Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I got a deal on some Pathfinders (but no drones), and so greatly enjoyed painting the first two that I bought Start Collecting Tau.

Ethereal - no upgrades - 50

Fire Warriors x5 w pulse rifle + DS9 Missile Turret - 55
Fire Warriors x5 w pulse rifle - 45

Crisis Suit w Fusion & Plasma - 52
Crisis Suit w Fusion & Plasma - 52
Crisis Suit w Fusion & Plasma - 52

Pathfinders x5, one w Ion Rifle - 65
Pathfinders x5, one w Rail Rifle - 70
Gun Drones x4 - 56

Total 497

The big question is the Crisis Suits: is the "Helios" a good choice? I play 500-750 pts, so I expect them to deep-strike separately. Thus the mixed load: I don't want the opponent to pick off the critical suit. I figure if I really like Tau, I want a Kroot squad next, then maybe a tank. My opponents include numerous Dark Angels players, so I'm hoping to use ML hits to counter rerollable Jinks.

Am I wrong about the suits?
Is there a better way to reach 500 pts with the Start Collecting Box + Pathfinders?

Depends if you like your friends, units such as riptides and ghost keel are awesome in this points and hard to kill, ap 2 large blast ignore cover not much low points can do:p

In lower points more bodies always beat upgrades, (your pathfinder).

I think a piranha for 40 points is more difficult to deal with in lower point games than drones i would swap that one out. (Also gices you an easy line breaker and two drones

Wow, a Piranha and 2 Drones costs as much as 3 Drones. Definitely seems like a better choice, if I had one. Maybe one day.

The thing is, the piranha has 2 drones built into its cost, who are "embarked passengers" so you can disembark them from the piranha. so the 40 points - 24 for the two drones, now you have a fast skimmer with decent gun for 16 points, and 2 drones still (given not in a unit) and front armor of the skimmer is immune to s4 bolters.

arthorn wrote:
In lower points more bodies always beat upgrades, (your pathfinder).

This is so true. My FLGS just started an Escalation League and generally those who brought the most bodies did best.

Also I would only use 1 weapon type per Crisis Suit. You tend to get better results the more your specialize them. Thats my exp at least. If you are worried about armor give them all dual fusion, or give them dual plasma if you are more worried about the marines.

Also as to next buys, I like kroot, but at 500-750pt I feel that a squad of 7 fire warriors (a few points less that a kroot squad) will give you better results. Fire warriors (7x) do about 0.1 wounds less that kroot (10x) on Space Marines. But the fire warrior has 6" (so they rapid fire at 15") longer range and a 4+ save. So at least one more unit of warriors. Also the ethereal +fire warriors are an amazing combo at low points.

Our armor (tanks) are not our best units anymore sadly. They are not BAD, but they are not worth the points for what you get in my opinion. (Except maybe a skyray, but its formations suck) If you do grab a devilfish/hammerhead/skyray body do no glue on the turret. I know friends who started tau who did this and regretted it since a HH and SR are basically just a turret different (more or less)

Also I second the piranhas, especially at low points.

 Zeuriel wrote:
Our armor (tanks) are not our best units anymore sadly. They are not BAD, but they are not worth the points for what you get in my opinion. (Except maybe a skyray, but its formations suck) If you do grab a devilfish/hammerhead/skyray body do no glue on the turret. I know friends who started tau who did this and regretted it since a HH and SR are basically just a turret different (more or less)

This. Definitely this. Build both turrets, and you don't even need any magnets or anything. Just remove the Hammerhead turret and pop the skyray one on.