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Its been a while since i crunched my brain on building lists in 40k for my tau army, so i wondered if i could get some help to kinda get a feel for the "meta" on how to build Tau lists?

A few points tho:
1. I dont have a Riptide, nor do i plan to get one as i dont have space in my suitcase for my models to bring along such a thing around, and i actually prefer to try playing around with smaller models rather than a "power model"
2. My Eldar allies are basic, a Farseer on foot, with 3 jetbikes, nothing special.
3. I love Crisis and Boardside suits, so i would like to see those in battle and i prefer those over any riptide.

But as far as i know for 1k lists or Tau in general a list have something like this:

Ethereal or Tanky-commander or both

A Suit team for plasma
A Suicide suit with fusions for vehicles

2x 10 man firewarriors squads

2x5-6 pathfinder squads

And whatever heavies you have the point leftover for.

In advance thanks if you take your time to help me out trying to get back into the list making ^^;

My suggestions:

At low point costs Ethereals are some of the best HQ choices in the game. With two twelve man Firewarrior squads or three nine man Firewarrior squads they will give you enough shots to take out most death star type units.

Never take suicide suits! They get only one round of shooting on average, and they cost to much to lose after one turn. Also Plasma Rifle suicide suits don't have the firepower to kill anything equal to their cost. Try Twin-linked Missile Pod suits, or one Burst Cannon and one Missile Pod suits. These will give you a lot of firepower, are more effective for their point cost, and give you the versatility to deal with a variety of targets.

Twin-linked High-yield Missile Pod Broadsides are amazing at this point level. Take one or two, they are almost obligatory.

With a huge Firewarrior bomb of two max squads or three nine man squads, an Ethereal, and a Farseer you will be able to wipe whole teams of Termies from the board in a single turn, or kill 99.9% of Monstrous Creatures Just by looking at them. That bomb is amazingly effective.

Just remember your Elites and Heavy Supports should focus on enemy vehicles and Troop choices, and your Troops should focus on enemy Elites, HQ's, and Monstrous Creatures.

I'm the opposite of you I play Eldar and just started to do Tau as allies.

A farseer adds alot to your tau Prescience and Guide are amazing when added to a tau list. Use the jetbikes well they are a great unit.

The Ethereal is excellent, I'd suggest giving the Carde Fireblade some serious consideration as a second commander or even replacing the Ethereal.

Lastly experienced players will focus on your pathfinders, its the first thing I shoot when facing Tau. Markerlights are your bread and butter. keeping them small is a curse and a blessing, but in the end I think you have the right idea small is better. At least you will not put too many points into one squad.

Since you have only a few points left for heavies, I'd suggest trying to fit 2 broadsides, or Hammerhead with submunition, since you have no interest in a Riptide. I must commend you for your choice on not playing one. I too refuse to play a wraithknight but mostly because I think it sucks (IMO).

if your willing to spend the money on the models take a farsight enclave.
lets you take the suits as troops.

if not stick with a normal Tau.

And please post the total points for the eldar so i can give you a working tau army.

A Farseer with 3 bikes ( no upgrades ) cost 161 points i think.
And thats a absolute minimum as i use the farseer for powers and deny the witch defense, and the bikes is a alright "tax" as it gives me some fast point cappers.

What i have of my Tau army is:
Farsight, Shadowsun, Ethereal
36 Firewarriors ( 3 full squads )
10 Pathfinders
3 Broadsides
7 Crisis suits
1 Devilfish
1 Hammerhead
1 sniper team ( 1 spotter, 3 drones )

And what i have of Eldar is basically
A Farseer
3 jetbikers

And ofcourse enough drones to give everything drones...EVERYTHING! ( god damn you get a lot of drones by buying tau )

Typically, i would refrain from using allies at 1k points. However, since you have neither multiple devilfishes or kroot, you are somewhat lacking inthe ability to take far flung objectives. because of this, a unit of jetbikes would be great. I dont have my tau dex with me so i cant write a list but what i would try to do is create a strong fire base with firewarriors pathfinders and ethereal. Then move forward with shielded crisis suit squads, the farseer and his unit, and another fire warrior unit in dfish. Use the jetbikes and dfish for objectives. If you have any points left over get some form of AA as crisis suits with fusion blasters should be enough to take out heavytanks. However, if you dont have points for AA farseer guided suits with two MP's are a good substitute. Anyway, these are just my thoughts and the way i play my armies. Take my advice with a grain of salt.

Dracoknight wrote:
A Farseer with 3 bikes ( no upgrades ) cost 161 points i think.
And thats a absolute minimum as i use the farseer for powers and deny the witch defense, and the bikes is a alright "tax" as it gives me some fast point cappers.

What i have of my Tau army is:
Farsight, Shadowsun, Ethereal
36 Firewarriors ( 3 full squads )
10 Pathfinders
3 Broadsides
7 Crisis suits
1 Devilfish
1 Hammerhead
1 sniper team ( 1 spotter, 3 drones )

And what i have of Eldar is basically
A Farseer
3 jetbikers

And ofcourse enough drones to give everything drones...EVERYTHING! ( god damn you get a lot of drones by buying tau )

The Best i could come up with based off what i know looks like this for a Farsight Enclave.

------HQ------
Commander -- 137
Burst Cannon
Burst Cannon
Drone Controller
Gun Drone x 2

----Troops----
Crisis Team X 3 --- 159
Plasma Rifle
Plasma Rifle
Bonding Knife

Crisis Team x 3 --- 201 (commander goes with these guys)
Burst Cannon
Burst Cannon
Bonding Knife
Gun Drone x 2

---Fast Attack---
Pathfinder team - 48
Pathfinder Team - 48

---Heavy Support---
HammerHead --- 146
Black Sun Filter
Submunnition Rounds
Disruption Pod

Sniper Drone Team - 58

Total Points - 797

You will have to trim the list to fit the Eldar ( i don't recommend taking eldar at this low level points maybe 1500pts) i made this Farsight Enclave because it lets you take the suits as troops.
Reason 1: your using your eldar to Cap Objectives so your tau don't need too. Reason 2: By taking Farsight your Crisis Suits Become Troops which lets you take more of them.

I will post a normal Tau codex army to go with this list shortly.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Normal Tau Don't Like it will work as well but here is a list.

---HQ---
Ethereal - 50

---Troops---
Fire Warriors x 12 --108

Fire Warriors x 12 --108

Fire Warriors x 12 --108

----Fast Attack---
Path Finder x 6 -- 66

----Heavy Support---
Broadside Team --- 210
Early Warning Overide

Hammer Head --- 146
Submunitions
Black Sun Filter
Disruption pod.

Total Cost = 796

This is more Gunline Tau. MUCH less mobile than a farsight list. Very Static.
Couldn't effectively put the Crisis suits in this list with your allies.

Hmm, this helps out getting the idea on how to build my lists, and i guess from here its mostly trying and failing until i find out what i prefer.

But it allows some variance, and i wouldnt be too sad to lose out on the Eldars, tho their buffs however would be nice to have as a farseer might be harder to kill off than a pathfinder squad.

Just play test it and see how each works out for you.
i think you have an additional 50pts or so to toss into squads. so don't forget to spend those.

Well, could go with 10 man firewarrior squads, and put a 6man squad into a devilfish or something, how would that work?

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/551314.page

I suggest checking here. I started this thread to better my 900 point list, but I cover a lot of tau basics on there.