http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/69.page JForum - http://www.jforum.net 40K and I only have played 6 games against my friend. He has Tau. the army where I crushed him was in a "decurion detachment" because I didnt have enough Necron warriors to fully complete it, but we agreed that I could use it and he could use the hunter cadre
Here is my good 500 point army:
1x Overlord with staff of light
3x Canoptek Wraiths w/ whip coils
3x Tomb blades w/ TL Gauss Blasters and Nebuloscopes
10x Necron Warriors w/ Gauss Blasters
5x Immortals

In my battles, the tomb blades would zoom to the infantry and get in rapid fire range. They would take out his fire warriors and drones until they died. Then, my wraiths would hop over the terrain, get to his Crisis Suits, and lock them in close combat, winning pretty much every close combat. While all that was happening, I would move the super slow infantry up the table and get to him alive.

Then, we played Crusade with vanguard deployment

Here is the bad 500 point army in a CAD:
1x Overlord w/ staff of light
1x Triarch Stalker w/ TL Heavy gauss cannon
16x Necron warriors
5x Immortals w/ Gauss Blasters

I got totally rekt because he would markerlight me, shoot me and then jetpack move behind Buildings so I wouldn't be able to shoot him.
I know the Heavy Gauss cannons only have one shot, so it was a total waste of 135 points. He would kill me before I even got to the objectives.

We agreed that the wraiths are too OP in a 500 point battle, but my question is: Are tomb blades indispensable? Even though they didn't look like they did too much, was it enough to distract him in order to move my army up the table?]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9070931.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9070931.page GMT OP at any point level when playing Tau. You will find tau absolutely destroy necrons lol. They out range you and can jump shoot jump and their missile pods ignore warriors armor wounding on 2's meaning they pretty much delete your troops.

You need fast durable units, wraiths are a must against tau. Don't declare anything as OP until you have played a game to see.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9070940.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9070940.page GMT lol I agree with you that they are not too OP because wraiths only have Two wounds. Are Tomb blades good though?]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9070947.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9070947.page GMT
Your second list contains no fast units at all. As you saw, the tau will just out-range you while playing keep-away with their JSJ units.

Tomb blades are super fast, and pretty cheap for what you get. However their damage output is not amazing. Still, given their speed they're potentially able to zoom up to the tau and lock a unit in assault.
Don't get me wrong, tomb blades are terrible in close combat. But most tau are worse. So the bikes could potentially lock up a unit of fire warriors, or maybe even a crisis team.

So the tomb blades are ok, but some additional fast elements with a bit more punch to them would be useful.
Wraiths are a really solid choice, but if not them, then you've still got a bunch of other options. Scarabs, praetorians, a ghost ark for your warriors. Anything capable of moving more than 6".]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9071169.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9071169.page GMT http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9071253.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9071253.page GMT It is no wonder why you lost.

If you've already got a Stalker, perhaps two units of 5 Praetorians might be worth considering, so you can make a Judicator Battalion.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9076844.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/710718/9076844.page GMT