Tau Help Needed for Bigred!

[Bigred]

OK, so I'm so sick and tired of waves of Grey Knights, Wolves and other "top armies" I've decided to play for the love for a few months - using Tau.

I have an old beautifully painted Tau army and want to just have fun with my toy soldiers darnit!

Here's my current 2000pt list.

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Commander Shas'O - Missile, Plasma, Multi-tracker -184pts
Bodyguard - Missile, Plasma, Multi-tracker

Commander Shas'O - Missile, Plasma, Multi-tracker -184pts
Bodyguard - Missile, Plasma, Multi-tracker

Stealthsuits (6) - Burstcannons -180pts

Fire Warriors (10) - 5 Carbines -195pts
Devilfish - Disruption Pod, Multi-tracker

Fire Warriors (10) - 2 Carbines -100pts

Fire Warriors (10) - 2 Carbines -100pts

Piranha (2) - 2 Fusion Blasters -130pts

Drone Squadron (8) -96pts

Pathfinders (8) - 3 Railrifles -246pts
Devilfish - SMS, Disruption Pod, Multi-tracker, Targeting Array

Hammerhead - Railgun, SMS, Disruption Pod, Multi-tracker, Target Lock -180pts

Hammerhead - Railgun, SMS, Disruption Pod, Multi-tracker, Target Lock -180pts

Broadsides (3) - Multitracker -225pts

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So this is my default "meat and potatoes" list with minimal squad upgrades and more of the basics. Modelwise, I own 36 fire warriors - 24 rifles 12 carbines, explaining the troops armament.

So what's your take on how to tune this guy up with minimal new models required (try to limit it to under 10 if you must). I've taken a CSM player by complete surprise so far, and tabled him as he clawed his way on foot to me after having all his vehicles knocked out in quick order.

My general thoughts so far, are possibly I'm running too many fire warriors, or perhaps in a bad squad organization - but I do like having troops for objective management. Also, the army seems to have two big things going in its favor:

1) No one remember what the heck Tau do anymore
2) 5 Railguns scare people

Have at it gang.

[JxKxR]

First off I would lose the two fire warriors with carbines in both squads and replace with a shas'ui and markerlight since I just love me some markerlights. If you just have to take stealthsuits I would also lose one in favor of a marker light or marker drone.

I do like your pathfinder squad with the railrifles, nice touch.

I would also make some room to put some seeker missiles on the piranha. I know most people don't like them but I find they help immensely in times of need.

I would also find some points to put a positional relay on one of your shas'o to bring in the stuff on a 2+ and making sure that nothing else that you need to stay in reserve comes out. This coupled with your pathfinders devil fish makes a devastating combo.

All in all I like where you're going with this list since it seems close to a list I would make. I'm gonna sleep on it and see what else I can think up to help you out. Also, what do you have XV8 wise?

[Shas'o Saki]

Nice to see someone else playing Tau.

For starters I'd drop the multi-tracker and targeting array from your Devilfish and stick some Flachette Dischargers on your Piranhas. A tactic I use all the time is to Turbo Boost my Piranhas straight at the enemy my first turn. They still get a cover save and can only be hit in close combat on 6s and the added bonus of dropping the odd Gray Knight or Terminator from a shuriken to the eye is priceless.

Also I'd swap out the Multitrackers on your broadside and get two Target locks and a drone controller plus some drones. If you place them right your Broadsides shouldn't need to shoot anything close enough to also require Smart Missiles and a few drones can mean the difference between your tank killing suite taking a lascannon round a cheap robot.

[Anggul]

Do away with the false beliefs of rail rifles, all hail to the glorious markerlight! May it light your Fire Warriors paths to BS5 S5 AP5 firepower!

[Bigred]

More tips please gang, and THANK YOU!

I'm intrigued by the Positional Relay. I have the Piranhas, the Suits, and the mounted Firewarrior squad that I might commonly keep in reserve. Lets hear some of your standard tricks for maximizing the Positional Relay.

Overall my thoughts on the Devilfish - is the Firewarrior's is a cheaper schoolbus, while the SMS one from the Pathfinders is probably spending more time empty skulking around causing trouble from outside of LoS. I guess it would be the ideal place to stick some Seeker Missiles if I decided to go that way...

[Bigred]

Here's the slightly tuned list so far based on feedback:

Here's my current 2000pt list.

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Commander Shas'O - Missile, Plasma, Hard-wired Multi-tracker, Positional Relay -199pts
Bodyguard - Missile, Plasma, Multi-tracker

Commander Shas'O - Missile, Plasma, Multi-tracker -184pts
Bodyguard - Missile, Plasma, Multi-tracker

Stealthsuits (6) - Burstcannons -180pts

Fire Warriors (6) - 2 Carbines -145pts
Devilfish - Disruption Pod

Fire Warriors (10) - 100pts

Fire Warriors (10) - 100pts

Piranha (2) - 2 Fusion Blasters -130pts

Drone Squadron (8) -96pts

Pathfinders (8) - 3 Railrifles -246pts
Devilfish - SMS, Disruption Pod, Multi-tracker, Targeting Array

Hammerhead - Railgun, SMS, Disruption Pod, Multi-tracker, Target Lock -180pts

Hammerhead - Railgun, SMS, Disruption Pod, Multi-tracker, Target Lock -180pts

Broadsides (3) - Multitracker(2), Drone Controller (1) w/(2) Gundrones -240pts
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Basically, stripped down the mounted Fire Warrior group to be a scoring unit mainly, and squeezed in a Positional relay, and the Pair of Gundrones on the Broadsides. It feels like it has a couple more tricks up its sleeve for managing objectives/reserves.

[JxKxR]

I like to have a Shas'el in reserve with Fusion blaster, shield generator, iridium armor, and shield drones, that I can precision deep strike in with the help of a positional relay and the pathfinders devil fish. He is damn tough to get rid of and I have used him to great effect. This guy can really screw with an enemies backfield and game plan.

I would also split up the piranhas but that's just me.I like to hold a few piranhas in reserve for late turn objective contesting. Or you could drop the Gun drone squad and add another piranha and once the piranha come out deploy their gun drones. Not sure what you have planned for the gun drones though.

I'd like to hear what your plans are for the stealth suit team.

[Rapture]

I don't go anywhere with a Shas'O armed with a missile pod, fusion blaster, and airbursting fragmentation projector.

I love killing almost an entire squad of warriors or guardsmen when they are cowering in a crater is quite satisfying. You can even deploy him from your edge as he can fire his missile pod while closing the distance. The fusion blaster is great for murdering dreadnoughts that think uppercutting your HQ is a good idea.

Also, consider two target locks on the broadsides. 3 railgun should definitely kill a transport, but those three shot at three different targets might kill three transports.

[novatomato]

Stealth Suits are, according to most people, utter garbage. I, on the other hand, think they are a great flavourful and useful unit.
The way I set up my fellas when I'm playing 40k (though I do play very little 40k these days), is as follows:

6 Stealth Suits,
2 Fusion blasters with Targetting Array (two shots at BS 4 is most likely going to hit and do some damage to anything)
3 Burst Cannons with Target Lock (so they can fire on chappies walking around while the two above guys blast tanks/monstrous creates/etc.)
1 Shas'vre with Burst Cannon Target Lock and Bonding Knife.


Alternatively you can get the 'vre a pair of drones to flesh the numbers out a bit.

[Shas'o Saki]

I don't go anywhere with a Shas'O armed with a missile pod, fusion blaster, and airbursting fragmentation projector.

Isn't a template weapon a bit of a waste for a BS 5 Shas'o?? I personally find the Cyclic Ion Blaster to be a perfect weapon for my HQ. With 5 shots hitting on 2's you'll probably hit at least 4 times on average. Against most armies the weapon mitigates armor at AP 4 and against marines, well there's nothing funnier than having to tell that Grey Knight player that all of a sudden that paltry S 3 weapon is now AP1.:D Here's how the Drunken Master and his bodyguard roll.

Shas'o Saki... 162 Points
W.Cyclic Ion Blaster/ Fusion Gun/Multi-Tracker/Shield Drone/Stim Injectors/ Positional Relay

2 Shas'vre Bodyguard...140 points
1 W. Airburst Frag, Burst Cannon, Multi-tracker....68 points
1 W. Plasma Cannon, Fusion Blaster, Multi-tracker..72 points

[Rapture]

Isn't a template weapon a bit of a waste for a BS 5 Shas'o??
Because of how unique and powerful the weapons effects are against specific units, I try to only place the AFP in a single suit unit. The commander is the best choice because he can then take the other weapons that keep him adaptable to any situation.


I personally find the Cyclic Ion Blaster to be a perfect weapon for my HQ.
I have used the CIB several time and I am always underwhelmed. I jump up ad down when I kill a terminator with an ap1 shot, but I just cross my arms when I cause one ap4 wound and the marine makes his save.

The only thing I like about the CIB is the one I converted, so it still sees the light of day when I am feeling flashy.

[JxKxR]

I don't care for the AFP unless I'm fighting a horde army. The CIB on the other hand is good for both horde and space marines because of the chance of the AP 1, plus I just have better luck with the CIB.

[Anggul]

Hmm... I think the best choice for Broadsides is either Advanced Targeting Array or Stabilisation System. The stabilisation means you can move and still fire the railguns, excellent for getting into better position, but the targetting array means you have considerably more chances of hitting, which is a big deal as they're your primary anti-heavy tank firepower. I don't go for multi-trackers as the missile pods aren't going to be any help against tanks, and the railguns won't be much help against infantry, so you can just choose between the two.

[Tynskel]

I am a big fan of the SMS commander with Frag Launcher. Then you have that guy just bouncing around the map, outta sight, making pot shots at all sorts of stuff.

[Uncle Nutsy]

did someone mention a positional relay?

I LOVE the positional relay! I never leave home without it. and when I do, I equip it to one of my broadsides. Nothing beats almost total control over reserves.

and SMS commander with frag launcher? great setup. pinning with denial of cover? yes please.

[Bigred]

A couple more games in...

You guys were right, the target locks on the broadsides are so handy during games.

I still like stealths, just for the sheer amount of mobile shots they put out, but they do require a delicate touch.

What's your take on seeker missiles? Worthwhile, or frivilous use of points? Also, do you hoard them, or burn through them right off the bat?

[JxKxR]

I've been playing around with two seeker missiles on my pathfinders devil fish. I keep the fish empty so it goes relatively unnoticed the whole game. I like to keep them around for safety since rail guns get a lot of attention, and when tanks and dreadnaughts are trying really hard to stay out of LoS.

Consider putting a marker light and or a marker drone with the stealth suits. I like to keep this unit on my weak flank since the marker lights make it a great bait unit that is hard to pin down and with the seeker missiles you don't have to worry to much about armor.

Did you use the positional relay and if so how did it work for you?

P.S. It would be great to see Tau in a battle report.

[Uncle Nutsy]

A couple more games in...

You guys were right, the target locks on the broadsides are so handy during games.

I still like stealths, just for the sheer amount of mobile shots they put out, but they do require a delicate touch.

What's your take on seeker missiles? Worthwhile, or frivilous use of points? Also, do you hoard them, or burn through them right off the bat?

my prianhas always carry seeker missiles. Zip them around with a tetra and you got yourself a nice little unit that can target a tank in second turn and take it out with a side armour shot. But if you use them in conjunction with a Skyray and no tetra, you can still lase the same target and still get that side armour.

Anything that can move 24" and deliver a punch to a target that's on the other side of the board is always helpful.

[Bigred]

Hey, I'm wondering if any of you Tau experts would be game for a little experiment.

We would like to give the codex some long needed frontpage love with a couple of article on how to use the army in the current setting of the game. I would imagine the following articles:

1) "Its a Hard Knock Live" Playing Tau for The Greater Good
-This is a bsic primer on what the army is, and isnt. why it is still fun to play and what it offers to both new and veteran players that makes it unique. Finally a shoret rundown of general strenghts and weaknesses versus the various armies out there and suggestions on how to win versus them (these parts are at most 2-3 sentences per army)

2) 40K Tactics: Dirty Tricks for the Greater Good - A Tau's gotta do what a Tau's gotta do!
- This is a simple top ten list of good units/wargear and what they are used for. A decent spread of utility scoring to assasination, to anything in between along with an example of how to use each is ideal.

You guys can start a new thread in tactics and PM me, or just PM me. I think having several of our dedicated Tau members work cooperatively would give us the best results, and of course, I will give full credit to the original authors on the frontpage post.

Believe me guys, I would write these myself, but a Tau expert I am not...

-Larry