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Hey people

I'm thinking of running a small tau army due to my love of mechs etc. From reading through the codex and forums I've come up with this list. Any advice/criticisms would be really useful.

HQ:

Ethereal with 2 gun drones (50 pts)

Troops:

2 x 10 firewarriors (180 pt)

Elite

Riptide with ion accelerator and twin linked fusion blaster (185pt)

Fast Attack:

6 x PathFinders (66 points)

This comes to 481 points which is a fair bit under the limit allowing for a bit of flexibility in upgrades. What are ppls opinions? If the army composition looks terrible, i can change it as i'm very new to tau and so a bit of a noob...

Thanks

Welcome to Dakka and Tau!

You are definitely on the right track, but I think a Riptide puts all your eggs in one basket at 500. Also, Pathfinders give very easy first blood, especially in small numbers. I like Broadsides at the points level more. You can even stick with the mecha theme! Try something like this:

Ethereal
Commander w/ Puretide, VRT, MS3
x2 FW (6 man)
Broadsides (3 man)

Comes out to right under 500. You have a lot of firepower with this list, as well as good durability.

Hope I was able to help

Lucarikx

Hey there,

Thanks for the welcome and quick response/suggestions, they look pretty cool

I know it sounds nooby but I cant find what MS3 is in the codex? Maybe i'm overlooking something?

Lol sorry,

Thanks for your tips though, will make a draft up shortly

No problem! MS3 is short for Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite. We'd normally call it MSSS, but it gets confused with Mind Shackle Scarabs.

Lucarikx

Edit: Seems like Dakka has the acronym fixed now, lol.

Thanks dude!

I was thinking it may be that but was unsure

Looking forward to making this lil army

I Think it's a bit hypocritical to say that a 6 man pathfinder squad is easy first blood then you give a list with 2 6 man fire warrior squads. I personally think a riptide at this points level is awesome. There is very little that can do a significant amount of fire power to take it down, and it's so versitile It's well worth the points. I do believe the HQ choice is definitely between an ethereal and a fireblade. With the ethereal though you really have to look out for giving away a lot of victory points if he dies. (3 in Annihilation) Whether as a fireblade can sit in a 12 man unit and provide some significant buffs as well as a marker light. It would be great to fit a broadside and 2 missile drones in but you might struggle with such small amounts of points as they normally need a smaller pathfinder squad to make them worth it. My 600 Point list looks like this:

HQ:
Fireblade

Troops:
12 FW
10 FW

Elites:
Riptide, IA, EWO

Fast attack:
5 Pathfinders

Heavy Support:
Broadside HYMP and 2 missile drones.

I don't know where the most efficient place would be to drop 100 points. But that's just my 50 cents

The reason PF are easy first blood is because they have a 5+ armor save. So easy to kill even with cover. Also, I think 11 PPM for T3 and 5+ save without Stealth or anything is too expensive. Pay 1 more point to get maker drones in Broadside Teams or Crisis suit squads. Fireblades are in general, terrible. At 500 points, the most important thing is to stay on the table. With no LD buff, every model you lose is scary.

Also, I don't think Missile Drones are worthwhile, truthfully. 1 drone bites the dust and there's a morale check. 12 PPM for a 2 BS2 S7 shots isn't worth it. 24 points can almost get you 3 more FW or some upgrades.

Lucarikx

First off with the missile drones. You are wrong, that's 12 points for an autocannon, hense why the pathfinders are necessary. 8 strength 7 ap 4 shots for like 90 something points is sickening. If you don't believe look at ANY competitive Tau list. Next, theres a thing called ruins, pathfinders tend to like them. They are vital in any good tau army. again, if you don't believe me look at ANY competitive Tau list. Fireblades yes, they are not ideal, I'd much rather take a buffmander, but at such low points do you really have much choice? Yes Ethereals are probably a better model. But look at it across the game, All I'd have to do is kill the ethereal and 6 firewarriors in annihilation or objectives and I've practically won already. And with the drones. Stick the broadside at the front, you'd be stupid to put the drones at the front.

To tell you the truth, PF are not crucial to any Tau army. The person who got second at FoB Inv last year used absolutely no PF (I know this for a fact because he's my doubles partner), and almost every competitive Tau list uses Sky Rays as their Marker support (look at quad-tide lists, modern Taudar). Have fun killing the Ethereal when he's bunkering with 3 Broadsides.

Lucarikx

But he isn't bunkering with 3 broadsides in 500 points is he? and Taudar still uses pathfinders. And again, at this points level can you really fit a skyray in there? make the most of what you have. You really have to be efficient at this level.

If you decide to run 3 Broadsides, thats where I would always put him. No point in putting him in a FW squad - you want to keep at least 1 in reserve. I personally run pure Kroot as my troops at 1000+ games, but small FW squads are easy to keep off the radar. You don't need markerlights at 500 points, especially if you play smart with positioning and movement.

Lucarikx

I think a 55 point squad of pathfinders, especially if you've got a large blob of fireblade buffed firewarriors, would do a great deal extra. However, if you are not running the broadside in 500 points I probably wouldn't take the pathfinders

Thanks for your interest both

You certainly seem to hold a great deal of experience between you.

I'll definitely take into account your advice