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Have been building this list (up to like 6th draft) for upcoming tourney using my friend's models (mine aren't painted).
He is a super strong player and has some very strong ideas about how tau should play (inc maximum deathrain suits, max kroot).
This I hope can be the final version, I've pushed to have a couple of plasma rifles in there, but lost out on TA's, drones and most else! Haha.
Broadsides will be nice tho.
Please tell if you think this has problems or is ok!


1850 Pts - Tau Empire Roster

Total Roster Cost: 1850

HQ: Commander Shas'el (1#, 92 pts)
1 Commander Shas'el, 92 pts = Plasma Rifle + Missile Pod + Multi-Tracker + Bonding Knife)


620: Troops:

Troops: Fire Warrior (6#, 60 pts)
6 Fire Warrior, 60 pts = 6 * 10

Troops: Kroot Carnivore Squad (20#, 161 pts)
19 Kroot Carnivore Squad, 133 pts = 19 * 7
1 Kroot Shaper, 28 pts

Troops: Kroot Carnivore Squad (21#, 162 pts)
14 Kroot Carnivore Squad, 98 pts = 14 * 7
1 Kroot Shaper, 28 pts
6 Kroot Hounds, 36 pts = 6 * 6

Troops: Kroot Carnivore Squad (15#, 122 pts)
10 Kroot Carnivore Squad, 70 pts = 10 * 7
1 Kroot Shaper, 28 pts
4 Kroot Hounds, 24 pts = 4 * 6

Troops: Kroot Carnivore Squad (14#, 115 pts)
9 Kroot Carnivore Squad, 63 pts = 9 * 7
1 Kroot Shaper, 28 pts
4 Kroot Hounds, 24 pts = 4 * 6



406: Elite:

Elite: Crisis Battlesuit (3#, 141 pts)
3 Crisis Battlesuit, 138 pts = 3 * 47 (Twin Linked Missile Pod + Flamer)

Elite: Crisis Battlesuit (3#, 141 pts)
3 Crisis Battlesuit, 138 pts = 3 * 47 (Twin Linked Missile Pod + Flamer)

Elite: Crisis Battlesuit (2#, 124 pts)
2 Crisis Battlesuit, 124 pts = 2 * 62 (Missile Pod + Plasma Rifle, Multi-Tracker)



731: Heavy:

Heavy Support: Broadside Battlesuit (3#, 288pts)

1 Broadside Battlesuit, 110 pts = (Advanced Stabilisation System + Team Leader + Plasma Rifles + Bonding Knife + Multi-Tracker + Target Lock + Black Sun Filter)
2 Broadside Battlesuits, 160 pts = 2* 80 (Advanced Stabilisation System)
1 Shield Drone

2 Broadside Battlesuits (2#, 155)
80: Broadside; Targetting Array
75: Broadside; Target Lock

Heavy Support: Broadside Battlesuit (3#, 288pts)

1 Broadside Battlesuit, 110 pts = (Advanced Stabilisation System + Team Leader + Plasma Rifles + Bonding Knife + Multi-Tracker + Target Lock + Black Sun Filter)
2 Broadside Battlesuits, 160 pts = 2* 80 (Advanced Stabilisation System)
1 Shield Drone



1849

The two 3-man broad teams will deploy on opposite flanks then arc in as the enemy advances (laying in plasma/rails onto heavy infantry once armour is down). 2 man team will sit in cover up the middle. Target locks will give me better saturation. Can engage up to 6 targets.
Kroot blobs are pretty immovable. Usually play throw-away units.
HQ rides with 2-man fireknife team for JSJ harrassment.
Deathrains will do their thing- and flame stuff as it closes.

Looks pretty legit! Glad to see competitive Tau ideas but I don't know enough about Tau to give much constructive criticism.

It is against forum rules to post points cost of individual models. Rather than having (Model cost) * (Model count) = (Total Cost) just post the total cost, don't post the math. GW gets all kinds of grumpy.

Yeh I had the pleasure of having access to a butt-load of Kroot. Usual advantages of foot list (nullify anti-tank), but way more mobile, with infiltrate, outflank and jsj on suits.

Worked off the last version of the list he sent, deleted all the gear pts cost.

Some quick notes:
- Shapers aren't worth the cost (an additional 21 pts for 2 attacks and 2 wounds)
- That's too much Deathrain... You're going to lack anti-MEQ/TEQ capabilities. Switch one squad to PR/BC/MT.
- Take the plasma off the Broadsides, it's better on Crisis suits.
- All of his anti-tank is going to be directed at suits now. Try to split them into squads of two or bond them.
- If you can fit them, add in pathfinders. Markerlights will be a godsend.

Pretty much my thoughts lol. He's pretty stubborn.
Deathrain are great value, and the flamers they pack are a solid back stop. Missile Pods also don't care when marines are in cover.

Would love pathfinders but dont want to have a single tank required with their buy. Not super dependent on markers as I have weight of fire and some twin-linked.
Twin-linked plasma is only 10 pts on broadsides instead of 30 on crisis suits. Good value in my book.
The 20 pts you pay for the shaper is the ld 8. That and you you allocate wounds onto him to avoid checks from losses.

No spare slots to split crisis teams. Bonding will require team leader too. JSJ will keep them reasonably safe to anti-tank.

You take the Devilfish, and dump the pathfinders with their scout move, then grab the FW squad and ferry them around. Add a disruption pod and it becomes a great fire magnet, even if you keep it empty. Markerlights are Tau's biggest threat, they make the high volume of inaccurate fire that Tau normally have accurate. And unfortunately, flamers & suits = Death. The flame template range is only 8.25", so unless you just barely cover the enemy models, you're getting assaulted the next turn. The problem with Plasma on XV88s is not what you gain, it is what you lose. Twin-Linked plasma for 10 points is awesome. On a unit that should be shooting at tanks far afield? Kind of useless. You shouldn't be too worried about Deep-strikers, as that is what the Kroot are for. Hiding three suits behind cover is going to be a pain, and PR/BC chew through marines in cover as good as TLMP do (don't have the math on me right now, but IIRC the TLMP gets 0.5% better chance of unsaved wounds in cover, and much less out of cover). Shapers grant about a 13% better chance to pass the morale check, so that may be worth it, but I don't know how much of an advantage negating one wound (effectively) will help with morale checks.

I second no plasma on the sides. Missiles are plenty good defensive against small MEQ squads, and better against GEQ. Killing a single assault terminator does not justify their cost. Plus missiles are more versatile IMO. Spend the points elsewhere.

I would drop the shapers for more hounds. Kroot are meatshields, and large blobs need a lot of wounds before they check. More wounds=higher check threshold and more assault power. I would even consider dropping the 6 fw's as they are not really doing much, for even more kroot.

Why does your 'el have a knife? he has no drones, and counts as an IC anyways...

The deathrain flamer is a failsafe, only for last ditch effort. You should still try to jump 12" away each turn, but sometimes you get trapped against terrain or surrounded. Good to bust a few GEQ out of terrain as well. Best thing is the cost. Totally OK to keep it, so long as you don't plan on trying to use it.

Cheers, glad to have some backup!
Yeh good call on the hounds. I have 20 if I use all his hounds (they are demon fiends- look really cool!). Any suggestion as to what squad? The current no hound squad?
The 6 fire warriors are the compulsory choice you Must buy.
The plasma on the broads is cheap (I've only put it on 2 team leaders.) Once they've floored all the armor (8 railguns, 6 target options with locks, 9 missile pods, 6 of those twin-linked- hoping turn 2 or 3) the plasma is for them to get in there and stuck in.
Once the armour is down i don't care what happens to the broadsides.
Hell, I might just mosie into a tac squad, loose off 3 twin railguns, 2 twin plasma shots, then assault straight in, use them as tar-pit unit.
In previous builds I've had problems with 1 broadside having no targets mid game, let alone 8!
Yeh the flamer is a great buy in my book. the cheapest option for compulsory 3rd hard-point is the black sun filter. This is only 1 pt more.
I definitely agree with usefulness of a dumb fish, but i don't see what would be worth stripping out for a similar or greater return, for it and the pathfinders.
The shas'el has a knife as he will ride as the team leader of the 2 man fireknife team.

The fireknife team can always regroup. If they lose a model, they regroup. If they lose both the Fireknives, the IC can always regroup because he is an IC.

Add hounds anywhere. Try to make your kroot squads relatively equal in numbers of bodies, for both morale and CC purposes.

The plasma is overkill. 3 railguns and the missiles will wipe a 5 man assault team, and will not stop a 10 man assault team from reaching you. Assaulting is a dumb idea with tau in general, and with the A.S.S. because you count as moving through cover in assaults, means the enemy always strikes first. Against any unit with power weapons you will always die.
Broadsides always have targets, it is called the enemy. Railguns and missiles on a suit means you are shooting anything in range for any reason should you run out of railgun priority targets. Better to have number of shots than 1-2 better shots. Unless your meta is mostly TEQ leave the plasma at home. Buy 3 more kroot and use these to better fight assaults.

Dr. Serling wrote:The fireknife team can always regroup. If they lose a model, they regroup. If they lose both the Fireknives, the IC can always regroup because he is an IC.

Isn't there some debate about that? I remember seeing a YMDC thread about IC's regrouping when their squad is gone, and some people were adamant that they were unable to. (Can't leave/join a squad that is falling back.) This might have been resolved since then though, I do not remember how old that thread was.