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So, I'm still thinking about making a Gue'vesa detachment of allied Guard for my Tau. But I started thinking about this in 5ed, when it was easy to see what Tau were missing - I wanted a blob squad to tarpit the enemy, a Primaris Psyker to give me some psychic ability, and some Hydras for AA power.

But now we have a 6ed Tau Codex, is this still the best 'complementary' force? What does the 6ed Tau codex lack, and how can I make up for this with the IG codex?

It depends what is the rest of your list like?, if its say a farsight bomb which needs to be able to survive combat then a marine is better for ATSNKF, if its a shooty based army then eldar are good for mobile scoring and some psyhic powers. If its suit heavy then a cheap blob is good for scoring and you can never say no to a barrage weapon or two from the guard dex.

At the moment, I'm pretty suit-heavy (no Riptides), with a FW base and FW Tau Flyers.

So maybe stick with the blob and Psyker, and swap the Hydras for some big blast weapons?

How many points you want to play with?, is this for your coming trip to the US?.


Honestly I dont rate the Tau flyers but I have never seen them in game, for anti air riptides are your best bet but you arent running any lol!, the next best bet would be a allied vendetta, yes its 45 pts more the a hydra but its worth it!. I rate the simple mortars a lot to be honest, barrage is very good to get those pesky etherals etc.

I would consider something like this

Primaris psyker, 2 rolls on biomancy

Platoon with 2 extra squads with mortars in each

vendetta

manticore or other artillery.

All depends on how many pts you want to put into allies (above is like 610pts! dropping the manticore brings it down to a more managable 450pts.

Oh no, the Tau list for NOVA is pretty set.

My pair of Skyrays and HYMP does me fine for anti-air there.

I think both of the Cofex flyers are rubbish, but the Barracuda is quite fun, and Remoras can be a pain in the ass for an opponent too...

It's just an idea for when I'm back - I've been meaning to get a little Guard contingent going for a while. No set list size.

 ArbitorIan wrote:
Oh no, the Tau list for NOVA is pretty set.

My pair of Skyrays and HYMP does me fine for anti-air there.

I think both of the Cofex flyers are rubbish, but the Barracuda is quite fun, and Remoras can be a pain in the ass for an opponent too...

It's just an idea for when I'm back - I've been meaning to get a little Guard contingent going for a while. No set list size.

Fluff wise you could squeeze a detta and vehicles in, just got salvaged or caputred from a rebel world. Not sure if primaris psyker would fit in with Tau fluff wise lol!.

I think suits a guard blob would work quite well, throw in a few heavy weapon teams and its quite a useable ally.

The only thing Tau really doesn't do that IG does do is barrage templates behind LOS blockers and Flyers.

I think a artillery squadron could help out.

Also Marbo.

lord commi - pwr weapon
pcs-4 flamers - chimera
50 man blob - 5 pwr weapons, 5 flamers,.....? 3 chimera?
?3x sws-3flamers (maybe to chuck into chimeras)?
3 griffons (excellant for picking out specil weapons and smashing units hidding out of line of sight)

thats about 1k ish but without the chimeras and sws you can knock that down to around 600

Things IG can give you:

0) Marbo. Accurate demo charges out of nowhere are a threat your opponent has to respect, and Marbo is cheap. He doesn't really count as something IG gives you though, since he was already in your list the whole time waiting for a moment of weakness.

1) Sabre guns (with lascannons). Durable scoring units that also provide extremely efficient interceptor firepower. Since you're already taking the platoon for meatshields these are obvious.

2) Vendetta. More flyers is always good, especially when they can deliver a PCS to claim an objective in your opponent's half of the table (something Tau can struggle with).

3) Vulture. If you aren't worried about objectives it's hard to beat 20 TL STR 5 shots at BS 4 on a flyer platform. Kills infantry of all types, and averages 6 HP a turn against vehicles if you can get into an AV 10 arc.

4) More pie plates. An Earthshaker/Medusa battery is extremely cost-effective and goes well with your existing infantry-heavy list, a LR Executioner makes marines/MCs go away, etc.


So, sample list:

Lord Commissar (joins Sabres to keep them from running)

PCS, 4x flamer (in Vendetta)
IS x5 (can be cut to a minimum if you don't need that many meatshields)
Sabre battery with 3x LC and 3x extra crew
Sabre battery with 3x LC and 3x extra crew

Marbo

Vendetta

Earthshaker x2

Total of about 1000 points depending on how you arm the platoon (LC + melta/plasma for static objective holders, power axes + melta for assaulting). If you want a smaller allied force I'd drop the meatshield squads to the minimum of two, and cut the earthshakers entirely.

 Peregrine wrote:
0) Marbo. Accurate demo charges out of nowhere are a threat your opponent has to respect, and Marbo is cheap. He doesn't really count as something IG gives you though, since he was already in your list the whole time waiting for a moment of weakness.

10/10 would laugh again.

OP, since Hydras don't have Interceptor, I think that Missilesides offer better anti-air fire than what Hydras can. As far as IG anti-air goes though, the Sabre Platforms that Peregrine mentioned above are pretty deadly.