Caedes wrote:
Best Allie for tau.... MOAR TAU! They don't need help. Just get a Stormsurge, a few riptides, a bucket and straw for the other guys tears, then add various suits and whatnot to taste. Shake well, then shred with a fine grater. Sprinkle over table, and claim victory.

 d00mspire wrote:
I'm looking to get an ally for my Tau, but after researching many of the armies, I still cannot decide which one to pick.

Preferably, I would not have Space Marines (including SW, BA, etc...) or any of the Chaos armies.

So which would you pick as an ally for the Tau? My army is quite a stand back and shoot army, if that helps.

 Dantioch wrote:
I've quite enjoyed using the hero's path formation for harlequins as support for my tau, it isn't that big and it provides some nice buffs with the shadowseer giving me a bit of psychic support, the solitaire races up the field to go for the weak scoring units of my opponent or to intercept cc units for a turn or two it there is a need for it. The death jester's ability to force fall back moves has also saved me a few times from charges for an extra turn.

I'm also considering expanding my harlequins with the faolchu's wing formation for some more fast cc unit to provide some mobility and either go for the backfield or intercept fast cc units.

 BoomWolf wrote:

 Dantioch wrote:
I've quite enjoyed using the hero's path formation for harlequins as support for my tau, it isn't that big and it provides some nice buffs with the shadowseer giving me a bit of psychic support, the solitaire races up the field to go for the weak scoring units of my opponent or to intercept cc units for a turn or two it there is a need for it. The death jester's ability to force fall back moves has also saved me a few times from charges for an extra turn.

I'm also considering expanding my harlequins with the faolchu's wing formation for some more fast cc unit to provide some mobility and either go for the backfield or intercept fast cc units.

You are aware the quins can't cast any support spell on your tau as they are not battle brothers, right?

Death jesters are still awesome though.

 Plainshow wrote:
While I generally think that most of the responses, that “more Tau” is the best ally for Tau, are fundamentally correct; this is mostly due to the introduction of the Stormsurge. Two things the 'Surge gives us: Stomps and StrD, while still being able to access the buffs and bonuses form other Tau force multipliers (Markerlights, Coordinated Firepower, Networked Stealth Fields, etc).

With that in mind, I usually think about what Allies can offer as indirect buffs and and roles they can fill. Tau often seen as very one-dimensional, and are often played like that, but that is only true if you want it to be. I askmyself these questions:
1) What do you want to do strategicly with the Tau part of your list?
2) What are your favorite Tau units to field?
3) What do these do poorly?
3) What Ally could fill that gap?
For me, the answers would go like this:
1) I want to maximize the ability to maneuver on the battle field, applying pressure where needed and adapting to my own weaknesses or mistakes (which I make a ton of).
2) Ghostkeels, Tetras, and Kroot
3) Assault against a dedicated Close Combat unit, limited low AP shooting.
4) Already mentioned is the Canoptek Harvest, great tarpit ability to buy my shooting units time to get through good Saves with volume of fire. Another choice could be a Renegade Knight or IKnight, AP3 with high rate of fire (double Avenger Renegade), or maybe a Crusader. The StrD close combat Knight versions (Lancer especially) have a lot of potential as well.
With the age of formations you can really mix-and-match with lots of success. Need a bunch of fast AP2? Hornet Swarm! Need some Grav? Skyhammer! Want decent Fliers for once? Crimson Death! Want to spam a bunch of great AP3? Destroyer Cult! Invisible Deathstar got you down? Culexus!

Identifing the intangible benefits from whatever Ally fits your needs, can also pay dividends, and make up for the lack of Battle Brothers. Blocking an opponent's Infiltrator's positioning with a Culexus, Outflanking Hornets to keep key tough units from holding exposed objectives, forcing your opponent to null deploy against your Skyhammer so that you can maximize your Interceptor shenanagins, or whatever tactical advantage you can squeeze out, can make back that loss of them not being Tau units.

 Galef wrote:
I still want to see someone model a Necron Canoptek Harvest as "experimental close combat Tau suits", with the scarabs being some kind of Drones. Honestly this might not even need more than a paint job to match you army. But in case you need inspiration, I'll leave these here:

http://glennsgwmodels.blogspot.com/2015/03/necron-canoptek-units.html

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QTDHxikq0wQ/UcdMyFx-yTI/AAAAAAAAA5A/_kAA47YRGko/s1600/Wraiths.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TZnaAv0ahYU/UCv-bghIulI/AAAAAAAAA00/lLf07Q4cb8I/s1600/Wraith%2BSpyders%2B%2526%2BDrones.JPG

 Plainshow wrote:
While I generally think that most of the responses, that “more Tau” is the best ally for Tau, are fundamentally correct; this is mostly due to the introduction of the Stormsurge. Two things the 'Surge gives us: Stomps and StrD, while still being able to access the buffs and bonuses form other Tau force multipliers (Markerlights, Coordinated Firepower, Networked Stealth Fields, etc).

With that in mind, I usually think about what Allies can offer as indirect buffs and and roles they can fill. Tau often seen as very one-dimensional, and are often played like that, but that is only true if you want it to be. I askmyself these questions:
1) What do you want to do strategicly with the Tau part of your list?
2) What are your favorite Tau units to field?
3) What do these do poorly?
3) What Ally could fill that gap?
For me, the answers would go like this:
1) I want to maximize the ability to maneuver on the battle field, applying pressure where needed and adapting to my own weaknesses or mistakes (which I make a ton of).
2) Ghostkeels, Tetras, and Kroot
3) Assault against a dedicated Close Combat unit, limited low AP shooting.
4) Already mentioned is the Canoptek Harvest, great tarpit ability to buy my shooting units time to get through good Saves with volume of fire. Another choice could be a Renegade Knight or IKnight, AP3 with high rate of fire (double Avenger Renegade), or maybe a Crusader. The StrD close combat Knight versions (Lancer especially) have a lot of potential as well.
With the age of formations you can really mix-and-match with lots of success. Need a bunch of fast AP2? Hornet Swarm! Need some Grav? Skyhammer! Want decent Fliers for once? Crimson Death! Want to spam a bunch of great AP3? Destroyer Cult! Invisible Deathstar got you down? Culexus!

Identifing the intangible benefits from whatever Ally fits your needs, can also pay dividends, and make up for the lack of Battle Brothers. Blocking an opponent's Infiltrator's positioning with a Culexus, Outflanking Hornets to keep key tough units from holding exposed objectives, forcing your opponent to null deploy against your Skyhammer so that you can maximize your Interceptor shenanagins, or whatever tactical advantage you can squeeze out, can make back that loss of them not being Tau units.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
I like this whole line of thinking... and man... you're in my "cool" book, as Ghost Keels and Tetras are some of my favorites too, well eclipsing Riptides and the more common items.