1850/2000pts Skimmer-heavy Tau!

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**zeqe**

HQ:

Shas'el (CIB, Plasma, MT) - 90

Elites:

4 x XV25 - 120

Troops:

8 FCW w/Devilfish (SMS, MT, TA, Decoys) - 200

FA:

Piranha (Fusion, TA) - 70

Heavy Support:

Hammerhead (Railgun, SMS, MT, TL, TA¹, Decoys) - 180

¹Hammerhead receive this upgrade at no cost.

Total: 2000pts

For the 1850 point army I remove 1 piranha and 2 FCW per squad.

Some of the inspiration for this army came from one of mughi's posts and how he referred to FCWs in his devilfish as crash survivors... I originally snickered at the idea thinking it was foolish, but after trying it out in a friendly game I was amazed at how well it worked. Now, over 50 games ( >75% wins) and two tournament top 3 finishes (Over 40 competitors in each) I realize that it is competitive in the local tournament scene and in pickup games at the FLGS.

After discovering this target-denial and VP-preservation approach to playing Tau I have become much more satisfied with the new codex, and I urge any beginning Tau players having problems with Mech Tau to give it a try... simply put it's emphasizing the S5 AP5 saturation fire that Tau are good at, while moving your tanks in tight groups where possible to use the amazing power of the SMS to full advantage (e.g. Hammerheads being able to focus their SMS fire in direct support of the DFs and infantry using their free targetlock while being able to punish the enemy's MCs/vehicles with railgun fire.)

I hope this list may help inspire some other Tau players the way I was inspired!

**The Happy Anarchist**

As a note, if you can find a way to put the Target Locks on the ol Hammerheads, they can fire the Railguns at hard targets while still supporting with SMS. Of course, you have to only move 6" for that, which may not be advisable.

Still trying to wrap my head around how this army is supposed to work. How do you hide all those fish and hammerheads and pirahnas?

**zeqe**

Oops, typo on my part. The TA I listed with the hammerheads should read TL. They also have Multitrackers so they (every skimmer in my army in fact) can move 12" and shoot all their guns.

After turn one I just make sure I move over 6" with every skimmer each turn, concentrate fire as much as possible, and only deploy the FCW from the 'fish if necessary. Losing turn 1 hurts but not as badly as most people would assume at first glance.

One of the main tactical aspects of this army is that you provide a target rich environment for the enemy with no clear order of attack, while providing force multipliers through redundant units. I personally use my Piranhas in a pretty suicidal way, using their first turn move to "zip" them 24" towards the enemy's juiciest armored/MC/IC targets. In several games they have even gotten 2nd turn pot shots at SM/CSM ICs by using their speed then eliminated them with melta-love. YMMV of course, and the first turn selection can affect you greatly depending on terrain... after you get used to this army though the mobility and flexibility really pay off.

**happypants**

Well I would like to see a game with this list, Sounds like the idea is to kill all the weapons that can bust up your tanks and then just go around wiping out the balance of the army pretty much unhindered. Nasty stuff because most people don't bring enough anti-armor to the table to kill all of that.

**zeqe**

That's basically the gist of it H.P., sometimes I don't even bother with mid-range heavy weapons like autocannons. Most people I've talked to about the strategy before a game think I am daft. After they come to the grim realization that I have taken all or most of their units below scoring and I still have a decent amount of highly mobile scoring units left they sometimes clap... and sometimes cringe.

With the added benefit of piranhas for 11th hour end runs on objectives it really has a lot of potential, especially considering the average player's predisposition to trying to take out the Hammerheads.

If you are a Tau player and are interested in how it might work out, just call in Hunter Cadre Proxius and give it a shot... if nothing else you'll get a good laugh out of how fun it is to play.

**mughi3**

glad your having fun with it man.

it was a series of demo games with proxes that led me to make my list.

i still really enjoy how it works. you make the enemy spread fire with more units like that, although i have come to love my points spendy fish with most of the upgrades since i am now a tau force that is both survivable to shooting and better in HTH than a marine thanks to the fletchette launchers.

i was bouncing around the idea of a mechanized eldar force for a friend of mine of a farseerer, 3 falcons with brightlance/shirukin cannon and as many wave serpents with TL brightlance/shirukin cannon as can be fielded with minimum sized guardian squads.

the only upgrades for them would be spirit stone, scythes and holo fields for the falcons. they are not quite as survivable or as good in HTH as tau vehicles but they do carry both anti tank and infantry weapons on every vehicle. have to wait to see the new eldar codex to see if it is doable.

**Longshot**

I think the stealth suits are a ridiculous choice for this list, which has an amazing amount of S5/AP5 firepower already.

I'd trade every single one for more crisis suits with plasma and possibly missile pods. You should be able to get 4 and another shas'el I believe.

I've tried stealths and they're crap in a mobile list compared to crisis, at least in my experience. And the second shas'el is gold in a list lacking anti marine anti terminator firepower.