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Hey guys so Ive been fooling around with a very competitive Tau list. Basically its a riptide wing with a farsight bomb and ML drone network.I try to avoid looking up lists from the internet and make my own, but im really considering going to a tourny with this list so I'd like some feedback. So far I've won both games by making them surrender. First was against a GK/inq/2 knights (acheron and imp knight) This army put up a challenge until farsight came in and killed the acheron,a DK, and finished off a termysquad.. next turn the other knight charges FS and him and his fusion blade commander did 4 hps.

Second game was vs demons.. FateWeaver/Belakor/2screamerstars/chaos knight First turn she sacrificed a sorc on a disc for a free Lord of Change lol.. (this list should have dunked me but she was pretty noobish and didnt cast invis with belakor and i denied cursed earth.. Bela and fateweaver were both blasted out of the sky turn 1 thanks to MLs and the riptides double tap.

So anyways here my list, how can I improve it? What would you change? I was considering dropping the gun drones for more ML drones but they give FS and the 2FB without a target lock extra dakka against their unit(both games this helped.. drones did a wound to a DK and in the demon game the drones finished off the LoC after FS grounded him)


With this the 2 MP suits sit with ML drones for Obj Secured and increased BS, the riptides huddle together blasting anything dangerous to my FS bomb off the table. then turn 2 or 3 the bomb drops in, wiping out most of whats left and baiting people to charge (FS and the FB Comm alone can slice apart mostly anything, and my Comm can tank challenges like a boss.) Then once thats said and done my FSbomb Hit and Runs then splits into 3 seperate units to take objectives. Both games so far I ended up having 5 objectives with most of their army gone or about to be destroyed.

Interested in this as I'm looking into starting a tau army

interesting list, but a little cheesy like most tau players these days. The 9 are amazing and can really put the hurt out just by them selves and take a lot in return, i wouldn't change them one bit! the Rip tides on the other hand could use some min maxing. with the help on the Drone N you would really be helped with the Ion Accelerator on one of the 3, id say the last one with out the Sky fire. The addition of a blast and high ST for tank hunting and heavy infantry killing can really allow your other suits to focus on units that only they can handle ( like flyers and MC's and the like)

 death_scythe wrote:
interesting list, but a little cheesy like most tau players these days. The 9 are amazing and can really put the hurt out just by them selves and take a lot in return, i wouldn't change them one bit! the Rip tides on the other hand could use some min maxing. with the help on the Drone N you would really be helped with the Ion Accelerator on one of the 3, id say the last one with out the Sky fire. The addition of a blast and high ST for tank hunting and heavy infantry killing can really allow your other suits to focus on units that only they can handle ( like flyers and MC's and the like)

True it is cheesy but compared to everything else currently seen in ITC lists and what ive faced so far. (gonna fight necron decurion next time) I'd say its pretty chill Yeah the bomb has yet to disappoint, even in Close Combat they are beastly (demons charged me with 2 groups of plague bearers, 3 nurglings, 4 screamers.. i killed all screamers and crisis killed 6 plague bearers making them explode then using Hit and Run to clear the rest of them..

Not sure how I feel about the Ion Accel. I always have him miss or only get 3-4 wound per shot or only 1 hit (MC or Vehicle) when the burst cannons just tear gak up (also themselves) constantly, those rends allow them to hurt anything in the game.

Tides:
a. An Aegis Defense Line with Ammo Dump can give the TripTides reroll ones. Gets hot! ? Nope!
b. Swap out at least one TL FB for an SMS. You'll be facing Warp Spiders. I own many. They are fantastic and actually getting to target them is tough. But, SMS is an answer that FlickerJump can't refute. I'm fielding one FusionB on a 'Tide, the other two, SMS.

Crisis Team
I'd swap the CiBs out for dual plasmas. Other guys are gonna field Riptide Wings, and I think your list lacks AP2 guns. Yeah, the Heavy Burst Cans answer that call, but there's never really too much AP2.

MarkerDs
4 units is too many. The ADL and Ammo Dump are 70 points ...

How can you give 4 suits TL cib ? Just having a look on battle scribe and it doesn't give the option for TL cib ?

Candle_man wrote:
How can you give 4 suits TL cib ? Just having a look on battle scribe and it doesn't give the option for TL cib ?

I think the TL stands for 'Target Lock', which makes sense for a Farsight Bomb.

One thing to do is cut down on XV8 and drones. Go Dronemander with a few crisis troops and more MC's and a LoW, something like this:

X078 wrote:
One thing to do is cut down on XV8 and drones. Go Dronemander with a few crisis troops and more MC's and a LoW, something like this:

Spoiler:

Riptide Wing
3x Riptide [Early Warning Override, Heavy Burst Cannon, Twin-linked Smart Missile System]

Farsight Enclaves
Commander [Drone Controller, Onager Gauntlet, XV8-02 Crisis 'Iridium' Battlesuit]

XV8 [Bonding Knife Ritual, Flamer]
XV8 [Bonding Knife Ritual, Flamer

Drones [4x MV7 Marker Drone]

XV109 Y'vahra
XV109 Y'vahra

KX139 Ta'unar Supremacy

Why cut down on suits and take a low ? That's a very low model count force ?

Some good points Brother. So besides just spamming Forgeworld units what changes would you make? (still looking to stay with this general composition - FSbomb/Riptide wing)

Hard to decide on the PR vs CiB,. one less str and ap2 but you have to be within 12" to be effective, though this isnt a problem on the drop. The bomb already has 5 meltas and a PR, that + the rof of the CiB usually is enough to wound TEQ (str 7 is nice too as they can glance av13(knights))

I do like the Aegis Defense Line with an Ammo dump, but with the new FAQ saying both ends must be connected im finding it hard to deploy effectively. Im also going to try out one riptide as Ion/SmS, that way he can focus on nova charging his shield to tank or double tap his SMS for warp spiders and such. The intercepting str8 ap2 pie plate is also going to be extremely helpful, even more so now that my ML drones can intercept too.

Which brings me to the drone network.. I feel like theres not enough! they are crucial as they allow my few models to maximize their firepower every turn, plus with 3 riptides on the board first turn.. most people focus on the ML drones first. This gives my tides a few turns to nova their weps until they have to play defensively. Also since people go for them hard you can use the drones to bait people into position for the bomb or away from where you want the bomb to drop.

Im torn on the two solo MP suits that sit with the drones, they allow the drones to score and are obj secured and bring them to BS4, but they maybe cause 1-2 wounds over the game where i could put one in the bomb and the other as a double flamer suicide bomber (drops next to enemy objectives being held by troop taxes and bullys his way onto it or can use supporting fire to help in overwatching tarpitters/invis units) So 2 scoring units and BS4 ML vs 2 PR in the bomb and a suicide flamer suit (lose both ML squads ability to camp and hold objectives,but gain flexible harasser of enemy obj.)



The main changes - both HBC riptides have velos, the other one now uses an ion accel and sms. The solo crisis suits now have just a normal MP but they both have drone controllers. and then the Aegis defense line.

I should be giving this list another go soon, either against crons or that same demon list played by a really good person vs the last one. Will update on how that goes.

See any glaring weaknesses? What army you would actually see would just steamroll this and why? How would you deal with my list?

Unless fliers are a very larger part of your meta (nvrmnd Death from the Skies) than mine, I'd have EWO on all three Riptides instead of Velocity - T.

At one GT, I had 4 suit PR/FB Crisis team and one Riptide (Ion Accel) with EWO. They kept 3 lists of Skyhammer from getting their arrival charge from happening. 31 jumpers failed that charge. Most died on arrival.

Also, I'd put SMS on HBC tides, and FB with the Ion Tide. This keeps their roles of anti-Infantry and AP2 targets consistent.

The meta I play in is Knight/WK/Brass Scorp heavy with some flying circuses and bikerstars (ork and marine)

I usually found myself never intercepting with the HBC riptides, cause they are my knight/GC killers, everything that deepstrikes is usually a distraction or not a huge threat to my FSbomb. And my riptides need to finish off whatever they shot at turn 1(usually knights/WKs/invis demon princes). Velo on both allows me to save MLs for ground targets or i need less MLs on fliers to be effective.

new riptide wing loadout.

Riptide:HBC,TLSmS,Velo,Stim
Riptide:HBC,TLSmS,Velo,Stim
Riptide:HiA,TLFB,EWO,advanced targeting system

 Dioxalyn wrote:

I usually found myself never intercepting with the HBC riptides, cause they are my knight/GC killers, everything that deepstrikes is usually a distraction or not a huge threat to my FSbomb. And my riptides need to finish off whatever they shot at turn 1(usually knights/WKs/invis demon princes). Velo on both allows me to save MLs for ground targets or i need less
MLs on fliers to be effective.

I suppose that it is not so hocking that there's no drop pod madness. Biker-Star or Battle Co. are still the SM Top Tiers.

Chime back in after your tourney, sharing how you fared.