Tau Help needed

[Company Master Bardiel]

So my nephew has decided that he wants to start a Tau army as his first adventure in to 40k. We started off by buying a unit of fire warriors and am looking for advice on where to go from there.

I haven't had a chance to play many 6th ed games. In addition I rarely played against tau much in 5th ed.

Is the battle force worth getting to build a army with?

[Gleipnir]

A battleforce is a nice addition as it would give him the additional fire warriors you would need for objectives and you could use the Crisis team as your headquarters selection. You would probably want to add a box of pathfinders, a riptide and a broadside or two to really flesh out an army for a good feel.

[YorkNecromancer]

Definitely agree that a Riptide is a good call. Missile equippped Broadsides are absolutely excellent as well.

[Iceman]

If you don't want to buy the battleforce then my recommendation would be to get another box of fire warriors and a crisis battlesuit team next. That allows him to field an (admittedly small) army. After that, pathfinders are really useful for their marker lights. Once you have that in place, it starts to get a little more difficult. I would say that riptides, broadsides and hammerheads are equally useful depending on the army you are facing. A Devilfish to make your fire warriors a little more mobile is also handy. I wouldn't discount another crisis battlesuit team either. Tau units within an army are pretty synergistic so they really build on each other. What units you prefer will tend to depend on your style. Personally, I have had trouble making Piranha's work for me but others seem to swear by them. Same with Kroot. The stealth suits can be pretty deadly in the right situation, especially if they can capitalize on marker light hits and cover.

[Company Master Bardiel]

Thanks for all the advice. I forgot to mention he also got 5 old broadsides from the local GW with missile pods and twin linked heavy rail rifles. A Tau player had dropped them off and told the store manager to give them away to a new Tau player.

I've been reading the codex and a few threads but can't work out a good starting HQ. I'm thinking a commander as he is wanting to get the battle force.

[Lord Krungharr]

That's awesome that he's got 5 Broadsides, those missile pods are very good. I would also recommend taking Smart Missile Systems...I faced a unit of 3 Broadsides with I think 4 Drones of some sort, and they pumped out like 20 S7 shots at me Turn 1! But luckily my 2 Juggernaut Heralds of Khorne and 3 Hounds still made it into combat with them bottom of Turn 1 :)

So don't stick 'em too close! And remind him to use that Jetpack move (if they have it? I think they do).

For an HQ for Tau, many people like that Farsight guy, along with his Crisis suit deepstrike team. But I have also seen many people use the Crisis Suit Commander and join him to a Riptide w a couple Drones. He can give the Riptide ignores cover I think, or split-fire, or Interceptor...there's a bunch of possible upgrades. Of course they still die when 2 Jugger Heralds get into combat with them! But that's IF they make it into combat with them.

[Aegwymourn]

The nice thing with those old Broadsides is that if you can find good bits (i recommend paulson games) you can easily pop off those Heavy Rail Rifles and swap them for High Yield Missile Pods. Heavy Rail Rifles from my experience is the weaker of the two. The secondary weapon system is personal choice and how they fit with your list.

I would second Iceman and say a lot of how Tau play is up to who is playing them. I don't like mech, while some people love it. I love Riptides but other people think they never earn. Its all in how you design the list. The only units I would not recommend from the new Tau book are the fliers and vespid. Everything else is at the very least ok, all the way up to awesome.