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It would be an interesting army, espeically considering you could also deploy 3 x 10 drone squadrons.

Because of the way VPs are scored I'd personally go with 4 strong squadrons and use the leftover points on something else (like a crisis squad).

Also keep in mind that pirhanas are open-topped. So while the Ar11 keeps them safe from basic weaponry, anything S5 or higher has a good chance of stunning or destroying your skimmer (and stunning a skimmer in a squadron is nearly as good as destroying it).

I'd also hate to see this army go second against a shooty army.

The other disadvantage is cost. they are prety high up for what they can do.

If you want to use them effictivally you really need to use the 24 in movement which puts they far ahead of the fish's support

The hammerheads can still support them with mega range.

as noted before cost is an issue VS performance

 

 you could go on the cheap and only give them say a targeting array so they have a higher BS  and a fusion gun upgrade but even so they only have 1 gun (3 unless you detach the drones)

 

but from my experience running an all  tank tau-hammerhead/devilfish force some upgrades are a must to have like fletchette launchers ans decoy luanchers(not as important on the pirahana because it is open topped). that starts racking up the points

compared to the points it is nowhere near as effective as a SM land speeder tornado. even though the front AV 11 is a nice thing.

the limited firepower, open top and weak armor is the stoppers for me even though i like the idea(i run 10 speeders in my ravenwing army afterall).

 

 there is also the monetary cost of buying 12-15 pirahana's, but i am sure somebody will do it somwhere just because it is a cool army idea.

Me_Persons Mech Tau list uses 3 pirahnas. He has put them to great use. His win record as of late reflects this. 3 Overalls in RTT's and 2nd Overall at the Necronomicon. But it is also a preference thing. Some people like them, others hate them. Go with what you like and decide for yourself.

Capt K

I like filling all 3 fast attack slots with a piranha each, worked well enough today against IWs where I was sniping oblits and they helped take out a basilisk that was very threatening to my crisis suits.

I am a fan too and they have always done well by me, it means that you get to trade out the points from rail heads for anti-tank and use Ion instead which is a great value vs. points now for anti infantry. Also, once you have killed all the tanks they are great for hiding away to take objectives on the last turn.

If you don't like the Railhead, take a couple of Ionheads for long range support fire and somewhat fewer skimmers.

The budget option Ionhead works out at only 115 points = 1.9 Piranhas. Pimp the 'heads a bit, drop four Piranhas and run 4/4/3 squadrons. Move the 'heads up with the Piranhas to distract some of the AT firepower.

Just a thought, maybe a stupid one...

In my opinion, piranhas die too easily to be used as your primary anti-tank. On an open topped skimmer in a squadron most of the results on the glancing tabel effectively kill one. 2s and 4+s kill one.

A 4 is a re-roll if you take the wargear, and stunned is not immobile so they don't crash. They also don't die to bolter fire on front armor which is nice and the 2 drones come in handy.

It is all a preference of play style but they usually kill at least 150% of their cost which is the minimum I find acceptable for units meant for killing things.

They are harrassment units. They can be very effective at it, but I have not found them able to withstand fire unless there were more tempting targets nearby. AV11 stops normal guys, but almost everybody has something that can kick them around close by if they are attacking important targets.

A 4 is a re-roll if you take the wargear, and stunned is not immobile so they don't crash

I understand that with decoy launchers a 4 is a re-reoll, but even with a re-roll, theres a 66% chance that the re-roll will be one of the bad results. 2's effectively kill one because it leaves one stunned, leaving two choices. 1. abbandon the stunned one, thus killing it 2. stay still and get penetrated next turn, or move around the stunned one and basically stay in the same area and not make any forward progress.

I use three piranhas in my tau army, so I'm not trying to say they suck. I'm trying to say that they are too fragile to depend upon as your primary anti-tank fire, which is why my army also includes three hammerheads. I've never been a fan of taking vehicles, much less open topped skimmers, in a squadron because you could potentailly lose two or three vehicles to fire from an enemy anti-tank unit, such as devestators or havoks.

Question is, when you field the Pirahna is it always the fusion gun or the burst cannon?

I have four pirahna's in my upcoming Tau army and wondering how i should equip them.

I went with fusions on all 3, they can instakill characters, oblits and such along with killing tanks.

That said the burst cannon ones are not bad value for money, a burst cannon on a highly mobile scoring platform + 2 drones, not bad for its cost, however a burst cannon does not really NEED to be that mobile, its just a little bonus for the scoring unit in this case, a single....or even 3 burst cannons will not do all that much.

They are fine for their cost but they will almost never turn the game around whilst a fusion taking out a tank or instakilling something tough can.

Both are decent options but I went with the fusion myself.