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So I was thinking of getting a group of Piranhas for my Tau, they seem nice in groups but, Are they realy good? How many should I bring in a group? 3? Or maybe even 5? Should I equip them for anti infantry, Or anti tank?

They are pretty good, but only bare bones.
See, with no upgrades they get the job done by just being dirt cheap-anything you add, is just lowering that value.
Just drop the drones, and you got two units who are each more trouble to kill then its worth, but both doing fair damage for the cost, and they are still worth only 1 killpoint.

Now, seeker spam IS an option, and funny at that, but not of great value.

Dpods are a waste because once the drones jump off, its effectively a 15 point defensive upgrade to a 16 points model, just get another. (its "16 points" because the two drones are 24 points of the total 40. the hull itself is mere 16 then. cheapest burst cannon around.)

They are best served in enclave forces, where S5AP5 is a little more required, and you really don't want the static pathfinders, so your FA slots are mostly empty.

As for numbers, I value small groups, so they wont become targets. a pair or trio works just fine. cheap and annoying.
A whole swarm of 5 got uses, but different. they become less disposable harassment and more of a tactical asset.

When you think what do you DO with them-roadblocks.
Seriously, just use the AV11 front to block enemy movement (most armies cant breach AV11 with basic guns), forcing him to either commit firepower, or keep getting slowed.
The drones work in a similar fashion, you just use thrust moves with them to patch up any wholes your opponent might try to charge though, again forcing him to waste valuable time and firepower on units you don't care about, costs practically nothing and don't even give killpoints.

Just remember-disembark drones ASAP.

The interesting thing about them is they provide a ton of anti infantry (a unit of 5 has 4 BC which is 20 S5 AP5 shots and 10 Gun Drones for 20 more TL S5 AP5 shots) all for 200pts bareboned. SInce theyre so squishy, buying any upgrade on them is pointless as they'll become more of a target and vanish off the board

4" coherency range will block incoming armies, making him deal with them. Detached gun drones provide 5 mini-units to also cause some issues. The fact that theyre so cheap, have a 5+ jink (4+ if turbo'd) by default, and produce 5 mini-units of drones causes so much pathing issues for assaulty armies. On top of this, they provide enough dakka to be a major annoyance for infantry or even light vehicles (AV10/11)

People usually dont run them because the typical tau list is already stressed for cash, and getting the Piranhas means giving up a big gun usually. I intend to figure out a good list to use them with eventually, just because i HATE castle tau which is the normal tau.

I like running 1 to 4 Piranhas with Dpods and fusion blaster. They act as decent tank hunters, when they aren't killed first because everyone I play hates them. The drones are great at getting rear armor and generally being a nuisance. 12 inches of movement usually gets you into melta range on first or second turn, and the jink save really helps.

 Vineheart01 wrote:
, and produce 5 mini-units of drones causes so much pathing issues for assaulty armies.

is incorrect since the new codex , all detached drones from the same unit of piranha create just 1 group of drones

i like to run them with fusion guns and run them at either enemy armor or an entrenched position like a Dev squad or a vaul battery. I drop the drones first then move them all toward the same target, and i usually try to bring the Piranhas around behind an aegis if terrain allows and move the drones up front. Either way its a nice 1 -2 punch that can rarely be ignored. Its even better when you are DSing suits so that way your move vulnerable troops will avoid immediate first turn fire. Another tactic i occasionally use is keeping the piranhas and their drones separate, then hiding the fusion piranhas behind terrain and using them as a counter attack style unit to get rear armor.

Base Piranhas are a real value.

Really can't argue with four S5 shots on a fast, AV11 platform for 16 points! I field a squadron of 4, drop the drones turn 1 and join them to a Commander for BS5 goodness.

I tend to like a sole pirahnna with a fusion blaster for some vehicle hunting.

kambien wrote:

 Vineheart01 wrote:
, and produce 5 mini-units of drones causes so much pathing issues for assaulty armies.

is incorrect since the new codex , all detached drones from the same unit of piranha create just 1 group of drones

Wait, what? where does it say that because i actually prefer that so i can make a legit "You shall not pass!" wall

*starts rereading his codex, since that ISNT in the mail unlike his brb*

"--or a vehicle squadron then form a new unit--" holy crap howd i miss that? Oops.. lol

I tend to like a sole pirahnna with a fusion blaster for some vehicle hunting.

While cheap my issue with it would be any unit with a S5 average gun or a couple random S5 guns could deal with it before it gets anywhere. A whole unit is very cheap even if they all have meltas and force him to use bigger toys to get rid of them.

 Vineheart01 wrote:

kambien wrote:

 Vineheart01 wrote:
, and produce 5 mini-units of drones causes so much pathing issues for assaulty armies.

is incorrect since the new codex , all detached drones from the same unit of piranha create just 1 group of drones

Wait, what? where does it say that because i actually prefer that so i can make a legit "You shall not pass!" wall

*starts rereading his codex, since that ISNT in the mail unlike his brb*

"--or a vehicle squadron then form a new unit--" holy crap howd i miss that? Oops.. lol

I think its in the drone section at the front of the book. But yeah, its totally awesome to get 2 units for the price of one.

Yeah tell me about it - that makes me wanna redo my lolsy AV10 spam Tork list lol.

9 buggies, 4 trukks, a battlewagon, and 5 piranhas
inside the BW are 5 MANz, a KFF, and MANzboss.
For the tau HQ i had shadowsun w/ a CC drone attached to a big blob of kroot, but i think i'd rather swap her out for a Drone Commander with either dual Missiles or Bursts.

 Vineheart01 wrote:

kambien wrote:

 Vineheart01 wrote:
, and produce 5 mini-units of drones causes so much pathing issues for assaulty armies.

is incorrect since the new codex , all detached drones from the same unit of piranha create just 1 group of drones

Wait, what? where does it say that because i actually prefer that so i can make a legit "You shall not pass!" wall

*starts rereading his codex, since that ISNT in the mail unlike his brb*

"--or a vehicle squadron then form a new unit--" holy crap howd i miss that? Oops.. lol

I tend to like a sole pirahnna with a fusion blaster for some vehicle hunting.

While cheap my issue with it would be any unit with a S5 average gun or a couple random S5 guns could deal with it before it gets anywhere. A whole unit is very cheap even if they all have meltas and force him to use bigger toys to get rid of them.

Totally, its definitely not a silver bullet by any means.

I try to work my forces in such a way that those shots are put better elsewhere. Doesn't always work, but sometimes through the use of terrain and other intervening threats, i can buy the Pirahnna the time it has to close distance to melta range, and take a shot on a tasty target.

Meanwhile, i hopefully have something that the pirahnna is now interdicting, so the pirahnna draws the fire that might yield better results elsewhere.

Not a silver bullet, definitely not, but played smart, it can be a cheap hard hitting way to spend 50 or so points.


The issue is when you hit 100-150 points in a tau list... there's way better ways to spend it than on 2-3 pirahnnas. But 50 points on a fusion pirahnna is pretty decent. That said, yes, it falls prey to the "S5 me to death".