This seems like a bit of an odd question TBH. Riptides and Broadsides serve potentially very different purposes in your army, have potentially quite different points costs, and take up different slots.


As you say, the broadsides have more raw firepower - about the only thing they get beaten by is the overcharged Ion Accelerator against MEQ/TEQ. A squad of 3 broadsides with no upgrades costs roughly the same as a riptide with no upgrades - though the broadsides can reach nearly double the cost if you go all out with skyfire and missile drones. They're also far more reliable - the HBC riptide only really performs with nova-charge, and the IA riptide still needs overcharge or overheat to work properly.

The tradeoff is whether you sacrifice firepower for mobility and durability.

Honestly, I think you should be comparing Riptide vs Crisis Suits - they have the same kind of abilities and targets.