Thinking of starting Tau - Tips - also, first 1k list.

[TheComedian]

Hey guys, I was thinking of starting tau as a third army, and just needed some tips. I've never played without against Tau, EVER!!! So I really am a noob at this. Well anyways, could you answer these questions:

1) tactics and tips
2) best units
3) competitive list/ types
4) how does 6th affect tau???
5) good way to start

Also I has some free time so borrowed a codex at my local store and Made a 1k list. Here it is:

HQ: (201)
Shas'el: Missile pods, plasma rifle, Cyclic ion = 122
(bodyguard: (x2) missile pod, air burst fragmentation = 79*

ELITE20
*3 Crisis B-Suits: - (x2) plasma rifle, missile pods = 77
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * - plasma rifle, fusion blaster, target lock = 62
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * - (x2) plasma rifle, flamer = 69

TROOPS:
(x3) 10 fire warriors = 300

HEAVY:
(x2) 2 broadside suits: target lock = 290

TOTAL = 999

I've probably made mistakes everywhere, but again I'm just considering them as an army rite now, but considering them pretty seriously. Thanks, you would really help me

[Astantia]

Your 'questions' are just vague topics. You'd have more luck looking up old posts or reading about them on blogs or whatever. When you have a more concrete question, I'd love to talk shop with you.

My first suggestion would be to read some of the threads on advanced tau tactica or on this site. Then, get the codex, read it, read the new 6th edition FAQ, and come back with more researched questions.

Your list is wrong, the options chosen are wrong, not strategically, but by the legality of the rules. I recommend you reread the section regarding what battle suits can and cannot take. Read this forum and the army list section, redo your list and come back with it.

Tau strategy is maneuverable fire power and synergy. Saying more than that would be wasted on the uninitiated.

[PorkchopJohnny]

I've been playing Tau for a little over a year now. So, some tactics, stay away from melee. Keep your units at the edge of the board if possible, keeps them from being mobbed by units that can deep strike into your midst. We've got range on just about any faction out there, so use it. Because of our old Codex, we don't have some of the neat toys that factions like Grey Knights have, but we still pack a punch.

One of the biggest changes that I've been able to take advantage of with 6th edition is the night fighting rules, there's a pretty good chance that your going to start the game with night fighting and with our blacksun filters we can ignore night fighting. Which is a huge advantage especially if we win the initiative.

The broadsides are great unit, with 6th edition they're even better. Take 3 broadsides, twin linked rail guns, with that much firepower, you can easily take out a 3 hull point tank in one turn out to 72".

The Hammerhead allows for versatility with the rail gun for both direct shot and submunitions as well as being hard to hit with the jink rules. I'd still use the disruption pod, since there are a few factions out there that can ignore the jink rule. The mulitracker allows it to fire as a fast vehicle and the sensor spines allows it to land on terrain without having to take dangerous terrain tests.

The crisis suites are a great versatile unit. The are quick to move in, shoot the hell out of units and then get another movement during their assault phase to get out of harms way. You can take 3 groups of 3 for elites and then another 2 with your leader. If you have Farsight you can take along 7 bodyguard crisis suites for a total 16 plus Farsight.

The Kroot carnivore squad can look scary and has some good uses in some situations but one of the best is for cannon fodder. You can get 20 kroot, 12 kroot hounds and 3 krootox in one squad. With 35 pieces for 317 points, its very intimidating and I find that my opponents spend a ton of fire power to try to get rid of those units, ignoring the units that are actually doing damage to them like the hammerheads, broadsides and crisis suites.

The Fire warriors can definitely dish it but don't take it very well. With regular shots out to 30" and can rapid fire out to 15". Which means these units can effectively shoot units out to 36" or rapid fire 21" with move. Most rapid fire weapons from other factions have a 3" shorter range then ours.

The Piranha's are a great little skimmer, for 300 points can get 5 of them. They make great tank busters with fusion blaster and have similar add ons that the hammerhead can use. When moving flat out, they can move 18" in a single turn.

We have other units but my experience with them is limited so I'll let someone else comment on them.

I've come up with some interesting idea's for Allied units. Even though their not Battle brothers, my other army is Dark angels and here's the ideas. With Sammael, you can use the bikes as troops, which gets your assault troops to the enemy fairly quickly. If you happen to take terminators in your army, the bikes all have homing beacons and on the first turn you can deathstrike the terminators. If you use Balial, he can take terminators as troops, who needs anything else.

[Tau-New Codex Pls]

Your 'questions' are just vague topics. You'd have more luck looking up old posts or reading about them on blogs or whatever. When you have a more concrete question, I'd love to talk shop with you.

My first suggestion would be to read some of the threads on advanced tau tactica or on this site. Then, get the codex, read it, read the new 6th edition FAQ, and come back with more researched questions.

Your list is wrong, the options chosen are wrong, not strategically, but by the legality of the rules. I recommend you reread the section regarding what battle suits can and cannot take. Read this forum and the army list section, redo your list and come back with it.

Tau strategy is maneuverable fire power and synergy. Saying more than that would be wasted on the uninitiated.

Comments like these drive people away. Let me say that you are right, but you could have easily given him some good and useful advice as well.

To keep my advice short and simple.....suits. You will need to buy lots of suits (best general load out IMO missle pod/plasma). And keep the army simple..all the fancy wargear and ABF and Cyclic Ion....kind of a waste of time.

[Astantia]

So this thread is just:
Post anything you want about tau. That's not constructive at all. Without having a firm understanding of the codex, and getting a feel for the army in general, any advice we give him will be a wasted effort on our part and on his. I didn't say it to be rude, it was genuine advice.

[ajefferism]

Looking at your list I have a few comments:

1. Ditch the special wargear (cyclic Ion etc) on your suits. Generally Missile pods and Plasma Rifles are used by crisis suits. Sometimes you'll see flamers or melta but to use those you need to be close to your enemy, which is something you NEVER want to do. The two most popular builds for suits are:

Fireknife - A plasma rifle and a missile pod with the Multi tracker gear (This lets you fire both weapons in the same turn). This is a good all around build that can take on light vehicles (missile pod) and marines/terminators (plasma rifle)

Deathrain - This has twinlinked missile pods and generally a Targetting Array (adds 1+ BS). This is a more anti vehicle focused build for suits but still useful against a lot of units.

Generally in my 1500 list I'll have 3 Crisis Suit squads of 3 models each. I'll have 2 fireknifes and 1 deathrain with an HQ suit joining one of my fireknife units.

2. replace one of your firewarrior squads with a Kroot squad (10 kroot and 5 kroot hounds). Many people use this as a sort of "bubble wrap" unit that surrounds your army. That way if someone deep strikes or drop pods right next to you, they can't assault your precious shooters (suits, firewarriors, broadsides, hammerhead)

3. replace one of you broadside teams with a hammerhead with railgun. The hammerhead's railgun may be less accurate than the twin linked broadsides, but its submunition shot is great against horde armies (ie. imperial guard, orks and tyranids). at 1000pts 4 broadsides is definately overkill...

When you make the leap to 1500pts think about adding marker lights (generally, I run 2 5man squads of Pathfinders, which will also get you 2 devilfish for your firewarriors). They'll definately make you shoot better, which is what tau are all about.

One final word of advice: at all costs, stay OUT of combat.

[TheComedian]

Hey guys, after reading some info about tau, and your advice, here is a list that I have come up with. It wil be of course not that great, but an improvement on the last list by far:

HQ:
Shas'el: plasma rifle, missile pod, targeting array, MT= 97*

ELITE:
2 Crisis Suits: - plasma rifle, missile pods, target array, MT = 72 (144)
2 Crisis Suits: - Plasma rifle, missile pods, target array, MT = 72 (144)
1 Crisis Suits: - TL flamer, fusion blaster = 43

TROOPS:
(x3) 11 fire warriors = 330

HEAVY:
(x3) Broadsides: advanced stabilization = 240

TOTAL = 998

Also here are more 'specific' questions about the tau:

1) Best Tau Units and how to configure them
2) how to start a tau army cheap and effectively
3) when are tau rumored to get their new codex
4) best copetitive tau builds/list

Thank you, mite change the list completely again (with hammerheads this time) Also thanks for all the useful replies and tips, I will take them into consideration for this list and the next

[Astantia]

Your crisis suits still have more hard points than they are allowed, otherwise your list is legal.

I shan't comment on its effectiveness, because of the following answers to your questions.

1. The most effective units in the tau army are: (each tier is in no particular order)
Crisis suits
Piranhas
Commanders
Broadsides
Fire warriors
Hammerheads

Tier two
Pathfinders
Skyrays
Kroot

Tier three
Ethereals
Gun drones
Special characters


Suits: fireknives and deathrains.
Piranhas: flechette dischargers
Fire warriors: shas'ui and pulse rifles
Hammerheads: railguns
Anything: Blacksun filters

2. Cheap: buy minimum troops and then buy suits and hammerheads. The battle force also has Kroot and a devilfish. I don't use either. You might. Try vassal or a proxy game to figure out what you like.

3. New codec rumors go from next month to next year, and the next year rumor has been around for at least the last two years.

4. The most competitive builds are also the
Post common and the only ones that really work. Because our codex is old and really limited in terms of choices, the most efficient and competitive builds have already been found. 6th edition didn't change a lot of things for us, just gave us some boosts.

[TheComedian]

I don't understand why my Crisis suits have too many slots taken up. The multi-tracker is hard-wired, isn't it? Doesn't that mean that it doesn't use up a 'slot'. Also, thanks for the help Astantia For my next and hopefully final list for now would you recommend: replacing the broadsides with hammerheads and then filling the rest of points with crisis suits and piranhas??? Or should I keep my list around the same as it is rite now. Again thanks, you guys have been really helpful.

[Scoutfox]

You can only hard-wire gear on team leaders, and you can only have one team leader per unit. I always have a pair of broadsides, because my hammerhead gunner is blind and always misses the rail gun shot.

I don't agree that gun drones are bottom tier either. I either pop them off transports, or take a unit as mobile cover for my suits.