Attempt at Tau - 1500pts

[Anggul]

Just an attempt at a Tau list, comments would be much appreciated. The Kroot hounds are there because I like them.


Tau Empire

HQ:
Shas’o: airbursting fragmentation projector, cyclic ion blaster, shield generator, iridium armour, hard-wired drone controller, hard-wired multi-tracker, 2x shield drone: 185pts

Elites:
XV8 ‘Crisis’ battlesuit team (3): multi-tracker, fusion blaster, plasma rifle, team leader: hard-wired drone controller, 2x shield drone: 221pts

XV8 ‘Crisis’ battlesuit team (3): twin-linked missile pod, target lock, 2x drone controller, 2x shield drone: 164pts

Troops:
Kroot carnivore squad (14): 12x Kroot, 2x kroot hound: 96pts

Kroot carnivore squad (14): 12x Kroot, 2x kroot hound: 96pts

Fire warrior team (12): 120pts

Fire warrior team (12): 120pts

Fast attack:
Pathfinders (8): Shas’ui: 96pts
Devilfish troop carrier: disruption pod: 85pts

Pathfinders (6): Shas’ui: 72pts
Devilfish troop carrier: disruption pod: 85pts

Heavy support:
XV88 Broadside battlesuit team (2): targeting array: 160pts

1500pts

The Deathrain Crisis team targets transports (In my opinion better than rifleman dreads, they lose a bit of range but have brilliant mobility), and the Broadsides go for the really big things like Land Raiders. I decided on targeting array because I know from experience with Wave Serpent turret weapons not to trust TL BS3 in small numbers, so the BS4 seems like a good call to me.

The Pathfinders gift their mandatory Devilfishes (with the thing which helps battlesuits deepstrike) to the Fire Warriors, and take up position with Scout moves to light up the enemy. The team of 8 light up a squad for the two Fire Warrior squads to fire at BS5 at (presuming an average of 4 hits). I figure that many S5 hits have got to hurt. The smaller 6-man squad will help out the Helios Crisis team by giving them a bit more BS and probably using any extra markerlight hits to lower cover saves.

Said Helios Crisis team will be a general hunter unit for things like Terminators, MCs and tanks if need be. The commander will generally blaze away at infantry. I may replace one of the guns with a fusion blaster, just because a BS5 melta can be a great saviour in dark times... and I figure I'm going to have a few dark times. However, such an accurate cover-ignoring large blast would be great against things like Tyranids and Orks, which I can see being the difference between pushing them back or being overwhelmed.

The Kroot are there to bodyguard and shield, especially the Pathfinders, as well as being fairly useful surprise attack squads.

Overall, I'm playing them because I like them, but I'd like to have a go at trying to make them work too.

[Tynskel]

I'd swap out the cyclic ion blaster on your Shas'O for a smart missile system.

Oh, and there are no rules against ForgeWorld, except usually tournament rules.

Seriously, though, your commander will be much better, because it can completely hide and keep firing. You can then dump the points on the gear that's not needed and spend on other stuff.
Personally, I like taking the drones and then putting the Shas'O in a squad of drones. the drones shoot one thing, and the commander can shoot something else. The 18" gun range on the drones combined with jet packs keeps them movin'.

[Bean]

Slim down the Crisis suits--the HQ has more gear than is worthwhile and fusion/plasma/multi-tracker is not really worthwhile either.

Ditch one squad of pathfinders--one is a reasonable support unit, but two is too much support for a 1500 point list. You can get a whole 'nother broadside squad for the price of that smaller pathfinder squad.

Broadsides need shield generators more than Crisis suits do, and Targeting Arrays aren't really critical. Advanced Stabilization Systems are.

Also, you're a little short on offensive troops. One of those firewarrior squads should really be mechanized.

Try this:

117 - Shas'el: Fusion Blaster / Plasma Rifle, Drone Controller, Multi-tracker 2x Shield Drones
164 - Bodyguard x2: Fusion Blaster / Plasma Rifle, Multi-tracker, Targeting Array

120 - 2x Crisis Suits: Tl Missile Pod / Flamer, Tl Missile Pod / Drone Controller, 2x Shield Drones
167 - 3x Crisis Suits: Tl Missile Pod / Flamer x2, Tl Missile Pod / Drone Controller, 2x Shield Drones

110 - 14 Kroot, 2 Kroot Hounds
110 - 14 Kroot, 2 Kroot Hounds

120 - 12 Firewarriors

120 - 12 Firewarriors
85 - Devilfish: disruption pod

96 - Pathfinders x8
85 - Devilfish troop carrier: disruption pod

205 - Broadsides x2, ***, Shas'vre with Drone Controller, Target Lock, 2x Shield Drones


1499

It's very similar, but with that superfluous Pathfinder squad cut and your other assets a little more neatly and efficiently allocated--also, I added one Deathrain suit.

Frankly, if it were me, I would drop those pathfinders, too. You could have a tooled-up Hammerhead for that, and I think you'd find that you get more out of the Hammerhead.

[Anggul]

Thanks for the comments, I've taken them into account and played around with the list... quite a lot.

HQ:
Commander: Shas’o, fusion blaster, plasma rifle, hard-wired multi-tracker, hard-wired drone controller, 2x shield drone: 142pts

Crisis bodyguards (2): fusion blaster, plasma rifle, targeting array, hard-wired multi-tracker: 164pts

Elites:
Crisis suits (3): twin-linked flamer, 2x blacksun filter (because you have to have a 3rd option), drone controller, shield drone: 114pts

Crisis suits (3): twin-linked missile pod, 2x blacksun filter, drone controller, 2x shield drone: 165pts

Troops:
Kroot (15): 12x Kroot, 3x kroot hound: 102pts

Kroot (15): 12x Kroot, 3x kroot hound: 102pts

Fire warriors (12): 120pts
Devilfish: disruption pod: 85pts

Fire warriors (12): 120pts

Fast attack:
Pathfinders (8): Shas’ui 10pts: 106pts
Devilfish: disruption pod: 85pts

Heavy support:
Broadsides (2): targeting array/advanced stabilisation system (will test both and decide), team leader, hard-wired drone controller, 2x shield drone: 195pts

1500pts

Comments very much appreciated.

[Bean]

Thanks for the comments, I've taken them into account and played around with the list... quite a lot.

HQ:
Commander: Shas’o, fusion blaster, cyclic ion blaster, iridium armour, hard-wired multi-tracker, hard-wired drone controller, 2x shield drone: 157pts

Crisis bodyguards (2): fusion blaster, plasma rifle, targeting array, hard-wired multi-tracker: 164pts

Elites:
Crisis suits (3): twin-linked flamer, 2x blacksun filter (because you have to have a 3rd option), drone controller, shield drone: 114pts

Crisis suits (3): twin-linked missile pod, 2x blacksun filter, drone controller, shield drone: 150pts

Troops:
Kroot (15): 12x Kroot, 3x kroot hound: 102pts

Kroot (15): 12x Kroot, 3x kroot hound: 102pts

Fire warriors (12): 120pts
Devilfish: disruption pod: 85pts

Fire warriors (12): 120pts

Fast attack:
Pathfinders (8): Shas’ui 10pts: 106pts
Devilfish: disruption pod: 85pts

Heavy support:
Broadsides (2): targeting array/advanced stabilisation system (will test both and decide), team leader, hard-wired drone controller, 2x shield drone: 195pts

1500pts

Comments very much appreciated.

I like that pretty well. I'm not a big fan of suits with just flamers (and I still think Iridium armor is a bit of a waste) but this is definitely in line with what a solid Tau list should look like.

[Anggul]

I like that pretty well. I'm not a big fan of suits with just flamers (and I still think Iridium armor is a bit of a waste) but this is definitely in line with what a solid Tau list should look like.

Heheh, I guess I'll just always have a fear of my commander taking a missile to the face, despite the fact that they'll have to get through two shield drones and two bodyguards first. Reckon I'd be better off with a shield generator? Or perhaps just losing it for something different entirely? Perhaps replace the ion blaster with a plasma rifle and give one of the other crisis squads another shield drone?

[Bean]

Heheh, I guess I'll just always have a fear of my commander taking a missile to the face, despite the fact that they'll have to get through two shield drones and two bodyguards first. Reckon I'd be better off with a shield generator? Or perhaps just losing it for something different entirely? Perhaps replace the ion blaster with a plasma rifle and give one of the other crisis squads another shield drone?

Honestly, three suits and two shield drones should be plenty tough enough. Personally, I prefer plasma rifle to cyclic ion blaster, and yes--if you want to improve your squad's resilience, adding shield drones is basically the best way to do it, I think.

[Anggul]

Made a couple of minor changes, lost the iridium plating and cyclic ion blaster, took a plasma rifle and gave the deathrains another shield drone. I might give it to the heatwaves instead, it really depends on how my opponents tend to react, whether they concentrate more on the guys taking out their transports, or more on the guys burning whoever isn't in one.

[Bean]

Well, give it a shot, but I think you're gonna be disappointed with those heatwaves. They kick out some damage, but only at suicidally short ranges.

You might consider playing three squads of double tl missile launcher/flamer suits without shield drones. I really like shield drones, but if the squads are small enough, you can usually get by without them.

That costs three more points than the six suits you've included in your last list, which you can get by scrapping one Kroot hound.

Oh, another thought. If you play the heatwaves: try dropping the black suns and maybe a hound or two to give each suit a drone controller with a single gun drone.