Allies for Tau in 6e

[Marnepup]

You mean killer allied CC units like ten GKTs with attached GK psycher in TDA? At 600 points for one unit, that probably guts ANY army you put it in. And, GKs being available to almost everyone, I can see it happening.

On the other hand, a careful, relatively frugal selection of allies can be very good for some lists, tau among them. Any psycher and any one credible-in-melee unit is a winner, but much more than that is probably "too much of a good thing."

Then, of course, there are armies that combine well to tell a story, like adding a splash of chaos to an IG list to make them traitor guard in more than just name. Adding just about anyone to orks with the twist that the detachment is actually in charge, they either hired the orks as mercs, or are fooling them into doing their dirty work. And so on. In those cases, the units displaced in the parent list and the replacing units in the detachment are probably not radically different in terms of tabletop performance.

The more I think about it, the more that I believe that most people who try some WAAC crazy powergaming stunts with the allies rules are going to end up doing themselves more harm than good. For example, say you think 'gee, I can put three IG russes in my blood angels list.' That's great, but you have to take a HQ and troop first, and the three tanks are a squadron, so it's not as cool as it sounds. 600 points later, you have three pieplates that have to maintain coherency and shoot at the same target. And think about what you'd have to drop in order to get those russes. And if you only take one, you pay 300 points for one tank plus a T3 HQ and a single squad of veteran IG. Yuck!

[exbar]

I think I'm probably just going to go will a small Eldar force. Farseer with stones, doom and guide. Dire Avengers with Exarch equipped with power weapon, shimmershield, and +1 shot to shuriken.

[HappyJim]

You mean killer allied CC units like ten GKTs with attached GK psycher in TDA? At 600 points for one unit, that probably guts ANY army you put it in. And, GKs being available to almost everyone, I can see it happening.

They are great until you run into anything with a 2+ save, then you start crying as you can't hurt the enemy unit, tactical marine termies will actually bend over GK termies and paladins now.

[Calaban]

I wonder if anyone has thought of the tau allies situation the other way around; like an ultramarine list with a unit of... I dunno... something obvious like...

a unit of 3 broadsides, perhaps.

40k fluff trivia.. do space marines drool with desire? or would that just be the techmarines? (heh)

[exbar]

I'm sure people are eyein' up railguns. The problem is that they'd have to sink points into HQ and Troops before they could get broadsides. Granted, this could be relatively inexpensive, but im not sure how many people would be willing to do it.

[Marnepup]

They are great until you run into anything with a 2+ save, then you start crying as you can't hurt the enemy unit, tactical marine termies will actually bend over GK termies and paladins now.

True, but other than Deathwing, how many termie squads is the average army going to have?

[Marnepup]

I'm sure people are eyein' up railguns. The problem is that they'd have to sink points into HQ and Troops before they could get broadsides. Granted, this could be relatively inexpensive, but im not sure how many people would be willing to do it.

Well, a HQ deathrain team looks awesome to a bunch of marines who have extremely limited access to autocannons, so the only real "cost" is 60 points for fire warriors. For that matter, with pulse rifles, they're probably better than marine scouts in the 'cheap scoring unit' category...

[jpwalker]

What do you guys think about picking up a battalion box of Eldar and/or space marines for allies? I have also seen the Black Reach boxes selling for around $75 US. That seems like a pretty decent detachment of allies.

[Aethelwulf1972]

What do you guys think about picking up a battalion box of Eldar and/or space marines for allies? I have also seen the Black Reach boxes selling for around $75 US. That seems like a pretty decent detachment of allies.

Keep in mind that with the allied detachment rules you need to take 1 allied hq, and one allied troops, at which point you have the option of adding 1 elite, a second troops 1 fast attack and one heavy. I would think that a the black reach box even at $75 is too much to pay for what would for me end up with too many models left over, and an obsolete mini rulebook. Like wise the Battle Force boxes I think would end up too expensive for a mess of unused models. points wise I can barely afford eldrad and 5 rangers with the pathfinders upgrade.

[Sare a pale en]

Now I have not seen that much of the 6th ed so I apologise if I say something stupid Idea. Here is a radical I idea. Can tau ally with crons. Because scarabs could really help gunline tau. You can take the armor off infantry, maybe even mountstrous creatures, and have the tau with their pulse rifles and burst cannons mow down the infantry with there slightly better range.
Just an Idea.