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Hi guys! I want to start playing tau and was wondering if the start collecting box is a good start. I don't have too much money to spend on warhammer 40k so I was thinking of buying it because its only $85. How many points does the box contain? Also how do I paint the drones without getting paint on the clear stand? If I do start playing Tau with this box what else should I buy to make a better army?Thanks!

1.) Yes, it is a good start. This is because for a mere few dollars more than the Crisis Suit box, you get a squad of Fire Warriors, some more drones, and an Ethereal. You also get a formation that you can use without having to buy more troops.

2.) Points can vary wildly depending on how you build and equip your squads. Suits in particular; depending on what you give them they can double or triple in price. However it should still be only a few hundred (like about 300-400 max).

3.) The drones come with a slot under them to put on the stands. You don't need to glue them to this stand until they're painted. To hold them during painting, you can just glue them to a thin wire by this hole and use that to hold it, then break off the wire and glue it to the stand later. Also I think the drones actually have enough friction in the hole to not need glue at all.

4.) Battlesuits (which might be better to get more Start Collecting! boxes because, again, they're basically the same price as the battlesuits but with more stuff), Riptides, Stormsurge, Ghostkeel, Anything with a Marker light, and most important of all a Commander Suit.

It's a great start! As said by the guy above me, you're basically just paying for the crisis suits.

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
1.) Yes, it is a good start. This is because for a mere few dollars more than the Crisis Suit box, you get a squad of Fire Warriors, some more drones, and an Ethereal. You also get a formation that you can use without having to buy more troops.

2.) Points can vary wildly depending on how you build and equip your squads. Suits in particular; depending on what you give them they can double or triple in price. However it should still be only a few hundred (like about 300-400 max).

3.) The drones come with a slot under them to put on the stands. You don't need to glue them to this stand until they're painted. To hold them during painting, you can just glue them to a thin wire by this hole and use that to hold it, then break off the wire and glue it to the stand later. Also I think the drones actually have enough friction in the hole to not need glue at all.

4.) Battlesuits (which might be better to get more Start Collecting! boxes because, again, they're basically the same price as the battlesuits but with more stuff), Riptides, Stormsurge, Ghostkeel, Anything with a Marker light, and most important of all a Commander Suit.

Pretty much nail on the head there.

Only things I'd add is that you really don't need to glue the drones to the stands at all. They slot in freely ( used to have Tau ).

Whilst you paint them, you don't even need to glue the wire into the slot, just drill a hole in the cast hole meant for the flight stand ,and use a stretched out paper clip. That way the Drone's stand will sit in perfectly since the paper clip sized hole isn't big enough for it. That or ( Not sure what its called in other countries ) Blu Tack. That Sticky stuff people use to put papers on the walls etc and we all were fascinated with as kids ?

I also very much agree with the comment about buying another Lets Start box. Despite being able to use the box contents straight off the bat with its own formation, most other formations require 2 Troops ( Such as a CAD ) and so you'd want another Fire Warriors squad, especially for the objective holding side of it as well.

As mentioned though, the sheer price of the Start Collecting box means that for a little more you get a whole lot more So I'd definitely recommend a second Start collecting box. Could even sell the second ethereal if you didn't want it , get some cash back

I know at my local GW , the start collecting Tau Box actually sold out in store on the day of release , most of which were to established Tau players just taking advantage of the savings.

The kit has huge value as said. One if the best start collecting kits per dollar.

As for points, even keeping upgrades to minimal functional levels, it hits about 350-400 points. Not huge, but efficency is the name of the game with tau.

Its also a viable CAD by itself, the FW kit can make two minimal troops, ethereal HQ, suit elites and drone either as escorts or thier own fast slot.
This means you can add anything you want without any issues.
However, personally I'd go for another starter, and/or another HQ. The ethereal in my mind is not a great pick, but as the kit is worth the price even if you ignore him, it's good enough. Another kit will give you a strong core of troops and suits to build into any direction later, and another HQ will allow you to run without ethereals, who are at times troublesome to have (due to the fact they are worth extra VP to kill)

As for drones, considering they can be inserted into the stand and removed at will right out the box with no modification required, they are easy to store and paint.
My method is simplicity in its finest, I build my drones
aside and never glue the stand, then when I come to paint I simple paint the top, let it dry, then flip them over and paint the bottom. No drill, clip or any tricks required.

Depending on the upgrades.
Stormsurge have the best points to ~2,9 points / dollar
Riptides is just a bit less efficient with 2,7 points / dollar

And the start collecting tau box is a good deal.
The cheapest tau army would probably be just spamming those. And the fun thing is it would just be a good tau army ; )