Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey dakites,

I need som advice from the Tau players out there. I have decided that I want to start playing Tau but I don't know where to start. What models should I get first? Any suggestions are welcome. Oh, and any good paint scheme suggestions? Thanks,

PenguinParsons

Start with two Troops choices and an HQ choice. A squad of Fire Warriors is a mandatory Troop cboice, so get that, and you might as well get a Devilfish for them while you're at it. Your second Troop choice can either be more Fire Warriors or a squad of Kroot. I recommend mixing some Kroot Hounds in with your Kroot.

For HQ's, a Crisis Suit Commander (or whatever they're called) is a good choice, I think. Ethereals, I think, aren't very good.

Pariah Press wrote: Start with two Troops choices and an HQ choice. A squad of Fire Warriors is a mandatory Troop cboice, so get that, and you might as well get a Devilfish for them while you're at it. Your second Troop choice can either be more Fire Warriors or a squad of Kroot. I recommend mixing some Kroot Hounds in with your Kroot.

For HQ's, a Crisis Suit Commander (or whatever they're called) is a good choice, I think. Ethereals, I think, aren't very good.

Hmmm. Sounds remarkably like the Tau Battleforce: http://store.us.games-workshop.com/storefront/store.us?do=List_Models&code=302106&orignav=11&ParentID=258061&GameNav=10

A lot of building a Tau army depends on how you want to play them (as with most armies). The good thing about Tau is, aside from a few models (vespids, krootox), there's not much that is really a bad buy. If you're looking to be incredibly competitive, look at some of the Tau lists here on Dakka and comments they get. If you're just looking for something to play with casually, but still do fairly well, you'll have a hard time buying models that can't be fairly effective.

As with most people starting armies, I'd say e-bay is a good place to look. Get the best big package for your money, and buy new, individual units to round things out once you know what you want to do.

Fire Warriors, Crises Suits: Mandatory
Hammerheads or Broadsides: Mandatory
Stealth Suits, Devilfish and Kroot: Optional

After that everyone has their favorite. I like Pathfinders, other people like pirhanas and sniper drones.

Fancy lads will use Ethereals, Skyrays and Vespid.

I don't know if Shadowsun is any good but Farsight is good. And the Space Pope looks to be too expensive for what he does.

sexah.

I broadly agree with everything above.

You need one squad of Fire Warriors as they are mandatory. Put them in a Devilfish for mobility and protection.

A Kroot Squad fills your 2nd mandatory troop choice.

After this, the main strength of the Tau is in Battlesuits and vehicles. Things will change somewhat with 5th edition, however, so you should plan for that future now. (Mainly you will need to have more Troops.)

Battlesuits (Crisis suits) are essential, firstly for a Commander, and also because they carry the heavy weapons like plasma guns to deal wth Marines.

A lot of players like the Broadside suits for anti-tank firepower.

Stealth suits are popular for mobility, decent mid-range firepower against hordes and light vehicles, and lastability thanks to their stealth fields.

In vehicles the Hammerhead is considered essential providing a range of strong firepower against tanks, hordes or Marines depending how you fit it out. Clever modelling will allow you to swap weapons including the main turret weapon and also the various add-on bits to tailor your army for different opponents. (Check the various articles on modelling with magnets for details.)

The essential core troops are:

Crisis commander
Fire Warrior team in Devilfish
Kroot Carnivore Squad
2-3 Crisis suits
1 squad of Stealth
1-2 Hammerheads and/or Broadside teams (usually put in two Broadsides to substitute for one Hammerhead.)

The rest of the Tau force selection varies from interesting to waste of space.

No-one seems to like Vespids or Space Pope.

Some people like Pathfinders while others don't. Sniper drones can be interesting depending on the scenario. There is quite a bit of variation available.

I would start by buying the battleforce, build that and have a few small games. That should give you an idea what to get next.

I suggest you write a list of what you DONT want.

Add anything you dont like the models, concept or rules for, after all this is your army. If you like krootox then take them, no matter what others say. all this is just a recommendation.

1. You MUST have a Commander and some Fire Warriors. No choice there.

2. Unless yuou have a strong liking for them avoid:

Vespids - expensive and vulnarable. Sure they have Ap3 weapons, but in 40K most Ap3 is more expensive than amrines and is subject to their guns. Bolters waste them, and bolters will be aimed at them. Consequently they are all but useless.

Krootox - S6 close combat sounds nice, but they slow down your kroot by prohibiting infiltration and they dont ignore armour saves. They are not as bad as they were but are still not recommended. They can hide from shooting, but powerfists will wipe them and inflict triple the wounds on your kroot robbing the unit of its main virtue, providing a little bit of melee combat resilience.

Shapers - It wont hurt too much to take one, but dont buy the armour save, its a whole waste of points.

Skyray - Its bang doesnt match its pricetag. A pity, its a nice enough model though. Do not expect this one to perform as it does in Dawn of War (where it is lethal).

3. Anything else is usable in one form or other. Though you should arm your Crisis suits and Commander carefully - or magnetise them.

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the advice you've given so far. Please feel free to add more if you wish. I would like to know if anyone knows where I can find some really cheap models, besides EBAY. Also, anyone know where I can find good magnets and metal plates to magnetize models with? Thanks,

Penguin Parsons

I usually buy rare earth magnets from this place http://www.forcefieldmagnets.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=23_37&osCsid=2aa859574d8cd4d3835e6e8e8b386084

I'd give you the actual magnet type, but my internet is pretty slow right now, so I can't load up all the images. There are some small cubes that work well, and some super tiny disks that come in groups of 10. They are surprisingly strong for their size, which is why they work so well.

Just buy a couple of hundred rare earth magnets in narrow rod or thin disc form (or both -- they are both useful.)

Crisis weapons can be magnetised by drilling into the arms and putting in rods. I found the discs a bit unwieldy for the arm weapons but they work well for the shoulder mounts and also for Hammerheads. I have done all my Hammerheads and Devilfishes with multiple magnetic disc attachment points so I can swap the add-ons and weapons.

www.kjmagnetics.com is where I get all mine. Magnets are definitely the way to go, so you can make that Hammerhead and Ion-head or a devil fish on the fly.

A friend of mine likes the Vespid pretty well, but it seems you have to be REALLY carefull with them to avoid handing points to your opponant.
Sniper teams can be a real bear though. 9 St6 AP 3 shots in one Heavy Support slot that can shoot different targets is a serious pain. You have to be a little creative to use them well it seems, but they can put down some serious hurt on power armor type armies.

Otherwise, Crisis Suits and Firewarriors/Pathfinders in Devil Fish seem to be a solid sort of move and shoot option. They can be loaded up with weapon to eat up points too, so you can get a little more flexibility points wise out of them.