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So I'm fairly new to 40k and very new to Tau but I'm interested in getting started. I'm hoping someone could give me some pointers on the following list. I'm hoping to be reasonably competitive without going full meta. The following list is a double battalion, double Outrider, single Spearhead list to boost up command points. Do I need to consider any other units? Would anything listed fail to pull its weight? I've also got a few points spare and I'm not sure what to spend them on so any suggestions would be great!

Battalion (Tau Sept)
HQ
Ethereal (45)
Fireblade, Markerlight (42)

Troops
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)

Total 315

Battalion (Tau Sept)
HQ
Ethereal (45)
Fireblade, Markerlight (42)

Troops
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)
Strike Team (x5), Markerlight (38)

Total 315

Outrider (Borkan Sept)
HQ
Fireblade, Markerlight (42)

Fast
Pathfinder (x5), Markerlight (x5), Grav Drone, Pulse Drone (56)
Pathfinder (x5), Markerlight (x5), Grav Drone, Pulse Drone (56)
Pathfinder (x5), Markerlight (x2), Ion Rifle (x3) (52)
Pathfinder (x5), Markerlight (x2), Ion Rifle (x3) (52)

Total 258

Outrider (Viorla Sept)
HQ
Coldstar Battlesuit Commander, Fusion Blaster (x4) (174)

Fast
Shield Drones (x4) (40)
Shield Drones (x4) (40)
Shield Drones (x4) (40)
Shield Drones (x4) (40)

Total 294

Spearhead (Tau Sept)
HQ
Longstrike, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (212)

Heavy
Hammerhead, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (175)
Hammerhead, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (175)
Hammerhead, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (175)

Total 737

Grand Total 1919

So right off the bat.. in matched play you are only allowed 3 detachments. Longstrike and hammerhead friends is a strong list also if you aren't going battle suits you don't need that many shield drones since you only really need them for the coldstar and even then they will have a hard time catching up with him. As for markerlights you should look at getting 3 firesight marksman for more reliable hits and put them in a Sa'cea vanguard or battalion for the stratagem. Also in my opinion you don't want to mix too many septs together,, usually all the same or 1-2 different. Pathfinders with Ion rifles are always a hit or a miss with me but when I run them I like to take darkstrider because he will allow them to get +1 to wound.

Cola has this. Also you can usually only have 3 of each unit excluding troop role. I strongly suggest having some backup firepower because hammerheads are vulnerable to anti-armor ammo. In my experience they'll take out a knight first turn or the knight will kill longstrike and at least half of anther.

I don't totally know how to mitigate that though.

Shas'O'Ceris wrote:
Cola has this. Also you can usually only have 3 of each unit excluding troop role. I strongly suggest having some backup firepower because hammerheads are vulnerable to anti-armor ammo. In my experience they'll take out a knight first turn or the knight will kill longstrike and at least half of anther.

I don't totally know how to mitigate that though.

Right I forgot to mention the rule of 3.. And the best thing you can do to mitigate damage on the hammer heads is Sense of stone from the Ethereal or Prepared Positions if you don't have first turn.. other then that you pray your opponent doesn't have a lot of anti armour or he whiffs his attacks. This list is also sort of a "glass cannon" style of T'au since you can't use shield drones, the best form of wound mitigation there is other than a 2+ invulnerable.

Sense of stone is for infantry and battlesuits only. So that won't protect Longstrike. You can rely on prepared positions, crisis suit bodyguards and/or DX-4 technical drones. The body guards only protect Longstrike, but hammerheads can be cheap disposable and are worth their points.

Broadsides are good, and so are riptides. If you use relics, you can get mauvering thrusters on the coldstar and keep it Tau Sept.

30 firewariors is enough too, some people play 15 only. Keep your pathfinders simple, you won't need two ethereals... well maybe if you keep everything spreadout, but otherwise you wouldn't.

Good Luck
You can get fancy with drones, but 3 x 6 sheild drones is all you need in tournaments. In casual play I find that 5 total is plenty.

Thanks for all your tips guys! I'm working on a new list taking it all into account and I'll post it up once I'm done!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So I've reworked a few things, how does this look?

Battalion (Tau Sept)
HQ
Ethereal (45)
Fireblade, Markerlight (42)
Longstrike, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (212)

Troops
Strike Team (x10) (70)
Strike Team (x10) (70)
Strike Team (x10) (70)
Strike Team (x10) (70)
Strike Team (x10) (70)
Strike Team (x10) (70)

Elites
Stealthsuits x3, Burst Cannons x3 (84)
Stealthsuits x3, Burst Cannons x3 (84)
Ghostkeel, Cyclic Ion Raker, Burst Cannons (x2), Advanced Targeting System, Target Lock, Stealth Drones (x2) (187)

Fast
Pathfinder (x5), Markerlight (x5), Pulse Drone (48)
Pathfinder (x5), Markerlight (x5), Pulse Drone (48)
Pathfinder (x5), Markerlight (x5), Grav Drone (48)

Heavy
Hammerhead, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (175)
Hammerhead, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (175)
Hammerhead, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (175)

Total: 1743


Vanguard (Sacea Sept)
HQ
Coldstar Battlesuit Commander, Fusion Blaster (x3), Velocity Tracker (155)

Elites
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)
Total: 230


Grand Total: 1973

Got a few points left over, any recommendations?

You can....

Move the coldstar to the tau sept, and the ethereal to the sacea sept. the coldstar as a lot of sept dependent abilities, and the ethereal works with everyone regardless of sept.

You can add advanced targeting systems to each stealth suit. You may also want to double check the math on your ghostkeel. And any left over points, buy some sheild drones.. if only just to provide some protection to the ghostkeel or the coldstar. Overall looking good.

If you can get another fireblade make another battalion and split the firewarriors into 5 man groups, if they are near the Ethereal they cant fail moral and you are getting the same amount of overwatch (depending on set up). Again on the coldstar 4 fusion blasters is better velocity tracker is not really needed since he hits on 2s.. even against a flyer hitting on 3s with on markerlight on it you reroll 1s.. And ive found when running Longstrike and friends you don't need that many markerlights because if the hammerheads are within 6" of longstrike they are hitting on 2s already so maybe drop 2 units of pathfinders. With that you can add in a second Fireblade 2 more stealthsuits and some firewarriors if my math is correct.

Thanks all, think I've got a final list all sorted out! There's just so much good stuff in the Tau codex I want to include it all. XD Anyway...

Brigade (Tau Sept)
HQ
Coldstar Battlesuit Commander, Fusion Blaster (x4) (174)
Fireblade, Markerlight (42)
Longstrike, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (212)

Troops
Strike Team (x10) (70)
Strike Team (x10) (70)
Strike Team (x10) (70)
Strike Team (x10) (70)
Strike Team (x10) (70)
Strike Team (x10) (70)

Elites
Stealthsuits x3, Burst Cannons x3 (84)
Stealthsuits x3, Burst Cannons x3 (84)
Ghostkeel, Cyclic Ion Raker, Burst Cannons (x2), Advanced Targeting System, Target Lock, Stealth Drones (x2) (187)

Fast
Pathfinder (x5), Markerlight (x5), Pulse Drone, Grav Drone (56)
Pathfinder (x5), Markerlight (x5), Pulse Drone, Grav Drone (56)
Shield Drones (x4) (40)

Heavy
Hammerhead, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (175)
Hammerhead, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (175)
Hammerhead, Ion Cannon, Seeker Missile (x2), Smart Missiles (x2) (175)

Total: 1880


Vanguard (Sacea Sept)
HQ
Ethereal (45)

Elites
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)
Total: 120


Grand Total: 2000 on the dot!
Total CP: 16

Coldstar may have 4 weapons/support systems, yours has 5. Coldstar with 4 fusion blasters is 162 accorrding to battlescribe
Ghostkeel is 168pts according to battlescribe.

You got 31pts to spend still.

Oops, forgot to take off the velocity tracker, fixed! Are those points costs accurate? I'm using the codex, has there been an faq that changed the points?

 LynxSarnage wrote:
Oops, forgot to take off the velocity tracker, fixed! Are those points costs accurate? I'm using the codex, has there been an faq that changed the points?

Indeed, Chapter Approved 2018.

Great, another book for me to buy. @_@

So I've been doing a lot of rethinking and reading of various articles and stuff


Brigade (Tau Sept)
HQ
Coldstar Battlesuit Commander, Fusion Blaster (x4) (162)
Shadowsun, Command Drone (116)
Fireblade, Markerlight (42)

Troops
Strike Team (x5) (35)
Strike Team (x5) (35)
Strike Team (x5) (35)
Strike Team (x5) (35)
Strike Team (x5) (35)
Strike Team (x5) (35)

Elites
Riptide, Heavy Burst Cannon, Smart Missile System (x2), Advanced Targeting System, Velocity Tracker (278)
Riptide, Heavy Burst Cannon, Smart Missile System (x2), Advanced Targeting System, Velocity Tracker (278)
Ghostkeel, Cyclic Ion Raker, Flamers (x2), Advanced Targeting System, Target Lock, Stealth Drones (x2) (164)

Fast
Shield Drones (x5) (50)
Shield Drones (x4) (40)
Shield Drones (x4) (40)

Heavy
2x Broadside, Heavy Rail Rifle, Plasma Rifle (x2), Velocity Tracker (176)
2x Broadside, Heavy Rail Rifle, Plasma Rifle (x2), Velocity Tracker (176)
Skyray, Seeker Missiles (x6), Smart Missile System (x2), Markerlight (x2) (146)


Vanguard (Sacea Sept)
HQ
Ethereal (45)

Elites
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)


Grand Total: 1998 pts

The general idea is a solid firebase involving most of the list whilst the Ghostkeel and Skyray serve as distraction units. The Keel would be set up infiltrating and either draw fire or try to take out a priority target. The Skyray would dump its payload on turn one and then serve as a mobile ML and objective scoring unit. The broadsides are going to be my main anti flyer unit. I know its not the most optimal layout for them but I was limited on points and I do so love railguns. The Coldstar would be used to pick off exposed targets and for objective grabbing. Thoughts?

 LynxSarnage wrote:
So I've been doing a lot of rethinking and reading of various articles and stuff


Brigade (Tau Sept)
HQ
Coldstar Battlesuit Commander, Fusion Blaster (x4) (162)
Shadowsun, Command Drone (116)
Fireblade, Markerlight (42)

Troops
Strike Team (x5) (35)
Strike Team (x5) (35)
Strike Team (x5) (35)
Strike Team (x5) (35)
Strike Team (x5) (35)
Strike Team (x5) (35)

Elites
Riptide, Heavy Burst Cannon, Smart Missile System (x2), Advanced Targeting System, Velocity Tracker (278)
Riptide, Heavy Burst Cannon, Smart Missile System (x2), Advanced Targeting System, Velocity Tracker (278)
Ghostkeel, Cyclic Ion Raker, Flamers (x2), Advanced Targeting System, Target Lock, Stealth Drones (x2) (164)

Fast
Shield Drones (x5) (50)
Shield Drones (x4) (40)
Shield Drones (x4) (40)

Heavy
2x Broadside, Heavy Rail Rifle, Plasma Rifle (x2), Velocity Tracker (176)
2x Broadside, Heavy Rail Rifle, Plasma Rifle (x2), Velocity Tracker (176)
Skyray, Seeker Missiles (x6), Smart Missile System (x2), Markerlight (x2) (146)


Vanguard (Sacea Sept)
HQ
Ethereal (45)

Elites
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)
Firesight Marksman, Pulse Pistol, Markerlight (25)


Grand Total: 1998 pts

The general idea is a solid firebase involving most of the list whilst the Ghostkeel and Skyray serve as distraction units. The Keel would be set up infiltrating and either draw fire or try to take out a priority target. The Skyray would dump its payload on turn one and then serve as a mobile ML and objective scoring unit. The broadsides are going to be my main anti flyer unit. I know its not the most optimal layout for them but I was limited on points and I do so love railguns. The Coldstar would be used to pick off exposed targets and for objective grabbing. Thoughts?

I thought you couldn’t have 2 commanders in a single detachment

Ah crap, I totally missed that. Back to the drawing board.