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So, to play something a bit different I've decided to start running a Tau army, and I've ordered a Codex and a Start Collecting box, and I'm looking forward to cracking into them later this week! But, I was looking for some advice.

1) What's the smart way to tool up Crisis suits? I know this one is a bit vague, but I'm guessing it's better to tool them up to deal with roughly the same things? Or have one kited out differently and run a Target Lock on it? I was thinking on having two with dual plasma rifles then one kitted out differently to deal with vehicles or light infantry.

2) What's a smart way to go about collecting? I was thinking about getting another Start Collecting Box and a Commander after the first lot is done, then start looking at other stuff. I like the look of Tau infantry and the lighter suits, and I'm not overly fussed on being competitive, if that helps, though I was looking at expanding into a Hunter Cadre eventually.

Thanks for any help you can give

Question 1: Magnets are immensely helpful to avoid needing to buy too many Crisis suits to fit too many situations. If you don't want to figure out magnets the best advice I can give is to take your Crisis suits in as many different units as you have slots for rather than taking large teams, and to try and make sure each individual Crisis suit has weapons that want to be pointed at the same target (ex. missile pod/plasma rifle is inefficient since you're wasting either loads of range or an entire plasma rifle, plasma rifle/fusion blaster is fine because you're probably pointing both at light/medium vehicles at heavy infantry and at a similar range).

Question 2: Get Start Collecting, play some games, and get a sense of what you like to do with it. Also keep in mind that you can use a normal Crisis suit as a commander if you want; the models aren't identical, but the official models before 6th were so you won't get too much comment for just doing it that way.

Other than that I wouldn't recommend planning on building towards a formation at this stage; after the Start Collecting box you'll probably want another unit of Fire Warriors (a second Troops choice for normal-sized games), a Devilfish (durability and mobility for your infantry units), and a Pathfinder unit (key support piece useful in many Tau lists).

Three Riptides and two Stormsurges. Flavour with Markerlights.

 master of ordinance wrote:
Three Riptides and two Stormsurges. Flavour with Markerlights.

Clarification: This is what you do if you are overly fussed about being competitive.

(1)In terms of Crisis Suits, the best option of all is to magnetize your Crisis Suits so you aren't stuck with a single configuration, but can instead modify your models to suit your lists (and Crisis Suits are, by far, the most versatile unit in our codex in terms of the firepower they can bring - they're an awesome gap-filler, to cover bases your other units can't).

In almost every case, two of a single type of weapon is the encouraged build, using Target locks to split differently-equipped weapon fire at appropriate target. That way, firepower isn't as easily wasted. Two flamers is a surprisingly cheap-in-points anti-infantry tool with the mobility and deployment options needed to get those templates where they need to be when they need to be there, two Plasma Rifles eats enemy elite infantry alive, and two Fusion Blasters are an excellent deepstrike-and-slaughter-a-vehicle tools. Dual Missile Pods have nice mobility and decent dakka, but lack firepower compared to their Broadside companions. Dual Burst Cannons give you more 5/5 dakka, but practically everything in your army can provide 5/5, so that's usually not a gap that needs to be filled. After you get a commander or two (or through a bit of ebay luck), a few other options become available: Dual Cyclic Ion Blasters provide an excellent mobile dakka, and are great for glancing vehicles to death (especially if Deepstruck, akin to Fusion Blaster suits), while Dual Airbursting Frag Projectors can bring large blast barrage flamers - nifty if you don't have enough Smart Missile Systems in your army, or where your SMS are on platforms with heavier weapons better suited to other tasks (Riptides and their Ion Accelerator/Heavy Burst Cannon, Hammerheads with their Ion Cannon/Railgun, Broadsides with their High Yield Missile Pod/Heavy Rail Rifle, etc.).

In terms of other upgrades, Target Lock has use with mixed Crisis loadouts in the same squad, Early Warning Override is an extremely strong (and arguably undercosted) choice, especially in the current meta where every Space Marine army and their mother (and a few other armies besides) are deepstriking massive amounts of models, and even occasionally assaulting from deepstrike - obviously deadly for the Tau, where close combat is treated as a dirty word.

(2) I'd agree that a Commander and another Start Collecting box (maybe even 2 more) are not a bad idea at all - they aren't the most overpowering, but it's always worth having some Fire Warriors in your stable, and Crisis Suits are still an iconic Tau unit for good reason. That box is so damn cheap, even the extra, unlikely-to-be-used Ethereals don't dampen the saved money (and hell, you can always convert the extra Ethereals into our Special Character Ethereals without too much trouble).

From your first post, you don't seem extremely interested in being a super-competitive force, and since you've also included the statement that you're looking to "play something a bit different," you presumably have a good grasp on your current gaming environment where you can have fun with fluffier, casual pickup lists.

The question of where to proceed, therefore, will depend far less on what's the most potent addition, and far more on the direction and theme that you're seeking with your army.

Do you like Stealth? A few boxes of XV-25s (or if your ebay-fu is strong, a couple squads-worth of XV15s) and a Ghostkeel makes for a powerful AND fluffy addition to your army (particularly with the formation). Shadowsun is a nice model, and can grant Stealth & Shrouded to your Crisis Suits to complete the Stealth option. A Devilfish or two with Disruption Pods and Sensor Spines, while expensive in points and not technically stealth, are probably as close as you'll get.

Do you like the idea of mass infantry? A few Devilfish to transport your Fire Warriors would be a great addition (especially in Fish of Fury-esque style, with your Ethereal to boost the Fire Warrior's impressive short-range shooting even further). Whether you're interested in Devilfish will probably dictate the sort of Fire Warriors you build - frankly, I like Pulse Rifles as an excellent all rounder AND master of range, with pulse carbines being... less impressive... and Pulse Blasters nearly requiring transportation to get them where they need to go without being themselves blasted to oblivion. If you're interested in running Fish of Fury, though, at least one squad of Pulse Blaster Warriors would be worthwhile, particularly as a more durable squad to fit your Ethereal in (particularly with that special squad-wide Invulnerable save drone).

Do you like an elite, massive firepower, decently mobile army? More crisis suits might be worth getting (even beyond the 6-9 you'd get if you get an extra 1 or 2 Getting Started boxes, respectively).

Kroot are an interesting break from the Tau aesthetic, and a very fluffy addition to a Tau force.

I don't have my Warzone Damocles books nearby, so I can't recall exactly what's required for a Hunter Cadre, but any of the above options will get you decent ways to fill out points and result in an entertaining and aesthetically pleasing army.

Welcome to the Greater Good!

There are many schools of thought on the versatile XV8, and none are really 'wrong'. However, there are some sub-optimal or redundant options. Even though the codex now allows for up to nine suits in a unit, I still field mine in squads of three. Smaller footprint, easier maneuverability and target saturation are my reasoning. I run Fusion, Plasma and CIB's on my suits as preference. Each squad, all with 2 weapons each, and the fusion suits have target locks to engage multiple tanks when necessary. I would stay away from Burst Cannons, as S5, AP5 is in no short supply in our army. Also, though they are a bit over costed, Stealths bring the Burst Cannons and offer some versatility while doing so. Missile Pods are also a solid option, but my personal play style is very aggressive so I don't have them - I use my Ghostkeels and Broadsides for my ranged S7 light armor hunting. I don't go overboard on upgrades for my Crisis squads, usually only opting for the 'vre upgrade when points allow. Don't load multiple different loadouts in a single squad and split fire, you'll just end up diluting your firepower and accomplishing little. Tailor a single squad for a specific purpose and use different squads for different purposes.

A Commander would definitely be my next purchase. The Start Collecting box is certainly a fantastic value, so another one of those will certainly not be a bad idea. Pathfinders would be my next purchase after that, you can make two squads of five from one box. That will give you a very solid 'core' to expand from there. In order to build the Hunter Cadre, you will need another troop choice, I suggest a Breacher squad mounted in a Devilfish, I have had great success with those. Also, a heavy support will be required, and there really isn't any better unit than High Yield Missile Pod equipped Broadsides. Sniper Drones are 'ok-ish', if nothing else it's cheap access to BS5 markerlights from the Firesight Marksmen. The drones also benefit from the Storm of Fire ability from Ethereals, making them quite deadly when in rapid fire range.

From there, you can go in any direction you wish, Riptides are second only to Wraithknights in offense and durability, but never take more than one. Ever. And even then, I would never run one in anything less than 1500pts, depending on opponent (i.e. you're facing down an Eldar cheese-list, Necron Decurion or Skyhammer SM's). Don't be 'That Guy'. Riptides are -severely- undercosted, and I say this as a Tau fan-boy from 3rd ed, so don't be a , one is more than enough. Ghostkeels have served me excellently, and the Optimised Stealth Cadre is quite possibly one of the best stand-alone Formations in our 'dex and pairs well with the Hunter Cadre to create our 'decurion' detachment, the Hunter Contingent.

Our flyers are pretty much garbage, Vespid are overpriced and unless you just think they're fun, Drone Squads are pretty worthless too. I know some people like to equip their Commander with a Drone Controller and attach him to units of Marker Drones for BS5 markerlights, but that seems like a waste of a good BS5 platform to me, but I see the logic in it. Skyrays aren't horrible, innate Skyfire is convenient if you face flyers often, but unless you are building the Armored Interdiction Cadre (or you just really like the aesthetic), I would steer clear of them and Hammerheads, personally. I don't have any experience with the Stormsurge personally, but it appears quite powerful from witnessing it in action.

On the whole our 'dex is solidly competitive without building the list to make it crazy. Use some common sense when building a list and you can stand up to pretty much anything you're likely to face without much trouble and not curb-stomp your friends/opponents while doing so.

It's probably worth adding, when discussing flyers, that the Codex: Tau Empire flyers are very much underwhelming, as Vryce mentioned, but Forgeworld's Barracuda (and its updated Barracuda variant) are reasonably potent, arguably more aesthetically pleasing, and with some fairly serious firepower.

Thanks for the input guys! After I get the Start Collecting stuff together I'll try a few small games, and then move on from there - together with the stuff from this thread should give me a better idea on where to go next.

Also don't forget the magnets. They will save you a lot of money and are really simple to apply on the weapons or arms of all your suits.

I've been playing Tau on and off for many years. I recently sold off all my old kits and decided to build a farsight enclave.

You need to ask yourself what is your favourite unit and then try to build some formations around that. If you really like crisis suits like me then you may want to buy two starter sets and a commander as you had suggested.

You can't go wrong if you equip your crisis suits with either 2x plasma rifle or 2x fusion blasters. Sometimes it can be beneficial to run the suits with 2x missile pod or 1x TL missile pod, however if you are going to run HYMP broadsides then you probably should focus on giving your crisis suits AP 1 or AP2 weapons.

I also would recommend against mixing suits with different weapons in the same squad. Giving everything target lock is just a waste and often one set of weapons will be out of range of a prime target. Instead group together suits with identical weapons. If you really want to mix weapons then you can go 1 suit with 2x fusion blasters/target lock and 2 suits with 2x plasma rifles. I recently have started running single crisis suits with 2x fusion blasters that suicide behind an enemy transport or tank. You will lose a suit worth 50 or so points, but usually kill something worth well over 100. Another thing I like to do (that some Tau players disagree with) is add 2 gun drones to my larger crisis teams. They can shell out a few extra str 5 shots, but mainly absorb wounds before chewing into my suits.

You also need to strongly consider where your markerlight support will come from. Pathfinders aren't bad, but you will want to strongly consider the Drone-net xv1-0 formation. You take 4 squads of 4 marker drones and they get a lot of abilities plus upgrade ALL drones to BS3

Feel free to check out my tau project blog - I included the list I'm going to be using at 1850 points (also consider posting your own blog, its a fun way to track your progress)!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/703687.page

Q1: As others have said magnetize so your suits aren't locked into a single build (very versatile units). As to what to equip them with always go with 2 of the same weapon and use the following
Plasmas - The bread and butter 2+ armor killer and something the rest of the Tau army generally lacks.
Fusion - The best tool for high AV vehicle killing in the Tau codex short of the Stormsurge (those S: D missiles). Also just being S8 and ignoring armor is never a bad thing to have against high toughness targets.
Cyclic Ion Blasters - When a Burst Cannon and a Missile Pod love each other very much they and that's where Cyclic Ion Blasters come from. High volume of fire plus high base strength with decent AP and range makes for some serious dakka. Able to equal the S7 firepower of a HYMP broadside (surpass it with markerlight/coordinated fire support) and the total cost of the unit is far cheaper plus XV8s are WAY more mobile which is critical for dealing with backfield threats.
Airburst Fragmentation Projector- For when you just want to deep strike into the club and make it rain....pain. The infantry lawn mower but more importantly the only real source of barrage in the codex which is amazing for trying to pick off certain models (usually annoying characters) in the middle of a blob of bodies. Can troll people by firing them blind over LoS blockers and a big unit of them is dropping A LOT of large blasts on the enemy.
Flamer is outclassed by the AFP, Burst Cannons and Missile Pods are outclassed by their love child the CIB (although the missile pod is ok for certain niche roles where having 36" range is important).

Q2: Start collecting is a great place to pick up FWs and Crisis Suits for cheap(er). I highly recommend you take one of the Crisis Suits and turn it into your Commander Suit as each new kit for Crisis Suits has the bits for the Iridium armor which both makes your commander suit look appropriate (your Commander is the one who will be taking that upgrade), makes them stand out from the rest, and its way cheaper than buying that expensive commander kit. Each thing of FWs and Crisis Suits has drones so they are good for making marker drones which are probably the best source of markerlights in the base Tau codex. From there just add kits as to your preferred playstyle. The Tau codex is quite good so there are plenty of options and viable builds out there to use. Avoid the Tau flyers at all cost because those things are absolute hot garbage.

Hm, just for your notice, Target Lock doesn't allow a model to fire its weapons at different targets, but a model to fire at a different target of its unit. So, a Crisis with a Missile Pod, a Fusion Blaster and Target Lock will have to fire both weapons at the same target all the time. However, if it is in a unit, it can fire both weapons against a target, while its unit can fire at another target.
Shadowsun is the only (no-Gargantuan) Tau model that can fire at 2 different targets by itself.

Said that, I echo what others have been saying - each Crisis model should have the same weapon twice, and also magnetize them.

The Start Collecting box is one of the best cost-effective among them all, so go nuts!

 master of ordinance wrote:
Three Riptides and two Stormsurges. Flavour with Markerlights.

And lose all your friends.

Stormsurges get killed by Rhino's now.... stupid FAQ

A rhino will never get that close.

zerosignal wrote:
Stormsurges get killed by Rhino's now.... stupid FAQ

Only when they tank shock them, and they should not get that close to a Stormsurge.

Also if you see a vehicle that can tank shock get within range of your Stormsurge who is anchored down then why not just uproot? Its extremely greedy to just stay planted and also not completely obliterate the vehicle. Also the Stormsurge can supplement the "lack" of shooting by charging in and stomping the gak out of the enemy.