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Hello i have picked up a tau army of a friend but unfortunely he did not have the updated codex so i need help with a starting list as when the codex arrives i will not know whats good/not.
the army includes:
1 commander (still boxed)
6 crisis suits - plasma rifles/shield generators
6 stealth suits - burst cannons
2 broadsides (still boxed)
1 riptide - ion accelerator
12 fire warriors - old
10 fire warriors (new)
10 path finders

as well as all the drones that come in the set. i dont need a full written list as such just a sample one on what units i should be taking and which ones i should avoid.

any help would be thankful

There all pretty good models , i would make a squad of 6 suits and add the commander in as a buffmander (you give him upgrades that affect the whole unit eg twin linked ignores cover)
The path finders are a must and learning how to use there marker lights is key . Then i would say both firewarriors for your troops then the riptide . Then add in the broadsides and stealth suits depending on the points you have left

You have a good start. I would say Commander, one unit of 3x Crisis suits, the Riptide, both Broadsides and four units of 5x Fire Warriors as a starting point. Then fill in with a second Crisis team and the Stealth Suits. There are three ways to assemble your Commander:

Buffmander: Command and Control Node, Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite, Optional Puretide Engram Neurochip
This guy joins a unit and gives them buffs. Kind of like a Divination Psyker that doesn't need to use warp charges and can't be denied.

Tankmander: Iridium Armour, Shield Generator, Stimulant Injector, Optional Shield Drones
This guy joins a unit and stands in front soaking damage.

Markermander: Drone Controller, Optional Target Lock, Optional Missile Pods
This guy joins a unit of Marker Drones and provides BS5 Markerlight support.

With your current collection, I would suggest a Markermander. The reality is that Pathfinders, though being the poster children for Markerlights, aren't terribly good at Marker support. They are fragile and have a very mediocre BS3. For any Tau army to win, you need reliable Marker tokens and the best way to get them with your collection is a Markermander. Beyond that, I would assemble your new Fire Warriors with Pulse Rifles and the Broadsides with High-Yield Missile Pods and Smart Missile Systems.

Counterwavecounter's break down of Commander options is spot in.

Your force is real decent - it's not lime your friend left you 3 dozen Vespids and a pair of Kroot Shapers.

Rail Guns are no longer the death machines they were for your broadsides, assemble them as missilesides.

You'll probably want to diversify your Crisis Suit load outs since they're designed to be your army's multitool to handle problems, if you don't bave some spare bitz, troll through eBay or the swap shop and see what you can find.

Okay so the codex arrived and i have built a 1000 pt list to try and use. i liked the idea of the buffmander so im thinking about using the configuration. any constructive criticism would be welcome.

HQ:

commander - twin-linked flamer
stimulant injector
onagar gauntlet
command and control node
puretide engram neurochip
multi-spectrum sensor suite = 165 pts

elites:

3 crisis battle suits - shasvre - plasma rifle, missile pod, stimulant injector
shasui - plasma rifle, missile pod, stimulant injector
shasui - plasma rifle, missile pod, stimulant injector = 211 pts

1 riptide - ion accelerator, twin linked smart missile system, stimulant injector = 220 pts





troops:


5 fire warriors - marker drone = 57 pts

5 fire warriors - marker drone = 57 pts

5 fire warriors - marker drone = 57 pts

5 fire warriors - marker drone = 57 pts

heavy support:

2 broadsides - shasvre - twin-linked high yield missile pod, twin-linked smart missile pod, drone controller
shasui - twin-linked high yield missile pod, twin-linked smart missile pod
2 marker dones = 172 pts

do you think this is viable in a casual setting? thanks for reading the list

I would drop Onager Gauntlet (the donkey punch) for Drone controller) and slide marker drones onto him for BS 5 Markerlight. I'd probably also swap him to missile pods as you want to keep him out of CC range with the Markerlights. Target lock might not be a bad option on him as well, that way he cab kill a unit while his drones mark another for your FW/Sides.

I personally like running individual Crisis units with identical weapons for target priority purposes ie: 1 unit with dual plasma, 1 unit with dual flamers, 1 unit with dual fusion, this way they're specialized for a target type - horde control, tank killing, etc. I generally don't run them with stims since they're so cheap you can get another entire model for the price of a few stims and increase your shooting output.

I really like Pathfinders. They can be kitted out with Rapidfire STR 6 AP 1 Rails or deploy Markerlights all game - either way they're a low cost, fire drawing, force multiplier. A Shas' with an Ion Rifle and a pair of Marker drones is a cheapish upgrade that gives even more high STR range and even more Markerlights.

gobbowarboss wrote:
Okay so the codex arrived and i have built a 1000 pt list to try and use. i liked the idea of the buffmander so im thinking about using the configuration. any constructive criticism would be welcome.

HQ:

commander - twin-linked flamer
stimulant injector
onagar gauntlet
command and control node
puretide engram neurochip
multi-spectrum sensor suite = 165 pts

elites:

3 crisis battle suits - shasvre - plasma rifle, missile pod, stimulant injector
shasui - plasma rifle, missile pod, stimulant injector
shasui - plasma rifle, missile pod, stimulant injector = 211 pts

1 riptide - ion accelerator, twin linked smart missile system, stimulant injector = 220 pts





troops:


5 fire warriors - marker drone = 57 pts

5 fire warriors - marker drone = 57 pts

5 fire warriors - marker drone = 57 pts

5 fire warriors - marker drone = 57 pts

heavy support:

2 broadsides - shasvre - twin-linked high yield missile pod, twin-linked smart missile pod, drone controller
shasui - twin-linked high yield missile pod, twin-linked smart missile pod
2 marker dones = 172 pts

do you think this is viable in a casual setting? thanks for reading the list

To some degree this is a matter of taste, but I will try to add constructive feedback

Commander, why TL flamer (shred-lite) over 2 flamers for same cost for potentially double the amount of wounds?
Onager gauntlet? its cheap so it's not a big deal, but i don't want my buffmander in melee.
Stimulant injectors on t4 3+ is not a great choice, 1 battle cannon shot will ID and ignore FNP a whole squad of suits. Iridium suits is key there, to get t5.

Suits, same with stims here, not the best on a t4 platform. If you run them together, i'd run 2 with target locks, to give the option to shoot other units. if separately... i'd save the points on 3rd option. Possibly run duel fusions with a shield generator to survive as a suicide suit a touch longer.
Generally i find the 'vre upgrade a waste of 10 points, unless you want to attach to fusion suits again with PEN chip

Its a bit of a sore spot on the forums, but you can bring interceptor on your riptide for 5pts, and choose to do so. I also don't run it, but really that's a chosen weakness on my part,

You have to upgrade a firewarrior to a shas'ui and then buy the upgrade, there are better/more efficient ways to get marker lights. If you aren't building a strong gun-line, i'd run them at min possible cost.

Broadsides, they uniquely have access to missile drones (s7ap4 36" range), so if bringing drones, i'd recommend those. Again 'vre upgrade doesn't really help. Another great place to bring EWO or possibly V-Tracker to intercept deepstrikers in range, or dakka fliers down with s7 fire.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Rommel013 wrote:
I would drop Onager Gauntlet (the donkey punch) for Drone controller) and slide marker drones onto him for BS 5 Markerlight. I'd probably also swap him to missile pods as you want to keep him out of CC range with the Markerlights. Target lock might not be a bad option on him as well, that way he cab kill a unit while his drones mark another for your FW/Sides.

I personally like running individual Crisis units with identical weapons for target priority purposes ie: 1 unit with dual plasma, 1 unit with dual flamers, 1 unit with dual fusion, this way they're specialized for a target type - horde control, tank killing, etc. I generally don't run them with stims since they're so cheap you can get another entire model for the price of a few stims and increase your shooting output.

I really like Pathfinders. They can be kitted out with Rapidfire STR 6 AP 1 Rails or deploy Markerlights all game - either way they're a low cost, fire drawing, force multiplier. A Shas' with an Ion Rifle and a pair of Marker drones is a cheapish upgrade that gives even more high STR range and even more Markerlights.

Pathfinders are fun, but at 21 and 26 points for ion and rail version respectively, in a fast attack slot, its hard to argue them as points effective. 2ndly, doesn't bringing the upgraded weapon replace your pulse carbine and marker light? so you cannot poop out non-relentless marker lights OR fire turn by turn, you've elected them not to contribute markerlights at all