1850 Tau

[darkninja962]

Hiya Guys, I'm thinking of starting Tau and wanted to know what you all think of this. I've always loves battlesuits so I had to max them out. What do you think?

4 Units of 12 Firewarriors w/Unit Leader
1 Devilfish (total, not per squad)

3 Units of 3 Crisis Suits, all w/ Burst Cannon & Missile Pods
- Unit Leader has 2 Marker Drones

1 Shas'ui w/ Air Burst Frag. Projector and Burst Cannon
2 Bodyguards w/ Burst Cannon & Missile Pods

2 units of 2 Broadsides with 2 Shield Drones and Advanced Stabilisation System

[Lerra]

That's an interesting list. Here is what I would do, but your mileage may vary: Crisis Suits are great but it's nice to have some variety with the weaponry, both for wound allocation within a squad and so that you can cover multiple roles with your suits. Here's an example:

Squad 1: 2x Burst Cannon/Missile Pod, 1x TL Missile Pod
Squad 2: 2x Plasma/Missile Pod, 1x TL Missile Pod
Squad 3: 2x Plasma/Fusion Blaster, 1x TL Fusion

Although Burst Cannons are not terribly popular/effective, so you may want to substitute plasma instead.

You probably want to get more devilfish. Having only one tank in the army means that it will be gone by turn 2 or 3, and it will be tricky to hold objectives with your only scoring units as slow Ld8 infantry that crumple in CC.

You can get a squad of 12 fire warriors for 130-145 points depending on upgrades. That's 12 BS3 S5 shots (average 6 hits). For 170 points you can get 6 fire warriors in an upgraded devilfish that can move and shoot 7 BS4 S5 shots (average 4.5 hits). So you'll hit a little bit less, but your scoring unit is protected by armor and you gain mobility. Devilfish are a lot harder to deal with than fire warriors alone.

Pretty much every Tau army runs a hammerhead with rail gun because it's darn useful, and one of the few templates that Tau can use effectively. If you have problems with horde, try adding a few railheads into the list.

[Chexmix282]

Maxed out Fire Warrior squads arent what they used to be, unfortunately. I usually just take a few squads of 6 and let them chill in their transports.

The only Crisis Suit configurations i've found to be exceptionally useful and versatile in 5th are Fireknife (PR/MP) and Deathrain (TL MP/Flamer). They fill the gap between Pulse Rifles and Railguns, if you understand what i'm saying. Also footslogging infantry doesnt do too well in 5th for a variety of reasons, mostly mobility and resilience. Here's how i would run a list similar to yours:

Shas'el w/ PR, MP, MT
2 Shas'vre w/ PR, MP, TA, HWMT, 1 has 2 Gun Drones

3 x 3 Crisis Suits w/ PR, MP, MT, Leader w/ 2 Gun Drones

3 x 12 Fire Warriors
3 x Devilfish w/ Disruption Pods

2 x 2 Broadsides w/ *** & 1 Shield Drone

This should be around 1850, and unfortunately i dont have te time to fine-tune the points for you. But you get the general idea... PR/MP suits are great for busting Rhinos and for slaying marines from a distance.

hope that helps!

[elrodogg]

I hate to tell you, but that first list looks like prey. The second list is starting to get there, though I would replace the broadsides with Hammerheads. More mech means your fish have a higher chance of surviving. Also means your army is much more mobile.

[Fizyx]

Shas'el - PR/CIB/TA/HWMT

3x Crisis suits, PR/MP/MT 1 TL w/ BK
3x Crisis suits, TLMP/TA 1 TL w/ BK
3x Crisis suits, PR/FB/MT 1 TL w/ BK

5x Pathfinders
5x Pathfinders

6 FW w/ PF's Devilfish
6 FW w/ PF's Devilfish

2x Hammerheads - Railhead/MT/DP/BC

2x Broadsides - A.S.S 1 TL w/ BK and 2x SD

10x Kroot/ 5x hounds

I'm not sure of the points, but it is a basic template for an effective Tau Army. Obviously tailor it to your local metagame.

PR/MP is a combination that just... works. I've spoken against it because it makes no sense on paper, but for some reason it is just spectacular. TLMP w/ TA is phenominal at popping AV11. PR/FB suits are great for taking out MEQ/TEQ. They do require some finesse to use preoperly, but nine high Str shots at AP2 or lower is the pure tits. Add in some ML support for added BS or reducing cover save, and you have the most effective terminator eradicator in the game.

Another variant is to bring 1 less squad of crisis suits and replace them with Piranhas. They do require much more skill to play, but can be very very effective.

Don't put a danged flamer on your TLMP suits. Say what you want, but even Twin-linked the extra BS is a necessity. You NEED to pop those danged transports in todays mech world. Flamers are a last minute "oh crap" button you press after you lose the game and your suits are about to go into combat.

Kroot can be amazing as well. Either outflanking or as speed-bumps. I haven't played a 1000+ list without them in months.

Just my 2c.