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Need advice on what to buy/build. I played 40K during 3rd and 4th editions (BT, Eldar, DE, and IG). Played one game of 5th and haven't tried 6th. I want to try something new for the new edition and the Tau look interesting (I'll admit that the Riptide pulled me in). I've come up with a core group and I'm not sure what units to add. Note that I still need to decide on weapons and gear.

Here is what I have so far:

HQ - Cmdr. Shadowsun
Elite - Riptide x2
Troops - Fire Warrior team w/ Devilfish x3
Heavy - Broadside x2

Before getting into any discussion on weapon loads and gear, I'd like to know what units I should add (or any that I should dump).

Thanks for looking and thanks for your help.

you need markerlights so go pathfinders.
don't use shadowsun with this list it doesnt really suit it.

go a commander filled to the teeth with support/signature systems with a squad of crisis suits, weapons depending on who you typically play.

throw in one or 2 hammerheads too, dis pods, submunitions or ion also depending on who you play.

i would also consider one riptide with 2 suit squads, but thats no so important

I disagree with the above on a few things. You do indeed need markerlights, but I wouldn't say that pathfinders are the best option right now. They are squishy and can lead to an easy first blood. I would recommend the mark'o commander, and attach it too a squad of marker drones. Give him the drone controller and you have bs5 markerlights and wounds for your commander.

Two riptides are enough in my mind. I would also not recommend two hammerheads. Yes they have a nice strength 10 weapon but not a particularly reliable anti tank source. Our main source comes from deepstriking Fusion suits.

I would recommend at least one skyray. Not only fantastic at anti air, but also another couple of markerlights which are superb.

Finally just my opinion, the devilfish are ridic expensive. I would minimise FW squads and think about getting some sniper kroot for outflanking, end zone objectives and the other secondary objective I can't remember at the moment.

Good Luck.

ATO

 Alltheones wrote:
I disagree with the above on a few things. You do indeed need markerlights, but I wouldn't say that pathfinders are the best option right now. They are squishy and can lead to an easy first blood. I would recommend the mark'o commander, and attach it too a squad of marker drones. Give him the drone controller and you have bs5 markerlights and wounds for your commander.

Two riptides are enough in my mind. I would also not recommend two hammerheads. Yes they have a nice strength 10 weapon but not a particularly reliable anti tank source. Our main source comes from deepstriking Fusion suits.

I would recommend at least one skyray. Not only fantastic at anti air, but also another couple of markerlights which are superb.

Finally just my opinion, the devilfish are ridic expensive. I would minimise FW squads and think about getting some sniper kroot for outflanking, end zone objectives and the other secondary objective I can't remember at the moment.

Good Luck.

ATO

Support commander is ok, but it really limits what he can do. I have done a few games with 2x MP and 6 Markerdrones with DC, Target Lock, and +2 armor . It's an AMAZING marker platform getting an average of 5 MLs so far in the games i have played. The dual MP gives him 4 S7 AP4 shots at 36', the same range as the MLs. However, It also tends to make your commander more a recluse on the battle field.

An alternative you can do that frees up your commander is a squad of crisis suits: 1x 'Vre with DC, MSS, CnN and 2x 'ui with 2x MP 2x Target Locks. Then throw on 6 ML drones. This gives you 6 TL ML shots as well as 8 TL S7 AP4 shots. It's a bit pricey, and a decently large "foot print', but it frees up your commander to do other things.

Pathfinders are ok, but they are very static. They're ML are heavy, so if you move them at all, they will fire snap shots in their shooting phase. Boo :(. They're also squishy with +5 armor. They are typically a priority target for most armies, and most armies have some sort of answer to troops in cover, so cover saves may not save you.

Still, you NEED markerlights. Tau is just a mediocre army without them. Riptides pretty much require ML to function at maximum damage. Figure out what suits your play style the most though, and then go from there.

If you do decide to use ML drones (might as well make a few) you can easily convert them with normal gun drones. What i did was take the "Pulse Carbine" gun and cut off the bottom part to it. I glued it to the side of the drone butt (the bottom part?) and then glued a target lock piece on the other side. It looks pretty legit. If i get a chance to, i'll throw up a picture of what i did and compare it to markerlight drones GW supplies you with various kits. Unfortunately, GW does not supply a kit specifically for marker drones.

The way i play the commander is without any offensive capabilities. i make him pure support with missle pod suits that have 12 twin linked ignores cover tank hunter missles a turn. plenty enough to deal with anything to armour 13, flyer or no. then with AV14 i DS fusion suits.

while mark'o commander will get you spastic good ml hits, they are ALL directed at one unit which is not efficient. i find that 2 squads of 5 pathfinders deployed in cover with good LOS and the occasional scattered ML has paid off best for me.

Theres also tetras which are hands down the best but are Forgeworld (of course).

and i agree with the devilfish input, never used em myself too expensive for my blood.

the hammerheads i dont typically use for av 14 unless i use longstrike, i use em mainly to instant kill t5 dudes (demon princes), pie plate anything 3+ and up (ion)

If you're getting back into Tau, don't discount picking up the Farsight Enclaves supplement. I switched over in July and haven't looked back. It's so much more dynamic to play than traditional Tau. And Crisis suits are incredibly powerful offensive units. Also, dropping solo suits in the backfiled and JSJing behind LOS with a scoring unit is great. I usually ally to vanilla Tau so I can still grab a buff commander. Then you can take Kroot as allies so they don't eat up scoring crisis slots.