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Hey, I've been away from the game for a little over a year now and I'm looking get back in.  I'm looking into building a Tau army because I like the models.  I want the army to be competetive as well though.  So far this is what my list is looking like (keep in mind this is the first list I've put together in over a year and I haven't played with Tau before):

Shas'El: Burst Cannon, Ion Blaster, Target Array, HW Multi Tracker
88

3 Crisis Suit: Plasma, Fusion Gun, Multi Tracker
186
 
3 Crisis Suit: Plasma, Missile, Multi Tracker
186

5 Stealth Suit
+1 Team Leader: Bonding Knife
190

9 fire Warriors
+1 Team leader: Bonding Knife
+1 Devilfish: Smart Missile System, Multi Tracker, Target Array
245

9 fire Warriors
+1 Team leader: Bonding Knife
+1 Devilfish: Smart Missile System, Multi Tracker, Target Array
245
 
Pirhana: Fusion Gun, Target Array
70
 
Pirhana: Fusion Gun, Target Array
70
 
Hammerhead: Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multi Tracker, Target Lock
175

Hammerhead: Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multi Tracker, Target Lock
175 

Hammerhead: Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multi Tracker, Target Lock
175
 
total: 1820
models: 40
  Crisis Suits: 7
  Stealth Suits: 6
  Fire Warriors: 20
  Tanks: 7

HQ: 05%
Elites: 32%
Troops: 27%
Fast Attack: 8%
Heavy Support: 29%

That is the new list.  My main dilema right now is with the Stealth Suits.  Its a unit of 6 without Targetting arrays better than a unit of 5 with TA?  the unit of 5 hits 1 more time on average and has a smaller footprint.  At the same time it is just that, a smaller unit.  Thoughts?  Comments/critism/thoughts on the list in general?

 

I need to spend 30pts now, any ideas for what to do with it?

why would you put a tarrgeting array on a devilfish that has a smart missle system, they hit on a 2+ anyway? i never had a 6 man FW squad last long, either they got blowed up or lost a few & ran away . kroot i like them , but i only use them to hold a fall back or starting point w/woods. having that many & needing to take & hold realestate especialy in the open can be suicide, take a few kroot squads back & use the points for firewarriors. also i like bigger kroot squads it makes your opponent think twice about going into a big nest o'kroot w/all those bonuses they get for hanging out in the trees.

Good point on the Devilfish, I'll change that right away. For the kroot, how about dropping a squad for another unit of fire warriors? I don't want to include too many kroot (not a fan of the models) but it seemed like a good idea to have a nice solid base of troops and they're cheaper than fire warriors. I'd like to run 8 man units of fire warriors but I have to find the points. They aren't very useful in a list like this without a devilfish though since the rest of the army moves too quick. I could drop 2 units of kroot to beef up the fire warrior squad and get them a tank. Something along these lines:

-2 units of kroot
-TA from devilfish

+4 fire warriors
+devilfish: sms, dl

That would leave me 8 points so I'd be at 1843. I'll edit the above list with these changes.

 

Another thought.  with the stealth suits, is it better to run 6 man units or 4 man units with TA?  The 4 man unit has a smaller footprint and gets the benefit from TA.  The 6 man option has 6 more shots but no TA.  The 4 man unit is also 10pts cheaper per unit which would free up some points for other goodies (either sms for the hammerheads or a few more fire warriors/team leader for the fw unit).  Thoughts?

as for the stealths i'm not someone to ask, my dice rolling sucks & thats from my opponets being nice to me.so anything to make it easier to hit a target i'll consider. i've been wanting to experiment w/a similar stealth situation myself but w/the holidays so close i doubt i'll be able to do anything till after the new year.

Big changes to the list, I just edited my original post with the new one. Anyone have comments on it?

I've seen this before. Decoy launcher and disruption pod are not worth it.

Yea I agree, pm sent on the end's message board about it (this is Eric). I'm about to edit the list to get rid of them.

Posted By shrew on 12/19/2006 6:25 PM
why would you put a tarrgeting array on a devilfish that has a smart missle system, they hit on a 2+ anyway?

Where did you get your codex from? I want one that says that in a bad way.

Posted By shrew on 12/19/2006 6:25 PM
why would you put a tarrgeting array on a devilfish that has a smart missle system, they hit on a 2+ anyway?

Why would you comment on a Tau list when you don't know anything about Tau?

You might not be an idiot but I don't see any evidence that suggests the contrary.

Posted By onlainari on 12/21/2006 3:52 PM

Posted By shrew on 12/19/2006 6:25 PM
why would you put a tarrgeting array on a devilfish that has a smart missle system, they hit on a 2+ anyway?

Why would you comment on a Tau list when you don't know anything about Tau?

You might not be an idiot but I don't see any evidence that suggests the contrary.

lol owned!

Flashy, tau skimmers need decoys. Piranhas less so, but they are practically compulsory on hammerheads and devilfish.

Decoys on everything (including the Piranhas if you have the points). Why do you have team leaders with the fire warriors; you don't need them. If I'm not mistaken (I don't have codex with me), each FCW team leader with knife costs 15, so you drop both and get 30 points. With those points you should make your commander better.

Shas'El: Plasma rifle, Missile pod, Target Array, HW Multi Tracker 97

Thats what it should look like. I would also suggest that both crisis teams have plasma/missiles, but it's not like the plasma/fusion is a bad choice.

I would also say drop 1 crisis suit from both squads for several reasons. First, 2 is better for being a scoring unit, as they are never not scoring unless they are both dead. Second, it frees up points for a second shas'el equipped as above. Finally, it helps free up the points for the decoy launchers on everything. But even thats not enough points for all the decoys, so it's up to you what to drop to get the extra points, but I would suggest a stealth suit.

Why decoy launchers? They only come into play if an immobolise is rolled on a glancing hit. Even then, the other player has another chance to immobolize it or just destroy it out right. I don't see how that really helps.

I don't agree with having 2 men crisis teams. As soon as one is killed, the other is forced to take last man standing check every turn.

Yea. They come into effect when they roll an immobilized result. So obviously anything that makes the chance of that happening lower is good, or did you fail to read the rule that makes skimmers moving fast DIE when they become immobilized? 10 points for a good chance that you 185 point hammerhead wont be dead? Yes please. Theres a reason that every tau list thats ever performed good in notable tournaments had decoy launchers (unless of course it's a Farsight list, but even they usually have a decoyed hammerhead). Without decoys, the tanks have a 33.3% chance of dying from a glancing hit.

And about the crisis suits, 3 is only good if you have a team leader with 2 shield drones and a targetting array. 2 is good because you never stop scoring. Don't let them kill your crisis suits. JSJ out of harms way. Anything that is able to get to and start killing your suits is going to kill 3 the same as 2.

Ummm...With two they still can stop being scoring. If you kill one, and have one that has a wound on it...It's not scoring.

Sorry, forgot about that. He's right.

I still think 2 is better then 3, especially because it allows him another shas'el if he drops to 2 on both squads.

Posted By Me_Person on 12/22/2006 6:31 AM
Yea. They come into effect when they roll an immobilized result. So obviously anything that makes the chance of that happening lower is good, or did you fail to read the rule that makes skimmers moving fast DIE when they become immobilized? 10 points for a good chance that you 185 point hammerhead wont be dead? Yes please. Theres a reason that every tau list thats ever performed good in notable tournaments had decoy launchers (unless of course it's a Farsight list, but even they usually have a decoyed hammerhead). Without decoys, the tanks have a 33.3% chance of dying from a glancing hit.

And about the crisis suits, 3 is only good if you have a team leader with 2 shield drones and a targetting array. 2 is good because you never stop scoring. Don't let them kill your crisis suits. JSJ out of harms way. Anything that is able to get to and start killing your suits is going to kill 3 the same as 2.

No need to be a dick there, its ok and I guarantee you he knows that.  Whats the percent chance of the skimmer dying if it has a Decoy Launcher?  I'm not saying that to be like "it doesn't help much" I honestly want to know so I can see if its worth it. 

Also, I've already got 30pts to spend (and the stealth squad is 6 members strong already)... I don't need more free points at the moment.  I totally disagree with you about bonded leaders on the FW squads.  Without bonding when they run they don't stop... thats BAD.  Bonding is a very good thing for the FW units.  I'm very tempted to spend my 30pts bonding the crisis teams too since if they lose 1 they take a check.  Having units running off the table is a bad thing, 99% of the time.

For the commander:  How is 8 shots at bs5 bad?  He can eat light armored troops alive with output like that.  Plasma/Missile is nice and very diverse don't get me wrong and originally I had every suit equipped as such, I just don't think its THAT needed all over the list.  Especially on a model that is going to hit with 83% of his shots on average when I can sling 4-5 more shots out with that percentage per turn.  The Plasma/Fusion team is awesome for hunting termie armor and power armor, something I need as much help as I can get against.  I'm not thrilled about the 12" effective range on them but if I use them smart they sohuld be pretty good at smacking heavy armor around.  If it doesn't work out then they will go back to Plasma/Missile.  the Plasma/Missile option on the suits is my fall back, if one of the suit setups isn't working chances are thats what the change in weapons will be.

I don't like squads of 2 suits in this list since the 3rd suit improves the firepower so much.  Sure they have a bigger footprint but you have to kill more to stop them from scoring (4 wounds as opposed to 3) and they put out much better firepower than 2.  Target Array on a team lead is something to think about though, I kind of like that idea.

You've given me a lot to think about and that is a good thing, thank you for the help so far, keep it coming!

On a glancing hit, there is only 16% chance that a roll will come up as Immobolize, then they have another 33% chance of killing you anyways.

So effectively, decoy launchers give 10.5% (16% x 66%) increased survival rate against any glancing hit. In other words, a hammerhead with out decoy launcher will die 33% of the time when they are glanced, while a hammerhead with decoy launchers will die 21% of the time. I don't know if that's worth it to me, but to each their own.

Regarding the shas'el, the ion blaster also counts as AP1 on a wound roll of 6.  With a BS 5, that ion blaster is slightly less competative when compared to a straight rending gun.  In essence, the ion blaster has 13% chance to rend, vs a normal rending weapon of having 16% chance to rend.